The Meaning of Diwali

 Today begins the real Diwali as it is the Narak Chaturdashi today. Yes, Aai used to wake up at 4.30 sharp. The very first item on her ageda used to be playing the LP record of Bismilla Khan's shehnai. Believe me, the morning thus used to sound divine.

The Narak Chaturdashi special bath used to be heavenly, too. The slightly cold morning, the warm water, the game of the light and shadow that the wicks of the panati's would play, and Aai's kind gentle eyes while applying the fragrant oil, the utne/the special scrub and batheing us, it truly  used to appear as if all could only be well with, and in, the world. 

I suppose that is the real meaning of Diwali, this feel of goodness encompassing the whole world. Is not that the meaning of Narak Chaturdashi? Does not the death of Narakasura signify the end of evil, and the victory of the good?

In my opinion, all of us love Diwali because year after year, the festival makes us re-live this feel central to our philosophy. What is the Vaidic prayer? From darkness, lead us to light, from falsehood to truth, and from death to immortality. This triune prayer shows us the path to a better world each year during Diwali, and, I suppose, we therefore love the festival.

Pratima @Diwali literally means a row, an 'awali', of diya's. The gentle light of the small little panati illuminates and thus diminishes darkness. That is the power of goodness, and thus ends the evil, which is the real meaning of Diwali!

What is there in a name?

 Yes, we all know that Shakespeare's Juliet asked this famous question, given her lovelorn state. Such metaphysics of 'i-dentity' apart, in humdrum life, names do matter, and not only for people, believe me. Okay, let us not right now get in to the changing of the names of a city/region/country. It is a huge topic that we shall deal with some other time.

Right now, let us look at the nomenclature of the second day of the Diwali festival. Yes, it is Dhantrayodashi alias Dhanteras. Actually, however, it has less to do with 'dhan', 'wealth', though, of course, 'health is wealth', and the day is actually more a celebration thereof.

Look at the rituals associated with the day, for example. Only on this day,  or rather, only during this evening, it is allowed to put a diya with its wick southwards. Generally, the flame of the diya is supposed to be easter-ly, that is, towards the east, and never towards the south. The logic is that the South is supposedly the direction of Yama, the master of death. 

May be, this mythology can be scientifically explained through the polar power. Generally, hence, in good families, you are not even allowed to sleep with feet pointing southwards, forget the diya getting lit southwards.

On this particular day, the diya is consciously lighted in a such way that the wick, the flame would be southwards as a token of the blessings that there would not be any untimely death in the family. Instead there would always be the wealth of health. Interesting is the legend associated with the practice.

There is this young bride/wife whose newly married husband is predicted to die on the fourth day of their marriage. The feisty girl is determined to fight against the destiny. On this very day, evening onwards, she puts her newly wedded husband atop a pile of gold, silver and diamonds, and she lits up the entire room truly brightly. 

When Yama, the lord of death, enters the room, his eyes are blinded by the glittering mound. So he assumes the form of a serpent to see clearly. He cannot, however, slither up the mound. All along, she sings, tells stories to her husband so that he does not fall asleep.

Her dedication and genuineness win over even Yama, and he blesses her that there would not be any untimely death. To celebrate her victory over death, there is this puja of wealth at home (its glitter matters as in the story) to which one is supposed to add a little each year. The offering of the coriander seeds in the puja is closely related to health, too, given its calming effect on the body.

In my opinion, the 'love'ly story seems to suggest that health is the real wealth. It is hence a puja of 'Dhanwantary', the divine man of medicine, emerging out of the churning of the "ksheersagar" with the "amrut kalash". 'Amrit' is life-ascertaining as well. All the dispensaries, most doctors, host hence a puja this evening.

In other words, the very nomenclature and the myths/the legends associated with this second day prove very strongly that the real wealth IS health!

Pratima@Each and every part of our body is beautifully fitted in and has a perfect function. What a great design we are! We must hence use it best and to the advantage of our own selves, of all who deeply bond with us, and for the greater good!

Celebrations begin!

 Yes, it is that time of the year yet again, the beginning of the Diwali festival. Diwali IS special. Actually, these days, all the activities associated with the festival are performed year long. People are forever buying clothes, are eating chuckli's everyday, activities whole and soul (not sole, please!) considered to be unique to Diwali once upon a time not so very long long ago.

Yet  Diwali is special. It is a feel that consists of the early morning warm water bath with the advt famous Moti (or Mysore Sandal) soap bar, with the fragrant oil and the rough "ubtan" all over your face and body, of the unique smell of the fire crackers, of the gentle light of the earthen diya's, of the special breakfasts and lunches, basically of that most impotant feel of togetherness, so rare these days. 

Look at Wasu Baras, for example. It is the day that formally declares the arrival of Diwali. On this day, we celebrate the togetherness of human and the non-human, of  man and animal. In brief, we celebrate this special togetherness during Diwali, the unique festival of togetherness.

Pratima@ Together are we wiser!

Reading: A few musings

 Who reads these days? No, that is not a complaint. Rather it is the statement of a fact. Indeed very few people read currently. Let us not get in to what people tend to read because it would then be obvious that mostly it would be the DIY, that is, 'do it yourself', books of very many types. In brief, both as an activity and its content, reading seems to have taken a beating!

What made me make this observation? Well, there is a group online which consists of encouraging the devotees to listen to the Dnyaneshwari. Incidentally, the Dnyaneshwari is not at all a simplistic religious stotra kind of treatise. It is a great explanation of the Geeta, and the entire Vaidic philosophy.

This simply superb philosophical discussion, incidentally,  is contained in the most wonderful poetry. Very few people realise it, but Sant Dnyaneshwar was both, a superb poet and a great communicator. The kind of language he uses, the simple but profound images he provides to explain extremely complex philosophical ideas are absolutely  unbelievable.

Reading the Dnyaneshwari time and again is an enriching experience. Now this group has a good idea. If recited nicely, at least people would hear it. The question is if it would 'reach' the listeners. When we listen, our mind inevitably wanders.

When we read, on the contrary, we have to pay more attention. There is more a symbiosis and a synergy of perception and cognition on our part. Naturally, more of our sense organs, eyes, of course, touch of the page/the book, the unique fragrance of the book inspire our brain better, right?

Yes, reading is superior. Anyways, however, something is better than nothing. There would, moreover, be a sense of regularity which is wonderful. If you cannot read it, at least listen to it, is the mantra!

Pratima@Reading makes one wise! 

The dirtiest place

 With Diwali just around the corner, all of us are busy cleaning up the home in our own way, right? Obviously that adds to the dirt in the city where anyways there would be  mounds, if not mountains, of all the refuse of the city.

That made me wonder, and hence I tried to find out which the dirtiest city could be in the whole world. Surprise of surprises, in the top five, you have New York. In fact, in one of the surveys, it is the dirtiest! Oh, yes, Bejing is there, too, not to forget London!

No, New Delhi is not there in the top ten. But Lahore shares the dubious honours. How can we forget our very own Mumbai? Can we arrive at some generalizations on the basis of these possibly dirtiest cities?

Mostly, it is the metros, be it New York, London, Mumbai that are the dirtiest. Understandable is the fact, given the fast and furious life style of the metros which induces the use-n-throw mentality, I suppose!?!

Yet another likely candidate appears to be the capital cities, Bejing, Lahore, London. Well, in the capital, there would be lot of refuse, both the political refuse which leads us to the other typical refuse, right?

No need to feel proud that only Mumbai figures in this dubious list because in the list entitled 'the most polluted cities', in  the five  most polluted cities, four are from India. Be it Kanpur, Gaya, Faridabad, Delhi, the causes for pollution are absolutely man-made, right? The dirt, the pollution, are man-made, but nature bears its brunt!

Pratima@What about the mental refuse, jealousy, viciousness, harassment, cruelty, crookedness, vindictiveness, shamelessness? Such junk dirties only one possible place, the human mind, full of lies, boasts and hypocrisies, the source of all that is crooked and cruel! The human mind, in brief, is the truly dirtiest space!

Intelligence (or the lack thereof)

 World Population Review recently had a survey to find out the countries with the lowest/least intelligence quotient. The 2024 listing has Nepal, Ghana, Gambia,Gaban, Guatemala, Guinea, for example, at the lowest rung.

I was not surprised at all. Sure our films find it funny to laugh at "han, Shabji, pronam, Shabji" kind of depiction of the Nepalese, and especially their typical "Gurkha", that is, the guard profession. Personally I am dead against such generalizations.

How many amongst us, for example, would have the physical fortitude and strength to survive in such difficult terrains and such tough climate conditions? Remember that all the Himalayan climbs, be it up to the Base Camp or the Everest expedition itself, are possible at all because of the Nepalese Sherpa's!

Well, I do have a problem with the very definition of the notion of the 'intelligence quotient'. No, no personal worries at all! I have nearly always been a university topper with very many scholarly and literary publications, not to forget films, radio talks et al, to my credit. I am rather good at singing and drawing/painting. No personal axe to grind, in brief!

Even then I find such castigation sick. Well, in my opinion, intelligence is multi-faceted. It is physical, auditory, visual, spatial, kinetic, and so on. I can never consider anyone dumb hence!

Nevertheless, as per the survey, certain countries are the dumbest. Why? Well, have you noticed that the lowest ten are all from Asia, Africa and America of the South variety! In other words, in my opinion, colonisation is the biggest culprit. The remaining possible causes, poverty, malnutrition, lack of educational facilities, all follow as the fall-out of the fact of the colonising cruelties, right?

I would not consider the rural residence as one of the causes because there exist in villages citizens who may not know how to read or write, but they are indeed very sharp. Literacy, in my opinion, does not have much to do with intelligence, right? 

I hence find such a survey reprehensible, an academic ivory tower research far away from lived realities! What say?

Pratima@Against such so-called surveys, look at where India is. At the cusp of a very interesting mo(ve)ment of being into a developed nation with a developing country tag! No wonder, I am both, a very proud Indian, and a 'doubting Thomas' who questions the veracity and validity of such 'loaded' surveys!

A unique day

 October 24 is a unique day indeed. Want to know why? Well, it was on the day, back in 1945, there was this recognition that war hardly helps. Hence the founding of the United Nations on this very day.

Well, such are the present conditions that this unique day appears both relevant and irrelevant, rather like the date itself. Look at the world realities right now. The Russia-Ukraine is now a two years old wound, oozing not merely blood, but rotten pus as well! If that is not enough, the West-Asian operation is successfully unsuccessful. The patient is refusing to emerge from the self-induced coma! What all new developments happen every day on that front!

The U.N., however, has been both present and absent, rather like a ghost during the daytime, there and yet nowhere! It has such a wonderful framework, and yet it is completely lacking in any efficacy.  In brief, on October 24, yet again we feel Intensely that the world has not really understood that tragedy called war in which the only entity that wins is the war itself!

The date is important because it marks the world mental awareness day as well. They say that even in an ever ebullient, aspirational India, three in every ten citizens, suffer from depression. It is a new warfare, staged at the mindscape. Unfortunately, however, in this territory, there is no mediator, however inefficient, like the U.N. 

It is a battle one fights with oneself, wherein one is all-in-one, the enemy, the occupied territory, the devastating minefield, the innocent citizens dying by dozens or taken hostage. In brief, it is a tunnel with no light at the end!

Pratima@The fight with oneself, with self as the only mediator, is a scarring war. But it has yet, inbuilt within, its unique moments of sheer lucid trek one can attain despite all the muddied paths full of troubles and travails!

Media, Advertisements and Festivities

 Sanju's, my brother's, doggo, Tashu, loves Marie biscuits. He seems to like the very taste and fragrance of these biscuits meant for the diabetic. That is, I suppose, because  he is not allowed to eat the Parle-G, that is, human food considered bad for pooches. If he were to eat the Parle-G biscuits, he would be addicted to them. Why, I am myself a hardcore fan of those gooey sweet squares.

Why all these details? Well, the Parle-G biscuit company has a lovely DIWALI ad  as its propaganda machine. The ad talks of a grandmother-grandson duo. Unlike his real life counterparts, this grandson is ready to understand the grandmother's various knick-knacks, her special treasures. 

Thus he gets to know family traditions such as his father's hand-made sky-lanterns, the homemade eats, and so on. He surprises everyone by bringing home all the 'raw material'. His family decides to indulge  him, and thus is celebrated a happy, together, home-made Diwali.

Such home-n-hearth centered Diwali full of Indian rituals is missing from the ads of big-ticket companies such as the Tanishq, for instance. This lady, Shanti Priyaji is her name, I think, who has been running a  'no bindi' campaign, analyses how over the time these big companies have wiped out the festive joy from their ads, and instead have reduced the Diwali-Dasara ads in to mere surefire buying baits.

The 'no bindi' campaign lady has yet another trenchant objection against the big ticket companies. The ads, she points out, are consciously de-Hindu-ised. That is to say, all the native symbols of festivities are missing from the ambience of the ad's, and instead there is a clear Urduisation of the feel.

Media is the message, said Marshall McLuhan. Media can subtly send subliminal messages that create a particular narrative. Such 'politics of/over culture' sure needs to be understood, analysed, and addressed. That indeed is the need of the hour as the trans-nation companies find it convenient to 'americanise' the mindset, and thus the market!

Pratima@As aspirational India is a huge market, it IS most interesting to unravel the subtle mind-games being played to capture the imagination and the psyche, and thus mould the mindset, of the consumer! Such are the analyses that form the staple food of the 'Cultural Studies' debates!!

What can ail?

 Sure you have read John Keats' "La belle dame sans merci". Incidentally, the "merci" in the title of this much anthologised poem is the French equivalent of 'thank you'. The title hence actually means "The beautiful  woman without thanks" as the Knight in the poem finds the unknown beauty whom he thinks he humours a lot.

Well, the analysis of that interesting poem is not our theme today. The much repeated question in the poem, as reflected in the title of our blog, is our theme today. Well, do not you think it needs to be asked in-n-about multiple fields?

Okay, how about education?  The content and the mode of education determine the character and the future not only of an individual but of an entire community, why, of the very nation itself. What ails our education system?

Yes, the Macaulay Minutes as most all know by now, and casually quote, as usual without having read a word thereof or thereabouts. That is the hallmark of the so-called progressive, modern, liberal intellectuals, too.  They would quote Manu, Shahu, Phule, Ambedkar, de Beauvoir and others of such ilk, without having read a word of what was actually enunciated in the books by or on  these much mentioned names.

Yes, the course final  evaluation needs a serious overhaul. So do the textbooks. So does the learning methodology.  What radically needs to change, however, is the attitude to learning. Majority of students in colleges and universities think of studies as a timepass, as a side business.

They never attend lectures. On the Traditional Day, one gets to know the actual strength of the student numbers. Very few visit the library, both the offline and the online varieties. Souls sold to social media, students want the least difficult 'exam' that they can 'manage' with rote learning, some points somehow mugged up the night before.

They are the happiest if the teachers give lots of off lectures, teach the least, but indirectly indicate the question paper which has to be the easiest. With basic theory thus the weakest, how can students manage the entrance tests many companies administer before they call a candidate for the GD or the PI.

What ails then the education system? The mindset basically.  Sure the degree-job equation needs de-linking. Yes, skill-sets need refining. Yet soft skills are secondary. What is primary is the deep, thorough understanding of and knowledge of the subject. Thus develops the thinking power, the analytical strength, the real amalgamation of complexities that would be the very much necessary HOTS, demanded by the AI era. 

Who cares though? 'Enjoy' is the mantra. No wonder, 'suffer' is the only consequence! What use would be the demographic dividend, if it is just a huge majority without any depth or synergy!?!

Pratima@ There is no alternative to sincerely studying. No app no 'Nirali' guides can truly help.  If our students do not inculcate the modes of learning, how will they survive Revolution 4. 0 which is already assuming the next avatar!

Blaming foreign universities, blasting that usual suspect called casteist injustice, fulminating against the cost-efficient reduction of education in to a business/product  cannot substitute commitment. The lack thereof is what ails truly!

Response

 There is this lovely anecdote that gets repeated ad infinitum on the social media. It reads as follows: Once a kid was playing near the sea shore. He hit the ball hard. The small little ball got lost in the deep waters.  The frustrated kid wrote in the sand "The sea is a thief."

Unfortunately, near that very shore, a young man drowned. His distraught mother wrote in the sand, "The sea is a murderer." In the evening, an old man who was suffering a lot, given his poverty, found  a shell with a priceless pearl in it. Extremely happy, he wrote in the sand, "The sea is a friend."

After some time started the high tide. A huge wave washed ashore, and while receding, wiped away all the three responses. What is the moral of this small little story?

To me, the moral is double-layered. For ourselves, I think, the message is, our own responses are like the writing on the sand. We think the message is permanent, forever etched. Well, there are very many such messages, and they are all temporary.

That leads us to the other side of the coin. Reactions by others, responses by others, however crude or vicious, need not hurt us as they are all temporary. They are determined by the immediate context, and can get wiped out any second. One should neither be very happy nor deeply depressed due to others' reactions, others' responses.

We should be like the wave. It is massive. It wipes out both the positive and the negative reactions, starts anew every second.  Similarly, we should learn from our past mistakes, the responses to them, and rebuild time and again, right?

Pratima@ Remember that eternally referred to song from the film 'Amar Prem'? Yes, you guessed right. "Kuch to log kahenge"!

Turning over a new leaf

 The moment one thinks of an author, one turns the leaf! Yes, mentally, too! That is the sad reality these days. Who reads anything beyond WhatsApp messages and fb forwards, right?

Yet there are some authors who themselves turned over a new leaf. From a convicted, imprisoned criminal to a celebrated author, thus has been their journey. True, incarceration is nothing new for authors as they are highly intelligent, hyper sensitive souls who stand up for their principles. 

Yet there are certain authors who went to jail not for such idealism. They were criminals. They, however, changed for the better, and famously. Let us today look at two examples, an American and an Indian.

Ever heard of William Sydney Porter? No bell rings, right? How about his pen name? O'Henry? Remember that lovely story "The Last Leaf"? Sure you must have read it in your textbook as it is much anthologised. How about that truly touching tale of deep love, "The Gift of the Magi"?

Do you know that the author wrote these soul stirring stories from a prison cell in the Columbus penitentiary? Yes, William Sydney Porter was imprisoned in Ohio for embezzlement. He assumed a pen name, and wrote three hundred stories . With the famous twist in the tale technique, these brilliant stories are a read that readers, who have nothing to do with literature studies, too, love!

Yes, some of you might have remembered Jeffrey Archer. Actually, there are many more such examples. Let us, however, now look at the much promised Indian example. Yes, you guessed it right. I am referring to Maharshi Valmiki.

Truly he turned over a new leaf. In his former life, he was a robber. Cruelty was his middle name.  Once Narada confronted him about the share of responsibility, he understood the realities. In search of The Truth, he undertook a tough penance which totally transformed him. His gentle response kindly invoking tenderness initiated an epic, the Ramayana, and in fact, the entire Sanskrit literary wealth.

In brief, Read a lot. And, Write at least a little! No, you do not have to go to prison. In the process, however, you would sure turn a new leaf!

Pratima@ Change is the only constant. Why not then change for the better, and forever?

Troublesome Terrains

 Teaching World Literature at the post-graduate level is both a tremendous and troublesome terrain. Per semester, you are travelling with the students across terrific terrains that are vastly different, and yet uniquely similar. 

It was thus that I first met Han Kang, the South Korean author who is to get the Nobel prize for literature this year. I have read just two novels of her rather sparse oeuvre. Yet they are more than enough for getting acquainted with the troubled terrain that is her wor(l)ds.

To begin with, she writes of the family and the tensions therein. Remember Tolstoy who put it so succinctly, 'every unhappy family is unhappy in its own unique way'?  Kang peels open these unravelled tensions. 'The Vegetarian' , the novel I taught, is , for instance, an exploration of the patriarchy and how it oppresses women. Being vegetarian in a country addicted to the non-veg food becomes a symbol of the female rebellion against patriarchy. 

The novel is, moreover, an exploration of how the consumerist-capitalist society pushes a sensitive, non-conforming individual towards certain lunacy. Invisible but prominent in the process are strains of sexuality. At times, indeed, the novel is much too much to bear. 

Comparatively, the other novel, 'The White Book', is less violent. Set in Warsaw, with its unmistakable atrocities during the Holocaust, it explores the relationship of the narrator with her prematurely born sister who died within two days of her birth.

That death, even more than the similar death of a son aborted, has defined the family. The parents, especially the mother, is  obsessed with the baby she herself delivered, whom she tried to breast-feed, and who died a death the kid would never even understand.

The narrator is aware that she is born at all because of that death. If that baby had survived, she would not even have been conceived/conceptualised. The novel explores this relationship between two selves, one unborn yet forever present, so to say.

Despite such dis-functionalities, her novels subtly stress the familial bonds, especially between sisters. The poetic novels pry open the multiple loneliness-es people, and  societal structures/strictures, impose on themselves. Her writings are troubling texts in this sense, too.

Her language and its poetry shine through the translation. There is a genuine lilt and rhythm to her controlled language saturated with symbolism and imagery. No wonder, the Nobel Prize Committee chose her, may be, as a representative of the South Korean/Asian women authors, despite her quantity-wise fragile, but quality-wise strong writing! 

Pratima@Reading world literature in translation shows you the complexity of human(e) experience, and the beauty of the unusual literary techniques used to explore it. 

Milking Tata

 The title of our blog must surprise you. Yes, one agrees that the Tata story is the 'salt to software saga' all right. Yet there never has been any reference to any Tata milk conglomerate, one would say, right? 

Fair enough! Who is, however, talking here about what that wonderful man attained in his lifetime? Rather, the title is a sarcastic comment on how online portals, all sorts of rags, both on- and offline, are overflowing with all sorts of sleazy details about a life well lived.

True, he was inspirational. Yes, indeed was his life worth knowing. But why dig up the dirt about his unfulfilled love affair? Well, some publications went so far ahead as to fetch the pic of 'her', the 'mystery woman' in his life, and publish it with some senti but skanky title!

Some channels have gone further still. They are listing all of his four, or is it five, love affairs! There is screaming and screeching about his unfulfilled love stories which takes the reader/listener next to his parents' messy divorce. On and on the spiel continues!

Hence the title! Till the next 'breaking' news happens, the media is going to 'milk' poor Tataji's life ad infinitum, nay, as nauseam. I am expecting soon an interview with the Head of the orphanage from where he was adopted!

How much to sensationalise the life of a public figure for the sake of the TRP!?! Why thus trivialise his memory? Where does such 'investigative' journalism end, and ugly gossip mongering begin? Do not the dead have any right to privacy? Or all that matters is 'entertainment, entertainment, entertainment'? That is the moot question!

Pratima@ Equally responsible are the viewers for the 'milking Tata' phenomenon. The media industry dishes out what the viewer/reader wants. It serves what the masters, eh, viewers /readers, order!

Being a girl

 'Being human'! Is not it the case that the title of our blog today reminded you of this much used phrase? Well, quoting that phrase, 'being human', can be very dangerous, right? You might crush a few unfortunate poor under the influence of liqueur, and much worse still, the Bishnoi gang might be looking for you to finish you off.

Being a girl sure is not that criminal. It is equally dangerous though. Why, the world over, the reality, supported by certified statistics, is dismal enough. Female foeticide is rampant, for instance. Apparently only one in five girls can reach the middle school. Child marriage is a fact. 

In an era when the urban, educated girls consider feminism as a passe movement, the world over the status of a girl child is deteriorating, and rapidly. 'Being Malala' is the fate most girls face even today!

Hence the relevance of the World Girl Child Day on October 11! How did it begin? Well, 1975 to 1985 was the 'decade of women'. During that decade, an international organisation, 'Plan International', encouraged girl children to be vocal about their lives.

So dismal were the facts thus found that the U.N. realised the need for an international day to raise awareness, to sensitise the world about the injustices girl children face across the globe. Realities, they are changing now as a result, though very slowly. The world over, women do face terrible violences.

Look at Iran, for instance. It can literally blow billions in encouraging Hezbollah, Hamas, and all such horrible terror groups to harass Israel. It continues to harass its own girls, too! Remember, last year itself a young girl in Iran succumbed to police brutality just because she had not covered her head 'properly'!

High time these realities change! It is the need of the hour that girls get at least the basic amenities such as, no, not primary education, but the still more basic right, the 'right to be born' at all. Though the Indian realities appear quite better, at every crossroad in a Pune aspiring to be a metro, you would find a girl child offered by her family to be 'god's'! Beginning with beggary, it is not difficult to imagine their future fate! Hence the relevance of October 11! 

Pratima@Despite apparent modernisation, the attitude to girls needs a huge overhaul, and the world over, at least via the ripple effect!

As luminous as ...

 Oh, yes, even if you have hated poetry as if it is poison itself, for sure you would have studied the figure of speech called 'simile'. Yes, it consists of a comparison between two dissimilar things, and the similitude is openly stated using terms such as 'as (luminous) as'.

All this jazz and the title should clarify to you that I am comparing two dissimilar concepts, right? What are they? Well, they are the mother love and the moonshine. Why so? Well, there are so very many similarities between these two dissimilar items. Okay, let me explain a little.

Both are unbelievably  beautiful. Both are quiet and peaceful. Both can calm down the most agitated. Both are so all-permeating that they can be taken for granted. Both are eternal and ever-alive. Like divinity itself, both are omni-present, omni-potent, and omni-scient. Just as the moonlight can illuminate gently but surely the darkest secret of the night, a mother does know her child's innermost heart.

Why all this comparison? Well, yesterday was the Kojagiri. This Ashwin full moon is the most luminous. So lovely it is that poets pen paeans to it. For me, however, it is also a reminder of the Hirkani tale.

Hirkani's story is an astounding story of a mother's love. A young milkmaid, as part of her daily duty, she climbs up to Raigad to deliver milk. She lingers back a second, given the glory of the fort, given the full moon day celebrations. Thus gets closed the main gate.

Her tiny baby is all alone in her hut at the foot of Raigad. She pleads every which way. The guards do not listen to her. She has no alternative now but to climb down the steep ridge that would directly take her to her child. It is the toughest steepest ridge of the fort. So sure is everyone that it just cannot be scaled that there is neither any bulwark nor any foot soldier.

She scales down the steep fall. One mo(ve)ment wrong, and certain death is for sure. Nothing deters her, neither the tough ridge nor the howls and roars of the wild animals nor the possibility of a cobra or a scorpion bite. With the full moon and the vision of her baby's eager lips as her only alibi, the determined mother manages to get back to her baby in no time.

What a grand tale of love, courage, determination, and sacrifice! Hidden in it is also the story of commitment to one's role, as a mother, as a milkmaid, while the soldiers at the gate are more in to following the letter rather than the spirit of the law.

In my opinion, hence, the Hirkani love is a metaphor, okay, a synonym for, in case you hate poetic discussions, genuine love for one's real self, one's genuine 'i'dentity which does not compromise with easy solutions. So Hirkani's tale is not merely a glorification of biological motherhood. Rather it is a saga of an all-encompassing passion that makes a milkmaid in to a legend.

Pratima@Look at the tale a little more carefully, and you would find many more such deep meanings in to it, as luminous as and as quiet as the midnight moon on the Kojagiri day.

Timeless Treasure

 How to describe Kishore Kumar's voice? Is that your question? Well, my answer to such a query would be a counter question. Why not just listen to him? Thus would all get said, and beyond typical cliched words, right?

Kishore Kumar's death anniversary falls on October 13. Such is the timeless allure of his voice that 1987 looks like just an ordinary number. Difficult indeed it is to believe that he left us some thirty-seven years ago. Why, so eternally young is his voice that he appears to be truly timeless.

Ask anyone of any age, and each one would have a unique Kishore Kumar favourite. He has that personal connect with each one of his listeners. Therefore I wrote in the earlier paragraph, he left 'us'. He appears like immediate family, right? His voice creates that uniquely intimate bond with every listener.

Apparently he was not trained in classical music. Tough to believe it may appear though. No, I am not going to give a huge list of songs that can counter such a claim. Instead I would like to maintain that so effortlessly emoted he every shade of each emotion that his classical training, or the lack thereof, hardly matters, right?

Let me hence try to answer the question with which began this blog. Well, yes, his voice is like an uncut diamond which may appear like a piece of glass. Shape and sharpen it even a wee bit, and the dazzle can illuminate any darkness.

Want proof of my assertion? Okay, listen to two of his songs from an obscure 1972 film entitled "Annadata". Nor have I watched this film. Hardly it matters though because these two Saleel Choudhary greats are timeless treasures. They are "guzar jaye din, din, din" and " o, meri pran sajani, Champavati, aa ja", and you would know why Kishore Kumar is forever, a timeless treasure.

Pratima@My feel is that his yodelling is the real forefather of the much touted breathless singing. What say?

The Mistress of Ghazal

 Yes, today let us talk of Begum Akhtar. Her birth anniversary, on October 7, happens to be just a week old. Why then talk of a singer (yes, she did act in Bombay Films. Hardly is famous as an actress though. She is etched in to the ears of classical music listeners as the thumi, dadra, ghazal maestro), the mallika-e-ghazal, who passed away in 1974, and is now a relic of the past, born as she was in 1914?

I would say her appeal lies precisely in the fact that in the early twentieth century when India was shackled both by rigid patriarchal traditions and the colonial British masters, this daughter of a 'tawaif' gave the 'kotha' tradition of thumri and ghazal the acceptability and, greater still, the respectability of the AIR, later the broadcasting mode of the newly independent  nation.

Indeed single-handedly is this 'mistress'  ( in both the senses of the term) of ghazal responsible for making the music of the 'badnam galli/mohalla' a major part of the repertoire of the classical music baithak . All her four hundred plus songs are a treat to the ear, even when you may not understand each and every Urdu word therein.

The most loved, however, are "woh jo hum me tum me" and "eh, mohabbat, tere naam pe". Her honeyed voice, with its slight husk, brings out beautifully the deep emotion the two songs elucidate. No wonder, given her contribution, the ghazal is now a much loved sub-genre of the tradition. Due to her path breaking artistry, the ghazal gayaki, continues to be loved ad infinitum by both, the congnoscenti and the uninitiated avid listener.  Long live the tradition of ghazal!

Pratima@ There forked two roads, the dual paths. The one less travelled she chose. And that has made all the difference!

The Lighthouse

 The Lighthouse is a beautiful place. Imagine, it is a no-moon night. Somewhere far away from the city lights, aboard a small, or even a big, boat on the treacherous sea, it is an infinity of darkness, made more dreary because of the weak torch with you, going weaker by the second. As it is a no-moon day, the strong currents, unknown and unseen, are pulling your bark deeper in to the threatening sea. The shores seem a distant dream.

As the receding waters 'appear', though really are not, shallow, there is every creepy possibility that you may meet the Titanic fate. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there are zooming lights, going round and round, showing that there is great guidance here which nullifies the boat-bashing boulder beneath. 

 Nothing now threatens. The distant stars, that seemed so very far away, are now friendly companions absolutely within your ambit. There is a goal now to your rudderless route. Fully assured you are that the shore is just a few feet away. 

That is the magic of a lighthouse. It can make the witchery of a threat in to an absolutely accessible promise. No wonder, 'lighthouse' is a standard metaphor for life. In our life, too, often there are moments that can beat the deep sea typhoons, and make them look like a storm in a teacup.

 As long as there is that someone (preferably your own self-reflexive and resilient 'i'dentity) there who can positively guide you, at times just by being there, every nightmare can magically turn in to a dream that makes a baby smile angelically. Here is to the lighthouses, and the vision behind it, a zillion gratitudes!

Pratima@How apt appears the title of Shantanu Naidu's book on Ratan Tata, though I have not read it.

What does the Dasara mean?

 What is the meaning of Dasara? The mythological stories related to Dasara  are twofold. One is related to the Ramayana ( it was on this day that Rama attained victory over Ravana), while, the other is as if by definition from the Mahabharata. It was on this day that the Pandava brothers could renounce their terrible year of anonymity, and reclaim their identity, so to say. 

Beyond the mythology, what is its importance, its relevance now? I would like to maintain that now it means a better self-control. The Ravana is hidden within. Can be, the excessive ego, laziness, the tendency to constantly procrastinate, for instance. 

Overcoming such vices, becoming more self-aware, and thus being a better individual means the real Dasara now. What say?

Pratima@ New meanings would make our culture existentially relevant to the Gen Z, Gen Alpha,Beta, Thêta, whatever, right?

New Navratri Boons

 Navratri ends, and Dasara is just a few hours away. I am sure the Garba dancers would have loved to dance the night away. The untimely rain, however, has destroyed their hopes. Since the evening of the Navami, it has started raining really badly. Actually, it does rain during the Navratra, but never this intensely!

May be, now the "asuras", the demons, Devi Durga has to assail are different.  Number One demon to be defeated has to be the factors that are leading to the climate changes, and hence to such untimely rain, for instance. 

Yes, in the blog today, let us list the devils that the modern day (interpretation of) Durga must destroy. Number 1 is climate change factors. Number Two would be Wars. Number Three would be nukes and other such hyper destructive war weapons. Number four would be vector borne diseases. Sure we have not yet forgotten the COVID lessons, right?

 Number five should be the ill-treatment of women and the other vulnerable societal species. Number six should be constant politicking over everything. Number seven should be the 'jugad' and the 'everything goes' attitude. Number eight could be the danger posed by the AI. Number nine has to be the individual factors such as malice, jealousy, viciousness, and so on, right? Hope all that is holy in this universe accedes/ grants me these boons!

Pratima@ At the personal level, too, I have my own wishes. It is said that such should never be made public, right?

Healthy mind is the truly wealthy mind

 Mind, as Milton maintained, is in its place, and can make heaven of hell, and hell of heaven. Yes, human mind is paradoxically  both, that strong, that weak; that wise, that foolish. Hence the need for its health.

Currently, moreover, that would be the real human wealth. Why? Well, there are much too many factors that can make it go wayward, make it ill.  For the teenagers, for instance, it is the peer pressure. Often youngsters choose the 'path of dalliance', to quote Shakespeare's Ophelia, because of the peer pressure. Doing drugs, being irresponsible and disrespectful, going for daredevil-eries of all sorts; everything that ruins a young life is due to the powerful peer pressure.

Even the childhood these days is fettered. Hardly is their innocence unsullied as tired and troubled parents introduce them to the t.v. and the mobile as distractions. The wide wor(l)ds in all possible wickedness-es thus enter their tiny universe too early, and corrupt it quick and forever.

The pace of life, the breakdown of communication, the wicked competition, the lonely crowd, thousands are the causes that are ready to attack, to maraud, to destroy the mind. Where exactly is though the divine remedy that can currently make human minds heathy, and thus wealthy in the true sense? That is the question!

Self-awareness about one's roles and identity, be it professional or personal, is, in my opinion, one of the solutions. It is a choice, moreover. Let me give you an example, may be. The moment I am a self-aware sensitive daughter, i can cancel out many a tensions, troubles and worries of my parents. As a self-conscious responsible parent or a professional, I would avoid many pitfalls for my family or firm.

How to develop a healthy self-awareness? Through caring relationships, through wide and deep reading, through meditation, for instance. Available, in brief, are amazing alternatives that lead us to a healthy and hence wealthy mind. Happy World Mental Health Day!

Pratima@ Eckhard Tolle says, "all the problems are illusions of mind". Hence either you nurture and nourish the mind, or the mind disturbs and destroys your  wor(l)ds.

Influencer Incarnate

 Intellectual fashions, as they are practised in the populist arena, are quite some fun. As is said, anything that happens the second time, the imitation  way, is always cheap fun. Let me give you a concrete example.

In every field of existence, be it education, be it employment, often the new entrant, whatever might be the age, requires somebody to hold his/her hand, help gently but efficiently so that the life of the individual in the concerned institute runs smooth. 

Now, in the pop world, given the consumerist mode of life, the 'original mentor' emerged as the "influencer" who would charge a hefty fee to often give extremely trivial advice. The best example of such 'image sculpting'  would be the marriage hall decorators, the bridal make-up artists who make every bride look exactly like the recent most Bollywood fashionista, the 'image consultants' who worry over the colour of the socks the person is wearing, and so on. Even a wrong and shallow insistence on 'soft skills' is an example of such an influencer.

Despite such trivialisation of the original concept, there are genuine people who are influencers incarnate. The late Ratan Tata, l would like to insist, was one such person. Despite being an industrialist, he never cosied up to the powers that be. The best example would the Tata Nano factory in Bengal. He had to shift it to Gujrat, but he never compromised on principles.

He was the man who cared for his employees so much that he quietly visited the WoodLand Society in Pune to enquire after the health of a Tata employee. He was the man who decided not to go for a ceremony organised by King Charles in his honour as his favourite dog was ill.

The latest CSR initiative he encouraged was to look after the elderly in the society in such a way that the trained young would get a paying partnership in the process. In brief, he encouraged talent at the workplace, while he mobilised compassion in the society.

It is such value production that creates the brand image of a company. It is such a leader who encourages, empathises, equalises who is the true influencer. No wonder, in the Delhi High Court, there were common people filing an appeal to grant Ratan Tata, who thought of and executed a cheap car for the common man, the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. May his soul rest in peace!

Pratima@In my opinion, in the Indian iconography, the ideal influencer is Shri Krishna, forever friendly, strongly supportive yet encouraging the disciple to be his own self. He advises Arjuna about the most complex issues. Yet the Bhagwad Geeta ends with "यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु" which means, in the final analysis, do what is right in your opinion!

Indian Air Force Day

 If the Israel-Palestine war (at least initially!) has managed anything positive at all, it has made the whole world acutely aware of the power, of the reach, of the inevitability of the Air Force. In fact, until very recently, Israel did not even introduce the infantry. It was either missiles or mostly carpet bombing by the Air Force.

The Air Force, one could say, is literally the wings of any army. Unlike the infantry or the Navy, it can cover a huge distance literally in a jiffy. Moreover, it can strike and return to safety in no time. Obviously hence, it is more devastating as well.

My submission is that the Indian Air Force is as centrally relevant during the peace time as it is during the war. Luckily, despite many skirmishes and a few battles, India has not indulged in warfare of the Ukraine type or the current Israel-Hamas onwards variety.

The Indian Air Force is hence more helpful in peacetime activities such as helping the citizens marooned areas due to the rivers in spate, for instance. In fact, any time there is any natural calamity, the Indian Air Force is present there, literally that very moment, like the genie in the lamp.

It is a real tough training that the officers undergo. They have to be in perfect ship-shape form physically. Their eyesight has to be of the best 'power', for instance. In a way they, too, are operating in the space, without any concrete support. So their highly skillful profession is quite dangerous as well. Their job profile, in brief, is a unique combination of technological awareness, superb skilfulness, and quite some daredevilry.  On the Indian Air Force Day, here is wishing the bravehearts every success.

Pratima@Ever since ancient times, there have been references to the air force. That centrally relevant is this arm of the army.

Chang(e)-in(g) Reality

 Why such a complicated title? Is that your question?  Well, the reality this phrase, valid in all its denotations and combinations, describes is far more complicated. Yes, it is a phrase floated by the Israeli Prime Minister, and on the first anniversary (unhappy one feels even to associate such a happy word with such a tragic reality) of October 7, it captures a tragic situation that now has almost the whole world in its thrall.

Yes, exactly a year ago, there was an absolutely unprovoked and extremely brutal attack on an Israeli music fest. Many were shot dead, countless were taken hostages (some still continue to be!) and were killed there. It was a déjà-vu for the unfortunate  Jews, the Holocaust victims, and worse still, this time round, they were made to suffer in their own  motherland yet again.

Undoubtedly, moreover, this attack, which destroyed the precarious peace the Gaza Strip had somehow managed for about two decades, was intentional, and was very much a terrorist attack. It was but inevitable that Israel would retaliate. Which it did. There continues an attempt, moreover, to root out Hamas and Hezbollah, and the types. In the process, the whole of West Asia is burning.

True, on both sides, innocent citizens happen to be the soft targets. Yet I would like to state that, despite its aggressive attack, my sympathies, if it is possible at all to empathise with the victim (cum victimiser), are with the IDF. Post the fall of the Twin Towers, terrorism has unfortunately gotten a name and a face.

However much wish fulfilment one may dream idealistically, it is not easy, nay impossible it is, to forget/forgive the axis of evil. Just as after the Mandal Commission, identity politics became bitter in India, post September 11, the world over, terror got a religion, even when it is true that other religions, too, share the sad streak.

Israel, the motherland of the much maligned (historically harassed and mythologically marauded) Jews, has managed to survive the bitter brunt of the very many masks of proxy wars by "the" Brotherhood, be it Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi, and so on, and not to forget the Taliban.

Well, the entire fracas has brought the world close yet again to the imminent threat of the third world war, as if the Ukraine crisis was not enough! In West Asia, however, it is both, the petrol and the atomic energy, which form Damocles' sword. With the world economy already diving towards a certain depression, such realities make us yet again question the wars, and 'the pity war distills', to quote Wilfred Owen!

Pratima@The ballistic missiles etc may look like the war of arrows in the TV Ramayana and Mahabharata serials. They, however, are real, and far more dangerous and harmful, Iron, or whatever, Curtain notwithstanding.

In fact, at times, one wonders if the weapons trade and its bloodthirsty capital create these war zones! How else would they find a market, right?

Pandal hopping

 Ganapati festival onwards, there is one activity that Maharashtrians, Gujaratis and Bengalis avidly share. Yes, you guessed it right. It is pandal-hopping. 

Once the Gauri immersion takes place, most Marathis are out at night in huge numbers as they go pandal hopping. In most Marathi households, as per the family tradition, the Ganesha immersion would have taken place as well. Free birds, they literally paint the town in all colours as they hop pandals more gleefully than the I/T professionals would hop jobs till 2008 when the Depression struck hard and harshly.

Once upon a time, a copyright claim of the Pune-ites, now pandal hopping is a favourite all over Maharashtra. Till Anant Chaturdashi, streets turn in to khau gallies, amusement parks, free entry discotheques, fashion streets, and what have you. Well, the Ganapati pandals as well as the immersion floats are indeed wonderful sights as well. 

As for the Gujaratis, though youngsters from every possible community share the frenzy, pandal hopping consists of the rhythmic garba dance. Otherwise, the Gen X,Z, Alpha, and what have you,would not be dead seen in traditional clothes. Come Navratri, and they go traditional in a huge way, be it the dress, be it the dance. It seems there are special  Garba teaching batches. Sure they are on the internet. How people practice on the YouTube, there is no knowing!

As for the Bengalis, their 'pujo' pandals have lovely idols of the deity in her triune avataars. There is a huge khau galli as well as a mini market that sells everything, trinkets to Bengal cottons. Yet unmistakable is the religious fervour and the very Bengali art feel as there is Robindra Shongit as well as the Baul mela's.  I once visited the very Bengali 'pujo' pandal with my friend. It is a unique feel indeed.

Well, such is the festival passion of these three communities that they create this festive feel wherever they might be. You hence have mini Pune's, mini Ahmedabad's, and mini Kolkata's all over India, why, i would even say, all over the world, once the festive drums cheerfully beat the happy feel loud and clear!

Pratima@Once a BBA student of mine wanted a topic that dealt with an alternative informal mode of business making. I had suggested the Dharavi business world. We discussed it in detail. In addition to the ppt presentation of her project, she could also write an article on the theme for the college magzine. Next one such student approaches me for such an option, I think, I would suggest the economic modes and the financial patterns of pandal hopping!

 

Flowers

The festival season is on. Flowers are very much in demand. Which ones? The most "wanted" are the "sesame flowers". These are fragile delicate beauties dyed in the vibrant yellow colour that suits the festive feel. They are so delicate that they hardly last a day. They cannot be cultivated in your own small little garden either. Needed they are to string them in to a string of nine for nine days. Tough indeed to get they are! Do they make the devhara come alive!!

Very soon would arrive huge mounds of marigold flowers. They are either yellow or saffron or ochre. In their smaller version, they are a cute combination of the yellow and the ochre. Stringing them to decorate the gates, doors, window frames is both fun and a bother. Lovely the strings look with green leaves strung in between for contrast. Later, once dried, one can store these strings for seeding new plants. 

The season of the coral flower and the champak flower is almost over. May be, just a few for the actual 'puja' might be available. Asters in various hues and colours, plain white, pink, red, violet, are both beautiful and long lasting. This trait they share with the marigolds. Even when a little dry, like the marigolds, they look  gorgeous. Not to be missed are the blazing red hibiscus flowers enlivening one's small patch of garden, like the canna flowers.  Unlike the canna, available in white and yellow as well, rarely are these sold in bulk though.

Well, unlike the summer blooms, these autumnal flowers are not fragrant, though they are far more colourful. A unique joy and beauty they add to the festive times as if they are the "rangoli" drawn by Mother Nature. Oh, yes, their plastic versions, forever fresh, are much used these days. In my opinion, they are pretty, they are lifelike, yet they lack the warmth of the original. Rather like human beings they are in a way. Well, only the genuine, be it people or flowers, add the 'live-ly'  feel, right?

Pratima@Flowers are forever. Each season has its own variety that adds a unique beauty to the very being and becoming, theirs as well as ours.

Invisible

 The recent most solar eclipse was actually a great beauty, too. Unlike its counterpart in April, it was not much talked about in the media though. The April eclipse was a media frenzy. The entire route as the eclipse progressed was literally jam-packed. Every moment was broadcast, and in multi-media mode.

The recent October 2 eclipse was not that tom-tom-ed. Both are natural phenomena.Why then the difference between the depiction? Well, to understand that you have to know where happened what!

The April eclipse took place in the mighty America. But natural it would be that every fraction of each second would be blown big. America has a yen for it. The U.S. is excellent at both, self-advertisement, and its corollary, self-aggrandisement. Hence everything that happens in America is by definition  beautiful, perfect, in short, American!

Latin-America, the stepchild of history, cannot afford that kind of self-indulgence. Well, the October 2 solar eclipse was mostly seen in the southern most part of South America, Chile, Antarctica, et al. Neither can such parts of the world manage nor are they used to the American kind of self-advertisement.

Invisible are such events, such countries. Rather like the poor relative uninvited for a grand party. Actually, they lack the American trick of self-advertisement. Not only amongst nations, but in human relations, too, we can observe such invisibilities. There always are the  very many visibly invisible, and then there are a few truly visible, however much they might be rendered invisible.

There are the few super achievers who are invisible as they let their brilliant talent do the talking, while there are the very many mediocrities who love echoing their minor successes via the huge eco systems. Even if they sneeze, it becomes a major act! Well, each to his/her own. The real worth is by the true always known!

Pratima@ At times, I do get the feel that hidden behind the self-glorification are major insecurities. Hence the gilding of the gone-case reality. May be, some time later, let us analyse this complexity in greater detail!

Well begun is the auspicious feel

 Yes, indeed auspicious happens to be the first day of Navratri. Look at it whichever way, but it is a new beginning. Let us look at it from the perspective of rituals. The fortnight before the Navratri begin is known as 'pitru pandharwada'. 

Literally translated, it means a fortnight dedicated to the forefathers. Naturally, there is a sense of remembrance. It is tinged, however, with the feel of loss, of death, of a 'never ever to return' finality. The sad sense weighs on the very existence as all sorts of rituals get followed. In our vicinity, there is this family who keep the ritual rice et al on the roof. Naturally, there are crows cawing queerly which  would create a very depressing feel, right?

Let us look at it from the agrarian point of view. The 'kharif' crop is almost ready. The excesses of the monsoon are behind us. There is a contented sense of fulfillment. Sure, these days, the climate change is causing quite some disturbance to such a natural cycle. Yet it is not completely wiped out as of now. Hence the Navratri get celebrated as a token of gratitude to the bountiful nature.

Why is it so clearly a women-oriented festival? I think such a sense of festivity is rooted in the agrarian beginning of the human civilisation. Not only does a woman give birth and create a new life, but in addition to this biological fact, there is, moreover, the historical reality. 

Yes, indeed it is women who in a way began, and developed, agriculture as a way of life. This process was a major stage in the growth of civilisation as it ended the nomadic life not vastly different from the beast-like eat-n- procreate mode. It can hence be argued that the 'Navratri', is a mode of tribute to womanhood and its creativity. 

Hence, may be, so many woman-ly associations to this festival. These days, such associations are clearly delineated in the light of (shallow?) feminism and the consumerist market, and thus the Navratri are equally related to 'colours to be worn per day', and the birth and upbringing of a daughter! 

Yet half-baked something is any day, any time much better than negativities, right? Hence the title of this piece; namely, well begun is the auspicious feel.

Pratima@This year indeed well begun is the happy auspicious feel because on this very happy day Marathi has been granted the 'classical language' status. Now is the time to nurture it well!

Relevance

 What a day! Here in India, we celebrated the memory of the gentle, sensible, sincere Shastriji. Indeed he was so. Remember the story about he not informing his family that he was a minister so as to avoid any pressure from them? Yes, he WAS a genuine person. Mysterious unfortunately was his death. The ''Tashkent Files'' are almost as much a puzzle as the 'death' of Subhash Chandra Bose. That unfortunate fact hardly matters. His life, lived most honourably, remains relevant.

For the majority, October 2 is a remarkable day as it marks the birth anniversary of Gandhiji. Why is Gandhiji relevant? In my opinion, he would forever remain relevant because he always first tested for himself his principles, his concepts, his ideals before releasing them in the public space.

I can provide multiple examples of this axiom. Let us take cleanliness, especially in relationship with the lowly work of the untouchables. He himself cleaned latrines to gauge the insult involved. Similarly, while the whole of India was busy celebrating the 'tryst with destiny', this old fragile man, almost all alone, was in Noakhali trying to douse the communal fire.  Hence his words appear genuine. Hence his relevance.

However, is his core concept, non-violence, relevant any longer? His birth anniversary is celebrated the world over as the world peace day. Most ironically, however, currently across the world, there is neither non-violence nor peace. In addition to the simmering Ukraine crisis, the Israel-Palestine-Hezbollah-Iran fracas is threatening to turn in to a full-fledged third world war, and literally any second. China-Russia are raring to reach this front as well. Given the election compulsions, America is already helping Israel who is threatening to target the oil rigs and the atomic plant of Iran.

None is above metaphorical muscle flexing and skin saving tactics right now. In such a scenario, what relevance are such principles as truth (which is relative), non-violence and peace? I thought through the whole day to find out the relevance of these principles not only at the international level, but also at the personal/individual level because being straightforward, honest, genuine, clean is currently considered stupid and ridiculous! May be, new realities need new axioms!

Pratima@Even during the freedom struggle, it was said that non-violence and non-co-operation would not have been equally effective against a Hitler or a Mussolini or a Franco! 

Honestly, despite deep analysis from every possible angle, I cannot fathom how to find the relevance of truth, peace, non-violence and non-co-operation while confronting (no alternative is available) a horror Hamas, a rogue Hezbollah, an inciting Khomeini and an avenging Netanyahu?  

Ageism

 Ageism is vicious and ageism is rampant. You do not believe me, right? No issues! Read the following three 'jokes', and then let us talk. Hope that is okay. So here we go.

Joke Number 1: What is the similarity between the moon and the dentures? Both come out at night. Joke Number 2: Which trophy can the aged win? Only one. The atrophy of every type. Joke Number 3: How can the aged have a smoking hot body? Try cremation.

Have you noticed that the 'jokes' are getting more and more nastier and crueller? Actually, these days even the young wear dentures of all sorts, be it the clips for the protruding teeth, the bridges for the missing teeth, to give a few obvious instances. 

Similarly, the youth today suffer from weird atrophies of all sorts. But who pays any attention at all? It is easy instead to mock the aged, right? As for the cremation, it is a really wicked joke in truly bad taste. But, believe me, it gets the loudest guffaws and claps! Some proof of ageism, right?

What is ageism? Let me provide a proper textbook definition. Ageism refers to the denial of basic human rights to older persons and is considered a prevalent prejudice in society, leading to discrimination in various areas such as the workplace, healthcare, nursing homes, media, and emergency services.

Yes, I AM going to continue the symbolic  yellow (colour of withered autumn leaves, right?) highlight while writing about the aged because in our country currently, the aged are not accorded the traditional respect. Instead, there ARE very many discriminations against the old,  steadily growing number wise. 

The life span has grown, but the kind acceptance of/for the elderly has withered to tatters due to the consumerist mode strengthened by globalisation and rapid urbanisation. "Use and throw" is the matra currently. 

On October 1, the International Day for the Elderly, here is a fervent appeal  to treat the Elderly (not the aged, please! See how the nomenclature changes the very attitude, right?) well because every household these days has at least one person nearing ninety, if not beyond!

Pratima@***As usual, Japan where the sun rises the first, has much to teach the whole world in this context, too. There is NO retirement (age) in Japan. People continue to work as long as they can. I suppose, that adds the much needed independence and respect to age.***

Lost in translation

 Translation is tough. It is bitter-sweet, like the film whose title we are using for this blog of ours. Why is it sweet? Well, a text gets a new existence in a different language. Why is it bitter? Well, it is by definition imperfect.

Let me give you  concrete examples to prove what I have stated. Sure you know the story of the Russian translator who rendered the Biblical "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" as "There is lot of vodka, but not enough meat".

Jokes apart, this particular example proves that translation is often context specific. As a result, it is by definition 'different'. Let me give you a concrete example yet again. How to translate "आरती करणे" or "ओवाळणे" in to English? The very concept does not exist in the target culture. Often hence when translating literature, one has to give either a glossary or an explanation within the text itself.

Yet again an example may help. Look at the family relationships. "Aunt" cannot adequately differentiate between "आत्या", "मावशी", "मामी" and "काकू", right? Personally, I am of the opinion that a literal translation defeats the very purpose of the activity. Such a translation is stilted, artificial, and frankly quite crazy.

Similarly, a very loose translation may not capture the essence of the original. The feel of the original text must not be lost sight of either. Hence I call this tightrope traction tough!

A good translation, as they say , is like a translucent glass. You can see through it the alternative reality encased in a different language.  It has to be there, and yet it must not draw attention to itself. A good translator hence is a great 'artist of disappearances'!

Pratima@ A good translator must know the source as well as the target languages and cultures really well. Otherwise, "false friends" may be irritating. Some other time, more of such issues, and, oh, yes, of inter-semiotic translations! 

In the meanwhile, Happy Translation Day! Better to wish so now as the AI is encroaching the field, especially its literature of knowledge and information allies!