The special month

 Currently it is absolutely fashionable to deride "Macaulay Putras/Putris", the belief being that Macaulay imposed the English mode of thinking on to the 'natives'. To begin with, regarding the sweeping generalisation without the subtle contours, I have my eternal grouse, namely, people should actually read the concerned original texts and documents!

I have, moreover, yet another point to make in this context. Macaulay or no Macaulay, including his offsprings, et al, such upstarts cannot wipe out the original Indian genius. Want proof? Okay, let us look at the special month, the 'Aadhik Maas' that begins today.

This extra  month is the thirteenth month. Please note that the number 'thirteen' holds no superstitious dismissal hereabouts. Incidentally, it is, in fact, a holy number. As for the "Aadhik Maas", it is known as an intercalary month, a month that is inserted/interpolated. It was introduced by the Vaidik rishis to systematise the lunar and the solar calendars. 

Such an adjustment was considered necessary for two reasons; one theoretical, the other practical. As the mode of living then was agrarian, it was necessary that for maintaining the agricultural cycle, such a 'time-ly' interpolation be made.

Now let us understand the philosophy behind the praxis. It is related to the cosmic cycle. Two modes of measurement were used to grasp it, namely, the lunar and the solar. The lunar year is made of 354 days, while the solar system consists of 365 days. 

There remains hence a difference of 11 days 1 hour 31 minutes and 12 seconds to be precise. To adjust the two modes, after every 32.5 months, is interpolated this extra month. 

The Vaidic calculations maintain that in this interpolated month, the sun does not transit  into the  next zodiac. Instead, it moves within that "raashi" or the zodiac sign. Hence that month is the "Aadhik Maas" or the extra month, which is followed by the "nij" or the actual month. Today, for instance, began the "Aadhik Jyeshtha", while on June 15 would begin the " nij" Jyeshtha. 

Such scientifically precise and accurate information is included in the "Rigveda"  as the hymn dedicated to "kaal", the Chronos/Time, while in the "Shatpath Bramhna" of the "Yajurveda", it is glorified as the addition necessary for the rhythmic cycle of the universe. 

In the "Vedang Jyotishya", supposed to be the foundational text of the Vaidic astronomy,   Rishi Lagath explicates the solar-lunar alignment formally. Obviously, legends would grow for an easy consumption of such complex phenomenon. 

Apparently, every month, except this extrapolated month, had a ruling deity. Because it was added for convenience, it was, moreover, considered impure, and was hence called "Mal Maas". The month prayed to Lord Vishnu who kindly agreed to own it, and, hence, it is now known as "Purushottam Maas", the best month for all sorts of prayers and fasts and penance. What a lovely and astounding combination of astronomy, poetry, and folk tales! 

Pratima@ i love it because one gets to eat "anaarse", one of my favourite most sweets. It is extremely difficulty to prepare, though Aai was excellent at it!

This year, all the fathers-in-law must be thanking Modiji from the core of their hearts. It is a convention to gift a special gold something to the son-in-law in this month. Given the ever rising prices of gold, all the fathers-in-law are sure to love Modiji's appeal to avoid buying any gold this year!!!

Quote of the day:                                                          "Science as an intellectual exercise enriches our culture, and is in itself ennobling," says Henry Taube. 

Word of the day: diurnal                                            Diurnal is a term mostly used in astronomy, and, of course, in poetry, and means consisting of one day. 'The diurnal rotation of the earth' can be an example.

The name is the game!

 When a baby is born in a family, the whole family is excited about the name he/she would be given. Most often, especially if they are first time parents, parents would have decided the name in advance, right? 

These days, however, there is a huge race to give the baby a name which is highly unusual, absolutely exotic, and hence, at times, truly funny. One of my students was "Vedanshi". Logically, just an impossible name it is for a girl. "Vedansh" , to begin with, means "the fourth part of the " Veda". It cannot be feminised with an "i". Similarly, "Ishanwi"  may sound cute, but is absolutely meaningless!

 Let us look at names for girls such as "Dhanwita" or "Sahassika" or "Sitaishaa". Says Nityanand Mishra, a Sanskrit scholar, neither Sanskrit grammar nor Sanskrit semantics would allow such oddities. Similarly, boys, he says, cannot be named "Krushiw" or "Govindit"!

Then there are names which are actually masculine, but are reserved for girls by indulgent but ignorant parents. One such classic example is "Savita", a vocative conjugation of "Savitru" which means the sun! 

The fancy "Nikita" is a Russian male name, while your "Anita" is nothing but "Ana + ita", a diminutive of 'Ana'! "Rajiwa" cannot be a girl's name as it cannot even be the vocative of "Rajiw"! And, oh, yes, actually, it should be spelt as "Rajiv" or "Rajeev"!!! 

Yes, names must be unique. They must, however, be linguistically possible, too,  right? Giving a name to a baby need not get reduced to calling names, right? Naming need not be shaming, and that, too, for a lifetime!

Pratima@ Names are lifelong. They assign an identity. Names are power. Choose carefully because words have grammatical relevance, and, not to forget, meaning! Better okay be the nomenclature! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "A name represents identity, a deep feeling, and holds tremendous significance for its owner," asserts Rachel Ingbert. 

Word of the day: nomenclature                                 Nomenclature is the system of naming things, especially in science. 

A better actress

 Who is a good actress? Certainly not someone devoted to fashion, right? Want proof? Look at whatever happened to Ms. Alia Bhatt at Cannes! Anyways, why this theme? Well, May 15 apparently is the birthday of Madhuri Dixit. I should know. On one too many whatsapp groups was this fact repeated! 

Personally I do not like her song-n-dance stuff. At times, it is too vulgar to deserve a mention. As for looks, it is all the magic of make-up, lighting and camera angles, not to forget the very conscious poses.

True, I have not watched her later movies/Netflix serials. For one thing, I was very busy looking after Aai. If I were to go and watch a movie in a cinema hall, imagine how she would have been treated by the "mavashi" types supposed to look after her in my absence! 

Yet as a film critic for "Newstime", I had watched  Madhuri Dixit in "Lajja", "Devdas" and "Mrityudand", and I have nothing but sheer praise for her acting prowess. Personally, my favourite is "Mrityudand." Here she is not the typical glamour doll.

As the daughter of an idealist father, who has married in to a village landlord family out of love, she is simplicity itself. She loves her husband a lot. Yet she does not mind standing up to him for the sake of ethics and  her principles when he commits mistakes. 

She genuinely cares for his family, especially  for her elder sister-in-law who is almost like his mother. Life has been very harsh to this poor woman accused of being barren. Ketaki respects her, takes care of her needs, stands up to the  whole big bad world for her choices. In Bollywood films/t.v. serials, such a 'sister'-ly depiction is almost impossible.

Much more than that, this sweet but naughty young lady is a woman rebelling against all sorts of injustices, against sexist ill treatment of poor women, against every possible 'corruption', be it monetary, ideological, religious, gender-biased or caste-oriented. Very firmly and bravely, she stands up to the powerful men, be it within the familial fold or in the village itself. 

In the process, an entire way of life changes. The film by Prakash Jha is indeed worth a watch for Madhuri Dixit's acting which brings alive a rather trite storyline. Especially noteworthy is the fact that her co-artists are of the Shabana Azmi calibre, and yet it remains A Madhuri Dixit movie! 

Kudos to her for enacting flawlessly such unique roles where she asserts a woman's worth and choices in a feminine yet determined way, and I suppose that makes her a better actress!

Pratima@ Sad was the news about the demise of Dr. Anand Nadkarni. I had watched a televised interview wherein he was interviewing a friend's daughter. Was he overflowing with admiration!

All the articles, et al, by him, and, yes, that very famous poem by him sure make extremely thoughtful reading. RIP!

Quote of the day:                                                             "Values are like lighthouses. They are signals giving us direction, meaning and purpose," from the "Colonel's" VFW/Victory for Veterans.

Word of the day: thespian                                          "Thespian" is a formal word for actor. Often in Indian 'film criticism', it is used to refer to a talented senior actor.

No Shadow Day!

May 13 was the "no shadow" day. On this day, at 12 noon, our shadow, supposed to follow us throughout  our life, vanishes! How is this phenomenon explained? Exactly at noon, the sun is exactly above head. As the sun is directly overhead (at zenith) at local noon, the shadows fall directly underneath objects, hiding hence the shadows.

Gone is the physical shadow! Explained is the phenomenon logically, rationally, scientifically. How about the other shadow which, forever, dogs our very existence? Yes, I am referring to the Jungian notion of the shadow. 

What Freud  called the "id", Jung chooses to call the shadow. Just as Freud talks about the sublimation of the id, especially by the artists, Jung, too, talks about 'integrating' the ' shadow. 

Why so? The "shadow" refers to the unconscious, repressed, or disowned aspects of the personality—the "dark side" containing traits deemed unacceptable, both by the ego and/or society. Anger, selfishness, or forbidden desires can be considered examples of the 'shadow work'. 

Integrating the shadow is crucial for individuation, as it holds hidden potential and prevents destructive projections. In other words, there can be  'no shadow' day psychologically, too! Indeed, some hope!!! 

Pratima@ 'Geniuses think alike.' Explains the similarity in the ideation of Freud and Jung. Never ever forget the second half of this quote by Alexander  Pope who insisted that "so do fools."

Quote of the day:                                                           " We are but dust and shadow," says Horace. 

Word of the day:  silhouette                                       A silhouette is the dark solid shape of somebody/something seen against a light background. 

The Birth of a Genre

The short story --- a story made of roughly three thousand to five thousand words tops, with a single storyline, minimal characters, and no subplots, but imbued with the creation of an intense ambience which precisely reflected the conflict at the heart of the story which often ended with a twist in the tale--- was born in response to a techno-social compulsion. 

In a way, it began n blossomed in the U. S. England did have short stories. They , however, were long short stories or novellas. Or there were serialised novels, one chapter in the monthly of fortnightly issue. 

The fast paced life in the hugely urbanising and industrialized cities, fast growing to be metros, such as New York  was tough. There was huge internal migration. Waves of immigrants chasing the American Dream were attacking the coastlines. 

Given these and many other factors, getting a home near your workplace was tough. The commute from home to work, and back, would each last at least an hour one way. To break the monotony of the travel time, the commuters needed an easy read. 

A novel was too long, the thread would easily snap, and re-building the (s)pace need not be everybody's cup of tea. A play, too, is too complex to be finished off in an hour. Anyways, it needs to be performed for the entirety of the experience to emerge. Poetry need not be everyone's muse. 

It is believed, hence, that the short story, which could be read within an hour or half, emerged, and became the favourite of the masses. I am sure each one of us has a favourite story written by Guy de Maupassant or O'Henry or Maugham or any of their descendants. Read it again, and mark the time, and you would agree with my statements!

Incidentally, our very own twenty-first century has, too, risen to the occasion. There is the new-fangled vertical drama. Vertical drama (or duanju) are plays, tops two minutes long, hyper-melodramatic series designed for vertical smartphone viewing, featuring twenty to hundred episodes. Primarily originating from China and popular on apps like ReelShort, these shows, such as "How to Break a DILF" and "The Double Life of a Billionaire Heiress," focus on fast-paced narratives like forbidden romance, revenge, and billionaire romance. Escapist entertainment for the sake of an adrenaline high!

Pratima@ My favourite most short story is attributed to Hemingway. It reads, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."  It is the world best example of flash fiction, yet another genre thrown in by contemporary realities.

Quote of the day:                                                           "Literature is the reflection of the society," says Charles Nadier.

Word of the day: genre                                               A genre is a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterised by a specific style, form, or content. 

NEET is not neat!?!

 The UG NEET, the entrance exam for medical degree aspirants, got scrapped. Apparently, there was a paper leak. The "guess paper" had an accuracy rate of almost hundred per cent for Chemistry and Biology. 

A highly hugely disturbing sad fact! No, I have nothing to do with party politics of the Opposition acting holier-than-thou variety. I have three solid worries. Let me discuss these one by one.

The first is the fact that the entire medical field is unmistakably getting conquered by the AI. This reality just cannot be overlooked nor denied. There could be positive fall-out's such as an AI enabled implant making the born blind visually absolutely unimpaired.

Hidden in this technology driven gain is the very existential threat to the medical fraternity to which, unfortunately, not many have woken up. Simplistically put, today itself, when the AI is still evolving, the common man, too, chooses to consult the AI rather than meet a doctor. Very soon, robotics and the AI would hundred per cent take over surgery.  And, here, for dirty monies' sake, people are playing 'guess paper' games!

That brings us to the second truly moot point. Students, and, obviously, their stupidly ambitious parents, who are ready to pay lakhs just for the 'guess paper', not to forget crores as private college fees, hope to be doctors!!! Being a doctor, just like being in academics, is not a 'merely money minting' business. Nor is it either 'just a month end pay cheque' paying profession. How can anybody expect any human(e), forget ethical considerations, 'treatment' from somebody who has paid crores to get a degree?

That brings us to the third major point. Is being a doctor a monetary game? ''Parents have money (How? Let us for the time being forget that truly worrisome issue), will splurge it to throw at the private sector in medical education, and get UG/PG degrees'' kind of attitude reduces the worth and value of the truly talented who genuinely work hard and sincerely, at times, even without the tuition class help. The monied caste seems to be another hurdle hurting the authentic achiever!

What about the despair and depression of these who could have been truly committed to the cause of humane service and research in medicine? Doctor, heal thyself, and fast!

Pratima@ Oh, yes, there is no need to cry over this  'neet-ly' spilt milk. In every demand for "grace marks", accepted as the 'done thing', an unavoidable "compromise" as you are told, the same dirty trick is insistent.

Oh, yes, in most autonomous educational institutes, nobody (neither the students nor their parents, and certainly not the 'professors') is worried that students do not attend the minimally conducted lectures. Instead, there are "question banks" covering the small little portion taught through the now AI versions of the 'Nirali' guides! In brief, "guess papers" are everywhere!

Even when there are three sets of question papers as in the centralised, non-autonomous, university set-up, students 'in the know', they themselves unashamedly tell you to your face, 'get to know' the 'guess paper' version. How? Any guesses?

 In brief, why learn, how teach when money, power, influence, class (of all sorts), caste (of all varieties) can get you every gain! Who cares about which losses!

Quote of the day:                                                           Says William Faulkner, "Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion, and against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the world." 

Word of the day: corruption                                       Corruption is defined as a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain.

The Unmistakable Bhakti Feel

  No, I have not forgotten Tagore. How can a student cum teacher of literature ever forget Tagore? To Indian English literature, he got glory. His early twentieth century win of the Nobel for literature gained visibility for Indian Writing in English. 

Yes, I do know that those in the know feel that his own translation of  the original Bengali Geetanjali in to English is no match to/no patch on the Bengali version. I would not know. My broken Bengali is a product of watching any number of Bengali films. As for "jana gana mana", it is absolutely Sanskritised.

Better not to get in to language debacles, eh, debates. Bitter as it is they are on Bambaiya roads! Instead, let us look at Poem No. XIII from 'The Geetanjali'. The speaker in the poem is describing a mystical feel. 

It describes an eager wait. It is intense yet undefined. The welcome song is ever ready, but yet not sung. Either the accompanying musical instrument is not strung properly or the word order is not set right. 

The agony of the wait, however, is so passionate that it sears the heart. To capture it, Tagore uses the image of an unopened bud around whom the breeze, nay, the wind is sighing by. 

Who is this visitor? Unknown he is, unseen he is, unheard he is. The speaker is just aware only of the gentle footfall in the lane near the home.  The speaker's 'lifelong' day gets spent readying the seat for this much awaited visitor. Yet the lamp is yet to be lit, and as yet are not ready the words of the invite. 

Read the poem without any reference to the poet's name. Does not it sound like any and every Meera Bhajan? Or a "vachan" by Akka Mahadevi? My favourite most Sant Dyandeva's 'virani' ( songs of separation) sound like this poem of acute awaiting. In the Bengali tradition, Jayadeva's "Geet Govindam" has any number of 'padam' expressing an eager, passionate wait. 

Hence my humble submission that unmistakable is the feel of the Bhakti tradition of the Middle Ages in Tagore's  "Geetanjali."  The unstated yet acutely felt intense love for the beloved becomes a metaphor for the devotee's stung soul striving for the divine. May be, this spiritual signification gives "Geetanjali" the glory it 'nobly' deserves. 

Pratima@ Now I am going to be horribly prosaic. Yesterday, I was rushing to reach on time to Raju's place. Suddenly in our backyard, I heard footsteps, some activity. 

A thief in the middle of the morning? No, it was the next door neighbour who just jumped in. No permission, no decency. Simply horrible. The whole day, the whole family lingers near our front yard, coughing, spitting, shitting and pissing and pissing (given the simply horrible smell, nay, stench.)

 They are literally peeping in to the open door, listening to every word while I teach online. They truly need to be taught a lesson. Forever, they are loooooudly yaking away. Why was not that unofficial visit thus declared? How about the decency to inform, to ask for permission? 

That is the reason I am wary about the backyard. Earlier, there used to be a proper fence which was absolutely flattened by the construction activities of the peaceful community building a high rise not even hundred feet away. I requested the owner at least hundreds of times to lift the rubble both sides. At least I can build a proper protective wall, right? To no avail! 

May be, certain people do not understand decency, gentleness, non-interference. I am thinking of alternatives which would din sense in to dumb heads! 

Quote of the day@ Tit for tat!                                   How to extend the tit for tat tactics without dirtying one's own soul? That is the question! Fighting with a pig is no use. One gets dirty, while the pig, anyways, loves the wallowing in the muck! 

Word of the day: swine                                             A swine is a pig , a big fat old nasty hog with short legs, thick bodies, and they eat just about anything. If someone acts like a pig, best to simply call such 'swine'!