The Marathi Day

 Come the Marathi Day, and every year after another, we all go hyper senti-n-quite mental. Yes, indeed! Year after after, group following another, the same messages, both highly emotional and equally highly hilarious, start doing the rounds midnight to noon. The fervour loses its fever  after the noon, i suppose.

Actually, if the Marathi Day has to have any real value at all, we need to address squarely at least two major issues. The first one is a serious one; namely, the encroachment of Hindi and English on to the Marathi grammar, usage, and, of course, vocabulary.

The second problem is still graver; namely, how to make Marathi a language of knowledge. This is an important issue. My mother tongue can be a language as an asset if and only if it is a language of knowledge, and hence of the market, may be. We need to address this issue urgently.

 May be, the institutions addressing such radical issues as knowledge creation and distribution are governed by a handful. There is an urgent need to democratise the process by including talented outsiders even when they may not belong to a given clique!

Only when it becomes a language of knowledge, and hence of status, the Marathi language (day, too) would truly flourish and fructify! 

Pratima @ Whether gazetted or not as a "state(ly) language", a language earns respect if it generates and distributes knowledge in an easy and accessible mode!

How (not) to be (In)tolerant!

 Christopher Hitchens has made an interesting comment. He maintains, "the most intolerant and narrow-minded are those who think that they are very tolerant and most open-minded." Indeed! Often in our life we meet people who are made of such sick stuff.

Most often they would be in positions that are 'powerbaaz'. Or at least so they think. Such people hence ride rough shod over even the topmost Head. They would take minor to major decisions without, forget consulting, even informing him/her.

 Such people are like King Louis XVI who used to argue,"L'etat? C'est moi!" It means i am the state. Such crude crooks would have their lackeys who would lick whichever part of the body not even offered.

As a result, such people, given their self-aggrandisement, lose their connect with reality. Living in a swollen-head's paradise, they think they are always right. Life has its own ways to teach the right lessons to such "i am central most" types.

They undoubtedly vitiate the institutional framework as well as atmosphere because they can go to any extent to establish the over-reaching power baazi of themselves and their crooks. In the public space, however, such people are truly dangerous.

Let me give you an example. There are certain people in our midst who think that Veer Savarkar is their bete-noir. They would declare that he wrote apology letters to the British. The fact of the matter is that those days such was the formal way  of writing. Everybody wrote the same way!

Such pointless intolerance shreds the society bare. In the name of tolerance, such intolerance and stupidity ruins a tolerant togetherness. Thus begins the competitive "give-you-back" game. Often neither party would have read up anything basic in the field. Thus emerges a chamber house of echoes, much worse than the din at a psychiatrist ward!

Wish people did not hate for the sake of hatred. Wish everyone consulted a lot of material, especially the basic texts, before shooting their mouth. Otherwise the hatred of each others' opinions would result in a scenario much worse than the Tower of Babel!

Pratima@ "Intolerance is a form of violence and results in loss of democracy," says Mahatma Gandhi.

Comedienne

 Comedy is quite some detox, right? There are very few interesting comedy programmes in Marathi, my mother tongue. Awful cross-dressing hardly makes for a good laugh. 

Such comic programmes, moreover, make quite derogatory references to women, both in general and often pointedly personalised. So ridiculous, however, is the comic in such PJ programmes  that  they are hardly worth a mention.

Yesterday I spent some time watching on the mobile the "Mona Darling" series from the "Maharashtra chi Hasyajatra". Earlier Namrata Sambherao used to play the eponymous role. Now it is Shivali Parab. 

Both of them present perfectly the silly social media sensation called "Mona Darling". The crazy airhead character comes alive on stage with their stellar performances, their perfect timing, and wonderfully suited make-up and costumes.

That made me think, especially because now in India there are a number of women stand-up comedy artists as well. Is it the case that to create laughter, a comedienne has to mock women? Well, the social media sensations in real life would hardly be like this reel representation. The "tik-tok" queens with millions of followers most probably would be quite worldly wise, and hyper 'smart', i think. Sure this is my guess. I would not know much of that area of the entertainment industry.

In other words, is there a belittling or mockery of womanhood involved in the roles created for comediennes? Do women have to be brain dead eye candy? Does the depiction by most script writers get limited to the standard roles and representations assigned to women traditionally? 

May be, that is why i think i prefer the comic roles that Vishakha Subhedar performs (or used to perform, may be. I would not know as i do not watch the programme regularly) in this programme. She does not create the comic through body shaming, for instance. At least whichever of her roles I saw, she is not a dim-wit bimbette. There was this performance of hers wherein she was a Bollywood dance master. Yet never was in it any demeaning of womanhood.

Of course, actors follow faithfully the script. Hence the need for witty women script writers. Sure comediennes would be truly fun then!

Pratima@ If lions were to be sculptors, very different would be the depiction of the man-lion statues at very many crossroads!

The Sense of Duty

 If it is the Central Excise Day, how can Papa's memory be far away? As an IRS officer, he devotedly worked at, with, and for the central excise department.

He was horribly honest. Yes, i have chosen the right intensifying adverb. It would not indeed occur to him to be anything else, but be terribly clean, horribly honest. Of course, he paid a huge price for that. As such a devoted and honest officer is always inconvenient to the corrupt of all sizes and shapes, he had to constantly face transfers to far-flung places.

During his two year stint in Mumbai, during which he had to face a mini transfer to Kalyan, he used to daily commute up and down to Mumbai, and later to Kalyan. Come rain or sunshine, he would leave home sharp at 6 a.m, catch the Sinhagad Express (he would not like to be late even by five minutes at duty!), work sincerely and tirelessly the whole day, catch the Deccan Queen  (he possibly would not leave office even five minutes early!) to reach home 9-ish. 

Tough, punishing schedule. Never did he ever waver. Aai used to wake up early to prepare his tiffin! What genuineness, what commitment, what devotion to duty, to an idea! Extremely rare to find such people now!

Yes, he abided by the rules. He was strict. Yet he went out of his way to help others. A very tender, sensitive heart he had. Yet another trait he shared with Aai was that he would not know how to deal with double-faced people. Hypocrisy was anathema to both of them.

Genuine people indeed! No, i am NOT praising them coz they were my parents. Indeed they were a breed apart. I am extremely proud and happy to be one of their brood!

Pratima@ Being "the same person publically, privately, personally" as Judah Smith would put it!

Cleanliness

 Recently was celebrated the birth anniversary of Sant Gadge Maharaj. He insisted on cleanliness. His was a drive that was desperately needed in the interior and across the far-flung Maharashtra. He would himself lead through example.

Undoubtedly, the surroundings must be clean. In my opinion, however, much more needed is the cleanliness of heart, of soul, of purpose. I think it is the cleanliness of the mind that matters the most.

Suppose you have a swanky house with whitest of white Italian marbles. It glints like a mirror. Yet it reflects your character, your personality which is aggressive, mean, dominating. You are the kind of person who loves to show others down, belittle them, insult them directly/indirectly so that your non-existent line appears longer than that of people far, far superior to you every which way. Your every single word is laced with crookedness and nastiness. You boast of wealth to which your own  contribution is minimal.

Do the flashy Italian marbles have any meaning at all, however clean? A perfectly clean house without books, without plants, without a loving pet is abysmally unclean indeed. 

On the contrary, a simple home with a lovely little garden around in which happily pitter-patter the birds the day long, where fragrant flowers share their natural scent with the gentle breeze, a home in which live people intent on self amelioration by the day, who are content and happy so much that they never even feel the need to compare themselves with others as they are happy being themselves, a home wherein the talk is of ideas, concepts, issues rather than of gossip or of silly, cheap material things, such a home, in my opinion, is far far far cleaner than any palace spruced up by millions of minions!

Pratima@"A pure heart is a mirror in which is reflected the image of infinite beauty," says Rumi.

Privacy

 Privacy is indeed everybody's birthright. Nobody, absolutely nobody, for whatsoever reason it could be, has the right to invade anyone else's privacy. That is the given of basic decency, however weirdly curious you might be.

In a way, however, technology has absolutely taken away our privacy. Everything we may or may not do leaves an eternal, never to be effaced trace in that anonymous, and autonomous, too, web. We are Abhimanyu's in a way, with no chance or way of disentangling ourselves out of this web! As the AI becomes finer, such complications are going to grow more complex!

As for film stars, however, most often than not, their call for privacy appears either a "fukkat ka" publicity stunt, dramebazi, and a PR job. If an actress, for instance, wants total privacy for her kid, why did she for nine long boring months flaunt her pregnancy, her dangerous exercise regime, her revealing maternity suits, and so on, and so on?

 When it suited her so that she can thus mint money, it was okay to feed the public hunger and public madness/craze in the 'public' space (,and, it suited the private sphere of her-'self', too!)! Rather weird and quite duplicitous! In fact, it is the celebrity stunts that make regular, daily lives of non-celebrity women difficult because the show-off-ism of film stars feeds in to gossip columns and breeds weird curiosity about every woman!

Pratima@Cry-wolf techniques have never helped anyone. 

Social Justice

 Just recently was celebrated the 'social justice' day. Indeed an excellent concept it is theoretically! It has as its base such sterling issues as equity, for instance. A laudable idea indeed. Yet is there actually any real social justice? One wonders at times!

May be, social justice is possible for those who do have all the paradigmatic positionings that can easily locate her to be a victim, for instance. A young woman, for instance, who comes from a poor family and a caste historically assigned to the alienated/scheduled category, would find it a little easier, and, yes, more possible to get something akin to social justice.

Would an absolutely innocent woman from the upper caste and from a slightly well-off family get the same sympathy when she is cruelly harassed for no rhyme nor reason? May be, the harassment could be due to someone's jealousy, given her all-round brilliance. It could be someone's vicious obsession to harass her so that this cowardly nameless XYZ can please some ABC whom s/he, the XYZ, loves, and that ABC hates like hell this poor soul? 

It could be someone's crazy obsession, all the more bothersome it would be if that crook possibly belongs to a religion that in India has by definition all the sympathy. Who knows who the creepy and, unfortunately, nameless, cowardly because faceless, cheap fellow/woman is behind the harassment?

Does the poor suffering victim get any social justice? None, whatsoever! Well, she does not fit the bill, the convenient parameters to be a victim, you see! In fact, there is a gloating all around that thus is besmirched an ideal identity, whose genuine goodness every which way can hardly ever, in fact, never, be attained by such worthless weaklings eternally foolishly gossiping and doing nothing else worthwhile in their own empty lives! Every misfortune, each lost, nay, consciously snatched/hacked, chance of such a victim gives gloating, tremendous joy to the vicious of all sorts and categories!

The secret nameless harasser seems to be offering some temptation(s) to trap his/her hundreds of minions to harass the innocent victim in multiple ways. If she ever were to turn back and question, so very conveniently they can label her arrogant, witch, bitch, and, oh, yes, if possible, mad! All this harassment  of an innocent for some nameless weirdo's ego!  And yet the grand talk of social justice and Gandhian principles, and what have you, goes on and on and on and on and on! 

No wonder, Shakespeare's quote regarding life being a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, and signifying nothing, is truer than all the empty, 'vain' in all senses,  talk of social justice, blah, blah, blah, blah, and blah!

Pratima@ When you help and allow a vicious crook to harass and harm an innocent, remember, the very next victim would be YOU! 

 

Mother Tongue Matters!

 February 21! It used to be a truly hectic day for us all in the PNG Language Lab. Yes, it used to be the World Mother Tongue Day! Year after year, often in the company of the Cultural/Heritage Department, we created, we designed, we staged a programme that celebrated the languages, especially the mother tongues.

In a way, the World Mother Tongue Day praxis begins in the Dhaka University, and the ill-treatment meted out to the local Bangla language.

Though our celebration of the day  undoubtedly respected this tragedy, we were more in to the glorification of and respect for the mother tongue, much ignored, much taken for granted. We made all present in the Tata or the Cyrus Hall use different languages other than the immediate mother tongue. It used to be great fun. I have already written about one such extremely  praise worthy performance.

Well, this year, i shall remind each one of my students to appreciate the relevance of the day. May be, that would give some solace to the languages literally dying by the second across this wide world of ours! Long live all the mother tongues of the whole world!

Pratima@ Who lives if the mother tongue dies? And who dies if the mother tongue lives!

 

When tender notes gently trill

 The Shiv principle sounds so unique because it is very much rooted in art forms as well. Be it his "damru" whose 'anahat naad' accompanies the pilgrims during the holy trail to  Kailasa, or be it his "tandava", the art connect is "shiv" eponymously.

It was hence a wonderful opportunity to get to listen to a superb santoor recital during a mesmerising Mahashivratri early evening hour. Santoor, the musical instrument, hails from Kashmir, the Himalayan region which is the abode of Lord Shiva.  It has an unmistakable echo of the Sufi peace as well.

The simply superb performance by the young artist, Dr. Shantanu Gokhale, captured this very mystique essence of the unique instrument. A dentist by profession, the masterful perfomer is the son of my colleague, Dr. Rajeshree Gokhale. Ma'am would often post pieces of her son's performances on her status. It was a marvellous opportunity to get to listen to his live performance.

Despite Shiv Kumar Sharma, whose disciple the young artist is, according a wide recognition to this unique instrument, not much of the exact grammar of its actual performance is widely known. It hardly seemed to matter though. So fluidly flowed the lilting notes that the whole auditorium was absolutely mesmerised.

The entire performance was an excellent confluence of melody and rhythm. Be it the solo rendition of Raag Madhuvanti or the following fabulous jugalbandi pieces, Shantanuji made the instrument 'speak'. Conveying  feelings without words, emoting merely through the cascading notes is indeed tough. Yet the gentle feel of the sthayi bhav of the raag reached everyone present most sensitively. 

Santoor is such a difficult instrument to play, beginning with the 'ardha padmasana baithak' requisite for the recital, and yet Shantanuji's rendition was so wonderfully effortless. It reminded me of the dulcimer Coleridge refers to in his hauntingly lyrical 'Kubla Khan'.

The cadence, that Shantanuji created melodiously, literally glided in to the listeners' ears, all along making their souls feel the soft murmur of the clear streams gently singing to the sublime winds of the mesmeric Kashmir valley.

To come back to the "Shiv" principle, this santoor performance had more the subtle 'lasya' with its unique beauty, enchantment, and grace. Given such masterful fluidity of his performance, we are sure to very soon listen to Shantanuji during the Sawai Gandharva Mahostav, for instance. Here is wishing the young artist a great future which would prove yet again that art knows no bounds.

Pratima@"Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed hearts open", says María von Trapp of 'The Sound of Music' fame. Indeed! Coz music makes mood!

Shiv

 As the Mahashivratri dawned, so unfurled the deep love for Shiv here, there, literally everywhere. Given this auspicious occasion, i felt i should give it a try, and attempt to explore and understand in a small little way the Shiv principle. Let me see if i can understand Shiv and explicate the Shiv principle. 

The term Shiv can be loosely translated as all that is pure, auspiciousness, a totality, a whole(some)ness. Now let me try and analyse aspects of the Shivkatha to understand such holy associations.

In my opinion, Shiva is complete, a totality, a whole. Take any of his roles. As far as the feminine goes, Shiva is the ultimate love, the perfect consort. After Kalidasa, none needs to explore this Shiv feel further.

Let us now look at the Ganga myth. In my opinion, this myth shows how Shiv is a great companion. He shares her tribulations, helps her out in the perfect, ideal mode, creates a new way for her.

In the process, both make every life fulfilled. In my opinion, it is this facet of the Shiv principle that makes the concept absolutely complete. Such is Shiva's altruistic mould that he is the last resort even for gods! 

He can thus elevate every reject as well. Just remember his mythical companions, and this notion would be crystal clear. Why, it is his stay that makes even the cremation ground and other gory details holy! No wonder, the deadliest of the animals sober up in his company! 

He can for the good of all drink up the most poisonous of the poisons. Thus he makes like moonlight the very existence of all of us! No wonder, the chant celebrates his absolute straightforwardness and complete  innocence which which make his paternal feel for the whole world truly inclusive!

He is a great artist as well. Tomorrow let us explore the lilting music full of cadence, melody, rhythm that sculpt a major aspect of the very principle!

Thus can i gone on and on to establish how the Shiv principle is the very fulcrum of life,  of the "Om namah: Shiway" experience!

Pratima@ The Shiv principle is indeed all that nestles the contented feel!

Ukraine

Used-n-thrown on the dungheap of history

Kremlin contested, a proper pariah 

Ravished, yet resurgent, upbeat-n-tenacious 

Alienated yet not silenced

Ignored by allies despite their crocodile tears

Ne'er heavy weight, tho' "operations" galore! 

Etherised locally, a global spectacle!

Pratima@Ukraine: One Year Later of Solitary Warfare/Wish there were another Marquez to chronicle the tale(s) of horror!

Fun dogs

 Dogs are indeed fun. So, if you have a dog at home, fun always follows, eh, 'dogs' you. These besties of ours are absolute goof-balls. Remember your pet cocking his head at one angle/side, and trying to listen to you intently? How about that cute little chase of his own tail? 

Remember the endless zoomies after the bath which the doggy dearest tries to avoid as if it were the corona virus at the height of the Covid epidemic at its worst world wide? Dogs are indeed great fun. They are the best as far as sharing love and joy go.

The internet abounds with lovely doggie videos. The pups with those oh-so-innocent eyes absolutely melt your heart, right? Lovely videos! Equally interesting are the fun videos that pet parents make of these fur babies of theirs. 

Often these videos would convince you that our besties are not only gentle, affectionate and hugely intelligent, but they seem to have a sense of humour as well! There was this video in which the lady of the house played a prank on her doggie by pretending to have a heart attack. The pet sniffed at her, and coolly walked away. 

When the owner pretended to scold her doggie, he just came over, and hugely burped at her as if to say,"Ha! Can see through your tricks!" The doggie WAS actually smiling! Dogs ARE indeed are great fun! So here is a bow-WOW for our faithful friends!

Pratima@The best buddy ever/neither us hurts  nor irritates, never!

 

Sant Ramdas

 Given the Ramdas Navami, it was inevitble that i would unmistakably and ardently remember Aai's devotion to and respect for him. Papa, too, liked and worshipped him. Aai studied his treatises as part of a proper, formal course. In the early 1990's, without fail, she used to go to Sajjangad for a week-long camp. Her description of Shivtharghal used to be full of her wonderstruck admiration. For more than half a decade, she was an instructor of and examiner for the Sant Ramdas Study Course.

Beyond all the ugly controversies with all the attendant politicisation, i find Sant Ramdas to be a great philosopher and a wonderful poet. Often many people think that he asserted the practicality of the daily lived life. I do not think so at all. He is a deep philosopher.

 He is a great poet as well. Marathi, comparatively a hard, a rather harsh-on-ears kind of language, unlike Bengali or French, becomes musical in his hands. His writings have an innate lyrical and rhythmical quality to them. Alliteration, assonance, consonance are his best tools.

Still greater is his content. He captures most subtly and lyrically the "night of the soul" feel. Want proof? Read his "Karunashtak". They capture the depression of the devotee in a deeply realistic and yet intensely poetic way. One of these days, very soon, i am going to publish these in English translation. Thus would be proved his greatness as a thinker and a poet beyond doubt!

Pratima@ Hope that my version of 'Says Ramdasa' would be as famous 'Kahe Kabira"!

Pause

 Remember? Once upon a time, not so very long ago, films could not be watched online. Films had to watched on the vcr machines. Often there used to a pause in the run of the film. Quite irritating it used to be! 

That is the reel lfe. How about the real life? I feel that a pause is indeed necessary in the normal, daily lived life as well. A much deserved break from the routine energises us, for instance.

A pause is indeed necessary in many situations. It shields us from any wild regrets. Let us look at a few situations. Let us imagine that you are rather angry. Given the red hot anger, would not a pause be better before we act on the impulse? Most of the crimes happen due to momentary rage. If that bitter minute were to be paused, life would be different for many.

Equally necessary is a pause before we shoot our mouth. Often, at times, passion makes us say things which we are sure to regret later. Such is the wound words cause that entire lifetimes may pause. Yet the wound never heals. It is forever fresh. If there had been a pause before opening your mouth, may be, that festering  wound would never would have happened. 

Many wrong decisions would never change the course of many silly lives if only the pause switch were on! Well, for the time being, let me pause my write-up! Otherwise the readers may forever... Well, why even such a thought? Instead better pause!

Pratima@In discretion lies valour/ in a pause pulsates power!

Beauty and the Horror

 Those scenes from Turkey! Initially they almost looked like the  Hollywood sets. The fight master here, however, was neither a creatively smart mind nor a computer effects geek. It was that vast, not enough understood force of Nature whose laws we seem to have apprehended, and yet have not fully comprehended!

Actually, I was watching the progress of an asteroid.  The Nasa has predicted that it is hurtling very close to the earth. That made me think of the sharpness and smartness of the human mind,  of the tremendous capacities of the human brain.

Despite such glory and power of human creativity, imagination and the least used brain, the earthquake proves how helpless we are when faced with the fury of fault (lines) in Nature. An earthquake, a tsunami may even be predicted, but such is the brute power that such natural forces 're-lease' that lives of millions get wiped out in a second.

That is why i respect my brother as a human being, and Merchant Navy as a profession. On the high seas, there are literally huge tidal waves, mad winds and against these, a comparatively tiny ship determinedly progressing across that vast canvas of a limitless horizon  that seems to blend seamlessly both in to the skies above and the oceans below. Incidentally, during the Covid years, it was only the Merchant Navy that kept the international trade alive.

Truly beautiful and touching! Like the small acts of utmost love that we have witnessed in the cruel rubbles of this horrid earthquake. Remember the young sister who tried to protect her kid brother from a collapsing structure? Her tiny hand and her immense love and good wishes seemed to stand tall against the despotic power of every evil. They were the only ones saved in the entire vicinity! 

Or the baby born amidst the earthquake! The entire family, including the mother, died. This infant survived, and with minor injuries, is now healthily recuperating in the natal ward, tossing and turning in the crib, looking for Mama's warmth. A miracle baby indeed, asserting amidst horrible chaos the normalcy of existence!  

Yes, woeful injuries, gashes, groans, and against these, the power of love and good will. The earthquake hence proves how beautiful life is, however vast be the cruelties of the passing horror!

Pratima@When the going gets tough, cruel and vicious, such vistas assert that the tough get going, in tiny ways that are indescribably kind, generous, and hence absolutely beautiful!

Childish

 Remember how the U. S. created a huge ruckus over a UFO like object in its aerial space? It suffered its bitter, deserved end. Now the Chinese authorities have spotted a UFO like object in the Chinese aerial space. Yet again another international "tu-tu, main-main" slugfest! Quite like two children fighting over a toy! Extremely childish, right? 

Well, it is not just nations that thus reveal their childishness. Even grown-up, highly educated people, both men and women, but, unfortunately, more women, treat each other as if they are women snarling at each other at the public tap, while collecting the daily quota of water. Just look around, and you will find very many versions of this street quarrel variety of fight, absolutely unprofessional and completely childish. 

All born out of inflated (by others) ehh, rather bloated (by themselves) egos, the pettiness pulsating  in such childish outbursts is absolutely unbelievable. Seems how most people never grow out of the first three years of their lives, the same tantrums, the same carrying the fight to the parent (like higher authorities), the tell-tale games, everything is extremely child-like, except the straightforward cleanliness and innocence of a child. Hence utterly, totally childish, in brief!

Better to remain only on terms of  distant professional relationship with such people, right? The Lord alone knows how and when their pettiness would spill over  on to you. As it is argued typically, if they gossip to you, they sure would gossip about you. Your company, moreover, taints you in the same colour! Why sully yourself? Better to stay out of bitter childishness! Such a "Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after" scenario! Both break their crowns every which way! Clownish indeed!

Pratima@ Immature peurile people are intent on winning an argument, come what may! Age is no guarantee of maturity!

The Educational Factory!

 The other day I saw a rather unhappy news item on the Google. It boasted of being the first Pune based Junior College in the whole of Maharashtra which coaches for all possible competitive such as the JEE, et al and yet takes of a student's junior college score. Had heard of such 'arrangements' , but never seen such an ad in the black-and-white.

If during the Covid, Maharashtra fell prey to the Byju's, now in the post-pandemic era, it seems to have transcended the Latur pattern to enter in to the Kota scheme! Sad to see such a so-called Oxford of the East create  waste! In the land  of Tilak and Agarkar are mushrooming marksist markets. Such educational market forces are no guarantee of either a degree or a job! What a waste land indeed!

Pratima@ Tired with all this/ for educational escape students cry!

Resolve re-solves!

 Yes, indeed. Resolve re-solves. Once one decides to attain a set goal, wrre-solve, that is, fond new solutions to many problems. This solution, i would say, could be a placebo. Yet it in-deed does! 

 Resolve provides  a purpose in life. It gives a us a rootedness, and thus it gives a direction to every move in our life. You get a focus, and out of all this is born a firmness and independence, the base of character.

Yes, the ancient Indian thought gives us  a wonderful picture of this phenomenon.  Oh, yes , i am referring to Eklavya, for instance.How about  putting re-solve as the seal of courage and conviction!

Pratima @ Anything that is today resolved truly relaxes your future, and forever!

How to describe grief?

 How does one describe grief? The more intense it is, the tougher it is to give it a palpable feel. Let me see if i can think of images that might capture grief.

A sob as an earthquake? Tears like the tsunami waves in flow, never receding, the new encircled by and enveloping the old? The heart ache like the dry desert suffering the ultimate heat wave? The throbbing head like the deep crater after the volcano eruption? The empty feel of the mindscape like the midnight hour of the no-moon day!?!

And yet despite such negativities, in the midst of all the shapes and swirls of grief, there is the ultimate certainty that you would never forget. The forever  lost, now never to be met, near and dear one would every second live on in your memory, like the dry bed of a lost river, with the distant assurance that a tiny blue bloom would blossom, despite the briny brackish hurt in dry eyes!

Pratima@ Grief has no words. It is a wild regret chilling till the bone marrow!

Condolence messages

 To send or not to send? That is the dilemma. Well, yes, i am talking of the condolence messages. The first instinctive reaction is to send the condolence message. The death of a friend, a colleague, a distant relative is indeed a very sad event. 

Death has a tragic finality to it. The feel that you would never ever see, meet, talk to the person churns your stomach, hurts your heart, wounds your soul deeply. The near and dear ones of the deceased would feel this eternal loss very much and intimately. You want to share with them that lonesome feel. You want to support them. Hence the condolence message.

There is another subtle feel to a condolence message. You feel that if you share your sense of loss to someone very close to the deceased, could be, the sibling or the partner, the immediate family, then may be,  your grief, your sense of loss would somehow reach the deceased. The message is thus a way to connect with the dead and convey to her/him your soulful sense of loss and  your grief over the tragic event.

You would then say, where is the dilemma? Well, you feel delicate about it because the near and dear ones are in mourning, in deep shock. You feel that your words of solace may pry open that wound. In other words, constant condolence messages may not give the immediate family, the near and dear ones a chance to grieve by themselves, in the private space, and slowly start to come to terms with the inevitable.

If at all you send such a message, it should be sensitive, brief and respectful of their privacy, and deep grief. Well, actually, one should never ever have to write any such message! How can we, though, avoid the inevitable! As John Donne put it, "never ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee!"

Pratima@ "The words of condolence try your grief to share/They assure that for the dead and her near and dear ones you care!"

Huge Respect

 Saw this video of Manmohan Singhji. At this advanced age, he looked very fragile. Every activity, be it walking or writing, was sure tough for him. The wages of age, so to say! And, yet, one cannot but respect the gentleman.

He could have belonged to any political party. I do not think it would make much of a difference really. Sure even the so-called "andha bhakts" would admire his contribution.

He would be older than my father. But both  belong to a generation that believed in honesty of purpose, integrity, genuineness, sincerity, sterling virtues/values indeed. 

Yet another common trait would be the commitment to one's duty. Manmohan Singhji single-handedly brought in a paradigm shift in the Indian economic thinking. Undoubtedly, he did enjoy the support of his PM, the late Narsimha Rao. Yet the mammoth change must have been real difficult in multiple ways. Yet he never gave up.

Papa, too, was truly, genuinely and absolutely committed to each and every one of his duties, be it professional and/or familial. No stinting there. In fact, any such  thought itself would not occur to him. Absolutely devoted to any and every thing he would do!

Yet another common trait these two worthies would share is being misunderstood. If you are the type who lets your work speak, you often are a headache for many. Your sincerity can stand in the way of many lesser souls. 

Insulting such goodness actually would demean the crook who tried it. Remember the time when Manmohan Singh's ordinance was torn in full public glare in a press meet while he was away, at his alma mater that had invited him to honour him? He bore the affront. Must have been tough.

 As for Papa, he was a unique combo of being terribly straightforward and horribly sensitive. Such people always think that the rest of the world is as good and clean as they themselves are! Yet he bore with dignity all the hurdles, and hardly showed his hurt.

Good people indeed! The very memory/thought of such real, genuine "quality" makes my eyes go misty. Huge respect! Sure the contemporary world is so differently enabled  that it may allow just a tiny little corner to such stalwarts, but that space, however small, would continue to 'en-light-en' lives!

Pratima@Yes, old is gold, platinum and diamond!

 

Short term Memory

 The first death anniversary of Latatai did not seem to create (m)any ripples. Her die-hard fans like me sure would have listened to her hundred best, for instance. There were not, however, any major events to mark the occasion, right?

Tough indeed it is to believe how short (lived) the public memory is. May be, these days the mystique of a legend has given way to the glamour and razzle-dazzle of instant celebrities who, literally like the monsoon mushrooms emerge and dissolve 'season'ally. That could be a cause behind the convenient forgetfulness.

Another possible reason behind memory in the public getting shorter by the day(s) could be the sensationalism of scandals. The screaming headlines, Ms Walkar to M/S Adani, shouting from the rooftop that 'the  nation wants to know' create a cognitive fatigue, may be. 

In the private space, however, memories never dim nor fade. As for Lata Mangeshkar, for instance, i remember how i used to make Aai listen to Lata songs during her last stay  in the DMH. A song like her favourite "Aap ki nazaron" would fetch me a faint smile from Aai. Last year, around this time, a video of Latatai was making the rounds. Absolutely no difference whatsoever was there in the demeanour of Aai and Latatai as seen in the video. Such memories sear the soul.

 There are, however, around us many a   heartless  creep scurrying around like cockroaches who have to comment constantly on/about others (of course, in a witless way, and without the basic guts to confront openly). Given their cheapness and cupidity, one realises that the short term public memory is indeed a boon!

Pratima@ Neither long term nor short term memory matters when there are toxic horrors around you!

Courtesy

 What is this concept called 'courtesy'? Does it merely mean mindlessly intoning 'sorry', 'excuse me', 'thank you', et al? Does it refer to the so-called pleasantries those bigwigs share before they begin discussing (or is it dissecting, detecting, et al) such huge stuff  as the ' the teleology of the proto-typical governance models and their impact on biodiversity ', for example? Does it mean, like its namesake, 'curtsy',  merely the genuflection to greet the royalty?

I do not really think so. In my opinion, the physical activities mentioned above are mere tokens of an inner feel. What are the ingredients that go in to the making of this unique feel? 

First and foremost, it is humility. It indeed is rare to find, given the very many half-baked swollen heads that we have in huge numbers in this world of ours. Such stupid aspects of life as so-called made-up looks, or "white" complexion (as they say in Indian English) or a little riches or very minor achievements go to their heads. They seem to forget that very many superb greats are milling around, and without any show-shaw. 

The million dollar question would be: should one (continue to) be courteous to such empty vessels? I would say 'yes', and in a big way. No, your consistency may not shame them. Hopefully, though, good habits rub on even on a total fool, right? 

Courtesy, moreover, means learning from each and every one, whatever their station in life, profession, age, wage, whatever. Well, even the fools mentioned above may teach us how not to be (c)rude, right? 

Well, as they say, indeed, life is short. Yet it is not so very limited that it has no space for decency and courtesy, right? Our behaviour patterns, moreover, are a huge comment on our upbringing. Why get bad (re)views about/on our mothers, right?  Instead, better to follow the wise who say time and again that courtesy costs nothing, but buys all that is the best in this human(e) world!

Pratima@'The greater the man, the greater the courtesy', says Tennyson. No wonder, they say, poets are the wisest!

The look

 When you are in the doldrums, the look of everything around you matters, right? Such was the revelation i experienced this evening. I think i need to explain the statement a little more. 

Well, in our part of the city, often there are power cuts. Our lane, like the entire hereabouts, thus goes pitch dark as there cannot be street lights. The hugely howling, honking, vrooming youthful ( do not they have anything  constructive to do, given the fact that soon these days would be over? At times, one wonders if such rowdies get paid in some form or the other to create all sorts of nuisance!) misbehavior neither worries nor bothers me at all. 

For one thing, i keep the main gate forever locked. We have, moreover, an inverter. The home is thus a h(e)aven, full of both, light and safety. 

This evening, however, the dark, lonely lane beyond the gate, accompanied by that stupid 'youthfulness', appeared depressing. While i was watering my small, little garden, i felt like finishing off the task which i never do, given the summer like heat throughout the day. 

The same feel i suffered when my mobile came alive, woke up from the 'sleep' mode, with huge, horribly bright red flowers. The white background seemed horrid with the contrast. It was some "want to know more" type ad. Yet it appeared disgusting because my own screen is a palette of beautiful blues. 

Thus i realised that even a person like me who eternally loves to philosophise about appearances is at rare times bogged down by the look!

Pratima@ Never, they say, appearences behold/Gilded tombs, well, do not they worms enfold?

 

In remembrance!

                                 I : Loss

Each sad news

 pries open the ancient scab

 of that forever loss

 that oozing feel of every missed chance

 of letting know the welling love 

 hidden behind all sorts of stony masks

 making me mummified.

                                  II : Photo

In the mind imprinted 

in indelible sepia tones

Those faces faded forever 

No aperture now to add

any special effects whatsoever!

                     III : Dis-ease

Grief has variants

that outnumber any mutations

of each virus.

Agony alone then

goes viral, 

wilder than every pandemic. 

 Existence thus is short-changed

 unto eon-long euthanasia.

Pratima@ This morning i was (dis-)counting the current stage of my mourning. Thought i had graduated rather well. By the evening, i proved myself wrong yet again. I know now i am still in the primary.

                   

Videos@the best friend

 The YouTube, used creatively, is quite a source of information. To begin with, there are a number of video journalists. Some of them, especially the regional ones, come up with excellent videos which are full of details never discussed in the main media, obviously owned (up) by industrial houses and/or political affiliations.

Yet other set of videos worth a watch are those of all sorts of art forms across the world. Such videos are indeed a joy, prepared as they are out of the labour of love.

Videos of babies are yet other mode of the labour of love, and they are simply lovely because they are genuinely loving.

Equally wonderful are the animal videos. There are two varieties in this field, the wild life types and the pet animal one's. If the first type has grandeur, the second one is full of warmth. From pet cocks to horses, all sorts of animals reveal their friendship with mankind in such videos.

The best ones of all these are the videos that show the deep love and the genuine bond that dogs  and their pet parents share. The true love overflowing every frame, these videos are marvellous, what with cute subtitles and caring dialogues! Love knows no bounds indeed! Take a bow(wow)!😀

Pratima@A pet is not a pest. Indeed he is the buddy best!

Who is a leader?

 Teaching English and/or Additional English at the F.Y. to T.Y. level, whether for Arts/Science/Commerce, is no longer merely  literature-focussed subject-specific activity. It has to be an orientation to life skills as well.

I am indeed proud of the fact that once the BMCC became autonomous, i attempted all these possibilities such as situational-communicative speaking abilities, developing vocabulary the fun way, narration, jokes and cartoons to develop language skills and multiple intelligences as well as critical thinking, the Abrams triangle and PD, preparing project reports, research paper writing skills, and so on. 

 There was a literary section obviously. For Compulsory English, i related it to watching concerned films in English or Hindi films based on it. Unfortunately, all of these efforts were scrapped.

Once i started teaching the recently developed syllabi in the SPPU affiliated colleges, i was pleasantly surprised to see that all such items i had long time back included in the autonomous syllabi were now in the new SPPU syllabi. I did feel validated. 

One such skill I had to teach was the leadership skill. What i attempted was as follows: with some inputs i provided, we prepared two lists. One dealt with the positive characteristics of a good chief. I chose to to call it "team leader". The other list consisted of the bossy bore. We chose to name it the "Big Brother" which gave me a chance to introduce George Orwell to them.

Next we discussed suitable examples or "case studies", to use a technical term, of both these categories. Thus i tried to establish that leaders are not only in politics, but everywhere, in each field.

 Finally, to drive this point nearer home literally, i asked them to discuss the woman in the family as a leader. After our discussion, they all arrived at the conclusion that whether she was a housewife or a career-woman cum home-maker, a woman is always the best leader.

Want to know why? Well, a sensitive and sensible woman is always mission driven. Forever team-oriented, she is selfless and open-minded. Being thoughtful, she is solution driven. Her ability to empathise easily makes her the perfect leader.

Thus we finally arrived at the conclusion that a true leader is someone who brings out the best in everyone. Such a leader can be in the private space or in the public sphere. Mostly a she, such a  figurehead leads by example!

Pratima@ "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: we did it ourselves," said the ancient master,  Lao Tzu.

Control freaks

 Have you met people who love to control others, especially even those with whom they have absolutely no connect whatsoever? Can you guess their method? Yes, you are absolutely right. It IS silly gossip! 

Yet another unique feature such people surely share is that they would lack the guts to say anything openly because they perfectly very well know that it is sheer nonsense. They are cheap enough to pass sick and silly comments within the earshot of the victim of their futile hatred.

These days it is indeed very easy to get all sorts of agents to get done whatever cheap nonsense you want to manage. Off the social media, too! Anyways, as it is, social media have made gossip mongering rather respectable. 

Like the old wives' tales, hence, such people would go yak-yak-yaking over a wada-pao, too. They are that easily bought. Later on, even that much throw away would not be necessary to ferret them out to gang up against an innocent victim of your malice, right?

How to deal with such distant and/or not-so-distant control freaks? The best way is, of course, to completely ignore their silly comments. One should, moreover, grant that their own lives are so empty and meaningless that they can find purpose in life only through empty comments on others.

When your own life is fulfilled and purposeful, you would hardly have either the time or the need to poke your dirty nose in others' lives, right? I suppose, hence, that such creeps should be pitied and ignored completely, but should be pitilessly exposed once any, even if minor but concrete, proof of their viciousness is handy! Then the law of the land should take its course. What say?

Pratima@ What bugs the vicious the most is the fact that their viciousness cannot vitiate you in any way at all!