Why not to eat?

 Just two days away from the Devshayani Aashadh Ekadashi on Sunday, tomorrow happens to be "Kande Navami". Beyond tomorrow, for four months, till Dev Diwali, we would not use either onions, brinjals, or garlic.

Aai was from Pandharpur. She felt rather strongly that the Chaturmas should be followed, and I always respected each of her opinions, every one of her structures/strictures. The tradition continues even now.

Why not to eat these veggies? In my opinion, the religious restrictions often are a way to avoid health hazards, especially according to the Ayurveda. These are the "tamasic" food items that alleviate the passions, it seems. It is believed that the "chaturmas" is health wise so unique that even the Lord goes off to sleep. So the "Devshayani Ekadashi". Hereafter, there is always a pillow behind the idol's nape!

I do not know enough, but onion, brinjal, and garlic increase the "vat" and the "kapha" "tatva" in the body which would be bothersome in the monsoon which, despite the global climate change, still happens to be from June to October.

Personally, I do not need such justifications. If a minor restriction honours the memory of my parents and their simple wishes, I have absolutely no issues following a practice! In a way, it sure adds finer contours to one's character, right?

Pratima@Restrictions are not a handcuff. Wherever we are, in the corporate office or in an academic space, we have to follow certain rules and regulations about our dress code, food patterns, et al. Why not follow them at home to please our elders in a simple way? Why not  not eat onions/garlic/brinjals for just four months, right?

Media Trial!

 I do know that this blog, risque in all senses of the term, may not exactly make me popular. Well, something within me says though, that it MUST be attempted. Yes, I am referring to the Sonam saga!

While it was getting unravelled, I was in the Himalayas. Hence the intensity of the danger,  may be, I can understand absolutely intimately. The treks and trails are so tough-n-dangerous that neither a supari-killer nor a pistol nor a hatchet is required, believe me, if you are keen on finishing off someone!

 Sure, many of the horrendous details of the case I would not know then. One IS quite cut off from such uglinesses, and, yes, one enjoys that grand feel the Himalayas provide in abundance, despite the obvious dangers constantly lurking around you everywhere!

Now, happily and safely back in Pune, with that story constantly being thrown in to one's face ( I am sure the frequency must be much less now!), I have been thinking 'through', rather than 'about', it. Nothing seems to make sense to me. Many, much much too many, doubts cloud my mind.

May be, I am too avid a reader of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple and Vyomkesh Bakshi and Narayan Dharap, and types. Somehow though, it confuses me that the so-called double-dealer, the much vilified Sonam is not allowed a single word. It is all the police version, as reported by the media. Forget her legal denying it in the court.

Logically and/or psychologically, if she were indeed such a scheming vamp, would she commit such an obvious crime for which she clearly would be caught? Crime fiction tells us that she would be far more calculating, right? What possibly could be the motive which according to crime narratives drives the characters. NOTHING seems so very attractive about the so-called paramour, Raj, whose mother and sisters were crying their hearts out. They appeared very simple people, not possibly up to much artifice. Neither of the friends of either co-accused ever mentions any 'shadi'  and the 'second mangalsutra', et al 

Sure, I have not gotten in to all the finer details. The very contours of the roughly known narration appear very curious to me. Makes me wonder if "hawala" money or some business deals/interests etc is involved in the murder for which she is being scapegoated 

I find it equally curious that the dead husband is being projected as a saint, if not a god! His mother, unlike the so-called lover's poor mother, always appears on the screen with fancy danglers in her ears, and in good drapes! In the initial videos, she repeatedly says that punishment must be given to whosoever has done it! Indeed, is it business interests of either family that are the real culprits? Otherwise, the Oscar for excellent acting must go to Sonam this year.

Sure, it cannot be a love triangle. In many of the marriage videos, she appears very happy, participating actively in the rituals, too. That Raj fellow appears more an insignificant use-n-throw cog in the wheel, too. There IS something more to this mystery. Of course, I have not bothered to read the details, as I find the entire circus disgusting.

I think, the media are encroaching much too much in to private lives, and unthinkingly. With the tidbits thrown in by baseless gossip and the police, who, may be, want to keep their agenda under wraps, the media have already decided the plot, the culprits, the victim. Roles are too nicely-n-neatly distributed to appear authentic! 

Simple details like the dead body being carried away so far from the scene of crime, and that, too, in such a hilly terrain are difficult to unravel as the place has a proper secure bridge,too. Accountability and/or authenticity, in brief, does not seem to matter much to the media. Incidentally, the victim, too, was video-shot chatting with the perpetrators.

Without any fancy feminist positioning, one constantly gets the gnawing suspicion that there is something much more to this media trial. God alone knows what truths would tumble out during the actual court proceedings. Hope the media would report those aspects of their own current clumsy reporting of  scandal-mongering. They sure would, I suppose, but only if some other screaming headline were not to obsess them then.

Pratima@ Truth will be, and is, out, however much the powerful and the monied might try to push it under the carpet!

Doctors' Day

 July 1! A truly remarkable day indeed. Exactly half a year is already over. Time to hurry up, right? July 1 is important for yet another reason. It is the Doctors' Day. From the childhood period onwards, doctors are the 'bogeymen' of our lives. In every possible sense of the term. In most families, for instance, mothers quieten their unruly small ones with "keep quiet, eat this up, go off to sleep fast, etc, etc; otherwise, Doctor Uncle will give you a bitter medicine or a big injection or keep you in the hospital" etc etc. Despite this, they carry the weight of our health throughout our lives.

Being a doctor IS tough. Just look up the sheer size of 'Gray's Anatomy', and you would know what I mean. Want to do your B.A.M.S.? Get to know your Sanskrit real well in addition, okay? True, every academic discipline is tough. The NET JRF/SRF for English Literature, for example, had a success rate of exactly one per cent. Now, with the MCQ pattern, it is slightly better, that is, tops four per cent!

Yet, I would say that a doctor's life is far, far tougher. Unlike a C.A., who is 'playing' (in all senses of the term, and especially the negative ones) with numbers, a doctor is dealing with human lives. In a way, (s)he is learning and de-learning and re-learning every day, and on the job. Don't you believe me? Remember the COVID days? Much worse, try to forget the Mangeshkar Hospital frenzy circa March/April, 2025!

However much crazy jokes may laugh at doctors, they ARE indispensible in life/death situations. They alone can save us often. After parents, if there is any one who can give life, it is doctors. Sure, teachers/lecturers, too, do so at many, many stages of our lives. Even then, no comparison at all with doctors' absolute yeoman services.

Are not there mal-practices in the medical field? Of course, there are! 'Cuts' of all sizes, real to figurative, exist in this field, too. There are many reasons behind such ugly stories, and none of these is justifiable either. Yet, a sincere, a genuine doctor, like a committed teacher, can alone save you, and in the process, (s)he alone can heal both your mind and body.

May be, hence the regret for the sad decline of that wonderful institution called 'family doctor'. Often, patients literally considered them gods incarnate. Faith, anyways, is a great healer. In today's world of super-specialisations and corporate hospital culture, 'doctor uncle' is almost a fairy tale. Believe me, it existed!

Aai wanted me to be a doctor. Once, as a twelve year old, I had painlessly managed to get out a cockroach that had entered her ear canal, following the flower string she was wearing while asleep. She was confident I would make a very good doctor. Her local doctor, too, always said that I have all the makings of a good doctor. Well, during the last decade of her life, I was her caregiver, a close assistant of all her doctors, and now a full-fledged doctor for myself. She has thus saved me all those huge medical bills. Oh, yes, I WILL be a practising doctor, at least of alternative therapy. For sure. Here is wishing myself all the best!

Pratima@Since precision matters when it comes to being a doctor, please note that it is "Doctors' Day", a generic reference, and NOT "doctor's day", an individual indicator. Happy Doctors' Day yet again!

A sincere C.A., too, can be the doctor of the financial health of a family, whether individual or business. May their tribe grow, as Leigh Hunt said of Abou Ben Adham, a genuine, selfless philanthropist!

Multiple Intelligences

 When one treks a difficult route even in the outer Himalayas whose peaks seem to literally scratch the skies, one knows the importance of spatial intelligence. The unpaved road is very narrow, extremely slippery, what with the heavy rains the day before and the horse dung. One false step, and finding the dead body, too, would be impossible. The ravines are craggy, unbelievably deep, and there are wild animals. 

Forget the devotees who have to manage themselves. Look at the kandi-wallahs and/or pittu-wallahs. They carry heavy luggage,  human beings in a cane basket. It has a thick strap made of rayon and cloth. So they are managing their own, the kandi's and the sawari's weight on such a trek. These Nepali Gorakha guys are mostly uneducated. I met one in Mana village who was a B.Sc., had worked in Dubai, too. That is rare. Given the high rate of unemployment in Nepal, they take up this difficult job, unfortunately one of the best examples of spatial intelligence.

Here, safe in Pune, we might associate it with dance. Either way, spatial intelligence proves that there are very many types of intelligences.  Basically, 'intelligence' etymologically is made of the Greek roots  'inter' and 'legere', and the concept means 'to understand', 'to perceive.'

There are very many ways of this understanding, not merely rational, as is accepted these days. There can be emotional, visual, auditory, tactile intelligences, for example, and these can help in various professions.  Auditory intelligence may help a singer and an artist who plays a musical instrument, be it guitar or santoor. Visual intelligence may help a graphic designer, for instance.

Emotional intelligence, the ability to empathise with others, may help in every field, right? If you are a doctor, for example, your patients would love you as is the case of Dr.Imran Patel of Ahmedabad, a paediatrician, whose youtube videos prove amply and most amiably how to vaccinate babies without making them cry a single tear! Simple sweet and adorable are his videos of the cute vaccination. So would e.q. help a teacher.

May be, developing as many varied intelligences would be the best way to overcome the threat posed by the AI! What say?

Pratima@ The shrewd and the manipulative may use emotional sharpness, like they can the body language, too, to beguile others. One must hence learn all such techniques to guard oneself against subtle harassment, right? 

Reg the weird call

 I tried reporting the weird call by the so-called, obviously fake, TRAI to 1930 as it was clear it was a hoax call. 

The response was very patronising. So I have reported the matter to higher authorities, with a willingness to share the recording of the hoax call. 

I am trying to report it to the gov.in@ chakshu.

Better to take immediate action so that the mobile number 91-8292589607 does not bother others, right?

Weird call

 Just now I got a weird call which I immediately recorded (the person was confused when I told her that I am recording it) that there are illegal activities from my phone call (now on the Kesari yatra, God alone knows who would have shared my number, right?) , and within two hours, my phone would be switched off. 

Well, is it due to my status today? It must have rattled some?!? Oh, yes, I kept the door closed till 10.30 a m. because it was cold. There were voices worrying if I was awake/what! Poor souls! 

She was asking me my name which would be obvious to TRAI, right? I am immediately forwarding the recording to the Departments concerned. 

So, you all know what to expect if my phone closed within two hours! 

Well, actually, there is an online seminar from a well-known platform this evening. I AM trying to get back to the pre-Yatra life ASAP! Well, the two hours threat!🤣

Oh, yes, in that weird call, both by the TRAI and to the 1930, I could hear "bhaji" of a street vendor who frequents our lane! Cheap characters! Is the TRAI made of such good-for-nothing cheapi's!!! Poor Modiji and his constant attempt to improve India! Such creeps call themselves citizens! Should be heavily penalized! Have no right to live, surely as independent indians as they unnecessarily bother others!

Pratima@Threats cannot terrorise the clean and the innocent. The crooked should know!

Stampedes

 The road to Kedarnath at Gaurikund, before the actual trek begins, is unbelievably narrow.  Three people cannot really walk side by side. On both the sides are small to big shops and hotels.  The horse-wallahs, one per horse, the doli-wallhs,  four per doli, the pittu-wallas, one per pittu are pushing/squashing their respective clientele on to and/or in to the concerned vehicle. As the clients are mostly unused to such vehicles, their awkwardness adds to the chaos. 

All along a stream of devotees is walking, their backpacks, et al, adding to the congestion! On the way up to Kedarnath, the lead doli-wallah, a young man in his very early twenties told me that this was NOTHING. When the "kapat" opened, he said, the crowd was such that everybody's feet was literally interlocked with someone else's.  Wonder of wonders, stampedes have not so far ruined the dignity of the place. 

When it comes to the 'VIP' Pooja at either Kedarnath or Badrinath, there is terrible pull-n-push by the poojari who are simultaneously invoking the Lord through shlokas and his devotees through angry commands to move on. Some of them refuse to, then literally the army men pull them away by the scruff! Imagine what the scenario must be when it comes to the non-VIP darshan.

The scenario is no different in the Pandharpur Vitthal Gabhara or the entry in to the Tirupati temple in the sanctum sanctorum. There is terrible spatial congestion, each devotee wishing to spend at least a minute there, the administration cruelly pushing them past. Fights, falls, full blast (in)human drama!

Why are there always stampede tragedies? Who is to blame? The excited but unruly hoards and hoards of devotees? The poojari's? The temple administration? The fame and name of a place? The last one I would not agree with because every local Mahadev temple, for example, follows the same pattern of near-stampede on every Shravan Somwar.  

I think, we MUST teach ourselves discipline and civic sense. There should be a proper row, no VIP darshan, one person at a time for a second, all that is to be offered to the Lord directly either at the platform by the administration or in the hands of the poojari, both of whom do the needful in the most disciplined way, and then hopefully the near-stampede possibility would be avoided.

Our temples are great. We Must avoid unruly and unclean behaviour. Neither stampedes nor dirty filth, absolutely the human contribution, and clearly the sore spots in a pilgrimage, can ruin their grandeur or holiness!

Pratima@Civic sense, discipline, cleanliness are the plinth of piety.