The Meaning of a Myth

 Akshay Tritiya is often the occasion for buying gold in many a household. Given the current sky-rocketing prices of the yellow metal, one wonders who would manage that feat this year. Well, why must people be buying it anyways? Apparently, it is believed that all the activities performed on this day are "akshay", that is, without any decrease/loss.

The notion is rooted in a tale from 'Mahabharata'. The Pandavas have to abdicate their throne after the game of the dice, and are forced to live in the forest. Nothing can please the wicked Duryodhana more. Just to harass them still further, he consciously sends Rishi Durwasa with his entire retinue to visit the poor Pandavas.

It is already late in the evening. The wicked idea that Duryodhana is harbouring is that the Pandavas would have to host all these guests which they would not manage, and given the notorious bad temper of Rishi Durwasa, a curse would surely follow, thereby making the tough life of the Pandavas still more difficult.

Draupadi has just cleaned up all the vessels when the tired and hungry guests reach the doorstep. She is in a terrible fix. Lord Krishna, her saviour forever, notices her discomfort. Carefully, he looks at all the vessels. In one of these, he locates a miniscule most tiny leaf of the vegetable cooked for the last supper. He eats it with utmost joy, and belches with complete contentment. That very minute, all the guests, too, feel fulfilled. Krishna blesses Draupadi that this "akshay patra" would always be full.

What could be the significance of the myth? For one thing, it means that the rishi and his retinue, pure souls basically, are fulfilled when the Lord is happy. That munificence should be the real "akshay patra." Does the myth mean that a woman should be better at the management of her household? I would rather say that the tale tells you that 'never be a Duryodhana, no use it is' as the entire universe itself will conspire to help the good. In my opinion, that eternal contentment is the real magic Krishna performs! 

Hope the very many dastardly Duryodhana's bustling busily in each and every corner of the private space and the public sphere would take this cue so that normal life would be "akshay", and forever!

Pratima@ There is an Armenian tale, it seems. Three apples fell from the heaven, one for the narrator of a story, one for the listener, and the last and the best for the person who took it to heart!

His Masterful Voice

 In the world of Bollywood music, which is now more and more automated, once upon a time, not so very long ago, there used to be simply gems of songs you could hear umpteen times, and yet you would feel like listening to them yet once more.

Especially unique would be a pair, a face that would lip-sync on screen a marvel of a rendition. Madhubala, for instance, insisted on Lata Mangeshkar as her singing voice. Such masterful couples have been quite a few. Most people love, for example, the Raj Kapoor-Mukesh version.

In my opinion, one such superb pairing is Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna. True, Kishore Kumar, the great genius, even when he was not deep in to the classical base, could enliven any wooden face with his soulful rendition.

Yet it is with Rajesh Khanna, despite Khanna's horrible mannerisms, that Kishore Kumar's  voice seems to emote best. May be, Khanna's repetitive gestures so-called as acting, needed a soul, and Kishore Kumar's voice seems to grant it.

The list is endless. Can you think of "Amar Prem" without Kishore Kumar? If it were any other singer, Khanna's phoney acting would have been impossible to bear, right? Remember the pathos of "Zindagi ke safar me"? But impossible without Kishore Kumar, right? The very many songs could be played in loop endlessly, right?

Actually, there is a quartet to such renditions, if one listens carefully. Sure, Kishore Kumar could create a wonder like "woh sham kuch ajeeb thi" under Hemant Kumar's brilliant direction. But it is mostly R.D. Burman who takes the Kishore-Khanna duets to great heights.

Did I talk of a quartet? Well, very rarely does the common man kind of audience remember the lyricists when it comes to Hindi film music, right? Mostly, it is the actor, followed by the singer, and, at times, the music director in such a hierarchisation.

It is the "words, words, words", however, that cast the real spell. It is noteworthy, hence, that it is mostly Anand Bakshi who has penned the Kishore-R.D.-Khanna greats.  What masterful renditions indeed!

Pratima@The HMV records once had the logo of a doggie devotedly listening to a record. Hence the tagline, his master's voice. When it comes to such a quartet, the 'master'ful voice embellishes the lovely words set to great tunes that made the silver screen scintillate, right?

Why so (c)rude?

 This evening I got to watch a video, by the BBC at that, in which a rather famous, sorry to have to say so, but Marathi, actor was waxing eloquent about his trip to Pahalgam, immediately after the unfortunate tragedy! The sensitive etc etc etc soul was holding forth about the need not to make the poor (as usual, in all senses of this term!) locals feel lost which they would, if tourism were to collapse right in the beginning of the season, it seems.

How very lofty, no? Well, I do not think so at all. Well, the blood spilt there might not be still washed away. If this sensitive(!!!) soul were to sensibly look around, instead of showing other equally (c)rude people 'enjoying' themselves, he would have indicated the dismal signs of that terrible tragedy, right?

What he, and others of his ilk, are doing is downright disrespectful to those who suffered such a horrid tragedy. Their wounds are still raw. Why rub salt in to their injuries by glorifying the so-called "all is well, all is well" normalcy?

Sure, the locals must not suffer due to a handful extremists. Well, sorry to have to say this, but would the terrible tragedy have taken place at all if the locals were not at all involved? The culprits were very much present at the site beforehand, busy with an ugly reiki, and so on. Very many private videos (from Pune, too) have emerged to establish the locals coordinating, cooperating with those horrid terrorists! Look at the way they heckled and ill-treated, unlike the BBC journalist, Divya Tripathi who, too, was reporting!

If, for a week, tourism were suspended as a mark of respect for the innocent dead who unnecessarily lost lives, and for the grieving, suffering survivors who have thus got a lifetime of disturbing memories, the locals, too, would have learnt a valuable lesson, right? May be, at least for financial, if not for any idealistic, reasons, the locals would have avoided any truck with the terrorists, right?

Why frolic when someone else has been very recently and absolutely grievously wounded? Even animals do not go for such cruel crudities! Many animals mourn their dead! Would the tourists enjoying there or the sensitive etc etc etc actor, and others of his ilk, have behaved the same way if their near and dear ones had fallen victims to the AK 47 bullets of the terrorists?

Why be so (c)rude, while pretending to be oh-so-kind to Kashmiri's? Or is it the case that only local Kashmiri's suffer? And the unfortunate victims of a senseless terrorist attack, what about their emotional wounds? Money matters, one's (c)rude 'enjoyment' alone cannot always have the upper hand! As it is, it has already been established, the touristy season was advanced to an earlier date, and without the necessary permissions!!

Such (c)rude arrogance gives rise to the suspicion by many that an international narrative was involved in maligning India, especially because the American Vice- President had till then enjoyed a very happy feel-good tour of India with his young family.

Yes, one must be liberal, democratic, open. For SURE! But pretensions to that effect, which are extremely unjust to the suffering of others, do smack of (c)rude hypocrisy, right? 

A parallel would be so-called celebrities asking young impressionable minds to chase their dreams (which most often are acting, dancing, singing, stand-up comedy-ing) instead of following the well-meaning advice of those who genuinely care for them. Despite so very many reality shows on so very many channels, how many get a decent break, especially if they do not have a godfather or a fairy mother?!? The percentage would be truly dismal. Unhappy indeed is the society where so-called celebrities set awful agendas that are absolutely delusional!

Pratima@Yet another parallel would be the MPSC/UPSC dreams. I have taught (on a part-time basis) for three solid years in one such institute. Without a Plan B in place, young (wo)men from very poor families and rural background are led down the primrose path with absolutely tinsel tales. Indeed, why be so (c)rude?!?

 

Solace

 John Donne, one of the greatest poets ever, was a cleric as well. In the "memento mori" style which his clan, the Metaphysical Poetry movement, too, gloried in, he superbly mocks death as "Death, thou shalt die". That religious certainty is, however, best captured in his Meditations, XVII.

It is part of his "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions". He was himself down with fever then, had a close brush with death, and yet had to perform his duties as a cleric. Hence his island metaphor, loved even by those who have nothing to do with literature.

"No man is island/entire of itself," asserts John Donne. Everyone is a piece of the continent, part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, he states further, Europe is the less. He concludes with one of the most poignant declarations, "every death diminishes me." Hence his injunction, "never, therefore, send to know/for whom the bell tolls/for it tolls for thee."

Death has been hovering in the very air since the Pahalgam incident. The heart wrenching wails of the young bride who turned a widow in the very first week of her marriage, the terrible tales told by the other survivors are tough to bear.

This evening, moreover, I got to hear the sad news of the death of my friend's father. Just two days back, we had discussed his fragile health which must be extremely painful for him as he was in his mid-nineties. There would be countless happy memories which would now be Varsha's succour and support.

Yet the news saddened me deeply. Yes, there is no true solace, I think, when someone very close passes away. Absolutely intensely, truly acutely is felt the loss. Yes, every death creates a hole in the soul. But when a parent passes away, one truly feels disconsolate. Whatever be your age, you suddenly feel absolutely orphaned. 

Yes, you know everything. Your parent's life was ideal, was good, was fulfilled. Yet the feel that this presence who was with you right from your birth is no more is somehow hard to bear. Every dose, every pill of the medicine to be fed at a given time hurts as if you have to yourself swallow it painfully.

Sure, time is the only solution to every loss. Yet the moment the scab which you thought had hardened, if not healed, is worried open, you realise the wound is raw beneath. The darkest night sure ends, the bright sun brilliantly burns. Yet the tender grace of a day that is no more never returns!

Pratima@"Our dead are never dead to us as we have never forgotten them". My favourite most author, George Eliot, would sure forgive me the minor change I made in her famous assertion.

Such a Soulful Song

  A song is never merely beautiful words set to a lovely tune. A song is always a memory, ma(r)king a mood. Yes, it is April 26 today, Aai's mensual death anniversary, and as usual, I would keep a fast today as I do every month, and on every twenty-first as that date marks Papa's death anniversary.

Today I would like to talk of a song she greatly loved. During her last stay in the Mangeshkar hospital, I played it once, and literally there was a unique feel then as if that song got played, as if in another world, with the ultimate sweetness accessible to Lataji's divine voice. That moment etched in  my very being gives me goosebumps even today.

Yes, the song I am referring to is "Aap ki nazron ne samza" from the film "Anapadh" (1961). It was her favourite. For many reasons! They were newly married, a little settled in life, blessed with toddlers, and, oh, yes, the simply exquisite words of this great ghazal capture that total, complete devotion, surrendering self, which the early phase of love pulsates with. 

Of course, every lyrical word by Raja Mahdi Ali Khan is set in this song to a literally hypnotic tune by the one and only Madan Mohan. The flute bar with which this song begins, I suppose, sets the magical mood of the intensity of a deeply felt love which permeates every line of each stanza of this great ghazal. 

One of the songs which make you fall in love with love itself! Each time I hear it, which is quite often, it floods my mindscape with an intense storm of most pleasantly painful feelings. No wonder, Shelley wrote, "music when soft voices die/lingers in the memory."

Pratima@Earlier once when she was hospitalised there, her gerontologist came for the usual morning round. As usual, my mobile was on the eternal music mode. Poor guy, he found it hard to concentrate while diagnosing his patient! 

Rather stiffly, and quite sternly,  he asked me to please switch the music off. While I did so immediately, within myself I burst with a huge laugh at the slight irony! Songs sure have souls which live on, long past any ''as it happened once upon a time"! 

Readers, they love her!

 Those of my readers who love literature, especially English literature, would instantly recognise that the title of our blog today is a take-off on one of the most famous last lines in world literature. Yes, typically literature enthusiasts love the first lines of many literary texts. But some authors have the powerful appeal that holds their readers till the last line which they make simply (in all possible senses of this term) memorable.

Charlotte Bronte, whose birth anniversary falls on April 21, is one such author, and  "Reader, I married him" is the last sentence of one of the most loved novels in  world literature, "Jane Eyre" (published in 1847), especially as far as writing by women authors goes.

Charlotte, whose own life was chequered in very many ways, wrote of unusual, independent women when the Victorian era she wrote in idolised the "angel by the hearth" as the female role model. Yes, her heroines are truly unusual. They are not raging beauties. Nor do they come from highly connected, richie-rich families.

Yet these women are exceptionally  intelligent and truly ethical. However difficult may be their circumstances, these otherwise sweet, straightforward women refuse to compromise on their principles. In other words, Charlotte chooses to make her women characters lovable for their inner beauty and strength.

Her eponymous heroine, Jane Eyre, is one of the most interesting and much loved characters in world literature. Orphaned at birth, ill-treated by her maternal aunt and cousins in her early childhood, raised most frugally in an institute for the destitute, she trains herself to be a governess in an era when her own author had to take a pen name to write her story.

Just as she refuses to be the mistress of the man whom she loves and whom she finally marries despite all sorts of emotional travails and financial troubles, she disagrees to be pressurised in to marrying a man whom she does not love, however kosher his proposal might appear to everybody else.

Be it Lucie Snowie of "Villete", and certainly Jane Eyre, Charlotte's authentic heroines, whose stories she passionately narrated in unusual literary forms, have influenced generations of readers and women writers such as Jean Rhys whose "Wide Sargasso Sea" opens up Charlotte's vamp, Bertha Mason in "Jane Eyre", most interestingly from the post-colonial perspective. Hence the relevance of her novels written roughly two hundred years ago!

Pratima@ Literature indeed is the best teacher. No wonder, it is said, "Vyasochchishtam jagat sarvam", that is to say, there is nothing in this world that Vyas Muni, the arch author, did not deal with. 

Language Changes!

 Change, they say, is inevitable; growth, however, is optional. In no other human endeavour  is this axiom as visible as in language us(ag)e. Why, the Oxford University Press publishes annually the most effective word of the year.

In 2023, it was the Gen Z term "rizz" which meant the 'X' factor that makes one the ultimate charmer. In 2024, "brain rot" questioned the excessive consumption of low quality online material. Well, in 2025, a Tiktoker, named Jools LeBron, redefined the traditional "demure" to mean its absolute antonym, that is, sophisticated smarty pants! Apparently, that is how she perceives herself!

Beyond such slang (there is a regular online #has to be thus, right?# dictionary defining its usages, by the way!) and the WhatsApp-y "lmao" and "lol" and "ig" (no worries, nothing to do with the police! It simply means, 'i guess' which grammatically should have been 'igs', that is, 'i guess so'. Who is afraid of grammar these days though?), computers is another field that constantly re-constructs, re-constitutes, re-structures language!

Oh, such jokes as the dumbo secretary of the 'Admin' 'burning' a c.d. and afraid to keep a cat, given the 'mouse' her boss wants her to get urgently are loooong passe. 

Now the field has encroached on literature and zoology. Don't you believe me? Okay, lemme give ya eg's! Kafka! What does the word mean to you? A great German author, right? Or an interesting title by the "in'' litterateur, Haruki Murasaki-san of Japan, whom the Gen Z types love, okay?

What does the word 'zookeeper' mean in common parlance? Somebody who overlooks the Rajiv Gandhi zoo at Katraj near Pune, right? 

Well, ask any software type, and he/she would come up with meanings of these words which initially sure would appear to be sheer gobbledy-gook!

'Kafka' now refers to an open source online software platform, and 'zookeeper' in this 'Kafka' manages metadata! Well, it is the ex-Puneite, Neha Narkhede, who has thus re-named the two terms. Why she chose these two, she alone would know, I suppose! The Lord be thanked though that it is not 'Shakespeare' and 'guava' or 'Kalidasa' and 'kuttakam'!!

In brief, language changes, and how! Such language changes are more and more coterie terms, moreover. May be, one of the reasons it could be why communication breaks down, and often!

Pratima@The worst example of a breakdown of communication, however, is the Pahalgam Massacre where innocents died because a handful of terrifying terrorists, extremists actually, who insisted upon their "bloody" (in all senses of this term) language alone!

Not of an age/but for all times!

 April 23! It is day of the Feast of Saint George. He is the national saint of England. Is it any surprise then that the national (actually of the entire world) icon of England, William Shakespeare, was both born and died on April 23!

Shakespeare's life is full of such anomalies. Nobody knows much about him or his life, and hence everybody, contemporary  to contemporaneous, that is, till now, is free to take all sorts of potshots at him, to make all kinds of crazy conjectures about him which, however, never reach that creative core within him. Rather like the still center of a storm he is. 

May be, that is why his epitaph which curses anyone disturbing his bones, a fact which he metaphorically faced repeatedly when alive. His baptism was on April 26. Hence it is guessed that he was born on April 23.

Beginning thence, everything in his life is rendered suspect. Why did he run away to London? There are dubious wild theories galore. He was a thief, he impregnated a hussy, and so on. Nobody would grant him his superb talent which had no outlet in that hamlet called Stratford upon Avon, and hence, London, bustling with all sorts of activities, was the only option then.

But when you are the soft target because of your brilliant talent, hatchets are always out! Look at his sexuality, for instance. He is accused simultaneously of carrying on very many affairs, and of homoerotic proclivities!

His superb talent was such a thorn in the flesh of so many that the wildest rumours flourish. Many dismiss the very fact that he ever wrote anything. His brilliant and copious work is affianced to Marlowe! For  the mighty University Wits who could never ever match his popularity, this lowly born village idiot without any hi-fi education unlike them was the 'Shakescrow', borrowing the feathers!

Poor Willie! Each one of his word (he generously enriched the English language itself) is a polished gem that just cannot be replaced, and yet any jealous bully, who could never match his majesty, would accuse him of plagiarism.

What is most appealing about Shakespeare is that he knows all such jealous crookednesses. Look at his Chandos portrait. He has a very knowing and amused look, right? He never lets them wound him though. Instead,  he created works that are not of any age, but of all times.

Each one of his texts (they echo the con'texts' most interestingly), whatever be the genre, sonnet cycle, long poem, comedy, romance, historical play, tragedy, is a perfect picture of all that is human(e), and yet divine, of all the dross in that two-legged animal called man whose glory Shakespeare captures so sensitively.

May be, that is why each generation meets Shakespeare anew, finds in his texts novel meanings. No wonder, Ben Jonson, his 'bitter' rival, has to finally acknowledge that he was not of an age/but for all times!

Pratima@One can write tomes on Shakespeare, and yet his allure would keep on inviting one to explore more, and further. Indeed, to quote Shelley on Wordsworth, William Shakespeare is like the lone star shining bright, guiding the lonely bark lost to voluminous waves. He is the last refuge of blind fools battling bitterly. No wonder, he is not of an age, but for all times!

Our only hope:Our earth

 April 21 is the vernal equinox day. On this day, the sun is exactly above the equator, and the day and the night are almost of the same length. For the Western world where the winter means the empire of the snow, this day brings very happy tidings because it means the spring would now bloom in full form.

No wonder, the day is also known as the Earth Day. Such an annual reminder is absolutely essential in our environmentally challenged times. The thoughtless way we, the human beings, are splurging the resources granted to us gratis by nature, such reminders should actually be daily!

In our reckless hunt of all sorts of often meaningless pleasures that take us away from nature, we vitiate the earth and its resources. In the process, we forget, moreover, that we share the terra firma with the flora and the fauna which are getting extinct due to our excesses.

Indeed I shudder when I read any news that this or that region, whichever might be the country, has got gold (or, for that matter, any mineral) reserves, for instance. That would mean the mad gold rush. The resultant mining can ruin the region every possible way, but none would care, right?

We have managed to pollute the air, water, why, even the space! I am very doubtful about the space odyssey dream for the common man. No, not because it would be horribly expensive but also because the human colonial mentality would degrade the poor solar system. Just try to remember how India or Latin America was before the conquistadores came!

In brief, our only hope is our earth. On this Earth Day, let us once again pledge to retain it pristine for future, for generations to come!

Pratima@ The earth does provide for everybody's needs. Let us not exploit it for excessive greeds of all types of human(?) beings, as Gandhiji would say.

Live-ly Literature

 Yesterday was the Easter Sunday. For Christians of all possible denominations, it is a major festival. As per the New Testament, it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ who died on the cross on Friday. As per the Gospels, Mary Magdalena and other women visit his tomb three days after the crucifixion. When they find the tomb empty, angels appear, and reveal resurrection which is a symbol of hope as well as the victory over death and sin.

Leo Tolstoy's eponymous novel, published in  1899, describes the Mass conducted on this holy day. It is a central event in the plot of this novel. As per the Freytag analysis of the structure of a novel, the Resurrection Mass would be part of the 'rising action'. It is one of the most beautiful, lyrical and evocative presentations of the Resurrection Mass.

As Tolstoy was basically a realist, he describes it so perfectly and precisely that you can see the candelabra shining like the snow gleaming with the rays of the early morning sun. He catches brilliantly the piety which is the perfect backdrop to the purity of the love blooming in the innocent soul of Katyusha which elevates the worldly wise Dimitri as well. 

Even if you have never visited the Resurrection Mass in person, you can still visualise the loveliness of the moment. That is the power of literature. Literature is lively because it livens up reality which lives forever in the heart, soul and conscience of the reader.  

Countless such examples can be multiplied. Neither time nor space can create boundaries for literature. It transcends all such liminalities to reveal the true human(e) spirit underlying all the differences.

May be, let us hence hope that the textbooks created/designed for all the languages to be taught from Standard I would be so creative that they would nurture imagination and conscience, both qualities very much needed in the already post-ChatGPT era of today!

Pratima@ Literature lives, and enlivens! Absolutely live-ly it is!

Eerie Earthquakes

 In this weird world of ours, every eccentricity can be somehow predicted. Except one! Yes, the eerie earthquake! Based on the ocean currents, scientists can predict the el niño and la niña effects on the monsoon cycles. Tsunamis, however, they can not because they are triggered by the quakes.

Sure, our dearest friends, the doggies, do get the sensations somehow, may be, given their sharper auditory/aural abilities. They start wailing pitifully. Just as all the animals can sense a tsunami, and move to higher places fast. That way, we humans, too, have our Baba Venga and Nostradamus, who, incidentally, has predicted a horrible quake in May.

Now, however, geologists, too, have joined such soothsayers. Based on the wave patterns in the water table in Tibet, and given the geological  delamination process, because of which a geological plate gets pulled in to the mantle of the earth, the scientists are predicting a huge earthquake which might divide India in to two, it seems. Some prediction it is, as if the "two nations" notion, rampant since the Partition days, is not enough!

As it is, given the subtle but inevitable process of tectonic plates shifting, a major part of India lies in the Zone 4 and Zone 5 fault lines. In fact, the most sensitive, and hence extremely dangerous Zone 5 has in its radius/ on its radar New Delhi as well as Mumbai, that is, both the capital and the financial center of India. Add to it the delamination process, not to forget the solar surface disturbances! Are we indeed on the threshold of a disaster?

There is no knowing! Geologists are predicting equally eerie processes near the African landmass which may get newer seas, while the ever active Ring of Fire may burn up a huge tragedy in Japan which may experience both a severe earthquake and a huge tsunami.

Well, every Japanese is always prepared every which way. Since school days, every child is trained thus. Here in India, we are busy fighting over the three language formula. True, children initially should transact the whole educational business through the mother tongue. But, here in India, parents themselves do not bother about English being taught at a very tender age, and kids do,  are allowed to, watch cartoons in every possible language! Then why the opposition to Hindi? Is it politically motivated? Are not such linguistic, regional skirmishes a premonition of (a consciously planted/planned?) division of india as per the North versus South fault line?

Anyways, if the earthquake does indeed strike, hope the safer Southern peninsula would rush to help the North that the geologists predict would completely be bifurcated! Though many a politicians and other such petty practitioners of all sorts of differentiations may love such a division, here is praying ardently that it never happens. In the meanwhile, Happy Easter!

Pratima@ Stay safe. Stay informed. Stay prepared. Stay organised. Stay calm. Earthquakes happen!

Timeless Tales

 Yesterday was celebrated the World Heritage Day. It was initiated by the UNESCO in 1983. As per the edicts of the ICOMOS, the international council which initiated this concept, world heritage initially consisted of monuments and sites. What a wealth we have of these in India, and internationally!

Just think of either Hampi or Ajanta-Ellora. Who could be these nameless master craftsmen creating poetry in stones? The only emotion possible at the very thought of these wonders is reverence. Honestly, many many more must be included in this list. The Kedarnath Temple, for instance. How was it built? Such stone slabs are not available anywhere near that site. These huge slabs are, moreover, just interlocked! Defying the extreme vagaries of nature, it stands tall, like the "gopurams" of the South temples, truly timeless!

In my opinion, texts, too, truly are extremely creative cultural heritage. Beginning from palm leaves, parchments, vellum, to clay slabs to silk scrolls, the history of writing is itself a tremendous tale. As for the "words, words, words" written on these surfaces, they have enriched worlds. Hence it made me feel very happy when I read the status by Dr. Rajeshree Gokhale, my colleague whose Department looks after the cultural con-'texts'. She mentions in that status that now the "Geeta" and the "Natyashastra" by Bharat Muni are heritage texts. Feel proud that I have tried to learn (and partially teach) both. Could I add ad infinitum to this list! The very thought is exhilarating!!

Oh, yes, how possibly could we forget the natural heritage sites? Look at the Western Ghats, for example. Though it makes one worry about the tectonic shift underneath, are not the Himalayas standing taller a few inches every year a matter of pride? 

These timeless tales, whether regional (the beautiful 'bawdies'), national (countless) and international (literally beyond measure), prove irrefutably that human(e) greatness is eternal!

Pratima@ Heritage monuments, sites, texts indeed are footprints that nothing, neither disasters, nor wars, nor neglect, can erase. The Taliban triumphs not over the Bamiyan Buddhas!

Forwarding Harvard!

 Yet again, America is our theme. This time around, it is the universities. Yup, the left-leaning Democrats, like the universal Dear Dahling Obama, have begun mourning the Death of the University. Arthur Miller would sure forgive me this word play on his world famous title.

Don't you know the issue? Well, ever since his ascendence to presidentship, Mr. Trump has been vroom-ing all sorts of 're-forms'. In his opinion, for sure, it would be brooming away the cobwebs. As part of the process, he has written a letter to all the (major) universities.

The background to this fracas is the pro-Palestine démonstrations at the major universities, not to forget the DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) programmes. During the heat of the mo(ve)ment, even the private donors who fund many "chairs" and departments in such centers of excellence had put forth a demand similar to Mr Trump's. 

Their feeling then was that student activism, rather than being youthful idealism, was absolutely more in to politicking, and international at that. Students could not possibly tell the University how/what its, or the government's, relationship with Israel should be, was their  leit-motif.

Now Alan Garber, President, Harvard University, has assumed a similar high moral ground. In his response to the Trump advisory, he argues that the government exceeds its legal authority if it tells private universities what to teach, whom to admit, which areas of study to forward, et al. In extremely evocative and emotional language, he talks of  how a university cannot "surrender its independence", nor "relinquish its constitutional rights".

Both the sides feel that each of them is forwarding Harvard, that is, taking the great institution in the right direction. Of course, at stake are nine billion dollars of research funding, not to forget the international students who are the cash cow of the American universities. The international students' fees are more than double the 'native' payment, not to forget the convenient relaxing of the standards. So, after all said and done, it is the money, honey!

Well, as in India, in America, too, the party that lost its power position has the "opposition for the sake/heck of opposition" mindset and rhetoric. "Hate Trump and all that he does/says" is often the one point programme. In the whataboutery, conveniently hence are forgotten their own extremely debatable decisions and positions.

A parallel in India could be the furore over Hindi. Well, the 'Three Language Formula' has always existed. Why should not india have a common national language? Possibly it cannot be English, right? Incidentally, the highest applicants for the syllabus-external national level examinations in/for Hindi are from the South! They, mostly Tamilians, are often the toppers, too!! Do Malayalis use their mother tongue in the Middle East? They do learn an extra language, right?

 As for the compulsion bit, how many, even so-called progressive, schools, have so far taught Tamil/Telugu/Malyalam/Gujarati as the third language out of choice? If five students are ready to opt for Sanskrit/Pali as the third language, which school would allow that freedom to this minority? Suddenly then would emerge, in fact, shoot issues about "co-ordination". Incidentally, how many parents have taught any such extra language to their kids? At least as the Summer Hobby Programme/Camp?

Anyways, students are way too smarter in the ways of the world. Suddenly, for example,  many of my M.A. students started learning the "Modi'' script. They used to tell me a lot about their achievements in this regard which I used to find extremely praiseworthy. The bubble soon burst when I realised that the passion for the "Modi" script had nothing to do with academics. Rather, the caste certifications of yesteryears were in that script!

Personally I do feel that any type of politicking, any form of gangster groupism in academics is absolutely wrong. Students can neither be the victims nor the flag-bearers of all sorts of interest groups. As it is, industry-led syllabi are lording over academics which always touts the Chinese proverb which says that it is better to teach a hungry man how to fish, rather than directly feed him fish daily! Nobody is debating such encroachment in the field of academics in the name of "industry relevant" 'life' skills which provide easy credits to credit-crazy students who rarely take any (such, especially) course(s) seriously. 

Look at the Fourth (or is it already the Fifth?) Revolution that is striding the wor(l)d. How should academics deal with it creatively should be the urgent debate. Who cares though? In the meantime, the storms in the tea cup rage worse than all hurricanes put together!

Pratima@Autonomy is yet another most 'interesting' issue. Most often, it consists of a loose affiliation with some university or the other as per the dominant 'interest' group in the institution, while in actual terms, it translates to teaching the minimum most (if lectures get conducted at all) and setting the question paper accordingly. Everybody is absolutely happy, and "all is well, all is well" with the whole world!

When cities die

 You must have read the weird news about the Ailes family.  The father of the family died, and when the pall bearers were trying to lower the coffin in the grave, the platform gave way, and all of them fell in to the grave. The son of the dead man was caught below his father's coffin, 'grave'ly wounded like all the others. The family blamed the city administration.

Where do you think this creepy accident could have possibly taken place? Any guesses? Well, it is Philadelphia in the U.S., THE city of American identity as it was here that the major events of the American War of Independence materialised in multiple ways.

Well, many such travesties of civic amenities are "ghosting" many American cities. That is to say, very many American cities, once dream destinations, are now being abandoned, and in droves. The list is literally endless.

What possibly are the reasons? It is the money, honey! In other words, manufacturing, tech as well as farming jobs are drying up. In addition to rising unemployment, crumbling public infrastructure and declining educational standards are making cities un-live/love-able for families. Huge homelessness and the forever rising curve of the crime rate, be it car jacking or burglaries and muggings are other major reasons. 

Climate change and the resultant lack of potable water, not to forget the horrible hurricanes, et al, are the other reasons. Lack of entertainment and social life is another oft cited cause. The  situation is so grim that a small town like Blytheville in the Arkansas region is actually paying people to settle-n- stay there!

In a way, such facts explain why Trump's MAGA call resonates so resoundingly. Obviously, immigrants are always the easiest scapegoats. The fact, however, is that the glitter of the American Dream is fading. 

Incidentally, such ghost cities are a reality in China as well. Wuhan, notorious since the days of the COVID epidemic, has huge high-rises without any residents. The real estate business in China is a bone (of contention) that can neither be swallowed nor can it be spit out!

What can India learn from such giant tragedies? No use gloating over democracy (unlike China)! Neither will it benefit blaming capitalism. Our very own villages, even three-tier cities, are no different, given the huge urbanisation which in its turn makes the mega metro cities collapse. Very soon the usual Tumbai tales would be afloat! The political party warfare could carry on endlessly, while population explosion, ideological issues, job loss due to the invading A.I., and many such other bombs keep on ticking to explode any time!

In other words, the dying American cities can teach Indian towns many lessons which we MUST learn, and by heart!

Pratima@ When the grass is greyer on the other side, time to realise that all that glitters need not be gold!

All for Art's Sake!

 Wor(l)d(s) these days happen to be absolutely 'art'-ificial. Their meanings are indeed mobile currently. If such are the times, can arts flourish?

Oh, yes, 'Arts', as an academic discipline,  once the h(e)aven of the truly talented, is now the reserve of the worst refuse of the educational field. Let us not talk about that 'Arts', hardly worth a discussion by any, except those preparing for the competitive exams, right?

Instead, let us look at the fine arts. Be it plastic arts or performing arts, currently there are a few trends that are quite obvious. Either it is pop art or the folk art. It is rap dance and warli paintings that sell, right?  The 'curators' would prefer an abstract or a folksy painting, okay? If markets, controlled by advertising and business-men, thus dominate the sacred space that should be guided by genuine creativity and imagination, where should those who care for purity hide? 

Sure, an artist cannot live in the ivory tower. If, however, trashy serial-ised melodrama or sheer fluff without a thought-through core, sells as literature, what can be the future of an author? All types of arts, pure and/or applied, have a huge threat posed by the AI, moreover!

Yet I am sure that arts would survive because in its genuine voice lies the oppositional strain that questions all that is dross/gross in the current context, and thus holds forever, a gentle yet tensile, murmur for a better future. Three cheers for arts on the World Arts Day! Long (would sure) live arts!

Pratima@ Artists die, trends dither; Art lives, and forever  

Fond Frankenstein's!

 Have you read Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"? Yes, the first ever science fiction in the whole world! Sure it narrates the tragedy when self-aggrandising fools tend to play god. In the process, they generate demons, literally devils, they themselves cannot later control.

These days the devil thus out of control is the social media. The so-called "big tech" companies, without a large heart, have let loose these unseen addictions. Yes, you can see a dipsomaniac rotting in his own vomit, a junkie behaving weirdly in her drug induced trance. But you cannot know what goes on behind the closed doors your young ones bang shut on your face, while they are busy scrolling, often mindlessly, the  social media sites. 

The ghouls the social media maddeningly manages has everything that is the refuse of the human spirit. There is huge bullying, rustic ragging, terrible shaming (for such reasons as age which is the stupidest because everybody is older than someone), constant cheap attempts to invade privacy, weird attitudes about women, sex, and so on, and so on infinitely!

Do not you believe me? Okay, listen to the British Prime Minister who in the British Parliament discussed "Adolescence", a web series in four parts, which shows how a teenager from an extremely loving, perfectly ideal family murders a school girl under the influence of gaming and social media induced male rage. 

Honestly, the big bad world is no longer at bay, far far away once you close the main gate shut. In fact, behind the closed doors of your children's rooms (the pampered silly brats who do not know the "c"  of creativity, the "d" of discipline or the "i"  of intelligence/imagination, but only the "b" of boredom), through gaming and social media, the worst refuse of the world, prejudices, violence, meanness, viciousness, is injected directly in to the empty brains of your children in an addictive way. 

As a result, you have newly married brides (too! Truly sad!Pitifully patriarchal!) murdering anyone convenient from the new family, students never studying but getting pushed from year to year by educational institutes to put forth the show of "hundred per cent" results! In the balance hangs the fragile future of generations to come!

Well, Frankenstein could not control the monster he created. Hope we wake up at least now. Let us have happy discussions across the dining table. Let the dictum of "at least one meal together (without any digital contraption nearby)" rule the roost again. Considerate and kind communication by parents is the key if we are not to be fond(that is, silly and foolish) Frankenstein's!

Pratima@Communication is indeed necessary because the social media create a unique lingo, the crudest mode of the exclusionary 'in-group' mentality which pavés the way to all possible hells!

Peacock Parenting

 Heard of Kathleen Saxton? She is British. She is a psychotherapist. Her book is due in September, 2025. She has released a chapter from the forthcoming book on the internet. And, boy, is there some storm!

Why? Well, Madame has introduced in it a new style of parenting. She calls it peacock parenting. Oh, let the nomenclature not deceive you. There is nothing attractive about this freshly minted mode. It reflects excessive narcissism of the parent.

In the Western behavioural analysis, narcissism is the ultimate sin. It refers to an obsession with the self. The notion originates in the myth of Narcissus, an exceptionally handsome youth who is not aware of his own charms. One day, while drinking water from a brook, he gets to look at his own reflection, and falls insanely in love with the  comeliness reflected there, that is, with his own image.

He is so enamoured that he would/could not leave the place by the brook, and wastes away there. Jupiter, or it could be Apollo, takes pity on him, and turns him in to the Narcissus flower which blooms by a water body, and bends over it, as if it were Narcissus looking at his own lovely reflection. Involved in the myth is also Echo, his beloved. Let us not get in to that tangent right now. 

Given this mythological reference, Narcissism stands for people with excessive self obsession, total disregard for the feelings of  others, and craze for constant praise while brutally hurting others' feelings forever.

In the Western world, children's behavioural issues are always rooted in the parents' personalities. A child's adult insecurities would be found rooted in the childhood  frailties of parents. The worst type of parents, hence, are the narcissistic who are so much self-obsessed that they could not care about the child's welfare.

For the Maharashtrian mindset weaned on Sane Guruji's "Shyamchi Aai", such a parental profile is tough to digest. Why, every now and then, we have actors/singers reciting paeans to parents. In my opinion, however, there is no knowing with the Gen Z, or whatever. 

Personally, I believe that once you grow up, you make your own choices. Often these choices are influenced by many other factors than the parental power. The spouse could be a magnet much more commanding and dominant than the poor parents whom many children do not even get to meet months on end. Self-interest is another factor. Why to blame poor parents, and how long? Better to accept responsibility for oneself, and ASAP, right?

Pratima@ Mostly, there are more much-too- much-over-indulged and ungrateful children than worthless parents, right? Why, epics like Kalidasa's "Kumar Sambhav" and Milton's "Paradise Lost" begin with reverential references to parents. These, of course, are to the divine/the deities or the pre-lapsarian parents of mankind.

White Lies!

 I had just completed my M.Phil. I had registered for a Ph.D. with a UGC JRF/SRF. I was simultaneously trying for a doctorate from the U.S. I did get the okay from three universities. In fact, SUNY (State University of New York at Buffalo), a highly respected university in the U.S., sent me all the necessary documents as well. There was a small little hitch though. They were ready to fund me from the second semester onwards.

Papa was insistent that I go. He was most willing to fund the Sem. I expenditure. Well, till that point, my entire education was through merit scholarship as I was always a rank-holder, if not the topper. It was not that I was "proudy" (as indian English puts it!) but I felt that it could be a little dicey to be so very dependent on the whims and fancies of a distant dream. 

Well, I remembered all of it this morning because, as usual, i found a Youtube video flashing on my screen. This particular video described in detail the absolute raw truth of the U.S. job situation since 2008, post the Lehmann-Sachs meltdown, not to forget the shenanigans post-January, 2025, that is, post Trump trumpeting his desire to oust all immigrants, legal included. 

The white lie indeed is the American dream, in brief. In all the senses of the term 'white lie'. It is an un-truth by the White, and every which way.

Much worse, however, is the white lie by the non-white, especially in India. They pretend that in the post internet era, nobody knows that they are lying through their (non-white, once again in all the senses of the term) teeth about their happy, happy h(e)aven! 

One just pities them their lies, and not only because of the very many videos that tell the truth about the job realities in the U.S., Canada, and even the whole of Europe. Of course, as a person who teaches/translates these literatures (always THE mirror to reality from the days of Aristotle!), one knows the truth anyways.

But the best alibi are the honest who do not mind stating the obvious. At Woodland, where Aai stayed with Sanju's family (she loved the stay every which way), she was very friendly with a doctor there who immensely liked her because she never ever grumbled the typical way, despite being a senior citizen.

Their friendship continued even after Aai came to stay at Mukund Nagar. By extension, she became our family friend, too. Both her children are in the States. Both of them are brilliant, toppers type. Her daughter, a gold medalist here and a Ph.D. from John Hopkins, a highly respected university the world over, is yet, almost a decade later, to get a job/an assignment which promises that so-called American dream. Her son, an engineer here, with an M.S. there, has to constantly go job-(s)hopping, not to forget settling at times for whatever is dished out.  

I respect our friend for her honesty, and pity the white lies about/by those who could not honourably scrape off a decent degree here, and would be rejected by many a company in India. One knows very well why they work where they do (Texas, to give an example, where the taxes are lower, but so are the pay cheques), and all such white lies! Yet again, one feels like stating the obvious, that is, O, Lord, can you forgive them because they know what are doing/saying!!!

Pratima@The white collar job situation across the world is tough. Would it get worse with the A.I. and the robotics striding fast the lie of the land?!?

Jai Hanuman!

 In the Hindu iconography, there are deities that are extremely lovable. Children adore them. Hanuman from the Ramayana is one such ideal character. Most kids tend to like him a lot, right?

If we explore his persona, most interesting it is. In my opinion, he is a wonderful combo of the hard and the soft power. For sure, he is the very name of physical prowess. Why, he can lift an entire mountain! Equally gentle, however, he is. Look at his adoration of Rama who resides in his heart. 

As a follower, he is total dedication incarnate. Yet he knows his limits, too. When he located Seeta in Ravana's Lanka, he could have easily carried her back. He, however, reveres her and respects her commitment. He completes his assignment, conveying Lord Rama's message, most conscientiously, but without getting in to any overdrive. 

Personally I like his curious nature. Remember how, as a kid, he tends to grab the early morning sun as a unique fruit? It is not merely an adventure. It is an attempt to internalise the unknown as well. No wonder, he is a "chiranjivi", one who would live forever as great is his desire for knowledge. Hence he is found in the Mahabharata as nestling on Arjuna's pennant.

Children love his comedy especially  in burning the Lanka. The more the demons try to ill-treat him, the more they ill-treat themselves. In my opinion, however, there is a message in this act. I suppose, this is the way a "special correspondent" would behave, right? If ill-treated, just give the enemy a taste of his/her own poison, and thus a proof of the prowess of one's own side. 

He is close to nature. He can cross a sea, he can carry a mountain, but without harming even the smallest squirrel, right? May be, he should be thus the reigning deity, the harbinger of sustainable development, I suppose. In other words, he seems to harness nature to man's advantage, but without destroying either, unlike the 'progress' these days. Nothing can hinder him, nor does he harm anyone or anything!

Last but not the least, in my opinion, he can prove Darwin's theory most interestingly, right? However, the way we have 'progressed', forget Lord Hanuman, every flea-infested, scrawny monkey would be ashamed of such descendents!

Pratima@My youngest nephew used to call up Aai each time Hanuman would get shown on the t.v. He had to narrate the whole story yet again to her. Real defender of the childhood innocence and faith hence this Rama devotee is!

Misunderstandings!

 Misunderstandings! What are they? How are they formed? Most importantly, why are they formed, rather, consciously  created/constructed? The motive matters, and the motive is malicious most often. To trap someone so as to please someone else, or one's own bloated ego, is most often the motive, right?

Okay, let me give you concrete examples to prove my assertion. Look at the Mangeshkar issue, for instance. To begin with, why are misunderstandings being bandied against the late Lataji? Ugliest things are getting written and said, and that, too, on record! Forget the respect due to a dead soul. The vicious malice is such that it just cannot be missed. Most interestingly, while saying the ugliest cusswords against her and the rest of the family, nobody is bothering to find out their version, the other side of the coin!

Just because you choose to blame/tarnish someone/some institute out of your mean malice does not mean that you are right! For SURE! Remember, even the worst criminal is given a chance to defend himself!

In the same context, why is it that the newspaper/TV journalists do not ask some basic questions such as the need to impregnate a woman with the IVF, especially when she had cancer issues? Her highly vocal sister-in-law herself said that there were cysts. Well, why did the lady not choose to deliver at the Indira IVF center? How come they could pay the extremely hefty fee for an IVF? If the husband concerned is a PA of an MLA, how is the family a deserving one financially/income-wise? Why did the family choose to argue for five long hours if she was heavily bleeding as stated by responsible officials @the Women's wing? What does Sassoon hospital have to say about her admission? If she was so heavily bleeding, why was the delivery not done the same day? Why did Surya hospital wait for the next day? Did Surya hospital not require the estimate for the neo-natal care of the poor pre-mature babies? One weighs 600 ounces if the media reports are true! Poor baby! What about the responsibilities of Surya and Manipal Hospitals where the delivery and the unfortunate death happened?

Much worse is the 'case' of Ms Sangeeta Lote, and her story. When the video flashed on my YouTube, I felt very bad. It moved me . But today I watched another video by Dr Deepak Jagtap which, with proof, trashes all the claims by Ms Sangeeta! Honestly, one gets the feel that there might be a plot to trap either some individual or the hospital itself.

 Is it internal politics because somebody, not wanted for whatever the reason(the person is so good, in fact, is excellent, that the very presence shows others in extremely poor light, for example? And, hence,) needs to be gotten rid of? Or is it party politics? Land grab? Hospital control? Very clear it is that through half truths, misunderstandings are consciously getting floated!

Horrible and horrid it is when one knows very well that mafia of all sorts are ganging up against you. But one cannot do much as there is no concrete tangible proof to show them up. One knows very well that one is being targetted consciously, and that misunderstandings are consciously being generated, and floated, by the powerful and mighty and monied who hence have cheap following, while one is all alone! 

Well, the only reaction can be, Lord, do not forgive them. They know perfectly very well what they are doing!

Pratima@Where, and when,  misunderstandings serve others as an advantage, one is helpless to make oneself understood.

Laughter is the best medicine!

 Poor doctors!  For sure, exceptions may excuse themselves.  So, currently poor doctors are taking so much rot from all possible sides that they sure would not mind a silly joke, or two. So here we go!

1) Why do dalmatian dogs often visit an ophthalmologist?

Well,  they always see spots everywhere around!

2) What can you call a doctor who can fix websites?

A URL-ologist!

3) Why did Dracula go to  meet a doctor?

Well, he was coffin!

4) What did one tonsil say to the other? 

Behave yourself! The doctor is taking us out.

5) Can an apple keep a doctor away?

Well, depends on how well you aim!

Hope all those who are hitting at doctors day in and day out would try this innocent trick!

Pratima@ How can a robot blame the doctor if the virus is within?

The world is a theater

 A stage! That is how Shakespeare described life.  His much anthologised "The Seven Stages" must have been a text at some stage of the 'English Studies' aspect of your academic career, right?

Our blog today uses a similar metaphor, but slightly differently. To commemorate the recently celebrated 'World Theater Day', on March 27 to be precise, let us analyse how theater operates actually, every moment, every where. 

Meet anybody anywhere. You feel you are meeting a role and a mask. Sometimes, for instance, this role and mask could be that of a relative, of  a colleague; why, these days even students are busy playing a defined role, too. It is both amusing and depressing to see how the role and the mask consume the human being beneath.

In a way, that is the tragedy of treating life as a theater.  In the 'play' for amusement, may be, for edification, too, there is artifice. It is artistic. It opens up the 'hamartia', the tragic fault in the main character which leads to the downfall. An example could be Othello's jealousy and his self-doubts which are fanned by Iago's manipulation.

In the 'stage(d)' version, there is catharsis, too. That is to say, for those three hours, we can identify with the characters, feel both pains and pleasures vicariously, learn from the faux pas of the characters, and go home happily, having learnt a lesson or two.

In real life, unlike the reel one unfolding on the stage, the daggers drawn are invisible, but for real. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between a hero and a villain, eh, between a friend and/or a foe as most people you meet are busy playing a role to merely their own advantage. Such manipulations make comedies bitter and tragedies trenchant in that showmanship called 'acting' (up) in real life. The theater here is thematics that has a plot that is most crudely commercial, badly business-like, meanly money -minded, and  forever!

Who watches a play these days, they say. I am not so sure. Why, life itself is full of theatrics!No wonder, Shakespeare's Hamlet felt that plays 'hold, as if, a mirror up to nature"!

Pratima@ Theater, unlike reading a novel/a poem, is a group activity, whether it be a comedy or a tragedy. The farce called life has masks that are most alienating! That is, in fact, comically the greatest tragedy! 

Health IS Wealth!

 1948 was the year.  April 7 was the day.  Yes, that was the day the World Health Organisation was floated. Ever since, the day is known as the 'world health day'. 

Currently health is wealth for sure, but less for an individual, and more for an industry or two known as the Pharma/pharmaceutical industry, the food and beverages industry, the nutrition.. industry, the medical industry , especially its alternative version. 

Well, health is wealth these days. Given  food habits and the almost totally sedentary lifestyle, multiple are the 'dis-eases'.  Very many futures, totally unsteady, are victims of conditions such as stress disorders, panic attacks,  suicidal tendencies, and what have you.

No wonder, holistic health is the panacea. Often, it is merely placebo though. Even then, it is better than ill healths of many varieties. Long live the day, but let 'dis-eases' disappear as if magically!

Pratima@ Let health be the wealth of individuals, not of related industries!

Tariff pe tariff!

 Remember that famous one-liner by Sunny Deol of the "dhai kilo ka hath" fame? Well, just change it a little, and it describes real well the muscleman of international politics. Yes, you read it right. 'Don' Trump! And his "tariff pe tariff"!

Trump came to power with the MAGA promise to his vote bank. This "tariff" war that he has waged against the whole world is to appease his group of voters. His argument is apparently simple. America has been 'exim' targetted. Our, American, products are levied more when we export them, while we charge less when we import any. Tit for tat henceforth!

There is, of course, much much more to the trade war that has inevitably resulted. Sure, Americans have to line up for stuff as basic as toilet paper because of the sureshot backfire tariff by the rest of the world. America, too, is going to face scarcity and price rise.

That, of course, would be a temporary phase. America is absolutely aware of its military might. The gold reserves it has, and the resultant invincibility of the dollar as an international currency are "Trump" cards, anyways. So the isolationist strategy would  be protectionism for the local, native, American industry, a cushion cover to grow, and fast. Thus, in the process, will America be great again.

How about the rest of the world? Is a new 1929 Great Depression looming large on the horizon? Forget the share markets, even the farm produce and the industrial products are at stake. China, the hub of not merely the raw material but of processed products (however dishy/dicey the quality may be, as the collapsing skyscrapers disaster due to the recent most earthquake proved yet again) every which way has already entered the fray!

As for India, the service industry such as the I/T, is sure to take a huge beating. America may not have the required trained manpower. But the value of the Indian manpower for sure would be halved. America, moreover, is insistent on the deportation of even the legal immigrants. Tough negotiations ahead, in brief.

As it is, America provides huge subsidies to its farmers. As a result, in addition to the I/T turf, India would have to guard its agri-products market as well. May be, the "Make in India" kind of programmes also need to be re-energised. Like China, India must present itself as the best place for the production process. Who knows? There might be a huge opportunity hiding in this difficulty!

Regional coalitions has to be another solution. In fact, the U.S. is wary of the BRICS floating an alternative currency. Such de-dollar-isation is America's real worry! That could be the solution, too, to the current impasse. The total failure of sanctions against Russia, however, should show that such tricks do vanishing the best! Anyways, we all know who all are America's coalition buddies, right?

Tough, in brief, is the future. Later this year, when America meets India at the negotiation table, sure our armour would have no chinks in it either. Let MAGA not hinder MIGA, neither the 'let the rest of the world be great, too' mo(ve)ments!

Pratima@The earthquake that the trade war has released is truly high on every scale. Equally unpredictable it is! Hope, it does not release impossible tsunamis in its wake!

Shri Ram

 Like most expressions and events these days, 'Shri Ram', too, is hyper politicised. In that fray called politicking, the opponents of the BJP employ its (mis)uses to bash up their adversaries. Why get in to those deep-n-dark waters?  Well, the recent Mangeshkar incident proves how half truths lacerated with emotional drama can be used to incite public emotions, and ignite hatreds.  

On a pious occasion such as the Ram Navami, why get in to such ugly meanness-es? I at all remembered the politicisation of 'Shri Ram' because the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, it should be kept in mind, is a movement (as proven with/thorough extremely reliable sources by such committed scholars as Dr. Meenakshi Jain) that continued for centuries to culminate in 2024.

In other words, beyond petty party politics, Ram is a concept that has allured Indians, and many, many more beyond the bounds of the Indian territory. For generations, Shri Ram (right now I do not want to get in to that 'myth versus history' debate regarding the Ram Katha) has stood for all that is the best, the ideal, the perfect.

Shri Rama is the ideal son, the best brother, the most loving husband. Read Bhavbhuti's "Uttar Ram Charitra" to understand in a complex way the most debatable act in Shri Rama's otherwise impeccable persona. The play would convince you of his gentleness even in that apparently cruellest act. 

An ideal king, Shri Ram is kindness personified even with animals, trees, the adivasi's. Countless examples thereof can be provided from the 'Valmiki Ramayana'. In such inclusivity lies his true divinity. Why, he even respects, treats with due reverence his enemy, Ravana!

In brief, Shri Ram is the moniker for a way of being, for a mode of existence that is all that is wise, just and gentle. In our era that is always on the automated self-destruction mode (what with the climate change, in close alliance with the imminent Third/Atomic War  threatening our very existence), Shri Ram is an ideal that promises an eternal bond of togetherness, of communion with all the modes of creation, of peace and contentment.

Pratima@Both my parents revered Shri Ram. "RamRaksha" was Aai's utmost favourite stotra. As for Papa, his very name reflected such respect, and, in a way that I find most heart-warming, he always tried to live up to it.

Life matters!

 You must have heard of/read about that tragic case of a young mother dying because a well-known hospital did not admit her as a patient on time! Extremely tragic indeed! May her soul rest in peace! May her twins grow up to be  healthy!

Beyond this particular case, this incident raises a lot of  issues that I would like to address here. Yes, all big hospitals are money-minded. I would even go a step ahead, and argue that the "executive" programmes in cahoot with the insurance companies (who are really bothersome when it comes to the actual bill settlements ) can be the culprits.

Medical tourism that necessitates a certain set-up might make hospitals mean money machines. Yet another cause could be excessive specialisation in the medical field, and the simultaneous death of that institution called the "family doctor".

Despite all these stark realities, I would like to assert that my experience with the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital is truly wholesome. As Sanju had registered Aai as a geriatric patient there, I used to be quite a regular there as Aai's immedite caregiver from the family, and for almost more than fifteen years. I would assert that the DM does care! Aai's gerontologist, Dr. Tamane, treated Aai as if she were a relative. Despite it being a big hospital, there was a personal touch at almost all patient care levels.

Well, unhappily, I would have to maintain that, may be, the newer set of nurses and doctors whom I had the misfortune of meeting during Aai's last hospitalisation there in January-February, 2021 was not as amicable. But the original old-timers ARE fabulous. Why, not only Dr Tamane's assistant doctors, even the nurses would greet me if we met accidentally. 

About this unfortunate event, could I ask a few questions? If the poor mother-to-be was in acute labour, why was she not taken to her regular gynaecologist? Was she registered with the Mangeshkar hospital during her pregnancy and for her delivery? 

Why was she taken to the far away Surya Hospital, if the newspaper reports are to be believed? I am sure that there must be any number of multi-speciality as well as regular gynac-and-obstetrics hospitals around, and on the way, right? 

Sure, every hospital must be accountable. This is just to state that I always found the Deenanath to be considerate and compassionate. Hence it hurts to read reports trashing it!

Pratima@ Life matters! Death is tragic beyond words. Doctors are gods. Can they though help a patient who reaches the hospital too late? 

Compound Existence

 Hope you remember the school days, and especially the grammar classes. Oh, yes, before I broach our theme today, let me assert an important point of view. People typically argue that they are weak as far as English goes (as if their Marathi is any good! But that is a totally different issue altogether.) because they studied in Marathi Medium schools. Well, better not to forget that it is only in Marathi Medium schools that English grammar is taught with utmost rigour!

In a way, all this discussion leads to the theme today. Well, English IS one of the easiest languages in the whole world. So let us get back to its grammar. Remember complex and compound sentences? A complex sentence has inter-dependent parts such as the main and the subordinate clause(s), while a compound sentence is a free-wheeling structure.

A compound sentence would have none of the if/whether conditions. Neither does it change the very structure of the subordinated clause. It allows all its elements to be as they originally were, and, most importantly, all are equally important, without any hierarchiasation.

In my opinion, this is the way life should be! Let us look at the mother tongue versus English debate, for instance. You cannot subordinate one to the other. Both are equally important in their own ways, in their own spheres. They cannot be, and must not be, treated as mutually exclusive. In fact, even a foreign language should not looked at disdainfully.

Look at the world realities today if you want to know what I mean. Recently the President of a Latin-American country was in Delhi. Given the region/country collaborations that constantly keep on re-designing themselves, currently the GOI seems to have the "Look Latin-America way" policy. Can Spanish be irrelevant then?

In other words, just as much as I love Sanskrit, irrespective of whether, or not, it is useful for computers, equally important it is that I appreciate English and other foreign languages at least for their utilitarian value.

 In the chorus against the "Macaulay Putra's/Putri's", it is important that we better not forget that contexts today are vastly different from what they were when the notorious "Minutes" (like the "Manusmriti", often quoted without having actually read a line therein?!?) were drafted.

In other words, a compound attitude is necessary. If I have such a compound opinion, I would neither glorify Sanskrit or the mother tongue in an opinionated way, nor would I demean English or any other foreign language in a frenzied way. 

Honestly, rabid extremism is always a problem. I must, and I genuinely do, love and revere my culture, my civilisational values, and oh, yes, my religion/varna/caste as well. I follow these most reverentially. That process, however, does not stop me from respecting the perspective wherein my country, my culture, my history are inter-woven with(in) the larger paradigms.

Israel, the oft-quoted example, does not dismiss English either. It does have interesting alliance patterns. Anyways, in the post-IMF and post-WB realities, not to forget the LPG perspectives, wherein even the mighty America is steeped hugely in debt, to be closely followed by China and many European nations, insularity is impossible by definition. 

Hence my assertion that the compound way of existing, wherein all the elements/ingredients/factors are important in an equi-distant way, works better, both in individual lives and in narratives of nations!

Pratima@Actually a speech at Bangalore makes me come up with this discussion. I cannot quote it though as the video is suddenly declared "private"! Incidentally, compound interest, too, grows exponentially!

Marked by abscence!

 Very very very rare, truly rare is their appearance. If they appear at all, it should be celebration times indeed! Who do you think I am talking about? Celebrities from the sports arena who are extremely busy and quite hard-working? Business tycoons much much 'more busier' than the tinsel stars, and are absolutely hard-working? Nope!

I am talking about students being present in their UG, that is, under-graduate, classrooms. They are truly like comets! That is to say, they appear just once in some million/zillion years! Literally!

Go to any Arts and/or Commerce college. Classroom after classroom would be empty, absolutely vacant! There might be some resilient teachers who WOULD teach, even if only one student chooses to grace the occasion. 

Mostly otherwise, nobody is concerned, neither the authorities, nor the teachers, least of all the students! I find their parents most interesting. (Why) Are not they worried about what their wards do? Do not they talk to their children about their studies, their progress, the difficulties (not merely academic) that they face?

Let me give you a few examples to prove my point. I used to teach in a famous Arts/Commerce/Science college. The first lecture used to be at 7.30 in the morning. In the whole big building, most often, it used to be just my Special Subject students and I! 

The situation continues to be the same, year after year, decade after decade. The worst profile is of foreign language lectures in commerce colleges. To begin with, commerce students, whose future careers are going to be people sensitive, need languages hugely.

But their Marathi (or even Hindi) itself is nothing to write home about. Their awful English would be one of the major reasons the British would never ever dare to colonise India again! They cannot write two consecutive sentences correctly, neither in Marathi nor in English!

Now such students join the German classroom. They are learning a new language, literally from the ABCD. But they never attend lectures! Well, learning a foreign language is like a chain. If a chain snaps at one point, the entire chain is kaputt. Similarly, miss one lecture, and the chain of learning would snap. Obviously, an entire lecture cannot be repeated, though a quick revision is always the starting point of the next lecture.

Yet another point with a foreign language is that it is not used beyond the four walls of the classroom. So per day some fifteen to twenty minutes of practice is necesary back at home. Commerce lectures get over at 10.30, tops 12 on some days. The entire day is theirs to spend any which way. But they never touch the book till the next lecture, and it is a mercy if they get the book along! Keep extra sheets in the Xerox section, send message after message on the WhatsApp group; very few, those who attend lectures regularly, would bother to do the needful.

The teacher explains line by line, word by word. The teacher uses Marathi/Hindi to explain each and every word and grammatical concept. The teacher makes it utmost interesting through their own constant participation.  The teacher gives umpteen examples to explain the paper pattern, the MCQ test structure. Only some ten students (of the forty-ish class strength) , who are rather regular, benefit! 

Students, who have not attended even a single lecture, are under the impression that they can mug up the night before. That idea is WRONG, but it might be feasible/possible for a subject they would have studied for a couple of years, but surely not for a language whose letters of the alphabet they did not know till the academic year began.

Much worse are students who had a smattering of the foreign language in the junior college/school. They have forgotten everything, but they believe boastfully that they know, and can manage, every thing! One of the students who brandished his cent per cent marks (how he got them is a wonder!) at the SYJC level could not manage the simple most Akkusativ case, but he generally behaved, whenever/if he turned up at all, as if Goethe was his menial!

The most amazing are the people around who organise all, and every, possible extra-curricular activities (and practice sessions) at the same time as the foreign language lectures. Any number of students report back the wonderful comments such worthies make about learning a foreign language. Of course, one tries to convince the students that the worthies did not mean it that way. But they do know, right? How can you thus persuade to the contrary a young man/woman of nineteen years, right?

As a result, students expect that the paper be indirectly leaked. To your face, they tell you the names of other teachers who do it, and regularly. They rattle off names of teachers who give them the attendance sheets to sign on the day of the MCQ exam to process/prove cent per cent attendance. The only possible response you have is 'mum is the word'! No wonder, students just expect 'timepass' fun, and not learning, in classes if they attend at all!

And we talk of the demographic dividend!!!

Pratima@ Marked by absence is the authenticity, the sincerity, the accountability of such 'academics' if it at all be so called!

Horror indeed!

 "Horror!Horror!Horror!" is one of the most famous quotes. It is from Joseph Conrad's great novel, 'The Heart of Darkness'. Such are the oft-repeated cruelties that are these days getting constantly reported that the Conrad quote seems to suit the current realities. Darknesses, unfortunately, seem to cloud very many hearts, and, female, at that.

Well, as it was April 1 yesterday, there was a riot of memes, et al, on groups, statuses, and what have you! One such pic showed a young man carrying a blue plastic drum. The accompanying comment was "Needed: a wife who uses the drum to fill water, and not to cement me in it."

Indeed, the very thought of that notorious case from Meerut is horrible. Here is a married woman with a child.  She coolly murders her Merchant Navy husband who indulged her so much that he flew back from London for her birthday. 

Her own parents argued vehemently that he was a good son-in-law, and a good husband. For her sake, he had totally severed all the ties with his family whom she harassed hugely till she could get total control over him.

And, after all this, she murdered him most horribly with the help of her lover against whom she was repeatedly warned not only by the besotted husband but also by her own parents! Much worse, as per her lover's injunctions, she stabbed the drugged husband with the chopper she bought supposedly for her kitchen, for vetting her non-veg appetites. She coolly chopped his body, allowed the lover to take away the blood dripping head for sorcery.

Much worse still, they together cut the man's body and cemented the parts in a blue plastic drum. After all this, she had the gall to go on a "Holi" holiday with her lover. She remembered the foolish man only when money went scarce during the fun trip. After returning, she was ready to get rid of the drum which turned out to be kinder to the husband than she was! Otherwise, she would have continued her happy life with her lover without regret or without being found out!

Even otherwise, she comes across as an extremely shallow, ill-educated woman who entices a man with her looks(!?! Really! She has a very vixen like cruel face!), uses him, completely controls his money matters, carries on, that is, has affairs behind his back, and finally murders him! 

If she wanted her paramour so much, she could have gone for a separation, filed for a divorce, right? Live-in's are hardly frowned upon these days even in three-tier cities. Moreover, there would have been the alimony! Why finish a life, and his entire family?

Indeed women, too, seem to follow the terrible male ways these days. A young son is the only hindrance and encumbrance in an affair? The mother murders him! The son knows much too much about her affairs of all sorts? The mother declares him mad or epileptic! Gets him electric shocks and psycho-surgery-ed! 

Anybody from the extended family so much as dares to disagree with her over a very minor issue? Create a huge public ruckus! Want to appear 'modern'? Get one's own children addicted to booze and to baiting! 

All such shenanigans are much, much worse than the earlier attempts during the 1990's  such as ill-treating, threatening, and maligning in-laws under false pretexts of dowry demands! In the face of such heinous cruelties pales the ill-treatment of one's own sons by mothers because, in their maternal homes, their parents got only grand-daughters!

Indeed,  such patriarchally prejudiced behaviour by anybody, male or female, is bad. Such cruelty has to be gender-neutral. Currently, however, women, too, seem to compete with men in such treacherous horrendous acts. What could be the psychological, pathological, and sociological causes behind such brutalities by women? The mind boggles!

Pratima@ Such brazen barren (he)arts hide sad tales of women who are genuinely harassed which is the true 'horror!horror!horror'!

Full April Fool!

 April 1! 'The' day of pranksters, and the world over, right? Apparently, it originates in one of the greatest comedies in the literary world, Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales'. Of all the origins awarded to this concept, this possibility, in my opinion, would be the highest!

Mocking the nincompoops, laughing at faults and foibles, gently satirising the social ills go in to the making of this fest of full freedom and liberty to laugh, surely without malice  or partisanship, extremely rare in these days of showing the 'others' down in the most self-satisfied, and virtuous(o) way!

I suppose that the 'April Fool' Day custom helps us keep the child in us alive, a tough job these days, I would say, as children attain adulthood asap these days when to retain your innocence is the toughest skill!

Hence my April Fool Day would consist of curling up with the great writings by P.G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, possibly with P.L.Despande or 'Rag Darbari' by Shrilal Shukla. If time permits, my other favourites such as 'Dennis, the Menace'  may troop up, too. No, why watch the reels!?! They real make us fools the year long, right? How about you? What are your plans?

Pratima@ Hey, creating that 'Ghibili' cartoon of yourself the AI way is surefire proof of the fact that you indeed are a cartoon! What say?