Multiple Intelligences

 When one treks a difficult route even in the outer Himalayas whose peaks seem to literally scratch the skies, one knows the importance of spatial intelligence. The unpaved road is very narrow, extremely slippery, what with the heavy rains the day before and the horse dung. One false step, and finding the dead body, too, would be impossible. The ravines are craggy, unbelievably deep, and there are wild animals. 

Forget the devotees who have to manage themselves. Look at the kandi-wallahs and/or pittu-wallahs. They carry heavy luggage,  human beings in a cane basket. It has a thick strap made of rayon and cloth. So they are managing their own, the kandi's and the sawari's weight on such a trek. These Nepali Gorakha guys are mostly uneducated. I met one in Mana village who was a B.Sc., had worked in Dubai, too. That is rare. Given the high rate of unemployment in Nepal, they take up this difficult job, unfortunately one of the best examples of spatial intelligence.

Here, safe in Pune, we might associate it with dance. Either way, spatial intelligence proves that there are very many types of intelligences.  Basically, 'intelligence' etymologically is made of the Greek roots  'inter' and 'legere', and the concept means 'to understand', 'to perceive.'

There are very many ways of this understanding, not merely rational, as is accepted these days. There can be emotional, visual, auditory, tactile intelligences, for example, and these can help in various professions.  Auditory intelligence may help a singer and an artist who plays a musical instrument, be it guitar or santoor. Visual intelligence may help a graphic designer, for instance.

Emotional intelligence, the ability to empathise with others, may help in every field, right? If you are a doctor, for example, your patients would love you as is the case of Dr.Imran Patel of Ahmedabad, a paediatrician, whose youtube videos prove amply and most amiably how to vaccinate babies without making them cry a single tear! Simple sweet and adorable are his videos of the cute vaccination. So would e.q. help a teacher.

May be, developing as many varied intelligences would be the best way to overcome the threat posed by the AI! What say?

Pratima@ The shrewd and the manipulative may use emotional sharpness, like they can the body language, too, to beguile others. One must hence learn all such techniques to guard oneself against subtle harassment, right? 

Reg the weird call

 I tried reporting the weird call by the so-called, obviously fake, TRAI to 1930 as it was clear it was a hoax call. 

The response was very patronising. So I have reported the matter to higher authorities, with a willingness to share the recording of the hoax call. 

I am trying to report it to the gov.in@ chakshu.

Better to take immediate action so that the mobile number 91-8292589607 does not bother others, right?

Weird call

 Just now I got a weird call which I immediately recorded (the person was confused when I told her that I am recording it) that there are illegal activities from my phone call (now on the Kesari yatra, God alone knows who would have shared my number, right?) , and within two hours, my phone would be switched off. 

Well, is it due to my status today? It must have rattled some?!? Oh, yes, I kept the door closed till 10.30 a m. because it was cold. There were voices worrying if I was awake/what! Poor souls! 

She was asking me my name which would be obvious to TRAI, right? I am immediately forwarding the recording to the Departments concerned. 

So, you all know what to expect if my phone closed within two hours! 

Well, actually, there is an online seminar from a well-known platform this evening. I AM trying to get back to the pre-Yatra life ASAP! Well, the two hours threat!🤣

Oh, yes, in that weird call, both by the TRAI and to the 1930, I could hear "bhaji" of a street vendor who frequents our lane! Cheap characters! Is the TRAI made of such good-for-nothing cheapi's!!! Poor Modiji and his constant attempt to improve India! Such creeps call themselves citizens! Should be heavily penalized! Have no right to live, surely as independent indians as they unnecessarily bother others!

Pratima@Threats cannot terrorise the clean and the innocent. The crooked should know!

Stampedes

 The road to Kedarnath at Gaurikund, before the actual trek begins, is unbelievably narrow.  Three people cannot really walk side by side. On both the sides are small to big shops and hotels.  The horse-wallahs, one per horse, the doli-wallhs,  four per doli, the pittu-wallas, one per pittu are pushing/squashing their respective clientele on to and/or in to the concerned vehicle. As the clients are mostly unused to such vehicles, their awkwardness adds to the chaos. 

All along a stream of devotees is walking, their backpacks, et al, adding to the congestion! On the way up to Kedarnath, the lead doli-wallah, a young man in his very early twenties told me that this was NOTHING. When the "kapat" opened, he said, the crowd was such that everybody's feet was literally interlocked with someone else's.  Wonder of wonders, stampedes have not so far ruined the dignity of the place. 

When it comes to the 'VIP' Pooja at either Kedarnath or Badrinath, there is terrible pull-n-push by the poojari who are simultaneously invoking the Lord through shlokas and his devotees through angry commands to move on. Some of them refuse to, then literally the army men pull them away by the scruff! Imagine what the scenario must be when it comes to the non-VIP darshan.

The scenario is no different in the Pandharpur Vitthal Gabhara or the entry in to the Tirupati temple in the sanctum sanctorum. There is terrible spatial congestion, each devotee wishing to spend at least a minute there, the administration cruelly pushing them past. Fights, falls, full blast (in)human drama!

Why are there always stampede tragedies? Who is to blame? The excited but unruly hoards and hoards of devotees? The poojari's? The temple administration? The fame and name of a place? The last one I would not agree with because every local Mahadev temple, for example, follows the same pattern of near-stampede on every Shravan Somwar.  

I think, we MUST teach ourselves discipline and civic sense. There should be a proper row, no VIP darshan, one person at a time for a second, all that is to be offered to the Lord directly either at the platform by the administration or in the hands of the poojari, both of whom do the needful in the most disciplined way, and then hopefully the near-stampede possibility would be avoided.

Our temples are great. We Must avoid unruly and unclean behaviour. Neither stampedes nor dirty filth, absolutely the human contribution, and clearly the sore spots in a pilgrimage, can ruin their grandeur or holiness!

Pratima@Civic sense, discipline, cleanliness are the plinth of piety.

How to understand?

 Why do people behave the weird way they do? However much, and quite in depth,  psychology/philosophy/sociology you may study, however many great literary texts one may analyse, it is impossible to understand the crooked mindset of weird people.

No, no, I am not talking of Sonam (about the entire case, I have my own doubts though) or Poonam, hellbent on killing husbands for an absolute third-rate "lover" and/or "boy", though these days, it APPEARS absolutely difficult to decide in whom one such character is hiding! 

I mean the "malignancy" of the Iago-like viciousness of the equally straightfaced people. Let me give you a few concrete examples.

When Aai was really ill, literally in the throes of her last days (I remember it was a Mahashivratri, a holiday, so it has to be mid-March. She passed away on March 26.) two of Aai's relatives came to 'see' her. For whatever was the reason which I do not remember, Aai's Mavashi did not choose to come on that day. I had completed all of Aai's bodily cleaning up, etc. Those days, she had to be tube-fed. Thrice I had managed that as well.

Our comparatively small little living room had to be completely re-organised those days so that the 'typical patient bed' can be adjusted. Accordingly, the furniture was re-organised. In addition to the inexplicably 'joke-y' behaviour, the ladies were insistent, almost pushing me aside in a c(h)atty way, so that they could go to our kitchen. 

Well, I do keep my house in order. Even if, let us imagine, I do not, that surely was not the time to check up on my housekeeping skills, right? I have never ever done so for either of them, or anybody for that matter. I found the subtle crassness of that despicable insistence inexplicable! Incidentally, did they even once, at least offer to, forget actually, help me in any small/big way? Nope! Never ever at all, not even once!

I have another so-called close (the behaviour is always to make me feel as distant as is possible!) relative. Though i cannot even dare to think of going to their house, expect for a few hours, that, too, on designated occasions, SHE ALWAYS comes unannounced as if to tap/trap something. I always lock the main gate from inside, and keep the key at times in the kitchen. This lady would walk in, and directly go to the back door! One wondered what she would be checking/inspecting on. At times, one feels like telling such people not to judge other innocent people according to their own dishy/dicey behaviour patterns!

 Once I was returning from college. As I travel on buses, I always keep the mobile in the inner pocket of my purse. So I had no way of knowing that she was at the gate. She stays some twelve kilometres away from our place. But, it seems, she always (till that day I did not even know it!) buys her grocery from a Marwari shop near our place.

 She snapped at me that twice she came to the gate which was locked. She knew my college timings. She could have come later, right, to buy her groceries from that very particular shop? Or if she had informed me at least once in the morning, I would have come home in an auto!

When the Dandekar Bridge deluge happened, this curious person repeatedly phoned (in detail) the Mavashi (Mavashi herself told me so repeatedly! I refused to respond!) all the washing away of houses there, knowing fully well that the Mavashi stays in that area. Not even once was there a call or message to me! Luckily for me, that Mavashi's house was nowhere in the vicinity. So she did not choose to go back. I got to know at about 2.30 p.m. I rushed back in an auto. So Aai was luckily not left all alone. I have never understood the weird behaviour though.

Countless, literally countless, examples of such ridiculous meanness, but with a poker face, can be narrated. Each time, one tries to justify it according to some higher principle, though in one's soul, one knows very well the ugliness of it all. Once I cut my finger, and there was some blood. While chit-chatting on the phone, Aai told this lady so. She was expecting, God alone knows what. When she rushed in an auto, quivering with expectations, I was quietly cleaning flower beds in our small garden. I can never forget her fallen face. 

What could be the problem of such people? Why do they behave so? I always choose to keep quiet because any other alternative behaviour is not worth it. But sure does it bother a little! Anyways, I always wapp-message both my brothers about every activity, movement, departure/return of mine (even in the city if it is beyond 7 p.m.) in detail, and in advance. Moreover, wherever I go, there are always many, many people, and much worse for such cheapies, countless cameras.

Indeed why do these strange people behave in such ugly ways? For one thing, they must think that everybody else is like them, duplicitous, dicey. It would not hence occur to them that there can be clean, straightforward people who, having once known/recognised/understood them, would rather maintain a distance so as not to descend down to their level!  

But, at times, one does wonder if such horrendous, especially because subtle, but crass, loud and rude meanness is to harass you consciously/knowingly, to spread ugly rumours through half truths, to crush you so that such characters alone appear great! Well, who stands in their way? Surely not me! My path is never so narrow nor vicious!

Pratima@So disturbed I feel that I cannot even eat a morsel. I do not think God should be invoked for such people. But if he exists at all, he, too, sure would find such knowing cruelties, well, un-godly. Oh, yes, why give a bad name to the poor Devil, right?

P.S. When a patient can not hear well nor read often, the caretaker is in tough trouble about how to communicate. Curious Peeping Toms of all genders are, of course, free to imagine whatever their weird, ugly, cheap imaginations fancy!

On the "trip", there were two ladies who were so badly screaming, screeching, shouting, mockingly, ill-treating their very old, ill parents! Some blessings indeed! 

Ignoring crookedness completely is the best solution in my opinion. But for how long? Does one's tolerance get interpreted as stupid submissiveness by the shrewd and the manipulative?

In our lane, there are always these goonda types making loud comments about what God alone knows, because who cares to listen to such creeps? They do, however, appear to be paid to create that ruckus day in and day out. How one wishes one knew some really top brass in the police to round up such disturbing riff-raff.

Ill

 Why does one always fall ill after every major event? Well, look at me. I was absolutely okay during that arduous journey. Now, back in Pune, with brothers within a "call" distance, why am I down? 

Yes, I have got a slight fever, a rather bad cough-n-cold, and the tummy is growling a bit, too. Was I up to any excesses during the yatra? None, whatsoever. Unlike others who were literally wolfing down stuff, I ate minimally which anyways I always do. 

May be, it is the very cold wind on the banks of Alaknanda during the  "tarpan vidhi" at Badrinath.  After a head bath with boiling hot waters from the hot springs followed by the splashing of the gushing Alaknanda in full swing, may be, all the phlegm hiding in every possible alveoli chooses to come out, I suppose.

Well, that is the logical, the rational explanation.  Personally I think/feel that the phenomenon is more psychological. Let me see if I can explain myself. Well, for one thing, while busy with the 'act', be it a difficult travel, a ceremony at home, a prep for a decisive exam, one is on the alert mode. Everything is ordered, structured, in THE perfect mode. Post completion, there is chaos as the need for that perfect control is temporarily suspended. Right now, around me, for example, is a clutter of clothes, knick-knacks taken out of the travel bag, and yet to reach their usual destined place. May be, that lull after all that commotion is the switch on for all the tensions, hidden even from one's own self, reflected the (psycho)somatic way.

Yet another possible reason could be that the completion creates a vaccum. Till that point, one was preoccupied with the minutest detail, and in an almost obsessive way so that nothing should, as far as is possible, go wrong. Now, suddenly, there is NOTHING to care for, to worry over/about. Hence the illness? Remember, the day the exam got over, what with a week of the last minute check-up for writing two papers per day, one just could not sleep a wink, though throughout the week, you had been telling yourself that you would sleep endlessly after the exam?

I think, the body, the mind, the soul need a much deserved rest after the hectic activity. Rather like the restful death after life's long  journey is done!

So, bye for the time being! I think, I shall rest awhile.

Pratima@Every end is a new beginning.

The First Day

 Yes, it is the first day, finally back at home! After a rather tiring journey during which every possibility of each danger lurks at every corner, and surely at the back of your mind. In a way, everything that can possibly go wrong happened during the 'yatra'. Thankfully though, all that is good in this universe made it happen just a little later. 

My 'eventful' Yamunotri trek ended, and it started to start rain very, very, truly heavily. I felt immense pity for all the families with kids whom I had seen going up while I was trekking down. Well, the Himalayan rains are unbelievably heavy, much worse than the cloudburst that happened in Pune in the evening of June 12. Luckily, that day, too, the taps in the sky chose to stop/close at 11 p.m.ish. 

I had hence no trouble reaching the airport where I had to wait which was okay. Yet again was I saved from the terrific rain. After trekking down from Kedarnath, I reached the hotel, and the rains began. The thunderstorm was so bad that the next morning there were reports about a huge landslide at Gaurikund, the very first gateway to the Kedarnath temple. 

Well, the authorities would have managed to clear it up, but it must have been difficult for the next batch ready to leave the hotel. Similarly, the only traffic jam, not a very bad one either, too, happened while returning from Badrinath. 

All this luck, I believe, is proof that one is saved, supported, succoured by all that is good, just, noble in this universe if one is absolutely pure, clean, innocent in every which way.

With that faith and the lovely memories of the grand Himalayas, life begins anew!

Pratima@Given the first day of the Ashadh, inevitable is the remembrance of the great poet and dramatist, Kalidasa, whose works, too, have lovely descriptions of the "Nagadhiraj", that is, the "emperor of mountains", the Himalaya.

Yatra, ahoy!

 What do you expect when you want to trek all the way up to Kedarnath? Be it, for that matter, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, extremely tough treks, though Gangotri and Badrinath are slightly less arduous? I do not believe in religiosity at all. Yet I would say that this journey has to have a certain gravitas. Surely, it cannot be a picnic where you 'enjoy', satiate all your senses, right?

Right now, however, everyone has made the whole of it in to a 'trip', a picnic,  though they will not admit it even to themselves. At the four sites themselves, there is utter chaos as most "devotees" are busy filming themselves, that is to say, they are making reels, they are video-shooting, they are taking selfies, rather than experiencing the unique feel, the special moment.  

I would not know what others would think, but, for sure, personally I would not require plush hotels with plum rooms, and dozens of items for breakfast to dinner, not to mention the constant eats all along. I would look for a safe, secure place with minimum basic necessities, right? Nor would I be in to constant joking, talking and yaking and yaking, shrieking as shrilly as possible to prove how one is unique and special, bragging all the time about the places one has managed to visit all over the world, okay? If a 'yatra', a pilgrimage, cannot make you either humble or serious, it is a sheer waste of money, right?

How should be the tour leader? I was truly grateful to mine when he hand-held me for some fifteen extremely difficult steps at Rishikesh. I personally told him so, too. Equally did I thank anybody and everybody who helped me even in the smallest way because I genuinely believe that a holy trek has to be genuine in both, the purpose behind it, and the actual execution of it. 

Well, at the Yamunotri, just because I thought I would rather use a horse (as I was very uncomfortable with the notion of using human labour, a 'doli' or a 'pittu', a notion I had to negotiate as I realised that the labourers were ready to work hard to earn their livelihood, instead of begging! Luckily, moreover, I am not terribly heavy. I was ready to walk along in difficult patches even when they are literally fleet-footed), I was literally singled out in a terrible way. I was made to ride all alone, on a mobike with a stranger, supposedly the horse-wallah, who then suddenly put me in to a pittu, and simply did the vanishing trick!!! 

Absolutely all alone at an unknown place, I was at a loss for a few minutes. Then I approached an officer who initially tried to throw his weight about. Soon he arranged a horse for me which was a pony with a young lad in his late teens as the person guiding the horse. I managed a rapport with both,  the horse and his owner. Incidentally, he was a Hindu lad, while the original guy whose credentials were extremely unknown (those riding a doli were given an I-card, while I had none!) was a Muslim. 

Without any religious prejudices, which I honestly do not believe in at all, I felt as if I was at the receiving end of an Indore treatment! Why, how, I am at a loss to know at all. Again and again throughout the ride to and fro the shrine, horses were made to stampede in the route of my pony. One felt as if there WAS almost a plan to make me fall! Two who fell in the deep ravines the very next day are still missing!

What I felt funny about was a lady on the same 'trip' laughing it off, amusedly hiding behind her meagre chunni, near the Yamunotri temple. There was not any credi(ta)ble explanation forthcoming, while others sniggered, of course, behind his back, that when  I insisted on the horse in an innocent way, I was unknowingly reducing the amount of  his "cut" with the doli-wallahs. I would rather like to disbelieve such an ugly suggestion! But then I am always bad at guessing/interpreting the ways of the world, however brilliantly I might analyse Congreve's play!

His utterly fallen face could be his sense of regret. May be! Yet another instance was my fast on June 21, in memory of Papa. I had informed months in advance. I also insisted that I carried the potato savouries, dry fruits from home itself. Yet some tasteless potato chips were served, and I was told not to eat up everything!!! Crazy if such awful responses are supposed to be 'fun'. Nobody has any business to mock at another's remembrances, right?

Yet again, at Kedarnath, there was this special pooja after 10 p.m. I had specifically asked the tour leader where I should wait it out. I followed his instructions to the t, even when the guruji he had hired asked me to wait somewhere else, actually near the hotel which he owned, too. I informed the tour leader yet again that I use the Idea network which does not work there! Sure I did not know this stuff earlier. Otherwise  I would have gotten myself a temporary Jio membership! I waited in that horribly crowded area for minutes on end, checked everywhere, could not find him. Finally I requested a stranger to call him up. He would not even pick up the call. At last, somehow I was located, and the whole adventure was treated as "okay!" stuff with a shrug!

Really unexplainable, truly inexplicable was the behaviour at Mana village. I had to negotiate the pittu rates myself. Of course, others did suggest that the bother was not taken seriously as he could not get a cut. Well, I cannot be so cynical!

But he, the cleaner, the driver, the trio suddenly decided to park the vehicle somewhere else. All the three, otherwise calling themselves "mushtanday" (ageism was terribly rampant on this 'trip'! Equally conveniently it was forgotten that I was charged more for a single room!) were enjoying themselves. I called up thrice, plus once more from.a stranger's mobile). No specific location was indicated. The bus was actually parked somewhere else. I waited near the spot where we were initially dropped. When a couple from the 'tour', who, too, was not able to locate the bus, came along at the spot, I joined them. Extremely insensitive and arrogant was the response! This time I decided to speak up my mind. I was told not to disturb the mood of the 'tour'!

I think, the ultimate power that controls this big ( and bad) business called the big (but bad) world had an extremely bénéficient attitude towards me. So I must, and sure would, make genuine, deep and creatively worthy contributions literally every minute every which way!

Pratima@Not even a drop of the terrible Himalayan rains, neither the falling avalanches would destroy my  yatra. All these horrible calamities happened immediately after my pilgrimage of the place was completed truly  in a divine way. Only once was there a small little traffic jam, compared to the horrible ones lasting hours on end. The traffic jam, too, happened after returning from Badrinath. 

 I am back home, safe and sound, and in one piece. Cannot thank enough my parents whose memory was my eternal protection! Jay Chardham!

Of Rivers

 Rivers in a way are the real mothers of civilization. This truth, universally acknowledged, appears absolutely validated, while sitting on the banks of the great Ganges, awaiting all along  the famed "aarti".

Actually, the Ganges, beginning as Bhagirathi, is always with you when you promise yourself the Chardham yatra. At Gangotri, she is so ferocious that you completely believe the myth of the Shankara's head/his "three jata" being necessary to control her.

All along the way, she is with us, through different confluences with very many of her tributaries. Many natural waterfalls join her along the way. She is constantly jumping downwards, what with the force of gravity. All along, she is cutting the Himalayan rocks in to different sizes, at times jumping over them, at times brushing forcefully against them, at times, carrying them with her.

Till she reaches with you to Rishikesh, she is bouncy, rapidly jumping with glee, absolutely without much depth, tops five or six feet, making a huge noise proving the adage, "shallow waters make the most noise". 

Sure, unlike stupid human beings with an agenda and hence constantly shrieking like mad, her bounce has a sweet music of her own. Her tributaries add a lilt and a colour of their own. 

The problem starts with human beings beginning to intervene. The dams on the way, whether huge or just small turbines, do all sorts of things to the flow of hers/her tributaries. She slows down, much worse, she begins to get absolutely dirty.  All along her banks, till the utmost edge of the embankment, there are human structures. Naturally, plastic  water bottles to residues of all sorts add dirt to her, not to mention the refuse of all sorts.

A look at her at Haridwar, especially as you await the spectacle of the evening Aarti, she is sheer filth. At Rishikesh, at least there is depth to her. May be, not the eighty feet you are told she has so as to avoid the promised boat ride! But, yes, the depth keeps her cleaner.

But at Haridwar, her rich resources as a water body that could greatly provide riparian farm produces are made in to a motor stand! It is filled with filth, and the worst of human refuge. The road to the aarti stand shows how the holiness and purity of the Ganges are completely destroyed by the human beings who use her for sustenance in ways that are genuinely ugly, dirty and filthy. On both the sides of the narrow clock tower bridge, there is just sheer dirtiness of the worst variety. 

During the aarti, the ghats are full of plastic sheets people use so that their clothes do not get wet. Nobody bothers to put them in to the garbage bag. Noteworthy by absence are the employees, making earlier a great show of pushing the dirtiest bank water in to the flow so that they can get their tips! 

People are swimming in that very water, making it dirtier still. The beggars make the entire scenario as filthy as possible. There are the "bum bhole" drunkards and/or those 'high' on all sorts! All sorts of shops dot the banks. They might create some wealth for the small time shopkeepers! Who would care in such a scenario for small boys standing in the freezing water, making marks/tilaks on the foreheads of devotees who wait for the spectacle, while haggling over the marginal profit these kids might be making. The Ganges continues to flow!

Pratima@Everybody must respect the Ganges and not make the water turbid in any way. The government, too, should keep strict vigilance!

God(')s Reside(nce)

 Where is God's residence? Where indeed do gods reside? In temples? These structures are man-made though. Extremely beautiful, with rich patterns that convey superb significations symbolically, most temples are a tribute more to the glory of human artifice, ah, yes, to creativity which sure is infinite.

Do gods reside in rituals? Well, yes and no! These rituals have been performed by millions before us, and will continue to be performed by zillions after us. Most often, moreover, they are a show-off of one's wealth, oftener ill-gotten. Much much more worse, the rituals are an exhibition of piety! Disgusting it is to watch the race to prove how much more religious one is! Pathetic are such shows.  Gods possibly cannot reside in religiosity, right?

Where indeed do gods reside? For sure in the magnificence of nature! The grandeur makes you wonder about the primal cause that crafted and continues to care for this infinite universe with its uncountable varieties. Whatever is this power, that holds a Jyotirmath together despite dastardly human interventions, it continues to care for a birdie that nestles in a frost bitten tree!

Who initiated this infinite universe? One knows all the answers, the counters to it, provided by Physics, by astronomy.  Yet the refrain continues to be "neti, neti". No, this is not it. 

Indeed where do gods reside? In the human heart? But how can there be any godliness in people who cheat, lie every minute through the teeth, are unnecessarily  mean and nasty and full of duplicities, ill-treat others unfortunate enough to be relatives due to the unfortunate fact of birth, cannot stand up to truth, are crazed due to ephemeral things such as wealth, whichever way gotten!!!

Can gods reside in charity? Well, yet again, yes and no! Remember the poem "Abou ben Adhem" whose tribe the poet, Leigh Hunt, wanted to increase? Sure, charity is go(o)d. Often though, it is downright self-indulgent sympathy, rather than genuine empathy. Those who receive charity, moreover, are greedy and deceptive, while those who indulge in it are white-washing their ill deeds, and gaining, moreover, power through it!

Where do gods reside indeed, if beyond  these age-old, traditional negativities? May be, in being wiser, and not merely knowledgeable, by the day? In self-reflexivity? In constantly re-fine-ing oneself? May be, only then can the philosophies of "tat tvam asi" and "ahm bramha asmi" would mean much!

Pratima@ I suppose, go(o)dliness may consist of living the life one has to face with grace, dignity and courage, in finding wise answers to impossible questions. The Himalayas sure tell you this moral of the tale!

 

Mountains are magic!

 Nature itself is a sorcerer. Any, literally any form, every mode of, nature is unique. It is sheer magic. It is hence but natural that not only the butterfly but even a worm, too, is unique, special, and, oh, yes, has a beautiful pattern.

No wonder, mountains, one of the mightiest forms of nature are not merely majestic; they are magical, too. Like the sea. Both are magnificent. Both have varied forms. Hillocks that dot the skyline of a city to a high-rise, sky-scrapping peak, mountains meet in multiple varieties.

Each one is unique. Every one is special. A Puneite, who stays near Swargate, swears by Parvati, while the witchery of the Vetal Tekdi allures the trendy Poona-wallah's of the Prabhat Road, S.B. Road types. 

Yet nothing, no personal priorities, no individual preferences, no private partialities can blind anyone when it comes to the majesty of the Himalayas.  Every nook, each corner of the narrow road opens up vistas that are 'visions' in every sense of the term. 

Here you wander lonely with the wispy clouds. These clouds are with you, around you, above you, below you, behind you, in front of you! Use any adverb of place, in brief. They would not fail you. Their misty presence adds a unique charm to the mountains.  At times, the diaphanous clouds hide the roughness of the craggy edges, softening them in to magical beauties. Like Cindrella's magic glass slippers! In this fairy tale though, there is no vicious midnight alarm. Instead, these princely patterns allow the peeping sun to add a unique golden glaze to each edge, every slope.

Be it the magical mist or be it the bubbling streams, nothing about these huge presences is threatening or frightening. Forever inviting, theirs  is a very protective presence. Their very Rishi like presence is meditative. They invite you to be free, to be imaginative, to be poetic. Moutains are beyond  boundaries. Not to be contained in any way. Mountains are magic!

Pratima@ Am traversing through the Chamoli region where every curve of  the narrow road brings you face to face with a dream(y) view! Wish that human interventions, interferences, impositions will not destruct these eternal  abodes of beauty, peace, and PRESENCE!

The Unique Day

 June 21 is indeed special. Both in the public sphere and in the private space. Let me explain why-n-how.

First and foremost, June 21 is the summer solstice day. What does that mean? It means that the Northern hemisphere of the earth is tilted towards the sun. Hence it is the longest day and the shortest night of the year.

On this summer solstice day is celebrated the Yoga day in various ways. At least on the wapp group, that is, while watching reels, if not in real life, everybody turns in to a Yoga fan. I suppose, it is absolutely necesary to remind ourselves that Yoga is not merely physical exercise. It is a mental mode. It is a way of life actually. Given the consumerism that envelops existence today, it is but natural that "yoga", too, is a saleable item, and world wide.

June 21 is the world music day, too. Music is the fulcrum of our life. Why, our hearts beat to a proper particular rhythm. No wonder, from the childhood lullaby to any and every form of music enjoyed during the adult life,  music makes magic. Why, even rap, the form that appears the easiest to any and every street smartie, has a unique beat that sure has a calming effect on those individuals. No wonder, music is medicine; music is meditation; music is magnetic. Music, folk to formal/classical, is magic!

Now, the private space. June 21 is Papa's death anniversary. He loved music. He enjoyed the sincere discipline and meditation that underlie yoga. He made meaningful use of every minute. So every day was in a way, the summer solstice day for him. Here is a sincere tribute to his memory! 

Pratima@Each day matters; but some days mean much more!

What goes wrong?

 Actually, the completion of the Kedarnath trek is indeed by God's grace. Anything and everything could go wrong. Sure, the Yamunotri trek is tougher still, steep climb as it is. The road winds and winds to eternity. Each turn leads to another still steeper, still more difficult. It is hardly twelve kilometres both ways, but it appears literally hundreds.

As for Kedarnath, practically everything could  go wrong. First and foremost, it is the climate, the weather. It is absolutely ephemeral. Can change faster than even the moods of the cranky and the crafty. Luckily, my pilgrimage was blessed with wonderful climate. In fact, it was sunny throughout.

The other problem is acclimatisation to the climate. It is cold, with C bolded and on font size seventy two! Sure, one  catches up with it, and fast. Yet another problem is the roads. Sure the roads are not paved with tar, the way they are at the Vaishno Devi at Katra. They are hence both natural but arduous. 

Yet another issue is the mode to trek. One would climb it up. For sure, one could trek it down, what with the Himalayas and the gravity working in your favour, not withstanding the not so gentle murmur, eh, creaking of the knees. But for that one would need lots of time on hand!

But the worst that goes wrong is the attitude of the locals. Sure, tourism often is their  only source of livelihood. Agri business would be minimal as fruits are not forever, only seasonal. Rice, wheat, potatoes could not be beyond mere sustenance. Yep, mining, sure to ruin the region very soon, could be another source of livelihood. Right now it is tourism.

And are the tourists the milch cow! Sure hiking up every ounce of material with the help of the horses and mules, treated the worst way ever possible, is unbelievably costly. Yet tourists' money is hard-earned, too, right? Difficulty cannot be the close relative of manipulation, right?

Luckily for me, the doli/palakhi-wallahs up the hike and the pittu wallah down the trek were simply Good. They were all young boys in their early twenties. I treated them with utmost kindness, fed them sumptuously, chatted with them. I did feel bad to use such human services, no alternative  though. I was told that they had no other way of livelihood, and hiring them was helping them! Anyways, they told me I reminded them of their mother, a great compliment I would say.  Yet even these unfortunate Nepali boys (their wails about their life were tough to bear!) would be advised to fleece me! Luckily they did not! 

The pittu wallah from Gauri Kund to the hotel charged me one thousand for two kilometres. I had decided to pay a little extra to the elderly person. But each time he felt like resting, he would keep the pittu atop a small square pillar of a bridge overlooking a deep trench of some sixty metres, a valley with waters gushing! And he would order me not to move.

He was not answerable to anyone.  Just like the very many ghode wallah's (horse rides, difficult to decide whom they are crueller to, the animals or the tourists!), the pittu wallah's or the palakhi wallah's. Actually, they are given permits which MUST be checked. Safety, otherwise, would be an imminent danger as every one is at their mercy even when walking it up/down as they push past everyone on a road slippery with slush and dung.

For the hoteliers, every drop of water is to be calculated. Of course, many tourists, too, demand impossible advantages they would not even dream of at home! Tough is the money game, In brief, for priests as well as  people, money is honey!

Pratima@Pilgrimages need not produce piety!

N.B.: Oh, yes, the police! Could they be less indifferent and more polite!?! In the Devbhoomi come pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Literally! Why misrepresent one's own state to the big-n-bad world!

N.B. 2: Sand mining has to be big business here. The rivers, singly and/or as confluence, prove it. Hope there is not any Santosh Deshmukh though!

At Kedarnath

 At Kedarnath! Every breath is a whiff. One remembers the childhood game of *smoke, smoke* so beautifully used in "Sadma", a film I immensely love. It is cold. One does not mind the pleasant dip in the temperature. Eager as one is to go, meet Kedareshwar!

The mandir itself is unique. In the forefront, that is, in the foreground part of the temple, you have the Pandava panchayatan, with their eternal Guru every which way, Shri Krishna. Here rubbing the idols with ghee is the practice. Very soon I shall tell you why. 

The common "janata" is rushed past this "gabhara".  In the "garbhgriha" is THE idol, unique in its shape, given the Mahabharata myth. As Bheema tried to catch the Lord in the form of the "mahisha", the "Nandi", his nail marks scratched the Lord. Hence here it always is the ghee as the material for abhishekam so as to heal the scratch marks.

I could manage the entry in to the "garbhgriha" and the special 'jal' and the 'ghee' abhishek. Sure felt fulfilled. Happy for my entire family whom I merely represent, right?

Equally great was the visit to the "bheemshila" which miraculously protected the temple from the 2013 deluge. It is a wonder  indeed. The devout would consider it as the protection by the Pandavas, or some such mini god as the Bhairava. It could be a coincidence, and natural at that. I look at the phenomenon differently. In my opinion, it is indubitable proof that the entire universe chooses to stand behind the good. Every which way.

The Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi is a great site, too. Its architectural design is simply elegant, and deeply meaningful. I feel eternally grateful to this unique individual whose genuine contribution to Hinduism can never be re-paid. Like Sant Dnyaneshwar, who expired in his very early twenties, having fulfilled the work of  at least ten life times, the great Adi Shankaracharya, who, too, left for the eternal abode at the tender ripe age of thirty-one, too, can never be thanked enough. His statue, so young and yet so eternal, truly signifies all that the Kedarnath clearly means!

Pratima@ I wanted to, but was not exactly allowed to, visit the Bhairaw temple as it is much higher, and dangerous, given the height, and lack of oxygen. Better to listen to local wisdom, right? I built hence the small little home, as per the custom, near the samadhi of the great saint.

The Unique Visit

 Visit to Kedarnath. Unique it is indeed! When it begins near Sonprayag, it begins to appear hellish. You doubt your own wisdom in taking up such a trek. The road is as dirty as is possible, littered every which way.  I was lucky enough to get a bike ride. Otherwise, one would have to walk through slush of every kind, made much worse due to the rain  on the night before. "Shit" indeed!

I would have liked to hike it up. It seems there are seven Himalayan hills/ranges involved! Time tensions are forever present! I did check beforehand in any number of YouTube videos the difficulty level. Well, valour consists of discretion, right? Chose hence the doli as the horse ride indeed is tough.

Soon the hike begins. The slush recedes. Unusual flowers bloom beside the mountain road. Butterflies dance around you. Birds sing their own prayers, their unique hosannas. Natural waterfalls, with water crystal clear, jump down the cliffs.

It is sunny everywhere. Given the height, however, it is highly pleasant. After the Pune summer before the pre-monsoon mad rains began, the sun actually appears a friend. Then at an unexpected turn, HE appears. The master of this visit of yours! The Kedarnath glacier! 

The glacier glimmers pure white in the sunshine. It is sheer silver gleaming in the bluish sky. Such is this wonder that the Kedarnath Yatra already appears absolutely fulfilled. Of course, the next morning, it is going to appear all golden glazed at the edges.

At last the forever doli alias palakhi ride finally ends. THE final trek from the base camp! Both the sides are littered with the building material. Hard work of the horses, most inhumanely ill-treated. Not exactly a happy site after such a difficult trek. You climb the steps listlessly.

And then the temple! Built by the Pandavas (or is it Vishwakarma?!?) with rocks possibly not available anywhere nearby, and with an interlocking system invented now ! Rejuvenated by the great Adi Shankaracharya! Intact! Defying time, snow, harsh winters! Kedarnath! All is said, and nothing needs be quoted!

Pratima@ Ah, to be at Kedarnath in June! When the crazy rush is done, and all is well with the God's world!

Heaven-ly Himalayas

 The road to hell, they say, is paved with evil intentions. Could be. I would not know because, so far, I have never ever tried it. Yes, though, sure can I tell you that the road to Gangotri is paved literally with the heaven-ly Himalayas.

 No exaggeration it would be if I were to say that one is winding through tall peaks that touch the skies. One is with the clouds that float around, gently brushing the delicate tips of the spindly deodars and pines that dot the hazy outlines of the mountain ranges that play hide-n- seek with each other as the vehicle whines-n-vrooms through unbelievable turns and twists, horizontal, vertical, hair pin, camber, mention the type, it would be available on this route in abundance.

One does not mind the adrenaline thus pumping through every vein and each artery because the mist is competing with the clouds in creating a translucent veil behind which the heavenly visage of the eternal Himalayas is to be gently hidden for a split second or two.

All along accompanying one is the Bhagirathi, yet to meet her tributaries to become the Ganges. Just because Bhagirathi is all alone along the route, and forever is visible, at times like a school girl ribbon, at times jumping down impossible cliffs with the grace of a doe, do not make the mistake of confusing her gentleness with weakness.  Never would you know how she would be roaring mighty loud, gushing past the hindering rocks with a threatening speed, past the arching bridges, and man-made  water falls generating electricity in the process.

That is what makes this tour unique. The grandeur of nature pulsating with the divine co-exists here with the mighty creativity and ingenuity of mankind. Otherwise, such superb routes to divine destinations would just not be possible. The Border Military Force, I think, has paved these 'divine' (in all senses of the term) roads that sheep, too, share in their naive togetherness.

Yes, the symbolic (at least) dip in the freezing cold Gangetic waters is mythically divine and purifying. I would not, however, hesitate to assert that the very road across the heavenly Himalaya is equally responsible for re-fine-ing your imagination, your ideation, your intellect, your eye/I!!!

Pratima@The colours and shapes of the grainy cliffs as they glisten in the morning sunrays peeping through the mist and clouds add a rugged, tough texture to this heavenly 'vision', yet again in all senses of the term!

Divine Destinations

 It is easy to be devout in Uttarakhand.  The very air one breathes there is suffused with divinity. Very many spaces of the Sanatan Dharma are situated/located in-n-around  Uttaranchal. Temple tourism must be the staple diet of the region, right?

Take the Kashi Vishwanath temple, for instance. A legend in its own right, this modest structure is in Uttarkashi at the foot of the mighty Himalayas. The inside story of this simple structure is a study in both, the indianness and in devotion to divinity.

Every region of India nestles here next to each other in an interior space that includes a series of temples situated next to an ashram like structure. Very many such divine destinations make Uttarakhand the Devbhoomi, the abode of the gods, the Divine.

Yes, as in any devotional place in India, this second Kashi, too, is full of filth, narrow roads, congested traffic, a market place overflowing with the usual knickknacks, not to forget the typical cheap chicaneries of the so-called devout. 

Yet there is a subtle difference, unmistakable, which makes it unique. May be, it is the backdrop of what the great Kalidasa, amongst many, described as the "Nagadhiraj", the king of mountains. Indeed it is easy to be devout in Devbhoomi!

Pratima@Each devout  place, every divine space has its unique "sthalmahatym" which pulsates with a special feel, un-define-able but equally unmistakable.

My room in the hotel listens to the lilt of the Bhagirathi. During the day, the Himalayan range overlooks it, while, at night, right now, the outline of the Himalayas is lit with the tiny sparkle of the distant Diwali diya's, actually the tube-lights and bulbs in the ashrams and houses of residents staying up there!

 Apparently, Uttar Kashi has very many ashrams of very many Rishis and of separate sects in Hinduism. I saw the boards of at least three post graduate centres of Sanskrit studies. May be, such seeds of knowledge and wisdom, ancient to modern, add to the uniqueness of Uttar Kashi specifically,  and Uttarakhand in general, as divine destinations.

The Mountains are indeed...

 The title of our blog today is a take-off (dangerous word currently, I know!) on a title by Briana West. It is a book on/about self -development, and the types. My submission today, however, is that the ancient mountains existing silently yet sublimely in India, especially in the Himalayan range, are indeed...Soon, you would realise what they mean to me, but, yes, they are supreme, stupendous, superior!

Today was the first Dham of my Chardham Yatra. Yes, the tragedy at Kedarnath may prove yet again that 'man proposes, but God disposes.' Yet the linguistic conventions force you to write it as "my" first Dham, et al.

The Yamunotri Dham is beautiful beyond words. The mountain range is unbelievably HUGE. The peaks seem to rise infinitely in to the sublime skies. Yet they are not threatening. At least not to me. I watched them, lost to mist as the valley was suddenly overcast with the Himalayan rains during the return journey to the hotel, suddenly draped in dazzling sunshine as I completed my darshan cum my silent prayer-n-pooja, mysteriously 'moon'ing in the early morning with distant stars for company. In a way, I re-lived my Wordsworth and my meagre knowledge of the Rigveda describing the wonders of nature. 

The fierce beauty of the mountain peaks from whence flows the Yamuna is both intimately inviting yet reminding one of the wonders that have lived and would continue to re-live in the moment yet forever. One can sense the very beginning of life in the paleolithic era et al as you watch these peaks silently smiling at you knowingly.

Yes, these forever peaks have a very parental, deeply paternal feel. They reminded me every nano second of Papa, and not only because it is the Fathers' Day today. Both Aai-Papa have visited those tough terrains, Papa without proper preparation, and Aai in that simply terrible "kandi". How they both managed those impossible feats is beyond my imagination! Yet again those silent peaks overlooking human antics with a knowing smile reminded me of Aai-Papa. Fervently I prayed for forgiveness of minor mistakes that might have hurt them. Yes, the majestic mountains, scratched by the human vanities of 'development' are indeed 'us', a treasure trove of infinite wisdom, deep gratitude and immense love!🙏🙏🙏

Pratima@The whole process of finding a "ghoda sawari" for me was a re-read of the heinous Indore murder mystery. Even to the minutest details. To whosoever who planned it, and their agents, I have only two things to say; namely, every tragedy turns a facetious farce the second time, and oh, yes, the absolutely innocent, whom the divine destiny plans to save, survive every evil design! 

Yet another point I must not miss is the animals. They are much better than most human-beings, is my eternal statement of fact.  Whatever happened today feeds in to that faith of mine.  First, very early in the morning, there was this black dog, a thin meagre 'cur' as they would call it, barking madly at "some" people, but in the same direction. It came to me. I chatted to it gently, it calmed down, wagging its tail fiercely. Hope I meet him tomorrow before leaving. Intend a biscuit for him! (N.B.: I did manage giving him a few biscuits before leaving. Felt happy gratefully!)

I had got from Pune a lump of jaggery for the horse who would have to bear my weight! The pony was absolutely mild and gentle, listening to its master, perking its ears when I told his teenage master not to beat it nor to twist its tail. Wonder of wonders, this otherwise absolutely  silent thing, hardly four years old, neighed when back to terra firma because 'its home is here', the young master told me! Indeed much more humane! Why, to compare animals to the beasts on two legs, is a huge insult to the animal world, so close to nature!

Divinity Defined

 Just before my CharDham Yatra began, one of  the most unfortunate events of the year so far, the Ahmedabad aeroplane tragedy, was the headline. Whenever such awful accidents take place, typical agnostic questions start clouding the minds of the non-believers.

These questions have been there since the antiquity.  Does God exist? If He does, why do the good suffer, while the evil prosper?  Why the punishment to the innocent? And the secular question that has haunted  every society since the days of Sophocles' "Antigone" and, may be, our Charvak, namely, what matters  more, the individual conscience or the religious dicta; which are more important, the  laws of the state or the laws of the Divine?

Of course, there  have been multiple answers to these multifarious answers.  One of these has been the notion of present individual life as the sum of all the "Karma'' of previous births, et al. Even when I respect Marx hugely, right now is not the time to get in to his economic/political/societal analyses.

When one is in the  midst of the ultimate of Hindu religion, that is, the Devbhumi, how does one answer such insistent and persistent questions? May be, by celebrating each day as the very last day of one's life? Live life to the fullest and the best each way and every day? Well, there is no knowing if you would see the sunrise tomorrow. Celebrate hence the every ray of sunshine, the silver lining, however dark may be the clouds? That is the real divinity within humanity, I suppose.

Pratima@The divinity you seek is born(e) with(in) you!

At last, the beginning!

 Ever since  Aai-Papa took the pilgrimage, I had heard such unique stories about the Chardham Yatra. The more you read about it, fabulous appear all the details. Post-2013, the Bheem Shila at Kedarnath has become for me the symbol of the belief that the good is always divinely supported. 

So today begins the yatra. Am reporting from the airport where i reached early for two reasons. From our place at Mukund Nagar to the air port, there is not any convenient thoroughfare. The Ola/Uber types are good at cancelling at the last  minute. So,  very early morning, what would I do if they attempt their regular vanishing trick!?! Better to safely wait it out  at the airport!

The other reason is the rain! Circa 9.30 p.m., it started to rain, and indeed it was raining madly. It appeared as if the  clouds had decided to pour down every droplet  of water they could possibly have. The lightning and thunder were terror striking. Luckily the taps ran dry at 11 p.m. So the early arrival . 

Here I come, Oh, Himalayas, whom once you visit, you have no other alternative but to fall in love with. Am excited hugely about this journey. But what really made the beginning unique for me was my brother's, Parag's, call full of concern and care. He made my evening, and absolutely unique! At the air port, Sanju, too, called up. Such was the din that he might  not have heard a word.

The crazy adjustment, however is that Kesari people have the travel tickets! Must say this arrangement is a  little weird as one cannot enter the lounge without  the boarding pass/ticket! For some time, keeping me company while I am perched atop a trolley was a doggie, my favourite most animal anyways!  

Pratima@Happy breezy beginning to a unique experience!

Soft Skills

 Recently, not so very long ago, a rather sad news item flashed on all sorts of screens, Lost to the cruel antics of the Hagwane  family drama and later the Sonam sadism, very few people noticed it. Yes, I am referring to the sad demise of Joseph Nye.

It was his concept of soft power that changed the world, in the political sphere, in the corporate culture, and oh, yes, in academic syllabi. Unfortunately, however many a student thinks of it as an alternative to professional expertise.

Which it is not! Yes, it could be considered an advance on the concept entitled "how to make friends" by Dale Carnegie. Carnegie's book in my opinion is the predecessor of the "how to" or the "DIY" wave.  Well, Nye's notion is not merely practical tips . It is a psychologically astute concept of inter-personal relationship.

A blog is not exactly the site for discussing the impact of behaviourism and/or cognitivism, and the Nye notion in such a theoretical paradigm. Suffice it to say that Nye's notion is both, academically strong and  practically relevant.

In international relationships, it means  co-option rather than coercion. That is to say, instead of brute coercion, it is better to use 'kid gloves' so to say.  Significantly, it was the LPG era of the '90's that coincided with the Nye-ian ideas.

Without getting cynical and wo(r)ld weary, it can be said that soft power means generating  more cultural and emotive responses to situations, and, oh, yes, to individual entities. Useful in its own way , it is not mere manipulation. It has helped many institutions to smoothen out crevices created due to egotism! Hence this remembrance!RIP, Nye. 

Pratima@ Sanju joined Bharat Forge on 8/8/88. In that company, often there used to sessions on soft skills. He used to practice them  at home! 

Let children learn!

 It is that month of the year. June! A month of  feverish academic activities, it is even more worrisome than April, the cruellest,  when results get declared! Why so? Well, right now, hectic parleys about admissions are the talk of the town.

Which is considered a good school? Most parents would go for an institute that strengthens the STEM base. Such a grounding is supposed to be the plinth of a successful career, et al.

I would, however, say that it is better to choose a school that prioritises the arts, too, which would include a good grounding in varied arts such as  literature, painting, sculpture, and music. 

Why this insistence on plastic and/or performing arts? Is that your question? Well, the simplest answer would be that arts make children learn! All these arts introduced at such an early stage make learning fun. If enjoyment becomes the base of learning, children would later be less afraid of the inevitable evaluation process, the bane of the educational sector in multiple ways.

I would love to explain in quite some detail how introducing literature as early as possible goes in to the making of a good learner and a better individual. Lest I get accused of being prejudiced in favour of literature, let me analyse how music makes an excellent academic base for every child.

Music is melody and rhythm. It has a regular pattern, a consistent structure. Cognitive scientists have established beyond doubt by now that an early learning of music is a great help for brain health. There have been very many studies that have certified that certain centers of the brain are activated when a child learns to enjoy music. 

So when choosing a school for the Junior, it is better to go for a school that is ready to experiment with the non-STEM studies as well. Your child's soul would forever thank you for realising that such studies activate the multiple intelligences of the children, be it verbal, aural, spatial, and so on!

Pratima@ Music connects us to the rhythm of the entire universe. 

In-sight-ful n Savvy

 In the P.N.G. Language Lab, before the current credit-craze had sky-rocketed, I used to teach introductory courses in Spanish, German and French which used to prepare the students for international examinations at the A1 level.

In one such batch, I had seven visually impaired students who studied Spanish with me for two levels. Highly remarkable they were. Always happy n jolly, never ever did they keep on crying, blaming the difficult destiny imposed on them. 

Honestly, humbled I always felt  as a human being while teaching them. I think I can reasonably be  happy with the prowess of my memory. In this group, however, there was a student called Raju Yadav who would remember Spanish lessons, line by line, each number of every page. Those days, towards the end of the last decade, apps of all types were not so easily accessible. This young man proved to, nay, taught me what concentration and memory truly mean!

These kids enjoyed life to the fullest. Happy, youthful used to be their togetherness-es, heart aches, and so on. So it was such a pleasure to get to know that two of them, Suvidha Waghmare and Raju Yadaw, are getting married. Truly in-sight-ful and savvy is their togetherness in my opinion. Why-n-how? Is that your question? Sure both of them are bank employees. 

More  important than that advantage,  however, is their care and concern for each other. Well, in the 'status' quote that Raju uploaded, I saw the happy and enthusiastic invite and the haldi of Suvidha. 

The sheer joy of that video has made me absolutely sure that they would support each other real well, and every which way. Here is wishing them both all the very best on the happy occasion of their togetherness.

Pratima@ "It is your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life's story will develop," asserts  Dieter F.  I am in complete agreement with him. Absolutely n totally!

Woman, thy name is...

Right now the certain murder of the newly married husband and the possible abduction/murder of his brand new wife seem to haunt the social media in India. The couple from Indore was supposed to go to Shri Lanka for their honeymoon. Instead, they chose to go to Meghalaya, and the horrible tragedy began to unravel itself without any end to cheap speculation(s) in the near future.

What, and how, happened to the couple, where the wife could possibly be, nothing is definitively clear as yet. Yet many titles/thumbnails of videos and, much worse, the comments below these by 'netizens' blame the young wife. The wannabe Hercule Poirot's are dead sure-n-certain that the culprit has to be the wife who must have cooked up the plan in Indore itself! 

This is how it has always been. Remember, the Bible blames Eve for the fall. Milton, a great poet, shows in Book IX of the 'Paradise Lost'  how Eve manipulates Adam in to eating the fruit of the Forbidden Tree, while Adam, having failed to convince her to the contrary, finally eats it for his love for her! 

Shakespeare's Hamlet, even when in two minds about to believe or not to believe the Ghost, is certain, however, that "Woman, thy name is frailty"! If the 'Iliad' blames Helen for the defeat of the invincible Troy, even when she is a mere tool/toy in the hands of the Divine Powers that be, our own 'Ramayana'  hints at Kaikeyi, not to forget Sita herself in the case of the Kanchan Mriga/the Golden Deer, as the cause behind Ravana's crime. Look at the women in Mahabharata, from Ganga to Draupadi, to understand how women are thought to be the reason behind any/every crime in the societal imaginary.

Yes, women, too, ARE heir to all the faults that make human beings devilish. But why begin the blame game with women? Look at the Vaishnavi Hagwane case, for instance. By definition, the sister-in-law is the culprit in the media trial. Ugliest things are said about her by the intellectually lazy, loose-tongued 'netizens'. Conveniently it is forgotten that there can be at least two sides to the coin. The "woman as woman's worst enemy'' motif is an ancient patriarchal trick, it is conveniently overlooked. 

In such a scenario, it is a sin to be an attractive woman who is brilliant, talented, and extremely well-behaved. Whatever you  do is by definition wrong. If you are the quiet type, you are 'proudy', aloof, worse still, a beguiling temptress. You have to just smile, even to yourself, and your dimples are sure to create sensational storms of imaginary affairs in the minds of the 'curious' (in all senses of the term) even when the only companion you most often have is books, or a lappie or a musical instrument! Why, the creepy thinking, of both men and women, can make such a virgin in to a sex bombshell with many steamy affairs, nay, abortions to her credit. It does not occur to such sick dastards that she is never ever even seen with a man!

The logo of womanhood, hence, I think , should be "woman, thy name is victimisation." One's humane divinity consists in standing up to such sick nonsense with quiet dignity and courage-n-conviction! Show them not thy tears nor thine vulnerabilities. Shame them, instead, with more and better self-actualisations that totally belittle them!

Pratima@Thy name, Woman, is total transparency born out of self-reflexivity!

 

A Special Day yet again, but in the public sphere

 Our blog yesterday, uploaded late for sure, dealt with a special day. It was in the private space. Let us today talk about a special day, but in the public sphere. In other words, let us discuss the celebration of a few events as they  typically take place "publically ".

Let us begin with the ascension to the throne by Shivaji Maharaj. Maharaj ascended to the throne on June 6, 1647. As is usual, thus began the endless arguments over whether it should be celebrated according to the "tithi" or the date. Ideally, it has to be the 'tithi', and for two reasons. To begin with, for such holy purposes, a special 'tithi' is always arrived at after consulting all sorts of astrological details, charts, and what have you. Yet another reason is that the 'tithi' and/or the date arrived at, often without documented  authentic source(s), could cause furores!

Now the crux of the matter! How to celebrate such a day? With the DJ and 'walls' led processions full of laser lights dancing (like the participants in the procession) to vulgar tunes? Through thrills deemed necessary for reel making?  By opening up contentious debates, often not validated  through authentic proofs, thereby pitting a caste against another? Of course, it is as usual easier to bash up Brahmins! Such is the intensity of the hatred that Sant Ramdas, despite his brilliant praise of the great king, is not spared! 

Is it enough to stick up a hologram or a pic of Maharaj on the rear glass of a swanky car, while violating with aggressive virulence every possible rule of traffic  or of decent behaviour? If one adores Maharaj, can one ill-treat an innocent woman who has not bothered you one bit nor has anything at all to do with you?

Thankfully, there are exceptions to such general behaviour! Compared, anyways, to such vulgar displays of toxic masculinity, Ahilyabai Holkar's birth anniversary on May 31 is celebrated more meaningfully. In my opinion, here is a woman leader who broke effectively many invisible ceilings, and centuries ago.

It is hence necessary that the precepts of such great people are actually practised, and neither in retrospective nor in a regressive mode. That would be the real tribute to them as they believed in genuine 'action' than in any show-shaw or empty verbosity!

Pratima@This morning a very happy announcement was shared. It seems a peak in the in the Spiti Valley in the Baital area is named after Veer Savarkar, often consciously misunderstood and misrepresented!

A Special Day

 Our blog reaches truly late today, Dear Regular Readers.  Well, the day was a little hectic, but most relaxing at the same time! How can such diametrically opposite possibilities jell in? Is that your question? Let me see if i can make myself understood a little, and, yes, better.

It is June 7 today, the day of the 'mriga nakshtra'. My day hence began with a spoonful of asafoetida mixed with the cow ghee, a practice my parents followed during our childhood. It is an excellent cleanser and moisturizer of the stomach and its inner linings. It kills all the parasites, and softens the tissues of the intestines. I follow this annual ritual rather religiously. 

As I was preparing the special pav-bhaji for this unique day, my brother's birthday, lovely fragrance wafting around, teasing the nostrils, while I packed 'dabbas' full, piping hot, ready to be served, it was pouring like mad which derailed the day's planning. But it was okay as I could spend some time with my brother and his family on his birthday.

My younger brother's family includes a cute little beagle who was in a lovely sporty mood today. Had a great day playing with him as he chased the ball all over the place. If such are the results, the huge distances and the crazy traffic, given the potholes full of muddy water do not matter because the home is where the heart is!

Pratima@ Earlier schools used to re-open on June 7, which used to be the onset of the monsoon as well. This year, the monsoon opened its innings with sixers in all directions, and quite in advance!

The "get to know your personality" tests

 Sorry, the blog today reaches late, Dear Regular Readers. Was a little busy the whole day. But better late than never, right? Let us today talk of the "to know your real (inner at that) self" tests that the internet abounds with. 

If you do not take them seriously, they are great fun. Generally they go like this. "Look at this picture. What do you see first?" In a way, it is a psychologically valid point, too. Our perceptions do indicate in a way the inner core of the personality. 

Yet there are a lot of points that are curious and problematic about these tests. To begin with, they are the "yes/no" variety which is a huge problem because our selves never are/have such mutually exclusive patterns. There is always a lot of fluidity, especially given the contexts, and the people we are dealing with. If we are with people who we know (through vast experience with/due to them) do not at all mean well by us, we would be on the defensive, and such tests do not map such ambivalences.

Another huge problem with such tests is that they are absolutely West-oriented. One test, for example, asks you if the image you see is that of a tree covered in frost. Now, if someone does not know what a frost is, the image would never click with him/her! Obviously, the conclusions can never be correct.

Still funnier is the fact that such tests can interpret you differently if you choose, just for the fun or the heck of it, different answers. One of my research students once was a little insistent that I take one such test. Just to humour her, I did, and proved to her that different answers can be given each time, and individuals can thus be interpreted differently, as if they suffer from multiple personality disorder!

In brief, the basic problem with these tests is that they are objective tests with multiple choice questions/answers. Such neat compartments can never capture the complex amorphous fluidity called human personality, which is context-dependent, moreover!

Pratima@The best way to know yourself is constant self-reflexivity! Thus canst thou 'know thyself'!

New Measures on a Special Day

 The Internet, especially the Wapp groups,  is green today. Oh, no, it has nothing to do with the "green monster" that Shakespeare's arch villain, Iago, castigated in one of the Bard's greatest plays, "Othello". No, no, it has surely nothing to do with the colour many indians love to hate. Let us not, however, forget that the green, the colour of fertility, is centrally important in many of our rituals, right?

Well, the Wapp groups are green today because it is the World Enviornment Day today. Surely you must have read the extremely bleak comments about the  appearance of the oar fish or the 'doom's day fish' which apparently is seen when earthquakes and/or tsunamis are imminent. Must be a coincidence, too. 

With the Mount Etna alive, with the 'ring of fire' afire, with the raging solar storms aplenty, and the appearance of the oar fish, is Mother Nature issuing warnings galore? In this context, the high relevance of the day today. 

Yes, we must reduce our interference in the natural cycle. Indeed, such is the human intrusion that the flora and fauna must have loved the COVID days. As the streets were free of human beings then,  wild animals could roam free. As the exhaust pipes did not spew the climate vitiating gases, such was the visibility that the Himalayas could be seen from Chandigarh!

Indeed, nature needs our help to continue to help us. So how about a few new measures? In Pune, for instance, today is flagged off the first ever Tree Ambulance in Maharashtra! Let many such novel experiments flourish!  In the meanwhile, how about re-charging a few ole one's such as the rain water harvesting, especially because the monsoons seem to have decided this year that the most rain deficient parts of the country would be water excessive! How about creating our own seed bombs which we can throw freely as we travel by such water bodies, right?

This special day should remind us that existence of all, mankind, flora, fauna, is inter-dependent. The entire life cycle matters.  Hence let us be kind to all aspects of nature. Let our cities observe a 'no emission day' each month wherein all citizens would use only public vehicles to commute. How about "the no electricity hour" once a month whereby everybody switches off all electrical appliances for an hour every week. Not only would it be a huge detox away from guzzling the social media, it would bring families together, the best measure for better 'enviornment', right? Let us at least begin such initiatives in our own small ways! Happy June 5, the World Enviornment Day!

Pratima@ My family donated a tree in the loving memory of my father to the Pune Shantivan as early as 1999. When my brother stayed in Woodland, without fail, I used to go check on it during each one of my Kothrud visits.

I am proud of the fact that my brother refused to accept any bouquets or gifts on a major landmark day in his life. Instead, he requested all the guests to donate generously to an NGO working for the betterment of the forest cover. 

The Bicycle Motif

 Have you watched a 1948 film by de Sica? It is one of the greatest in the history of the world movie industry. Directed by de Sica in the neo-realist mode, the film is one of the most humane comments on poverty that cannot wipe out the familial love, especially the love of a son for his struggling father. Enacted by non-filmy actors and shot on real time locations,  the film is a truly touching documentation of post-war realities in Europe, especially in Italy. 

There is yet another aspect that is unique about this film. It has an inanimate object as its central motif, as  the center of its thematics, as almost a character in this unique narration. Yes, you have guessed it right. It is a bicycle.

A bicycle is by definition most inclusive, right? It is easily available, and cost wise as well. You can rent it comfortably, too. It can be easily repaired. A dirt road or the tar road, nothing is anathema to this peoples' vehicle. The poor may use it as a means of commuting, the rich as a mode of exercise. 

We, the Puneites, are sure to vouch for each of these, and many more other, benefits of a cycle. Pune was once known as the city of cycles, and not so very long ago. A cycle was as central in the Pune lore, as it was in Hindi romantic films or in Marathi fiction of all types.

No longer used much, except by the rich and the trendy I/T wallah's, this health inducing vehicle took care of both, your legs and your lungs. The least polluting of all vehicles, its maintainance was minimal, too. Unlike the swanky cars, that require a driver, a fitter in a company workshop, and yet another stooge to keep it clean and sparkling, a cycle is user-friendly, purse-friendly, and most importantly, enviornment-friendly! Long live bicycles! Happy world bicycle day!

Pratima@Pedal pushers are the best. They cause neither noise pollution (gentle and musical is the bicycle tring-tring) nor air pollution through exhaust pipe fumes. But they can race with the wind, and as lightly as a feather! Long live bicycles that require not wealth, but develop health! 

Injurious to Health!

 Yes, smoking is indeed injurious to health! Want proof? Yes, now it is from the Mother Earth herself. Why, the Mount Etna is spewing fumes and fire again, an event with the molten lava, absolutely dangerous not only to Italy which currently seems to be engulfed by a ring of fire hidden inside the terra firma which seems to be erupting volcanically in at least three places in Italy and Sicily!

In fact, as scholars in the fields of geology and ecology put it, the earth is behaving erratically. May be, it is the tectonic shifts. Could be that the mantle of the earth is awry. It could even be the solar activity affecting the earth. Across the world, there are earthquakes of differing intensities on the richter scale. The earth is indeed spewing fire and ash! 

Unlike this natural phenomenon currently manifest in various places in different modes across the globe, human beings are adding insult to injury by vitiating the 'atmosphere' more, and further. Cigarette smoking, for instance, is injurious not only to the lungs of the smoker. It indeed vitiates the 'climate', especially for passive smokers! 

Yet why smoke? It is the ad blitz that releases a life style that is smart, appealing, trendy, 'modern', helps you be 'in', 'cool'! Remember the Marlboro ad? The rugged cow boy appeal, the daredevilry of adventure, the macho masculinity it oozed made a cigarette not just a style statement, but a logo of an upper class life choice with a special swag!

Advertisers and tobacco companies traded in rich dividends. Generations of stupid ordinary creeps, including even lactating mothers, got hooked to the habit, just a step away from doing drugs in the eternal search for a newer high, a quest that recedes further and faster than the horizon.

Does a cigarette relax? Why, in interior Andhra, workers, including women, smoke the 'bidi' with the burning end in the mouth which leads to impossible cancers. Yet the justification is that smoking releases tension. Well, does it really? In my opinion, it creates new tensions, what with the inevitable addiction, health hazards, not to forget the expenditure! Instead, better to avoid a habit injurious to health!

Pratima@May 31 is celebrated the world over as the anti-tobacco, 'no smoke' day. See,  this sane advice even Mother Nature, however upset with the wicked ways of the world, listened to on May 31 this year. No rains, no tremors, no thunder, no lightening. Instead, a great evening we enjoyed, full of music and celebrations, marking a major milestone in our family.

June is already here!

 What does June 1 tell us? Yes, first and foremost, we realise that the monsoon is soon going to be here. Actually, this year, the unseasonal rains have already given us the rain drenched feel, and both quite in advance and in abundance. In that sense, the monsoon need not terrorise us much too much this time.

Of what else does June bring the tidings? Oh, yes, the answer to this question is indeed very easy. On the social media, too, these days, schools and colleges have "entrance" announcements, which, given the multi-media, are quite smart these days, what with the video effects and animation, and what have you.

June is the month of the summer solstice, too. These days on June 21, we have the International Yoga Day, some victory of India's unmistakable soft power, right? In addition to this ritual accepted world wide, June 21 reminds us of the eternal cycle of nature, whose regularity is the backdrop of all the unique occasions as well as the humdrum routine.

More than that, the onset of June is a surefire reminder that almost half the current year is over. May be, time hence to tighten the seat belts, and work steadily and precisely to attain the set goals for this year so that the roller-coaster ride called life continues to be both fun and excitement, right?

Pratima@ Dreamy days begin and nights naturally end/Morning in and evening out, life let's leery mend!

Parents!

 Two is a great number, right? Just look at our own bodies. Two eyes, two ears, two hands, two legs; why, even two parts to a heart. Yet these details cannot sum up why it is an interesting double(d) digit, right? Okay, let the cat be out of the bag.

In this whole world, there are two people for whom we mean the world. They can manage any impossible feat for our success and happiness. They give, give and continue to give, everything beginning with life itself, and throughout that life. In return, they demand nothing, absolutely NOTHING.

No guessing necessary, right? Yes, I am referring to parents . It is the World Parents Day today. Here is wishing my parents, forever present in my soul, assuring them of my utmost respect which would manifest itself in many an activities sure to make them happy and proud, wherever/wherever an opportunity emerges!

Pratima@Happy Parents Day!!🙏