The world is a theater

 A stage! That is how Shakespeare described life.  His much anthologised "The Seven Stages" must have been a text at some stage of the 'English Studies' aspect of your academic career, right?

Our blog today uses a similar metaphor, but slightly differently. To commemorate the recently celebrated 'World Theater Day', on March 27 to be precise, let us analyse how theater operates actually, every moment, every where. 

Meet anybody anywhere. You feel you are meeting a role and a mask. Sometimes, for instance, this role and mask could be that of a relative, of  a colleague; why, these days even students are busy playing a defined role, too. It is both amusing and depressing to see how the role and the mask consume the human being beneath.

In a way, that is the tragedy of treating life as a theater.  In the 'play' for amusement, may be, for edification, too, there is artifice. It is artistic. It opens up the 'hamartia', the tragic fault in the main character which leads to the downfall. An example could be Othello's jealousy and his self-doubts which are fanned by Iago's manipulation.

In the 'stage(d)' version, there is catharsis, too. That is to say, for those three hours, we can identify with the characters, feel both pains and pleasures vicariously, learn from the faux pas of the characters, and go home happily, having learnt a lesson or two.

In real life, unlike the reel one unfolding on the stage, the daggers drawn are invisible, but for real. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between a hero and a villain, eh, between a friend and/or a foe as most people you meet are busy playing a role to merely their own advantage. Such manipulations make comedies bitter and tragedies trenchant in that showmanship called 'acting' (up) in real life. The theater here is thematics that has a plot that is most crudely commercial, badly business-like, meanly money -minded, and  forever!

Who watches a play these days, they say. I am not so sure. Why, life itself is full of theatrics!No wonder, Shakespeare's Hamlet felt that plays 'hold, as if, a mirror up to nature"!

Pratima@ Theater, unlike reading a novel/a poem, is a group activity, whether it be a comedy or a tragedy. The farce called life has masks that are most alienating! That is, in fact, comically the greatest trajedy! 

Health IS Wealth!

 1948 was the year.  April 7 was the day.  Yes, that was the day the World Health Organisation was floated. Ever since, the day is known as the 'world health day'. 

Currently health is wealth for sure, but less for an individual, and more for an industry or two known as the Pharma/pharmaceutical industry, the food and beverages industry, the nutrition.. industry, the medical industry , especially its alternative version. 

Well, health is wealth these days. Given  food habits and the almost totally sedentary lifestyle, multiple are the 'dis-eases'.  Very many futures, totally unsteady, are victims of conditions such as stress disorders, panic attacks,  suicidal tendencies, and what have you.

No wonder, holistic health is the panacea. Often, it is merely placebo though. Even then, it is better than ill healths of many varieties. Long live the day, but let 'dis-eases' disappear as if magically!

Pratima@ Let health be the wealth of individuals, not of related industries!

Tariff pe tariff!

 Remember that famous one-liner by Sunny Deol of the "dhai kilo ka hath" fame? Well, just change it a little, and it describes real well the muscleman of international politics. Yes, you read it right. 'Don' Trump! And his "tariff pe tariff"!

Trump came to power with the MAGA promise to his vote bank. This "tariff" war that he has waged against the whole world is to appease his group of voters. His argument is apparently simple. America has been 'exim' targetted. Our, American, products are levied more when we export them, while we charge less when we import any. Tit for tat henceforth!

There is, of course, much much more to the trade war that has inevitably resulted. Sure, Americans have to line up for stuff as basic as toilet paper because of the sureshot backfire tariff by the rest of the world. America, too, is going to face scarcity and price rise.

That, of course, would be a temporary phase. America is absolutely aware of its military might. The gold reserves it has, and the resultant invincibility of the dollar as an international currency are "Trump" cards, anyways. So the isolationist strategy would  be protectionism for the local, native, American industry, a cushion cover to grow, and fast. Thus, in the process, will America be great again.

How about the rest of the world? Is a new 1929 Great Depression looming large on the horizon? Forget the share markets, even the farm produce and the industrial products are at stake. China, the hub of not merely the raw material but of processed products (however dishy/dicey the quality may be, as the collapsing skyscrapers disaster due to the recent most earthquake proved yet again) every which way has already entered the fray!

As for India, the service industry such as the I/T, is sure to take a huge beating. America may not have the required trained manpower. But the value of the Indian manpower for sure would be halved. America, moreover, is insistent on the deportation of even the legal immigrants. Tough negotiations ahead, in brief.

As it is, America provides huge subsidies to its farmers. As a result, in addition to the I/T turf, India would have to guard its agri-products market as well. May be, the "Make in India" kind of programmes also need to be re-energised. Like China, India must present itself as the best place for the production process. Who knows? There might be a huge opportunity hiding in this difficulty!

Regional coalitions has to be another solution. In fact, the U.S. is wary of the BRICS floating an alternative currency. Such de-dollar-isation is America's real worry! That could be the solution, too, to the current impasse. The total failure of sanctions against Russia, however, should show that such tricks do vanishing the best! Anyways, we all know who all are America's coalition buddies, right?

Tough, in brief, is the future. Later this year, when America meets India at the negotiation table, sure our armour would have no chinks in it either. Let MAGA not hinder MIGA, neither the 'let the rest of the world be great, too' mo(ve)ments!

Pratima@The earthquake that the trade war has released is truly high on every scale. Equally unpredictable it is! Hope, it does not release impossible tsunamis in its wake!

Shri Ram

 Like most expressions and events these days, 'Shri Ram', too, is hyper politicised. In that fray called politicking, the opponents of the BJP employ its (mis)uses to bash up their adversaries. Why get in to those deep-n-dark waters?  Well, the recent Mangeshkar incident proves how half truths lacerated with emotional drama can be used to incite public emotions, and ignite hatreds.  

On a pious occasion such as the Ram Navami, why get in to such ugly meanness-es? I at all remembered the politicisation of 'Shri Ram' because the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, it should be kept in mind, is a movement (as proven with/thorough extremely reliable sources by such committed scholars as Dr. Meenakshi Jain) that continued for centuries to culminate in 2024.

In other words, beyond petty party politics, Ram is a concept that has allured Indians, and many, many more beyond the bounds of the Indian territory. For generations, Shri Ram (right now I do not want to get in to that 'myth versus history' debate regarding the Ram Katha) has stood for all that is the best, the ideal, the perfect.

Shri Rama is the ideal son, the best brother, the most loving husband. Read Bhavbhuti's "Uttar Ram Charitra" to understand in a complex way the most debatable act in Shri Rama's otherwise impeccable persona. The play would convince you of his gentleness even in that apparently cruellest act. 

An ideal king, Shri Ram is kindness personified even with animals, trees, the adivasi's. Countless examples thereof can be provided from the 'Valmiki Ramayana'. In such inclusivity lies his true divinity. Why, he even respects, treats with due reverence his enemy, Ravana!

In brief, Shri Ram is the moniker for a way of being, for a mode of existence that is all that is wise, just and gentle. In our era that is always on the automated self-destruction mode (what with the climate change, in close alliance with the imminent Third/Atomic War  threatening our very existence), Shri Ram is an ideal that promises an eternal bond of togetherness, of communion with all the modes of creation, of peace and contentment.

Pratima@Both my parents revered Shri Ram. "RamRaksha" was Aai's utmost favourite stotra. As for Papa, his very name reflected such respect, and, in a way that I find most heart-warming, he always tried to live up to it.

Life matters!

 You must have heard of/read about that tragic case of a young mother dying because a well-known hospital did not admit her as a patient on time! Extremely tragic indeed! May her soul rest in peace! May her twins grow up to be  healthy!

Beyond this particular case, this incident raises a lot of  issues that I would like to address here. Yes, all big hospitals are money-minded. I would even go a step ahead, and argue that the "executive" programmes in cahoot with the insurance companies (who are really bothersome when it comes to the actual bill settlements ) can be the culprits.

Medical tourism that necessitates a certain set-up might make hospitals mean money machines. Yet another cause could be excessive specialisation in the medical field, and the simultaneous death of that institution called the "family doctor".

Despite all these stark realities, I would like to assert that my experience with the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital is truly wholesome. As Sanju had registered Aai as a geriatric patient there, I used to be quite a regular there as Aai's immedite caregiver from the family, and for almost more than fifteen years. I would assert that the DM does care! Aai's gerontologist, Dr. Tamane, treated Aai as if she were a relative. Despite it being a big hospital, there was a personal touch at almost all patient care levels.

Well, unhappily, I would have to maintain that, may be, the newer set of nurses and doctors whom I had the misfortune of meeting during Aai's last hospitalisation there in January-February, 2021 was not as amicable. But the original old-timers ARE fabulous. Why, not only Dr Tamane's assistant doctors, even the nurses would greet me if we met accidentally. 

About this unfortunate event, could I ask a few questions? If the poor mother-to-be was in acute labour, why was she not taken to her regular gynaecologist? Was she registered with the Mangeshkar hospital during her pregnancy and for her delivery? 

Why was she taken to the far away Surya Hospital, if the newspaper reports are to be believed? I am sure that there must be any number of multi-speciality as well as regular gynac-and-obstetrics hospitals around, and on the way, right? 

Sure, every hospital must be accountable. This is just to state that I always found the Deenanath to be considerate and compassionate. Hence it hurts to read reports trashing it!

Pratima@ Life matters! Death is tragic beyond words. Doctors are gods. Can they though help a patient who reaches the hospital too late? 

Compound Existence

 Hope you remember the school days, and especially the grammar classes. Oh, yes, before I broach our theme today, let me assert an important point of view. People typically argue that they are weak as far as English goes (as if their Marathi is any good! But that is a totally different issue altogether.) because they studied in Marathi Medium schools. Well, better not to forget that it is only in Marathi Medium schools that English grammar is taught with utmost rigour!

In a way, all this discussion leads to the theme today. Well, English IS one of the easiest languages in the whole world. So let us get back to its grammar. Remember complex and compound sentences? A complex sentence has inter-dependent parts such as the main and the subordinate clause(s), while a compound sentence is a free-wheeling structure.

A compound sentence would have none of the if/whether conditions. Neither does it change the very structure of the subordinated clause. It allows all its elements to be as they originally were, and, most importantly, all are equally important, without any hierarchiasation.

In my opinion, this is the way life should be! Let us look at the mother tongue versus English debate, for instance. You cannot subordinate one to the other. Both are equally important in their own ways, in their own spheres. They cannot be, and must not be, treated as mutually exclusive. In fact, even a foreign language should not looked at disdainfully.

Look at the world realities today if you want to know what I mean. Recently the President of a Latin-American country was in Delhi. Given the region/country collaborations that constantly keep on re-designing themselves, currently the GOI seems to have the "Look Latin-America way" policy. Can Spanish be irrelevant then?

In other words, just as much as I love Sanskrit, irrespective of whether, or not, it is useful for computers, equally important it is that I appreciate English and other foreign languages at least for their utilitarian value.

 In the chorus against the "Macaulay Putra's/Putri's", it is important that we better not forget that contexts today are vastly different from what they were when the notorious "Minutes" (like the "Manusmriti", often quoted without having actually read a line therein?!?) were drafted.

In other words, a compound attitude is necessary. If I have such a compound opinion, I would neither glorify Sanskrit or the mother tongue in an opinionated way, nor would I demean English or any other foreign language in a frenzied way. 

Honestly, rabid extremism is always a problem. I must, and I genuinely do, love and revere my culture, my civilisational values, and oh, yes, my religion/varna/caste as well. I follow these most reverentially. That process, however, does not stop me from respecting the perspective wherein my country, my culture, my history are inter-woven with(in) the larger paradigms.

Israel, the oft-quoted example, does not dismiss English either. It does have interesting alliance patterns. Anyways, in the post-IMF and post-WB realities, not to forget the LPG perspectives, wherein even the mighty America is steeped hugely in debt, to be closely followed by China and many European nations, insularity is impossible by definition. 

Hence my assertion that the compound way of existing, wherein all the elements/ingredients/factors are important in an equi-distant way, works better, both in individual lives and in narratives of nations!

Pratima@Actually a speech at Bangalore makes me come up with this discussion. I cannot quote it though as the video is suddenly declared "private"! Incidentally, compound interest, too, grows exponentially!

Marked by abscence!

 Very very very rare, truly rare is their appearance. If they appear at all, it should be celebration times indeed! Who do you think I am talking about? Celebrities from the sports arena who are extremely busy and quite hard-working? Business tycoons much much 'more busier' than the tinsel stars, and are absolutely hard-working? Nope!

I am talking about students being present in their UG, that is, under-graduate, classrooms. They are truly like comets! That is to say, they appear just once in some million/zillion years! Literally!

Go to any Arts and/or Commerce college. Classroom after classroom would be empty, absolutely vacant! There might be some resilient teachers who WOULD teach, even if only one student chooses to grace the occasion. 

Mostly otherwise, nobody is concerned, neither the authorities, nor the teachers, least of all the students! I find their parents most interesting. (Why) Are not they worried about what their wards do? Do not they talk to their children about their studies, their progress, the difficulties (not merely academic) that they face?

Let me give you a few examples to prove my point. I used to teach in a famous Arts/Commerce/Science college. The first lecture used to be at 7.30 in the morning. In the whole big building, most often, it used to be just my Special Subject students and I! 

The situation continues to be the same, year after year, decade after decade. The worst profile is of foreign language lectures in commerce colleges. To begin with, commerce students, whose future careers are going to be people sensitive, need languages hugely.

But their Marathi (or even Hindi) itself is nothing to write home about. Their awful English would be one of the major reasons the British would never ever dare to colonise India again! They cannot write two consecutive sentences correctly, neither in Marathi nor in English!

Now such students join the German classroom. They are learning a new language, literally from the ABCD. But they never attend lectures! Well, learning a foreign language is like a chain. If a chain snaps at one point, the entire chain is kaputt. Similarly, miss one lecture, and the chain of learning would snap. Obviously, an entire lecture cannot be repeated, though a quick revision is always the starting point of the next lecture.

Yet another point with a foreign language is that it is not used beyond the four walls of the classroom. So per day some fifteen to twenty minutes of practice is necesary back at home. Commerce lectures get over at 10.30, tops 12 on some days. The entire day is theirs to spend any which way. But they never touch the book till the next lecture, and it is a mercy if they get the book along! Keep extra sheets in the Xerox section, send message after message on the WhatsApp group; very few, those who attend lectures regularly, would bother to do the needful.

The teacher explains line by line, word by word. The teacher uses Marathi/Hindi to explain each and every word and grammatical concept. The teacher makes it utmost interesting through their own constant participation.  The teacher gives umpteen examples to explain the paper pattern, the MCQ test structure. Only some ten students (of the forty-ish class strength) , who are rather regular, benefit! 

Students, who have not attended even a single lecture, are under the impression that they can mug up the night before. That idea is WRONG, but it might be feasible/possible for a subject they would have studied for a couple of years, but surely not for a language whose letters of the alphabet they did not know till the academic year began.

Much worse are students who had a smattering of the foreign language in the junior college/school. They have forgotten everything, but they believe boastfully that they know, and can manage, every thing! One of the students who brandished his cent per cent marks (how he got them is a wonder!) at the SYJC level could not manage the simple most Akkusativ case, but he generally behaved, whenever/if he turned up at all, as if Goethe was his menial!

The most amazing are the people around who organise all, and every, possible extra-curricular activities (and practice sessions) at the same time as the foreign language lectures. Any number of students report back the wonderful comments such worthies make about learning a foreign language. Of course, one tries to convince the students that the worthies did not mean it that way. But they do know, right? How can you thus persuade to the contrary a young man/woman of nineteen years, right?

As a result, students expect that the paper be indirectly leaked. To your face, they tell you the names of other teachers who do it, and regularly. They rattle off names of teachers who give them the attendance sheets to sign on the day of the MCQ exam to process/prove cent per cent attendance. The only possible response you have is 'mum is the word'! No wonder, students just expect 'timepass' fun, and not learning, in classes if they attend at all!

And we talk of the demographic dividend!!!

Pratima@ Marked by absence is the authenticity, the sincerity, the accountability of such 'academics' if it at all be so called!