The beginning of the end

 Already it is January 31!How time flies fast, n past as a blur of days! It appears as if it was just yesterday that 2026 had begun. Why, it is already the end of January, 2026! 

Ours is an era marked by supersonic mo(ve)ments that just speed fast. As a result, the attention span is minimal most. Mind you, I am not talking merely of kids obsessed with cocomelon. Adults are no better! Look at the way we consume news now. Earlier people used to actually read a newspaper. Now a days, most do not even watch the t.v. news. The source often is a quickie online! 

Consequently, the celebrities these days are, too,  of the "here today, gone tomorrow"  variety, right?  As it is, given the explosion of excessive (n obsessive!) information overload about everyone n everything, hardly is there any alluring aura, a subtle mystique about anyone. The very many "managed" competitions are, moreover, spewing celebrities dime a dozen! 

Hence the title of our blog today which wonders what people would do when there would not be any work, as already  abundantly promised by the AI establishment. May be, hence such habit-formation of the masses to be passive spectators, quiet(ened) consumers. Are not we giant sized babies, happy with our own pacifiers!

Pratima@Sometimes I wonder if we are dancing to the Einstein rhythm. What do I mean? Well, the great Albert Einstein never put his feet on Mars, but his equations took that giant step long before any rover could walk the surface of any planet, forget Mars.

When he published his ideas on general relativity more than a century ago, as scientists would put it, he proposed something outrageous for his time: gravity does not just pull on objects, it stretches and warps time itself.

For decades, that sounded like pure abstraction, adored because it was Einsteinian. A thing for school n college chalk n blackboards, and university journals, not for the dusty red deserts on the Mars! 

Now, ultra-precise atomic clocks and radio signals bouncing between the Earth and the Mars are quietly confirming what our Albert knew an eon ago, namely, time on Mars is not flowing at the same rate as time on Earth! 

May be, hence, we on earth are so zapped by the time curve wherein there is always the end of the beginning! And, hopefully, vice versa!

Quote of the day:                                                        Says Sage Heraclitus, "we never put our feet twice in the same river." 

Word of the day: fugacious.                                  Fugacious is a rather literary word which means fleeting or transient. Rather like a sensational news time our blog mentions in the initial paragraphs! Sure does it have a fugacious claim on the public attention. The term  is from Botany, where it refers to falling or fading early.

Significance

 How does anything get any significance? It is due to thoughts, emotions, actions associated with it, right? Otherwise, each day is like every other day. From the first rays of the sunshine to the moon rise, and beyond. The same day, the same routine! 

January 30 has been significantly different though. It was on this day in 1933 that Hitler became the German Chancellor, an event which changed the history of the world, and undoubtedly of the inter-war Germany. 

Far away in India, the day is darkly significant, too. It was on January 30, that Gandhiji was assassinated. Tragic as the event was, it assumed a trenchant significance  in Maharashtra coz in the wake of the horrific event, countless Brahmin families suffered indescribable atrocities. 

What then is the significance of not only the martyrdom of Gandhiji, individually  but also as a way of life? In a world full of subtle, unseen but efficient falsehoods, getting more and more entrenched due to technology? 

The meaning of the day, in my opinion, consists of questioning, and avoiding like the hell itself, the hunger for control, whether physical or psychological. What do you say? 

Pratima@Tragic as Gandhiji's assassination was, equally cruel was the pogrom in Maharashtra against Brahmins. Casteless society, a forever dream! 

Quote of the day:                                                        "The darkest places in hell," asserts Dante, "are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."

Word of the day: wily                                                Wily means skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.                                   If you are wily and ignore an injustice, you are  UNFAIR. 

Let us learn grammar: The basic most sentence structure in English is subject+ verb. A few examples can be: The wind blows. The door opens. The lightening strikes.                                                                               Of course, we can extend these structures. As we go along, we shall know how. We need to know the types of verbs for such an explanation. More about verbs and their types when we meet after the weekend 

The Genie in the Lamp

 Have you heard the name Tim Berners-Lee? Does the name click? Okay, a clue! He created something that you use day in and day out, and not merely for "entertainment" raised to infinity. 

No guesses, hain? Okay, no issues. He is the Oxford/MIT profe who invented the internet. A great person, right? Believe me, he began the works as early as 1989, and kept on perfecting it. By now, literally each and everyone across the globe is using his product. 

Why remember him now? Is that your question? Well, it is just to prove to you that not only is he highly intelligent, but that he is a good soul as well, a pretty rare combination. 

Well, he thinks that the internet, his brain child, is being grossly misused. The internet has grown up to be excessively commercialized. Yes, that is his grouse, and he is up in arms to undo the harm. A great gesture indeed!

The internet which is much better than the genie in Alladin's lamp, is, however, more like the slave of the wicked magician. Open,  and actually much worse, subtle, data theft, blood curdling crimes such as the digital arrest which dupe the victims of a lifetime, the Grok like AI apps that make women's lives much more miserable, the internet, in addition to excessive commercialisation, is almost a den of crime. Good, its father is thinking of straightening out the errant kid!

Pratima@ All the conscientious inventors have always opposed the misuse of their creative concepts. Einstein who opposed the making of the atomic bomb is another major example.

The quote of the day:                                               "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge," argues Carl Sagan.

 The word of the day: fluke.                                      By fluke is by sheer chance. Nothing in science is by fluke. As Edison summed it up, "it is ninety-nine per cent perspiration and one per cent inspiration "  

Let us learn grammar:                                             An English sentence, in regular, non-poetic, non-literary usage begins with a subject. The subject is followed by a verb. The kernel of an English sentence is the subject-verb concord. That is to say, the verb agrees with the number (singular/plural) of the subject. The subject is singular, so has to be the verb.

 That is to say, with the third person singular, he/she/it, the verb is verb+s in simple present, is/was +verb-ing in continuous tenses, and has +participle with the perfect. With the modal (we shall soon understand the verb types, moods, tenses), 'be able to', it has to be 'I am able to', 'he/she is able to. ' Tomorrow we shall look at lots and lots of examples of the subject-verb concord. 

Death: A few after thoughts

 Death is like an  earthquake. Never to be exactly predicted. Equally devastating it is. Leaves a lot of wreckage and rubble in its wake. Equally horrible are the after shocks. 

In a way, the moment we are born, begins our inevitable journey to death. Death, however, seems to like the game of hide-n-suddenly seek. Look at the tragic plane accident of Ajit Dada Pawar. The news was so appalling that initially it appeared unbelievable. 

Undoubtedly, he was a leader with a huge mass appeal. Why, the auto fellow, who drove me to college this morning, got a call regarding the sad demise midway, and this man in his fifties had tears in his eyes, and he kept on wiping his tears almost till we reached the college. 

Ajit Dada's communication style undoubtedly had that rustic directness which made his speeches full blast fun for his audience. There was a kind of honest openness about him, right? Remember the "dam" incident? On his own, he chose a fast at Karad as a mode of self flagellation and auto correction. May his soul rest in peace!

Now a few after thoughts about the after shocks of this tragic event. Is it right, as is quoted, on the part of "Maharashtra Times" to start discussing the 'wealth' Dada amassed, within a few hours of his sudden demise? Well, at least, let the final funeral rites get over before such eternal politicking begins. 

Yet another after thought which hugely disturbs me is the  media circus about the cause of the tragic accident. Self advertised analysts started blaming the poor pilot even before the 'black box' was found. 

Does it occur to these self declared Sherlock Holmes that the pilot, too, is dead! Imagine the plight of his family who has to hear at such a tragic moment how his service contract was twice terminated for drunken flying! Nobody knows how far true such rumours are. Why malign a dead man just because he is a nobody? 

How about the rest of the crew? Is it right to ask silly questions to a grieving father, thrusting, moreover, the mic literally in to his mouth? Well, death has a finality to it which must make everyone more sensitive and human(e)!

Pratima@ I taught in the S.P. college for two years. As it was a reserved category post, I could not continue teaching there, though even now I meet my S.P. students who still remember our literature lectures after so many years.

Mr. Ashtekar, who was the sports-in-charge there, wanted to honour Ajit Dada for his contribution to the sports culture, especially in the S.P. College. He asked me to write the text of the citation to be presented to Ajit Dada. Apparently, Dada liked it very much!

Quote of the day:                                                          "It is indeed sad that the person you 'know' suddenly transforms in to someone you 'knew'! The world moves on, goes on as if nothing happened!" An anonymous quote.

Word of the day: dirge                                              A dirge is a lament for the dead, especially one forming a part of the funeral rites. Literature is full of sensitive dirges that capture the sense of the forever loss most feelingly. 

Let us learn grammar:                                   .           Let us continue the discussion of sentence formation tomorrow onwards.

Equity: An Acrostic

Each second the trial to be equitable!         Quail we never before what separates 'us'.  Under-estimated ever is 'our' genuineness.  Indeed shrivelled 'our' prejudice(s) n pride!     The victory roar! Easy target is an innocent.   Years pass, yet mo(ve)ments recur as a test! 

Pratima@Be it the murder of a lecturer in Malad, Mumbai; be it the constant harassment of a woman who is the object of a one-sided obsession of the richie-rich n mighty; be it the insensitive legalities of all sorts, hey, Equity, indeed where art thou?

Quote of the day:                                                  "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion," asserts Albert Camus, a great thinker and a greater author. 

Word of the day: Fair-mindedness                       Fair-mindedness is the intellectual virtue of judging situations impartially, without bias, prejudice, or dishonesty, by considering all viewpoints equally.                                                   It involves actively listening to others, setting aside ego-centered perspectives, and treating people with respect, which is crucial for critical thinking and fostering equity.  So says the dictionary! 

Let us learn grammar:                                               The subject drives the sentence. It is in a way the in-charge. The subject can be a noun of any variety, common, countable, singular, or otherwise. We have already discussed all the types of a noun, while trying to understand the article-usage.                                                           Similarly, the subject can be a pronoun. I/we are first person pronouns (the speaker of the utterance), you/you are the second person pronouns (the listener of the utterance), (s)he/they (the object of the utterance). The first item of all these pairs is the singular pronoun, while the second is the plural versions. Pronouns do not require any articles. 

The Day that made us

 Let us first look at the very term "Republic." Etymologically, it comes from "res publica". In other words, in the very term is included the notion of the power of the people, unlike a monarchy or a dictatorship. 

If we were to look up the basic terminology of Political Science, we would know that we are a participatory, representative, federal republic. We are, moreover, democratic. Does that appear a a little quizzical? 

Well, basically all the republics are democratic, but it need not be vice versa. Look at England, for example. It is democratic, but it is neither a presidential (like America) nor a parliamentary (like us) republic. It is a monarchy. 

Why is January 26 important? On this day, the Constitution was formally accepted as the collation of the guiding principles that govern our federal identity (the relationship between the states and the center), our parliamentary system, and our rights, responsibilities and duties as citizens. It is in this sense that it is truly the day that made us, "we, the citizens."  

Pratima@When we were small, we were never ever allowed to miss the Republic Day Parade on January 26 or the flag hoisting on August 15. Actually, our home was really very far away from our school. Yet Aai-Papa made it a point that we would attend these national festivals.                                                   Moreover, at home, too, Aai would conduct essay writing and elocution competitions on all such important days. The real patriotic seeds were thus sown in our souls, I would say. 

Thought of the day:                                                 "We are Indians firstly and lastly," asserts Dr. B. R. Ambedkar . 

Word of the day: politics/politicking             Politics refers to the formal, structured process of governance, power distribution, and decision-making within societies or organizations, focusing on "who gets what, when, and how".                                                      Politicking, on the contrary, points to the active, often informal, and strategic "performative operations" or campaigning used to gain power, influence, or, at times, even personal advantage. 

Let us learn grammar:                                        Today onwards, let us start looking at the sentence structure in English.                               The basic most point we have to remember in this context is that, unlike the sentence   structures in our languages, the English sentence structure is not elastic.                             Our languages have case markers, known as "vibkhati pratyay." The subject, in Marathi, for instance, would have the "tritiya vibhakti"  and related case makers. The direct object would be in the accusative (dwitiya) case.                                                            The sentence structure, hence, can be very fluid. The standard example given is "Ramane Ravanala marle". The "ne" shows it is the subject and "la" indicates the direct object. As a result, the sentence can be written/spoken in nine ways.                                  English does not have such case markers. The sentence structure hence has to begin with the subject, followed by the verb with which it agrees. We shall learn all such niceties of sentence construction in English as we go along. 

Weird Ideas of Crazy Fun

 Who does not like fun? Most everyone loves it. Yet what can be fun? I suppose, the answer instantly shows up the real you. Do not you believe me? Okay, here is what happened in a Delhi metro.

Let me describe the video as seen. A highly funkily decked up "smart" woman with a tinnie-winnie pallu is laughing in a shrewd wicked knowing way. The metro stops. Suddenly this creepy woman kicks from behind another woman facing the exit door. 

So forceful is the kick that the other unsuspecting  woman falls flat on her face. Despite the solid kick, luckily she is not hurt in a major way, though her knees, arms must have got grazed. In a split second, fortunately before the metro starts, she is back in to the bogie.

Surprised, she seems to be questioning the woman who kicked her out. She bursts out laughing. It seems, it is a joke because the lady who kicked is guffawing, winking and pouting out her tongue! 

What is weird is that both these women must be in their thirties at least. Much worse, there is another creep filming it. What a terrible use of data gotten almost free of cost!

Why is it that the sense of fun these days is getting stupider by the day? First and foremost, it MUST be noted that childish IS childish, looks yuck on grown-ups. Childish, moreover, is by no means child-like!

The child-like is imbued with innocence. Any fun that is weird (cross-dressing and decking up a boy as a girl) wicked (consciously make a person take a very long detour even when it could have been avoided easily by informing him just an hour earlier)  bizarre (mocking the beggars who are blind or laughing at 'the' wall) is not only crooked, it is downright outlandish. Such acts are pathetic, not even childish!

A person and his supporters who find it funny to knowingly harass for years an innocent whom they believe they have "finished off" belong to the mental asylum. A person who knowingly loosens the screws of a tyre, spreads vicious rumours out of jealousy, causes a major planned accident needs to be incarcerated for a lifetime.

Such crude and crooked frivolity, which often panders to the ugly bodily functions, can NOT be fun! Nor is it childish! Such "naughty" viciousness goes to such an extent that people with nothing to do are paid in various ways to consciously, knowingly, wickedly target an innocent person, just because she had the gall not to like/reject a crook! Imagine the harmful harassment, what with the recent UGC Act types helping the stalkers!

Fun is playing on words, spoofing a silly idea or some contradictory behaviour. It can be satirical, too. Remember the "you said it" cartoons which mocked even the mighty. Everyone loved the humour, including often the powerful target(s)! Across the globe people love P.G. Wodehouse. In Maharashtra, we have a huge tradition of great humour beginning with Chi Vi Joshi, or even earlier.

Clean humour cannot depend on harassment, cruelty, trapping, vicious competitiveness, silliness, and such types. Such weirdness is not only not fun, but actually it deserves punishment legally. Wish there were solid proof! The metro authorities, for instance, must see to it somehow that such foolishness is NEVER  repeated.

Pratima@ I suppose, it is the craze for reels which is one of the reasons behind such wicked weirdness. Yet another possibility could be the need to attract attention, and retain it. Such boring behaviour then obviously is born out of an intense inferiority complex dressed as a show off of superiority. Such perpetrators sure need psychiatric treatment!

Quote of the day:                                                        If asinine behaviour were a sport, champions would abound.

Word of the day: repartee.                             Repartee is conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies.

Girls glitter-n-gleam

 The girl child day matters. Why? Well, girls are special. Let us re-count the reasons. First and foremost, lifelong a daughter is a daughter and a sister remains a sister. Forever, she continues to care for her parents and  siblings.

The really good n nice one extends that warmth to the marital family as well. That is to say, never does she marry merely for money, and cares for the loving husband, his nurturing parents and his sincere siblings, too. She does not enter the marital home with pride and prejudice(s), in brief. 

Girls mostly are genuine about everything they do. Yes, the very many exceptions sure prove the basic rule. Want proof? Look at the results of any and every examination. Most often, of the topper ten, at least eight would be girls.  Later, however, at the workplace, the glass ceiling is as deceptive as the slippery steps to success, not to forget the crab mentality often encountered! 

Girls are hyper sensitive and yet they are highly resilient. Weave any impossible nightmare around a girl. She would manage to survive intact, and with grace. Unlike most men, self pity, that leads to all sorts of addictions, does not dominate the difficult days. 

Yes, I do agree that such qualities are individual-specific and gender-neutral. Often, they are rooted in parenting as well as in her own unique personality. Hence the need to support a struggling girl, right? 

In a way, it is dicey that the day needs to be continued! That irony is not lost in 2026 which brings not only new challenges as well as the unmistakable frivolities that majority of the girls, too, exhibit abundantly. Well, one has come a long way, right? The competition, moreover, never was with the male of the species. The attempt ever was to evolve better and more human(e)!

Pratima@In brief, girls glitter dazzlingly. They and their families, hence, must not allow anyone or any situation to scratch the sheen of their dream(s).

Quote of the day:                                                        "Why be an echo when you have your own unique music?," so says, yes, you guessed it right, Pratima!

Word of the day: resilient.                                       A resilient person is able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions/situations/circumstances.

A Citizen appeals to...

 What goes in to the making of a good, vibrant democracy? Undoubtedly, the elections matter as ours is a representative democracy. Yet, 'we, the citizens', are not merely a number. Rather, we are a participatory society, and each one of us is/has to be an active, conscientious member. It is in this spirit that I would like to make a fervent appeal to our Prime Minister. 

Sure my blog is not a jazzy, sensational one like Ranveer Allahabadia's. Nor is it a mouthpiece of any faction, any party or any ideology. Yet I love my country a lot, and hence this open appeal to our Prime Minister. 

Just look around us. Most nations, the erstwhile colonizer, England to the oil-rich Middle East, are on the boil, America being no exception. As for China, there is no knowing. Yet it is observable that, almost everywhere, there is an implosion like situation. 

Given such ground realities and the fact that our nation seems to be making strides in many fields, why the need to make divisive laws? As a result, suddenly there is a surge in our country of the strident caste rhetoric. It is assuming many, and major, and forceful forms, moreover.

The most obvious one currently is the UGC issue which is getting gargantuan in proportion. It can very easily be 're-solved' without anybody losing face. First and foremost, that entire rigid prison like structure, committees, centres, is terrorising. If at all such strictures are to exist, there must be clear cut, 'open'ly indicated, inclusion of ALL sorts of representatives.

That stringent law would appear less draconian, the moment it is 'open'ly stated that false allegations and malicious complaints are punishable, and equally heavily. The moment there is a guarantee of a fair hearing, the bursting anger would cool down. 

The PG medical entrance issue, too, can honorably find an amicable and honest solution. Let the c-word not be a divisive force, Sir! As it is, there are any number of external forces, countries, deep state(s) out (there) to get India. Why are we providing them an opportunity on a platter, especially when we know our very many internal enemies rather well?

Otherwise, there is no knowing how which generation would when n where  love the streets! All the sincere work at alternative paradigms tried for about a decade would go simply waste. No, sensible citizens are not taken in by that Adani-Ambani jibe because everyone knows that both of them were, have been, and are, favoured by all possible political parties! 

Instead, through fora like the BRICS, et al, India can diffuse international polarisation. In fact, now is the time to question and re-think neo-capitalism/the LPG paradigm/neo-colonialism of all varieties. Why then push India near the brink of chaos? Do we really need/deserve it, given the AI (r)evolution, and its emergent tensions?

I am a never-say-no diehard optimist. I believe in thought-through, honest, inclusive measures that are just to all, and are not mired merely in politicking or propaganda. Hence this fervent appeal, Sir, especially because of your words in Kerala for a kid holding your portrait. 

Sir, I do not like narratives of any sorts. Instead, I believe in dialogue which, I always thought/believed, we were good at since the days of Shankaracharya. Oh, i better clarify that I mean the "Adi" one! From those, or even earlier, ancient days, as a civilisation, as a culture, we have always been comfortable with an atheist Charvaka to all possible varieties of thought processes. Why then allow some rhetoric to make us a monolith which we never ever have been? Hence this fervent appeal, Sir! 

Pratima@Oh, yes, I love my India, and believe we can continue to be better! Hope my voice, however tiny, gets heard, and in the right spirit!

Quote of the day:                                                        Says Aristotle, the father of the Western wisdom, "The good of (wo)man must be the end of the science of politics." 

Word of the day: Deliberation.             Deliberation refers to a detailed, and careful consideration or discussion.

Let us learn grammar:                                          We have revised all the major rules of article usage. Articles are not visible markers on the surface level in our languages. All the European languages have to have articles. Why, Japanese, the Asian language i know, uses counters, a little like articles, though not exactly. Better hence to revise all the usages of articles. Come Monday, and let us begin a new chapter.

 

Who is afraid of the AI?

 Ashwini Vaishnav is an efficient example of  a well-educated bureaucrat turned minister. This Wharton educated bureaucrat turned minister was at the Davos meet. There he was questioned if India could join the first bouquet of the AI ready countries, supposed to be the U. S. and China. 

I liked his "layered" answer. In his opinion, the AI architecture comprises five layers — application, model, chip, infrastructure, and energy. He clarified in a strong way that India is real good at all these, especially "application", nuanced as per the business demands. 

In my opinion, indeed important is this detailed explication. Why, so? Well, at that very Davos, Satya Nadela of the Microsoft, a seasoned businessman, was singing the dirge of the AI. In his opinion, if restricted only to tech companies, the AI would prove to be a bubble ready to burst any minute. 

In his opinion, the AI must branch out to agriculture, and other such sectors, for instance. While M/S Gates, Musk and others are busy declaring that the AI would finish off within five years all possible "white collar" jobs, including medicine, the Nvidia honcho, Jensen Huang, is taking such 'nay-sayers' to task because, as per his viewpoint, they terrify not merely the general public, but the investors as well! In brief, as many power magnates, those many AI futures, not to forget its ever expanding versions! 

Pratima@Hence the title of our blog which is a take on Edward Albee's brilliant play "Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf?" The play tears, rather rips, open the façade of the power-mongering university professorial couple, Martha and George, brilliantly enacted by the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor couple in the film version. 

Quote of the day:                                                         “An invention has to make sense in the world it finishes in – not the world in which it started.” This is an anonymous quote. Yet it pins properly the responsibility  of any invention, especially if much publicised. 

Word of the day: serendipity                            Serendipity refers to the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.                                               Scientific (r)evolutionary discoveries and/or inventions cannot be a serendipitous act as they affect society in a huge way! 

Let us learn grammar:                                     Today ends the usage requisites of articles. Please remember that ordinal numbers require the definite article "the", while names of sports do not require any article.                                     Let us look at an example or two. Cricket is the first preference of most Indians. As the second born child of his parents, he was much loved and was allowed to make a career in hockey. Chess is a difficult sports that tries your patience.                                                                     It is absolutely fashionable currently to maintain that communication matters! Yet another passionately held belief is English can have as many avataars as many speakers there are.                                                                                           For sure! Yet for any ordinary communication, basic grammar has to be OKAY. Otherwise, communication itself would suffer.                                                            Similarly, it IS true that ex colonised countries can enjoy their own versions of English. Yet there has to be a semblance to the educated native speaker's English. Otherwise, it would be a Creole or a Pidgin, not English at all!!! 

Day and night/have to fight!

 Sant Tukaram, a famous saint from Maharashtra, much translated, much quoted, wrote this famous abhang. "Day in and night out/we have to fight" is how it can simply be summarised. Sure, being a saint, he means more the inner fight within the self to remove all the dross so as to be closer to the Lord 

If you were to look at the world around us at this moment, the saint appears to be prescient. Everybody constantly seems to be in the fight mode, and, no, it is not the inner variety. 

Look at our very own state, Maharashtra, for instance. Such were the countless alliances pre-election at the basic most level that the in situ realities were tough to understand. All the usual election dramatics was staged, and in full force, money/muscle power, 'the' religion card, the ballot paper not being used, the ink that was not indelible, and so on, and so on. 

Despite all such shenanigans, the BJP won decisively. One thought, as the CM suggested, calm would return, especially when the election fever was over. No, though! The CM is in Davos, and all sorts of games are being played here, what with the channels screaming "breaking news" every nano second!

As if that is not enough, the world's worst hidalgo/amigo, have it whichever irony you like more, Señor Trump is every day finding new targets to threaten, Iran, Europe, Russia so much so that Ukraine must now feel a little left-out, like the cur pup none wants! 

If Trump trumpets, can China be far behind? The head of the topmost think tank there has threatened to blow off the U. S. with a hydrogen bomb. The next morning America's most invincible plane is visible in the aerospace! 

At such times, a certain person does not fear the atomic threat, though many in the Congress (American, please!) are openly and vociferously questioning His Excellency's policies! No advice, no attempt at truce wanted by Him in such contexts! The tariff war, in fact, is in full throttle mode, and not only against India where the new UGC rule is threatening to turn campuses in to trenches, and every which way!

What is up? Are we indeed inching towards a third world war that would finish us all?

Pratima@ In Aai's memory, we conduct a short story compétition in collaboration with "Menaka". The theme of that competition this year is "war" , too!                                           Interested in writing a short story on the theme? Please get in touch with me. 

Quote of the week:                                                   "There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.". Anonymous is this quote.                                        If you want to guage the horror and the "pity of war/the pity war distilled", read the poems by the shell-shocked poets of the First World War when the WMD's were first used, when the trench realities were brutal beyond belief!

Word of the day: war theater                                The term refers to the entire land, sea, and air area that is, or may become, involved directly in war operations. A related term is 'theater of operations'. No entertainment in this theater though! 

Let us learn grammar:                                         No article is needed with set expressions. Let us look at a few examples.                       1)She is out of town. 2) He has been out of work for many years. 3) Her father is at work. 

Who is afraid of the AI entering the medical field?

 Bill Gates and Elon Musk and others of their ilk are already predicting that very soon the  AI would take over the medical profession. No, this foretelling has nothing to do with the "minus forty" furore in India, rooted, directly and/or indirectly, in the buying/selling of the PG seats in medical colleges, especially of the private variety. 

M/S Musk/Gates types believe that the speed of the AI (r)evolution is such that it would soon take over the need for doctors, with the robots performing, moreover,  the toughest operations without a single faux-pas! 

Of course, my immediate objection to such a proposal would be the (lack of) human touch. I mean it literally, too. A doctor kindly talking to you, actually touching the aching body part, thereby reassuring you that "all is under control" would be 'out of touch' due to the utmost sophisticated A/I, I believe.

True, in the contemporary era of super specialists, doctors depend more on a battery of tests than actual examination and diagnosis of the "family doctor" variety which  has almost disappeared. Often it looks as if a doctor is responding more to the statistics tests generate than to any actual physical examination. 

My problem with 'the AI as the future medical practitioner' goes a step further n ahead. Already a majority self-medicate-ers, improve their medical awareness, what with the help of the Google Guru and an obliging chemist. 

With the AI, what would happen to such hypochondriacs? That is the real question! The AI would not leave any physiological details to imagination. Equally open would be the interpretation. Thus the territory is fully accessible to the nervous hypochondriac who can imagine himself a patient, nay, the victim of every possible disease! 

Actually, it is the perfect diagnosis and the precise pharmacology that make a good doctor. The AI would simplify these processes every which way. Oh, yes, one can already get detailed google search based articles that diagnose the condition and further suggest possible medication. 

Hence the worry about hypochondriacs who anyway are/get upset when they read such "strictly for educational purpose" articles. I am sure that with the AI arrival in the medical field, the hypochondriacs would imagine, nay, be sure that they have got each and every symptom of most all diseases! Stress, in other words, would be the real killer in the AI regime! 

Pratima@ Who would enslave whom? The AI the doctors or the doctors the AI? That is the quesion! 'AI, heal thyself' is not the probable advice either. Tough times ahead, in brief! 

Quote of the day:                                                         "By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it (or through it!)," opines Eliezer Yudkowsky.

Word of the day: self-aggrandizement                 This term refers to the action or process of promoting oneself as being powerful or important. The AI may make this process absolutely easy, right? That is  the terrible tragedy!

Let us learn grammar:                                               Zero article or no article is used  when we refer to 'Common Categories,' such as languages, sports, academic subjects, and meals. An example or two may suffice.  She speaks/studies Spanish, I play football, Breakfast is ready. 

Kyase kya ho gaya!

 Even if you might not have read the original novel by R.K.Narayan,  you  would have at least watched its filmy version as the Dev Anand starrer "The Guide", and  you would have surely loved the film, at least for the songs, right? In the film, there is this song  "kya se kya ho gaya" as the background score, when Rosie suspects Raju Guide of pilfering her money against a forged signature.

Currently in the public space is unfolding a private drama which would remind anyone of that song of sad repentance. The occasion is the bitter acrimony of the Mary Kom divorce saga.

Mary Kom has been a role model for a generation of women boxers, given her much narrated life story, what with a film dedicated to her journey. All along, the subscript had been her husband's silent but solid support.

Apparently, he was her coach initially, right? Once she rose to giddy heights in the arena of boxing, he was the support system who sportingly took the back seat, and cared for the family. Everything was portrayed to be so hunky-dory that the very mention of a divorce comes as a huge surprise.

Much worse are the undignified acrimonious accusations hurled at each other. If Mary Kom accuses her ex-husband of financial deception and monetary irregularities, he publically suspects her of conjugal deception in the form of a string of extra marital affairs!

It is sad that they are thus washing the dirty linen in public. It is a huge hit in the face of a woman player dedicated to her game. Tough it must be for the families, too. Instead, they could have gone for some silent separation which would have saved her dignity, instead of such a solid punch at the mask! 

Indeed a 'kya se kya ho gaya' lament not only for the lady, but also for the depiction of women in the public space, especially because it sends extremely regressive messages about a woman player's success!

Pratima@Is not it ironic that such "Raju guide" moments are often the fate of masterful women, be it Chanda Kochar of the ICICI  or Mariah Carey or Steffi Graf! Much worse is the sad(istic) tragedy of Radhika Yadav, right?

Quote of the day:                                                        "It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it," warns Warren Buffet.

Word of the day: a spat                                            A spat is a petty quarrel or angry outburst in public, often revealing unsavoury realities hidden behind the mask.

Let us learn grammar:                                              If we should use the indefinite article 'a/an' for professions (She always wanted to be a professor, an author), we use the definite article 'the' for oceans, seas, channels, rivers, canals, may be, because they are specific. Let us look at a few examples: the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the English Channel, the Arabian Sea, the Suez Canal.

 

The Bicycle Race

 Pune was once known as the bicycle city. Those of us who have grown up in the city in the eighties and nineties would have been avid bicycle kids, right? If de Sica were to come to Pune till the late 1980's, he would have gotten many, very many indeed, bicycle briefs! 

It is hence most appropriate that the first ever Indian version of multi-stage road bicycle race, so very popular in most all countries, should begin in Pune. It is to start tomorrow from the iconic Good Luck Chowk, and would return to Deccan on Friday. Quite an auspicious beginning of the lunar month of Magh! 

This Pune version of the famous Tour de France is going to cover city roads as well as the hilly terrains. Quite tough this some four hundred thirty seven kilometers race would be for the one hundred and seventy one riders from twenty nine teams from thirty five countries. Puneites as keen n enthu spectators are going to love it though.

Yes, even today, there are cycle tracks on major Pune roads. If you ever were to go to the hip Hinjewadi area, most all I/T-wallahs would be riding a trendy gear bicycle to their swanky offices. Yes, even today the enterprising n adventours among the youngsters do go for bicycle trips n tours.

 Yet that magic of the absolutely unpolluted Pune full of the musical tring-tring of simple non-gear Hero or Hercules brand bicycles, which could even be rented for less than a rupee for an hour, is now missing. Instead we have the cycle brand agarbattis now! 

Hope such a bicycle race, supposed to be an annual event, brings back at least that nostalgia, if not the actual bicycles, almost impossible now, given the terrible traffic!

Pratima@ Nothing can beat the happy feel of pedalling away to glory, the wind singing in my ears, the feet n legs swinging rhythmically like a ballerina's, and the soul free n happy like a birdie's!                                                   And, oh, yes, the unique, the simply unforgettable memories of Papa teaching me to ride, the handle wobbling almost one eighty degrees on the first day to not even realizing soon that he is no longer holding the cycle from behind as a support! Such a lovely image for his absent yet forever present aura!

Quote of the day:                                                        H.G.Wells, who wrote "The Time Machine", maintains, "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, no longer do I despair for the future of the human race." 

Word of the day: nostalgia                                      Nostalgia means the sentimental longing and wistful affection for the past.

The New Equity Rules by the UGC

 Let us begin with the very meaning in simple words of the term 'equity'. The first clarification due in this context is that the term has no finance/economics/commerce related echo(s) in this context because the UGC does not mean it that way at all. 

What does equity mean in the general, non-finance sense? The term refers to the quality of being fair and just, especially in a way that takes account of and seeks to address existing inequalities. Fair-mindedness, in brief.

The general principles of equity and fairness are undoubtedly great. Why then the furore over the UGC 2026 Equity Rule? Let us see if our blog can explore it.

Actually, this legality, begun circa 2012, and  revisited in the 2016 Rohit Vemula case, and later the Payal Tadvi Case, was revived last year as a draft. There was a terrible critique of the draft as the OBC group was not included in the "discriminated". Now the OBC's are included as well. 

Why then is the 2026 rule being debated fiercely? Forget larger issues such as academic freedom and institutional autonomy! To begin with, the very definition of harassment is not clear-cut in the regulation. Much worse, the "false complaint" possibility is removed, too. 

In other words, targeting a person whom an individual/a group does not want around for whatever might be his/her/their own problems is going to be extremely easy! The 'general category' community feels actually threatened because of the removal of a fair and equitable opportunity to state the alternative version of the complaint. 

Tough times on campuses for sure! Hope the government re-calibrates the law with a sensitive attitude as the victim/victimiser duality is often non-transparent! The so-called victimiser has to have the right to state his/her side as well, right? In a Maharashtra where the Kopardi wounds are just a scab deep, such laws are sure to appear terrorising!

Pratima@ Yet another academic tornado  is a public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court challenging the notice dated January 13 issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences which reduced the qualifying cut-off percentiles for NEET-PG 2025-26, apparently to minus 40!

The PIL is  filed by a social worker,  Harisharan Devgan, a neurosurgeon Dr.  Saurav Kumar, Dr Lakshya Mittal ( the President, United Doctors Front) and Dr Akash Soni, among others. The issue is the quality of medical education, and hence of medical service as a consequence, if the entrance qualifications are watered down that much.

Quote of the day:                                                  "Injustice anywhere," says Martin Luther King, "is a hindrance to justice everywhere." 

Word/Phrase of the day: "audi alteram partem" 

The right to a fair hearing is "audi alteram partem". It is a fundamental principle of natural justice. It means "listen to the other side," thus ensuring everyone gets a chance to be heard, present evidence, and challenge opposing claims before any decision is arrived at. It has to be a core part of any  procedural fairness, ensuring justice is done impartially and transparently in legal and administrative processes. 

Let us learn grammar:                                               Let us follow the rule of "no grammar during the week-end". 

 

A Marathon Man in Politics!

 "A Man for All Seasons" is an interesting play by Robert Bolt. It is based on the life of Thomas More. It deals with the importance of integrity, of staying true to one's conscience and ethical convictions, even at great personal cost. 

Integrity is always a tough proposition. It becomes dicey still when you participate in public life, and hence your every move is constantly under microscopic scrutiny. Surviving that constant 'gaze', and yet retaining one's own integrity and humane qualities, not to forget sanity, is indeed a constant battle, and with the self! Those who win it are not mere politicians; they are the statesman type, extremely rare. 

The submission of our blog today is that the man of the moment, Devendra Fadnavis, is on the path to such success in the public space.  No, I do not have any personal contact with him. Nor am i a particularly political person in any sense of the term. Yet I would like to make this statement assertively. 

Why? Let me see if I can clearly  explain such a stance. For one thing, when he joined the centre stage of Maharashtra politics, he was young. Yet he was always mature in his responses. Still he was refreshingly frank, too. He openly stated how irritated his well-wishers were, as he agreed to take the "external support" of-n-by Mr. Pawar. 

As in the case of the 2019 chief ministership of a day and a half, the 2014 'external support' possibly could not have been his own decision. Yet he got the worst flak which he faced with conviction and  courage, just like the  constant slurs against his caste, given the extreme and subtle caste prejudices in the contemporary Maharashtra politics.

He has been mocked viciously, and ad infinitum, for his "I shall come back..." quote. His own partymen saw to it that his maiden public meeting in Pune was a total fiasco. His mother, his wife have been targetted in an ugly way. Yet he continues to work hard, sincerely, and with a developmental vision.

Despite a huge win after horrible hard work ( he gave speeches in any number of back to back public meetings/rallies, appeared for countless interviews), this intelligent man requests his followers to avoid any rowdy excesses when it comes to the celebration mode.

In his acceptance speech after the current huge success, too, he did not covet the prize, ah, unlike our dear "amigo", El Señor Trump. Instead, he shared it with each and every one, the booth level party worker to the party top brass, not to forget the coalition partners.

 As usual, despite being an "effective" n witty speaker, his reactions were sensible and balanced. Even his interviews, I watched a few, hardly had any invective, and were more a roadmap with a developmental vision.  He surprisingly seemed to be quite aware of the latest developments in most all fields which sure would help in policy decisions and their execution which he could explain cogently.

He seems to have a connect with the common man, too. Why, during the COVID years, he was so much out in the field,  trying to help the afflicted that he himself was twice hospitalised with the dis-ease.  

No wonder, however much the critics may harp about the election process 'frauds' or the  Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions breaking away (why, seasoned, wily politicians, "they" chose it, and could have rejected it, if it was in any way inconvenient to them, right?) from "their" parties, his image does not suffer a dent. He continues to appear honest, clean, dedicated to welfare, devoted to a developmental ideation!

A good son and a wonderful father, he has often clearly showed the gumption to openly admit that he accepts his wife's different decisions. Quite chivalrous, given the standard image of 'political' wives, right?

In brief, his journey from a nobody to a center stage personality today has wonderful lessons about communication, about convictions, about conducting oneself no(ta)bly in the public arena, for instance. Undoubtedly, he must have the  unstinting support of the top brass in his own party. Yet no harm in admitting that it is tough to be a Fadnavis, and he sure deserves such kudos, right? Atta, Sir! You sure are a long distance runner, a marathon man in politics!

Pratima@Sure, his vicious critics would have all sorts of issues against him. I would not know such nitty-gritty. Yet he appears much better than most of his generation, especially if one remembers his decisions  such as accepting Gadchiroli for his ministerial mentorship. The milestone state run bus service there for the first time since Independence is sure quite an achievement. No riots either given his Home Minister-ship, right? Good governance indeed!

Quote of the day:                                                           "A good leader," says John Maxwell, "knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way " 

Word of the day: governance                                  Governance is the overall complex system or framework of processes, functions, structures, rules, laws and norms. 

Let us learn grammar:                                            We have to use the definite article 'the' if there is an anaphoric (prior reference) and/or cataphoric reference (forward reference) in the discourse. Forget these technical terms from linguistics.                                Let me give you an example which would clarify the meaning. The girl in the blue frock is my friend. (prior reference defining 'the' friend). Before he entered the interview room, the candidate took a deep breath. ("he" explained later).

The Army Day

 One of the advantages of the Google is that all possible searches, even without the AI, are easy. In fact, many online and/or offline publications provide brief leads to their content so as to win readers and garner footprints on their online sites as well as to encourage paid subscriptions.

An example should suffice, right? It was through such bits/bytes that I got to know that January 15 is the Army Day. It celebrates the taking over of the responsibility as the commander-in-chief of the Indian army by General Cariappa on January 15, 1949.

Such sovereignty of every individual nation now appears to be threatened, what with the 2026 Venezuela adventure and the Greenland threat looming large. Iran is on the boil, too, yet again! In other words, the current world scenario, unfortunately, is such that non-violence hardly seems to be the theme. 

Flexing of muscles is the drama most, whether at the personal or at the international level, seem to love. In such a "theater" (in all senses of this term, including the 'military' one), it is no use, in fact, it is almost not allowed, to be Goody-two-shoes. No, it is not the question of any self-image. It is plain and simple being misunderstood as weak! 

In other words, willy-nilly, every human-being like each nation, has to flex muscles, answer crooks in the language THEY understand! As an individual, one takes care that such abuse is only for those who very well deserve it, while it never ever reaches one's own core. 

Like individuals, nations, too, need, not merely the military power, but also the strength to understand the mind games being played, and subtly expose and counter them. More and more, life is a chess game, and to be the final winner, there is every need to understand and counter the crook with a wicked, twisted and  sadistic mindset and an army of such cheer leaders! The real army, in brief, is the mindscape that is not a victim of any mind game, however subtly played! 

Pratima@ With crooks, it is necessary to show them up. 

Quote of the day:                                                          Says H. E. Fosdick, "the problem with war is that it takes  man's best to do man's worst."  

Word of the day: warmonger                                    A warmonger is a person who encourages or advocates aggression towards other countries or groups.

Let us learn grammar:                                              Let us continue with the usage of articles. The definite article "the" is compulsorily used with superlatives. She was the wisest, but in the current scenario, she might be considered the weakest. She has to project herself as the strongest. 

Makar Sankrant

 Yes, Makar Sankrant is a very important festival, and for a number of reasons. To begin with, it ushers in the new year calendar of festivals our part of the world abounds with . It is, moreover, one of those festivals shared across the length and the breadth of our continental country.  The third major reason is what we noted yesterday. Yes, it relates  to the crop pattern in India, still a semi-agrarian country. 

Most important of all,  this astrological entity, "makar sankraman", the sun entering the Capricorn constellation, marks an astronomical phenomenon. With the Makar Sankranti begins the "uttarayan". The days start becoming longer. The winter begins to end. As the solar and the lunar calendars thus coalesce, this cyclicity, despite the climate crisis, matters a lot. 

In a way, hence, all the rituals associated with this festival easily gain justifications. The "gul poli" and the "til gul' are good for health, given the seasonal transitions. Kite flying is good for the Calcium D build-up, for instance. The " black" clothes are good for warmth, while the exchange of the " dugad" is a welcome tribute to potters and farmers, for instance. 

Yes, such details may (or not) convince the nay-sayers. Yet, with or without them, it is a lovely festival because, in my opinion, it asserts the importance of good communication. These days, most all people try to be as arrogant and ill-mannered as is possible. Hence the importance of good communication which the robots and the AI, too, are trying to emulate! Hope the festival energises people to be 'i-deal' communicators! 

Pratima@ in the lingo today, I love Sankranti.

Quote of the day:                                              "Sweetness shared is happiness multiplied," says an anonymous quote. 

Word of the day: observance.                Observance refers to the practice of observing the requirements of rituals, law, or morality. It may mean a careful watch as well. 

Let us learn grammar:                                            Let us keep on learning more and more about the usage of articles. We must use, for example, the definite article with musical instuments. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma played the santoor, for instance. Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasiya plays the flute so well that we feel we are listening to the Lord! 

Bhogi

 Why do we celebrate festivals like the Bhogi? Many reasons I can think of in/as explanation, especially because it is almost a pan-Indian festival, confirming in a way the 'civilisational unity' argument that could flourish full force since 2014.

True, not only in India, but across the whole world, there is rampant urbanisation, and its speed can compare comfortably with a supersonic jet. Yes, that force is taking people away from the roots so much so that hydroponics is no longer an academic jargon.

Despite such disturbing realities, at some primal subconscious level, we all love our roots  in the soil, in agriculture that in a way made us human beings from nomadic beast-like presences. May be, hence we need festivities that reconnect us to our original identities.

Even today, in a way, ours is an agrarian society. Hence such harvest festivals touch our souls. Bhogi is that pure vegetarian delight, with the bhogi special veggie that is made of all the "rabbi" produce, the sesame/til chatani that adds the much needed warmth in winters, fresh ghee/home made butter, and that staple food, khichdi. 

Such is the divine taste of this combo that no pizza can match it. Have you noticed that mostly for 'bhogi', it is the 'bajri bhakri', as in this second, 'rabbi' cycle of crops, with less rains, bajri can grow, unlike a water intensive crop like rice, for instance, right?

Aai was excellent at all these simple but divinely tasty items. I do continue all these traditions. In a way, they 'root' us, right? On the bhogi day, she used to make 'halwa', too. Extremely difficult, nay, tough, it is to make. She would sugar coat each sesame seed so perfectly that it would bloom in to that starry shape. Her finger tips would adroitly and adeptly sugar coat each sesame seed, without any scalding/burning. Superb art! The ochre colour used to be 'natural,' too. 

She used to fill the 'halwa' in to small pouches she herself decoratively stitched, and Papa would post those envelopes to all the relatives. No emoji can match that simple genuine gesture. Even though such loving presences are already past, I shall certainly continue their lovely memory-able(d) traditions in to the future.

Pratima@ Aai used to prepare the special jaggery-sesame filling necessary to make the Sankrant special 'gul poli', yet another extremely tough to make sweet. First item to be made in the morning tomorrow, til laddu and wadi, would be half ready, too. Commitment had a unique name, my parents, who made our childhood as sweet n tasty as the sankranti goodies! 

Quote of the day:                                           "Cultures grow on the vine of tradition," says Jonah Goldberg. 

Word of the day: lore                                              Lore is a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject, held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person, generation to generation by word of mouth.

Let us learn grammar:                                          Abstract nouns do not need articles either. 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty, and that is all ye need to know," wrote Keats, for instance. Yet , whenever there is some specific reference, the definite article 'the' would get used. The parental loving kindness makes us better human beings, for instance. 

Dedicated to youth!

 Swamy Vivekananda's birth anniversary falls on January 12. Absolutely unique individual he was! However much we may read about him, and from whichever angle, newer and brilliant aspects of his superb life emerge. 

Hence it irritates me that his birth anniversary gets celebrated as the Youth Day! No, sorry, I am NOT being cynical nor dismissive. Honestly though, the young today hardly inspire you to associate such a wonderful person with them. 

In a way, I could say that I should know. I teach senior college and post-graduate students. Very very rarely is there THAT spark. Most are over pampered. Most hence think no end of themselves which is a very sad "attitude" at any age, but surely BAD when young. It stultifies one's growth as an individual, I think. 

Let me give you a concrete example of this attitude. Last year, there was this student who always behaved as if he is better than Goethe at German. Poor soul! He could not manage the simple most accusative case, nor could he remeber the basic most usage regarding the placement of verb in a German sentence! 

Personally I am of the opinion that one should never throw one's  weight about, and surely not in a classroom. Students, however, are so blase that it is unbelievable. Most all times, they know next to NOTHING, but their absolute superiority complex both amuses, and, oh, yes, worries me!  

Yes, there ARE a few promising exceptions, but they prove the rule! For immediate temporary pleasure, most young can stoop down to any level. No, I never try to advise anyone. As it is, there are bothers enough in life! Why compound them, right? 

Yet one feels their despair, too, and then one continues to worry, given the radical shift introduced by the quite fatal, current change at the paradigm level! Here is wishing all the youngsters the Vivekanda spirit, his courage and his ability to think through in new ways!

pratima@ Being always  youthful in head, heart and soul is the real meaning of life, right? 

Quote of the day:                                                        "Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached, " asserts Swami Vivekananda. 

Word of the day:  Demographic dividend.               Demographic dividend, as defined by the United Nations Population Fund, is "the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population is larger than the non-working-age share of the population".

Let us learn grammar:                                         Better not to use any article with proper nouns, that is the specific name of a person or a  town/city, for instance. Here are a few examples. Shakespeare's sonnets are as beautiful as his plays. Pune is already  a metro. 

Even then to indicate the uniqueness, the definite article may get used.  Let us look at a few examples. He is trying a natwarlal on you. He is quite the Veeru amongst the siblings! 

Piecing together the Peace Prize

  The Nobel Peace Prize is often dicey.  It becomes messier still when presidents are involved, especially American. Let us look at two examples, one awarded, hence debated; the other not awarded and hence debated, nay, a "h(e)ated" topic. 

Easy it is to guess who possibly could be the two individuals. Yes, I AM referring to Señor Obama and Señor Trump. Yes, the "Señor" is consciously used as Obama had a huge latino support which helped him win. As for Trump, no, it not his "winter White House", that is, his Florida estate, Mar-o-lago. Sure, more it is the after effect of the Venezuelan adventure! 

When he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, Obama himself must have been surprised. In fact, even his loyal supporters felt that he did not deserve it. Sure, it gave him a halo which allowed him to lecture india in 2015 about tolerance, et al. 

Lucky for him that I was not in Delhi then. Ha! Ha! Ha! Forget the levity of this remark, but I genuinely wonder how/why nobody asked him about the American non-tolerance under his presidency. The U. S. was a major party(cipant)  in very many wars during the Obama regime. Oh, yes, how can anyone forget the 2008 implosion of economy either? Well, it led to his presidency in a way, right? 

May be, that is why, not getting the Nobel Peace Prize rankles the next incumbent of the presidential post, now in his second term. He himself lists the wars he stopped, some eight according to him, including the possible nuclear clash between us and our 'war-y' neighbour. Well, even a kindergarten kid in India knows the truth, right? 

Whatever recently happened in Venezuela and the current peace prize winner (from Venezuela, too) most no(ta)bly ready to trade hers with him casts aspersions on the peace prize as well. Thankfully, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has solid reservations regarding such an exchange.

Yet it clouds the very process of the nomination, right? Haste always leads to waste. If both of them had waited it out, may be, the crown would have been shinier!

Pratima@Like respect, prizes, too, cannot be demanded. Rather, both, respect and a respected prize, must be commanded!

Quote of the day:                                                   Theodore Roosevelt, a much honoured American president maintained, "Far and away, the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." 

Word(s) of the day: Award and reward         Something that is given by someone else to a recipient as a token of recognition for excellence in a certain field is called an award.

Something that is given to a recipient as a token of recognition for their service, effort or achievement is a reward. A reward can be intrinsic as well , as in "virtue is its own reward".

The Hindi Connect

 When is the World Hindi Day? Is it January 10 or is it September 14? Well, both the possibilities co-exist. On January 10, the first ever world Hindi conclave took place in Nagpur. The year was 1975.

As for the September date, on this day, in 1949, Hindi was constitutionally assigned the status of India's official language, and hence since 1953, September 14 is celebrated as the Official Language Day. 

Well, a legitimate question could possibly be as follows. If it is not India's national language, can it be internationally so important that there could be a world conclave some fifty-one years ago?

Well, the answer is that Hindi is not granted the national status, given the regional and linguistic varieties in India. It is, however, globally the third most spoken language after Chinese and Spanish.

Hindi itself has so very many dialects, each with its own uniquenesses. Given the Bollywood impact, however, the rest of India is more used to the Bambaiya version, and the "khadi boli"  with a huge smattering of the Punjabi effect. In its own way, this combo, too, has impacted india hugely as a subtle connect. Want proof? Even fifty years later, the cult lines from the "Sholay" dialogues continue to be mass favourites across the width and breadth of India! 

As January 10 happens to be the World Hindi Day, it is so significant that the ninety-ninth Marathi Literary Meet, the "Sahitya Sammelan", had Mridula Garg, a noted Hindi (and English) author, inaugurating the literary/cultural meet. Her inaugural speech, as reported in newspapers, et al, celebrated the Dalit literature in Marathi which impacted Indian literatures hugely.

 As Hindi, too, is a progeny of Sanskrit and as the script used is Devnagari, acquisition of Hindi is not difficult. In fact, in subtle ways, it has impacted Marathi vocabulary and usage. Languages, too, are sisters, and the sibling bond is always strong! 

Pratima@ Actually, each and every language influences the other. Why not respect every language as it is the  best mode of communication? 

Quote of the day:                                                         "A different language," asserts Frederico Fellini, "is a different vision of life." 

Word of the day: lingua franca                              Lingua franca is a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose mother tongues are different/varied. In India, English is the lingua franca, for instance. 

Let us learn grammar Monday onwards, as it is the weekend mood right now 

The NRI Affect

 As it is January 9 today, is it not but normal that the theme of our blog today should be the NRI. Now let me explain the "affect" bit of the title of our blog. Whether as a verb or as a deverbal noun, 'affect' primarily means 'have an effect on/make a difference to'. 

In 1915, on January 9, for instance, after spending more than two decades in South Africa, Gandhiji returned to India, a major factor that affected the freedom movement. Hence the biennial celebration of the 'pravasi bhartiya diwas' to remember how the non-resident Indians can change the very destiny of india. 

'Affect' can mean touch the feelings of, move emotionally. The NRI's no longer create this affective ripple. For one thing, unlike the sixties to eighties, when there actually was  brain drain, it is no longer so. Post the Y2K scare, any software could land you abroad. In fact, a few enterprising souls got themselves years-long experience certificates for software packages and languages introduced world-wide just a few months ago! The 'Oracle-ar' affect, for instance!

'Affect' can, moreover, mean infect. None is any longer thus affected, no, not even the brokers in the marriage market because it is already an open secret that most NRI's lead a middle class life there, what with additional disadvantages such as the do-it-yourself praxis there, not to mention the loneliness and very heavy taxes and racial slurs. 

In other words, no longer is the NRI status magical. Just look at the sheer numbers of both the white collar and blue collar workers.  Eight to nine millions in the Middle East, some four to five millions in the USA, some one point eight million in the UK, two to three millions in South-East Asia, one point six million in Canada, and some seventy lakhs in Australia. These absolutely non-inflated numbers do not include the indentured labour, in Fiji or Trinidad, now 'norm'alised as natives after generations. 

What with the (r)evolution in/of the communication technology, especially after the Corona online onset, there indeed is a global Village effect. Instead of haunting cultural ghettos there as the ABCD, that is, the America/Abroad born(e) confused desi's, many prefer the 'made in India' lifestyle!

I can speak a little authoritatively on these themes because I taught at the post- graduate level a two semesters long, eight credits strong paper entitled "Immigrant Literature'. Great fun and intellectual excitement it was to thus unravel theoretical structures/strictures through interesting texts, to relate them to theoretical models world wide. We all, excited students and their equally enthu/energy-efficient teacher, loved the in-depth analyses which I constantly contextualised through the framework(s) of other immigrant experiences.

Thus have I known in quite some detail the dreams that light up, the nightmares that fire back and the stars that dazzle the daylight (out) of the NRI experience, which does create not merely financial fertility back in the motherland, but quite a veneer as well of the soft power of India(s) in the other(ed/ing) land!

Pratima@ The Browning glorification of the "Ah, to be in England now" variety is now easily possible, what with the 3-D/4-D access to most all life experiences the 5G way! 

Quote of the day:                                                         "To be an immigrant, good or bad, is about straddling two homes, whilst knowing you don't really belong to either," asserts Nikesh Shukla.

Word of the day: native                                            A 'native' is a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not. 

Let us learn grammar:                                             We must use the definite article 'the' with every abbreviation. The UK, the US, the UNO, the BRICS, the DHFL, the FC, the BMCC, the SPPU, for instance.