Does the dog know?

 Remember that famous child-hood cartoon? Oh, yes, I have used that dash knowingly. That is because the question I am going to deal with is apparently often asked by a child. Yet it is not a question restricted to childhood. On the contrary, it never ceases to 'dog' us most faithfully, though in different modalities and in newer versions. 

Okay, what is this forever-troubling-question? Well, there is this kid. He is mortally afraid of dogs. Once, just to lessen his fear, his father tells him, "Do not worry. Barking dogs never bite." With the straightforwardness typical of a child, the kid says, "Yes, Papa! You know that. I, too, now know it. Does the dog know it though?" 

No, it is not a childish joke. Nor is it adult sophistry. On the contrary, it is a query that forever h(a)unts us, and yet never gets an upfront answer. Can we have a look at some versions of this "does the ... know" question? 

Scenario Number I: Something is sure wrong with your internal system. You are not your typical self. "Nothing much. I would not worry if I were you," says the all-knowing doctor. Sure then the poor patient feels like saying, "Sure you know it. Now that you have told me so, i, too, know it. Does the 'dis-ease' know it though?" 

Scenario Number 2: It is that time of the year. Yes, it is the cruellest month, April, when the examination hangs loose over your head like Damocles' sword. There is this friend who is very sure that "imp" questions never repeat themselves for at least two years. 'Sure shot' he assures, "Do not bother. This one was asked last year, and that one the year before that." Worth a bow is such knowledge. Yet the query is inevitable, "Does the paper setter know that?" 

Scenario Number 3: It is your second week in the company you joined hardly a week ago. Your newfound colleague has landed you both in a rather sticky soup. Says this elder statesman, "Not to worry. You know such howlers happen." Yes, the query that gnaws at your 'pink slip worries' is, "Sure you know now that I, too, know it. How about the boss? Does he know that howlers happen?" 

In brief, you may grow up, and yet there is no assurance that childhood queries would get any adult answer! 

Pratima@ Life is full of glorious (or, is it, 'glaring') uncertainties, right?

Quote of the day:                                                            John Allen Paulos asserts, "Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security." How very certainly uncertain is that ( and vice versa, too?), right? 

Word of the day: uncertainty                                     Uncertainty means a state of doubt, lack of knowledge, or unpredictability about an outcome, event, or future situation. 

Come, September!

 Come September, and our minds start dancing to that zany, zingy, jazzy tune, right? This theme song for the 1961 film "Come September" was composed by Bobby Darin, but it was the instrumental group Billy Vaughn and his orchestra who made the song widely popular with their own instrumental version. 

It is peppy. It is foot tapping and hard clapping. It invites even those who dance with two left feet to twirl n twist, right? Yet its rhythm n melody are not a mere invite to mere fun n fluff. 

There IS undeniably something full of hope n forever joy that makes this sixty-five year old tune a forever means of optimism. It is enthusiasm incarnate.  It is youthfulness, nay, it is life itself. 

I suppose, this feel is indeed necessary, now that it is already September, which means that more than half of 2026 has bid us a good-bye. Yet much remains to be done, and it is this tangy tune that peps us up, right? No wonder, they say, music makes moods! 

Pratima@ Remember that Madhuri Dixit dance number, "nazre mile Dil dhadka"? It is a take on this "Come, September" tune. She is wearing just a long white shirt, and no war paint make up, no  heavy jewellery. Yet her simple graceful moves make abundant  the joie de vire! 

Quote of the day:                                               ..            "Happily we bask in the warm September sun, which illuminates all creatures." So writes Henry David Thoreau as hé welcomes autumn soon to slide in to the freezing winter. 

Word of the day: optimism                                         Optimism means the feeling that the future would be good and successful.

Sport matters!

 Around the end of the first century, the Roman poet Juvenal wrote in his Satire X, "Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano."  It means "you should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body". What Juvenal meant was that overall well-being matters much more than chasing wealth or fame. 

The easiest way to such an ideal is sports. No, not the (mind) games people love to play with each other, and with lots of sophistry. Nope, we mean the real games,played outdoors or indoors, hardly makes any difference.

Yes, even if you play indoor games, you can win a superb bod with a healthy, happy mind. Want proof? Ask any table tennis player. Precision, agility, master strokes, all are at work, and, your mind can never ask for a better concentration gimmick, right?

Would you agree with me if I insist that team work is at play even when it comes to an individual sport? Well, these days, a good player requires an entire support system, counsellor, dietician, yoga instructor, and all that jazz, right? 

In other words, sports is no longer mere games, sheer fun. It is career, too. The brownie points people thus gather gives a head-start to their careers, it seems. Be it so very practical, or otherwise, on this National Sports Day which celebrates the birth anniversary of Major Dhyanchand, who excelled despite every obstacle, let us say " three cheers" to sports so that life continues to be "love n game." 

Pratima@ Watching kids is an eternal joy because they are forever in a 'play'ful mode. They never walk; they glide, skip, jump. They smile, nay, laugh, and with their whole being.  'Tears are temporary, joy n happiness are forever,' is their mantra. No wonder, life is fullness n plenitude n contentment when kids are around!

Quote of the day:                                                              "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." Yes, agreed, Vince Lombardi.

Word of the day: plenitude                                        Plenitude means a state of being complete, or of enjoying a large abundance of something.

Nuclear Tests!

 Since the two horrible  days in 1945, when Nagasaki and Hiroshima (on August 9 and 6 respectively) were destroyed, atomic energy has been  in the  danger zone, level ultimatum. Yet nuclear testing has not really either stopped. Nor has it been reduced. 

Undoubtedly, it has a long and volatile history. The nuclear testing reached its heights during the Cold War years. It began with the notorious Trinity test in July 1945. Though named after John Donne's Trinity Sonnet, it "battered" much more than a quasi-poetical, quasi-religious metaphor. 

Horrible, in fact, was its impact. The 100-foot steel tower holding the bomb was vaporized, and the New Mexico desert sand melted into a green, glassy radioactive substance called trinitite. It led to migrations as well. Yet the nuclear weapon was used, and unfortunately the race has never stopped.

The U.N. has tried to stop the race. August 29 is declared as the international day to stop nuclear weapon testing. The observance seeks to raise awareness about the devastating effects of nuclear weapon test explosions, whether conducted in deserts, or near the Arctic or underwater, on human health and the environment. The real hope lies in thus pushing toward the ultimate goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Well, what exactly is the real danger? There are any number of loose cannon balls in the  international realities today. Often they translate in to rogue terror groups. Imagine the havoc that would be caused if they get hold of the nuclear weapons! With Baba Venga predicting a dire Third World War in 2026, here is wishing that the remaining four months do not lead us, the entire humanity, in to some unspeakable horror!

Pratima@ Some people hope that nuclear tests would now be AI simulated, and hence not really destructive! Even then, given the rogue cannon balls rampant everywhere, nuclear weapons need to be neuterised! 

Incidentally, in modern medicine, there exists a nuclear test!  The nuclear medical test is a diagnostic procedure that uses safe, small amounts of radioactive material—called a radiotracer—to check how your organs and tissues are working! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "The survivors (of an all out nuclear war) will envy the dead." Such is the dire prediction of Nikita Kruschev regarding atomic weapons full of the nuclear energy! 

Word of the day: nuclear                                                Nuclear means using, producing or resulting from the energy that is produced when the central part (nucleus) of an atom is split.

Is "the" the problem?

 We, Indians (note, please, I did NOT use 'the'), are indeed 'argumentative indians'. We do need some focal point to/at/on/with which to argue. Currently, it is the 'low neck' couture, culturally cumbersome, right? 

Yet the 'the' tune that Rahul Gandhi made famous in 'the' women's meet in this city of love (Oh, yes, I have always known that Pune is supposedly the "Oxford of the East"!  Yet this city which I have called mine for about four decades, brought up n bred as I am here, I have never known as 'Pune means love'!) was "smash the patriarchy"! 

The "chatraa-on ki gunj" (in attendance were only girls, it seems. From certain colleges, some maintained, an issue I would not know much about) resonated with this war cry which since has been a huge n hot (because trending it is!) debate for quite some time. 

Well, as a lecturer in English literature and language, and as a teacher of three European languages, namely, Spanish, German and French, I can most confidently assert that the definite article "the" makes a huge difference semantically.

Why did Rahulji use the "the", especially because, if reports are any proof, next he started bashing up the "Manusmriti", by now battered more than Berlin during the World War II (363 bombings and 67,000 ton of bombs!)!!! 

The definite article, which always refers to specifics, makes Rahul-ji's critique debatable. Sure, since Mary Wollstonecraft's radical critique in 1792, patriarchy and its pathologies have been opened up ad infinitum. Such threadbare examination has shown up most all injustices hidden in the crevices of the mountainous patriarchy. 

True, even those who have not actually read much about feminism would grant that feminism is not monolithic. There are feminisms galore. Yet each one of these is unmistakably and deeply critical of the injustices patriarchy heaps on women as if they are daughters of lesser goddesses.

Then why single out "the" patriarchy? Given the Manusmriti quote, the discussion becomes badly bitter, especially because from this very "Manusmriti" (most often not read by its carping critics!) can be quoted (m)any number of shlokas which are absolutely pro-women, if not downright feminist!

Anyway, "Manusmriti" is not even part of the core texts of Indianness, of Hindu identity, of the "sanatan dharma."  Why, its original text has never been available, and the translation at the height of colonialism is hence not of any authentic version.  Neither is this currently accessible text full of many interpolations preached nor practised anywhere in India. 

Then why beat it black n blue, and drum up a debate about a non-issue? The moment "the" patriarchy is thus mentioned in cahoots with an attack on "Manusmriti", there are bound to be attacks on the Muslim patriarchy, very much clad in  burkha, and standing right next to him on stage!

If "Manusmriti" is assaulted, can the "sharia" diktats or the Shahbano case be far behind? How about the Catholic women's divorce rights, a bitter battle? Countless such discrepancies creep up the moment the "the" patriarchy is unnecessarily dragged in, not to forget whatever is happening in his own party and/or the states where his party is in power! A major women's issue thus gets bogged down in politicking! Wonder who writes/'scripts' his speeches!?!

Sure his was a political speech. Undoubtedly, the urban 'GenZ' might have been impressed by it. But how does it actually change the lives of the very many women in two/three- tier cities, in villages, in ghettoes in metro cities? Why alienate, in brief, if you cannot ameliorate?!? That is "the" issue!

Pratima@ Yet another point with which I personally have solid problems is eternally showing Indian women as victims. Undoubtedly, Indian women's "agency" in the public sphere as well as the private space IS indubitable, a major focus of my doctoral research. 

Quote of the day:                                         ....              "What is the great lesson a woman should learn? That since Day One, she has already had everything she needs within herself. It is the world that convinced her she did not," points out Rupi Kaur, a much respected poet.

Word of the day: patriarchy                                      Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and dominate roles in political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and control of property.

Soupçon, In Memoriam, VI.v

                          Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           VI.v        

In our on-going analysis of "Sairat", which is sure to continue for quite some time, let us today look at some aspects of the male lead of the story. He is "Parshya". Look at the very nickname he gets. It stinks of disrespect, of belittling, of dismissal. 

Compare it with the nickname of the female lead character. She is "Archi", the very moniker suggesting modernity, uniqueness, smartness, and what not. Actually, even for a woman centered film, initially she is nothing but aggression, 'attitude', arrogance born out of the privilege she is born in to so much so that love, too, is an extension of her acquisitive personality. 

Honestly, initially, she is boring; while he is from the beginning more talented, more sensitive, more aware, may be, because of his background. Remember the scene when atop her mobike , she goes prowling, in search, and the old lady tells her off? 

His insecurities, conveniently dismissed as male chauvinism, or jealousy, are more a result of his societal background, too. If a film were to be made with the same storyline, but from his (or his social strata's) perspective, it would have the title, "Bali" (sacrificial animal) to her ego, given her wealth, given her societal set-up, right? What say? 

Pratima Agnihotri

Rakhi Pournima

 This Rakhi Pournima, the entire discourse, instead of bracelets, got 'bra'-celeted.  However much the advertising company, its mother corporate company, its sister university, the model may justify it, the advertisement WAS in bad taste . Period. No need to invoke the Hindu versus Muslim festival depiction debate either. Just BAD taste, and all is said. 

Yes, our pets mean much to us. They are family, and yet nobody in right senses ties a rakhi to a doggie, and for the simple reason that the next second he would instinctually shred it literally to the thinnest thread possible, however obedient he otherwise may be! 

Instead lovelier was the video about a police officer as a sister, and the brother coming to the chowki to get a 'rakhi' tied. It had the best mix possible of a woman's agency, emotions, healthy humour, and drama to suit the occasion, right?

This year, I got to know some unique mythology, too. I never knew earlier that Goddess Laxmi tied a rakhee to King Bali to get Lord Vishnu back from the nether land, where he went to reside to please King Bali. 

Come to think of it, typically a sacred thread is always tied as a protective ring against every evil possible, and hence for the welfare of our loved ones. In other words, be it sister wishing the welfare of the brother, or the other way round, this festival is some proof that forever is the sibling bond that begins in the childhood, and never ends! Long live the love a sister and her brothers share, as it is literally the blood bound bond!

Pratima@If your parents are no more, in this whole wide, and wicked n wonky,  world, if there is anybody who truly shares every weave and weft of your original/originary being, and without any ulterior motives, it is your brothers. Hence the anger against a silly advert!

Quote of the day:                                                             "Brothers aren't simply close; brothers are knit together." True, Robert Rivers!

Word of the day: agency                                             Agency refers to your capacity to make independent choices, control your own behavior, and influence the world around you.