Let us laugh n loud!

 Today let our blog be silly, silly PJ's. Why so? Well, T. S. Eliot wrote a poem entitled "Preludes". This strikingly radical poem, which changed wor(l)ds, ends with a brilliant image which captures the futility of reality. 

T. S. Eliot ends his poem with "wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;/The worlds revolve like ancient women/ gathering fuel in vacant lots."

So much in so many places, the high space parliament to hi-fi corporate companies, is so astounding that reeling, like the Eliot image, is the effect! After such realities, what sincerity? what seriousness? what authenticity? what 'alter-natives'? Instead, as ever, only very many narratives! Hence let us, too, wipe our hands across our mouths and laugh out loud!

1) The Trust deficit:

Why do not scientists trust atoms?                              Because they make up everything!

2) The prize and the news 

Why did the scarecrow win a Nobel prize?             Because she was outstanding in her field.

3) Such is 'no bell'!                              

  Knock, Knock!                                                               Why? Who?                                                         "Nobel"                                                                           Why? Who?                                                                "Nobel, that’s why I knocked!"

4) Shame! Shame!

Why did the tomato blush?                                        Because he saw the salad dressing.

5) The final cut! 

Why is grass so dangerous?                                       Because it is full of blades!

Pratima@When realities are crazy, laughter is the last refuge! The more PJ-ish, the better!

Quote of the day:                                                          "Rhetoric is not important," asserted Nelson Mandela. "Actions are!" 

Word of the day: Disillusionment                         Disillusionment is a sense is of disappointment and unhappiness resulting from discovering the truth about someone or something previously respected or admired. It occurs when reality fails to match high expectations, often leading to a disenchanting loss of faith in ideals. 

Getting a job

 Have you noticed some quite crazy stuff recently? Yes, it deals with this very touchy theme entitled 'getting a job'. Let us today look at it in some detail. First and foremost, there is the AI scare. True, new jobs may emerge, but they ARE going to be scarce, and absolutely focussed on higher order (intellectual/thinking) skills.

 Students who never ever attend lectures, colleges where semesters are not even of twenty five lectures, institutions where not even half the portion is taught as lectures just do not take place (Who cares, anyways!!?!! Teachers get wonderfully well paid, which most often is their only goal. Indirectly, or even quite shamelessly, openly, directly, students are often told (about) the possible/important questions. So they, too, are happy that they get a degree without any studying, in addition to developing 'skills' which would make the Bloom taxonomy blush!), given such realities, would such students have the mental capacity for, forget higher order, any thinking at all?

Anyways, there are any number of 'coaches' on the social media circuit who advise openly that jobs cannot be gotten through Naukri.com or even LinkedIn. Their open secret is creating a clout, developing contacts, managing connects!!! Just listen to/watch their ads that come along every YouTube video. They ARE quite open about this fact.

So the cat is finally out of the bag. To get a job, you require either, though prefarably both, of the two c's. The two c's are 'contact' and/or  'caste'.  If you have the right contacts, you need not be able to speak/write a single correct sentence in English, your so-called copy-paste Ph.D. thesis on the banal most topic/theme under a guide, whose own English and scholarship are extremely dicey, would have errors on-n-from the title page itself, and yet you get a job in an English medium college, and, yes, you would win awards for being a celebrated teacher and a great scholar!

I do not even want to, forget dare to, mention the other 'c'! Why am I talking about the college education alone? Well, unfortunately, in our context, a degree, anyhow gotten, is always associated with jobs! Truly unfortunate because even post-graduate degrees are gotten, even with a first class/distinction, by students who would go to college only for the exam or related duties, not to forget the social events! What to say about students depending on 'guides', now AI is thus 'enabling', when teachers themselves use such!!!

One of my M.A. students, she herself could not construct a single correct sentence, was telling me how uneducated her in-laws, especially her sister-in-law was her real target, would be. I kept on listening to the silly tirade. At one point, it got so crazy that I just could not control my laughter. When I pin-pointedly asked her a few very simple questions which totally exposed her post-graduate ignorance, she chose to keep quiet!

This total lack of, forget knowledge, even information begins at the school level. Kids are sent to tuitions from the first standard!!! Why? What is (not) happening in the teenie-weenie classrooms? What are the parents themselves up to? Why cannot they bond better with their own kid by teaching her/him basics at the primary level!?!

When the base to top is so completely  hollow, how would,  forget the higher order, skills develop at all? Anyways, why are skills currently getting reduced to glitzy event management without the least content? Most all of the traditional disciplines, courses and colleges would repeat the same sad story! The sick n silly ways students complete their entire term related assignments in a day, study for the exam just the night before, is pathetic. 

No wonder, to get a job, you require contacts, rather than intelligence, imagination, creativity (which is now reduced to event management related DIY activities!), scholarship! Sad scenario indeed!

Pratima@The very institution called college and/or degree would very soon undergo radical changes. Want an example or two? Forget the online degrees from major universities. Foreign universities with world wide fame are setting up local campuses here in India with unique, relevant, absolutely contemporary courses. Major companies are offering online certifications which make candidates corporate ready! All along, colleges are busy with petty politicking and internal gangsterism, eh, groupism!

Quote of the day:                                                          "The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors in to windows," asserts H.J.Harris.

Word of the day: integrity                                        Integrity is the quality of being honest, enjoying strong ethical principles, and maintaining consistency in actions, values, and methods. It implies incorruptibility and wholeness, often described as doing the right thing even when no one is watching. Synonyms include honesty, honour, probity, rectitude, says the Cambridge Dictionary.

Art is (He)art!

 Everyone blames the internet as the devil that killed reading. I do not completely agree with such a judgement. I do feel that the information overload the internet may unleash, if used thinkingly, makes us more aware and conscious. 

Look at the date April 15, for instance. Yes, despite soaking in the aura of THE Leonardo da Vinci whose 'Monalisa', 'The Last Supper' and the 'Vetruvian Man' have awed the whole world, this artist to whom, while teaching the Elizabethan Era, I have each time referred to as THE Renaissance Man who strode the worlds of both art and science, while referring to Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" as an alternative look at 'his-story', yes, despite all such acquaintances, I did not remember that April 15 is his birth anniversary! 

Apparently, the UNESCO has declared it to be the World Art Day.  So informed me the internet! Hence my enthusiastic celebration of the day because we do need such a celebration of art, especially right now, when the very many direct and indirect wars have brought the wor(l)d real close to self-destructions of all sorts! 

Right now we do need very many George Orwell's and Ernest Hemingway's and Picasso's whose art, whether verbal or painterly, spoke from the heart, and denounced the soulless cruelties and tactless uglinesses of the all-destroying wars! 

Art, whatever the type, plastic, performing, spatial, kinetic, verbal, that is, be it painting, sculpture, a play or a music/dramatic performance or be it a wizardry of language and meaning  in a poem/a novel/a play, art enriches us.

Art equalises us, too. It shows us, for instance, the unmistakable connect between the lower and the higher forms of the aesthetic expression. For me, for example, the unique perspectives an artistic rangoli provides makes me understand better the more difficult, enriching, energising art of abstract painting!

Art is waging another war these days. Yes, it has to negotiate with the AI that now seems to be infringing the very existence. Yet, the imagination, the individualism and the unmistakable spiritual aspect at the core of (e)very art would sure give richer dimensions to the AI itself! In brief, art is (he)art, and, hereafter, I shall never ever hereafter forget to celebrate this day in my own way!

Pratima@Every art is the best because its appreciation simultaneously gives us joy, makes us a better thinker, and adds a unique liberating perspective otherwise just not possible. Long live art as it enlivens every heart!

Quote of the day:                                                           "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life," asserts Pablo Picasso.

Word of the day: emancipatory                                 Art is great because it is emancipatory. Emancipatory refers, according to the Webster Dictionary, to actions, ideas, or laws designed to produce freedom, liberation, or release from social, legal, or political restraints. Art is emancipatory because it focuses on empowering individuals or groups by subtly overturning oppression, promoting social justice, and reducing the influence of controlling structures. 

How big/small ?!?

 Whenever you are a little giddy about some sizable success of yours or whenever you feel absolutely lost due to some fat failure, be it the professional arena or the public sphere or the private space, you should always remember your place, they say. 

What/where exactly is this location? Want to know it? Okay, let us present it on the descending scale. In other words, an 'i-ndividual' should forever remember that in a grand universe with countless galaxies, there is one galaxy known as the Milky Way which has very many solar systems out of which i inhabit one city in a solar system on a planet which has seven continents and some hundred and ninety-five countries. Ah! Enough, right? I need not add the exact percentage of water and land, okay? 

Sure a very ennobling thought or a truly belittling one! Depends on the perspective for sure! An idea that forever must reside in every consciousness and each conscience, no doubt!

Yet is not it worth worrying why such a perspective is never ever the parameter of a Trump or a Mojtaba Khamenei? Why does not this scale zapp every owner of each war machine making industry? How come each small time power broker, every authority as punitive that much worse, never ever remembers such a perspective? 

Why is this paradigm only for a genuine sincere committed individual who cares for, is considerate about every one in his/her ambit and for every issue beyond it? Is not it in a way (of) affixing? Hence, YES, I would surely always keep in mind this descent. Yet i would glory in my small success set up against all the big ways intent on ruining it totally, just as I would admit the honest hurt felt when a good effort is badly felled and/or hauntingly fails! 

After all said and done, how big is the world? As large as the size of the head, right? And, oh, yes, how vast is the despair? As huge as every stone thrown at me and as sharp as each splinter consciously  planted in my way, right? Who anyways worries if I live/die, unless it to their own motives they tie!?! So, live full, do worry a little, too, because who knows when would all end!!! 

Pratima@ It is indeed nice to now and then to look up the Stoic teachings which subtly open up the infinity of the 'i-ndividual' paired with/poised against all sorts of systems! 

Quote of the day:                                                          "To see in a grain of sand a world/and the heaven in a wild flower/Hold infinity in the palm of your hand/and an eternity in every passing second."                                                            William Blake would sure forgive me the minor changes I added to his great quote.

Term of the day: frame of reference                         A frame of reference is a coordinate system or set of axes used to define the position, orientation, and motion of objects, acting as a "viewpoint" for observers. It establishes a standard for measuring movement, where motion is relative to the observer's chosen frame, stationary or moving, for instance. So says the dictionary. Better to feel it on your pulse, too! 

Hawala Haul Halted?

 Out of bad, they say, sometimes, the best emerges. The current Iran idiocy can be an example thereof. Why do i say so? Let me see if I can explain.

It is an open secret, frankly shared unofficially and informally in those twin cities that Hyderabad is one of the hawala centers, and hence has huge monetary dealings, most of which, such unofficial sources say, are most questionable in nature. 

Hawala is a monetary transaction that respects the word of mouth. In the initial phase, may be, hawala could have been most honourable, high-minded and honest dealings. 

The nerve center of the hawala trade apparently is the Middle East countries, it is maintained in Hyderabad. Equally vociferously, it is argued that hawala money is all "haram" money. 

Remember, for instance, the Telgi scam? Even when an official document, the  stamp paper, was involved, there was an 'efficient' network, apparently invisible, which distributed counterfeit stamp papers, and siphoned off crores. Imagine, given such realities, the possible money laundering, the tax evasion, the black money, and the criminals involved in the hawala connections!

Now with the entire Middle East being off the bounds in a major way, the hawala haul has to be halted.  The crooks involved must suffer, if they have not found out some alternative solution, which, given their criminal proclivities, they might have. 

Yet they must face financial loss as well as losing clout and power. Every which way, this is great news for India, right? Hence the initial assertion; namely, bad may at times lead to the best! 

Pratima@Such crooks siphoning off huge sums shamelessly lead a luxurious life which, too, must get curtailed to some extent, even if they would have stashed away illegal money for generations apparently. The bad and the ugly need not forever be in good conditions!

Quote of the day:                                                          "You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from," concedes Cormac McCarthy. 

Word of the day: hawala.                                          Hawala is an informal method of transferring money, relying on a trust-based network of brokers. It operates outside traditional banking, and is commonly used for rapid, low-cost remittances in South Asia and the Middle East, though it is often illegal due to lack of regulations. 

Suno, wo chaa gayi!

 1971 was the year. The Bangla Desh war black-outs could not blur the lure of "Monica". Why, to manage the black-outs and power-cuts, there used to be special matinee shows of "Caravan". Helen's sensuous cabaret which captured the lascivious words for which the 'poet' Majrooh Sultanpuri felt ashamed began with "dekho, wo aa gaya". 

It was Asha's zingy, youthful, seductive voice which captured the R. D. Burman sorcery of zany rhythm and high pitched excitement. Fast forward now to 2025. "Dhurandhar", the mega block buster. Yet again the same enchantment with the same song! Hence the best tribute to the ever youthful, vibrant, versatile voice of Asha Bhosle would be "Suno, wo chaa gayi thi, chayi hai, chayi rahegi". She was/is/will be forever! The "RIP" is a mere formality!

Controversies never ever tired of chasing Asha. "Dum, Maro dum", her award winning iconic declaration of total emancipation, was for a long time off the then very few (formal modes of ) platforms. She had solid doubts about the way Khayyam wanted her to pitch her notes in "Umrao Jaan". 

The less said the better (as the truth value of such imagined wor(l)ds would be known only to the real actors) about her much gossiped about sensational personal life, be it her elopement with Bhosale or liaisons with O.P. Nayyar or R.D.Burman, or her much-touted rivalry with Lataji.

What survived, survives, and will survive despite a difficult life is her lyrical, smooth, enchanting voice full of a soft strength. Like Lataji, she emoted with her singing. Her range included the hyper talented Nutan, Geeta Bali, Wahida to the beautiful beyond words Madhubala or Sadhana to the naughty Helen or the sweet cute Asha Parekh, and many, many, many more. Remember her 2024 release with her granddaughter or the 2025 Adnan Sami collab?

She sang all possible genres in very many languages, both filmi/non-filmi  versions, worked with practically all music directors, she jammed with international sensations. Yet, personally, my all time favourite is her natya sangeet. She re-created, nay, immortalised the Deenanath Mangeshkar magic in her own unique way.

In my opinion, that is the way she led a tough life, too. Every rejection, each rebuff, any reduction thrown at her, she magically, mystically, memorably managed to transcreate in to a 'moment-ous' victory.  "Still I will rise" will be the best homage to Asha, whom I do not mind thus intimately referring to with love (no "ji" for her, right?) even when she was older than my mother!

Pratima@ Her Marathi songs are simply superb, be it the folk "gomu sangti ne" or the gazal "kenvha tari pahate" or the greatest childhood song "baba anik aai yatil kon awade" which all of us have sung umpteen times in our own way, right?

Quote of the day:                                                         "Music, when soft voices die/vibrates in the memory," says Shelley.

Word of the day: enchantment                              Enchantment refers to a feeling of great delight, fascination, or a magical spell. Like the spell-binding effect of Asha's notes!

Throwback Tales

 April might be the cruellest month according to T. S. Eliot. Yet, for most school and college going students, it is the nicest month. Results are yet a fortnight away! The vacation has not as yet started getting booooringly loooooong. 

Summer is setting in, bringing along the koel's song and mangoes, musk melons, water melons and "thanda thanda, cool cool" drinks (I am referring to the innocent ones. Please! These days, there is no knowing actually!) 

And thus set in the times for reading! Throwback tales indeed! Panchatantra, Aesop's Tales, Sindabad, Gulliver, all sorts of fairy tales, even the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in the abridged, simplified version. What wonderful days indeed! I have literally grown up on books. 

My parents gifted us books on all occasions. I adored the gift. Why, we had the monthly subscriptions of "Chandoba" as well as "Reader's Digest". Just trying to remember those days when Birbal and Tenali Ram were my best buddies is a throwback to 'wonder-ful' times in all senses of this term. 

Sure, I started reading Literature early enough. By sixteen, I was in to the world of Austen; by eighteen, Camus' "The Outsider" was my read! As I was doing French then, I had tried reading a bilingual edition, not terribly difficult, given Camus' lucid prose. 

I need not list all such adolescent adventures, be it Sophocles or Shakespeare. Yet I love my childhood reads a lot. The sense of  innocence, wonder and enjoyment they induced, the subtle seeds of ethics thus planted, a unique perspective on life they gifted, these throwback tales are indeed a world apart. 

In today's times of cartoons and the online reels, I do not know how much children read these days. The world has, moreover, changed drastically, so much so that "Shyamchi Aai", one of my most beloved books, may now appear senti, pompous, and "boring"! 

Why, it is, moreover, fashionable (actually downright stupid, however chic it might be considered) these days to dismiss the fairy tales as politically incorrect! Fairy tales do NOT create a false world. None is a Peter Pan! We all grow out of our 'Snow White' days. The childhood reads, however, create  fantasy wor(l)ds that forever enrich us in imaginative, incredible, infinite ways! 

Pratima@ In fact, at times, they give a unique paradigm to our adult attempts. During the Corona period, I wrote seven vignettes on the Corona times which have been included in an international anthology. To bind them together, I initially used the Vikram-Vetal narrative in an ironic way, which suddenly added a unique depth to the vignette series.

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

Word of the day:                                                            Skimming (getting the hang of the general outline) and scanning (paying careful attention to minute details) lead to better comprehension/understanding of a(ny) text.