A year ends

 A year ends. What does that mean? Well, come to think of it, nothing much happens actually.  Oh, yes, those who party hard, might puke and make the whole place smelly n dirty, if the police have not already handcuffed them for drunken driving.  No, I am not being supercilious. Nor am I suffering from an acute attack of culture-itis, whereby suddenly there is an intense love of/for milk. 

Within myself, I am trying to understand this phenomenon called the year end. Sure it does not have the financial finality of the month end. Yet it matters hugely. Its Gregorian kinship makes it focally important to our existence, moreover. 

Even then, what does the year end mean actually? Just the calender on your wall changing, hopefully if your designer hearth sports one to begin with. Most homes do not have calendars these days, as all the electronic devices have supplanted them years ago.

Well, in our part of the world, luckily the natural scene outside is not miserably dreary n dull, the way it is in the Western hemisphere, with the white sheet of icy snow draping the skeletons of trees dismally n feebly.

Well, then, what does the end of the year mean?May be, it is a moment of introspection, measuring the year bygone through opportunities missed, due to very many reasons. More than that, I suppose, it is a moment of renewal of hope, never abandoned despite everything and everyone trying real hard to uproot that fragile bloom.

So crackers would burst, a few will 'fashionably' protest, balloons would blow away like the year gone by, revellers would scream, tyres would screech, new year resolves would be made,  to be abandoned within a week. All such rituals would wither, though helping the bazaar economy for a few hours. 

And yet the new year would breathe. Like a baby's first cry. Asserting the indomitable will and resurgent spirit to bounce back, despite all the harassments! Long live the New Year Eve! 

Pratima@ With warm remembrances of all that made the last year worth it, like those before it, and with ardent hopes for the new year, and all that would follow!                                                 

 Quote of the day:                                                   "There are far better things ahead," says C. S. Lewis, "than any we leave behind."  

Word (rather expressions) of the day:                   "Au revoir" (French) is a hopeful good-bye which involves a hope of meeting again, rather like the Spanish "Adios" which leaves you in the care of the almighty, the 'dios'! 

Can a lion be a ...?

 That is fine, this is okay, too. How do you react to such sick silly sentences? In my opinion, they are pure and sheer bromides! Honestly, most irritating! How can everything be okay always? 

In my opinion, it is like saying, a mouse is a lion, a lion is a mouse, too. Black is white, and white is black, too! In real life, the two colours are mutually exclusive, like the day and the night! Yes, both are relevant, but separately, in their own ways. They are not easy substitutes for/of each other. And, oh, yes, there is a grey in between, and yet unique it is, absolutely different. 

How can anyone say, good is bad, and bad is good, too?  Or white is black, and black is white! God cannot be Satan, and Satan cannot be God! Sure, each entity has its own place, its own unique relevance in the scheme of things. Yet neither can be confused for/with the other! 

More than merely maintaining that they 'cannot be' confused, they 'must not' be confused. It is sheer chicanery to say that truth is falsehood, and vice versa.  Such people who patently pass such shallow comments are shrewd manipulators who egoistically know which side 'their' bread is buttered! 

Excellent double-dealers, they play such double dealing games with utmost finesse with everyone else, except, of course, hopefully, not with themselves.  Psychological windcocks they are! Are they deceiving themselves through such platitudes? Nope!  Not at all, I would say. Such round-about-ery is like the hooded glare of a serpent, ready to coil around and sting.

Actually, hidden behind such narcissistic dictatorship of the "all is well" stupidity is the fear of any excellence. Underlying it is also the unstated ambition of finishing off all that is good, pure, ideal, excellent. In other words, involved in calling a spade a spade is an ethical choice. In brief, when "all is well, nothing is well!" 

Pratima@ The real freedom, argued George Orwell, one of my favourite most authors, is the ability to firmly state that two plus two is four. Everything else follows from it 

Quote of the day:                                                 "What is right is right even if no one does it, what is wrong is wrong even if everyone does it," asserted  Saint Augustine, one of the major theological thinkers.

Word of the day: subterfuge                                       Subterfuge is a subtle strategy to deceive, and to alone win all the gains!

Demonstrations

 While returning home from college, without fail these days, I come across a demonstration, a morcha. In a way, it is but natural, as it is the season of the local municipal elections. 

Typical is the look of most of these. No, the people participating in these political demonstrations hardly look politically aware at all. They do not even look as if they work anywhere, anyways. Often, they have 'that' enjoyment look. In brief, they make you wonder if their participation is indeed paid, as is often alleged. 

At times, there is another 'youthful' group in such demonstrations. They would be riding the mobikes which would be sound polluting, making the utmost sound. There would be at least hundred vehicles on which would be riding some three hundred, clarifying that very instant how much their 'party' and its leader(s) care for rules and regulations!

What use do these demonstrations serve? Most all drivers, two wheeler riders, pedestrians find them a bother. Instead, if the candidate were to go from door to door canvassing as well as trying to find out the real problems of the residents in the ward, it would be a genuine participatory poll. 

There could be 'corner meets'. Such meets could address the genuine issues of the residents. Is anyone genuinely interested in sorting out the local issues? That IS the real problem!

For a PG 'Paper' entitled "Indian Writing in English", which I used to teach for Semester III, was prescribed this Khushwant Singh story. In a hamlet, there is this saintly person, truly concerned with each and every problem of each and every individual living in that area. He would always find kind answers n easy solutions to all the problems, however difficult they may appear.

Everyone wants him to be their representative, and each one is sure he would be the uncontested winner. The night before the polling day descend 'party' people with liquor, heaps of non-veg food, and 'gifts', money, clothes, utensils.

On the day of the voting, vehicles arrive in droves, taking the voters to the venue. On the way, they are again served tea n savouries. They 'do the needful' as told. Once  voting is over, their relevance for the next five years at least is lost. They trudge back home in the summer afternoon, the dirt road almost like a furnace. 

On the election result day, the sage, it is found, could not garner even a dozen votes, while the "party" candidate has won a landslide victory. This story of the early fifties is still relevant, even today. That IS the tragedy of demogaugy, eh, democracy!

Pratima@ During my Ph. D. days, I was once going to the Univ. Dept. There was this demonstration, by THE party vociferously fighting an ideological battle against injustice, especially representing the problems of graduate and post (post) graduate students. It was a huge, big morcha. Participating in it were mostly school children! Poor Marx!

Quote of the day:                                                         "Politics is most often the last refuge of the scoundrel". Samuel Johnson sure would not mind the minor, though significant, change to his famous quote.

Word of the day: guile.                                             Guile is  conscious deceit and treachery, something that must be avoided in any, and every,  relationship.

Let us learn grammar:                                            Let us suspend this feature till December 31, and let us renew it on January 1 as most people are in the year-end mood.

M. S.

 M. S.! Whom do you think I am thus referring to? No, not Dhoni. To begin with, I would have to write MSD. Sure I admire him, yet not enough to write a blog on him. Anyways, I do not understand cricket that much either. 

Let me provide yet another clue. At Bangalore, there was a three days long seminar. A friend, whom I had helped in small little ways, had generously invited me to stay at her place. Her husband was that typical South Indian serious Law professor types. During the post dinner chat, I mentioned my admiration of M.S., and, you bet, was the man changed!

With the enthusiasm of a kid showing his best collection of butterflies, he revealed to me his infinite treasure trouve of his stock-n-pile of M.S. wonders . And, sure, she does deserve such adulation. Why, I AM myself  one of her biggest fans. 

Yes, I am referring to THE M.S. Subbalakshmi. What a gorgeous voice! If Lata's is gold, silver and platinum together, M. S' has the brilliance of a koh-i-noor! And, yet that sheen is NOT metallic. It has the soft lilt of a brook in the misty morning. 

Hers is the perfect singing, utmost sincere, minutest detail attended to. Do not you believe me? Okay, listen to her bhajans from the film "Meera". As for her 'Venkatesh Suprabhatham', i can listen to it in a loop for hundreds of hours. It can make the worst atheist a firm believer. 

I like her for yet another reason. She modelled herself as the perfect spouse of Sadashivam. Feminists have argued a lot regarding this issue. I do think that she was an ideal wife, but it was not a blind adulation. Actually, given her background, it must have been an absolutely tough battle for her to adjust to the conservative Tambram culture, to learn Sanskrit, though her perfect pronunciation would never make you believe so. 

I do think that theirs was a perfect partnership, and in her own genuine way, she was utmost true to it. Of course, I never met her. She belonged to a totally different generation. She would be much older than my mother. In a way, it is unfair even to pass any unjust judgement in any negative way as the very contexts were different then.

Yes, I do admire her both as an artist and as a human being. That typical Tambram ensemble, suited to the 'kutcheri', and yet she had the sweet grace of a lovely warm person. She looked the devotion she  sang!

All this pageant full of true admiration is up for your perusal because I watched Vidya Balan enacting her as a tribute. I have always admired Vidya Balan for her acting prowess. Well, this tribute to M.S. now elevates her to the rank of my favourite most actresses across the whole world. Thank You for bringing one of my idols alive!

Pratima@ Great singing is not merely mathematical arrangement of shruti's. Nor is it just technical, intellectual. Like any other genuine art, it is from the heart, from the soul, from the very core of one's be(com)ing. 

Quote of the day:                                                       "Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music, " asserts George Eliot, one of my topmost favourite authors.

Word of the day: mellifluous.                        Mellifluous is the sound/a voice that is soft and musical to hear, like M.S'

P.S.: I used to play M.S' "Venkatesh Suprabhatam" for Aai during her last stay in the Mangeshkar Hospital. The morning listen used to bring a gentle smile on her medicine-weary face.

Patience pays!

I love watching those animal videos, and a  lot. Especially wondrous are the lion ones. There is indeed something regal, royal, unique about these majestic animals. It has to be my perception, but I always get the feeling that these kingly presences are not just wild beasts, not mere apex predators. 

There is something highly sensitive, absolutely intelligent about them. Luckily, I always get to watch videos that prove my point (of view). No wonder, next to doggo  (especially, beagle) videos which give me the satisfaction of meeting Tashu by proxy, lion videos are my big choice. 

Late this afternoon, while eating that impossible concoction called rice n mug dal, one's inevitable fate when ill, I watched a great, a simply wonderful video about Elena, a lioness from the Savannah.

 The video, a great tribute to 'mother love', was, moreover, inevitable proof that animals have strategic thinking, know the value of patience, and can use restraint to achieve their goals. It established, moreover, that they recognise each other as helpmeets, despite the cruel jungle laws of the evolution, and of survival.

Elena has lost her first litter to a terrible famine. Now she is guarding her twins all alone. Once when she goes hunting, leaving behind the vulnerable cubs, a hyena picks them up. The hyena is the boss of her cackle. She, too, is a mother though. The way Elena negotiates her cubs' rescue is a lesson in intelligence and patience.

Obviously, helping her on, once she recognises the underlying subtext of the lioness' behaviour, is the hyena who has to pay the price, as her clan is irritated with her. Both of them forever maintain an awareness of each other, as far as animal friendship in the wilderness can go.

A lovely video that was a great addition to animal cognition, especially in the wild. Honestly, it made my bland lunch bearable, and absolutely made my day!  Great weekend feel indeed!

Pratima@ The way most human beings behave, animals are much better, especially when it comes to emotional intelligence.

Quote of the day:                                                    "Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but to see quickly how to make them good," explains Bertolt Brecht, one of my topmost favourite authors.

Word of the day: acuity                                            Acuity means sharpness or keenness, often referring to the ability to see (visual acuity), hear (auditory acuity), or think clearly (mental acuity). Basically, it  describes the clarity and accuracy of perception, whether sensory or intellectual, indicating how well one can perceive fine details or complex situations. 

  It may, moreover, apply to the severity of a patient's condition in healthcare (patient acuity) or the precision of touch (tactile acuity).

 Let us learn grammar:                                            We meet on Monday as the week-end begins today.

Banal, Boring and bothersome! And, oh, yes, 'peaceful'! Or 'peace-fool'!?!

  If you are not well, are down, what do you want? Quiet, peace, calm so that you can rest n recoup, right? This basic need is NEVER EVER fulfilled in my neighborhood!

To begin with, I have impossible neighbours who, the whole long day, have NOTHING, practically NOTHING, to do, and the day long, they are eternally screaming their cheap brains out. And for years on end, this has been their lifestyle. Their 'conversation' with the kachrewali begins circa 8.30 a.m. She screams, they shout (at least six baby-brained adults! How to call them adults is a big deal though!)

The shouting goes on and on till 1-ish. I get to know all these details when I am at home. They keep the closest possible watch on each one of every movement, trying to guess who woke up when, why water was not filled, when shat/farted/pissed, and so on and and on!!!

 The disgusting sixsome start their second shouting session in the evening, circa 5-ish , and it goes on till at least 11 p.m. Anybody comes to their houses, the welcomes and good-bye's are at the top pitch. They have to give directions to anybody; half the lane must hear it! They throw their remaining rotting food at your doorstep! In their front yard, they are constantly spitting, and clearing their throats, and  that, too, LOUDLY. Disgusting, banal and boring! At night, any time, they hit, bump, scrape the walls!

I am SURE somebody IS paying them huge mollah to behave thus. (That money, too, must be ill-gotten. If not, why would anybody share it unnecessarily?) Otherwise, how do their households run? Money cannot be screamed, while absolutely doing NOTHING, right? So make it somehow! With every passing veggie vendor, the gas cylinder provider from the Market Yard, they have to gag and gossip loudly. No use questioning such cheapos because you must have the ability to outshout six loudmouths!

In addition, these creepos have a neem tree whose entire foliage I have to constantly clear as it falls in our front garden. Under that tree lounge creatures who, too, shout louder. At times, they stand up the branches, why, who knows. At times, they (all the 'peacefuls' of all varieties) are screaming my colleagues', including Principals', past n present,  surnames, and saying they tell them to do the needful!!!Sometimes, they are loudly gassing about Brahmins. Then there are constantly hugely  vrooming mobikes of these sorts. Oh, yes, these 'peacefuls' do not need any holiday at all!

Yet another creepy place is a building behind. These are also extremely 'peaceful' people who are screaming at any and every minute of the day, not to forget the night.

All such crooks need to be brought to book. Undoubtedly, there is some cheap kingpin behind it. I shall contact the right people, really high up, to get such loonies to stop their sick, silly and loud nonsense going on and on and on! Hope, you, Dear Readers, would help me, too.

Pratima@What these noisy loons do not realise is that their cheapness does not bother me much. Often I use ear buds/ear phones. But it denudes them in front of the whole world! 

Quote of the day:                                                      "How  people can be muted! Hope soon such a Nobel winning machine could be developed! Or, may be, sometimes some people need a high five. On the head. With a sledgehammer." On the FB!

Word of the day: vexatious.                                Vexatious refers to people, like my boring and bothersome neighbours, who tend to cause irritation and frustration.

Let us learn grammar:                                              We shall take up this point yet again. Yet let me introduce it right now. Plurals do not need articles.                                                              Students must study, for instance. Teachers must teach sincerely. Parents bring us up carefully and kindly.                                                   A caveat, though. If there is any unique quality to the pluralised noun(s), the definite article " the" must be used.                                                The Kinnaur apples are tasty, for instance. The Banares silk sarees are beautifully woven. The foreign goods were burnt during the Quit India movement.

Tulsi Poojan

 On many groups, I got a most interesting video. It showed beautiful young girls, lovely children singing paeans to the tulsi plant. Video finally, it turned out that Asaram Bapu declared December 25 as the Tulsi Poojan Day! 

Well, for a fraction of a second, I did not know how to react. No, it does not have much to do with the notoriety of the 'Guru'. Around us, we have very many, in fact, countless such Asaram's, who harass innocent women who are not even interested  in them, and against such sick crooks, though, unfortunately, there is not concrete 'proof' to bring them to book and send them to prison.

I found this idea of creating a "tulsi ma" song to the tune of "jingle bells" a little unsettling. Why not create a unique, totally different, special 'bhajan' dedicated to the holy medicinal plant? Why such a quasi-parody? 

Yet another issue is why the need to replace  one major festival with a minor sup'plant'? To spread the awareness about Tulsi, there are very many more positive ways. In fact, such an exchange would not be necessary if from childhood and in every home, 'mummies' care to educate their children thus. Instead, Mumma Dearest using her broken, awful, non-existent English teaches Betu Dear the non-indian ways!

If you are rooted firmly in your own culture, you respect every other tradition as a variant. You need not follow it, but you do not disrespect it or look down upon it either. You live and let live. Without any unnecessary reactions, clashes and/or overreach, you live your own way, without either eulogising or demeaning the other(s). Absolutely necessary for living harmoniously!

Pratima@ There is boundless beauty in our culture and traditions.

Quote of the day:                                                     "Culture is about making people feel good about how they contribute to the whole," says Tracy Streckenbach. 

Word of the day: bigotry                                            Bigotry is the fact of possessing and publically expressing strong, unreasonable beliefs and disliking other people who have different beliefs or have a different way of life. 

Let us learn grammar:                                              Today let us look at two expressions which confuse Indians; namely, "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Christmas". The first one is American, and hence oftener used in India, while the second one is typically British, especially used by the royalty, and the rich and the refined. 

THE Christmas Carol

 Yes, you guessed it right.  I am referring to Charles Dickens' much beloved novella. Sure, it is senti. Yet this novella, that is, a long short story, tugs at your heart. Yes, it can be argued that there is an unmistakable Christian message in it. Believe me though, minor changes here and there, and it can relate to any society, each culture. It IS that universal. 

How is the story presented to us, the readers? Well, it is ghost stories within a ghost story. Is it not typical that when relatives and acquaintances gather, chats always revert to some such tales? Dickens' novella has that intimate feel. 

In five 'staves', yes, the story has a  crescendo effect in addition to the Freytag mode of plot construction, the Scrooge saga unfolds. When the story begins, Ebenezer Scrooge is a stingy person with the most crooked heart, without any pity or mercy. On the Christmas Eve, his late partner's ghost comes to warn him to mend his ways. Three ghosts follow, of the past, present and future. Since it is a novella, all ends well.  A new Scrooge is re-born, making the underlying Christian allegory absolutely clear. 

Yes, it is a much loved book. In a way, in England itself, it revived the tradition of, yes, carols. It was around its publication, in 1843, that the Christmas tree began as part of the general bonhomie. The novella added meaning to such festive cheer.

In a way, the condition of poor children presented pitifully in the novella was a stark reality of Dickens' Victorian England. He had suffered it personally, too. The book hence has a lovely combo of realism, social satire, allegory, fairy tale, ghost story, all combined. A happy read, in brief!

Pratima@Books impact generations. Surely, they cannot be of the actual/intellectual "DIY" or "how to" mode, notoriously popular right now!

Quote of the day:                                                     "What is Christmas? It is," says Agnes Pavro, "tenderness for the past, courage for the present, and hope for the future." 

Word of the day: blithe                                           Often used in the context of a festive feel, it means showing a good mood or disposition.

Let us learn grammar:                                               Since we looked at the 'few/a few' and 'little/a little' as pairs, let us look at 'some/any', though these are not exactly articles. "Some" is used in positive statements to indicate a quantity, while "any" must be used in negatives and questions.                                                                                        Let us look at some examples.                                 Do you have any doubts? Any questions?              A good teacher does not like a dumb class, dumb here means without any response.

Mathematics

 English and Mathematics are two subjects that are dreaded, hated and avoided by students often. They are considered tough. Most school failures are in these two areas!  .

Actually, both are very easy. Look at English, for instance. It is by far the easiest language; no case declinations, for instance. As for mathematics, it is dreaded so much that there have been attempts such as 'pass the tenth without maths' or the 'best five' to deduce the final score, et al. 

Mathematics, in my opinion, is the base for/of any career you may choose to follow. Engineering of all varieties, Civil to Computers, that is, the oldest to the newest, needs mathematics. Forget medicine, even social sciences, why, literature uses mathematics. The simplest example would be the stanza patterns that depend on counting.

In other words, mathematics creates patterns. Not everybody need to be a Ramanujan to tackle these. He was a genius who could unravel structures that were never located earlier, and thus revolutionised the discipline. Luckily, he met mentors who were genuine enough to recognise and reward his brilliance.

Nobody need be that brilliant. Yet do you want to know how basic to life mathematics is? Well, try buying veggies. That lady in the nauvar saree is surely from a nearby village. Possibly, she never went to any school. Yet perfect would be her calculations. She would never return a paisa more even if you were to give her a five hundred rupee note for some minor buy.

Mathematics as arithmetic is that central to our existence. True, more complex forms of the "sign theta, cos theta" may not be everybody's cuppa. Sure, at the school level, mathematics must be taught creatively to relate it to a happy feel. Yet never can mathematics, the base of all arts, too, be given a miss! Everyone need not be a master of maths; yet all have to be a jack of it!

Pratima@ The Vedic mathematics, for instance, makes magical the toughest calculations. Even a summer course in Vedic maths can energise us to no end.

Quote of the day:                                                       "What is mathematics? It is only a systematic effort of solving puzzles posed by nature," asserts Shakuntala Devi.

Word of the day: onerous                                       'onerous' refers to a  task or responsibility involving a great deal of effort, trouble, or difficulty.                                                                      Most students find mathematics onerous.

Let us learn grammar:                                 Yesterday we looked at the difference between 'few' and 'a few'. The pair relates to countable and plural nouns.                                                           A similar pattern is visible for uncountable nouns. 'Little' refers to nil, while 'a Little' refers to a lesser quantity.                                                            If you add little milk to your coffee, it would be the dark brew. If you add a little milk, the brew would be whiter, and tastier for most. 

A little oil would make chapatis softer. Little oil may be used for making a khakra. 

A little butter would make the cake softer. Little butter would make it difficult to swallow.                                                                                                       Do remember this 'pattern' of little/a little and few/a few as it can change the very meaning.

Human Rights, eh?

 Have we started celebrating certain iconic days more as a ritual? What do you think about this issue? Sometimes I do get this frustrating feel. Let me exemplify how and why. 

Let us look at the international human rights day, for example. It was in 1948, after the horrors of the Second World War, that this concept gained a credence on December 10. It was a great gesture then, and continues to be relevant, in fact, still more, even today! 

Yes, there would be wow-wow (no, I do not mean bow-wow. I respect and love dogs too much to even try such an anomaly!) conversations and speeches glorifying the day. How is the practice though? 

Often it appears as if human beings are back to the flock or cabal mentality. Any crime, major or minor, is always looked at from the microscope of the clan mentality. If the person belongs to your coterie, even a murder can be justified. 

If the person does not belong to any group/gang, even God would ten times think before siding with him/her. However honest/genuine the victim and/or his/her case may be, he/she would surely be isolated. Interest groups would coalesce as per convenience. Half-truths would pile on. Some past events would be raked up, most often, out of context.

 Blame any which way the person with whom you disagree. You can trample the truth(s). Who cares about the future agendas thus subtly set? How does it matter how the future is forever thus tarnished so long as the mafia gets what it right now wants!?!

No wonder, there ARE homo erectus (how to call them human beings? Animals are more principled and honest and helpful. They follow the ethical axioms more, and better!) who deny that the holocaust ever happened, or worse still, justify it and work towards its renewal in many a subtle ways!

Pratima@When you lie through the teeth for immediate gains, later on, even dentures will not help chew the realities that you thus engineered! 

Quote of the day:                                                        "Be your own master, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mor(t)al creature," stated Marcus Aurelius.

Word of the day: coterie                                          A coterie is a small group of people with shared interests or tastes, especially one that is exclusive of other people.

Let us learn grammar:                                             This concern with articles is going to last for quite some time. Today let us look at a few examples to understand their relevance. SURE, some communication does happen. Is it adequate though?

1)He has passed few tests last month. Let us not right now look at the horribly wrong use of tenses nor the semantics. Let us just concentrate on the use of articles. This statement, as it stands, would mean that the person it refers to must be a total dumbo.  "Few" means almost nil, while " a few" means some. So if you want to lick up the person and his coterie, you must say " a few tests".                                                                              Let us look at a few more examples. 

2) "She has a few friends, but few enemies." Has to be Mother Teresa! The statement means no enemies and some friends. Try saying/writing "few friends", it would mean the realities today! Friends do the vanishing trick, plain disappear, and enemies, open/secret, crawl  out of not only the woodwork, but out of everywhere! 

3) He reads few books. The statement would confirm that the person is most probably a social media addict. If he/she has to be some kind of a bibliophile, it has to be "a few" books.

4) The last example: Akshay Khanna acted in few films. This would mean, he never acted. "in a few films" would mean he was choosy about the roles he essayed.

In other words, even for communication, basic grammar has to be OKAY! When the AI takes over, it is communication that may save us. Hence this teeny-weeny attempt!

A Continent @ Countless Eras

  Our motherland! People call it a sub-continent. Actually, is not it as good as a continent? Look at the varieties of geographical features, oceans, mountains, deserts, islands, archipelagos, mention them, we have them! 

Want a variety of climates? We have every possibility. In fact, we enjoy six seasons, though currently such seasonal precision is going bonkers. Like the rest of the world suffering the climate jinx. 

I need not even reiterate the usual region, religion, class, caste, gender, language kinds of varieties, not to forget the rampant ageism. If we were to analyse subtly, we could add multiple jeopardies to the existing theories!

Yet the most striking distinctions in our country seem to be of periodicities. Yes, India seems to be existing in multiple eras at the same time. Our space mission, whose budget is less than that of many a film, is precise to a 't'. Yet, our trains seem to follow the time table of the James Watt era!  For months on ends, express trains run at a speed that would make a passenger on the meter gauge blush.

We have six lane high ways, and yet in a major religious center where, very soon, there would be a huge Kumbh Mela like gathering, in the last leg of the journey, you have a semi dirt road without proper street lights leading you to the holy confluence. 

Most interesting is the ferry that takes you there. It is diesel run, but it is known as a steamer. Talk of the Maucaulay mania! It is as good as a floating platform on which are loaded cargo, two wheelers, including mobikes, animals, and countless human beings. There are absolutely no safety measures. There is no listing of the names of people who boarded it. 

This wonder of a ferry has a railing that is two feet high and at least twenty feet is the distance between two such poles. There is not any protective mesh. On the ferry i took, a kid of about two ran almost to the edge, following Mummy Dearest, dressed to kill, and busy with selfies n Titanic poses! 

Heart-rending was the father's call, asking the child to get back! And this in a country where in Hoogli, under the world famous Howrah Bridge, there are posh, well guarded, ultra modernist cruises aplenty. Are we indeed not a country, rather a continent, simultaneously existing in multiple eras? 

Much worse are the habitats! Kolkatta, full of colonial mansions, the high rises typical of a metro, and yet full of shanties! Beautiful street decorations dazzling to glory in the capital, while the last stretch of a much visited religious destination nearby without street lights, but much worse, with power cuts! 

In a country of such contrasts, is it any wonder that a huge railway station with twenty-three platforms has a special lounge with sofas (and the a/c, too, against super extra charges) for those able/ready to pay, while the majority shivers in the cold, despite a blanket or two!

Marx would indeed write anew each and every one of his treatises, if he were to make such scenarios his understudies!

Pratima@ Cry, the beloved country! Indeed what can ail thee? The curious may please note that both these phrases need not reflect any particular ideological inclinations!

Quote of the day:                                                         "We buy things we do not need with money we do not have to impress people we do not like." Thus described Dave Ramsey consumerism. Tweak the quote a little here n there, and you can best describe a continent full of  contrasting eras! 

Word of the day: agitate                                           The word has two meanings. It denotes mixing in/stirring briskly. The better known and more used reference is to disturb, to make someone feel troubled or nervous.

 

Two faces of the same clan

 They say, a pilgrimage happens, the Lord willing it. With the Himalayan experience (where everything that can go wrong, went wrong, but only and only after my sojourn at that divine place was fulfilled) and now the Ganga Sagar attempt (my train back to Pune, the Duronto express, might reach 4 p. m.ish, while it was supposed to reach at 10 a.m.), I have started believing that dictum! 

While travelling, one gets to meet all sorts of people. Let me here talk of the two varieties of the Bangla clan whom I encountered. One of them is the taxi fellow to-n-fro my immensely fortunate slog to Ganga Sagar. He told me, he could complete his education up to the H.Sc., had managed in Mumbai a good job which had a better future, but left it all to respect his mother's wishes. 

He was concerned about his children's future, tried to understand how the AI would change the face of work, was immensely happy when I told him of the "bajrangi lep" for his mother's minor fracture. 

Not only considerate of n for his family, moreover, in the typical Bengali fashion, he was acutely aware of the political issues. Wonder of wonders, he was aware of the grandeur of Bengal. He knew all the greats of Bengal literature and films. He himself referred to them. No wonder! He was a "gayen", a surname that refers to traditional bards! He was even aware that the behaviour of his kind of people determines a tourist's impression of a city/a state. Most willingly, I would share his card with anyone going to Kolkata. Oh, yes, I tipped him generously, too.

 Now the other side of the coin. I had the misfortune of sharing their noisy and extremely ugly company till Bhusawal. From the second they arrived, they were hell-bent on making a nuisance of themselves.  

   They were extremely well-dressed. With a silly n sick curl of lips, they would mention their swanky address in "Cal". They carried huge luggage they pushed everywhere, absolutely inconsiderate of others. When they were supposed to get off, they did not bother to fold the bedding the train provided.                                                        

    "We paid, no!?!" was their attitude. They ate and ate and ate. They belched, they burped, they farted, they slept, slept, slept, absolutely inconveniencing fellow travellers, and snored n snored n snored LOUDLY. They fought for even the charging point. Extremely uncouth! Their  kid was forever in to the mobile, and coolly talked of how studies are boring which Mumma (and obediently, Daddu!) found cute!                       

  The disgusting crude nouveau riche behaviour!  Genuinely, I did not feel like waving good bye to the kid, and not only because they ran away with my water bottle!               

  Pratima@ Money does not make (wo)men, forget cultured, even decent!           

   Quote of the day:                                              "Culture does not make people. People make culture." So argues Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an interesting African author. 

Word of the day: Sophistication               Sophistication means being cultured and knowledgeable about art, fashion, and life, showing refinement and good taste. It means, moreover, being worldly wise. It can also describe something complex, highly developed, and intricate, like advanced technology or a subtle system. 

Let us learn grammar:                                               It is the week end. We meet on Monday.

It is never just a journey!

Yes, at times, journeys are not merely journeys. They are something much more. To begin with, a journey need not be a mere travel. It is a pilgrimage in the sense that you thus fulfill a word you gave yourself to honour your extremely sincere, genuine, super-caring father. 

Papa must have gone to Gangasagar around the Ganga Sagar Mela, a mini mega Kumbh. The steamer boat had three days long queues that would flood the jetty relentlessly Those days, food stalls were not so ubiquitous either. For three days, he survived on tender coconut water. It absolutely wrung my heart when he talked of it. There n then I had decided that one day I would go to Ganga Sagar to somehow allay his unspoken sufferings. 

The Ganga Parikrama gave me a chance. I met Ganga at her origin, Gangotri, bouncing over boulders with the glee of a baby full of beans. At Rishikesh, she was deep, philosophical and respectful. At Haridwar, the evening Ganga aarti was a spectacle, even though neither the banks nor the flow of the river were much to write home about. Yet I collected the holy water. Thus I got a chance to return it to Ganga Sagar. 

The journey to Gangasagar was quite arduous. A typical pilgrimage indeed! The train ran late, endlessly, as if the journey would never end! Finally it did. The taxi ride took some three and half hours to reach the Ganga Sagar vehicles' stand. From there, it was a ten minutes walk to the ferry booking office. 

From the jetty, the steamer took some forty five minutes to reach the Kacheburia deck. From there, a fifteen minute ride in the typical West Bengal rik to reach the electric tumtum station.  The tumtum needed forty five minutes to reach the Sangam crossroad. From there, some twenty minutes walk to the Sangam.          

 Thereabouts, in the 24 Paragana area, near the Diamond Harbour and the Sunderbans, the sun sets at 4.30ish. The Sangam area was pitch dark hence. It being a no moon day and the low tide, in fact, an ebb, it was tough differentiating the Bay of Bengal waters from the Ganges. I did not, in fact, dare to enter the water. I kept all the puja material, the Gangotri  and the Hrushikesh water bottles, and a small memento of Aai in  front of an idol in a well-lighted temple nearby.        

 The return journey appeared less tough. Even the steamer seemed to need less time. Finally, reached the Howrah station to await the Duronto next morning!                                            

 Indeed arduous was the journey. Yet I felt fulfilled. Indeed, certain journeys are not mere travels.    

  Pratima@That entire region is a conclave of memories. Papa's Ganga Sagar journey is one. Yet another one is Raju coming to meet Aai-Papa who had gone all the way to Calcutta to meet him as his years long assignment did not allow him to come to Pune. He came to meet them at Maharashtra Mandal from the Diamond Harbour and stayed, may be, for some thirty minutes. Aai often used to talk about how for hours she could only see the road he left by!    

  On the steamer ferry, i, too, could see the outline of a ship sailing away. In fact, when the steamer ferry began, with all its bell, et al, rituals, and, suddenly, when the horizon and the water inter-mixed to form a grey infinity, I thought of Raju's shipping days. In the evening, on the return ferry, it being the no moon day, except for the jetty and the distant lights, it was just a huge black whole. Literally! I admit yet again that I respect Raju to no end, etched with a strange ache.

Quote of the day:                                                        "The way is not in to the sky. The way is in to the heart." The source is autonomous. 

Word of the day: mission                                        Mission refers to an important assignment given to a person or group of people, typically involving travel abroad or mission may mean a spiritual journey. 

Let us learn grammar:                               Whenever there is a common countable singular noun, it IS necessary, nay, compulsory to use the articles, either definite or the indefinite. The indefinite articles are 'a, an'. The definite article is 'the'. Actually, 'a' and 'an' are used for common, countable, singular noun. 'An' is used for a noun that begins with a vowel sound. Please note that it is the vowel sound, not the vowel letter. More explanation with multiple examples, the next time we meet. 

Late Latiffi

 To begin with, 'late latiffi' is a curious term, part English, part Urdu/Hindi. That is the typical  Indian English, though. Nay, rather it is a South-Asian cultural phenomenon. The colonising language, English, gets a unique cultural identity hereabouts. 'prepone', for instance, is a common term in Indian English which is impossible in the standard R.P. kind of English. In Indian English, they say,  "Happy Christmas," and not "Merry Christmas"! 

Where does a term like "late latiffi" come from? Through a combo of languages, daily usage gets such a composite status which is a cultural characteristics. The etymology of the word, however, is not our concern right now.

We are rather worried about the meaning of the term. 'Late latiffi' refers to the habit of being forever late. Such Indian standards seem to apply to the time table of Indian Railways, too. It is such a shame that long distance trains run late. That disturbs the entire schedule of innocent travellers who are genuine tax payers.

 Is it the case that the passengers from the upper middle or from the middle class do not matter to the bigwigs in the Railway Ministry! And here I was often siding with and commending genuinely the highly qualified Railway Minister and his simple ways! Sad comment on the gullibility of genuine citizens!

Pratima @ Trains must run on, and not in time!

Quote of the day:                                                          "Punctuality is the politeness of kings, " maintained Louis XVIII.

Word of the day: tardy                                                  Tardy means 'delayed/delaying beyond the expected time'.

Let us learn grammar :                                            The rule of the thumb is that every common countable singular noun MUST have an article. Let us look at a few examples: 1) These days a wedding must have a grand reception. 2)A train MUST run on time. 3) A train passenger must buy a train ticker. Otherwise, there might be a fine. 4) A toilet on a long distance train must be clean. 5) Who is answerable for the delay on a long route?                                                                  Tomorrow, let us understand the classification of articles

Train Travel

 Each and every mode of travel has its own fascination. The flight, for example, is hyper sophisticated, spic n span, trendy. It is so fast, moreover. Treats you like Alladin's jinny. Literally in minutes you can be from here to there. The Pune-Mumbai flight, for instance, is shorter than the journey to the airport! 

For me, however, a flight in its extreme neatness, with the hyper serious faces of all the passengers, appears more like a hospital! A bus journey is fine, too. It is too restricting, however. It is the train travel that is the best in my opinion. 

On a train, you can stretch, you can rest, you can even go for a midnight mile long walk. In fact, the goofy going gives you the feel of being a sailor balancing himself (these days herself, too!) despite the pitch n roll. 

The train travel has its own clickety-click rhythm. You almost feel as if you are a baby being rocked in a cradle. That rhythm is so unmistakable that you like it even in Mumbai's local trains that treat you like sardines in a tin, that is, packed to capacity! 

On the train, if you are the chatty type, you could win yourself travel buddies. If you like the silent treatment, the train allows you that as well. Most often, it is on time, too. It is less costly than a flight; it is more comfy than a bus ride. Long live the train travel!

Pratima@ During my Ph.D. period, I enjoyed the train travel to surfeit as I would be travelling to n fro at least four times annually! 

Quote of the day:                                                          "I have always felt that," argues Haruki Murakami, "the train is the perfect place to dream ." 

Word of the day: arduous.                                    Aften associated with the tandem term, that is, journey, it refers to a process involving or requiring strenuous effort, and is difficult and tiring.

Let us learn grammar:                                              Nouns can be proper, abstract and common. A common noun is city, a proper noun is Pune. A common noun is actor. A proper noun is Akshay Khanna. Intelligence, brilliance, wisdom, kindness are abstract nouns.                                                                                Next, nouns can be countable or uncountable. Oil, ink, water, rice, bread are uncountable, for instance. We can count    slices/loaves of bread, but not bread as such.                                                                                   Nouns, moreover, can be singular or plural. Countable nouns can be pluralised,   but not non-count nouns. Similarly, group nouns also are not pluralised.                                                         All such categories matter when it comes to article usage. 

Handling hurdles

 What is 'hurdles'? The term, often used in plural, has two meanings, especially as a noun. It can either mean one of a series of upright frames over which athletes (and, oh, yes, horses, too) in a race must jump. It is known as "a hurdle(s) race" as human beings go, eh, rather, jump over the tough terrain.

As for horses, it is known as a steeplechase, more commonly known as a chase, and it is a race run over fences. Steeplechases are run over distances that range between two and four n half  miles. The runners jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jumps or open ditches.

Yet this is not the meaning of the word that interests me. 'Hurdles' also means a problem or difficulty that must be overcome. I absolutely adore this sense. Want to know why? Because there ARE people who love to create hurdles in others' path, and I tend to often meet such specimens, and one too many!

Unfortunate are such people! Why? Well, it is always fun to be a bouncing ball. The more forcefully and harshly it is pushed down, still more vigorously it bounces back.

That is my image of myself when hurdles are consciously, knowingly and viciously created! How to deal with hurdles that are some crooked creepo's creation in your path? Sure, I, too, begin with despondency. Nay, for some time, there is even quite some some amount of grovelling in self-pity.

Soon I snap out of it though. Do I power my way through? Nope! To begin with, physically I am not the muscles rip(pl)ing type with a substantial weight to throw about, an activity, especially metaphorically,  I find quite crazy, anyways. Nor do I have mafia gangs (of well-wishers, dear!), fairy mothers, sugar daddies, friends in the 'right' places, properly fixing it all.

How to deal with situations n contexts then? I suppose, one should first find out the lie of the land. The term lie is used to mean both, falsehoods and the general scope. Let me give you a concrete example.

In the college, there is a special language lab which I have tried to make as language friendly as is possible. Others teaching non-language subjects insist on that very room. These grandees are the types with heavy weight supporters!

My lectures are in the post break session, that is, after 10.30 a.m. Literally, the whole college (except one room for another course) is lying vacant with e-boards, projectors, and all such amenities in place. In fact, in comparison, the language lab would pale.

The next time hence, as surely the contingency would arise, I am going to turn to my students, and say, "Sir/Madam seems to like our language lab. Let him/her use it. We shall go study in the beautiful heritage Main Building, where, may be, except for a room or two, all those big halls are awaiting us  in their 'vacancy'. The rooms in the YMCOU building are vacant, too, till 12 noon." 

Next i would turn to that 'special demands' person, and say, "Thanks for giving me this opportunity to use the lovely halls in the Main Building! Nice to teach/study a new language in an old building!" 

Pratima@ Hurdles, consciously created, cleared!

Quote of the day:                                                "Hurdles are no hurdles, if  creatively looked at. In fact, they strengthen one in ways unknown." Source anonymous!

Word of the day: Obstacle.                                       An obstacle is not merely a barricade or a barrier. It is consciously 'construct'ed to block one's way or to prevent or to hinder one's progress. Better treated with psychological fi(t)ness!

Let us learn grammar:                                                Articles are used with nouns, and, at times, adjectives used as/replacing nouns. What are nouns? Simply put, they are the names of people (teacher, student), place(s) (city, town), things (table, chair) and emotions/abstractions (intelligence, kindness, maturity, wisdom). Tomorrow let us learn their major types so that we may understand the article usage better.

What does the interpretation of the past tell us about the (future) present?

How to view the past, especially of an entire society as in the past is rooted the future!  Indeed it becomes a major issue. Let us, for example, look at the current typical insistent warcry that a certain community ill-treated the downtrodden for five thousand years. 

How far is this ideological stance/construct historically factual? Or is it downright rooted in spurious scholarship/arguments? To begin with, in those long lost days, birth never decided anything, neither a profession nor any generational continuity of any profession. Caste allotment as a rigidity is more a colonial construct.  

The certain caste blamed for possibly everything being/becoming wrong, okay, let us use the much bandied b-word (oh, no, not 'baddie' nor 'bollywood'), that is, the Brahmins, it is conveniently forgotten, never had any political clout or economic power. 

Why, most of the Hindu deities, too, do NOT belong to this so-called privileged caste. Check for yourself the caste of each/any deity if you want, if you do not believe me. Yet, all, including Brahmins, adore, worship, venerate them!

The medieval power structure and its excesses come more from usury, more from  the finance  related might. Actually, the moneyed 'seth' (they, irrespective of the so-called caste associations, were shrewd n smart enough to latch on to the emergent mercantile capitalism or its versions in its varied avataars) provided loans even to very many kings and  princelings, and against each other. Later, these moneybags, cum king making power brokers, even played the colonising English and the local kings against each other.

The entire medieval dynamics, popularised by the colonial mindset as casteist, is rooted in the dirty m-word, that is, monetary transactions. Who wants to actually read up though? Easy instead it is to perpetuate certain prototypes and false consciousnesses!

Be it the Maucaulay debate or the premises behind plays, that is, dramatic pieces that play up the bad practices such as tonsuring the child widows' heads, the actual realities, it is forgotten, are much much more nuanced, layered and complex.

Who wants such niceties honestly? Or any intellectual integrity? Easier it is instead to sensationalise, and win applause by/of the non-thinking audiences out there for "entertainment, entertainment, entertainment" anyways!

Does that mean that past cannot be critically analysed? Surely, not! Absolutely, yes, the past must be opened up, but in a layered, nuanced way that respects the complexities then, and surely not to suit one's own favourite hobby horses, nor to air/further one's own given (at times, not even hidden) agenda!

Otherwise, the eternal Holocausts under different titles and varied guises will forever continue to haunt, harass, harm! Blood is more precious than convenient prejudices!

Pratima@ The barbers (as they were called circa 1855, now would be known as hair stylists!) went on a strike against widows' tonsure in 1855. Since then, sea changes have taken place (even in the lot of women professionally and in the private sphere). Why then glamour-ise such cruelties, such crudities, such vulgarities? Money, fame, cultural power thus gotten is blood money as at stake is the conscious handling, actually ill-treating, of millions of fates!

Quote of the day:                                                  "History is not was, it is," wrote William Faulkner, one of greatest authors ever. 

Word of the day: Authenticity                 Authenticity refers to being genuine, real, and true to oneself, one's values, and  personality, rather than pretending or being influenced by external pressures. It is  about honesty with one's own self, and by extension, with others. It involves taking responsibility, and aligning actions to the core value systems. 

Let us learn grammar:                                        This week onwards, we are going to look at one of the weakest points as far as usage in English goes; namely, articles. In English, as in all European languages, articles are COMPULSORY. They are, moreover, manifest at the surface level, unlike our Indian languages. 

THE Metaphor

 What would be the best metaphor for life? I have three ideas 'roaming' around. Let me explore them. 

The first one is six months old. In June, I was in the Himalayas. Yamunotri was such a tough trek, lovely vistas surrounded the narrowest strip of a winding-to-eternity road. One wrong foothold during a step, and in the Devbhoomi, one would have to be with God! Or the trek to Kedarnath, never-end-ingly long, where everything any second might go wrong, from which luckily God spared me. 

I loved both. Like the bouncy Ganges at Gangotri and the grandest scenarios there, they all still haunt me, constantly call me. May be, they are the best metaphor for life. After a tough, arduous journey, one meets the ultimate, 'the satyam, the shivam, the sundaram', the truth, the purity, the beauty of existence. 

The second one is six hours old. To my brothers', I went. Raju stays beyond Sakal Nagar, Sanju at Hinjewadi. The morning journey, the 'to' of the 'to-n-fro' duo, was okay-ish. There WAS traffic, but moderate, given the fact that one is talking of Pune. Perhaps it could be the week-end feel, people were yet to wake up, may be.

While returning though, it was sheer havoc, narrowest unknown roads, given the metro detours, the huge rows and columns, without any sensible pattern, of cars and  every other possible wheeled vehicle  zigzagging, the cacophony of horns, the overarching nonsensical behaviour everywhere, in the bus, on the roads, the red eye of the angry signal constantly ignored leading to sick 'jams'! 

May be, such travels cum travails are THE metaphor for life, confusing, irritating, disturbing, without any pattern, any direction, any meaning! 

The third possibility belongs to six days later, is from the future. This Friday, an inter-stellar comet, yes, from far beyond our solar system, is approaching us. It has interesting characteristics, no gravitational pull, huge carbon dioxide emissions. As usual with such 'accidents', will this, too, pass us by? Fables (that is, both, fabulations and takes with morals) are flying fast. Each is true and every one is false.

 Is that the ideal metaphor for life? Mysterious, menacing, miraculous! Or is life all the three metaphors, inextricably inter-linked. "Neti neti neti," as the Upanishads put it. Not fully understood, may be, yet thus to be lived!

Pratima@The truth of the matter is that "life will throw obstacles at you to make sure you want it," as Maxime Legace puts it.

Quote of the day:                                                        "If you do not like the road you are walking,"  argues Dolly Parton, "start paving another one." 

Word of the day: Metaphor.                                    A metaphor is a figure of speech wherein two dissimilar ideas/issues are compared, but without the comparison being openly stated/explained. 

The Trap

 The theme topping Pune talk these days is the leopard.  It has been sighted at the airport, too. Seems to like the tarmac. Surely more than the employees of a certain somewhere go! Why? Well, the leopard has been a regular at the airport since April, 2025!

Now this one is a proper smartie. All over, traps were laid for him, with tempting lures. Our Dear, or is it Fear, ignored all these absolutely  royally. Instead chose the tunnels the authorities use for their kind of work. Traps n cameras were tough. His Highness continued his entrances n exists as per Lordship's wishes. 

Well, at the end of the tunnel, there always is light. So goes Plato's famous cave metaphor. The poor animal, never thankfully a student, must not have known it. Finally, hence, Mr. Leopard was caught. In the very tunnel used as a clever hide-out! 

In that context, repeatedly came up the mention of the Bavdhan Leopard Rehabilitation Transit set-up. That makes one think. Yes, the airport is near the sugarcane districts. Agreed, but the Sindh Colony, et al?

Is it the case that the leopard roaming around those areas is a run-away from the rehabilitation center, let loose by mistake or oversight? 

Then creeps in a suspicion. Hope, if so, it indeed has been an oversight. Or is it someone's oversized sense of wicked, weird fun? Let loose a leopard, and watch the crazy jazz that follows? There is no knowing! 

Creepy currently is people's sense of 'fun',  not to forget the lust for reels. Let us think of a parallel. For whatever be your reason, you want to pull down a person. May be, she is far far better than you. Or you know very well that none is there to firmly n forever stand behind/with her. In fact, you might even be paid ( at times, in kind) to 'tease' her.

You let loose worst possible gossip about her. Professionally, personally. She is never ever, for example, even seen with anybody. Yet you manage to even divorce hundreds of husbands she never had. Why, she limps a little, you are certain, she has lost muscle control. She coughs and sneezes, you are certain, she is dying of a heart attack. Under the pretext of smoothening her tousled hair, you check if she is using any dye. She is trapped from every side, every which way. So you feel. Your funny bone is tickled to no end, but to your total satisfaction. 

Trap a victim and enjoy yourself. Such vicious sadism, fuelled by groupism's and gangsterism's of all sorts, is the order of the day. It makes great gossip n timepass chat, right? Not to forget, the headlines, the breaking news, the TRP. Hope the poor innocent animal was not THUS victimised for someone's creepy crazy sadistic sense of fun! 

Pratima@ Ah, yes, I remembered the famous Sherlock Holmes tale of terror, "The Hound of Baskerville." Even in fiction, an innocent is terrorised and victimised, given the egoistic hankering after sick control! Easier now it is with technology as a tampering tool! 

Quote of the day:                                                        Oh, Sweetie!                                                               Monsters are real!!                                                    And they look like people!!!                                              -- ---By anonymous

Word of the day: Sadism                                        Sadism is the tendency to derive pleasure from the conscious ill-treatment, humiliation, pain of a vulnerable victim. Such crooked pleasure cannot be normal, right? 

N.B.: It is the week-end. A halt hence to the "Let us learn grammar."