Deadly n dangerous!

 The Himalayas are heavenly. Tremendous serenity resides there. Peace is powerful in those sky scraping mountains. Every which way the land of fairies as per the local folk tales, this abode of gods is prayer incarnate. 

Yet human beings being what they are, they have made these gorgeous gorges and translucent rivers n scenic vistas in to either a death trap (as with the scaling of the Mount Everest and the terrible traffic jam there!) or 'dead-ly', in all senses of the term, what with the Raja Suryavanshi case or now the missing Babita Pandey mystery!

What/how is the actual Himalayan journey? First and foremost, the Himalayas are fragile. The rock structure is not the Sahyadri solid basalt. A comparatively younger mountain range, the tectonic plates below are afloat still, and are constantly clashing against each other. The entire area is dangerously prone to the 'huge on the richter scale' earthquake.

Given the environmental issues across the world, the glaciers are melting fast and furiously. In the process, they are creating artificial lakes which can burst at any second. The climate of the entire region is highly volatile. Anything can happen any second.

The worst, however, is that trade called tourism. For the 'ease of doing' that business, huge mountain cliffs are being drilled out, cut open at the base. Both the Joshi Math issue and the Harali flood are trade-offs of that heartless manipulation without any conscience. Two-storeyed hotels and/or home stays are built literally in the river bed!

The Himalayan rivers are not very deep, but they have a terrible speed and force, given the gravitational pull. They are, moreover often in spate, given the horrible rains any second and/or the melting ice. 

The roads are narrow n winding beyond belief. Boulders tumbling down is quite normal. Horrible, however, is the traffic. At times, it seems a traffic jam can last for six/seven hours! Drivers, riders, moreover, are up to silly stunts which can land the creeps in to a steep free fall of thousands of meters. 

THE worst are the tourists and trekkers. On a narrow strip of a mountainous road as wide as the Tulshibaug Lane, there are shops, hotels, pedestrians, pittoos, palakhi-wallahs and horses ferrying the tourists. 

No, they are not pilgrims. They are silly tourists, busy taking pics n selfies, making reels, dirtying that great presence. Most mendicants, almost réplicating the mindset of the hotel owners there, are no good either. Everything and anything is sheer manipulation for money. 

The Nepali palakhi-wallahs and pittoo-wallahs can quote any amount as charges. There is no control on how they or the horse/house owners treat the tourists.  Given the vagaries of the climate, the helicopter service, often operational mercenarily, gets grounded any minute. 

Most importantly, there is rampant corruption. The tour guide of the company I travelled with was openly boasting that he could block the entire registration of the day! He openly stated and most all agreed that the officers' 'cut' is mandatory and normal! No way of knowing if the permits issued to the pittoo/palakhi-wallahs or the horse owners are genuine, how often they are renewed honestly and validly! 

Any minute horses are released in the path of ponies. The pittoo/palakhi-wallahs as well as the horses are carried horribly close to the edge of the deep ravines. Given the huge traffic, it is literally as if all are awaiting a huge calamity, a tragedy truly of Himalayan proportions, especially due to human stupidity, cupidity and limitless greed and avarice! Oh, Lord, save the Himalayas from humans! 

Pratima@ The "devbhoomi" must be devoutly dedicated to that unique beauty, that vast grandeur, that pure piety called the "abode of gods", the Himalayas. 

Quote of the day:                                                           "While mountains provide us with challenge and nourish our spirits, they are also powerful and potentially destructive places that must be respected." Touché, indeed, Mike Hamill. 

Word of the day: mercenary                                       A mercenary is either a professional soldier hired to fight in a foreign army or, more broadly, anyone motivated entirely by financial gain rather than ethics, loyalty, or principles. 

Soupçon MCQ Series 31

Soupçon MCQ Series 30

 1) The preface to "The Wretched of the Earth", one of the most moving critiques of colonialism, is written by a)Frantz Fanon b) Albert Camus c) Jean-Paul Sartre d) Ngugi wa Thiong'O e) Edward Said

The correct option is (c) whose preface is both, theoretically rich yet humane. Ngugi and Said, like the author Frantz Fanon, are major theoreticians/critics of colonialism. 

2) "O! Horror, horror, horror" is a quote from a)Hamlet b) Othello c) Macbeth d) King Lear. 

The correct option is (c). 

This famous repetition of "O! horror, horror, horror!" in Act 2, Scene 3 functions almost as if it is the structural and thematic epicenter of the play. Spoken by Macduff upon discovering King Duncan’s assassinated body, the threefold repetition, it is argued, highlights an existential dread so profound that it strips even a seasoned warrior of his expressive ability.

Joseph Conrad has used it brilliantly in his novel "Heart of Darkness". 

3) "Portrait of a lady" is a poem written by    a) Robert Browning b) T. S. Eliot c) Khushwant Singh d) Henry James. 

The correct option is (b). It is a 1915 poem. Browning's poem about a lady's portrait is "My last Duchess". Singh's is a short story, a tribute to his granny. The title of James' superb novel is "The portrait of a lady".

Pratima Agnihotri                                                    Pune 

Of a film yet again!

 Time was when my film reviews used to be quoted in local newspapers as part of the film advertisement. Like 'Pratima Agnihotri of the "Newstime" says...', and along with Subhash Jha's for another English biggie. Why, our coverage in the "New Indian Express" of the Children's Film Festival was noted by none other than the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu. 

Yes, I do love films, though, of course, not as much as books n reading/writing or music. It was hence a pleasure to watch online a less known but good film entitled "Rough Book", scripted and directed by Anant Mahadevan. This much awarded film is quite a linear narration about an idealist teacher, enacted by Tannishtha Chatterjee, who changes the very profile of her under-performing students. 

The plot, narrated through a few flashbacks and later through some montages, tells how she opposés the mercantile attitude to teaching which consists of an unholy 'college-tuition class' alliance. Nor is she ready for 'tests' that prepare students for the final exam so that the institute can manage cent per cent results. 

Instead, she believes in making students love studies, explore concepts hands-on, and thus in the process get good scores. She links education to their hobbies, sees to it that their basic fundas are perfect. Arrogant brats thus start getting immersed in studies so much so that they crack the IIT-JEE. 

She believes that education is a process of socialisation as well as studies, and thus is a catalyst in their personality development. The film, though not didactic, is a great critique of the demand-supply mode of education, of wily smarties using the system to their advantage. In a 2026 marred by all sorts of educational/exam-oriented scandals, it is a proper lesson that must be watched by parents and professors-n-principals alike. 

Despite the symbolism of the title and of the broken glass of her car, the narration of this optimistic movie is highly realistic. Properly paced, this film apparently based on a true story, is thankfully without any song n dance hoo-ha. 

Like the minimal background music, some 'arresting' shots suggestively show the angst of the lady and her students. Her personal tragedy is interwoven well with the growth of the students. Performances by the lead actress and those in the supporting roles, be it Aman Khan or Ran Kapoor, make the movie worth a watch. Basically, it is lovable for the message that idealism, however much hindered, changes lives for better! 

Pratima@ Sad is the fact that such a movie, which shows the subtle corruption, the real violence actually, in as central an institution as education, sinks without a trace in the mainstream media-ted wor(l)d! 

Quote of the day:                                                           Says Confucius, "education breeds confidence, confidence breeds hope, hope breeds peace" with self and the world. 

Word of the day: didactic                                           Didactic describes something intended to teach, instruct, or impart a moral lesson. While originally a neutral term for educational instruction, it is frequently used to describe any text that feels overly preachy, boring, or burdened by its determination to teach. 

Who is afraid of eating with fingers?

 It is quite fashionable in India, in fact, it is often considered chic, modern, and sophisticated, to eat with fork, knife and spoon, and drink (I mean, non-alcoholic stuff) from glassware, tea n coffee in mugs, water n juices in beer mugs, and so on.

Do not you believe me? Okay, let me give you an example. Remember that ad of some jewellery brand? Two families, obviously very rich, are fixing the engagement of the Gen Zee's. The bride's granny slurps from the saucer the tea that is served. Aghast looks everywhere! Then the bridegroom's  father slurps tea from a saucer, too. Voilà, all is hunky dory! 

Actually, very few items of the Indian culinary system are made or meant for the fork and knife types, especially if you are a pure vegetarian. Most Indians, however, are 'Macaulay putras and putris' in this context as well. Just as, unlike the traditional mode, we stand n cook in the modular kitchen, we eat at the table with spoons! 

Actually, eating with fingers is good every way. It changes the gastronomic experience in to a multi-sensory phenomenon. We understand the texture of the food item to be enjoyed. So do we understand the temperature. We can wait for the warm (up) feeling which makes the food tastier still.

Eating with fingers is cleaner as well. Most families still do not themselves wash their utensils. Nor do they have the dishwasher. Instead they prefer grumbling about the maidservants, about whom, most often, the less said the better it is. When you eat with fingers, you tend to pay more attention to cleanliness. An extreme example can be that of the traditional mortar-pestle which is always easily and better cleaned than a mixie!

Eating with fingers, moreover, keeps you connected with the tradition and culture of the motherland without which people often are neither here nor there, forever fretting in a limbo! 

Better, in brief, to be one's own self. Why be afraid of eating with fingers?

Pratima@Traditionally, people used to eat off the banana leaves which was environment consciousness itself, as it would every which way take care of human beings, flora and fauna. This custom continues in many South households even today.

Quote of the day:                                                           Healthy  food, wealthy mood!

Word of the day: grinding slab                                 Grinding Slabs are solid natural stone slabs paired with a cylindrical hand roller. They crush ingredients slowly, retaining natural oils and aromas that electric blenders often destroy.

Soupçon MCQ Series 29

 1) Who amongst the following authors of Indian origin did not get the Booker Prize? 

1) Kiran Desai 2)Arundhati Roy 3) Jeet Thayil 4) Salman Rushdie 5) Arvind Aduga 6)Anita Desai

The answer is 5) Anita Desai: She was thrice nominated for the Booker Prize. 3) Jeet Thayil: He was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. 

2) Which of the following writings by Virginia Woolf are not fiction? a) Mrs Dalloway b) A room of one's own c) To the Lighthouse d) Three Guineas e) The Waves 

The answer is (b) and (d). "A Room..." has the famous Judith Shakespeare reference to prove how patriarchy ruins women's undeniable talent. "Three Guineas" blasts  fascism and war-mongering in addition to her feminist critique.

3) Marginalia refers to a) maniculae in the margins of a text b) embellishments in the margins of a text c) annotations in the margins of a text d) an editing tool. Which of the options is wrong? 

The correct answer is (d). 'Marginalia' is not an editing tool. 

Pratima Agnihotri                                                      Pune 

Soupçon MCQ Series 28

 Now that the NET exam is looming large, let us have an assortment of all sorts of MCQ types. 

1)Complete this quotation:                                        "The year is at the spring/And day's at the morn;/ Morning's at seven;/ The hill-side's dew-pearled;//   ...../....../... All's right with the world!// "

The quote is from Robert Browning's "Pippa's Song", a reflection in a way on the self-satisfied smug feel of the Victorian era. The three missing lines are:

      "The lark's on the wing;/The snail's on the thorn;/God's in his heaven"  

and hence this famous stanza ends with "All's right with the world!" 

2) Who wrote the following lines? 

"And not by eastern windows only,/When daylight comes, comes in the light,/In front, the sun climbs slowly, /But, westward, look, the land is bright." 

The options are: a) Rudyard Kipling b) W. H. Davies c) Walter de la Mare d) A. C. Clough

The correct option is (d). Clough was a brilliant poet. Often quoted by Churchill during World War II, he was Matthew Arnold's close friend.

3) " And we are here as as on a darkling plain/swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,/Where ignorant armies clash by night." 

Thus ends Mathew Arnold's " Dover Beach." The figures of speech in these lines are: 1) simile 2) metaphor 3) imagery 4) symbolism

The choices are: a) 1 and 2 b) 1 and 4 c) 1 and 3 d) 2 and 3.

The correct option is (c). The lines are one of the best examples of simile, that is, two dissimilar notions obviously compared. The simile here is extensively stated as well, with traces thus of an "extended simile." There is also a clear indication of a visual-aural image. 

Pratima Agnihotri                                                       Pune