Soupçon, In Memoriam, VI.v

                          Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           VI.v        

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.

Narali Pournima/Onam

 This year, the Narali Pournima and the Rakhee Pournima do not fall on the same day as generally they do. In a way, good it is because each of these days has its own separate significance. 

Narali Pournima is a fervent prayer to the sea god, Varuna. Actually, he is the god of all the "Jal tatw", the principle called the water principle, the major one of the five "panch mahabhut" as per the traditional Hindu iconography. 

The seas in turmoil due to the turbulent monsoon winds start calming down around, and from, this day. Hence the fishermen community, which had suspended its activities, start resuming these Narali Pournima onwards. There is hence a propitiatory 'puja' of the sea as god. 

As my brother Parag, alias Raju, is a Merchant Navy officer, Papa used to offer coconut-flowers, et al, to the sea.  In his memory, i, too, offer flowers and coconut, of course, to that nullah called Mula-Mutha. 

Personally, I like the concept a lot, too, as a token of one's gratitude to this vast principle which has so abundantly gifted us with all its blessings. Such humility, such caring for its countless benedictions go a long way in our life, I think.

Come to think of it, the sea in a way gives us everything, the monsoon winds, the rains, hence the potable water and the harvest, literally life itself. Greedy species that human beings are, they are scraping the ocean beds! 

Given the recent Himalayan warning of the GLOF and/or permafrost variety, rather like the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy or the almost similar situation last year in Chamoli due to a cloud burst and flash floods leading to artificial lakes that can burst and cause havoc any time, it is urgent that we stop fiddling with nature!

Pratima@Keralam at the other end of the Indian map is in the Onam mood though. The Onam tale, too, is a story of goodness, of humility, of an unbreakable bond born out of generosity. The Malyali lovely flower rangoli's and that great veggie called "avial" are simply special.                                                                           "Avial" has as its ingredients certain veggies one may not otherwise relish. Cooked it is in coconut oil, moreover. Yet the taste of the final product, mixed in curds, is such that one could comfortably finish off some six seven servings, exactly in the Bhima mode who apparently invented the dish in his Ballava avatar!

Quite of the day:                                                            "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.". Agreed, Jacques Yves Cousteau.

Word of the day: iconography                                          Iconography is the use of visual images, symbols, and themes to represent ideas, beliefs, or stories in art and culture.The term comes from Greek words meaning "image" and "to write". It acts as a visual symbol.

Soupçon, In Memoriam, VI.iv

                              Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           VI.iv        

As our further analysis would depend on it, let us summarise the story of this film. It begins with a cricket match which introduces us to the talented Parshya. His college mate, Archi, is the daughter of the village chieftain.

Many 'encounters' after, both inevitably fall in love. Encouraging them are their weak but determined friends, while both their families, nay, communities, are up against  them, literally in arms. 

Ugliest accusations after, the couple escapes. They land up in Hyderabad. Life is tough beyond belief.  With the help of a local street vendor, they survive, slowly prosper, despite misunderstandings galore. At a weak sentimental moment, Archie, now herself a mother, contacts her mother, and the inevitable happens. The love story ends with the most hateful crime, honour killing. Our analysis would explore the subtleties underlying this 'narrative'.

Pratima Agnihotri                 

Helpless!

 As human beings, we think of ourselves as ingenious. We think, we are masters of the world, what with our smart technologies, getting more intelligent by the minute. 

Yet nature never misses an opportunity to get us back to terra firma, back to ground zero. Look at what happened on the Nepal-Tibet border. The disaster of a gangantuan proportion, if the first horrific visuals are any proof!

The flood was caused by an earthquake. The Himalayan range is highly seismic sensitive, is in Danger Zone V. As a result, a torrent of mud, water and debris burst from the banks of the river that runs between China and Nepal. Homes, roads, bridges and power plants were swept away in Nepal, ⁠while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties”, locals as well as tourists. 

As it is an earthquake, sure there would be after shocks, and they might inundate Indian areas in the neighbouring region. China is planning a huge dam of gigantic proportions in this very area, and despite many warnings. Hope, at least now, there would be a re-think regarding the man-made disaster!

The Himalayas are beautiful beyond belief. As a young mountain range where the tectonic plates are still shifting below, the mountain chain is delicately poised. Human beings must not vitiate it through dam-ming or noisy tourism! The 2013 Kedarnath floods are some proof of the uncontrollable fury of the 'tandava' of the elements. Hope all would pay attention! 

Pratima@ All the five elements of nature, fire, water, air, earth, space, are unbridled power. Incidentally, that was one of Aai's favourite themes. Nothing, however, matches the fury of water, once it is unleashed. High time we stopped playing with the fragile eco-system!

Quote of the day:                                                           "Nature's order unraveling under the strain of human excess and negligence shows us a world untethered by rain bombs and unpredictable floods. No magic umbrella will ever protect us."  (“Rain Man - With a sky out of control“) Thus warns Erik Pevernagi. 

Word of the day: ingenious                                         Ingenious means showing great cleverness, creativity, and originality, especially in solving problems or inventing new ways to do something. 

Soupçon, In Memoriam, VI. iii

                         Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           VI. iii.                                      "Sairat" bears the unmistakable Nagnath Manjule stamp. It is inevitale, too, as he is the producer, director, script-writer, lyricist of the film. Why, there is even a cameo of him in the beginning of the film. 

Sure unmistakable are the echoes of other films. The motor scene, when the couple get physically intimate at the time of her brother's, Prince's, birthday party, is reminiscent of a similar scene in the "Titanic",  for instance. 

As for the trademark caste comment, typical of Manjule, his earlier film, "Fandry" deals with the same issue, too, let us devote a separate slice of  'Soupçon' to it. 

Pratima Agnihotri

Becoming a stranger!

  On one of the WhatsApp groups, there was this harrowing feed. It was the pic of an old lady in her early/mid eighties, well-dressed, with all the major jewellery items women of her age-group wear, with that typical upper middle class Brahmin contented look. In other words, she had the typical maternal look my generation would associate with our mothers. 

'So far, so good', you would say. Why then such a title for the blog, why call the feed harrowing? Well, the pic has been uploaded on very many groups because this absolutely gentle genteel lady is nowhere to be found!

When an elderly person, especially a woman with some jewellery on her, is thus lost, awful possibilities open up. Did she face some medical emergency, is she in some hospital, did she meet with an accident, given the atrocious traffic? Has somebody harmed her, hopefully not fatally, for the sake of the jewellery? Has she been held hostage for monetary ransom? Much worse, is she safe as a woman?

Doubts and worries assail the family like  angry bees from a beehive at which a stone  has been hurled. Most often, however, the real reason could be that the person has clean forgotten who she is, where she lives, why she left home, to go to temple, to market, to a relative's place, where is it? 

In other words, she is a victim of a 'dis-ease', of dementia, much worse, of an advanced stage of the Alzheimer's Disease. Such patients  reach this stage because certain proteins form clusters around their brain cells, and destroy the brain cells' functions completely. The Parkinson's/Dementia/Alzheimer affected brain cells cannot communicate with each other. 

The patient hence literally becomes a stranger to herself. For her, her own family are aliens. It is a very traumatic experience for the spouse if he is alive, for her children and/or grandchildren, if their mother has allowed them, or even her husband, to show some care, concern, hopefully love for the aged patient. 

What are some easy solutions so as to care for such patients? First of all, they should not be allowed alone out of home. Next, there should always be notes with their name/address/phone number pinned on to the pallu, in the purse, et al. Most importantly, they should not be allowed to wear any gold. If they insist at all, artificial jewellery would do.

Most importantly, it must never be forgotten that one day, we, too, would inevitably reach that age. Those  gentle hands, those kind eyes, that sweet soul spent a lifetime for our welfare, and most lovingly, happily, willingly. It is our utmost duty to become a better family for them when they thus become strangers to themselves!

Pratima@The caregiver has to switch the role. He/she must become the parent to the father/mother-now-grown-to be-a child. At times by coaxing, at times by scolding, at times through a small gift or two, or even some minor disciplining, he/she has to be taken care of.                                                                  Just a thought! Were Bhakt Pundlik's parents suffering thus, which made him make the Lord wait, luckily for us all, eternally!

Quote of the day:                                                            "To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.” True, Tia Walker!

Word of the day: harrowing                                      Harrowing means extremely upsetting, terrifying, and/or deeply distressing.