Grumpy n ole Mr. Trump?

 Mr. Trump! An ole grump he may appear to be. There are namesake old movies called 'Mr. Grump' which laugh at a pair of extremely old neighbours. These two do not at all think, but forever act n talk. Since it is a movie or two, their crazy old capers do not harm. Instead we laugh at their childish crankiness in the reels.

I refuse to believe that the Mr. Trump our real world is currently afflicted with (at present with a much pre-decided pause, worth it though!) is one such eccentric. Do not you believe me? Well, it seems, like a good director (remember, he was in to show business?), he even wrote the message the Pakistan P. M. was to share with the whole wide world. Of course, our dear old neighbour being what he is, he copy-pasted the draft, making a clown of himself in front of the whole world! 

Does not it, however, show what a smarty pants Ole Donald is? I refuse to believe silly tirades written by extremely narcissistic intellectuals getting old who revel in the clap-clap-clap from their respective echo chambers. Such people would viciously attack you if you just dare to ask them about a title they wrongly quoted or to question their current pet peeve. But they would call Trump brainless megalomaniac!

I do not think Mr.Trump is an old fool publically peeing in his diapers as such public intellectuals paint him to be. In my opinion, he is a shrewd businessman who knows very well how to negotiate, nay, manipulate, a transaction to his advantage!

Sure, a leader (especially THE so-called 'Potus') should be a statesman. That is the idea(l). Reality, as we know too very well, however, is vastly different! Look at any of the major events in the Trump regime so far. He has always behaved like a wily shrewd businessman which he basically, anyways, is. 

Remember how he negotiated the Nobel Peace prize? The exchange rate with the current winnie (better term for the lady!) was the raided Venezuelan president and his wife whose whereabouts are currently in some deep vault, right? 

Remember how he threw a terrible feat when the Ukraine president did not accept his terms and conditions? Yes, there IS a method in his so-called madness. He is treating (body) politic(s) as  a trade deal! Often such business moguls throw a mock tantrum to get the other side of the negotiating table accede to their terms and conditions. 

Ancient civilizations, however, have their own stipulations! Yet, for the sake of all children of all gods (and, not only for the children of Iran and Palestine as sensitive intellectuals would have it!),  let us all hope n pray, the Americans would think beyond the mid-term elections, and Iran beyond the non-existent uranium well-hidden in the tunnels where the U. S. army searched for one lone pilot! 

Oh, Lord, forgive not all pretences, because all of them know what they are doing, however much they may give it big big and cute sounding names!

Health is all

 'King Lear', Shakespeare's most tragic play full of all possible human sufferings, ends with 'ripeness is all'.  The title of our blog today is a take on this quote. On this World Health Day, our blog believes, moreover, that a ripe, that is, a mature, look at health is all. 

What is health? Is it a gym-trained/toned bod? Yes and no. Well, such a body most often is all muscle n no mind, protein packed, and more a show-off. 

Better hence might be alternative therapies for health such as yoga. Yoga, for instance, believes in a balance of body and mind. By no means are yoga asanas mere physical exercises. Supplemented they are by a particular food and supported they are by pranayama, the breath control, though not merely the fab, trendy way which the market, especially overseas, has popularised it. 

Health is in a way closely associated with the soul. Such inner fulfilment depends on better relationships, especially with the self, overlooked most often in our era of selfies and group-fies and in the obsession with the MNC driven life style full of monies and stress to be avoided through good company and better life style. 

I am not sure though that the soul is thus satisfied. It needs a close connect with nature, with creativity, with some larger purpose, with one's duties to self and to others, especially the immediate family, often taken for granted, and for a ride. 

In other words, health is not merely eating an apple a day so as to keep away the medical fraternity, often now sold to corporate packages, heavy duty latest gadgets, et al. Missing is the friendly touch of the family doctor whose very presence half healed the patient. 

What is health then? Often the best answer would be the Vaidic negation which asserts,  "naiti, naiti, naiti," "n iti!", not this, in brief. Is health wellness, though that, too, is a marketing funda! Health is not mere humour, not mere 'happiness'. Is it stress management, despite and especially during the AI-driven days! Anxieties, worries, stress, potions n tablets! What indeed is health? Faith? Of what sort? Oh, yes, better avoid this 'baba', that 'buwa' and some sect! Soiled superstitions sullying souls!

i suppose, health is getting to know better one's self, body, mind, soul, togetherness-es, responsibilities to self and others. I think, health is realising that given the end of it all, that is, death, which could be so near n not very far, living the limited breaths allotted to us most creatively, joyously, and in fullness. What say?

Pratima@Health in fact is the only wealth. So Seneca asserted ages ago.

Quote of the day:                                                         "Your body hears everything your mind says,”  explains Naomi Judd.

Word of the day: health                                                 According to the World Health Organization,  health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease, focusing on active, functional living. Maintaining good health involves a balanced diet, regular exercise, adequate rest, and strong social connections. It is a vital resource for everyday life, promoting longevity and the ability to manage stress. 

Brain Matters

   A.C. Doyle whose excellent creation, Sherlock Holmes whom most all love, was himself a doctor. Hence the quote "I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is mere appendix" is not a mere stylistic smart. In a way, it is the nutshell truth about human existence. 

Yes, brain matters, and the most. Only when the brain is dead is an individual taken off all life support. Hence this blog post about brain matters. We are going to briefly look at epilepsy, autism and Down's Syndrome because such awareness is necessary. This is the Autism Awareness week, while very recently was celebrated the world epilepsy day. 

Why these dis-eases? Certain causes are known, while more are being explored still. Epilepsy, a neurological disorder, is in a way an off-shoot of excessive electrical discharges in the brain cells. Often caused due to traumatic head injury, especially during very early childhood, such as the baby falling off the bed/cradle, like the other two, the cause could be perinatal  as well.

The perinatal condition refers to the temporary lack of oxygen supply to the baby's brain during the birth process. Autism and Down's Syndrome are often associated with genetic issues, too. Autism, for example, is caused by the 'fragile X syndrome', while Down's Syndrome is the result of an extra copy of Chromosome 21. 

The mother's age and health matter, too. Late pregnancy, shooting blood pressure and/or diabetes during pregnancy, infections during pregnancy are often cited as possible causes behind these dis-eases.

Where lies the cure? I suppose, first and foremost, in calmly accepting the reality. Luckily, these days, there are very few families, at least in cities, who would associate such conditions with a curse or divine anger, et al. Yes, the much debated urbanisation can occasionally be actually good, right?!? 

Moderate exercise, balanced diet, home-cooked food, regular dosage of required medication are the base of the therapy. A person with epilepsy can lead an extremely normal life, especially by avoiding the triggers. As for autism and the DS, some light professional training which can keep the lifelong patient permanently but easily occupied is necessary.

Similarly, parents must take clear cognizance of who would look after them during their adulthood, especially after the parents themselves are no more. When I wrote an article on  the DS and autism for the 'New Indian Express', I visited an institution which, on the lines of the old age home, took care of such adults who were thus provided with all basic amenities and necessities, including some light occupation. The Director of this institute was insistent that parents clearly write their will!

Necessary, I suppose, given the heartless world without soul where even the so-called normal are not treated decently! At times, the autism and DS patients might have a gift for a particular vocation. Here is hoping that it is detected and supported soon!

Pratima@ It is common knowledge these days that there are multiple intelligences. May be, if a person has better spatial/visual/auditory/kinetic intelligence, hope it is recognised and supported at the earliest, which might change the very direction  of many lives.

Quote of the day:                                                           "Brain health is not a destination, but a process. How you drive matters, not where you are going," says Noam Shpancev.

Word of the day: brain                                              The brain is the complex, three-pound master organ of the central nervous system that controls all body functions, emotions, and thoughts. The brain is encased in the skull and  is protected by membranes called meninges, which are bathed in cerebrospinal fluid. 

The brain comprises the cerebrum (cognition/motion), cerebellum (balance/coordination), and brainstem (involuntary functions), acting as a central processor for sensory input which leads to cognition, thought, sensory processing and motor control which initiates voluntary movement and coordinates balance. The main cause behind human behavior and emotions, often it is compared with a computer.

Sacrificial Goat!

  Yes, I do know the term is "sacrificial lamb". There is a lovely description of this "divine"(!) spectacle in Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn". Yet what our blog is today going to discuss hardly deserves the sanctity traditionally associated with the sacrificial lamb. Anyways, personally, I am absolutely against any animal sacrifice. 

Yet the horror we are going to discuss needs the term. Hence the title. Actually, I do know that these poor animals are very sensitive. Just behind our backyard, in the chawl, stayed a family who kept a goat. I used to feed the kid banana, and all other such extremely edible, leaves from our garden. He used to recognise my voice from some fifteen feet away. On the day before Eid, he knew instinctively what was going to happen to him. 

He was fed some soporific. Till he could keep his eyes open, he kept on staring at me, and chewing the banana leaves as cud. I was ready to buy him off from the owner, and give him total freedom in a forest. My Muslim colleague felt that such a move would cause a communal riot. So I had to keep quiet, though I almost cried my eyes out. 

Next year, that family got a nanny goat who had three kids, and she was herself a little lame. She would complain to me, creating a huge ruckus if any one of her kids was taken away from her sight. I had to console her not to worry, and that all was well. Believe me, she would whimper, but calm down. In brief, my sympathies are with any/every goat, gender/age being no bar.

Yet I am going to use that expression, given the theme of our blog today. Yes, let us discuss the sordid saga of Kharat. No, I have not watched any of the videos. I possibly cannot even imagine watching any such trash. 

Yet every newspaper, each YouTube has the gory deeds in sordid details. Why, our own C.M., otherwise a genuinely sensible man, mentioned Kharat's horrific activities in graphic details, it seems, in the Vidhan Sabha, from whence it jumped even on to college campuses where students' language is anyways awful, full of ugly expletives, and so on. Remember the theme of our blog yesterday? 

Well, to come back to that horror called Kharat, based on what is reported, I feel that currently he is used as the sacrificial goat so that everybody else involved can appear squeaky clean. 

Let us begin with women. Even a virgin has an intuitive inkling when a man is "thinking" in an ugly way about her. In Kharat's case, the so-called victims are all much married women with children. Tough to believe their "sixth sense" did not warn them. How come none of them reported to their families about some ugly drink?

I refuse to believe that they could not tell their families/husbands. These very wives and daughters-in-law would fight their throats hoarse/dry over minor most issues! True, there might have been hypnotism. Yet why would they return to such an ugly place the nth time? Is it the case that they, too, wanted all the benefits, and hence had a silent, subtle approval of/agreement with the entire process? 

Look at the VIP's. Sure just a pic cannot incriminate anyone, especially in the AI era today which makes any "photoshop" blush, given its 're-creation-al' abilities! Yet how could very many ministers, given the reach and the power they have, not know that weirdo? After such knowledge, what faith!?! 

Hence the niggling doubt that ALL involved were perfectly aware of what they were participating in. They most probably wanted to reap the benefits of such horror rituals. Now that all is exposed, to prove themselves clean, they are pretending innocence! 

Hence that awful godman(!!!) appears to be a sacrificial goat, conveniently carrying all the blame! Given the staggering financial deals, tough it is to believe that the involved were not aware of all the murky muck. 

That social eye sore, Kharat, is like the Walya figure whom Narada meets in the forest! His wife has reportedly run away, all the mean and mighty have deserted him, all his former devotees darken his reputation. All behave as if all of them, at least in their late twenties, were innocence personified whom the wicked wretch worked in! 

No, absolutely NO sympathies for the crook. Yet this is just to wonder at the hypocrisy and the washing off hands of all the involved. Hence the title of our blog!

Pratima@ 'A saint till caught' seems to be the mantra of such goings-on. Is it the work of superstition? Tough to believe! Generally, the rural folks are street smart when it comes to the ways of the world! They have quite some time on their hand to gossip about the goings-on, imaginary and/or real. I do have hence the suspicion that ALL the involved knew what was up, willingly joined in, and now that all that trash has spilled over out in public, they are pretending to be victims! Hence the title of the blog! 

Quote of the day:                                                         'Better not to play a victim to the circumstances you yourself created!'                                           Based on an Instragram post quoted on the Google. 

Word of the day: fake                                                  Fake refers to something not genuine, intended to deceive by imitating something real, or the act of simulating/forging something. It covers counterfeit objects (e.g., fake art), fraudulent actions (e.g., faking a signature), and bogus imposters like Kharat and his sham followers. 

Whose fault at all?

 My lecture was on. Some sixty to seventy students. Not a bad number at all, especially in the second semester. I was teaching a poem. Somebody banged on the door hard. Furious, she was fuming. Some parent. Her very style, disturbing thus an on-going lecture, told a lot about her, even if she must have been so egged on by someone. 

I told her to wait it out for five minutes more, as the lecture would get over then. Most reluctantly she agreed. After the lecture, I found out that she felt her son should get more marks. I chose to show her his answer sheet. 

Then she burst out, "Oh, with such a paper, I would have given him minus marks." Next I showed her the attendance sheets. His was nil. Then she whimpered once. Almost in tears, she said, "He leaves home for college. Where all I can keep an eye?" Next she blamed the poor husband whose plight one could undestand, given her behaviour. 

Somehow I consoled her, asking her to send her son to meet me. He came, and actually said that he was so glad that his mom told him that his English teacher told her not to scold him. I asked him to appear for the re-exam, guided him about how to prepare for the exam. So the chapter, designed to surefire trap me, ended quite satisfactorily for me. 

Ever since I have repeatedly thought about who is possibly responsible for students' failure? Mothers who tell sons it is okay, nay, fun, to mock, ridicule, insult elders just because they are not hi-fi fashionable? Mothers who tell sons that Standard XI is for fun and enjoyment? If the base is weak, how would the studies progress at all, right? 

Mothers who egg on sons to be 'modern' and indulge in drinking, doing drugs, speeding, being 'friendly' with girls? Mothers who quite openly support their sons' baiting? Mothers who do not stop sons from forming bad friendship, instead, stupidly encourage it under the garb of 'openness'?

Who would harness such negative energy? Such kind of 'modern', 'liberated' women are so drunk on 'they alone, topmost, besides them, their parental household, being RIGHT' that the husband and his family have no other alternative but to keep quiet because anyways, the conveniently over-indulgent woman would not listen, instead would stage a full scale drama? 

Whose fault it is indeed when futures are thus darkened? Like not upskilling oneself these days, even when the whole world is chattering about job loss otherwise! Felt it necessary to pen it all because yesterday had the misfortune of meeting a student who had a terrible accident due to over-speeding, obviously under the influence of we all know what! 

Pratima@ Remembered yet again the story of the thief who in an open court bit his mother's ear as she had indulgently laughed at his erstwhile 'simple, simple' misadventures!!! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "What a mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin, " says Henry Ward Beecher. 

Word of the day: Discipline                                       Discipline is the practice of training oneself or others to obey rules, maintain order, and follow a structured approach to achieve goals, thus enabling consistency, self-control, and the overcoming of procrastination. Actually, it is a form of self-love, and is essential for personal, professional, and academic success. 

And so he plays his part

  Everybody, I am sure, without exception, would place the line that makes the title of our blog today. Yes, it is penned by Shakespeare. It is from Act II, Scene VI of "As you like it". "Why should everyone know it? We are not in to English Literature." Is that your defense? Very weak, let me you tell you, because there are certain texts from the field of Eng Lit that trail you like a shadow.

The best two examples of such forever texts that haunt you throughout your school/college days are "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth and "All the world is a stage" by William Shakespeare. You meet them repeatedly in your scholastic career; in fact, so often that once one of my PG students asked me most innocently if Wordsworth wrote only one poem. 

Shakespeare was saved from such embarassing reductionism because I was teaching "Elizabethan Literature" to her batch. Well, you know how teachers of literature after all are. She got an earful of a detailed demo of how the same text would yield different meanings at different 'stages'. Sure the passionate exposition must have entered that space between the two ears because, thereafter, she never bunked a single lecture. 

Well, that oft anthologised Shakespearean excerpt describes the fifth stage, the justice or the judge, which ends with the line that is our title today. This specimen has 'a fair round belly.' It is 'lined with good capon' which is a wonderful comment on his total corruption, despite 'the eyes severe' and 'wise saws' and 'modern instances' which is a superb mock at his hypocrisy. 

Why remember all that jazz today? Have not we suffered enough during our school/college days? Are these your queries? Well, the Shakespearean judge/justice always reminds me of Pontius Pilate who, despite knowing the rank lies, ordered Jesus to be crucified, and that, too, between two criminals, two thieves. He conveniently justified himself, too, as somebody who thus avoided a riot that was not to be!

In my opinion, a Pontius Pilate always hides inside most human hearts. Whenever we overlook, ignore, avoid the obvious truth, be it a minor instance or a major issue, the Pontius Pilate in us overpowers the innocent cleanliness in us with "modern saws", the brazen half-truths, lies and self-justifications, and so much so that the only assertion/prayer possible, absolutely unlike Jesus', is " forgive  not, Oh, Lord, such all" because "they perfectly very well know what they are doing"! 

Pratima@ The Good Friday is as much about how to be angelic like Jesus, as it is subtly about how not to be a Pontius Pilate because it kills all that is human(e) in hearts! 

Quote of the day:                                                          "No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it," asserted Stefan Zweig, one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. 

Word of the day: sanctity                                        Sanctity refers to the state of being  sacred, or inviolable, often implying supreme importance or worth and immense respect. 

A Distinct Interpretation of the Heavenly Hanuman

 Chaitra Pournima is unique for us, the Hindu's. It is centrally significant for both, the Dutt disciples and the Hanuman devotees. As the occasion is thus doubly important, and as typical interpretations are aplenty, let us try something different, distinct, distinguished. 

Let us today briefly discuss "El mono gramático", a 1970 Spanish prose-poem cum reflections on literature, language, meaning making among other such issues important for creative analysis and criticism. It is written by Octavio Paz. He wrote it when he was the Mexican ambassador to India.

In a way, it has aspects of the travelogue genre. Paz describes his journey to Galta, a city near Jaipur, which has ruins of ancient temples, with lots of monkeys around. Thence he takes a mental flight to Hanuman's mythic leap to Lanka.

What begins as an exploration of space, time, decay and permanence/fixity, becomes a deep look at language, too. Is language a god given structure, signified in this text by Hanuman?

In this prose-poem, Hanuman is presented as the ninth grammarian, a master of language, a bridge between the "shashtras"  that is, the sacred scriptures and the unprocessed, non-refined thought.

In other words, Hanuman creates order out of chaos. Yet, given the meandering monkeys in Galta, unmistakable is the fact that once upon a time, at least in his childhood days, he was a mere monkey, too, wildly jumping from branch to tree. Using this as a metaphor, Paz wonders if language is the rigid grammar (Hanuman) or the (simian) wild, free, meaning making activity. Thus he proceeds to his core idea of how to make meaning, how to create a poem, a literary text. 

Interesting ideas! Hence i thought, i would try n present them in brief. Hope your mental wheels have started whirring at the supersonic speed at which Hanuman flew and burnt everything throughout the golden Lanka, the symbol of rigid egotism. Thus let us re-turn to the religious layer of meaning making. Happy Chaitra Pournima!

Pratima@ On this Pournima day, Pune was literally pulversied by torrential rains that lasted for almost an hour. Absolutely MAD rains here! Simply unbelievable!! Just lashing the cityscape!!! Horrible thunder and lightning!!!! Many roads turned to rivers, many low lying areas in to temporary lakes!!!!!

Aai would have been terribly frightened. She did not exactly like thunder and lightening, phenomena which i absolutely adore. She used to find monkey-ish my capers to watch the thunder and lightening.

Once, after conducting a PG lecture, I had walked back home through such a storm. When I presented to her my grand adventures of walking through the rain-dimmed vast expanse of the institute ground, she felt worried, and described the lightening in the rural areas, and was agitated by the possible dangers.                                                                                                 Sweet sentimentality of a loving mother, much missed!

Quote of the day:                                                           "I always like walking in the rain. No one can then see me crying," states Charlie Chaplin.

Word of the day: Criticism                                        Criticism, says the dictionary, is the act of evaluating, analyzing, or expressing judgment on the merits and faults of someone or something, ranging from constructive, improvement-oriented feedback to negative fault-finding. It is essential for artistic, literary, and intellectual discourse, focusing on providing reasoned judgment, interpretation, and analysis.