A book exhibition

 Books are now noteworthy due to their absence. Yes, reading has taken an absolute back seat. The  basic attention span required for reading is now a thing of the past. In our A.I.-enabled, or is it absolutely alien-ated, era, who wants to read? That does hurt a bibliophile.

Well, you love research. Seminar after conference, dedicated, mind you, to the publication process, has "experts" advising you to use the ChatGPT for " literature review"! In other words, the A.I. reads, the A.I. summarises, and the future 're-searcher' is reduced to a kid who waits 'two minutes' for the A.I.-d! 

Actually reading helps in very many ways. Yet when the allure of the colourful screen beckons, back seat get the plain pages, right? Hence the need for book exhibitions which, too, these days are seen scenery. In other words, an event they, too, are. 

Without fail, there would be a selfie point or two, and cosy kiosks for a cuppa. That is okay, though. At least, youngsters, who would otherwise never venture near a library or avoid a bookshop as if it is the Corona ward, actually see the colours, the shapes and the sizes of books, even if most would be of the DIY or "how to" variety! Even then unmistakably flutters, like the pages of unread books, the hope that books would survive, despite the A.I. (r)evolution! Long live book exhibitions! 

Pratima@ Recently I read a news item that many European countries have chosen to reduce the screen time of school children. Books, notebooks, abacus, slates are back, it seems. No mean achievement for sure. How long the 'fad' would last, I am not sure! 

Quote of the day:                                                            "Books are uniquely portable magic," says Stephen King.

Word of the day: bibliophile                                       A bibliophile is a person who loves, admires, or collects books.

Literacy leads!

 Yes, literacy leads. No, that statement is not merely a quickie of a bow in the right direction, just  because September 8 was the international literacy day. Instead let us discuss why literacy leads.

Well, let me remind you of the anecdote of the frog in the well that Swami Vivekananda narrated in his speech at Chicago. For this frog, his small little puddle was the sea which he had never ever seen, and could not imagine hence. In other words, he was belittling grandeur itself, and thus making himself small in the process. 

An illiterate person is like that opinionated frog. She/he misses a lot as s/he merely  'perceives' the world. He never knows it, neither understands it, nor becomes better hence. An ignoramus he continues to be.

Literacy allows us to read, and thus sensitises us ,opens up our vision, makes us thus better beings, and truly thus part(icipant) of the world as a family. 

No wonder, since 1967, the United Nations is insistent about the celebration of the ILD. This year, it was celebrated in New Mexico. Equally interesting was its motto; namely, the ILD is not only for people, but for the prosperity of the planet, too, which we have absolutely madly marauded, mortified, murdered literally,  given our enviornmental excesses! It is in this sense, too, that literacy leads, and better, if one is literate in many languages! 

Pratima@ I would, nevertheless, like to maintain that the illiterate have their own intelligence. An example could be the rural vegetable vendor whom no city sleeker can confuse or confound, right? Similarly, for a better planet, the uninitiated in to literacy but wise beyond words kind of sons n daughters of the soil have souls that care! Sure, once they become literate, too, literacy leads them out of poverty and, hence, in to the land of hope!

Quote of the day:                                                         Frederick Douglass asserts, "once you learn to read, you will be forever free."

Word of the day: illiterate                                           An illiterate is a person who is not able to read or write. 

Tu chupi hai kahan?

 Today got released her last ever song. She sang it as a nonagenarian.  Best answer she thus continues to be to all those doubting Thomas-es who revel in ageism, most often to hide their own anxieties, their own inabilities, their own incapabilities. 

Why so? Is that your question? Well, this very last song, too, is full of her characteristic chutzpah. Ah, by now, you must have guessed who we are talking about, right? Yes it is THE ever ebullient, THE ever enthusiastic, THE ever a-live Asha Bhonsale! 

Inevitable is this remembrance today. It is her first birth anniversary after her sad demise on April 12, 2026. The last song she sang, and which got released today, has the words our title borrows. 

Oh, yes, it reminds us of her song from "Navrang" which, too, passionately wondered "tu chupi hain kahan"?  Yes, to quote from that duet with Manna Dey, "Tere bin phika phika hai gano ka sama." 

Is it really so though? She lives in her countless songs, full of each shade of every emotion, and yet somehow true to her name, "Asha", the never ever dying hope. Like "Anand", Asha bhi kabhi nahi marate! 

Pratima@ What I like about the way Asha Bhonsale led her life is that she made an opportunity out of every mess thrown at her, be it by destiny, be it by the establishment, be it by people in her life. Yet again the optimism, just like her name!

Quote of the day:                                                             "Songs, for me, are notes from the heart." So said Asha Bhosale. For us, too, Ashaji, given your heavenly contribution.

Word of the day: optimism                                         Optimism is the feel that all always is, and will always be, well.

Glorious Gloria

 Currently, 'her'(e)abouts, feminism is a much misunderstood wor(l)d, what with the trivialising bashing of the agency involved in the 'jauhar' of Rani Padmini and others of her ilk, and, as usual, without paying any attention to the context.

 Hindsight, in my opinion, is forever the easiest because you have nothing to lose except your prejudices, your half-baked knowledge, and the absolutely deafening claps from your very own echo-chambers. 

Neither is feminism the license to behave any which way. Feminism is empathy. Feminism is empowerment. Feminism is trying to understand a perspective absolutely different from your own so as to make existence fair and lovely! 

Gloria Steinem, who passed away recently, was an activist who tried to en-'live'-n such definitions throughout her career as a journalist, as a pacifist, as a 'reformer' of policies. Hence the title of our blog. 

What is most interesting in the current context is that this world-renowned campaigner for women's being-n-becoming granted that it was her stay in India in the late fifties that sensitised her truly. 

Arriving in India with a meagre scholarship but bloated on colonial notions, her first face-off with 'rank' poverty proved to her how simple women shared n cared for each other. It was India that taught her the art of "listening", which helped her with a "you-oriented" communi(cati)on. Her Indian exchanges with students, common women, Gandhian scholars and followers taught her that 'radical' need not be defined as direct and indirect vicious violence. 

Rather 'radical' means going to the very roots of any issue to truly explore/examine/expose it. As Steinem strengthened such a belief system, here is an Indian tribute to her memory. 

Pratima@ Apparently, she liked the saree because it helps, in her opinion, to stand straight, walk slowly, and hence worry less about time and efficiency. A truly refreshing idea, though difficult to follow today, given the totally transformed times! 

Quote of the day:                                                         "The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn," said Gloria Steinem. Yes, indeed! 

Word of the day: feminist                                           A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men. A good definition indeed! 

Music's golden tongue

 John Keats has written one of the 'love'liest of poems, "The Eve of St. Agnes." The title of our blog today is a quote from this  'romantic' poem. 

Music indeed has a golden tongue. It is priceless. It elevates the very beauty of existence. In each of its form, the raw folk form or the embellished classical mould, it voices abundance. 

When it is associated with the divine, a unique grandeur adorns it. So many of our gods and goddesses, too, love a musical instrument. The great God Shankara has the "damru", one of the most primal sources of rhythm, while the goddess of knowledge and wisdom is associated with the "veena."

It is Shrikrishna's "bansuri", the flute, which all find spellbinding. It is ever present in folk literature, in Bhakti poetry, even in the modern most texts. Often, like the peacock feather, it is used symbolically to depict Shrikrishna, the God who delights in all that is 'love'ly.

The flute is deeply symbolic, too. The holes in the sacred flute, the bansuri, symbolize deep philosophical, psychological and spiritual truths. A standard bamboo flute typically features seven main holes, which correspond to the seven primary energy centers (chakras), it seems.          

 To create divine music, one must skillfully open and close six holes while the seventh receives the breath. This represents superb mastery over the mind, and the six inner enemies (desire, anger, greed, attachment, delusion, and pride).                                             

The much explored  allegory does not end there. The holes in the flute are not flaws, but the result of piercing and hollowing. This signifies the pain, sacrifices, and discipline a devotee endures to become a pure instrument for the Divine, they say. Being completely hollow with no inner blockage, the flute teaches that only an ego-free soul can let the breath of life (prana) and divine wisdom flow through it as pure harmony. 

No, these lovely ideas and interpretations of the flute are not mere abstract reflections on the occasion of Krishna Janma Ashtmi alone. The real reason behind them is rather personal. This evening, my brother, Sanju, participated in a flute recital programme. The initial 'sur' that he played for the rendition of the Tulsidas Bhajan "Shri Ram Chandra kripalu" was so soft, gentle, mellow that the 'golden tongue' metaphor by Keats literally came alive. Wonderful was the recital of "abir gulal udhlit rang." His 'class'-mates, too, presented their versions of the flute-y melodies. A memorable evening indeed!

Pratima@ Sanju arrived at flute a little late in life. Yet his constant and sincere practice seems to fill in the gap of that delay. His doggie, the cutest beagle, Tashu is forever listening to it with the devoted zeal of the HMV dog.

Quote of the day:                                                          "Playing a flute is like writing a book. You’re telling what’s in your heart," asserts Eddie Cahill. 

Word of the day: symbolic                                        This word means something used or seen to represent something which may not be directly related to what it stands for. An example can be  the red rose symbolising love. 

Teachers' Day

 For many, this unique day often begins with a very basic question. Is it "teacher's day" or "teachers' day"? Believe me, this was once a query on a group of English teachers/lecturers!!! What does that mean? In my opinion, clearly it just means that we all better be students lifelong, right? 

Incidentally, given the information explosion currently, being a lifelong student is no longer a choice. It is almost a compulsion these days. Want me to clarify what I mean? Well, look at that (r)evolution called the AI! Literally, by the day, it teaches us to be newer, and, hopefully, better, versions of ourselves as the inescapable AI learners! 

Every learner needs a teacher. This teacher  can be your parents, your siblings, your school/college/university teachers, and, the best of all, your own self, right? Believe me, it can be the family pet, too. Who else can love so much for so little in return, right?

In brief, what does a teacher do?  To understand it, let us look at the etymology of the word. The term teacher, whether the roots lie in Middle/Old English stage or the Proto-Indo-Germanic family, means to point out, to show, to demonstrate, to facilitate. 

Yes, that is what a teacher does, shows you the way to make each second still simpler, sweeter, and smarter so that you feel better with-n-in the world and with your own self, right? Hence the importance of the day which, incidentally, is named as "Teachers' Day"!

Pratima@ Hence our prayer today is the traditional Vaidic injunction, "lead me from darkness to light, from falsehoods to truth, from the mortal to the immortal." 

Quote of the day:                                                           "I am not a teacher, but an awakener." Robert Frost insists, and I could not agree more! 

Word of the day: etymology                                      Etymology means the study of the origins and history of words and their meanings.

 

The real message

 A few minutes later, the actual muhurat, the exact minute of Krishna Janm, the birth of Lord Krishna, would be here with us. Why does Krishna matter so much to us? In my opinion, he is simply superb because he leaves the final decision, allows the real agency, to the individual. 

Never ever does he impose his will, even if/when it is divine, on anybody. Let me give you a few instances in his life to prove my point. Shishupal is unnecessarily ill-treating him, bad-mouthing him, maligning him, and constantly. Krishna does not retaliate, despite Shishupal's worst offences. His punishment, when it finally arrives, hence appears most deserved! 

Yet another example. Just before the inevitable war, which cannot be avoided despite his most humiliating offer on behalf of the Pandava's, both Duryodhan and Arjuna reach him for help. He asks them, allows them to choose. Arjuna chooses him, while Duryodhana prefers his huge army.

The best example of (t)his openness is at the end of the eighteenth chapter of the Bhagwad Geeta. The Lord has explained literally the entire existence, the whole universe, the very being/becoming to Arjuna, and yet he does not order Arjuna to choose any one of the paths he has explicated.

 The last word of the Lord in the Bhagwad Geeta is " yatha ichchsi, tatha kuru", that is, "do what you want, what you consider right, what you find worthy." Truly open, equal, democratic godhead is this Lord who, from his childhood days, could understand the down and out, a few examples thereof could be the Gowardhan Parvat incident, the Sudama story or the Draupadi drape.

Is it any wonder then that Sant Dnyaneshwar, born exactly on the same day at the same time, ends his great treatise with the "Pasaydan" which hopes that the wicked would lose their evil? He, too, understood the sufferings of the rejects of the establishment, whose victim he himself was.

In brief, the lives of such great souls has very many positive injunctions, which translate real well in current (management, too) lingo, and if (thus) followed, make our lives truly enriched!

Pratima@ May be, Vidyadhar Bapat, instead of trying to be another Dipke, should follow such divine examples regarding ownership of decision making and agency!                                It seems, his atheist, nay, nihilist opinions about doing away with the Wari and/or the Ganesh Utsav angered certain citizens. Even then beating up a person with a contrarian opinión is hardly the done thing. A thought can be countered only through contradicting it thoughtfully, through offering efficiently the contrary opinion!

Quote of the day:                                                        "You and I need to be the decision makers in our own lives and careers. It is also our responsibility to allow and encourage others to do the same,"  says Jay Rifenbary.  

Word of the day: injunction                                       Injunction is an official order from a court of law to do/not do something.