Art as oasis

 After a blazing hot day, the evening was particularly muggy. The ever busy D.P. road was overflowing with  chaotic traffic. The nearby posh and not-so-very-posh hotels, et al, were puking out reeling drunks. The typical evening in a Pune aspiring to be a  mega metro!

Just a canopy away, in the scenic Keshavbaug  Gardens, the world was absolutely different though. Here ruled the mellifluous trills of santoor played by a devoted artist who, moreover, dedicated the power-packed performance to the ever-alive memory of his favourite school teacher.

Yes, you are right. I am referring to the "Chaitra Dhwani" concert by Pune's promising artist, Dr. Shantanu Gokhale. He curated it in the company of his schoolmate, 

Meanings

Languages are unique. Every month has a unique meaning therein. April is the cruellest month, while the March ides are indeed worth being cautious about. Such unique meanings mostly come from literature. 

English is so replete with such meanings that my brother sent me a literary clock wherein for every minute there is a quote which uses that exact time precisely. It is a great gift by Parag because I can spend a very happy half an hour every  now and then reading the most interesting quotes every minute!

Obviously, every language has such unique connotations. Spanish, for example, may not talk about the nine lives of a cat. It allows us, human beings, seven falls, for example, and exhorts us to get up the eighth time. How very encouraging, right?

In German, the most favourite food there, der Wurst, the sausage, has two ends which means everything wonderful comes to an end. Why, in German, the morning has gold in its mouth. What a way to make one an early bird, right?

French has that Cartesian, very Frenchie, tres intellectual, axiom to the effect that ' I think therefore I am (or I am because i think).' Not only does French grant you the complex hope that 'what will be, will be'. It assures you, moreover, most philosophically that 'one who lives will see' while the reverse 'one who sees will live' is inherent to the deeply lovely quote structure. Very French!

Japanese agrees that there is no fight if there is no opponent. Now this can either mean 'do not fight at all' or it can mean 'fight with a worthy foe', that is to say, choose your battles well/wisely. Every barking cur is not worth a bite by, right? 

Our very own Marathi is picturesque, right? It informs us that just because somebody hides a rooster, the sun does not stop its rise! Yet another very worldly wise and quite wor(l)d wary dictum asserts as well as assures that the mother-in-law and the  daughter-in-law both would have their own day!

Sanskrit, after all the 'devbhasha', so overflows with such  meaningful sayings that during my school days, I had the duty of writing on the special school board a 'subhashitam' each day. May be, the writing on the wall, our school would have hoped, would make us all wiser!

So wonderfully meaningful are languages that the Czech language believes that learning a new language is getting a new soul, while Gaston Bachelard, a critic/philosopher who initiated a phenomenological paradigm shift, talks of the beauty in/of/by language.

Pratima@Why have I not referred to Hindi? Is that your question? Well, Saturday evening, my colleague's son, Shantanu Gokhale, a hugely talented santoor player (and a surgeon, too!) is going to explore the Chaitra mood via classical, folk and the      gold(e)n great Bollywood renditions which would be an evening  worth a great (Hindi) listen, right?

Songs and singers are to be seen!?!

 Well, actually I was researching a little on a semi-classical form of the 'dadra' variety. Obviously hence one came across a lot of videos and images. Thus it struck me rather obviously that in our media-ted times, songs are more 'seen' than heard.

Do I mean that songs are visualised better? No, not exactly! ' Coz even in the black-n-white era, there used to artistically simply great visualisation of songs, and despite the lack of advanced technology available now.

No, I am not being old-fashioned. Let me give you a few examples to clarify what I want to say. In Maharashtra, there is this folk form called 'lavani'. THE name associated with 'lavani' singing is Sulochana Chavan.  

The 'lavani's' she has sung include the rustic "padala piklay amba", the sensuous "kheltana rang Bai" or a 'baithak' song of the "kalidar kapuri" variety, and so on. If you watch her videos/interviews, you would realise that her voice carries the  naughty sensuality of the lyrics, of the folk form. 

She herself, however, is simplicity itself. Her eyes are downcast, she is dressed the simplest way in a saree that covers her entirely. Not a single feel of the song does she express through her gestures or facial expressions, while her throat explores the quite raunchy 'lavani' feel most emotively. One hears her, one listens to her singing, one never sees her.

Look at any of the 'anywhere any time' singing contests today. The contestants, the judges, the jury, and, yes, the spectators are emoting hugely in such a way that the best actors may blush! The contestants and the judges are better dressed and decked up than models and actresses. 

They emote a little through their voices, and more through their gestures, facial expressions, and body movements. The most 'music'al on such platforms are the musicians, right? Rest all is (melo)drama!

Look at Lataji singing in studios or in public programmes. Compare it with the exhibitionism of any of the major singers, (classical, filmy, semi-classical), currently famous. You would notice the difference, I suppose 

Sure the artist must be cleanly, decently dressed. Yet, should how the artist looks matter more than how the artist performs? Oh, yes, in this context, I must say that in such contests children singing, dancing to the raunchiest 'lyrics' appals me, I must say! 

Well, currently the look seems to matter more than the melody. Such, such are the times that the cover counts more than the book!

Pratima@ Performance seems to out-smart purity of art these days. Is it an advance on or a regression of the art of singing when singers are better actors than crooners!?!

True Strength

 As the Ramnavami was a great celebration this "annus magnificus", by cascading effect, the observance of the Hanuman Janmotsav was special, too, this year. Incidentally, it must be noted that as Hanuman is a 'chiranjivi', somebody who is eternal, his cannot be a 'jayanti' as this word is related to mortality. Hence 'janmotsav'! Indeed, every word properly used, carries a wealth of meaning, right?

It would not be hence too off the mark to note that beginning from his 'janmotsav', every aspect of Hanuman's being, his existence is unique. No wonder, for a Mexican author/thinker like Octavio Paz, Hanuman is an interesting symbol.

In my opinion, Hanuman enjoys multiple significations. To begin with, he shows how true dedication leads to the devotee himself/herself becoming the divine. Shri Ram is Hanuman's very heartbeat, is at the core of his existence. In the process, a 'kapi', a monkey by birth,he transcends even humanity, and becomes divine.

Sociologists should look in to this interesting facet of our epics wherein a robber transforms in to a great poet, a 'kapi' evolves in to divinity. To look at a few further examples, Vyasa is the son of a fisher woman. Rama is a Kshatriya. Krishna is brought up as a 'gopa', a milkmaid's son. The list is endless. In other words, looked at carefully, the ancient texts are very inclusive. They do not distinguish on the false premises of casteism!

Why, the Ramayana is replete with how Rama defeats Ravana with the support of the folk, of the Adi-vasis, rhe so-called 'Pancham jati'. In my opinion, the Hanuman symbol is great proof that it is wrong to confuse, to muddle the whole societal debate through a casteist identity politics. In this lies his true strength.

He is indeed strong because he is devotedly dedicated to his work. He can thus attain wonders, cross the seas, carry moutains. Taken metaphorically, such details would mean that his commitment to his duties is not merely absolute, it is highly creative, it is full of alternative thinking, and hence it is truly excellent.

Yet he is joyful, even a little naughty. Look at Lanka dahan, for instance. Even at the time of his birth, it should be noted that the bright sunrise appears to him like a distant luscious fruit. In other words, despite his dedication to duties, such a creative alternative look makes him look at work as fun, too. 

True strength in my opinion lies in such a creative, alternative vision. No wonder, he is an eternal entity, forever alluring!

Pratima@ True strength is not merely physical. It lies in turning any possible weakness in to an achievement, I believe. What say?

Bless(ed) books

 Remember that famous 'Bàzigar' song? "Kitabe bahot to padhi hongi tumne" is the first line of that song. Well, the world today seems to have taken the song seriously. People are reading either face (mostly to pick some moolah on the way) as a book or they are reading the Facebook! 

In that obsession with either fleeting relationships or with technology, reading, seems to have taken a backseat. Oh, yes, the mode of reading does not matter. It can be the Kindle, too, though personally I love the print pattern. Forget the mode though, in our 'social media' obsessed world, reading has dwindled. Well, what with self publishing being rampant, there are millions of writers today. Are there (m)any readers though?

Reading matters hugely. Hence the relevance of the Reading Day, celebrated every year on April 23. It celebrates the copyright conventions, too. Yet it is better known as the Reading Day. Why April 23?

The date of April 23 honours the death anniversaries of literary giants such as William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as notably the birth anniversaries of other greats like Haldor K. Laxness, Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla (actually his death anniversary falls on April 23), and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

Reading these and other greats changes your life forever. Remember the childhood kaleidoscope? It was made of broken bangle pieces. Yet each time, you shifted the angle just a wee bit, a new pattern emerged! Well, reading is a kaleidoscope on life. Each new read shifts our understanding of life, of the world.

Reading is living zillion lives vicariously. Reading enriches us immensely.  We understand the grime and the glory of human(e) existence. A head, a heart, a soul nourished on reading is unbelievably better than a person whose t.v. screen is bigger than her bookcase!

Books are silent companions. Their being there, next to you, energises, yet calms you. They are friends of our soul. They never get angry, frustrated, irritated with us. They never ill-treat, bad-mouth or gossip about us. Instead they give the best insight on life.

Books are forever. Whatever the variety, classic or pop, they alter you. They enrich your very style of being (and becoming). Read. Read every day. The corner in the room then becomes the universe. Read all types of books. Discuss them, debate them. Let the read wor(l)ds become a unique cultural vortex that would always give you a still center in the crazily spinning contemporary realities around! Reading is living (a full life)!

Pratima@ Reading is like Hanuman. You never realise how the very devotion in the process makes your soul Ram. Yes, our blog tomorrow would deal with Hanuman. Today let us realise how single minded devotion to reading makes us better versions of ourselves!

Exasperated Earth

 Beware the ire of the gentle, they say. People who are by nature tolerant, by inclination generous, do not easily get angry. They tend to overlook a gaffe too many. They do not react often, but once things reach far beyond their patience, they burst like the molten lava, absolutely unstoppable and hotter than the Thar desert at the height of the summer season.

Parents, mostly mothers, often reveal this unique facet. Today I would like to assert that the arch mother of mankind, the earth, has now long crossed past this boiling point. So badly have human beings ill-treated Mother Earth that visible is her deep distress.

On the Earth Day, many  become aware of the futility of Earth's frustration. At least for a day! Soil is getting arid, water tables are running dry, clean air is getting costlier than life itself. All these phenomena are indicators of the earth's deep anxiety. In our cursed search of development and 'modernity', we have forgotten sustainability!

Time to turn back, time to listen to the grievously hurt earth whose wounded wail  now needs urgently to be assuaged. Well, the rich and the mighty may dream of colonising the Moon and the Mars. Lest they and the others of their ilk forget, neither planet has either the oxygen or the hydrogen or the gravity of the ever forgiving earth!

Pratima@Time to remember that even Lord Krishna forgave hundred trespasses!

Dedicated to Duty Devotedly

 April 21 yet again! On this day, without fail, my mind goes back to the dedicated duty that Papa excelled at. As 21 is the date of his demise, as on every 21, I do keep a fast on April 21, too. Unlike other 21's, on this day, dedicated to Civil Services, I remember his commitment to his work.

He retired as an IRS Officer. Happy were his memories at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administrative Training at Mussoorie. He took his job truly seriously. He was absolutely non-corrupt. He went by the rule book, and yet he always saw to it that the humane touch is not lost. There was this junior colleague of his who met with an accident on duty. I remember the way Papa literally moved the earth and the skies to help him.

Any number of his colleagues would talk about how he helped them in small to big ways, though he obviously was a thorn in the flesh of those who were corrupt and would bend rules to suit their ugly purposes. As a result, he would get repeatedly transferred.

 Both of them, Aai-Papa, sacrificed a lot hence for our education. It obviously never occurred to either of them to send us to boarding schools so that they could be together. 

Well, in my opinion, he took people at the face value. To a straightforward person, it is difficult to imagine or understand the dubious duplicities of people who wear myriad masks. May be, if he were to be the committed government officer in this Modi era, his genuineness would have been more recognised.

Well, the real tribute to him would be to perform everything one does with dedication and perfection. I try to for sure! Here is my soulful salute to Papa for being a sincere civil servant!

Pratima@Hidden in him was a teacher who would break out of the civil servant mode time and again. Why, during my SSC year, he used to guide me through letters about how to write essays! Of course, I  still have all these letters, written in his trademark green ink and unique handwriting.

Learning Languages during the vacation

 The Summer vacation! Would last at least till July 15! Already getting bored? Why not learn Spanish, German, French up to the A2 level? How about completing the FY/SYJC foreign language studies right away? Want to learn Japanese for the JLPT N5 ? How about studying English Literature, Criticism, Linguistics, from the F.Y. to Ph.D., and/or NET/SET? Soft skills are fun to learn, too. Want to prepare for the TOEFL/GRE? How about learning English for Competitive  Exams? Want to learn Basic Sanskrit?

The courses, each one of these, would be taught real well, thoroughly and professionally. Lectures would be conducted on the Zoom platform.

Get in touch with me ASAP at pratimagnihotri@gmail.com

In Thine Name!:Defining the Divine!

 Does God exist? The atheists would say that religion, to borrow Marx's metaphor, is opium. An opiate takes away your aware consciousness, you thus feel neither grief nor injustice. Hardly are you aware of either as you are almost half-asleep, opiate-intoxicated. In brief, it hardly matters whether God exists or not as your consciousness of grief, of injustice is not awake(ned).

As for agnostics, they would find it difficult to believe in the existence of God, and surely of all sorts of religious praxis. If you have studied Philosophy, all these, and many more, major arguments, both pro and anti, meet you right at the beginning of your coursework.

Well, even science would not be able to completely and totally explain how this vast universe began in the first place. Similarly, a truly scientific approach teaches you the basic humility that our knowledge is bound by our current paradigm(s) which continually evolve, change, refract, right? 

In my personal opinion, God is both. On the one hand, all that is good, ideal, perfect within an individual and in humanity is the  Divine. On the other hand, God can be a universal and divine force that stands by you, supports you, sustains you in your innocence,  even when the whole wide (wicked) world is against you in all its evil potencies.  

This force is just and ethical. Indeed this faith is necessary. Otherwise, the powerful of all sorts, beginning with the quantity/group/number to infinities of all imagined mights, would completely squash the weak. May be, those intoxicated with their arrogance, would behave well at least due to this awareness.

More than anything else, I believe passionately that this force listens to a fervent, genuine, soul-felt prayer, especially when it is not self-centered. Hence I have always revered the Vedas and the Upanishads that glorify the great, the vast, the beautiful. Be it the "Agni mele" or the "hiranya Varna", or any other suktam, it is sheer poetry and profound prayer that is benevolent.

Can miracles be thus explained? Surely, the stupid tricks of the "from the air" variety can be explicated even by a school kid. In addition, all the saints have hated the horrors such as local deities demanding some offering in return!

Look at a miracle like Sant Dnyaneshwar making a so-called stupid buffalo recite the 'rucha'. It is as if he was communicating to this great, good principle dormant in the poor animal, making 'him' aware of all infinite possibilities. I suppose, that is what is truly godly. Yes, the whole universe conspires to grant you what you fervently wish from the soul!

Pratima@ God is all that is (and takes you closer and nearer to the) good, great, glorious (within you and in this vast universe!)

Monumental Melodies!

 Yesterday was World Monuments and Sites Day. The theme was 'enhancing and experiencing the variety'. In a country like ours spread from the Himalayas  up to the Indian Ocean, such a theme is its very identity, right?

India is indeed a treasure trove of superb monuments and sites, our heavenly heritage.  The temples in the South with their great gopurams would be the obvious example. How about our very own Ajanta and Ellora caves? How about the Amritsar Golden Temple?

 It is an absolutely gorgeous sight in the evening when its literally rich reflection, brilliantly lit up with all sorts of palkhi's for the evening 'seva', gently undulates in the surrounding Amrit Sarovar, where golden fish scintillate with the bright moonlight of the 'purab'.

In fact, in my opinion, there are so very many monuments and sites in India that a lifetime would not be enough to see them all. Why, every day could be the WMSD hereabouts! You doubt me? Well, just remember Pandharpur. No, I am not advocating it just because it is my birthplace.

The way the Vitthal idol looks each day is indeed a sight. The Dasara-Diwali-Padwa kind of look of the Lord is simply divine. Why, the very banks of Bheema adorn a unique look each Ekadashi, while to experience the very feel of Padharpur on the Ashadhi Ekadashi Day is as good as attaining Nirvana! And, oh, yes, near the main 'darshan ghat' is a Namdeo temple whose every pillar resonates with the 'veena' feel. Touch it gently, and you can hear some 'zankar'!

Indeed my submission is that every nook and corner of India is bursting with world class monuments and sites. Indeed Indian Archaeology Department would never be bereft of 're-search' work! 

You do not believe me, do you? Okay. Look at our very own Pune. The Pataleshwar Temple, the not much known Trishund Ganapati temple are absolute wonders, right? And, yes, I AM Pune Proud, and despite the flattening of the seven hills which once surrounded the city and despite the thinning of the green canopy, I do feel that Pune is a site worthy sight, or the vice versa, the dilapidated 'wada's' included! 

Well, I would like to insist that every village, nay, each hamlet in Maharashtra itself has unique 'hemadpanthi' temples with simply superb 'deepmal', both of which are sheer poetry carved in stone. Unfortunately, in the silly chase of modernity, most of these get painted in horribly garish golden garnish! I am indeed hence happy that they are restoring the original look of the Pandharpur temple, peeling away the deco's!

The Surya Tilak of the Ram Lalla idol was a wonder. The science behind it is modernity itself. Imagine the ancient monumental (literally!) wonder of the Kolhapur Ambabai Kirnotsav. Centuries old is this monumental sight/site!

May be, to make such wonders world famous, there is a need for sustained efforts. See how the Sankranti Kite festival is celebrated! Why, now every city has its own version of it.

In an India rich with sites like the Hampi Temple or full of local flavour like the Ravan Dahan, every day should be the world monuments and sites day. Such is our heritage that it needs a constant re-vision, right?

Pratima@ Remember Shelley's "Ozymandias"? Writes Shelley, "Round the decay/Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare/The lone and level sands stretch far away.” My submission is that in India, each unknown monument, however withered, tells to the air the story of eternity. Hence the need to care of that glory!

Beware!

 Such, such are the times now that it is always safer to suspect so that one never suffers. People around can be extremely dicey. They can two-time anyone for their minimal most benefits. 

Let us understand such behaviour patterns  through our pets. Have you ever seen a cat or even a kitten being harassed? They say, a cat has nine lives. When you think through the behaviour patterns, you would realise that a cat is forever alert.

Look at a dog, on the contrary. It is a most loving, straightforward and faithful animal. Give it an ounce of love, and it would return it with a quintal. Its superb intelligence does not have the crooked  wickedness of a cat forever on the prowl for its own share of whatever it could be, milk, butter, fish or mice.

 I suppose, the way of the world is such currently that one must learn to be wary about the cat-ty cuties of all types and varieties tip-toeing around. One must not allow oneself to be the plaything of such cat types who amuse themselves by watching the struggle for life of the victim for  their own sick enjoyment.

Whom to believe then? First and foremost, all that is ideal and the best in this universe. Next, one's own self is the best bolster. In addition, your siblings alone would care for you. If 'prey' is the order in such chaos, 'beware' should be the stand-by mode forever, right?

Such are the times now that life is getting more and more like a jungle where there is danger of some type or the other at every curve, at any bend, at each corner. Hence better be beware. Most importantly, beware that you never ever join the hordes of cats of all types and sizes!

Pratima@ In the legend of the jungle, there could be all sorts of good spirits. In that thicket called life, there would only be Shere Khan's of all stripes, eh, types. Beware, hence! Never be bitten by such bugs in any which way. Only then can melodies of innocence flutter through the dense air!

A unique day

 Ram Navami! The day was super special this year. The unique moments such as the "Surya Tilak" of the newly venerated Ram Lalla idol in the beautiful Ayodhya Mandir made it an emotionally moving day for the devotees. The evening skies in Ayodhya, what with the superb drone show, were literally lit with the Ram Katha.

The Ram Katha is indeed as unique as the special Ram Navami celebrations this year. Lord Ram is idealism incarnate. In each and every one of his roles in his life, be it the son, the brother, the disciple, the friend, the king, he is pure perfection incarnate. Why, even relationships such as the stepson or the stepbrother turn touchingly truthful and tremendous in his case. 

Aai-Papa adored Shri Ram. Not a single day of theirs went without a whole-hearted recital of "Ramraksha". As long as she could, Aai never missed her daily visit to the Lord Rama temple in the vicinity. Her singing group performed the "Geet Ramayana" there. She used to be both a singer and a "sutradhar" for such performances. Indeed it would have been a really special day for both of them if they were to be with us today.

As for me, I find the Ramkatha interesting precisely because it can be so beautifully explored in multiple ways. In my opinion, Lord Ram is like the sky or the sea, infinite. Define it in any which way, it would contain, and yet transcend that particular interpretation. 

Hence great Sanskrit dramatists such as Bhasa and Bhavbhuti have written great plays based on the Ramayana which itself is a great epic, great poetry illuminating an ideal. The Ramayana is so prolific that it offers a new vision on life when explored from the point of view of a secondary character such as Urmila, for instance. 

Personally I feel that the Ram Katha is great because it invites you to lead a seamlessly integrated, perfect life. You cannot build a temple to Rama, for instance (hopefully not with ill-gotten money), and simultaneously constantly ill-treat an innocent woman who has never harmed anyone. The Ram Katha does not allow you such convenient lee ways. Tough indeed to be a committed devotee of such a god! 

The shimmering ideal/i-deal kind of unity of being and becoming that Lord Ram posits before mere mortals makes every Ram Navami truly celebratory, absolutely unique!

Pratima@ The day was special for me for yet another reason. There was an ETS/TOEFL-IBT workshop today. It was at Kalyani Nagar, a part of Pune I visited for the first time. A long bus journey it was early in the morning, Swargate to the Railway station, from there to Ramwadi Jakat Naka, from there in a shared auto to the venue in Kalyani Nagar. It took me exactly one and half hour.

While returning though, a wonderfully pleasant surprise awaited me. I boarded the Pune Metro from Ramwadi to Wanaz. It hardly took me thirty minutes from Kalyani Nagar to get off at Deccan.

 Was my first ever journey in the beautiful metro wonderful?!? You bet! The metro, full yet specious, clean and modern, like the platforms and stations, is indeed the precious pride of Pune. 

Surely, I did not see the two petal faces at a metro station that Ezra Pound immortalised. The sunset was never this lovely though! Honestly, on this unique day, yet again I was as highly excited as I was when I first boarded the "Fulrani" mini-train! 

Like my nephews who used to find the whole Peshwe Park a lovely and enchanting discovery when we would together  board the "Fulrani", I found the Pune scenery, including that canal cum gutter called Mula-Mutha, absolutely fab!

 A terrible ride in a jam packed, burning hot PMT bus, lurching, hurtling every moment, what with that horror known as the Pune traffic, instead transformed into an absolute joy ride. Why, like the kids on the metro train, i, too, felt very happy to see the plane and the cranes flying parallel to us. 

In brief, on the Ram Navami day, i, too, was re-born  as a child yet again! A unique day indeed!

The Internet is now a millennial

 Ah, ya, the Gen Z and surely the Gen Alpha are not going to believe this. Yep, bro, the NET indeed is a millennial, almost in its mid-thirties! LOL! These days, siblings, whose age gap if it happens to five or six years, believe that they belong to absolutely vastly different generations! So this is gonna be a surprise (sorry, the pic-y lingo here should have been a teacher-cum-a cat with whiskers upside down, I believe !) for the kiddos. Yep, it IS a fact. The internet is indeed a millennial!

The ARPANET avatar of the internet may now appear as if it belonged to the pre-historic era or to some light-years away galaxy. Indeed the internet has galloped on the path of progress and development. This network of networks of all types, academic.org to institutional to private to  public to .gov is not merely wireless nor electronic but operates now via optic networking deep below the seabed! 

From thence it can manage space to galaxy, and what not. Now with its still finer version such as the AI, it can already mimic, nay, surpass, the ordinary human mind. The COVID years gave the internet and its applications such a filip (work, gaming, digital reading, OTT entertainment, shopping, and lest you forget, studying) that at times I almost feel that the Corona was not merely a Pharma conspiracy! Deeply involved must have been the AI, the chip making industry, the IoT, and what have you. Well, you do not have to be a Sherlock Holmes to realise that the bitcoin money and deep fake emerged and flourished in this 'dis-eased'era, too!

Well, the brick-n-mortar has now so collapsed in all the fields, thanks to the millennial I/T industry that students now literally carry their teachers in their pockets! Well, why talk about such obvious banalities? Look at us! We, too, are inter-connected as the author and reader(s) of this blog via the internet!

Nothing wrong with this scenario at all. Every revolution, from the Industrial to the I/T, does raise complex issues in its wake. This time, however, this millennial, the I/T and Co.,  is being re-born every six months, and that speed is the worry. Do not you believe me? Well, acquaint yourself a little with the genesis and the recent most avataars of the ChatGpt, the Bard, and similar versions!  

Well, the problem is this technology is high-funda, but the ethical issues involved are as old and as vast as the sea and the skies! Not to worry though. Soon would emerge Gen Beta of the internet itself, and we would face yet another tsunami of changes!

Pratima@In my opinion, the growth of the internet proves that the only constant is the change!

Art Matters

 April 15 is indeed a memorable day. Do you know why I would say so? Yes, you guessed it right. On April 15 falls the birth anniversary of one of the greatest artists ever, Leonardo da Vinci. Hence let us today talk of "art matters", that is to say,  let us explore both the meanings of the cryptic title; namely, 'art is important' and 'matters of/about art'.

Da Vinci is a great artist in my opinion because he thinks through art. Hugely excellent at very many facets of life, art is not mere fluff for him. Science, art, thought, imagination, rationality, emotions,realities, philosophy, theology such artificial barriers do not b(l)ind his creativity. His 'esemplastic' (as Coleridge would put it) vision welds all contraries in to a unified whole.

Art is this  special experience in his kind of world. No wonder, he is known as a genius because art indeed is all that matters, and art matters consist of every facet of each intimate involvement in any art  (and/or life) event. 

Do not you believe me? Okay, let us look at music which most all love. Not everybody may want to write or paint or sculpt, for instance. In the whole wide universe though, you would not find a single soul who has never hummed, not even in the bathroom where the  whoosh of the shower would dull the oral attack on music.

Well, music, if you notice, is a deep feel, a "bhav", to express which are created  not merely musical instruments but the very 'bandish', made of 'shruti's, whose perfect maths must match methodically with a scientific precision to create the feel. Even in the folk form of music can one observe this deep emotion embellished by laya-sur-taal which are deeply lyrical yet astutely scientific. 

Oh, yes, it is not only the artist who has to have a diamond like multi-faceted brilliance. Equally talented and full-faceted must be the audience. Only a good reader makes a great author. A good listener is the need of a gifted musician. See how art matters transcend all sorts of binaries? No wonder, art matters as it enriches everyone and everything involved.

This magic of art is not merely in a mehfil though. It is overflowing in the very verve of life. A good life well lived is great art, too. A meanie would always be a mini artist, right?  So, in my opinion, every second strums with this full feel of art. The music of life never dulls, the poetry of be(com)ing never lulls!

Pratima@ Do prizes and awards matter in art? Well, yes and no. Who would hate recognition, right? Yet a true, committed artist never creates merely for this trophy or that cash bag either! Hence ART MATTERS!

Bane or boon?

 Remember during the school days, we had to write such essays as "Science: A boon or a Bane?". Both sides of the issue had to be presented, and finally we had to arrive at some conclusion. Called the argumentative essay, writing it used to be fun, right? Oh, no, do not worry. I am not going to attempt one. 

As the election dates in various phases are approaching nearer real fast, this bane/boon feel about most all issues is emerging real hard, right? Well, remember the Messiah of the YouTube wor(l)d? Yes, you are right. Indeed there are one too many! Well, this one considers himself 'holier than thou'. Yes, that constricts the search a tad more, yet leaves it wide open. True, that is right, too!

Okay, let us not play hide n seek any more. Yes, you guessed it right. I was referring to Dhruv Rathee. Well, I was listening ( you read it right. I watch any video for the first few minutes, and then glance at the screen only if very necessary at all) to this video within video on him which exposed all his black deeds and darker purposes, yet again occurred to me, the truth of the school essay title, boon or bane?

The video I listened to mercilessly tore the 'truths' Dhruv sleuthed selflessly! The case made was absolutely precise, scientific/technical and foolproof. In a way, such exposures prove that nothing is a bane or a boon. It is just the perspective that makes it so!

Well,  such relativism itself is, eh, both a bane and/or a boon! Not really though! Undoubtedly, subjective foci add that extra sheen to anything, be it an intellectual  position or a mundane point of view. Yet we cannot toss truth away this very lightly either, right?

Facts are facts. It is not merely perspectives that give them the truth value, right? Total relativism can create hopeless havoc. Truth is, and yet is not merely interpretation. Is there any objectivity at all? Is the whole a mere shadow game of subjective perceptions? 

Well, subjective philosophers of all hues and shades may tell us that 'the whole is an idea' or 'all is perception'. Yet it does hurt when we kick a stone, right? To perceive this factual experience, we need not know either Korean (proverb) or Newton's Third Law of Dynamics! Simple reality does exist. It is not exactly right hence to make everything a game of perspectives. Such extremism, too, is a fiction, taking us away from facts!

So what is the moral of the story? Truth is both, fact and fiction. Life is kaleidoscopic. Patterns change as per the shift in the angle(s), and yet the pieces of the bangles with which we made the kaleidoscope do exist, right? So to think or not to think is never the question. To maintain a balance of both the fact and the perspectives is the solution!

Yes, the question that then would emerge is whose balance how, right? Well, till lions learn how to sculpt, statues would always show men riding or subduing lions! In short, nothing is neither a boon nor a bane. Thinking makes it so! In brief, never take any influencer seriously at all, THE major mantra of our media-ted times!

Pratima@" Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not truth," said Marcus Aurelius ages ago. Nothing hence is a bane nor a boon, the 'side' makes it so! 

Why write a blog daily?

 Why do I write a blog daily? Yes, I have often been asked that question. Part of that question hides the interpreter's malady. That is to say, such people cannot get themes to write about. Not even for a week!  A student of mine wanted to write a blog regularly. We discussed possibilities. She was enthused. Her first attempt was first sent to me. I read it, spruced it up. It was uploaded. She got some happy comments. Yet her blog never went beyond that one 'essay' in all senses of the term, especially 'essay' to mean attempt.

Hence the relevance of why I write regularly. Mind you, I am 'writing' a blog in days obsessed with visuality and/or orality. These days, people either use the minimalist emoji-infested expression  to convey what they mean or they choose its still more visual alter ego, the vlog. I have consciously avoided either temptation. 

Nor am I speechifying. Yes, that is an alternative chosen by academic activists, if they exist at all, as mostly it is a parroting of a prominent position with a pre-given 'narrative' which echoes with the clamorous claps by the in-group. So the same theme, same talk, same-same speakers and listeners!

That surely is not my ambition. If on every topic, on any given theme, I am making the same kind of sounds, rather, noises, why speak or write? After some five attempts,the audience can pre-empt what the argument would be! To use an image by Emily Dickinson, though I am not providing here the exact quote, how boring to lifelong repeat to the admiring bog the same age(s)old croaks! A hep version of old grannies listening to the same kirtan by the same hardas, while kneading wicks all along! 

Well, I began the blog as a tribute to my mother,  to my father. I do think that even in their generation, they were unique in being so very children-oriented. No, they did not molly-coddle us. When we were wrong, we had an earful, and that is the way it should be, despite all that cant about parental friendship.

 Parents can be companions, but they never can be friends. Friends can be frivolous, can encourage the fiend in you. Parents cannot. Even when you are almost a senior citizen, they can pull you up if you love the primrose path of dalliance a bit too much. Parental love rarely goes wrong. It is a visceral feel, right?

See, I almost began a blog on parents as friends. Parents would not allow the 'laissez-faire' mode of existence. It would make the family in to free market. There is hence a well-meant intervention which accepts its own mistakes, too, as and whenever necessary.

I think, I write the blog regularly because ideas interest, excite me. I love to explore them, give them a shape, a self, and understand how they are 'consumed', too. A blog makes me sharper as an author, as a thinker, a day-dreamer chasing wistful vistas of ideas, of feels, of sensations, of being and becoming, in brief.

Your response matters hugely. Please do get back to me even when you want to critique my blog of the day. It is sure to teach me. So read on and respond!

Pratima@A blog is a talk you share with the self, and do not mind the others listening in/reading on, unlike a personal diary or a private journal, right?

Brave Braille

 Life tests everybody. Most all question papers set by life are of average difficulty level. For some, life loves to set truly difficult set of questions, and for a few fortunate ones, this tough test is repeated many, many times, time and again!

Why do I call such people fortunate, especially when the world loves to sympathise with them at the face value, though the others' gloating over their unhappiness sometimes cannot be hidden, is reflected in the wicked/weird witchy smiles.

I consider them special, fortunate because they do not let the past, related external factors determine their destiny. In fact, they keep on re-inventing themselves time and again. Can I quote a few examples? Look at Sudha Chandran, for example.  At the age of sixteen in a tragic accident, both her legs were crushed. One had to be amputated as it developed acute gangrene.

A talented Bharat Natyam dancer, her world literally crashed. After a tough time of adjusting with the prosthetic leg, she determinedly made it, back to stage as a Bharatnatyam dancer, as a judge at contests, as an actor on the silver screen as well as on the TV. She regularly gives motivational lectures. She has written an autobiographical book, too.

How about Amitabh Bacchan? His body is almost a treasure trove that all sorts of diseases seem to admire. What all illnesses he has suffered! His  patient-dom made many  rather famous! The near death accident on the set of 'Coolie', huge monetary losses, losing face as a rookie politician, conscious humiliation by the industry as he was soon considered a 'failed' hero, Amitabh took it all upfront, and re-invented himself  time and again!

 In the process, he never lost his ideal persona either. He is never bitter. Nor is he using these misfortunes to become lazy or depressed or weird or cranky! Moreover, he never lets his difficulties mar his professional duties. A giant indeed on the silver screen!

Well, my submission is that the metaphorical grandfather of such never-say-never, real-life heroic personalities is Louis Braille. He lost his sight at twelve, and that by an awl he was playing with. Did he give up? Nope! No way!

He"invented a tactile system of reading and writing for the blind and visually impaired in 1824. The system is called braille and it consists of raised dot codes that are used worldwide to read and write until this day."

For two centuries, he has literally been a light of beacon in their dark wor(l)ds.  True, today, the world has changed drastically. The 'visually impaired' have a choice of downloadable, even AI-enabled app's that make every text in to an auditory unit. Yet his unique contribution  continues to be truly visible. Hence this blog dedicated to the script and to the man who invented it exactly two hundred years ago!

Pratima@ How I wish "Daddy's darlings" who enjoy a five star life, yet love to wallow in crooked self-pity would at least read about such inspiring people. Well, some of my students have been visually disabled. Yet never have I seen them being the targets of the world wide pandemics of suicidal depression and/or wokeism! The victim mentality is a comfy hiding place, but it diminishes the individual!

Great Literature!

 Literature provides a kaleidoscopic image of life. All the facets of experience are so reflected in literary texts that the resulting refraction, that is, twice removed from reality as Plato would put it, is almost as rich and complex and crazy, just like life itself.

Why this paean to literature? Is that your question? Well, today I read yet again Premchand's world classic, a short story entitled "Idgah." Have you read this story that presents a deeply felt and truly responsible innocent love?  You have not read it as yet? Well, you have indeed missed a lot in this world!

Okay, I shall summarise the story for you. Its protagonist is a small five year old kid, Hameed. As his parents are both dead (though he is very sure they would soon return with truckloads of all sorts of goodies), his only support is his old grandma. 

On the Id day,  she is actually reluctant to let him go to the mosque as he is just a child. She relents, lets him go to the fair. She gives him three paise to buy something for the festival. All the other children eat sweetmeats, without sharing them with poor Hameed. They mock him when they buy playthings.

Poor Hameed cannot afford either the sweetmeats or the pricey playthings. Then he sees an ironsmithy, a blacksmith's shop. He remembers his poor grandma who burns her fingers constantly as they do not have any tongs. He buys the tongs for her. The end of the story is indeed worth a read!

 Why do I like the story so much? Well, the third person narration in the story is from a child's perspective. This kid is innocence incarnate. He knows merely how to love deeply. He does not throw tantrums. He is kind and considerate, so much so that he shares with all his heartless friends the tongs he has bought for his grandmother.

Its simple plot houses very realistic characters with simple joys and griefs. Hence the subtle ethical tone in the background enriches us. The simple representative characters enjoy both narrative consistency and great psychological realism. Such is the diction Premchand uses  that the flow of the story carries us effortlessly to the inevitable end! A gem of a story indeed!

Pratima@The tale lies in the telling!

A pet is a pet is a pet is a pet

 Yes, the tautology in the title can be repeated ad infinitum 'coz pets are special. They are humane, they are loving, they never behave outrageously, they are decent, they are kind, they are divine. Why describe these true influencers so much? Just say, they are a pet, and ALL is said. 

I should know, given the pets in my life. Let me today introduce you to Tashu, my brother's beagle. Extremely good looking is this species. An absolute riot of colours is their coat. Tashu has a lovely white mark on his forehead which makes him look cuter.

Much more divine is the soul that resides in that small body. The species, now used as guinea pigs by the haircare/skincare industry, is patient by nature. As the royals' hunting partners, they are masterful when it comes to smell and sound. 

All these species specific qualities come alive when I reach their doorstep. He hugely starts scrapping at the door of the bedroom he is royally relaxing in. It must open, and out he zooms, his entire body a welcome of love, expressed through jumps, zoomies and a tale of tail twirls. A volley of barks follows.

The three or four hours I am there, he never lets me go out of his sight. With sleepy eyes, as he otherwise dozes, he keeps literally a vigil by my side. When it is the good bye time, he is visibly unhappy. He refuses to leave the door, till he hears the rumble of the lift. Then darts he to the balcony, poking his head from the small opening to see me wave till my back is turned near the bend in the road!

What infinite love! Love incarnate literally! Time and distance do not seem to matter to him. His love is constant. I never behave harshly or badly with him. But even that would not matter, I am sure. He only knows how to love from the bottom of his heart.

He can understand our language; we cannot his! He is excellent at reading the body language of the person talking to/about him. He might appear to be sleeping the whole day. But the moment he listens  even to a footfall near the door, he is sharp agility itself. He would express his irritation, his anger through a volley of huge barks. 

So little is the pets' time with us. Tops twelve years. Every nano second of their togetherness is filled with a return to innocence before the world turned wicked. Forever live the pets in our flashy/fishy times!

Pratima@ I can write reams on Tashu. Hope to one day write a book on pets. The script is ready. The publishers need to be hunted!

The Padwa Interpretations

 One of the most interesting aspects of celebrating festivals is reading how and why   people celebrate them. So, yes, yesterday, I did celebrate the festival with verve and zest. Through the messages, mostly posted on the WhatsApp status ( I do not use any other social medium such as insta or X, et al), one came to know the possible responses.

There were three possible patterns to these responses. The first was extremely enthusiastic and creative. The language used was lovely. It often created a sense of optimism and of togetherness. Such gaiety was often reflected in extremely unusual designing of the message. People seemed to have mastered ChatGPT and/or  'Canva' creatively.

These were the normal interpretations. I could observe three 'non-normal', okay, let us use the word which I actually dislike distinctly, 'abnormal', possibilities,  though there must be many more, I am sure. Of these, the first one was highly 'intellectual'. These 'thinkers' asserted that 'Padwa' was celebrated only in Maharashtra! Well, what these grandees do not know is that India uses two kinds of calendars, lunar and solar-lunar. The day hence may fall fifteen days later/apart. 

Yet the festival, basically nature-based and agriculture-oriented, IS celebrated across India. Since India has that unique unity within differences, let us remember, the Sindhis, too, celebrate it. I should know because I wrote a proper article on this theme for a partially pedagogic magazine by one of the major publishing houses.

The second objection was 'sociological'. There were angry verses about how some king killed cruelly the entire army of another king, and declared a calendar after him. The reference seemed to be to 'Shatwahan Shak'. Well, I do not pretend to know archaeology and history hugely. I do know these disciplines enough though to maintain that 'Gudhi Padwa' has no such antecedent. I can quote all the references I know. That would lengthen this blog too very much though. 

Why, all the followers of Shivaji Maharaj could destroy this unusual account as they were busy declaring that Maharaj began the practice of hoisting a 'gudhi'!

The weirdest is the third one. Mostly followed by the ultra well-off amongst the upper middle classes, this response consists of completely rejecting the festival. The fools would be following some weird 'panth'/sect with a curious philosophy! Its ideation would not have any base in any text. Some 'Baba' would have imagined it, most probably in a drug-induced 'seance'.

The fools would follow to the t the practices of the panth and the Baba, without even realising how the sect is a huge financial, crony capitalist and corporate conglomerate! One of my Ph.D. classmates, for example, would shave off her hair completely on this very day! If possible, her poor doggie, too, would have to follow suit, the birthday one for him, of course!

She would do it with a weird enthusiasm. Why did she do it? Well, it was 'her' body. She was free to do anything she wanted with it, would be the first salvo. Well, not only the poor parents, an entire community creates our selves. We owe a lot to many! No use telling such creeps! 

The second salvo, to establish why 'Padwa' would be the day, used to be that the summer is hot! Such people would have coolers in every corner, and air-conditioners which they blast at 17 degrees, and then use two rugs to overcome the 'chill'!

What sheer stupid wastage of all that life has provided them abundantly. Life (since their sect would not believe in God!) blessed them with second chances at actually 'living', the lack of which have driven people almost lunatic! 

They are like creepy fools who believe that a woman is feminist if and only if she uses pills, aborts, drinks, does drugs, smokes, wears clothes Julia Roberts would not dare in that film entitled "Pretty Woman"! Well, if they were to notice carefully,  real achievers never need such flashy bling!

 To provide corporate examples, which hopefully they would accept, look at Sudha Murthi, at Indira Nooyi, Madhavi Latha, to give a very contemporary example. Even when they party, if they at all, given the busy schedule, no single weird pic in the skimpiest clothes of their hurrying to the loo to puke and pee!

Lord, save them, they perfectly very well know what they are doing!

Pratima@What makes life worth is intellectual integrity. Woke-ism is a fad that is here now, and gone tomorrow, without providing any paradigm shift!

The eclipse

 Checked just now. The total solar eclipse has almost half reached its path of totality. Called the Great American Eclipse (how America loves to own even a celestial phenomenon and, moreover, relate it to the (in)dubitable American Dream), in my opinion, it tells us a lot about the (mental) wealth (hey, not health, though the weird behaviours of (m)any awesome Americans would justify this moniker) of nations.

America, for example, has owned it up as if it is a Disney Show up there! Moreover, they  have managed to make in to an Event! Hotel-full of guests are ooh-aah-ing all along! There have been a week full of advisories regarding traffic jams, and eatable jams, too, as given the onslaught of spectacle watchers, there was fear-mongering regarding food scarcity, not to forget the 'special' sunglasses which, incidentally, every other kid could once make. The digitisation, and its woes, more than wonders, as camera rolls are now a thing of the past! Hope the ghettoised Indian community there, who celebrate every  'native' festival with lots of fanfare, make this, too, with a real Indian flavour.

Well, India is not on the famous path of totality. If it were to be, there would have been the great Indian circus, that is proving beyond doubt  that we simultaneously  live in multiple eras and centuries. Well, I look at the traditional rituals as sheer poetry that has now lost its focus. The traditional rituals could be imagined to prove the impulsive emotional response to phenomena beyond routine.

A solar eclipse indeed is one such. Imagine total night like darkness during the day, even if just for five minutes. Despite the light years of distances among the sun, the moon, and the earth, this 'darkness at day'  or the sun imitating the crescent moon look is indeed an invite to imagination, right? The media circus would end tomorrow, and yet the corona (this one is lovable, mind you!) would continue to haunt the imagery till the next total solar eclipse happens. Who knows how technology would then allow us to 'live' it! Momento Mori! Experience it till it lives!

Pratima@ Given the blazing hot summer, these days, i water plants late at night, circa 10 p.m. so that the roots relish the cool drink, thunda, thunda, cool, cool. Today I chose not to as I am not sure of  the indirect changes to the photosynthesis in absence of the sun every which way. Tomorrow they can guzzle the gurgling  glassful very early in the morning.

Save suffering soil!

 Soil is dying. Most of you would agree with me that this can be the understatement of the decade. Multiple are the causes. The huge urbanisation and the madly consumerist lifestyle that metros and big cities peddle is one of the prime causes. How? Well, every city produces mountains of dry waste, not to forget the digital waste. Wet waste can be composted, may even be recycled, though it is true that such landfills, too, are a cause of the death of the soil. 

Yet another reason is the soil erosion due to deforestation. Sure there should be development, but it has to be sustainable. When an acre of the Amazonian forest, to give an example, is cut down, centuries of the evolutionary process are wiped out. Nature does heal itself. Yet the process of its resilient  resurgence can hardly match the mad human greed.

The death of the soil is due to air pollution, too. The air pollutants mix in to the soil due to rains even when they are not artificial. Much worse is the case of agriculture. Farmers hardly go for natural manure such as the cow dung or the sheep manure. Instead they blast the poor soil through the excessive use of chemical fertilizers which make the soil arid by destroying and disabling the pH factor of the soil, its micronutrients, and so on. They would rather burn the old stalks instead of digging organic manure pits.

Such is the sad situation that already there is a talk of and experimentation with vertical agricultural production. Beyond such artificiality, are there any other concrete and tangible solutions? There should be compulsory rain water harvesting to begin with as the process would improve the water table. Thus would there be reduction in borewells. 

Similarly, there has to be a lot of reuse of all materials, not merely plastic which can be used for carpeting one layer of the new roads. Similarly, the debris from the real estate industry must somehow be re-cycled.

Most importantly, huge plantation of trees of the local variety is necessary. Farmers should be encouraged for syndicated farming so that more economic and concentrated efforts at organic manure and pesticides would be possible.

When a small time farmer has just an acre or two of possibly arable land, such efforts might be costly for an individual who would hence prefer the easy and comparatively cost effective alternative of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Huge awareness programmes of such variety are the need of the hour. 

Let us not kill the soil. Killing the soil is like the uterine removal operation which rejects a woman her basic reproduction rights. Hope farmers, policy makers and common citizens realise the need for such awareness.

Pratima@Help the soil to help us!

Sarcopenia

 The very term is quite a mouthful, right? Oh, yes, what this word conveys is still more bothersome. Do you know what is is? Okay, let me ask you a few questions.

Do you often face a lack, and worse still, loss, of stamina? Performing daily physical activities is a bother? Do you walk slowly? Climbing stairs is tough and troublesome? Well, these are symptoms of sarcopenia.

What is sarcopenia? It is the loss of skeletal muscle mass. As per its Greek etymology, it literally means flesh, that is, muscle, poverty. No, it is not a cancer, but it is equally bad, as it may affect the victim's mobility.

 Who are the majority affected by this condition? It is the elderly. As we turn thirty, slowly but surely starts the process of muscle mass weakening/reducing. Especially those who jog a lot start this decrease earlier. The process starts galloping late sixties onwards. It is believed that after seventy, the sarcopenic speed is high and huge. 

In this era of specialisation, who are the  doctors to look after/care  for such victims? The geriatric specialists and the rheumatologists would obviously be the answer. 

Yet the real remedy to this condition is to be up and moving. It is necessary to be physically active, exercise, climb stairs, go for walks. Actual physical activity can easily slow down, if not exactly reverse, the condition. Actually, if you twirl your toes inwards and outwards often, it helps, too.

Yet another remedy is, yes, food. A diet that is protein rich, has amino acids and Vitamin D is recommended. Obviously, an intake of veggies and fruits is necessary. Supplements such as cod liver oil tablets (Papa made Seven Seas tablets part of our staple diet as pure vegetarians lack proteins. Aai used to prepare wheat powder that we had to guzzle with hot milk every morning. Wise moves indeed!), omega 3 inputs would sure help, too.

In other words, if you want to avoid falls and fractures, not merely watch your weight, but be active physically, exercise as much as you can, and eat well. Sarcopenia sounds silly thus!

Pratima@The ancient advice "चरैवेति चरैवेति" is indeed the ideal mantra.

The pity of it all

 I would not know whether you have read the First World War poetry. Truly shell-shocked poetry it is! Absolutely 'not to be missed' is Wilfred Owen's "Strange Meeting".  In the final stanza, the poem has this unmistakable, and unforgettable, line, "the pity of it all/the pity the war distilled".

Well, in this weird mosaic called human life, there are very many situations and contexts that would deserve the soubriquet"the pity of it all". The family with a child with the Down's Syndrome undoubtedly deserves this compassion.

For the 'New Indian Express', I had written this series about women and certain 'dis-eases'. One of the themes was girls with the Down's syndrome. I interviewed a few families to make my article truly sensitive. I remember even now the cold, moist touch of this girl who had this syndrome. There was an almost infantile (yes, that is 'the' word) innocence, nay, naivete, in the  rather plump (and quite hard) hold over my wrist. 

 In that moment, I understood all the positivities of the always child like adolescent with the syndrome, and the difficulties, doubts, despairs of the family. Why, her own sister grumbled to me of how her fate gets 'tied' up in multiple ways. Honestly, I felt as if I was looking in to a deep well that had crystal clear water, but the well had no bottom!

Indeed unique is the personality with this feature. A few are gifted in their own unique ways. I have seen the trailer of a 2019 film entitled "The Peanut Butter Falcon". Seems to treat with sensitivity and genial fun the ambition of an affected runaway to become a wrestler.  

Most of them are like Jhilmil in the 2012 film "Burfi". If they are lucky enough to meet a considerate person, life can be good. Mostly, however, unfortunately, it is hardly so. In this wicked world of ours, they are often taken advantage of. Why, I had mothers, as well as government officers, advocating uterine removal of such girls as they would not even know/manage how to keep themselves clean, it seems.

While collecting data to make my article as rounded as possible, I visited a 'home' for such adults with the syndrome. As their health was okay, their parents seemed sick with worries about their future after their own demise, given the thin sibling bond!  

Indeed, the situation deserves the title, 'the pity of it all'. One understands the complexity of the context. The caregivers' careers are tough too. The individuals with Down's Syndrome are taught occupational skills which might get them a tangential employment. Yet in this world of ours, where brilliance often gets sidelined, what difficulties would these people face, right? 

Never ever  should one  stop thanking the Life Force, God, however you may define it,  for a so-called normal life, and the parents for enriching it in multiple ways. In humility  lies honesty, or vice versa!

Pratima@Indeed how many problems are there in this wide world of ours! And truly how miniscule are our grumpy grumbles in the face of battles people fight every second!

Sleep

 Sleep, or rather the lack of it, is currently a theme that is causing sleeplessness. All age groups seem to suffer from various sleep disorders ranging from downright insomnia to sleep apnea, for instance. The causes supposedly are the contemporary life style and stress. People eat, work, live wrongly, and hence sleep hardly, seems to be the diagnosis.

Often it is considered a psychosomatic issue, the psychology, the mind affecting the body, so to say. Many people are intensely competitive. Hence they suffer from jealousies, hatreds, envíes. Such negativities cause sleep disorders, it is believed. 

Age factor seems to matter, too. If the babies sleep almost for twenty hours, many senior citizens seem to manage four hours of sleep. Personally, I do not have any problems or issues with sleep. I doze off within five minutes of hitting the bed. Similarly, I am really fast asleep when I sleep. So I feel relaxed after that break. Moreover, I do not mind either apportioning sleep if some work is urgent nor do I mind a quick siesta if I am hugely tired.

In literature, the best reference to sleep  is in Act II, Scene ii of "Macbeth". The quote runs as follows: "Macbeth does murder sleep - the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, chief nourisher in life's feast." 

Clearly does the quote indicate the function of sleep as the much deserved rest from physical and psychological overload. Given this reference to "Macbeth",  it is to be remembered that not only a mind full of stress or negativities but also a mind full of guilt affects sleep. Hence the great sleep-walking scene in the play!

What is the solution to this much prevalent problem? In my opinion, working well and thus being tired is the ideal solution 'coz then the body itself demands and commands sleep. Similarly, instead of worrying over it, it is better to apportion it, if necessary, I suppose. The best solution, I would say, is a contented mindset! 

Pratima@ Want to know what is the best soporific? No, it is not a glass of hot milk, and certainly not the sleeping pills. My suggestion is to keep a book on a subject you find absolutely boring near you bed. When your normal sleep hour approaches, start reading it. Never would you turn a page, right? If you have any doubts regarding the efficacy of this method, remember your student days!

Forests: An attempt at a litany

 Forests Fascinate. Period! Would not that indeed be true? Forests cast a spell over every soul. Remember the fairy tales? Forests were such a mystery, dark but alluring. Remember Hansel and Gretel? Remember how all the mysterious forces, both beneficent and dark, emerged from the forests, right? 

Forests meet us again and again. In the Mowgli adventures,  in the "Lion King"  reels as children. As we grow up, forests mesmerise us in very many different ways, in Conrad's mystique "Heart of Darkness", in Thoreau's "Walden", in Wordsworth's wildernesses, in Blake's "The Tyger", as Frost's "lovely, dark, deep woods". Forests, in brief, allure us so much so that in our typical irritation with the urban life, we call it the cement jungle!

In our very own literature and mythology, forests are forever. In the "Ramayana", the forests are a threat, and yet a lovely place for the passionate togetherness of Ram-Seeta. In the "Mahabharata", too, forests stand for every phase of life, childhood to the final farewell for the Pandava Princes. Forests help an Eklavya train, and forests test Draupadi repeatedly. In the "Vedas" too, forests are the source of some of the most beautiful "ruchas".

Currently, however, the forest cover is depleting. The human lust for power, for ownership, for unbridled consumption of all sorts has made human beings in to beasts, and forests in to wastelands. The environmental effects affect the entire mankind , and all the forms of non-human entities, the flora and the fauna that once filled forests full.

We need to save forests of all sorts, the Amazonian to the Himalayan. Forests are not merely for vacation safari's. Forests are forever. If forests live, we live. Leave forests alone!

Pratima@Forests foster the ecosystem in all its majesty and utility. Forests teach us many subtle lessons we must never de-learn for our own survival!

The Martyr

 In India, the Martyr's Day is celebrated twice so to say, on January 30, and on March 23. Both these days commemorate a death. If January 30 of Gandhiji, March 23 is a tribute to the memory of Shahid Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru who were hanged on this day by the British. 

All the four of them contributed hugely towards the Independence of India. Their lives are shining examples of great sacrifice in the service of our nation. Literally each page in the book of their lives is inspiring . Great martyrs indeed!

Who is, or can be considered, a martyr? Well, my submission in this blog is that martyrs share certain qualities. I do believe that, whether or not fabulously famous, they lead lives that make them great. I would like to hence maintain that a martyr is not made merely by his/her death. Rather, a martyr is memorable because of his/her ideals, and how he/she lived to protect these. 

Let us prove these statements of mine through an example. Let us think of women leaders of/during the Freedom Movement. I am sure that, of these, very would have heard of Usha Mehta. Actually, her contribution is stellar. She used a nascent technology.Most importantly, her selfless service was at a most critical juncture.

It was during the Quit India Movement that she contributed her mite. Her argument was that the movement would throb with life if the participants in it would be in the know of things. Hence instead of joining the lakhs who chose to get unprisoned, she decided to run a surreptitious radio station which gave the entire nation news of all the events, and from the Indian, non-British perspective.

Setting up such a secret underground radio station those days was not easy. Running it continuously and faultlessly was still much more difficult. With a clutch of a few like-minded co-workers, she managed most efficiently  and effectively both these impossibilities. She was hardly twenty-two then. She would constantly shift the transmission center so that the British would not be able to t(r)ap it. Her efforts at thus spreading the local, the native version of events energised the Freedom Movement immensely.

As is usual, an insider tip helped the British locate her powerful (trans)mission.'Radio Ben' was thus incarcerated. She willingly accepted the 'punishment'. Even after the nation became independent, never ever did she lust after glory. A great martyr she is in my opinion because she was idealistic, she was  committed, and most importantly, for her, the cause was far more significant than mere personal glory!

Pratima@ It is the cause, not the death, that makes a martyr, they say.

Fool full feel

 Well, most all people like a little bit of fun, given the way life is right now. We are eternally hurried, and forever harried. A feel full of fooling someone in an innocent way, and then screaming your lungs out "April Fool" is the urge almost everybody would enjoy.

Have you noticed the very title of our blog? It is quite a mouthful, and a tongue twister! So, April Fool, folks! Did you play pranks on friends and family? Such as inviting people for a meet which you cancelled at the last minute when almost all had almost reached the venue, leaving all fretting and fuming? Such as making someone taste a salty tea in which you made him/her pour salt instead of sugar? Such as giving someone a look alike banana made of wood to eat?

In other words, the April Fool fun is not vicious or malicious. Nor is it meant to show someone small, to show somebody down. It is a stupid prank which the victim does not mind as it is not harmful. 

It seems the practice began some centuries ago when France changed the calendar pattern, making it Gregorian. As is usual, some people took time to get used to it. Out of the sheer fun that thus emerged was born the April Fool day. Some sources assign the origin to a poem about a man who would send all on empty errands.

Whatever may be the source of and wherever  be the origin of this custom, now it is followed the world over. For a day, may be, it can be said, the whole world goes back to being a naughty kid! Long live the April Fool day as it promotes innocent fun in a world becoming more and more irresponsible and wicked and vicious!

Pratima@ Do read Cervantes' "Don Quixote" to meet a naive guy forever April fooling himself!

Resurrection

 Some literary texts move you to the very core of your being. One such great novel is "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy, his last. It is a touching story of the literal "rising again" of an aristocratic wastrel.  As in the tale of Dimitri Nekhlyudov that the text explores, this Tolstoy novel can genuinely move any sensitive soul to be re-born, to rise again from the ugly self the social structures and the societal pressures have imprisoned him in to.

Written against the backdrop of the injustices of the Tsarist regime and the ills of serfdom, the novel is a passionate plea against class injustices, and how they harm women. Like the hero, it can move any thinking and just person towards prison reform and land/labour amendments.

I like the novel for yet another reason,  its most beautiful depiction of the Resurrection rituals. Resurrection is undoubtedly symbolic in the novel. Yet the actual church ceremony on the Resurrection  Day is so lyrically and poetically depicted that the entire Lent rituals, the Holy week, the actual  Easter Sunday ceremony, all literally come alive.

Russian literature, even in the 'Progress Press' translation series, is great. Earlier, on the footpath next to Ranade Institute, there used to be this vendor who used to sell these nicely printed texts literally for a pittance. Obviously, on the way to the British Council Library, I used to buy them by dozens. Aai-Papa never said 'no' to anything we asked for (as sure they were about what possibly we could demand), least of all for a book. So I indulged myself quite freely, and hence I have quite a fine collection of the Russian greats.

Remembered all this as it is the Easter Sunday. Well, this Easter, I found rather senti the fact that the King of Britain attended the Resurrection rituals, the Easter Service.

No, do NOT mistake me. I am rather good at the post-colonial critique. I know my Frantz Fanon to Ngugi to Homi Bhabha real well. Shashi Tharoor,  J. Sai Deepak, Vikram Sampath, Prof. Meenakshi Jain, and many more others, eh, authors, do present great de-colonising critiques that I admire immensely.

Yet it moves me most that a seventy-five year old frail man who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer, who must read in the newspapers not only ugly scandals about his immediate family, but also daily the doctors' dire diagnosis that he has tops two years to be and not to be, who knows that the procedure for his final farewell has already begun, who has a daughter-in-law stricken with the same grim tragedy, who has to witness the brave face his son must put for the sake of his young family and his future career, such an old gentleman puts up a brave front, actually attends an annual religious ritual, greets the crowds gathered there. 

I suppose even the worst critic of monarchy must mull this " rising again", despite all the prejudices harboured against the monarchy, the colonial past, the class objections, and so on. Sheer humanity, pure humane considerations insist that we greet the brave face and the"complain not, explain not" policy of the British Royalty. Some Resurrection indeed!

Pratima@ One of my personal resurrections as a literature student was I hence, and thus, understood the poignancy of "Macbeth" better today even when "the sceptre and crown must tumble down, and in the dust be equal made"!

The Real Lagaan

 Being a freelancer with the Features Desk of a newspaper is both fun and a terror. It is fun because you can choose, and be chosen for, each and every beat. Why, you get a byline on the very front page, an honour regulars rave about. You can come up with an idea, and you get a free hand most often. 

The downside is that you have to prove yourself  each time with every article. Absolute trash in extremely poor English is the run of the mill, and is accepted, given the hurry-n-burry of publishing a daily. But you have to burnish like a pitambari polished copper vessel every time. It is good for you though because thus you truly re(de)fine your art!

Well, one gets all n sundry assignments, in brief. During my stint as a freelancer with the "New Indian Express", "The Hindu", and "Newstime", i enjoyed this privilege hugely. A great break from n an interesting contrast to my academics, the journalistic assignments aplenty often included film reviews as well. A special place would be reserved. I had perfected thus the art of writing in the dark, too, 'coz I had to jot down details, as in early 2000, the Google was not such an efficient search engine.

In 2001, for example, when 'Lagaan' was released, I had to review this cocktail of the two great Indian obsessions, films and cricket. The audience was treating the film match as if it were real. The cinema hall was literally charged. 

Of course, I wrote a laudatory review. Oh, yes, my review snippets, titles (along with the newspaper title) used to be quoted in the newspaper adverts! Well, long lost are those heady days. At times, when I had to board the 8.30 Hyderabad-Pune express, I used to watch the afternoon show, go to the newspaper office, file the review, and rush home, and thence to the railway station,  carrying all along my sparse luggage at times.

Well, the 'Lagaan' watch is etched on my memory. Why was the film so very special? For one thing, it is an upright and honest refusal to bow down to the crudity of mindless power. It is an ode to collective responsibility and collective action, so very rare in India where most all shirk every possible responsibility under some sick pretext or the other!

Basically though, it is a paean to an inspired individual taking on the powers that be. It is in my opinion an example of how an organic leader emerges from the embers of opression, deceit and lies. 'Lagaan'(लगान) is actually 'lagan' (लगन).  No wonder, in an India obsessed with the hero (he can be from the field of films, cricket or politics), the film's success was a thunder!

Pratima@Well, the 'Lagaan' watch is etched on my memory for a very personal reason, too. Papa loved cricket hugely. In fact, in our family, I happen to be the only ignoramus as far as cricket is concerned. Since childhood, Papa, my brothers, they all loved cricket.  Aai loved their love of the game.

 Papa would watch the match till the last ball was bowled even if the Indian team would be losing. He did not like castigating loose remarks on the calibre of a player as he felt that playing at the international level was TOUGH. He would sure know as he was himself a cricket player in his college days. Somehow, the 'Lagaan' memories are interwoven with his, and hence are poignantly special for me 

 

A title and its meaning

 "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet,"exulted Shakespeare's most 'romantic' heroine, Juliet. Beyond Juliet's lovelorn insistence, semiotics, too, maintains that a name, why, practically every word, is a mutually agreed upon convention accepted by the community/society using that particular language.

Care for an example? A dog is the same  cute lovable  animal, most often, the best buddy ever. Every language has a different word for the furry friend though. In German, he would be a "Hund", in French a "chien", and in Spanish a "perro". Let us not get in to the connotation of the word as not only would it change as per the community, not to forget, the individual user, but the discussion about its  connotation could run in to reams.

Why all these prefatory remarks? Is that your question? Well, I was trying to understand the epithet "Good Friday". As the day commemorates the tragic martyrdom of Jesus Christ, why call it "Good" was what I was trying to understand.  

Well, the word 'good' is Germanic in origin according to its etymology. It is close to the German adjective 'gut' which meaning wise is similar to its English version. Why then this epithet?

 A possibility could be that in Old English, 'good' was close to 'God', it seems. Why, it has been argued that 'good bye' actually means 'god be by', that is, 'god be near you, take care of you', it seems. In this sense, 'Good Friday' would mean 'God's Friday', may be, as the day Christ attained almost divine proportions.

In other words, 'good' here would mean 'sacred',  I suppose. May be, as Christianity thinks that Christ brought immeasurable benedictions to his followers, 'good' could mean bountiful which anyways is one of the multiples meanings of 'good'.

Yet another possibility could be that the day is part of the Holy Week which reaches its zenith on the Easter Day. As the Easter signifies the Resurrection, the inevitable martyrdom on the preceding Friday makes it 'good', may be.  

Well, these musings made me realise how little we understand words, phrases, titles we use blithely. Sure, I need to read up quite a bit on this topic is what I realise. The Friday thus became good for me because yet again it asserted my total faith in the absolute need for intellectual humility!

Pratima@Please do illuminate my ignorance in case you know why the day is thus known.

Meteorology matters

 Climate and water, I would say, are the two issues that are eternally relevant. Sudden climate changes spell a disaster, almost as big as the scarcity of water. The farmers may be drying the produce, an entire harvest. A sudden shower can completely ruin it. 

The precise predictions by the meterological department are a blessing in such dire situations. Just a few years ago, such predictions were a regular matter of the most repeated, and quite silly, rather banal jokes. If the meterological department predicted blazing hot sun, better to carry an umbrella, it used to be insinuated, as thundershowers were sure to happen!

People, especially farmers, would rather depend on the traditional measures to predict the possible climate conditions. Well, two major changes have taken place. On the one hand, across the world, climate changes are getting more whimsical by the day. On the other hand, with the new technology, the meteorological predictions are getting more and more precise, nay, almost absolutely accurate!

That is a huge blessing, both for the individual and the government. Disaster management has radically altered; in fact, improved almost to zero error. Thus, a lot of human and material resources get saved, which is a boon indeed. 

Hence the relevance of the world meteorological day which otherwise appears so distant and irrelevant to our city sleek lives! May the predictions get better, especially because climate concerns are getting troublesome by the second!

Pratima@ Meteorology matters, especially to the global South!

Theatre!

 The theatre! Whether the art itself or the hall where mostly that art is practised (except when it comes to the street plays with an obvious, rather propagandist, message) is always charm, mystery and pleasure, as life literally comes alive in these 'walls'!  When one refers to a film or a cinema hall, life is the game of camera-n- pictures. It hence lacks the immediacy of a theatre performance. 

Both the artists and the audience literally live life in a theatre. The very etymology of the word would reveal that fact. The term comes from the Greek root which means to behold. That is what the theatre does for us. It helps us 'behold' life in an immersive way. 

Such is this 'behold'en aspect of theatre that across the world and across different dramatic traditions, we have a 'play within a play' tradition, be it "Swapnavasavdattam" or "Hamlet".  Shakespeare loved this 'all the world' as 'stage' (with different layers of meanings of this term) metaphor hugely and employed it often in his theatre! After all, he was a theatre person every which way, as an author, as an actor, as the owner!

The theatre is special because it is individual excellence (be it as an author, a director, an actor, the musicians, as in the case especially of a 'sangeet natak' or an opera,  the set designer, not to forget  the spectator as only s/he truly completes the meaning of the whole) encased in a performative gestalt.

No wonder, despite so many other modes of distraction, the theatre lives on, especially relevant in current lives where most all wear masks, right? No wonder, whether the British spell it with a word final 're' or Americans with an 'er', this perfomance which is a combo of literary and performative arts is the most appealing. 

Well, if as a literature student, one tends to stress the text, any single folk theatre performance can wake one up from that slumber. Often a director, an actor and the aware audience can weave an entirely different world beyond the words of the text, right? Every performance brings the text alive in a unique way. Hence, the theatre is real appealing. Long live the theatre!

Pratima@The ITI deserves our yearlong thanks for initiating this day, and especially for the special messages from stalwarts such Jean Cocteau to Jon Fosse.

Taming the troublesome terror

 Not very long ago,  that is, in the nineteenth century, so many Romantics, artists and authors, died due to it that it was considered quite 'romantic' to die of this troublesome terror. The patient suffering from consumption would die a slow death, surrounded by the family and friends.

Believe it or not, the 'pale' disease (as it made the victim look unnaturally pale) was so much in fashion then that women powdered and puffed themselves to get the 'pale' look. Novels, poems, plays used the dis-ease as the plot, as the twist in the plot, as the metaphor.

It was a famous fashionable social 'cause' as well because poor children, suffering as the chimney or the mining workers, wasted away due to it. Pathetic paintings of such victims were the 'done', the 'in' possession for the rich and the mighty, the chatterati then.

Have you guessed which disease we are talking about? Yes, it was the T.B. Luckily Dr. Robert Koch located the microbe causing it; fortunately he invented the vaccine to kill this troublesome terror. 

Unfortunately though, it is not completely wiped out even today. Even today, in dingy dark hutments, or even in upwardly mobile places without adequate healthy diet that goes beyond the coke and the burgers/pizzas, this dreaded disease is making rapid strides.

 Once again, it is the stupidly fashionable who guzzle only protein shakes and stuff pani puri's or pizzas as the food, through them, the disease has returned, and with a vicious bang, because now the disease is virulent, causes multi-organ failure and is developing variants which are more and more drug-resistant.

Luckily, post-Covid, the vaccine industry is in a healthy position, and can contain such creeps. Let us be truly health conscious by eating wholesome food, and by following holistic exercise regimens for sure. Stay healthy, (and hence)  wealthy as well as, wise!

Pratima@ The real medicine is 'us' in the sense that we have to be healthy, and conscious in a holistic way.

The day after

 The day after the Holi is always special. In fact, many people may not care as much for the Holi as they do for the day after. The day after Holi celebrates the Rangpanchami or the Dhulwad. 

It is the day of colours. People of all stages from the society and from all sorts of age groups enjoy  this game of colours. Water scarcity never seens to bother them. The typical college areas of Pune, especially the youthful Fergusson College Road, is full of colourful faces which are so much like masks that you would not be able to recognise a friend or a frenemy beneath!

The usual debates about the day after such as the harmful chemical colours or the natural colours made of natural ingredients rage as usual. Well, these days, even otherwise, people colour their hair, paint faces with the make-up, eat food with synthetic colours, and so on. Yet the same debate always carries on, at times, I almost feel as if it is a ritual.

Actually, the religious ritual on this day after would be to mix the ashes of the Holi with water, and throw it each other.  It would be an ideal beginning for the hot season, what with the summer approaching real fast. Ma be, once upon a time, when the social structure was very strict and rigid, this particular day must have been a form of release of all the suppressed lewdnesses and lawlessness that would otherwise threaten the society.

Now it is more an occasion of getting drunk on the so-called 'thandai' which is nothing in comparison with what 'normally' most people get high on these days. 

Actually, 'the day after' this year was a lunar eclipse. Most people hardly seemed aware of it either the religious way or the scientific/astronomic mode. They went about their 'joys' as mindlessly as ever.

In fact, hence, I often feel that 'the day after' never seems to be any different for most people, be it the day after a defining exam or be it the day after Diwali or the day after a marriage or a death! Every 'day after' is always the same! It is as if the unique speciality that makes life full of charm is lost to the banal. The real loss indeed! Long live the day after!

Pratima@ Excess always has a negative effect (on) 'the day after'. In my childhood, each festival had its uniqueness, the special food/dishes, the special rituals, and so on. To give an example, currently, all the Diwali dishes are available the year long. So the 'janta' craves for 'pau bhaji' on a Diwali day!  

Similarly, so much are people constantly buying, what with the credit (card money) that no novelty remains for the festival special buy even when they would go for it, too. Hence the very charm of 'the day after' is lost! Life thus grows truly banal because it is thus flattened in to the 'typical' sans any variety 'the day after' symbolised! 

Actually, 'the day after' has its own charm. As most people prefer the food metaphor these days, let me end by asserting that the 'one evening old' jilebi or shrikhand has a heavenly thanda, thanda, kool, kool taste' the day after'!

Holi

 Holi! How to understand it? Well, two major trends seem to emerge. The first one is the environmental. As per this ideation, the festival stands for the imminent arrival of the spring, and the end of the trailing winter. In a way, the folk festival is like the burning of the old logwood, and getting ready for the new. The old leaves are shed, the rotten branches are deadwood. Nature blooms with new leaves and fresh colours of flowers that would fructify by the summer.

There is another story, too. It starts with the different mythologies. It would refer to the very many she-demons from the Prahlad story, from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana epics, and how/why these demonesses troubled all, and how they were subdued so that order prevails. 

If the environmental version is more lyrical in tone (lots of (semi-)poetry gets quoted in this quasi- literary presentation), the mythological portrayal is ethical in tone to the tune that the festival symbolises the win, the victory of the good over the evil. 

Both these chronicles are tales by now told umpteen times. Do not you believe me? Well, go through a decade or two of newspaper articles, wapp messages, videos, and what have you, it would have to be either of these stories.Why, i suppose, newspaper desk editors (especially, the feature desk) and the RJ's would be sprucing up their own decades old spiel, like the songs that would tomorrow holler the whole day, with 'Sholay' to 'Silsila', via the 'yeh jawani' that is 'diwani'!

In other words, why are responses getting obviously typical? Why is everybody so obsessed with sounding the very correct note? Well, things are changing real fast, at a break-neck speed everywhere, and in every field of human endeavour. Why the repeat performance of the old records yet again?

 May be, because it provides a sense of security in wor(l)ds spinning with dizzying changes? Or because there is a wariness about communication, about each other, and hence the need to be politically correct, and to tell the safe, time-tested tales? 

Well, is not it the time to toss away the tales told since the nineties? Time to find new meanings, novel answers, pose different questions that would flare up the flames of our intellects, our imaginations, our ideations, our very beings?

Pratima@ As for me, at the personal level, nothing can change the symbolism of Aai's birth date, tithi wise, being the Holi. She never held grudges. Instead, she always chose to make oneself better. Burn up grudges (the bad 'karma' of the wrong-doers would come back to them to haunt them for harassment they inflicted!) and burnish anew hence is the forever holy Holi theme for me!

Yet another notion that now is associated with Holi is the way her favourite niece (Aai liked all of them very much. May be, a softer corner for Arundhati!) passed away on the Holi day last year. Actually, none has any control over death or birth. Yet such occurences tell the tales of affinities beyond bounds for sure!

Books: Best Buddies

 Remember the last few hours of Shahid Bhagat Singh? Despite knowing perfectly well that he would be crucified very soon, he was busy reading a book by Lenin. When they came to fetch him, the tale goes that he  told the jailer that he needed a few minutes more to complete reading the book. He was granted this last wish!

That is the best example of how books become best buddies. They indeed are. They perform all the duties of a good friend. They support you in your difficult times. They advise you. They guide you. They train you. They entertain you. 

One can extend this list endlessly. The best part of their dutifulness is that nothing is expected in return. Moreover, they never tire  of performing such duties repeatedly. In fact, the same book may give you newer insights and more joy, when re-visited, unlike human beings!

They help you live life vicariously. Thus they enrich you, but without any bother. No wonder, they are the bestest buddies! These days, you can read online. Though personally I love the touch, the feel, the scent of a book, I do not mind the Kindle kind of reads because the means may differ, but the endgame continues to be the same!

The real enemy of the reading  process is  the addictive social media! Unlike books, they BELIEVE only in entertaining. They lack credibility, and they loot the great thoughts   anyways by over-simplifying everything! So better to avoid these vision-wise losers. Better be the greatest friend of books. Long live books!

Pratima@ The Idea of the Heaven, according to Borges, is an infinite library!

Water: The Elixir

 Given the World Water Day, and given the world wide scarcity of water, the blog today says the minimal: just a few quotations!

1)"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water!", maintains W.H.Auden

2)"Water is the driving force of all nature," asserts Leonardo Da Vinci

3) "Pure water is the world's first and foremost medicine,"says a Slovakian proverb.

4)"Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of the container," argues Wallace Steven.

5) "Water, water, every where,/And all the boards did shrink;/Water, water, every where,/Nor any drop to drink.", wrote S.T.Coleridge.

We may re-invent the ancient "bawdi" system of water management. We may run water trains. We may process the hydrogen from the space missions. Whatever form it may take, life needs water!

Pratima@Water is important. It is not abundant. Do not waste water! Save water! Potable water is priceless!

Poetry is dead!

 Does the title of our blog startle you?A disturbing title, especially  because we are in the throes of the World Poetry Day, as declared by the UNESCO, right?  Well, personally, i LOVE poetry. Yet just look around us. Are there any signs of anything dimly poetic?

Remember our blog yesterday? The one that dealt with the disappearance of the chirping sparrow who had been our constant companion till almost 2005? Certainly, the 2008 economic downfall seems to have forever extinguished the tiny birdie! Who cares though?

 So long as tigers flourish in forests that Blake would have disliked, who bothers about a useless non-entity like a sparrow, hardly a tourist attraction? That manipulative, exploitative, materialistic and mercenary look-out on the world kills all poetry!

The KateGate, for instance. A nice read indeed! An ill woman cannot 'patiently' recuperate, but all sorts of ugliest gossip is consumed large scale on the social media, the real opium these days.

 That is the crazy reality today, like the Singapore father who killed his autistic twins out of concern about their future, it seems! After such Auschwitz's of daily disillusionments of all sorts, what poetry, which poetry, and how poetry?

For poetry to flourish, nourishment is necessary. Never merely a word game nor sheer versification, poetry is born(e) in imagination. It is a vision that is ethical.  Remember how the "आद्य काव्य" initiates? In the searing pain a sensitive soul  feels for the mindless murder a hunter attempts;   "मा निषाद "! In the negative injunction that bemoans mindless, heartless cruelty begins the great epic!

Poetry is this sensitivity. Poetry is this sincerity. Poetry is soul-born(e). Poetry is essential. Despite deepfakes of all sorts, poetry would eternally be re-born. It is in the rhythm of diurnality. It rhymes in the very flow of life. Long live poetry!

Pratima@ Poetry is like dropping a petal down the Great Canyon, and waiting for the echo, someone wrote. Well, the very wind buzzes with the scented swirl of the pretty petal as gravity itself lifts it heavenwards!