Ram hai!

 "Hey, Ram" is one of the most well-known quotes the world over. The title of my blog plays with it to establish that "Ram hai", that Ram exists everywhere, in the various Ramkatha's , in their multiple different interpretations, and most importantly, in all our activities, daily as well as the unique ones. Since Ram is thus everywhere, "sab jaga hai Ram", life becomes meaningful , "zindagi me ram hai"!

Indeed there are as many Ramkatha's as there are listeners, "Ram hai", here in India, and abroad,  especially far away in the far east. In fact, there is a version that is absolutely pro Ravan! The folk version by the women looks at the ideal Ramcharit from the perspective of the lonely Sita in the deep forest! 

Well, everything and everybody in the Ramkatha is ideal and idealistic. In every relationship of his, Shri Ram himself is perfection for sure. So are the  other major as well as minor characters! They all are ideal! We can argue that as for Ram, he absolutely  personalizes perfection!

In this brief blog, i am going to discuss a few aspects which i find interesting. I feel the Ramkatha is interesting because it is very inclusive, and without any prejudices in the process. "Ram hai" because for him, all are equal and important, the smallest squirrel, a bird of  the rare species, and the generally cartoonish monkeys as well. 

"Ram hai" because in every event, he communicates well, openly and democratically. Personally he is himself all that is perfection, and makes ideal(istic) whosoever comes in to contact with him. The tribals like Shabari to the greatest rishis, all are influenced by him, and always put up their Sunday best behaviour in their relationship with him .  Well, the Sita incidents need a lot of elaborate discussion, and let us reserve it for yet another day.

Oh, yes, in the caste and identity obsessed world today, it would be  worth remembering that the poet who wrote the Mahakavya/epic comes from a very lowly background to become the best Rishi/sage, and that, too,  only through his 'karma' and 'dharma'! Well, the hero of his epic is somebody who is a kshatriya, and yet has the best virtues associated with the Brahmins.  May be, such details do have a tremendous persuasive power. This way so much 'Ram hai' in the story  that "Hey Ram" becomes a celebration of the equality of/for/by all, despite the deceptive appearences to the contrary.

Personally though, i am fond of his childhood, and the symbolism therein that inevitably energises us all. 'The shimmering full moon, and its mirror reflection" incident in my opinion shows us ways of perception. His killing of the rakshasas who disturb the yadnya shows, for example, unsettling those who oppose the social harmony. I can go on and on explicating my interpretation, but time and the readers' patient indulgence could be real limited, right?

Pratima@ Hey Ram, Ram hai,indeed, Ram hai, in every incident in the Ramkatha, and  their (re-)interpretation as a call for an open, equal and democratic polity!

World Water Day

 Water water everywhere!

 All polluted though!!

 Tons n tons of toxic trash, beware!

 Earth is the mother, man, not a foe!!

Round the world, let water pure flow!!!

Of water, we must take care!

Or else, at extinction we stare!!

Near the sea began Life ages n eons ago!

To survive, we must respect to water show!!

Pratima@ Life began in the ocean nearly 3.5 billion years ago. Photosynthesis started 2.5 billion years ago. Despite this Great Oxidation Event, millions of years were needed for enough oxygen to build up so that oceans could support complex vertebrates, the earliest forms of life. Life thus originated in the ocean, rivers fostered it, rains sustained it, why now pollute and destroy it? Save water!

Smile awhile!

 Which is the best make-up? Lakme? Revlon? Nope! The best of the best make-up in the whole world is made of, oh, yes, a SMILE! Any face, even the toothless face of a very old person looks gorgeous when it puckers in to a smile. If you wear a genuine smile that is reflected in the eyes, you never need any make up. With a smile, you look the loveliest!

Indeed smile makes life worthwhile. It is like the superb lightening that dazzles across a dark sky just before it thunders. A smile that is gentle and shows lovingly the innate kindness adds an immense aura to your personality.  Not only your own face, but the others' hearts, too, glow, especially when the lovely smile is accompanied by cute dimples.

A smile is not mere trivial jolliness. May be, hence, you will not meet it in a Laughter Club. The horrid so-called comedies full of vulgar cross-dressing may not be the domicile of a happy smile.

In fact, a good smile is never born of  cruelty, viciousness, meanness. It is never at the cost of anybody's humiliation. It never ever wears the cloak that makes others disappear into shaming, physically and/or psychologically.

In my opinion, the best smile, guffaw, laughter is always at one's own self. Such a smile is the healthiest. It shows a very clean outlook on to the world and the self. It shows an awareness of one's frailties and one's ability to laugh at these as a way to slowly but surely to overcome them.

The best smile in the whole world is, of course, that of a child. It reflects the sheer joy of each new moment, the happiness of being here, alive, without any expectations, and most importantly, shared so easily. Smile is indeed the oxygen of a contented existence. So Smile! Gently, naughtily, happily, exultantly, the choice is yours. A response will almost always follow because all the people the world over smile in the same language! Happy Smile Day!

Pratima@A smile is the best synergy!

Telling the truth about life

 Theatre is indeed unique. It is a make-believe world, and yet it is so true to life that it appears at times more life-like than even life itself. No wonder, one of the undisputed masters of theatrical excellence, Shakespeare, could not avoid the temptation of describing life in one of his famous most quotes though a theatrical metaphor, the seven (st)ages of life.

Do you know the etymology of the word drama? It comes from the root 'dran' which means 'to do'. The word theater, too, has an interesting genealogy. This late Middle English word descends from the Greek via Latin to Old French. The original Greek 'theatoron' is a derivative of 'theasthai' which means 'behold'.

This root analysis proves how embedded in the very concept is a show and its spectators. A theatrical performance hence is a symbiosis between the author, the director, the actors and the spectators.  Any actor/actress worth his/her salt wants to perform in the theatre, given the live challenge and the immense satisfaction, just not feasible and possible in the multi-shot edited takes during  the film production.

Well, the theatre has hugely metamorphosed from its religious roots as in the Greek period . In comparison with Shakespeare's 'Globe', theatres today are real hi-fi. Sure, the poetry and universality as in the Shakespearean and the Greek theatres respectively has not faded or dimmed, but is much more enhanced now. Being hence a theatre-wallah, a theatre person in whichever role, be it the producer, the director, the author  or the actors, literally flows in the very blood stream of many people.

'Doing theatre' often starts around school days, and never leaves the possessed soul.  People are happy even to be the backstage   support. Anyways, 'maza' Maharashtra is 'maha' famous for its theatre obsession, be it the folk or the musical version.

Such telling the truth about life is so central to the theatre experience that even the theatre criticism is as old as Bharata and Aristotle! No wonder, even the performing arts that share the stage with plays in the theatre have an element of drama inbuilt in them!

Well, so intensely and so deeply does theatre depict human life, its foibles and frailties that in the real world operations happen in a theatre, and so do wars!  

In brief, whatever the type of theatre, the realistic, the absurd, the symbolic, and so on, human heart, and its conflicts with self and the world, pulsates in the orbit of this make-believe proscenium arch with its own version of "suspend, ye, disbelief who entereth here". Long Live Theatre! Happy World Theatre Day!

Pratima@ "There is theatre in life, obviously, and there is life in theatre," says Kaufmann.

Smart

 'Smart', as you know, is both an adjective and a verb. As an adjective, it means intellectually sharp as well as neat, proper, clever. As a verb, it means 'to feel a sharp, stinging pain' and 'to feel offended because of conscious or knowing ill-treatment.'

Well, when it comes to very many apps, they are smart both ways. They are intelligent tools that help us in designing, of course, with our own photos, with our video material. They, however, out-smart us by not letting us know any terms and conditions right in the beginning. 

You design a good video, with your own visual and video materials, of course. Next you want to add music effects. There would be a list without any indications/indicators. You listen to  a bar or two of any one or two, and choose a simple one as it suits the context.  Well, it is a tune available everywhere anyways. You fine-tune the video every which way, and then you want to share it with family.

Thus the app out-smarts us and becomes a smarting bother. Suddenly there is a monetary demand for a tune you never even used. Oh, yes, it is technologically obvious as well. You realise then this is a smart trap to out-smart you in to paying, and then it smarts because none likes to be deceived, swindled, right? An upfront demand for money would be okay, but not such 'smart' cuts that smart, right? 

As an aware consumer, you want to find out from the concerned app-owners why you were not intimated right in the in the beginning. Let us see though. One can always approach the consumer court, too. All such headache would have been spared if the smart app not tried to out-smart the unsuspecting client. Smarts, indeed!

Pratima@ 'The devil lies in the details' that smart app makers decide to reveal only when it comes to sharing the monies! 

Symbolism matters!

 March 25 every year! At 8.30 per annum, across the world, be it bulbs, tube lights, and what have you as electric contraptions get switched off for an hour. All the important monuments the world over are shrouded in total darkness. 

For about an hour, one is supposed to try simple but genuine activities such as chat, joke, sing, and so on. Powerfully power off, so to say! Aai and I used to follow this exciting earth hour.

Well, does the earth hour indeed save electricity? Yes and no. It does undoubtedly save a certain number of units. More than such saving, what matters the most is the symbolic value of the event. There emerges this awareness that finite are the resources, while infinite is the demand for their (mis)use. Subtly but surely, it has an impact. May be, thereafter, at least a few people would not keep lights on in rooms where none is up to nothing!

Such symbolism indeed matters. Remember three years ago, when the pandemic panic pitch started soaring, there was this chant of "Corona, go", and the quite (in)famous  banging event.  You could bang stainless steel dishes, you could beat drums, you could play the castanets or you could simply clap. Well, i do not think anybody was fool enough to believe that a virus vanishes thus. In extreme uncertain times though,  the group activity gave a feel of togetherness when the unknown future stared hard and bleakly back at us. May be, subtly hope, optimism, staying put despite the absent yet present fear got suspended at least temporarily. In brief, symbolism indeed matters even when practically it may not sound/appear oh-so-very useful! No wonder, when flags flutter, to every heart everywhere, it matters!

Pratima@"Willing suspension of disbelief" that S T. Coleridge talked of is a poetic truth that enriches prosaic banality of daily lived lives!

The Shooting Star

 Has the title of the blog confused you? Did you somehow relate it to some shooting of some Bollywood or Tollywood or Kollywood, or some such -wood film where some star was gyrating to "nattu, nattu", or some such contemporary zany tune? Well, that proves beyond any doubt whatsoever that you are an urban kid obsessed like zillions of your countrymen with films, one of the three national obsessions, the other two being cricket and politics.

Well, i did not at all have any such glitz in my mind when i came up with this title. Well, i was thinking of the real sparkle that lights up an entire sky when a shooting star zooms across the vast expanse. It is a beauty of a sight, nay, a vision. It is so breathtaking that one almost  forgets to wish on it, with fingers crossed. I am sure you know of that childhood fairytale wherein we absolutely innocently believed that such a wish would always come true.

The sky, whether the early morning one or the early evening twilight one, is fabulous beyond belief. Every sunrise and each, in fact, any, sunset can make a poet out of the most worldly person. No wonder, be it the Vaidik Usha Sukta or the beauty of the morning as depicted by Shakespeare in "Hamlet" due to theatrical compulsions, the most beatific verses the world over are devoted to mornings.

The evenings are no less scenic. Did you see the simply lovely union in the eventide yesterday? It was indeed difficult to decide whether it was the crescent moon or the brilliant Venus (someone insisted it was Jupiter though) that out sparkled the other. 

The night skies are the loveliest though. The shooting stars, the meteor showers, the milky way, the various constellations, the twinkling stars, zillions of diamonds are gleaming and glowing, brightening up the dark night sky.

What is a shooting star actually? It is a process of metamorphosis!  It could be a mere speck of dust, a stone, may be. It is then known as a meteorite. It enters the atmosphere of a planet, and burns up due to  velocity and friction. That is the meteor. If this burning object survives the process and hits the surface, it is a meteorite. The Lonar Lake apprently was thus created. 

When one watches the breathtakingly beautiful sight though, one forgets all this scientific awareness, caught up as one is with that zooming scintillating grace that dances across the sky like a lightening, literally burning it up. The vision is so simply gorgeous that it always reminds me of the sight of Padmini's tantalising mirror reflection that was there for a second before burning up finally atop a "sati chita" in the cremation ground!

In other words, the unusual episodes like the shooting star make the banal, prosaic life in to a heady mix of (hi)story, romance, myth and sheer poetry. Long live (however antithetical it may sound 'coz-n-tho' it is authentic in the truest sense) the shooting star!

Pratima@"Only from the heart can you touch the sky,"says Rumi.

Bhagat Singh

 Bhagat Singh was a gem of a person. True he was to his ideals till the last minute of his short but eventful life. A great idealist, not only his life, even its very last minutes were hugely inspirational.

 Apparently, he was reading a book while the hangman was getting the contraption ready. When the officers came to take him to the gallows, his only request was, "I am about to complete reading this book. Please wait." He completed reading the few remaining pages, and happily got up to face his capital punishment, chanting and singing revolutionary songs all the way to the gallows. He was hardly twenty five. 

He was such an idealist true to his core that he could respect contrarían ideologies. He was, for instance, an atheist, and yet despite his confirmed agnostic beliefs, he knew the "Granth Sahib" much better than any devotee, even a 'granthee'.

 Even the bomb he and the other radicals used was to create an awareness, to shock/shake the foreign colonising  rulers regarding the ill-treatment of the 'natives' as well as of their own false beguiling promises regarding the 'native' representation in the Indian governance. Neither he nor his companions wanted to hurl the bomb to hurt anyone, nor did they as it was thrown in the well of the council building.

How much he achieved in his short life! Even from behind the bars, he imaginatively made the freedom struggle a truly spirited move that awakened the conscience of an entire nation. He wrote extensively, maturely, like a great scholarly thinker. Agriculture to untouchability, the ideal perfect  post-independence India, nothing was an impossibility for his socialist vision. 

Sure he had great charisma, and yet he was a superb team player. Remember the unique escape plan right under the nose of the station full of police? Wish he had lived longer, like many of his committed contemporaries and close associates. Hence this heart-felt tribute to all of them,  to Bhagat Singh and the revolutionary spirit that fired them!

Pratima@ The oppressive rulers can kill a revolutionary, but never the revolutionary radical spirit he kindled, right?

The Zen Factor

 Does  others' opinion matter in our lives? Do, and should, others have a say in our opinions, regarding the very (important)  decisions in our lives? Do others have an impact on us, and how far should it be allowed? 

Tough questions these are. In my opinion, to answer any such question, we need to assess our relationship with these so-called 'others'.  If the others are not really our besties in any way, why heed their prejudices, right?

I suppose we must constantly be aware of the fact that for most of the people, at least ninety percent of the people whom we have the (mis)fortune of meeting, we do not really matter. We are just a footnote in their story, the most unimportant, the most insignificant one  at that!

We could often be the topic, the theme of  their conversations. All that matters to them is that they must have some topic endlessly to yak about! So thoughtlessly they throw at us like stones, nay, like boulders, their opinions,mostly nasty,  Believe me, half an hour later (actually that is too long a duration), such people would be equally vigorously, much more viciously, if that is possible, blasting someone else, too!

It is sheer time-pass for them. Just as they would talk of a saree or a suit, they would yak about your, or anybody else's, difficulties. Heed them not. Anyone who genuinely cares for you would not gas about you behind your back. A person who has your good at heart would directly connect with you, even confront  you to tell you to your face whatever he/she thinks your mistake/problem could be.  They would, nay, they  could never tomtom (about) it all over the world!

If, however, there are genuine people, never ever lose them to any misunderstanding. Fasten them to your head and heart with a bond that would be fevicol fast! Such people, very very few mostly, mean well by you. Use them as your sounding boards, as the echo that "answers back", and life would be zen perfect!

Pratima@ An elephant that walks through the market never pays attention  to countless curs barking at him! Graciously he accepts, however, the gentle stroke of/by his handler, the mahout, who guides him down the right path, right?

Gudhi Padwa

                    😇 An acrostic!😇

             🌈🌄 Gudhi Padwa!🌄🌈

Gone is the old year,  sad tears, faint smiles.

Undying ever the hope, tho' goals far at miles

Deny despair, tho' clouded by darkest  wiles,

Have heart, none can steal Thy bright skies!

In this wide expanse, joy'll Thee chase miles!

Pure thy clear soul, translucent like a brook,

Aplenty answers bloom in it to life's book.

Do not worry, tho' harried by hook or crook.

Wonders work, tho' the very earth shook!

Aware Universe ever, of the good, side took!

Pratima@ "A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery," asserts Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Forest-nama: Real H(e)aven!

 1878 was the year.  In the Bavarian region of what we now know as Germany ruled King Ludwig II.  During his reign, in Holzkirchen, a teacher called Johann Nepomuk Steindl decided to take up an unusual experiment. 

With the help of his students, he planted summer lime trees. What was unusual was the fact that these were planted closely together. Sixteen years later, the project was completed. Thence this Lindenstrasse, the lime tree road, a narrow trail mystically  zigzagging around these wondrous trees, now almost 145 years old, is one of the most beautiful sights on our earth.  Named Steindl Avenue, it was declared the 'natural monument' in 1964.

That is what forests are excellent at. They form a canopy that is beautiful beyond words, and at the same time this natural awning propagates the very cycle of nature. The forests provide shelter to unusual flora, fauna, birds, insects, all of whom are necessary for the human survival. The tangled roots of the ancient trees prohibit soil erosion. Hugely useful in multiple ways, forests are literally the divine heaven because they are protective havens for all, the smallest insect to mankind.

We need to guard such natural ecosystems buzzing with life. These oxygen pockets of the earth are the legacy that we have to hand over to our future generations as it is their birthright. Human beings must stop the suicidal cutting down of forests. The so-called 'progress' must become enviornment wise sensitive development. 

In India, earlier there used to be 'devrais', forests dedicated to local deities. Not even a leaf from there was to be touched. Such practices, sanctioned by religion, helped the natural balance. The 'tapobhumi', too, where the seers and sages meditated, was beyond worldly pleasures and mundane interference. Remember the poetic beginning of Kalidasa's "Shakuntal"?

Sure the hands of the clock can now never be reversed. Yet we must realise that human beings cannot any longer make forests count their last few breaths before a certain death. Thus would we invite our own extinction.  Let us not miss neither the trees nor the woods that nourish our very selves, physical and spiritual.      

Time to stop the massacre of jungles. Only then can a new jungle book of-n-about companionship of man and nature bloom and flourish. Long live forests fostering us!

Pratima@ The woods are lovely, dark and deep/And to them we must promises  keep/before the entire eternity due to our mad meddling goes to a forever sleep!

🌴🌴🌲🌳🌅✨🌜✨🌄💨🌈💦🌳🌲🌴🌴

Happiness!

 On the Happiness Day, an acrostic defining                        "Happiness Forever".                                                

                                                                                                        😀HAPPINESS😀

Happiness is today, now, always this moment

A sky infinite, wings strong, joyful fair flight

Proud to be mine family, system  of support

Prayer joyous, always fulfilled n ever blest

In self deeply rooted, no malice no hatred

Nary an empty moment inanely wasted

Ever steady, ready to go, dreams unfazed

Soft gentle bliss in every act, each day sacred

Savouring life in happy hope n faith created!

Pratima@ Even when HAPPINESS Thee forgets now and then/Never ever Thee forget HAPPINESS, tho' given grief n pain!

Rivers

 Rivers are like family in the Indian folklore. Most often, they are equated with the mother principle. In a way, both at the denotative/dictionary meaning and the connotative/suggestive signification, a river is like the mother figure. She is the source of the very concept of nutrition in every which way, from food to the formation of the personality. 

Just as a baby needs a mother figure, a budding civilization needs a river, for potable water, for irrigation, for transport, and so on. Hence the deification of rivers. Even the Ganga myth has as its base the nurturing of mankind motif.

Most interestingly, the Ganges, despite its breadth at places, never ever loses its feminine nurturing metaphor. The Brahmaputra, rather like the German word for a river, der Fluss, is accorded a masculine identity. In fact, trans-nationally, rivers like the Danube,  the Rhine or the Mississipi or the Amazon show how generous and bountiful nature is beyond the artificial man-made boundaries and borders.

Yet another characteristic of rivers is that in every form, they are beautiful; as the translucent brook near the source, as the tributary merging with the sister river, as the estuary about to enter the sea or the ocean, as the waterfall jumping over every hurdle. Not only are these versions gorgeous, each one of them teaches us  symbolically a great ethical principle, transparency, quietly merging and mixing with the context, managing and transcending every obstacle in the path, and so on.

Unfortunately, currently rivers are dying due to various such reasons as excessive industrialisation, uncontrolled urbanisation resulting in changing the very course of a river, making river beds into narrowed dumping grounds, unthinking dams, and so on. No wonder, come monsoon and rivers in spate spitefully explode furiously beyond banks. Hence the urgent need for a thought through, futuristic and environment friendly vision for clean rivers that are fluid temples enshrining the flora, the fauna and mankind 'bank'ing by them!

Pratima@ Rivers are  ever permanent and  yet constantly transient. No wonder, "you never step in to the same river twice", said  sagely Heraclitus!

 

Vaccine!

 'When the vaccine in the vein' was the question that got countless likes and millions of 'thumbs up' just a few months ago. The drive for vaccination has slowed down a little now. Even when the problems of the pandemic are behind us in a way, vaccines would never vacate our mindscape.

Apparently,  Dr. Jenner created the world's first successful vaccine. He found out that people infected with cowpox were immune to smallpox. In May 1796, this English physician, Edward Jenner,  expanded on this discovery, and inoculated eight-year-old, James Phipps, with matter collected from a cowpox sore on the hand of a milkmaid, it seems.

These "do bund jindagi ke" have thereafter helped us eradicate polio, t.b., small pox in such a remarkable way that these diseases appear almost extinct. The vaccines, oral or injected, show how medical field can work wonders, can literally control death. Such creative intervention in the wicked spread of epidemics had a huge impact on the sociology, economics and psychology of the very mankind. 

The Corona  scare was horrible, but the vaccine proved the might of India. Sure there was lots of international politicking  involved. Since the vaccines themselves are so very positive, why end on such a negative note.Instead let us  see how Shakespeare would have reacted to the entire issue. Enjoy!Something to make us smile 😁😁

William Shakespeare came to get vaccinated.

Nurse: Which arm? 

Shakespeare: As You Like It!

Nurse: Was that painful? 

Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing.

Nurse: You will have to have a second jab. 

Shakespeare:Measure For Measure!

Nurse: So what do you think of the general awareness with regard to Covid?

Shakespeare: Comedy Of Errors!

Nurse: I heard your wife Anne decided to get vaccinated in the company of her friends?

Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Nurse: Did you try convincing her?

Shakespeare: Love’s Labour Lost!

Nurse: Wouldn’t she listen to you?

Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

Nurse: So what happened at the other vaccination centre?

Shakespeare: The Tempest

Nurse: But did it work out?

Shakespeare: The Taming Of The Shrew.

Nurse: So it is okay then?

Shakespeare: All’s Well That Ends Well. Will I've any adverse effects?

Nurse:Wait until The Twelfth Night!😂😂😂

Pratima@ Laughter is the best vaccine indeed!

Sleep Day

Sleep Day! What a conundrum, right? The contradiction, however, is only at the surface, linguistic level.  So many, however, are the sleep induced problems at night, and hence during the day,  that sleep sure deserves a day all to itself. World-wide, too!

Apparently, sleep, or rather the lack of it, has been a bother for ages. Remember Shakespeare's Macbeth who 'murdered sleep'? Often, in other words, the inability to sleep the moment you touch the bed, whatever might be the hour then, is associated with a guilty conscience. 

Well, our times are far too complex. There is constant mental fatigue. There is physical discomfort as well. A modern mother, for instance, hardly has the time for a lullaby. Such complex tensions are coupled with eternal stress due to literally thousands of reasons which range from 'ration' to 'relationship' issues.

People, even the young who should actually be rebellious, are obsessed with peer group pressure, for instance. This desire to belong to the gang creates terrible tensions which lead to sleep issues 

Well, the solution is a clear conscience and a clean mind. Whatever is the time you find suitable to sleep (if you are a night person, you might like to sleep late, for instance, which is absolutely fine), you should immediately doze off and for the time your body requires it, you should enjoy a deep sleep, with dreams punctuating it. 

Many people love a siesta. A quick nap helps many. A glass of turmeric mixed tepid milk could be the recipe for a good sleep. Sleep rejuvenates the body and the mind. So sleep tight and enjoy during the day every might!

Pratima@ Sleep, like death, is a leveller!

Consumer awareness

 The World Consumer Day! Surprisingly the idea is American. Well, the origin appears surprising because typically the American modes makes the 'cosuming' world flattened.

Let me give you an example. Well, the McD burgers and fries are anywhere and everywhere across the world, and have so created an image of hip modernity that the healthiest and the cheapest local food variety loses hugely its flavour. In a way, the consumer is psychologically so manipulated subtly that s/he forgets the right of/to informed choice.

The coke is no different. The consumer is subtly seduced in to preferring the fizzy drink over any much much healthier though less sexier and funkier wholesome drink such as the tender coconut water. Is Pizza Hut any different? An Italian receipe, though dressed up the American way!

The list is endless. There is a whole "set of glowing American products ranging from Coke Cola, Pepsi Cola through Burger King, Macdonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hardees, Popeyes, Papa Jones, Starbucks, doughnuts, Max Factor, Ford, GMC, Cadillac, Microsoft and Apple as example of the glowing “Buick” American market icons, serving the interests of a single power, that of the USA.".

This leads to homogenization of the market which in turn leads to  the hegemony market which is good for the international TNC's, but destroys local markets, and most importantly, the consumer rights.

Hence the relevance of the day. Time we wake up to the reality! Multiple are the measures, consumer courts to customer friendly co-operatives. Only thus can we defeat the subtle neo-colonialism of the erstwhile West!

Pratima@In difference lies unity and variety!

Pehla Khumar

 Late 90's were quite interesting years. The whole of India, under the LPG effect ushered in by Dr. Manmohan Singh's economic reforms, was reeling under the "i am the best" 'nasha'. Shahrukh was the universal heart-throb impersonating that intoxicating feel. Well, i had the (mis)fortune of detesting those kind of mannerisms as acting. 

In every hearty/heated debate about Bollywood, it used to be my lot to defend the diametrically opposite mode of acting, the flair of Amir Khan's subtle and perfect characterisation. Thus began the "pehla khumar" that continues to last forever. 

Well, those days i had to defend a lot of great's. I used to be the defending attorney of Madhuri Dixit against the fans of Karishma Kapoor, Kajol and Juhi Chawla. I used to read up (given my abysmal ignorance of cricket!) and defend Sachin Tendulkar against the bhai's of Azharuddin! As a Maharashtrian, moreover, it had to be my regional pride! Well, once i defended the Thackeray brand of "amchi Mumbai" by learnedly countering how Telangana people were obsessed with "hamara Hyderabad" at the cost of the Coastal Andhra people!

As far as Amir Khan goes, i suppose, that "pehla khumar", that hangover for his sophisticated yet effortlessly natural acting style, continues for most of us, and despite all sorts of controversies. He is very much the mainstream actor, and yet he has the finesse of the actors from parallel cinema like Om Puri and Nasiruddin Shah. He becomes the character. I need not even name the films to prove this opinion of mine.

His use of the television for sensitising the common man through a programme like "Satyamev Jayate" revealed how charisma and stardom can be positively employed. His contribution to the 'Pani Foundation' was efficient as well. 

Much water has flown under the bridge thence. As Amir was yet again the talk of the town today, here is this toast to that "pehla khumar"!

Pratima@"Some memories are unforgettable, remaining ever vivid and heartwarming," says Joseph B. Wirthlin.

Celebrating Women's Day

 So far the women's day has always been more an academic affair for me.Oh,yes, indeed I have presented papers in seminars, spoken to women's groups or  to college students, written for newspapers (my leads were very popular in the New Indian Express and used to be syndicated, too) and magazines.

Yet I would say that my efforts were both academic and city centred. So this year when I was to get an opportunity to participate in the celebration in a school in a small town, I jumped at the opportunity.

Yes, at the Shirur school, I was to later train/teach the teachers to teach. Initially, however, there was to be the women's day programme. No, absolutely no idea had i of the actual programme, its structure, its flow, nothing whatsoever. 

I decided hence to assume five minutes as the upper limit of my participation. Next i decided that I would not give any speech. Yet I wanted the enabling message to reach my as yet amorphous audience.

Hence I decided to sing a song celebrating the message of the day. I did not want it to be typical either. I knew that in a place like Shirur, the 'navratra bhondla' would sure be performed year after year. Hence I took a typical 'hadga/bhondla' song, and transformed it into a March 8 song. Singing it to the simple rhythm beat through claps was both easy and fun for everybody.

Instinctively and spontaneously joining me were Naidu Madam and the music teacher in the school there at Shirur. Many women parents joined us as well. It was fun that was liberating. Long live women's day awareness!

Pratima@ Creative fun amplifies the purpose!

Emperor of Excellence

 Woh sham, to quote Gulzar, kuch alag hi si thi, ajibo-gajab thi woh. Yes, the charmed evening of March 12 was indeed unique. Special it was 'coz it witnessed the celebration of the art and life of one of the most gifted geniuses of the golden era of Hindi film music, Madan Mohan.

Madan Mohan is undoubtedly the emperor of excellence, a musicians' musician. He is the darling of both the classes and the masses. The likes of Begum Akhtar and Talat praised him. Vilayat Khan composed interludes for his songs. Rais Khan regularly played the sitar for him. Be it a complex Hindustani raag or the south Indian version, his songs needed tops three minutes to work magic with such intricacies.

As for the masses, he made the common man fall in love with the subtleties of  classical music. He so rendered the semi-classical thumri, dadra that they became the common favourites, just like his flawless ghazals. He could use folk forms as well as  the westernised tunes  with equal felicity. Why, he is the only music director to use the 'soft whisper' format for a love song . Remember "tumse kahoon ek baat paron se"  from his National Award winning "Dastak"?

He moulded the magic of Lata's melodious voice. Just as  Talat's and Rafi's silvery voices mesmerised us in his songs, Asha and Kishore's ebullience evolved in to supreme tunefulness in his compositions. Talented newcomers found in him a great mentor.

His roughly six hundred seventy five compositions from over hundred films speak to our heart. This master of mood music created mesmerising songs that evoke our deepest emotions. Sure the poets who wrote for him were great lyricists. Yet, basically, it was his great tunes that talk directly to the very core of our very soul, be it a love song of every possible hue or a patriotic song or a mehfil song or a Qawwali or the folk exuberance as they faultlessly reflected the situation/the context in the particular film.

The "Dil Dhoondta Hai" programme on March 12 was simply superb because explaining these excellences to us was his son, Sanjeev Kohli. In the first half of the programme, Sanjeevji presented a video to chart the journey through his father's timeless music. In addition to a medley of Madan Mohan's hundred best (tough choice!) songs, the video presentation had great nuggets of opinions of-n-by his contemporaries, his singers, the actors who gave screen presence to his ditties, and the poets whose witchery of words enhanced his magic.

The second half, a compered question-answer session with lovely video inputs, was truly touching. Here was a son who was upfront about the disappointments his highly talented and hugely principled father faced. Thus emerged an era of genuine creative people who could be friends despite professional competition. Thus could we catch glimpses of a highly sensitive soul who was commitment personified as Sanjeevji's anecdotes repeatedly revealed.

Sanjeevji's deeply emotional confessions were laced with a subtle dash of humour which did not allow the programme to wallow in to idolatry, a great asset indeed! Dr. Rajeshree Gokhale Madam as emcee was truly what good compering should be, supportive but non-intrusive. A fantabulous evening, in brief! Mitra foundation and the Gokhale family absolutely deserve a huge 'thank you'! True, it is a labour of love for Sanjeevji, but we, the ardent audience of Madan Mohan, owe him a huge and forever sense of gratitude for this lovely collage of memories and medleys.

Pratima Agnihotri @ The evening was a most pleasant 'rangpanchami' of 'sapt sur', great poems set to memorable music, coloured with the deep love and respect of a devoted son dedicated to forever keeping his father's memory creatively alive.

A blog by Pratima Ramchandra Agnihotri, Pune

N.B.:

Today, on July 14, I would like to add a footnote to this tribute to Madanji. July 14 is the Bastille Day, the high point of the French Revolution. Just as the French Revolution made the dream of "liberty, equality and fraternity" accessible to the common man, in the field of Hindi film music, Madanji made the classical "sur" comprehensible to every common listener. His ghazals have made Hindi film music a republic of sur, tal, laya.  Huge respect to the eternal memory of his great music-making on his Death Anniversary!🙏🙏🙏

Pratima R.Agnihotri 

सुरांचा शहेनशाह

ब्लर्ब: 

अवीट गोडीची अप्रतिम गाणी सादर करून आपले भावविश्व समृद्ध करणाऱ्या मदन मोहनचे हे जन्मशताब्दीवर्ष. या निमित्ताने ही रसग्रहणात्मक श्रद्धांजली.

                              सुरांचा शहेनशाह   

संध्याकाळ दाटून येत असावी. महानगरातला चुकार पक्षी कुठल्याश्या टोलेगंज इमारतीतल्या दहाव्या-अकराव्या मजल्यावरच्या खिडकीबाहेर डोकावणाऱ्या तशा जुनाट मॉडेलच्या वातानुकूलनयंत्रावर बांधलेल्या आपल्या ओबडधोबड घरट्याकडे परतत असावा. गच्च अंधार ह्लोजीनच्या पिवळट प्रकाशाने अजूनच काळोखलेला वाटावा. “आज सोचा तो आंसू भर आये,” लतादीदींचे दैवी सूर कुठूनसे तरंगत यावेत. पाठोपाठ रईस खान यांच्या मातब्बर सतारीने तोच उदास तराणा छेडावा. शाम-ए-गमच्या प्याल्यात आपण असे डूबत राहावे ते मदन मोहनच्या अवीट गोडीच्या मखमली सुरांच्या साथीने.

मदन मोहनचे तरल पार्श्वसंगीत असे आणि इतके भावविभोर आहे की सुरांचा हा शहेनशाह आपल्या हरेक मन:स्थितीला साथ करत राहतो. “ तुम जो मिल गये हो” या  ‘हसते जख्म’ या चित्रपटातील गाण्यामध्ये सफल प्रेमाचा अवखळ उत्साह भीमपलासीच्या साथीने तर सजतोच. पण मरीन ड्राईवच्या उफाणलेल्या समुद्राची गाजही मदन मोहन अशी आगळी वापरतात की ‘समा बंध जाता है’!   

मदन मोहनची पार्श्वसंगीताची कारकीर्द तशी छोटेखानी. अवघ्या पंचवीसेक वर्षांची. १९५० साली “आंखे” पासून सुरु झाला हा स्वरविलास. १९५१ सालच्या “अदा” पासून त्या अवीट गोडीच्या अनवट सुरावटीत मिसळला लतादीदींचा दैवी सूर. १९७५ साली जरी सूरांचा हा प्रवास लाक्षणिक अर्थाने संपला तरी मदन मोहनची शेकडो गीते आपल्या श्रवणशक्तीला श्रीमंत करतच राहतात.

त्यातच त्यांच्या सुपुत्राने, संजीव कोहली यांनी, त्यांच्या काही न वापरल्या गेलेल्या सुरावटी २००४ साली “वीर झारा” साठी वापरल्या. आणि मदन मोहन यांच्या मोहक संगीताचा कारवां केवळ “दो पल”का कधीच नव्हता हे एकविसाव्या शतकात पुन्हा एकदा नि:संशय सिद्ध झाले. हे यश त्यांच्या चाहत्यांसाठी हळवे करणारे आहे कारण अप्रतिम गाणी पुन्हापुन्हा पेश करूनही घवघवीत म्हणावे असे यश मदन मोहनना हुलकावणी देत राहिले. ‘दस्तक” मधल्या त्यांच्या गहिऱ्या सुरावटीना राष्ट्रीय पारितोषिकाचा साज चढला. पण एकाहून एक सरस कलाकृतीना मिळावा तसा न लाभलेला प्रतिसाद त्यांच्या जिव्हारी लागत राहिला.

मदन मोहनचा उमेदीचा काळ हिंदी चित्रपटसंगीताचा सुवर्णकाळ म्हणता येईल. नक्षत्रांच्या या मांदियाळीत मदन मोहनचे स्थान ध्रुवताऱ्याइतकेच अढळ आहे कारण मदन मोहननी चित्रपट संगीताला शास्त्रीय संगीताच्या बैठकीचा नूर दिला. मदनजींचे जवळजवळ प्रत्येक गाणे शास्त्रीय संगीतावर, रागदारीवर आधारलेले आहे. 

काही उदाहरणे आपण वानगीदाखल पाहूयात. “तेरी आंखो के सिवा” झिंझोटी वर, तर “जरा सी आहट होती है तो” यमन कल्याण वर बेतलेल आहे.”ये दुनिया ये मेहफिल”चा दर्द भैरवीने आधिक गहिरा होतो, तर या लेखाच्या सुरुवातीला उल्लेखलेले “आज सोचा तो” किरवाणी रागाच्या सुरावटीत मुद्दतोंसे हरवलेल्या मुस्कुराहटला हुडकत राहते. ‘हसते जख्म’ याच चित्रपटातील “बेताब दिल की” हे उत्कट प्रेमगीत दाक्षिणात्य चारुकेशी रागावर आधारित आहे. “अगर मुझ से मोहब्बत है” प्रेमाची ग्वाही देते दरबारी च्या साक्षीने. 

मदन मोह्नना राष्ट्रीय पारितोषिक मिळवून देणाऱ्या “ दस्तक” मधले “ हम है मतां-ए-कुचा बाजार की तरहा” हा सिंध भैरवीचा अविष्कार आहे. मदन मोहनची “सिग्नेचर ट्यून” समजता येईलसे स्वत: मदन मोह्ननी लतादीदींच्या साथीने गायलेले “ माई री मै कासे कहुं पीड अपने जिया की” मिश्र बागेश्री रागाची झलक सादर करते. खरे तर, मदन मोहनचे हरेक गाणे रागदारीत असे गुंफलेले आहे की रोहित कटारिया सारखे मन्झे कलाकार व युट्यूबर एकेका रागावर भलेमोठ्ठे प्रोग्राम्स करतात. शास्त्रीय सुरांवरची मदन मोहनची पकड अशी जबरदस्त आहे की “मौसम” मधले “दिल ढून्ढता है” हे गाणे प्रेमगीत म्हणून पिलू धून वापरते, तर तेच गाणे आठवांनी उदास झालेले मन सादर करताना काहीसे खमाजच्या, थोडेसे बिहागच्या अंगाने जाते.

थोडक्यात सांगायचे तर चित्रपट संगीताला शास्त्रीय संगीताची बैठक दिली ती नौशादच्या बरोबरीने मदन मोहनने. त्यासाठी वापरला गेलेला वाद्यसंचही असाच साजरा होता. मदन मोहनचे खास वाद्य म्हणजे सतार. अनेक गीतात, विशेषतः गझल ही स्वत:ची खासियत सादर करताना, मदन मोहन सतारीचा अतिशय कुशल व संवेदनशील वापर करतात. अनेकदा गायकाच्या आवाजाइतकीच सतारीची धूनही गाण्यातला भाव तरलपणे व्यक्त करण्यासाठी मदन मोहन वापरतात. बासरीच्या अनवट सुरांचाही असा भावभिना वापर त्यांच्या अनेक गाण्यात आढळतो. सरोद सारखे दरबारी मेहेफील मधले वाद्य व तबल्यावर तालाची पक्की संगत साधणे ह्यामुळे ही सुमधुर गाणी अक्षरशः तीनेक मिनिटांत सादर झालेले रागाचे सादरीकरण ठरत जाते. अशी उच्च संगीतमूल्ये असल्याने श्रोत्यांचा कुठलाही बाजारू अनुनय न करताही ही गाणी पिढ्यानुपिढ्या श्रोत्यांच्या गळ्यातली ताईत बनून राहतात.

वरवर अवघड वाटणारी ही गाणी फक्त दर्दीच नव्हे तर अगदी सर्वसामान्य श्रोत्याच्या ओठांवर रुळत राहतात कारण मदन मोहन वापरत असलेले मखमली सुरीले आवाज. मदन मोहननी  लताजींच्या मधुर आवाजाचा केलेला वापर आपल्या काळजाला हाक घालतो. “ लग जा गले”, “जो हमने दास्तां अपनी”, “आप की नझरोने समझा”, “नैना बरसे रिमझिम”, “ तु जहां जहां चलेगा”, “वो भूली दास्तां जो फिर याद आ गायी”, “बैया ना धरो”, “रूके रुके से कदम”, “अगर मुझसे मोहोब्बत है”, अवीट माधुर्याने भरलेला गाण्यांचा हा सिलसिला कधी संपूच नये असे वाटणारा आहे.

तलत मेहमूद आणि महम्मद रफी या दोघांच्या अतिशय मृदू आवाजाचाही अतिशय समृद्ध वापर मदन मोह्ननी केला आहे. चौदा चित्रपटांसाठी तलतजीनी मदन मोहनची गाणी गायली असे जाणकार म्हणतात. “मेरी यादमे तुम ना आसूं बहाना”, “ मै पागल मेरा मनवा पागल”, “ तेरी चमकती आखों के”, “फिर वही शाम”, “तेरी आंख के आंसू  पी जाऊ”,यादी अनंत आहे. रफीसाहेबांनी तर मदन मोहन यांची १६८ गाणी म्हटली असे जाणकार म्हणतात. “एक हसीं शाम को दिल मेरा”,  “बस्ती बस्ती परबत परबत”, “ तुझे क्या सुनाऊ मै दिलरुबा”, “ मै निगाहे तेरे चेहेरेसे हटाउ कैसे”, “रंग और नूर की बारात किसे पेश करू”, “आपके पहेलू मे आकर रो दिये”, “कर चले हम विदा जान ए तन साथिओ”, एकाहून एक जास्त कर्णमधुर आहेत ही अशी गाणी.

लता-तलत-रफी हे त्रिकुट जरी मदन मोहन यांच्या संगीतविश्वातले मानाचे पान असले तरी इतर गायकांनीही त्यांची गाणी अमर केली आहेत. आशा भोसले यांचे खोडकर “झुमका गिरा रे” अगदी एकविसाव्या शतकाच्या तिसऱ्या दशकात “what झुमका” या अवतारात आपल्या भेटीला येते! किशोर कुमारच्या “ जरुरत जरुरत है शिरीमतीकी” खट्याळ मिष्किलीची मोहिनी फेमिनिझम पलीकडेही मोहविते. मन्ना डेचे “ कौन आया मेरे मनके द्वारे” किंवा “तुम बिन जीवन कैसा जीवन” अजुनही हरेक ऑर्केस्ट्राचा प्रोग्रॅम सजविते.

मदन मोहन च्या सांगीतिक यशात या गायकांपेक्षाही जास्त हात आहे गीतकारानचा. राजा मेहेदी अलीखां, कैफी आझमी, राजेंद्र कीशन, साहीर लुधियानवी, मजरूह सुलतानपुरी यासारख्या भाषाप्रभूनी मदन मोहनच्या संगीताला एक भारदस्त उंची आणि सघनता दिली. “गझल” ही मदन मोहनची ओळख बनली ती या कवींच्या कलमामुळे. “ जाना था हमसे दूर बहाने बना लिये”, “है तेरे साथ मेरी वफा”, “आप के पहलू मे आकर रो लिये”, “हमसे आया न गया”,        “ना तुम बेवफा हो” ही आपली वानगीदाखल काही उदाहरणे. 

मदन मोहन जरी असा गंभीर प्रकृतीचा संगीतकार भासला तरी अगदी वाल्ट्झच्या तालावरही त्यांनी गीते रचली आहेत असे मत संगीतज्ञ मांडतात. “ जमी से हमे आसमा पर उठाके गिरा तो ना दोगे” हे गीत या वेगळ्या प्रयोगाचे उदाहरण आहे असे या अभ्यासकांचे मत आहे.

मदन मोहन चे संगीत भावते ते याच सघन श्रीमंत वैविध्यामुळे. यामुळेच मदन मोहनच्या संगीताला फक्त कारुण्यरसात जखडून टाकणे मदन मोहनच्या संपृक्त संगीत विश्वावर  अन्याय करण्यासारखे आहे. हा आपला मुद्दा स्पष्ट करण्यासाठी आपण काही उदाहरणेच पाहूयात, ना. मदन मोहन म्हटले की बहुतेक लोकांना आठवते ते “ लग जा गले” हे अमर गीत. ही प्रीतीगीती निश्चितच विरहाची हुरहूर व्यक्त करते. पण त्या गीतात खरी उत्कट आस आहे ती मिलनाची. आणि ही आस हा अंतरीचा गाढ विश्वास पण आहे. जगाची मृगजळासारखी फसवी प्रलोभने या प्रेमाला भूल घालू नाही शकत ही अंतर्यामीची खूण पण आहे. कवीला अभिप्रेत असलेली प्रेमाची ही असोशी लताच्या स्वरातून मदन मोहन अमर करतात.

“तू जहां जहां चलेगा” सारखे गीत पहा, ना. विरह हा भावच पुसून टाकते हे गीत. “जिथे तू, तिथे मी” आहेच आहे, ही सच्च्या प्रेमाची अतीव असोशी आणि, हो, साफल्यही, मदन मोहन-लताचे हे गीत साजरे करते. “तुम जो मिल गये हो” ह्या गाण्या इतकी सफल प्रेमाची मदहोशी सापडणे अवघड. मदन मोहन चे गान-विश्व अगदी अखेरच्या “वीर-झारा”च्या कहाणीतही “मै यहा हू ” हा विश्वासच व्यक्त करते. थोडक्यात, “ दो पल का” हरेक कारवां म्हणजे “तेरे लिये हम है जिये’’ हा अतूट बंध आश्वस्त मांडणाऱ्या मदन मोहनच्या तरल संगीत विश्वाला या शताब्दी वर्षात मनाचा मुजरा.

प्रतिमा अग्निहोत्री

पुणे

चलभाष: ८३८०९४६९२१                                  

Taking sides!

 The Joshimath scenario seems grim enough. Remember the huge investment needed for rendering it 'safe'? As it is literally the bypass to the Devbhoomi, that is, the Chardham Yatra, urgently a good, thoroughly safe alternative approach would emerge, and it must, as lots of lives are at stake in multiple ways.

Sure the causes behind this crisis must be explored. Why then does such a demand sound partisan? Well, to understand it, we would have to reach the other end of our country, which is a sub-continent. If the top part our country suffers, can its other tip not have its own problems?

Yes, you are right. I am referring to the notorious Mullaperiyar dam. It is on the Kerala-Tamilnadu border. Built the traditional way, it is more than hundred years old. Repeatedly have there been huge and rightful demands for decommissioning it, a process which is most urgently due.

Well, the dam is huge. Its entire water flow travels down south as per the principle of gravity. Down the stream are three major dams. If the extremely fragile Mullaperiyar, nestled in an earthquake prone, seismically sensitive area, bursts, the entire Kerala would be washed/wiped out!

Who cares though? The oh-so-sensitive, ever ethically enraged journalists/ bloggers/ conscientious civil society voices have nothing to say about this disaster waiting to happen! Even when many amongst them come from the same region, from the neighbouring state, for instance!

Hence partisan attitude and politically vitiated demands only against the Joshimath trauma appear motivated. How can there be politics at the cost of lives that very well can be saved?!?

I repeatedly sign petitions against all such possible horrors-hurt(l)ing- to happen. I keep on sending messages to all these oh-so-sensitive types, too. Well, none ever answers as for such types, their opposition to a person, to an ideology seems to be far more important than lives! And yet they are indeed honourable men!!!

Pratima@"The problem is politics is made a sport, almost as much a sport as football or baseball. When it comes to politics, adults and politicians do more finger-pointing and play more games than children ever do. Too often are we rooting for the pride of a team rather than the good of the nation," says Criss Jami. Quite Orwellian is this quote if you remember his essay on sports turned vicious!

New Meanings, truly real though!

 Yesterday we were talking about how Aai could, and would, appreciate it even if a critic were to give a viewpoint diametrically opposite to hers and/or the traditional.

Once i tried a different interpretation of Sant Tukaram's  'abhang' entitled "Wruksh walli Amha soyare". I tried to relate it to pantheism. The term is a mix of 'pan' and 'theism'. 'Pan' is a Greek prefix which means all. Theism comes from 'theos' which stands for God. Pantheism hence means God is everywhere. 

I talked of how we can find God in  "patram, pushpan, falam, toyam." Aai loved the fact that thus we can relate the concept to 'murti puja' whereby we see God even in a stone.  I explained how these ideas are very much present in the Romantic poets' veneration of Nature.

She remembered "The Daffodils" roughly, vaguely. We talked of it, of Balkawi, and so on. She discussed 'dwaitwad', 'sagun' puja as a gateway towards 'adwaitwad' and 'nirgun' pujan.

In brief, not only did she take her studies of the Marathi saints very seriously. She was, moreover, ready to relate her understanding of the shloka's and abhanga's to a different discipline. Great indeed!

Both my parents may not have worne swanky, trendy clothes. They lived a clean, simple life. Their minds, however, were extremely rich and open. I suppose, that is what adds value to life. Thanks indeed be to  the Omniscient God for giving me such wonderful parents. I shall continue to strive and follow their genuine way of life!

Pratima@"Everything is beautiful, all that matters is to be able to interpret", says Camille Pissaro.

Old is indeed gold!

 Every year, on the occasion of the Tukaram Beej, i have this heart tugging yet very warm memory of Aai. Before i talk of it, let me first tell you about the Beej. It falls on the Phalgun Krishna Dwitiya. Phalgun, as i explained in my blog on "Holi", is the last month of the Indian calendar. The Krishna Paksh refers to the second half of this lunar month, the waning fortnight. The Dwitiya is the second day of this fortnightly period. The Vaikuntha Gaman  of Sant Tukaram took place on this day according to the Warkari panth/sect.

Now let me tell you why/how the day is inextricably linked to Aai. Just as Aai read "Dasbodh" and "Dnyaneshwari" in depth, and studied genuinely in detail while appearing properly for examinations based on these treatises, so did she as far as "Tukaram Gatha" was concerned. 

As she was reading the "Gatha" in depth, i used to get her related critical and analytical books from the college library. She had found such referencing very useful for her study of "Dnyaneshwari". So we continued the practice even with the "Gatha". One such book i got for her was by Aa. Ha. Salunke.

The analysis in that book is radically different from the usual discussion of Sant Tukaram's Vaikuntha Gaman. It must have been almost a cultural shock for Aai. Believe me, despite that, Aai read the book completely, discussed it with me. I found her readiness to try and understand a viewpoint, diametrically opposed to her thought patterns, both absolutely touching as well as energising. Indeed it reveals a wonderful breadth and generosity of spirit! Superb, i felt, it was because she was nearing her seventies!

In the world today, where each and every one is madly obsessed with his/her viewpoint and is hell-bent on proving himself/herself alone to be right, such a largeness of heart is indeed worthy (of emulation, too!). No wonder, they say, old is gold!

Pratima@ 'Real gold is not afraid of the melting pot,' says a Chinese proverb.

Jealousy

 Why are people jealous? Difficult to decide! They can be jealous of anything and everything, be it the dimples on your cheeks or your daunting fortitude! May be, they are jealous because they are intimidated  by your popularity. They would bad-mouth you consciously, and to everyone who is a stakeholder in any given situation so that thus, they think, people would stop finding you appealing.

So you are better than them every which  way. Actually, it is a great compliment to you if they are thus jealous of you because it is their admitting that they can never be the much, much better you nor can they be better than you as you would constantly keep on improving yourself. Actually, their jealousy is a proof that they do lack faith in themselves!

In brief, a cancer that would finally finish off the jealous person himself/herself, jealousy is a fruitless destruction not of you, but, in the final analysis, of the jealous!

Pratina@ The worst and the hugely dangerous counsin of jealousy is envy! Difficult indeed it to  ignore, right?

Women's Day

 It is that time of the year again! Oh, yes, it is March 8. The distant drums of the dignity of women sound thus yet again in every nook and corner. This year the theme is the digital awareness, the DigitAll.

Indeed important is digital awakening. As ever, with every new technology, newer modes of women's oppression become more and more vicious. With the digital age, 'control' as a concept is getting more and more oppressive precisely because it is everywhere, by everyone, and in every aspect of life. Tracing the digital crime(s) is no easy task either. Hence it is the need of the hour.

In a way, cyber bullying is more vicious as far as women are concerned, and yet it is not specific to women alone. May be, that is what seems to be currently the problem with the women's day, nay, even with the women's movements. Generalised issues that gobble up the women specific edges seem to be the focus. In a way, this mode of 'celebration' seems to underscore the general feel that women's day is passe as most of the goals of the movement are attained!

Nothing could be farther from the truth, from the reality, however. Women's issues, given the post-Covid era and rampant ageism as huge swaths of the world are greying, are getting more complex by the day. Newer apps are threatening with workspace  encroachment, moreover. 

In brief, March 8 should not be a 'women as consumers' special day.  Newer, more focussed debates need to emerge. The old sound bytes must give way to newer           'de-signs' as paradigms are shifting hugely which would affect women's lives in multiple ways. Only when such pioneering principles emerge, March 8 would be the 'vasantostav', a new beginning, as today gets signified in many parts of India! 

Pratima@"We cannot solve our problems with the way of thinking with which we created them," says Albert Einstein.

Holi

 Yes, sure i know the relevance of the Holi festival, and, oh, yes, from multiple angles. Yes, Holi is the transition festival, for instance, as the shishir rutu/winter season is receding, and giving way to the vasant rutu/the spring. Yes, i know that this death-birth duality makes it a festival that is "environmental wise"! Sure it includes a mix of the rural and the tribal. I am aware that it tunes in the restful, slow tempo to a farmer's life, especially after the hectic year long calendar,  and so on, and so on, and so forth.

It is this hurt heart which refuses to be bound by/with these parameters the hardy head prescribes. For me, the Holi festival is forever associated with Aai. Holi is  now, post her unhappy demise, her tithi wise birth anniversary.

As if that shade of sadness were not enough, the unfortunate  demise of Dhanu this morning has now tinged the Holi fest with tragic associations  forever. Aunt and niece shared a very special bond. No wonder, they are thus united posthumously as well!

Yes, i know that we must burn in the Holi all that is dross in human affairs, and, oh, yes, there are many negativities around which sure need a burn off. Believe me though that grief, sadness, born out of death, do not burn away ever. These cinders scald forever, in happy times, in sad times; when forever bloom the happiness buds, and even when the foliage of sadness literally seems to bury that nascent bloom.

That is life though. Must be faced, chin up! Here is accepting the warmth of memories, and here is simultaneously rejecting the livid flame of unhappy grief. Long live Holi, and all its associated feels!

Pratima@Holi becomes holy because of its deep associations and soul entrenched memories! if Holi comes, can grieving be far behind? However much you may train your heart, grief continues it to grind!

Where is thy sting, Oh Death?

 Why does death hurt so much? It is an awful feel of a huge unending pit in the stomach because it has a finality to it. It is simply unimaginable to know that never ever hence are you going to see this much loved person, never ever again listen to that voice in various modulations of different emotions, never ever feel that touch again!

Sure every person has an associative concept, stands for a related idea in your mind. Yet each individual reaches us through the five senses as well. Death is a forever break to this perception based reality of the person. It leaves a huge hole, moon crater size, in your heart, in your life. That is the real sting of death, i think.

Yet death does die, too. That is because the much loved person stays with us as long as we live, as memories, as our idea of his/her, as the unending echoes of countless associations about him/her. Death is hence a bitter-sweet concoction whose taste forever lingers in our lives.

The worst sting of death, however, is to see the physical suffering of the dying soul. Every cell and each sinew of that suffering body wrings your tenderest nerve twisted the rawest way. That, i suppose, is the real sting of death coz however close-n-strong your ties be, you cannot do anything else except helplessly watch that unbearable suffering.  

Hence you should never harass anyone, never knowingly ill-treat anyone, never ever wilfully play with the innocent cleanliness of anyone as thus dies your own self, your own soul, and that is the real sting of death.

Pratima@ Death leaves an ache nothing can heal, but with us last forever memories that even death cannot steal.

The Rituals and Modes of Remembrance

The Shudh Dwadashi of Falguna! What does it mean? Well, it refers to the twelfth day of the last month of the Indian/Hindu calendar! Shukla refers to the waxing or the brighter phase of the lunar fortnight.

These details matter because two years ago, Aai left us on this very day. March 26 is the official date. Well, i have always found fascinating the date wise details of Aai's life. She was born on March 19. She left us on March 26. Some Ides of March! Hindu calendar wise, she was born on the "Holi" day. Years later, her sad demise was just three days prior to that day! Whether it be the English calendar or the Hindu Panchang, her dates of death and birth are in the same month, same week! 

So the second annual Shradha it was. I look at the ceremony as an ardent expression of our deep love for the departed soul. It marks, moreover, a grateful memory of a life well-spent, right?

In the month of March, moreover, gets published the result of the annual literary, that is, story writing competition dedicated to Aai's memory. Thought of this creative mode to keep her memory alive as budding writers thus get an established platform like the Menaka magazine.

Sure, as for Papa, in Aai's memory, too, have instituted prizes for the best student in the concerned university/college/school which once again is like planting a seed of hope for a better future in a young mind; one of the best ways of making the good lives of Aai-Papa memorable forever! A new mode of Shradha year after year! Though not religious technically, deeply spiritual, i believe it is as it would continue to nourish new and vibrant dreams every year, year after year!

Pratima@Any ritual, of the religious variety or instituting an annual prize in the memory of the loved one, assures that death shall have no dominion, and remembrance would linger on, like a fragrance, forever.

Resilience

 Resilience is indeed a great quality. In the contemporary times, it is indeed necessary. Where does resilience come from? I do think that it is a state of mind wherein you bounce back even when everything, and everyone, is against you. 

This resurgent mindset, i think, is basically rooted in optimistic acceptance. Well, when things go wrong, it is but natural that you are down in the dumps. It has to be so. Personally, i think, the "you should always look at the positive side of things" attitude is not only impossible; it is downright toxic in my opinion.

It is but natural that you would feel bad when you face failure repeatedly even when  it is not your fault in the slightest way. Similarly, suppose, for a very very minor act of momentary negligence, when you meet with an accident, irritation with the context, even with yourself is but natural. The "only what if" annoyance is but obvious as well.

It is normal, nay, compulsory to give in to this negativity. Believe me though, it should be only for a while. After a certain and minimal period of anger, self-doubt, disgust, it IS compulsory to bounce back. You must get going as doubly tough as everything is pitted against you.

For that resilience, you should take stock of all that can still support you. This support is the best if someone stands rock solid behind you. The feel that someone believes (in) you despite every worst crisis is a great strength because, as a sensitive human bring, you respect that faith invested in you. You just cannot hurt or humiliate that goodness by wallowing in self pity eternally. 

Next you start building on your smallest to biggest attributes. Every opportunity that comes your way is a small but sure step to the real you. You treat it with utmost creativity and respect. You start creating such opportunities for yourself, too.

It is a process that you constantly carry on. Thus by not giving up, you begin to realise that nothing is indeed impossible. I suppose, reading comic books helps a lot because comedy always turns everything upside down. It shows you the sillinesses and contradictions even within yourself. 

Thus energised, day by day, the sunny side of the situation starts emerging brighter and clearer by the second. At this stage, you should read/think of people who have emerged winners despite having lost everything for no fault of theirs. When you realise how many genuine people have suffered equally, if not more, and yet emerged triumphant, it makes you face reality more squarely.

At this point, no harm in telling yourself that when one door crudely closes in your face, a much much bigger, much much better gateway is sure to emerge, and that you should begin working on, improving, yourself for it.

Momentary tiredness, transient unhappiness do not matter then. You adjust your schedule accordingly. Visualisation of what you have planned and a roughly set routine help as well.  Thus even if you may be an agnostic, you believe that "whatever that is good in this vast universe, knows my innocence, my cleanliness, and will stand by me". 

Thus you learn the fact that difficulties would be there, but they cannot deter you for a long time. Ahoy, "awake, arise, and stop not till you reach your destination" because now you have learnt  to appreciate the journey wherein every achievement is but a stepping stone for a little rest, and for the next best!

Pratima@ Look at that tiny ant, that small spider/she carries grains hundred times heavier, he weaves webs still sturdier!!/Take every stone that others or destiny hurls at you/ use it to build a leeway through the deepest ravines towards a better you!!!

Treasure lndeed!

 A simple acrostic to celebrate 

 The "Treasure called Wild Life".

Tiger, tiger, beautifully bright

 Roaming royally in forests day-n-night,

 Elephants, majestic and brilliant

 All animals happily in the wild co-habit.

 Small or big, their natural ways they trot

 Untouched jungles, where no men intrude!

 Rare 'sights', there not as prey misconstrued

 Earth, their heaven is, n cruelty is not crude!

Pratima@ Wild life is indeed our treasure! So essential to human existence every which way/why prey on them, thus i fervently pray!

Discrimination

 "No discrimination" is the mantra these days. Yes, indeed, discrimination is deadly, dangerous, and downright wrong. Discriminatory praxis has no rationale.

Who are the most discriminated? Let me give you a few hints, some clear clues. Let us see if you  can arrive at the right answer. These individuals, most harassed and discriminated, are helpless. They are ill-treated in the public sphere, but much worse in the private spaces. No, gender wise, there is not much of a difference as far as discrimination goes, though, undoubtedly, the so-called fairer sex as usual suffers more unfairly. 

Caste, creed or class do not seem to make much of a difference as far as this mode of discrimination is involved. Harassment of this variety may differ degree wise as far as caste, creed or class go. Difficult to think though that there is any difference typologically as far as this variety of discrimination is involved. 

Oh, yes, this discrimination resists any attempt at glossification as people would shudder to assign any glamour to the victims of this horrific manner of discrimination. Any guesses how it is named?

Well, yes, it is AGEISM. Indeed viciously rampant it is in India. Once upon a time, the elderly were respected and revered hereabouts. That traditional role of honour is absolutely lost now. The elderly appear comic to most, appear laugh worthy to very many.

The family as an institution is coming apart in multiple ways. That traditional familial support is being denied to parents themselves. The question of accomodating  any other relative would be unimaginable to most! Amongst the older generation, very few would have a stable source of income as the informal mode of economy, rampant in India, has no  net (work  or worth) to support the elderly.

What is vicious and truly toxic is the attitude. A young person, for example, may know how to run a computer application. Nothing original or creative in it, right? Even a child can manage it after a few trials and errors. Currently, however, such simplistic skills seem to matter  the most.

The elderly are the new anathema. During the Covid years, it was difficult, nay, impossible to get any treatment for the normal age-related problems of the old. That prejudice seems to linger, even when the deadly disease seems to have disappeared from the public imaginary! 

Actually, the old, at least in cities (the rural old face the bitterest discrimination, even humiliation, especially because given the huge urbanisation, they are every which way left to tend for themselves!) these days are quite independent and absolutely healthy both physically and psychologically. I suppose, the best response to AGEISM would be to re-invent oneself constantly, to continue being creative, relevant and resilient. When every day is a new start-up of sorts, life is sheer joy. Down, dastardly discrimination! 

Pratima@ Amitabh Bacchan shows quite impressively how to beat AGEISM, right?

 

The Science Day

 Yet another controversial day as ever is the science day. The so-called traditionalists would argue that spirituality begins where science ends, while the diametrically opposite camp would insist that where spiritualism ends, science begins there. There is a corollary to this favourite argument. The Western world alone is progressive as it is scientific! Well, the limits of the Enlightenment project, the Second World War, the Cold War have established the futility of such axioms. 

Personally i find such a debate with foregone conclusions on both the sides quite facetious, rather empty, and absolutely argumentative. In my opinion, beyond rationality, logic, et al, if science truly teaches us anything at all, it is humility. Science truly believes in accepting, and hence exploring, re-de-signing the paradigms. 

Science has repeatedly proved this resurgent, restorative and resilient spirit. True science accepts that our current knowledge is within given paradigms, and beyond these are wor(l)ds, parameters waiting to be explored. 

I do believe that science is by definition imaginative. It is ethical deeply. Even the technology that depends more on ratiocination, the reason-based flow is open to re-search, re-vision.

Science is by nature predictive as well. Hence the debate whether every new technological explosion would open up the can of worms socio-economically! Well, if human beings choose to work on the assistive aspects of the newly minted technology, that should make life not merely more comfy, but add a purpose to life

 Pratima@ Science and technology, true, are the pillars of the temple of the entire world.