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! 

Once upon a time...

 Modern urban life is as good as living amidst those huge ice sheets of frozen glaciers in the Antartica. No, I am not using symbolism. Yea, life there would be warmer compared to the cold vibes city slickers share everywhere, on the street where they burst with road rage, in offices where there are zillion doubles of those who rioted at the Capitol Hill, at home where the warmest place is the inside of the ubiquitous freezer.

Well, beyond such cold crude realities, modern urban life shares with the Antartica a unique similarity. The sparrows do not have habitat there, too! This small, little brown chatterbox, once upon a time not so long ago, was everywhere, except the Antartica. Now in contemporary cities full of crows cawing crudely near the huge mounds of trash or of doves littering balconies, the tiny sparrow is most marked by its absence!

Well, the small little sparrow needs human(e) company to survive. Where are the eaves and roofs it needs to put together its rather roughly rendered nest, as cities now are jungles of high rise buildings that boast of  huge French windows with impenetrable glass sheet-y slides?!? Where are the spread out grains it needs as food supplements because most households now prefer 'packed' food or gloat on eat-out's with family-n-friends?

In other words, this birdie who was the topic, the theme of tales told 'once upon a time, not so very long ago' by the elders of the family as tiny eyelids would enter the world of quiet sleep full of sweet dreams is now forever lost from the urban jungle, exactly like all that was good in lives not so very long ago!

Pratima@Are we losing out on a lot, given the mad rush after modernity? Is not the sad abscence of the small sparrow a huge comment on the environmental degradation? High time, we reverse it!!!

Happiness

 What is happiness? It sure is not merely materialistic. Undoubtedly, the M tonic is the base of a healthy happiness. That is to say, wealth matters when it comes to happiness. Just as health does. In my opinion, however, neither matters much. I do sincerely think that happiness is more a mental state,a  psychological balance, an emotional condition.

Want proof? Have you heard of Arunima Sinha? Of the Blade Runner? When she climbed the Mount Everest as well as the highest peak in the Antartica, not to forget every other peak in each continent, after losing a leg in a cruel freak accident, she made not only herself or her family-n-friends, but the entire world hugely happy. When he won the Olympics running race despite having mere blades instead of legs, the whole world was ecstatic.

Happiness, in other words, includes a defined goal, sustained and sincere efforts to achieve it, and the unshakable faith that sooner rather than later, you would achieve what the whole world stopped you from attaining. As you need it that desperately, all the positivity in the entire Universe supports you, stands by you. 

Happiness is thus attainment. Never is it mere entertainment. It sure is 'that' goal of life. It resides in small things as well. The russet in the sky before the sunrise, a bird cooing, a bud blooming, your pet wild with with joy at your very sight, a baby babbling, happiness is everywhere.

Happiness is ethical as well. The cruel joy a creep gets by harassing an innocent ruins his entire family. On the contrary, if you are generous despite myriad problems, happiness comes searching for you, forever lingers at your doorstep. Happiness, in brief, is a way of life. No wonder the U.N. decided to dedicate a day to happiness, that is, March 20.

Pratima@ Happiness lies in a great read. Happiness is great music. Happiness is writing well. Happiness  is caring for every one in you inner circle. Happiness is every good memory. Happiness is happiness is happiness!

To/For/On Aai

 March 19! It is Aai's birth anniversary today. Hence the title of this blog which tries to unfurl some of Aai's unique qualities.

And, yes, she was unique, she was special. To begin with, look at her birthday. Just a day apart from Papa's. Sure there were the years in between. Yet I do not know of any other couple whose birth dates are so close to each other!

In fact, Aai was born on March 19, and passed away on March 26, and Holi, her date/day of birth as per the Hindu lunar calendar is in March, too. Somehow this (not exactly a) coincidence reflects on the integrity of her personality, I think.

Why do I think so highly of her? Let me explain a little. Now a days, girls go to the other end of the globe, why, in the space, too. When she got married in the late 1950's, it was not so. The means of communication used to be a post card that would reach earliest after a fortnight, and a telegram would most often mean some tragic news.

In those days, she was married off some two hundred kilometers away. Why, there was no broad gauge train to Kolhapur from Pandharpur. Oh, yes, she met Papa directly at the time of marriage, and yet there never was any protest on her part. There was a strong tolerance and contentment at the core of her personality.

Even today, Kolhapur is 'different', aggressively truculent, and quite patriarchal. Six decades ago, it must have been much worse. She had to suffer a lot. Yet never have i heard her speak a single bad word against her in-laws.

In fact, her afternoons were never ever spent gossiping away to glory. She used to instead stitch our clothes, prepare pickles, masala, wheat satva, and so on. She did not 'work'.  Yet, as a housewife, so efficient was her running of the household that my parents, they, never needed to borrow a single penny. Nor did she ever bother/harass Papa with demands of new sarees nor for jewellery. I tremendously admire this contented and self respecting spirit of my parents, especially Aai.

Given the ill-treatment by the elders, both of them, Aai-Papa, had to suffer a lot initially as there was absolutely no support structure/system to fall back on, and salaries those days were not much to write home about. Moreover, given Papa's honesty and sincerity, he had to often face transfers. 

Aai had thus to withstand Mumbai, Bidar, Nashik, Aurangabad, places that must have been very difficult for her to adjust to, as basically she was from a very small, typically Marathi, three-tier town. She had to be all alone, too, the whole day till Papa would return home (from the CST to Karjat, to give an example) which must have been tough for a young girl from a big family!

Her household was always neat and tidy. She cooked excellently, and in perfect measure. Never ever did we eat left-overs. It was always fresh, wholesome food, and without the 'lots of tomatoes, onions, garlic and coriander leaves in abundance' formula.

She was excellent at very many handicrafts. Our home hence had a simple grace. She was good at singing, at writing the traditional poesie forms for family gatherings. As a member of a singing group, she sang, and was the narrator at very many quasi-religious programmes.  Very organised and perfectly disciplined used to be her day. Never ever would she loll on the bed nor watch serials mindlessly. Why, when she was in the U.S. with Sanju, she maintained  a daily detailed diary.

Since her fifties, she started her studies of the sant wangmaya, the bhakti literature in Marathi. Sant Ramdas (she was a tutor and examiner, too), Sant Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukaram, the Geeta, she studied each text assiduously. She excelled herself at the studies (as a rank holder, she won prizes, too), and helped other devotees in a big way as well.

She was extremely straightforward, and without any duplicity or hypocrisy which she hated hugely. She was hyper sensitive, too. Easily can such people be misunderstood. And yet there was a wonderful sense of humour, jolly fun about her. In brief, very many qualities of head, heart and soul she had, and hence this tribute to her, both as a daughter, and as a student of human beings/behaviour!

Pratima@So nice she was to those in her vicinity (with very good people skills) that her physio, whom she treated like family, messaged me at 12 midnight to remember Aai on her birthday!

This acrostic celebrates Papa's memory

It is March 18 today. It is Papa's birth anniversary. Earlier I had written a piece celebrating his simple, good, honest life full of idealistic principles. It was entitled "a father with a mother's heart". 

Indeed he was very kind and generous. Never even once did he hit us. We were allowed to live our goals, our dreams. Sure we were never allowed to be rowdy children. That, too, was conveyed with kindness and love though. I cannot ever stop thanking him for his generosity and love! Miss  him hugely even today!

Rare and unique

Aggressive never.

Mild at heart. 

Courageous beyond belief.

Honesty was his breath.

Anti all corruptions

Nice and generous

Deeply thoughtful

Rare his commitment even to a banal job! 

Again a huge 'Thank you' for being You!

Pratima@ Would always try working at being the good girl you wanted me to be!

Consumption

 Consumption is common currently, both as a term and as a concept. It can mean either a commercial transaction or it can also mean the fuel a vehicle needs. This particular car/mobike is better, they would say, because its 'consumption' is better, in that it beeds/uses less gas aka petrol.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, consumption could mean tuberculosis,as the patient would lose weight drastically. In a way, whichever way you look at it, consumption includes burning up, be it physical energy, fuel or money.

In the fields of finance/economics/commerce, however, consumption/consumer has a positive angle to it. It comes etymologically from 'consumere' in Latin which means to enjoy. 

Why all this discussion? Well, recently was celebrated the consumer day which puts a high value on the rights of the consumer. In a way,  Industrial Revolution onwards and with the emergence and flourishing of capitalism, consumption, consumer, consumerism have become central concepts.

In a way, today's high consumerism in India was fed by the LPG process. Suddenly opened up before the buyer a huge bazzar of goods, services, and what have you. The internet revolution made the market still more accessible to the common buyer.

In the process emerged the need for consumer care/protection, for his/her rights against the MNC/TNC conglomerates and their advertising mechanisms. Hence the relevance of the day. The consumer court, which bolsters this right, is indeed a h(e)aven for the common man. 

For one thing, unlike the courts, it acts faster. It has state level grievance redressal centers. Most importantly, the common complainant does not need a lawyer!(S)he can present her/his case. There have been many such victories as well. There are, moreover, many support systems such as the 'Grahak Peth'. Long live, in brief, the rights of the consumer! Hence this bit of the theory behind the praxis common today!

Pratima@ Principles and fair deals make markets ethical.

Who is afraid of studies?

 The title of our blog, a visible take-off on Edward Albee's title, may make you knowingly smirk, and come up with the but obvious answer, 'well, it is students who are afraid of studies/studying', et al. Well, being a lecturer in English literatures at the PG level, and  in English and other foreign languages at the UG level, I am indeed sorry to disillusion you. 

No, it is NOT students who are afraid of studies. Believe me, it is teachers! Yes, you read it right. These days, it is teachers who are afraid of students, of their studying, or rather not studying!

Why? Well, exams these days are hardly conducted to authenticate a learner's awareness of the field of study, her/his understanding of it, et al. Exams these days take place to 'pass' students!

Often, many teachers do not conduct lectures, do not completely and thoroughly cover the portion, do not teach with commitment. Naturally, an exam is a ritual for them.

It is still more of a ritual for most learners. Most of them are working part time somewhere or the other. Sure, some families may indeed need such help. Most often though, such 'time pass' is for easy pocket money. Neither do they get any real experience nor any in-depth awareness of the syllabus!

Colleges do not believe in attendance! No punishment no fine is due even if a student does not attend a single lecture! No wonder, exams are a mere ritual. In brief, none is really afraid of the exam, and 'all is well, all is well' with studies in the  Bollywood phillum fashion!

Pratima@ Such is the sad state when the world over the knowledge economy is getting more and more automated! Where would such half-baked, absolutely unoriginal ignoramuses be in such 'certain to arrive' contexts? Why create a depressed/down-n-out future !?!

The End? Really!?!

 It was a Compulsory English lecture, that, too, for the S.Y.B.Sc students. It was, moreover, the very first lecture. Each one of these would be a good enough excuse for the students to give a miss to the lecture. But, no! The classroom was as usual full. I was explaining Wordsworth's poem, while trying to relate it to Newton's optics. We were all happy together.

Suddenly stormed in to the classroom some six or seven students asking all to vacate the classroom. Such was their aggressive body language and virulent tone that some of my backbenchers  would have liked to scoot. I quietly took charge of the situation, asked the intruders to introduce themselves. They belonged to the SFI apparently, and were opposing the privatisation of education. 

I asked them to discuss the topic threadbare with my students. I began asking them relevant questions. Some of my students thus mustered the courage to put forth their queries. Neither the disrupters nor us, I and my students, realised how time passed. Soon the bell rang.  The SFI's invited me to their next Gate Meeting! I would not know what happened to the B.Sc students' other lectures as I had my B.A. Special lecture in the Main Building.  

Soon they came there, too. They refused, however, to enter my classroom to disrupt my lecture. One of them told the others in his group that I happened to be that very same teacher. That day, in my Novel Special  lecture, I explained the basics of the Marxism and literature relationship.

Why this anecdote? Is that your question? Well, I would like to state categorically that Marx is not to be confused with Marxists or Communists! Just because the SFI-ites, the Marxist/Communist cadres and/or their academic counterparts are abrasive, exasperating, arrogant brutes, that does not mean Marx' relevance is zilch.

In fact, in the decolonised neo-capitalist world today, he continues to remain relevant. He was never doctrinaire. In his system itself is in-built a self-reflexive mould. His is a mode that questions its own premises, too. Most often, people do not read/understand him, and yet profess his  ideas. Rather like the feminists who would not have read a line by Wollstonecraft or a word by Beauvoir, but would beat Manu black and blue, of course, without reading him or placing him in his context! Sad(ists)!

Pratima@Never judge a master by his/her disciples!

Grief

 When we lose something, the grief felt is intense. Especially when that something is a gift by someone you care for, the grief you feel is that much incremental. Much much worse is the acute pain, the deep grief you feel when you lose someone. Often people wallow in to depression when the bubble they created around themselves regarding somebody bursts!

Truly acute is the grief you feel when somebody passes away. Unbearable is the feel that you would never again see, hear, touch that beloved person. Whatever religion, spirituality, philosophy may say about the soul of that person surviving, that bodily loss is immeasurable.  The feel is as if one is buried deep down a cave from whence there is no escape. Every minute, each second that sense of loss is acute, deeply hurting like a thorn buried deep in the flesh. 

Yet human mind is such that slowly but surely that tsunami of unfathomable grief subsides. The daily routine of banal life creates a scab around that wound. Sure that itch of the loss is such that you pry open that wound again and again.

 Yet inevitably the repeatedly worried skin around that wound thickens. A crust develops which does not bleed eternally. Externally you have come to terms with the loss. Despite the six stages of coming to terms with any loss, that deep grief often bursts like lava from a volcano. Yet slowly such occurences grow occasional. Apparently at least, you come to terms with the loss, with grief.

That sense of loss, that acute grief, that tornado of sadness, anger, helplessness no longer churns the depths of consciousness. Yet that entire experience changes you eternally. It makes you a better, a more evolved person who has understood self, and the world better. 

Yet, with most people, grief is superficial, too. It is that intense emotion felt a little more for a second. Yet such people bounce back to normalcy quite easily. They are the types who may sob, nay, wail, loudly for a few seconds, but are back to normal gossiping in no time, in fact, often, in the very next minute!

 Their grief is like the dead body of a rat who is so many times run over by uncaring vehicles that soon that dead carcass is just another layer of the tar road! That grief is the worst, I would say 'coz it has not made you a better person, not changed you in any way. It has just made your mind that much fatter, and may be, more flat!

Pratima@ Being sensitive is rather a boon, never a curse. Resilience should not be born(e) out of sheer habit or senseless helplessness. That makes mind a dry crust, and every grief a transient "smashan vairagya" (so described Aai the temporary crocodile tears) which makes sheer hollow (wo)men!

Agnihotra

 Some proof March 12 was of the fact that the ancient Indian spiritual practices and the ancient Indian civilization are indeed back. Why? Is that your question? Well, March 12 is now the world Agnihotr day! 

Agnihotr is an offering in the direction of purification of the ambience. Every morning and each evening is offered a purificatory ablution including pure ghee and certain medicinal roots, the herbs, to the fire principle, the Agni, in a special triangular container, the hotr, the ritual altar. 

Actually, there is also an entire elaborate process of  ideally invoking the Agni devta, the fire principle, one of the major 'panch mahabhuta's', the five basic sustaining, foundational principles of the very universe, through the process of churning medicinal wooden planks, a throwback to the days mankind must have long long time ago ignited the fire which made us human, different from the hunting animals. 

In a way, the daily Agnihotr practice is a tribute to the grand process of fire making which changed the very direction of the progress of mankind. It is also believed that the Agnihotr practice awakens and strengthens the six chakras of the mankind. The herbal roots and the ghee, it is believed, add to the purification of the entire ambience, including the very thought process.

In a way, it is a welcome process of self-reflexion as well as environmental purification, both of which are practices hugely required currently. It is in this spirit that I, born Agnihotri, every evening light up camphor while chanting the Ganesh prayers and certain Rigveda invocations. My small little attempt at purification of the very soul!

Pratima@It is always better to understand the basic poetry and the science behind the traditional processes!

Readers?

 Do people read any longer? That is the question! Apparently they do. Well, my statement may seem to fly in the face of the realities as there are so very many media vying for the attention of people, both common and uncommon, that it is difficult to believe such a generalisation.

Yet if you were to visit any book exhibition, the venue would be overflowing with the curious ( in all senses of this term). Why, there would a business of give n take of a few crores. So say the business pundits. Apparently it is not just the big cities. In fact, it is the smaller towns and the two or three tier cities that, too, boast of this distinction.

What kind of books are these? Rarely would they be the high quality literary types, neither (r)evolutionary, nothing deep and/or a paradigm changing text. In brief, a layered analysis from the major perspectives of humanities as in philosophy, psychology or sociology, for instance, would rarely get read.

Mostly, these would be  the 'diy' , the 'do it yourself' kinda help books. People tend to buy, and (hopefully) read, the  not so good, cheap  'pop literary text's. The only problem with such shallow books is that they simply flatten the reading experience! That is hardly a read. Yet something is better than nothing, right?

Pratima@ Dear Regular Reader of my blog, thank you! Some proof your read is that people do like the not-so-light serious stuff! Thanks yet again!

True friends

 In the blog yesterday, we talked of the small ones. In the animal world, however, there is a small one or two whom we are not exactly friendly with, right? An example or two may suffice. The small one of a cobra, or for that matter, of any snake, is not exactly a friend, right?

 Once in the backyard, in a box I had kept for broken glasses, there was one, though i did not initially recognize it as such. I even tried to remove it with bare hands. The very next minute, it was like the description of the 'kundalini' in the 'Dnyaneshwari'. Of course, I did not tell Aai of this close encounter of the worst kind. Otherwise, she would have worried to no end.

Similarly, despite their jet jade eyes, unlike the beautiful blue of the lion cubs, and the lovely stripe patterns, unlike the pale golden hue of the lion cubs, the small ones of the tiger appear dangerous. Instead of frolicking, they seem to be fuming and frowning.

Yet in the deep woods of the ice-clad Russia, it is always the tiger cub and the wounded tiger/tigress who befriend a kind man who tries to save the tiger/tigress, who when in danger her/himself , gets/gives the cub to the saviour. 

On the YouTube abound many such videos which always end with a happy reunion of the long lost friends as the cub, when he grows in to a majestic tiger, is released in the jungle whence he reconnects with the benefactor whom he instinctively recognises. Hope this holds true. Well, I love happy endings!

Pratima@The bestest animal as friend is, of course, the one and only doggie. Most often, these four legged furry friends are better, more loyal, more loving than human beings, and are always absolutely genuine.

Chubby Charm

 The small ones of all the animals, human beings included, are absolutely cute. We all go ooh-aah as the baby smiles at us or 'chats' with us. Every hour, every minute, every second of binge-watching a baby is not enough. Every day is just a trailer then "kyun ki picture to baki hota hi hai, na, boss"?

Like human babies, all the small ones of all the animals are cute. Remember the gorgeous site when thousands of newly hatched Olive Ridley tortoises rush to the sea? Kittens are lovely, bunnies are goofily cute, squirrels capture our heart as small ones. Why, piglets are cute, too, with their twirling tails.

The puppies are literally god's gift to mankind. Those goofy fur-balls can keep us occupied for hours on end. Those innocent eyes can melt any heart. Their cheeky charm changes lifestyles!

The cutest, however, are lion cubs. They are chubby. They are playful and naughty. Sheer fur balls, they are haughty, too. There was this video wherein the small one was guarding the den against a hyena till Mommie arrived. Boy, did he try to growl, though a squeaky mew  was all that could emerge. The cub was indeed the father of all lion kings!

 Pratima@Childhood is wondrous!

Unique Day: Special Perspective!

 It is rather rare to have two unique events on the same day. Well, the Women's Day this year fell on the Mahashivratri, a wonderful coincidence indeed! When it comes to a perfect, balanced relationship between the male power and the feminine principle, it is Mahadeo Shankar and his consort, his Shakti, Parvati, who are quoted as the perfect pair, the ideal couple!

This March 8, let us explore the relationship a little more. Shiv is all that is ideal, and his power, his Shakti is Parvati. This is the traditional explanation. Let me explain, if possible, to interpret the duality differently.

For a happy togetherness, in a way , the ideal qualities of both are necessary, and in unison. As for Parvati, she symbolises a unique womanhood in my opinion. She always has agency in the traditional tale. She takes decisions that are unusual. Yet she asserts herself, pays the price of her decisions with dignity.

Well, that is precisely what a modern day woman tries with her emancipation. Her self-respect is hard-earned. She never compromises with it, does not allow any patriarchal force to tamper with it. Exactly like Devi Parvati. Hence the need to celebrate both the festivals together!

Pratima@ Long live the International Women's Day! Happy Maha Shivratri!

Menu! Money! Many!

 On a WhatsApp group was posted a detailed menu offered at the venue of THE marriage. Yes, you guessed it right. At first, the menu was published 'just like that'. When someone on the group objected, it was argued that it was to expose the extravagance.

Well, I have two problems with such loose reporting. The first one of these is with the source. Whence all this information? What is the authenticity thereof, especially in the ChatGPT days? My second problem with such sanctimonious chest-beating is that these days, many college canteens have such dishes on their menu!

The entire society as such has walked down the primrose path of consumerism so much that many middle class upwards kinda families often enjoy such 'dishes'! Well, 'eat-out' is the culinary mantra these days, and fancier the eatery, the better! Who knows, there might be EMI's against a credit card for such splurges! Currently Charvaka's disciples are aplenty!

Oh, yes, in all honesty, I must say that I saw a YouTube video of the 'Wantara'. The bridegroom was the guide of the tour. The guest of honour was an extremely well-known TV personality. It was not all whole and sole PR either. There indeed was a committed creative state-of-the-art animal rescue centre. Sure it was CSR funded, and obviously many companies would have chipped in. 

My case rests there, Milord! A few nagging questions emerge/remain though. The publishing of the so-called menu, the ugly body-shaming, the sickest second-guessing of the bride's motives as if she had confidantes in most all Indians, what do such swipes indicate? 

A pathologically pathetic society with hardly hidden gloating of a virtue that does not exist? Self-righteous bombast is never near the truth, right? Envy and jealousy are indeed sick sins, right? Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the ugliest of them all, the rich splurge or the sick slurs? Indeed the whole scenario sucks!

Pratima@ When you point fingers at others, at least three point backwards!

Personal or 'popular'

 Do you know how the term 'popular' emerged? Have you ever wondered about its origin? It comes from the Latin, 'publicum', that is, of/for/by people. Why am I talking about it? Is that your question? Okay, let me explain.

Yesterday I wrote about Sant Ramdas. I do appreciate his great writing, and I tried to explain why. Now let me clarify that it was more in the 'popular' domain. Unfortunately, these days, 'popular' has a rather populist meaning.  To give an example, a mobile is a popular mode of not merely communication, but of multiple operations now.

In the original sense quoted above, however, 'popular' means more 'public', as explained through etymology. My appreciation of Sant Ramdas was thus in the public/popular mode yesterday. Today it is in the private/personal mode.

Aai began her systematic study of Marathi 'sant kavya', the bhakti poetry of Maharashtra, with the study of 'Dasbodh', a great treatise, by Sant Ramdas. She studied it systematically. She attended discussion programmes at Sajjangad. She had lovely memories of her stay there. She used to describe the 'Shivthar Ghal' most devotedly.

Once she completed her studies there, she joined the establishment as a trainer cum examiner. Disciples across Maharashtra used to send her their answers. She used to read them, not merely mark them, but she would add inputs, give suggestions to make the answers more rooted in the text and its philosophy.

Having started thus, she later progressed in to her detailed study of the 'Bhagvad Geeta', of the 'Dnyaneshwari' by Sant Dnyaneshwar, of the 'Gatha' by Sant Tukaram. Her study of each of these texts was systematic, and in depth. I used to get her relevant critical books from the library. She read them, at times even when they were a 'culture shock'. An example could be the book by A.H. Salunke on  Sant Tukaram. Yet she absorbed it as her better understanding of the texts.

Now I could not include all this information in a general, 'popular', public discussion of Sant Ramdas, right? Hence this separate episode, a separate blog. Hence the title of the blog today. As we know, the feminists assert that the personal is political. Here is my attempt to maintain that the public, the 'popular' need not always be, cannot ever be mixed up with the personal, the private. Hence these two separate blogs that weave in to the response to Sant Ramdas in the public/popular sphere, and in the personal/private space.

Pratima@ What moves us as an individual is the personal association(s).

Sant Ramdas

 Sant Ramdas (1608-1681) is a very interesting figure in the Bhakti tradition in Maharashtra. Unfortunately, in the ugly politicking rooted in the caste debate, his association with Shivaji Maharaj was chosen to debunk him and his caste. Yet another incident in his life which made him an easy target was the myth of his running away from his own wedding ceremony.

Beyond such scandle-mongering, Sant Ramdas is a wonderful figure. A great devotee of Lord Rama, he instituted major Maruti temples which gave an enervated, emaciated Marathi people the message of developing physical and mental strength. 

Equally interesting is the fact that his version of spirituality is not a clarion call to abdicate duties of life in an empty chase of the vague glory. In a very straightforward and insistent way, he tells the ordinary devotee to first and foremost manage the life here and now in a satisfactory mode.

He advises both, the individual and the society. His "Dasbodh" treats the individual follies and the social ills in a direct, upfront way. The materialistic base of spiritual awakening is never lost sight of in his oeuvre. 

Personally speaking, I like him as a critical thinker, as a philosopher, as a spiritual guide, and so on. Basically though, I like him as a poet. He is indeed a simply superb poet. Especially noteworthy is his control of the sound design in his poetry. He literally plays with and glories in the rhyme and rhythm in his every line. That makes him most mellifluous which in itself is a great achievement as Marathi is not exactly a soft and sweet language. Indeed a great thinker and a superb poet, his pithy poetry should soon inspire you, too!

Pratima@The rich  Marathi Bhakri tradition is indeed intensely interesting, to say the least.

Self respect!

 Currently, everywhere there is just one glam news. Yes, you guessed it right. It is THE wedding, reported hugely. One has to just unlock the phone, and there flash pic's galore. The newspaper pull-out's, for instance, are overflowing with the guest lists comprising the who is who of the art/sport world.

Rihana to Punjab da gabru, all performers are being out-done at their art by the antics of the celebrity guests. The TOI pullout has an entire headline for the three Khans'  "nattu, nattu". Dhoni's dandiya has made such a hit that his helicopter shot pales before it!

"(you) have monies, (we) are  ready to bend backwards" seems to be the motto. In such a context outshines by its dazzling brilliance the denial by Lata Mangeshkar to perform, to sing in such bonanzas. Apparently, she was offered millions to do the honours. Politely but firmly, she rejected the proposition. 

SUCH dignified SILENCE makes a genuine artist, I would say. She would never bunk, give a miss  to the umpteen rehearsals for/before the actual take. Never, however, would she cheapen her art. Her integrity indeed marks out  the purity of art, never for sale!

Pratima@Art lies in celebrating the integrity of art and the self respect of the artist.

Wild Life?

 March 3 is supposed to be the World Wild Life day. Well, as mankind 'progresses', wild life decreases. Mankind marauds, the wild habitat decreases, leading to mankind and wild life conflicts. Yet another fact is that the trade in the body parts of wild animals flourishes. The elephant tusk/ivory, the fur, the skin,the teeth, there is no way the mankind-wild life conflicts would soon die down. 

Thus the biodiversity, which is the main stay of the balance of the life on this planet, gets threatened. Thus emerges the need to protect the wild variety, which limps on, despite the huge extinction, of the flora and fauna on this earth. Actually, it is a clarion call for our own survival as well. Given the 'natural cycle', the 'food chain/cycle' kinda concepts, human existence itself needs the wild wife survival.

All this chatterati  blubber is good and grand, and noble and ideal at least as an axiom which we all hopefully would practice! Personally, I have only one single grouse against the day, that is, its nomenclature. I do think that human speech and activities are always far more wilder than all the bears, boars, bucks put together. No tiger can match the ferocity of human cruelty. Lions who are not hungry can comfortably allow a gazelle to loiter around, but not the selfish mankind. In other words, I genuinely appreciate the goodness and kindness existing in the so-called 'wild' life! Animals, always, any  day any time are far far more decent than the 'wild' mankind!

Pratima@The only wild animal on this earth is MAN!

Searing Pain

 There is this concept called the wheel of pain. It has its stages such as the pain caused by surgery, the pain a mother bears during the natural (not the caesarean section variety ) child birth, and so on. The pain caused by the anti-immune disease, rather a kind of  skin disease, called shingles is supposedly more than the pain caused by the labour pain. No wonder, in Marathi, this dis-ease truly, is known as "नागिण", the she-cobra, whose bite is supposed to be the most vicious.

Actually, it is the chicken pox causing virus, herpes zorastrus, which is the culprit. A dis-ease of the elderly, shingles is caused by the virus dormant since childhood  becoming suddenly activated. Since the immune system gets weakened in the elderly, the virus attacks them most viciously.

Though it can affect any part of the body, the worst case being the eyes, even the tongue, mostly, however, the blisters surround the waist, and there is a belief that if the mouth and the tale of this she-serpent meet, the victim, the patient, dies.

Such superstitions apart, shingles is a form of the chicken pox. For about a week, the blisters and the itching scales can cause havoc in the patient's life. To be on the safer side, it is better to be vaccinated. There are strong antibiotics available as well which can help the symptoms become bearable to the patient. Care and caution, in brief, are the real options.

Pratima@The pain is so acute that the authorities have dedicated a week to create awareness regarding the shingles.

End discrimination!

 The SP Pune University has affiliated colleges where M.A. (English) as a post-graduate course  is taught. In one such center, while I was teaching the seniors, in walked for introduction an entire group of students from the North-East. For their two-year-long course, I taught them more than twelve out of sixteen papers. There was a good connect established. Many amongst them are still in touch, and keep on writing from Manipur , and beyond, for instance.

Once they were to attend an evening dramatic programme. As they were not locals and as it would be late evening before they reach their hostel, I was a little worried. During some such interactions, many amongst them told me how they were mocked as 'chinky eyes', how there were prior assumptions about their 'character', and how they would be chased.  That is discrimination. Hence the need of March 1!

March 1 is celebrated as the anti-discriminating day as per the UNESCO directives. In a world that discriminates on the basis of race, class, caste, language, region, gender, age, and  on such silly but entrenched notions, such a wor(l)d needs tough anti-discrimination laws executed strongly. 

The societal mindset must change, too. Laws alone never can manage the change. Comic street plays full of fun and satire can do this job real well. A skit with all the 'first aid' units such as songs and dance and pithy dialogues can 'perform' best the entertaining goal.

Many are the ways that can end discrimination, and allow all to destroy these discrepancies. Such praxis makes us truly human(e). Long live the anti-discrimination day!

Pratima@Discrimination destroys! 

The World Mother Tongue Day

 February 29 was indeed special this year because it was the leap day. Yes, 2024 is a leap year, and the leap day now would be after four long years. Given the very many problems facing the world, be it the multiple wars, the epidemics, hope mankind would survive hale and hearty!

On this unique day, we celebrated the World Mother Tongue Day which actually falls on February 21. On that day, however, began the H S C exam. As it happened to be the very day of a large scale exam, there could be minor hiccups here and there. Hence the actual celebration took place on the leap day.

This chance occurrence was wonderful in a way as students whom I teach German performed five playlets on various issues, while other students read the Preamble to the Constitution in various Indian languages as this is the seventy-fifth year of the Indian Constitution.

The World Mother Tongue Day is celebrated the world over as a tribute to the Dhaka University academicians' struggle to keep the mother tongue alive. Indeed in the globalised world today, the local is getting ignored, be it the language or the culture. Such days matter hence because thus is yet again asserted the need to respect every language and each mother tongue!

Pratima@ Languages reflect the very soul of the users. Hence the need to respect and refine the linguistic usage!