Sun, Mere Reader, Re...

 October 31 is the death anniversary of one of the most noteworthy music directors from/of the 'golden era'  of Hindi film music. Yes, I am thus singing the paeans to S. D. Burman. Sure are his compositions sweet, simply lyrical. Remember "jeevan ki bagiya mahekegi" from the film "Tere mere sapne"? 

Sure, it is the Lata-Kishore magic.  Equally great is the duo, master musicians Hariprasad Chaurasia and Shivkumar Sharma, adding the magic touch with their fine flute-n-santoor accompaniment. What makes it a great duet, however, is the composition by S. D. Burman. 

Countless such melodies enrich our aural abilities. Personally, however, I like him more as a singer. I absolutely adore his "maazi" songs. They have the folk feel rendered classical by his superb voice.  Wonderful, for instance, are " mere maazi" from "Bandini" or " wahan kon hai Tera" from "Guide" or "safal hogi teri" from  "Aradhana".

My personal favourite, however, is "sun, mere bandhu, re" from "Sujata". This beautiful love song, penned by Shailendra, has very simple but touching images of fulfilled love. Ideal is the picturisation of the song with a boatsman singing adrift a small boat across the endless expanse of the Ganges as the beautiful background to the happy love of a girl ill-treated by destiny itself. 

It is a love song. Yet so devoted is the feel that it sounds like the typical Bengali "Baul" Bhajan. Full throated is how S. D. sings it, and yet it has an unmistakable 'nazakat' of a classical Bhairavi. 

No wonder, one can listen to it hundred times, and still one can find thousand soulful novelties in it each time.  Hence this tribute to the master musician-singer on his death anniversary! 

Pratima@ Such is S.D's composition that we can hear the different musical effects the flow of the Ganges uniquely adds to this song! 

Quote of the day:                                                            "Music is the soundtrack to every good and bad time we will ever have,” explicates Alex Gaskarth. 

Word of the day: composition                                  Composition is a piece of music that has been written by somebody.

A Story that is 'His'tory

 Once upon a time, there was a jungle. Everything there was 'mangal'. Come on, how could you imagine that this reference suggests that a qawwali, eh, no, well, the divine marriage song by a highly 'note'd n hugely 'original' music director was blaring away in that jungle? 

Actually, everywhere everything in that jungle was 'mangal' because the festive feel  was (t)here again. All the traders in the forest, big n small, low n high, were looking forward to this fodder flowing forward in to their bank balance. Well, what with this stir n that alarm, the poor dears found n felt that their bank accounts were quite shit, surely not bullish. 

So with the "mangal bell, mangal bell" (Please to note that 'bell' can have very many associations in this context) of the festive feel jingling well, all of them were busy decorating their china shops. No, no, oh, no, the goods in their shops were not at all Chinese. The good(s) merchants loved the jungle(as)mother more than any profit(s), you see. You would soon know, Dear Reader, the china reference is to a phrase in that Macaulay ke putron ki language. 

All was going well, all were doing well. Suddenly a bull entered the china shop! Like a bull-et he was bellowing. But obvious! To a big breed belonged he. Twenty merchants from twenty souks requested him twenty times. Mullish, however, he was. A stampede of two and a half za four lakh footfall, he declared.  In the ring thus threw he his hat(e).

Now the merchants know not what to do. Nor do we, Dear Reader, right? In the meantime, fingers firmly crossed n lips endlessly praying that "ye festival rang hai, sub dang hai,  sarvatr mangal hai" because "sab ke (sang) hone se hi, us ka, un ka, sab ka mangal hai!" 

Pratima@ Now, Dear Reader, this story happened long long ago once upon a time. If you hear in it familiar echoes of what is to be, or not to be, in a certain capital in a special country on a fixed day/date, hope  that "all would indeed be mangal"  because "happy times would thus rule again"! 

Quote of the day:                                                              Says Harry Browne, politicians often "break your legs, hand you a crutch, and then claim they saved your life".

Word of the day:                                                              'His'tory is a word play on history and 'his' story which, hopefully, would have a good moral(e)!

Kaiser-e-Hind

 'Once upon a time, there was a queen'. This is how begin the childhood tales which take us on fairy wings to far away lands. When it comes to our motherland, however, there  indeed were two queens from faraway lands who ruled our destinies. 

The first one of them is Queen Elizabeth I. On December 31, 1600, she promulgated the East India Company Charter which granted the Company of Merchants of London Trading a 'carte blanche' for the lucrative spice trade in India, Africa and parts of Eastern n Latin America. At the peak of her reign, the decree was to enable British merchants a better competition with the other marauding Europeans. 

The colonising process which thus began reached its zenith when the second queen who affected our destinies most remarkably became the monarch. Yes, I am referring to Queen Victoria. Exactly hundred and fifty years ago, in 1786, she adopted the title, Kaiser-e-Hind. The Parliamentary formalities were completed by May 31, 1876. In Delhi Durbar, it was proclaimed the next year.

The title means the Empress/Emperor of India. It was coined in 1876 by the orientalist G.W. Leitner. It was thus used by successive British monarchs in India until George VI. The 1947 Indian Independence Act obviously abolished it.

Incidentally, very soon, on April 10, 1900, Queen Victoria instituted the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal to recognize citizens of any nationality for public service in India. These were awarded in Gold, Silver, and Bronze grades.

Mahatma Gandhi received the Gold Medal in 1915 from Lord Hardinge for his ambulance and medical service work in South Africa. He returned the medal in 1920 during the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movements.

The term also refers to a butterfly. Yet nothing flew on the wings of fancy for Indians during the era of this empress of india! Let us forget the famines because much more horrible was the indirect impact. The notorious 1835 Macaulay Minute on Education during her regime formally incarcerated our 'i'dentities in to an infuriating inferiority complex, for instance.

Much worse was the effect of the writings of John Stuart Mill. His apparently liberal-democratic mode of thinking moulded the minds of the "sahibs" sent to rule India, and thus was the caste system iron clad cast! 

Though she loved dachshunds as pets, her regime demeaned women notably as it was during her reign was created that ideal "angel by the hearth" idol which continues to bind the better half of humanity, though her own remarks about marriage and motherhood, not to forget the suffragist movement, are quite interesting to say the least! In brief, the empire of this "Kaisar-e-Hind" held sway over a dominion that determined the domain of identity in multiple ways! 

Pratima@ Very soon I think I should be able to share with you, Dear Reader, yet another tale of 'i'dentity formation during her reign. Fingers firmly crossed currently! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "We are not amused." That is her most famous quote! Well, the sanctimonious hypocrisy of her times which edited the "bawdy" elements in Shakespeare's plays, and which saw to it that the "legs" of tables n chairs would not be not naked, but covered, is extremely amusing, especially in hindsight!

Word of the day: dominion                                         Dominion is the power to rule and control.

Catch the 'I'mpersonation @ If you can!

 "We look before and after,/And pine for what is not" thus begins one of the loveliest quotes in the English language. Yes, it is from "To a Skylark" by Percy Byssey Shelley.  Sure, I do love Shelley's passionate, intense and yet deeply intellectual/spiritual poetry. 

Yet, given the times today, this great quote has a quite new meaning. Of course, a slight word change or two here n there would be necessary, too. Currently, given the AI explosion, the quote would read as "better check before and everywhere/as often they pretend to be what they are not!" 

Yes, with your mug shot available somewhere or somehow, and your voice which can be recorded (as a lecturer, for instance, there is no knowing, when which intellectually lazy and technologically enabled enterprising student is recording/livestreaming your lecture for friends lounging in their beds, and/for their own reference as the 'imp' material for 'that' night before the exam when an entire semester would be pushed tight in to that small little, little brain so as to be puked out in to the answer sheet the next morning!), you can be used against yourself! 

Well, the ICICI Bank has this ad(vice) which shows a guy getting a video wherein his woman relative (her screen presence and her voice are literally too good to be true!) is pitifully narrating how she is in solid trouble, and needs a huge amount. Well, the original version, sitting right next to him luckily, tries to talk to the impersonator, and the video call gets disconnected from the other end 

Which are the safety tricks/tips? First and foremost, never ever answer an unknown number. Anybody who is clean and honest would not at all mind 'i'dentifying himself/herself. Sadly, these days, it is better not to believe. The faith quotient better be low, however much it may go against your core personality.

For most online transactions, better to have a separate bank account with minimal savings so that our hard-earned money does not get transferred to the con (wo)man's difficult-to-locate accounts.

No, no, these are not my insights! I am not that street smart. These are suggestions by the bank, and the police. Why not the Truecaller installed in your mobile? Well, the app needs all sorts of 'permissions' which can be the 'open sesame' in their own way. Better check back, better cross-check each time. Better to err on the side of caution! Valour does reside in cowardice!

Pratima@ Better believe thus that you would not be gullible!

 Quote of the day:                                                     Frank Abagnai says, "What I did 40 years ago as a boy is 4,000 times easier to do today. Technology breeds crime".

Word of the day: Impersonation                               Impersonation is the act of pretending to be another person, character, or entity, either for harmless entertainment or with the intent to deceive.

The Arnab Warning

 Has the title misled you in to believing that our blog is going to discuss the fiery television anchor? No, though he has also floated the first ever national news app as the ad goes, our blog does not deal with him. 

Rather, I am referring to a cyclone forming near the Bengal coast. For reasons known only to the observatory officials, it is named the Arnab cyclone, and with the Diwali festival just round the corner, apparently it is going to cause havoc. 

What problem does it have with the festival, I do not understand. As it is, the 'warrior' in/of the Indian politics, as his sister nominated him, is hell-bent on destroying the Diwali feel, given his re-solve, his determination about the 'ten lakh strong congregation on Ramlila Maidan November 1' onward.

Well, Diwali is a pan-Indian, pan-caste, pan-classes festival. Each and every individual celebrates the festival in his/her own way, as per his/her own capacity. Caste, class, creed, language, region, such usual barriers never come in the way of this happy feel. 

Wonder how come nobody in the once upon a time 'grand old' party pointed out to the 'warrior' the fact that the congregation would be a fight against the festive feel, as it would inconvenience not only the traders but also every common citizen, even if nothing untoward were to happen! Such a festival spoiler is hardly going to endear either him or his party's (mis)fortunes  with the common voter, right?

 The cyclone which predicts/ensues orange and yellow alerts in some thirteen states would add to the woes. Hope the farmers would manage to reap the ready to reap standing crops in time. Hope they would have the wherewithals to cover properly the cut and reaped crop before it is winnowed. Hope the whims of neither cyclones nor of career politicians would wither away the festive feel!

Pratima@ I got to read an interview conducted with farmers in Marathwada. Wonder why with/despite the multiple 'el niño' warnings, farmers choose to cultivate intensely water guzzling crops like the sugarcane! Hope the Arnab cyclone would fill in the d(r)ying water (re)sources! Hope Diwali would indeed be happy for each n everyone!

Quote of the day:                                                            "Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image," maintained Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

Word of the day: whim                                               A whim is a sudden idea or desire to do something (often something that is unusual or is not necessary).

Most Interesting Parenting

 Time was when my film reviews used to be quoted in the newspaper ads. It was quite a happy feel both for my Desk Editor and me that my articles on films used to be on the same page as Subhash K. Jha's syndicated ones, and the movie moghul owner of the newspaper used to star mark my articles for library retention. 

Am stating all these details because I did not watch a movie in the cinema hall once I accepted most lovingly my role as Aai's care giver. Instead, I used to watch with her whichever movie she wanted to watch on the t.v. channels. 

As a result, I did not see Asin's "Ghajini." Sure I have watched excerpts of the film, as they reel along the lovely songs. Yet today I would like to talk of Asin because of a news item I read online. 

Apparently, this talented and famous actress has brought up her daughter sans any exposure to any screen. Her kid does NOT watch, it seems, either the television or the mobile screen. Instead, the girl is in to reading in a big way, and is already fluent in a number of languages. 

What a lovely and ideal way to bring up a child! Yes, there was no television at our home till all the three of us completed the H.S.C. That, however, was in the good ole days. In the third decade of the twenty-first century, when parents parade proudly the fact that their 'ladla' or 'ladli' does not eat a morsel without the screen company, here is a celebrated actress wisely keeping her kid away from any screen of whatever variety!

In an era when stupid mothers watch with the brood horrid programmes such as "Big Boss", here is an erstwhile leading lady dazzling her daughter's childhood with reading, with language learning, and other such worthwhile activities which would hone all her soft skills, be it communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and so on 

Sure, such is not the stuff that filmy gossip rags would love. Yet such interesting parenting needs a mention. Hence our blogpost which hopes that many more parents would follow this wonderful lead!

Pratima@ During our childhood, too, we had books galore. Why, Papa got us the subscription of  both, "Chandoba" and "Reader's Digest." Why, every August 15 or on the occasion of Tilak's birth anniversary, for instance, we had to make speeches, write essays even at home. Yes, I am eternally grateful to my parents for such a wondrous childhood.

Quote of the day:                                                           "Daily deeds determine destiny,” declares Barney Matthews.

Word of the day: parenting                                         Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting a child's physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood.

Paraded Prodigies

 During my Ph.D. days, I wrote extensively for the "New Indian Express", and later for the "Newstime" of the "Eenadu" group. Though I did get by-lines on the front page, mostly I wrote for the Features' Desk. 

It was thus that I got in to contact with this species called 'child prodigies'. For the "New Indian Express", during the Children's Film Festival, I had to interview this child artist, for instance. It turned out to be quite a coup because the very next day, she was awarded the best actor award.

The girl was a curious combination of a tiny body and a cool, conscious, calculating brain, absolutely adult. She knew what answers to 'provide' how. Why, she had asked for questions in advance! She was perfectly aware of her star status. My desk editor had to pull strings to get her to talk! I was not sure whether her 'interview' performance was a put-on act. Had she already learned the tricks of the trade! She even ignored us in style once the award was announced, though my write-up in a major newspaper sure might have strengthened her candidature! 

I found her mother equally puzzling. She did not seem to mind the objectification of her daughter. Though she, too, did make the correct, the right noises about studies, about accompanying her daughter, about childhood, et al, pretty naked was her lust for the star dust! 

I met another such ambitious mom when I had to cover the sensational news, a three year old who could point out some hundred different car models, of course, as pictures or in the toy versions. I still remember how the kid was getting downright irritated, fidgety, sleepy; may be, because his memory must have been thus paraded very many times! 

One such midget started singing a horrible 'lavani' when he got to know I am a Marathi! Never ever have I been more embarassed. Yes, slightly more tolerable were the scholar types who had aced some science exhibition or some international Olympiad, et al. There was some solid concrete base from within. It was not all parade, unlike the performing 'artists'. 

Yes, it is but natural that a parent is proud of the prodigy. Sure, he/she must be encouraged. Very many opportunities must be made available. Yet, far far more important is protecting the child, the innocence, and ah, yes, the talent. Is not it necessary that the talent grows in a supple way, like a plant? Why make it in to artificial manured and manicured showpiece, competing in the big bad show'biz' arena?!? 

Pratima@ I can never pity enough the pint sized 'stars' of the dance shows on various channels. Sick appears the sexualisation of a tiny body gyrating to the vulgarest moves of the atrocious Bollywood songs. Hopefully they do not know/understand what the horrible moves mean! How different is such ugliness from child abuse? Any wonder, there are weirdos ill-treating kids!?! Some Lolita syndrome! 

Quote of the day:                                                             "The 'Lolita Syndrome' is not a psychological aberration confined to a few perverted men; it is a cultural disease that affects us all, shaping how women are viewed and how girls are taught to view themselves, " asserts Alissa Quart. 

Word of the day: prodigy                                             A prodigy is a child who is unusually good at something.

Chèr Paris, Pauvre Paris!

 You start learning French. You have no doubts whatsoever why. Oh, yes, as a handmaiden to your English Studies! Yet the goalpost slightly shifts because France starts growing on you, and, most of all, it IS Paris that you genuinely like the most. 

The Paris of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" where the futility of the erstwhile victim becoming the present victimiser came alive, the Paris of Hugo's Notre Dame, the Paris of Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code", the Paris you  meet in so very many  literary texts and countless films begins to come alive as your tongue negotiates the half unspoken French spellings.

Why,  as a teacher, technologically you make your 'étudiant(e)s' visit "le quartier Latin" of Beauvoir and Sartre, le Pont Neuf, la Seine, l'Arc de Triomphe, le Louvre, and so on, whenever some tricky point of the feckless French grammar has to be driven home. 

Paris, a city where the past nestles with the present, where over centuries every intellectual seed sprouted, where dry humour is as dominant as the "fraternité, égalité, liberté" spirit, that Paris is burning, and not like the falling London Bridge of the nursery rhymes, but actually burning, getting gutted, getting reduced to heaps of ashes.

Channel after t.v. channel is providing second by minute visuals of the Parisian unrest which, you realize, is an intoxicant more potent than all the Bordeau wines put together, because it is, though sugar-coated as 'student unrest', made of religious n racial rabidity so 'etrangére' to the rational, secular, socialist spirit of Paris, of France. Yes, mourning the sad demise of a city that symbolised very many idea(l)s for very many centuries for the rest of the world is indeed an "auld lang syne" feel! 

Pratima@ Why is literally everywhere on the boil? No Nostradamus is needed to know that the laissez-faire laxitude, convenient to the 'developed' world in the post World War era, created all sorts of migrant ghettoes, acutely unhappy with the adopted countries' policies.                                                                    Add to that explosive heap the oil prices, the oil crises, the weapons industry, the Deep State control freaks, the centuries old Crusades assuming newer forms, and literally the whole world is atop a volcano worse than an endless Etna! Where, oh, when can be found a solution to such crises?!?

Quote of the day:                                                          George Orwell lamented, "To walk through the ruined cities of Germany is to feel an actual doubt about the continuity of civilization." So true the quote rings now, about the 'ruined rues of Paris', and of very many other cities, nay, countries! 

Word of the day: unrest                                                'Unrest' is a situation in which people are angry or not happy, and likely to protest or fight. 

N.B: The French words used in this blog can be easily understood in the context, and everybody knows the nostalgic 'old lang syne' song, right?

Films@ Future

 Japan, they say, is always fifty years ahead of the world. Some proof of this maxim is the futuristic films taking Japan literally by the storm. Yes, I am talking about the 4D Japanese films about which I read recently. 

Branded as 4DX or MX4D (and occasionally expanding into multi-screen formats like ULTRA 4DX), this technique of "showing" the film in cinema halls changes a standard movie into a physical, theme-park-style ride.

How is it managed? Well, the article I read about this sensational phenomenon says that the seats in such cinema halls  are motion-controlled seats. That is to say, hydraulic seats tilt, pitch, roll, sway, and heave to match the movement on the screen, such as a tsunami like huge wave approaching the shore. 

Moreover, the seats in such specialised cinema halls deliver sudden thuds for explosions or punches, while small air jets or leg/back ticklers simulate bugs, whips, or physical brushes.

Environmental effects are managed through auditoriums deploying synchronized water sprays, heavy fog machines, strobes for lightning, wind fans, and scent generators as well.

Major chains like Toho Cinemas, 109 Cinemas, and Cinema Sunshine feature formats like 4DX and ULTRA 4DX (which combines motion seats with a 270-degree panoramic screen), said the article.

Lucky indeed are the Japanese spectators because science n technology are there creatively harnessed to create entertainment that is truly experiential, and tickles all the senses as much as it may provide food for the mind!

Pratima@ i watched a YouTube video       exemplifying this technology. The feel was as visceral as the fear of the spectators who watched the Lumière brothers' early films. When our economy soon outshines the Japanese, hopefully, such unique mode of entertainment would reach us, too. 

Quote of the day:                                                           "Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic," says Arthur C. Clarke. 

Word of the day: futuristic                                        Futuristic means imagining what the future might be like, and hence very modern and unusual in appearance, as if belonging to the future instead of the present. 

Three faces of the same 'issue'

 On the way to and fro the college where I teach is this gynaecological hospital. It is also an artificial insemination center. Mostly, one sees there heavily pregnant expecting mothers and/or a happy family taking home the bundle of joy. Cute sights!

It was hence truly heart rending to hear this soul wrenching wail. Actually, my mobile seemed to ring. So I had to stop in front of the hospital which I generally just pass by. Hence I heard that loud sobbing.

The young woman had either lost her foetus or the AR (artificial reproduction) experiment had failed miserably. She was loudly lamenting her loss, repeating countlessly, 'all is over', oblivious to the fact that her unhappy grieving could be heard over and above the din of the traffic.

Just a few feet down the road are these eateries where flock the hale n happening  college going crowd in abundance available hereabouts. The arrogant aggression of 'I, me, my body, my space' is clearly visible, obviously from their minimally draped bodies. Their public intimacies are an embarassment only for the helpless, hapless passers-by. They could not care less! Surely, as such hussies openly admit, 'if the contraception fails, there is the convenience of an abortion!'

Not even fifteen feet away is a major crossroad  where a beggar woman is literally picking lice from the matted hair of the infant dazed(!) in her lap. Playing around despite, and in the traffic, dashing in to the melee of  screeching brakes and impatient  honks are young bodies, weirdly painted so that better begging can happen! Whose children are these? May be, not her own, possibly victims of the organised child trafficking racket?

Three faces of the same 'issue'! Was I truly moved! Yes, hurt I felt somehow by these glaring discrepancies so typical of the careless, casual, carefree "could not care two f****!" bravado, so much in the face, that  it euthnises genuine feelings!

Pratima@ Strict laws prohibit people from easy adoption, while the riff-raff  comfortably steal and misuse babies! Such contradictions is the name of the capitalist game!

Quote of the day:                                                           Says Tim Blake Nelson, "Really, life is full of contradictions. Life is messy." 

Word of the day: wail                                                   A wail is a cry or a  complaint in a loud, high voice, especially because you are truly sad or in acute pain.

Honey, shrunk is the job market.

 Remember the late eighties film titled "Honey, I shrunk the kids"? Well, play with the title a little, and it reflects the current world realities as far as the job market goes. 

Why do I say so? Well, here is this news item doing the rounds of many a newspaper n magazine. It sounds so weird that at first it reads like gossipy stuff. No, though. It is eerily real. 

Okay, meet John Weiss from Utah, America. He completed his graduation from a major university with summa cum laude. His Ph. D. is from Princeton. The area within chemical engineering he chose for his doctoral work is quite niche, too. 

Yet this bright spark has not yet got a full time permanent job. He applied for more than two thousand positions. With nothing more than cursory advice from the alumni network which matters hugely in the American job market, he could land a low paying temporary hour basis  job that just lasted a few weeks. 

Indians have many lessons to learn from this real life instance which surely would not be one of its kind. First and foremost, it is necessary to seriously think if it is worth it to spend almost a million, often through bank education loan, on a foreign degree. 

Next, job crunch is a world scale reality unfortunately. Hence it is better not to allow your  simmering anger against the system to boil over so much that it steams off as anarchy. Such a scenario would complicate  matters further, both for the individual, and the larger whole, that is, the society, and the country.

The AI, moreover, it is necessary to accept, is no finance fed bubble. This Revolution 5.0, or whatever, changes its shape faster than chimera, and has already enveloped most all fields absolutely. Best hence it is to befriend it, and follow it up regularly through online courses, youtube videos, weekend workshops, and what have you. 

Now one has to be a lifetime student who, moreover, trims n shapes professional growth constantly. It looks as if the days of landing up a job at twenty-two and retiring at sixty are over. Within a life time, one might have to negotiate the professional profile time and again as gig economy, in brief, seems to be the order of the day.

The utmost acquisition now hence is a resilient mindset. One has to learn to be optimistic, take rejections in stride, and be cheerful n balanced. The best support system here would obviously be a friendship with self, and being wrapped in that cocoon called caring family. Times might be tough. It is no truism, however, that the tough get going when the going gets tough! 

Pratima@ Creative hobbies like music, painting, gardening, being pet friendly may help. Time also to return to pranayam and mudra/meditation instead of pumping protein after a tiring gym session.

Quote of the day:                                                         "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that, within me, there lay an invincible summer." I love this quote by Albert Camus. 

Word of the day: gig economy                                     The gig economy is a labour market characterized by short-term, flexible, and project-based jobs where independent contractors and freelancers perform on-demand tasks rather than working standard full-time jobs. It is heavily driven by digital platforms and apps that match service providers with the needy, and can be heavy n harsh on the employee. 

Happy Dasara!

 What does Dasara mean now? Let us continue the icon(ograh)ic discussion which we began yesterday. Dasara refers to two iconic events in our epics, Shri Rama returning to Ayodhya and the end of Pandavas' exile and a year of living incognito. 

How do we interpret these episodes in times today? For sure, the truth does prevail in the end! Yes, virtue wins over vice finally. Neither the egotism of either the Duryodhana or Ravana variety succeeds. 

Which are the other significations of Dasara? Grace under stress? Hence the golden feel (reflected by the yellow/ochre flowers) at the beginning and the end of the horizon stretched like a bow? Do the iconic shami leaves suggest ever youthfulness in thoughts, ideas, concepts and actions? 

Which liminalities to cross now that there is so much unrest everywhere, around and in us? Within us, should it be a cross over from 'my' space to 'our' space(s) so that our own horizons widen? Around us, it has to be avoiding wilful misunderstandings of the other(s) with intended confrontations, right? 

Remember, both Shri Rama and Shri Krishna allowed a long rope to the foe to avoid a face-off? I suppose, all must imitate such magnanimity instead of lusting after power with a 'my way or high way' attitude. 

May the festival bring brilliances of all sorts in all our lives! Happy Dasara!

Pratima@ Let the good, the right(eous), the genuine prevail, n forever!

Ideal Iconography

 Well, to state a rather obvious truth, 'seen in a new light, the old appears a-new.' Yes, perception changes cognition. Just a little tilt this or that side, or a look upside down, and with the changed perspective, emerges a     re-vision, right?

An epiphanic example of such a re-look for me is my re-think of the beasts often associated with the Devi. Let me see if I can make some sense thereof, an exercise thousand times much better than wearing a particular colour on a particular day as defined by consumerism.

Indeed, my attempt is more honest on a subtler level than going from one pandal to yet another one in search of Falguni Pathak or her screechier versions. Well, I could even go a step ahead and assert that such an analysis is more adrenaline inducing than mere temple- and/or bhajan-mandali- hopping! 

Which beasts are associated with the Devi in the traditional iconography? The most noteworthy one is the bull, of course. Sure, he is thus an extension of her consort's, Lord Shiva's, 'Nandi. '

In a more symbolic way, if the Devi is the mother principle, then this beast of burden, from time immemorial the symbol of the menial, hard work, has to be the best companion for the feminine principle with whom, agree most all thinkers from most all  -isms, began the agrarian settlements. 

The lion, another major of the Devi's animal companions, is the symbol of regality, grandeur, bravery and uniqueness. I saw birds such as the swan and the eagle as well as the Devi's vehicle. If the swan stands for purity, for grace, for gentle perfection, the eagle symbolises her power and her perspicacity. 

In one of the pictograms, I saw the Kali Mata riding an ass! I think such a depiction shows the Divine revealing the power to control the asinine in the human heart as well as in the society.  In brief, iconographically, too, the more you explore, the better possibilities open up! 

Pratima@ Such interpretations are like the childhood simple but fascination contraption, the kaleidoscope! A slight shift, and emerges a new de-sign!

Quote of the day:                                                          Says Peter Pearson:"Iconography, good iconography, strives to convey invisible reality in a visible form."

Word of the day: iconography                                 Iconography is the science or study of visual symbols, images, and themes in art and culture, as well as the system of symbols used to convey specific meanings.

Moulds and models

 For many, Hindi Chini are bhai bhai. I should know because I have any number of past students letting me know that they are studying Chinese. That is because I would request them to study a foreign language or two! 

Why Chinese? I suppose because, according to them, it opens up for them professional avenues. Yet another reason could be that the very ethnic script full of pictograms must be satiating the latent/budding artists in them. 

Ah, the Chinese art! That should remind us of the Terracota Court and of the Great Wall of China, right? Both belong to the rule of King Qin Shi Huang. This morning, on one of the WhatsApp groups, there was this huge praise of this Chinese King as someone who believed in the 'unity is strength' principle . Apparently, he thus changed the very contours of China. 

Well, I looked up the references a little. It seems, he unified all the warring states in to a nation. King Qin Shi Huang also worked with his minister Li Si to enact major economic and political reforms aimed at the standardization of the diverse practices among earlier Chinese states. All praiseworthy and noble so far. 

I wonder though why the morning message praised him as a unifier. Apparently, he burnt a large number of books from earlier regimes. His methods, though also is debated this accusation, were, it seems, tyrannical and brutal. 

I suppose that precisely could be the problem when it comes to praising n imposing models imported from abroad. I would say, better are homegrown models, and we have aplenty. From Maharashtra itself, we have Shivaji Maharaj, the Peshwa's and Ahilyabai Holkar. Let us not refer to the erstwhile Chalukya or Satwahana dynasty, nor let us discuss the multi-pronged leadership that emerged during the Freedom Struggle. 

Such is the trajectory of each of the Indian states and erstwhile provinces. In other words, there is no dearth of local n organic models n moulds. Hope we somehow re-pay their debt, at least by elaborating such genealogies as historiographies! 

Pratima@ Even a cursory glance lets us know how little we know, either of the past or the present, and, that, too, in the AI era! 

Quote of the day:                                                             Marcus Garvey argues, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." 

Word of the day: organic                                             Organic organising refers to moulds n models developing gradually and naturally over time without forced planning. 

The Real Renegades

 Well, all seems to be quieter on the CJP front. Sure, Dhruv Rathi un-muted when he reached London. As for the CJP-ians, they seem to be scuttling in to the corner, too. Ah, the quotation mania of literature enthusiasts! Those who read the classics  would sure know that this reference is to Kafka's Samsa. 

When one thinks a little more about of the 'regime changers' though, one realises that the real culprits are neither the Ph.D. scholars of a certain university nor are motor-mouths of any other variety to be blamed. 

The real renegades belong to the old order. Some of them are journalists. Like academics, journalism, too, was a profession that commanded awe n high honour once upon a time. Even as a rookie journalist, the kind of respect I have been granted continues to be energising 

Currently, it is tough to decide which field is full of apostasy, which of them is more compromised, academia or journalism. Both species seem equally 'i'mpaired, and engage in a truly tough competition with each other when it comes to corruption of all types, but especially of the moral variety. 

Honestly, when it comes to certain big names in the game, it is tough to believe that once upon a stupid time, one actually thought that such 'intellectuals' were decent, honourable, ethical! How naive could one be to believe that such 'i'ndividuals could have principles! Well, they are the real renegades. 

They do not mind changing colours faster than a chameleon. Whosoever might seem to give them a plum post, thither they would hasten. Honestly, they are more like 'spotted snakes with double tongues' who shed skin as often as necessary. 

Actually, both these creatures are clean compared to the intellectual renegades, drunk on a dangerous potion of self-interest, mixed with a visceral 'hatred for the sake of hatred' of their  decades long targets. They are hence forgetful of the basic concern for the welfare of the motherland wrested from the colonial clutches with such hardships! 

Well, 'i'nterests may shift and change as per 'i'ndividual conveniences, parties may come and go, slogans may whimper away in to whispers! The sustenance of the motherland and its quintessence cannot be subject to renegade betrayals, right? 

Pratima@ When the foundations of, be it academia and/or nation, are thus corroded in to degeneration, generations suffer, and the loss is forever! And, why?  So that certain pigmy 'i'ndividuals could preen to their heart's content!?! Thus snowballs the descent in to degradation! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "Just for a handful of silver he left us,/ Just for a riband to stick in his coat—/Found the one gift of which fortune bereft us,/Lost all the others she lets us devote;"                                             Thus laments Robert Browning "The Lost Leader" (1845).

Word of the day: apostasy                                           Apostasy means the refusal to follow, obey, or recognize a (religious) faith, or the abandonment of a previous loyalty. It can also apply generally to leaving a political party, cause, or set of principles.

Regime!?!

 A Ph. D. scholar must use terms carefully, as she sure should know the technicality behind such usage, right? Well, that is a basic premise! Given, however, the Indian education scenario, where Ph.D's are dime a dozen and quite some routine, is it any surprise that the furious find of the current 'revolution', as it is unfolding in the capital, should grandly talk of 'regime' change!?! 

Sure, Madame may differentiate and distinguish between student sit-in's in Delhi versus Ranchi! That is but okay, as the political bias and ideological inclinations have never been a hide, but seek she doth them openly! 

Imagine though using a term like 'regime (and its change)' so very loosely! Apparently in some undated (that is, I am not sure of the date) interview she talks of how Bangladeshi students are her thought leaders as far as regime change in India goes. 

Forget the fact that India is NOT Bangladesh from where migrants move in. Does the great lady understand the term 'regime change'? To begin with, 'regime' is related to monarchy and/or autocracy, and its various modes. I am not much in to politicking, but I sure do know that my country, and/or its governance, is a democracy, however flawed it might be, or it may appear to be. 

A cursory look at even a basic simple Wikipedia entry is sure to convince anybody moderately literate that regime, as its current politicking usage goes, is first used circa 1792 at the height of the French Revolution!

 Reference hence is also always to the 'ancien regime'. The etymological roots of either term is from Latin/Old French 'regere' which continues even today in to daily usages such as diet regime, exercise regime, et al, implying authoritarian, dictatorial, regulatory procedures. 

Well, I may not forever flag the famous red book, with-in blank or otherwise. I, however, sure do know that every five years  ordinary common citizens like me can vote governments out, if they wish to. India, in brief, does not need regime change, given its post Independence constitution in every sense of the term.

Pratima@ I do not know enough about the tool kits of the deep state, et al, which Mary Milben types are swearing against.  I am sure though that the very many checks and balances in the indian institutional structure, refined over the last seven decades, are bulwark against any misuse, even by the ambitious fear/hatemongers cum demogogues lusting after power. Yes, it IS the parliament, and NOT the streets, that would continue to 'govern' ( note please, not to 'rule') India! 

Quote of the day:                                                          Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, “Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”

Word of the day: checks and balances                       Checks and balances is a fundamental constitutional principle where different branches of government hold distinct powers that can limit, monitor, and restrain the actions of the other branches. 

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 Of all the "Nuggets" this week, this should be the easiest. You have to name this broadcaster. He is a naturalist. He is one of most famous conservationists of this, and, yes, the earlier, century. 

He is a good writer and a great narrator, a fact you would grant ungrudgingly, even when 'narratives' are hardly kosher hereabouts these days. 

A clue or two: A centurion formally now, he turned hundred rather recently. His brother has a very close connect with India. 

Pratima Agnihotri

Simply soulful!

 A very happy news dominated this morning. Since it is a social media product, tough to know how far true or valid or authentic it might be. If true, even if just by a little fraction, during the Navratri, happy happy times seem to be here again. Oh, no, I am NOT talking of the grand Garba get-together's. 

It seems, soon there gonna be a sabbatical of someone! As this special someone is, it seems, in the annual vacy mood, hopefully the hullabaloo over hawaa-hawai issues, in other words, the quite airy(but not exactly)fairy fights, heating up intolerably our public sphere in this already hot October, might cool down a little. 

As such happy, happy days are here again, it is but obvious that I would remember my favourite most flower. Ah, a deep inhale of its fragrance n for weeks on end, my nostrils themselves are fragrance incarnate. 

Yes, indeed, no other flower is as unique as the bakuli flower. It is small, unlike the flashy sunflower. It is pale yellow, unlike the multi-coloured rose. In fact, when it dries, it is rusty brown, like a mix of copper tapered with bronze. 

Known in English as the Spanish Cherry/ medlar/bullet wood flower, this delicate existence hidden behind lush green leaves is the essence of eternity itself, as its gentle fragrance is forever. Yes, even when it dries, my dear little 'bakuli' continues to stay, and fragrant 

A symbol for me of all that is permanent, pure, simple but genuine, the beatific bakuli flowers stand for an eternity that neither  time nor its state, fresh or dried, can stale. Sitting under the bakuli tree and getting a shower of its beautiful bloom spread on n around you is heavenly. In brief, its gentle but permanent aroma therapy is simply soulful! 

Pratima@ It seems, the fruits as well as wood of this forever lush green tree are very useful. Hence in Malaysia, and in the South-east Asia, it is the 'regional' tree.  Sustainability signified, simply but surely, in brief! 

Quote of the day:                                                          "Flowers…are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities in the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson puts its so succinctly.

Word of the day: mimosa                                           The bakuli flower is a type of mimosa, a generic term for very many beautiful blooms. The word  is derived from the Greek word μῖμος (mimos), 'actor' or 'mime', and the feminine suffix -osa, 'resembling', suggesting its 'sensitive leaves' which seem to 'mimic conscious life'!

Memories haunt!

 Certain memories! How they haunt forever! Usha. She was my junior. May be, we were almost the same age because I have completed my post-graduation at a very early age. I had helped her with her French, and with the contents of her essay in a contest which won her a French trip. 

Naturally she cared for me. The Eiffel Tower paperweight she bought me from Avignon is a keepsake. After she got married, our rôles changed slightly. Hers was a love marriage with a Tambram. 

She was a Telugu Brahmin, and a very close relative of a very very powerful leader. She had adjustment issues within the marriage, and I was the counsellor who tried to convince her how minor disagreements with in-laws could be silly misunderstandings. 

Here was a quite funny situation, a Maharashtrian high caste Brahmin girl trying to explain the Tamil symbolism to a Telugu girl. Yet the underlying civilisational cultural bond seemed to carry us through, thereby making us better friends.  

Unfortunately, she died within a fortnight of her baby's birth. I still cannot forget that small infant, an exact replica of his late mother, wailing away even when the poor grandma was trying her level best to comfort him. 

The haunting bit, however, is still more vivid. Her husband, we had not met much, but he knew me as Usha's best well-wisher, was obviously overcome with intense grief. 

Tearily he announced to the dead body. "Usha, see, Pratima is here!" I am ready to swear. Her body, tied to that pier/wooden stretcher, literally tried to get up! My other friend, who had come along, too, was shocked beyond words, mentioned it later, too.

I had never seen a 'body' before. The whole night I could not sleep. Yet this incident has forever convinced me that life might go on(!?!) even after the body dies!?! Why then, for the sake of your weird notions of fun, hurt, harm n harass human beings, when alive?

Much more, I understood what post-partum depression may do. Hence, however much feminism may be mocked, yes, there ARE certain, in fact, very many, womanly sensitivities that DO need deep considerations, and beyond all the shrill n empty sloganeering by n of career feminists.

Most important of all, the incident has made me forever grateful to Aai who was down with high fever when she was eight months pregnant with me, yet in the ninth month, she travelled in a meter gauge train some six/seven hundred kilometers, while the late April sun beat mercilessly. Within a week of reaching her parents' place, a small town, she walked to the hospital for a normal, non-cesarean delivery, while the nurses were brutal, and doctors indifferent! What all a mother's love can bear!

Pratima@Well, tragedies cannot last forever, and often have a funny end. Well, Usha's husband had asked me to inform a Tamil professor, all of them, unlike me, were in to Linguistics, about Usha's unfortunate demise. It was the week-end. So I decided to inform his colleague who lived on campus so that the message would reach him.                                                                                I had no idea that the lady was sweet on him! First she obsessed about finding out if I had called him up. After convincing her somewhat hopefully that I knew neither his phone number nor his address, she calmed down on that account.                                                                Next followed a simply wow conversation, with monkeys chattering madly overhead, hidden in the canopy. She was insisting that it was a murder.                                                                          I tried to politely point out that it might not be so, at least because Usha was closely connected with very powerful people. Then she started haranguing about how the need for such a murder (why, a 'son' was born, no?) is like the desire for sex!                                                  Thereafter, I did what all students are excellent at, obediently stand in front of the teacher, head bowed down, eyes half open, ears and brain completely closed, tightly shut indeed! Feminism sounds fun, if n when shallow!

Quote of the day:                                                           "Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” Wise 'saw' as ever by Oscar Wilde!

P.S. i was thinking about the incident, and it struck me that Hamlet, as well as the entire blood n gore revenge tragedy of Thomas Kyd variety, need not be a mere literary convention. There could be a psychological, may be, supra-physical, truth to the core of such (super)human explorations.

Word of the day: postpartum depression               Postpartum depression (also called perinatal depression) is a medical mood disorder that can happen during (late) pregnancy or after giving birth.

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 Translation takes various forms. One of the seminal modes is 'transmuting' a text in to a film. Of course, bibliophiles look down upon the process as a demeaning of a book, and we have pj's of the "donkey grazing at the corner dumpsite preferring a book over a film, as it is in better taste'', et al, variety.

Who is the linguist-scholar who theorised this process extremely interestingly and elaborately? Which term did he use to describe this process? How did he define this process? 

Pratima Agnihotri

Fear(-n-)some Future!

 Yes, I am absolutely of the opinion that one should forever be a learner. Indeed, at no point, can one say that one knows everything about one's chosen area. Surely not, given the information era! 

Yes, it is better to be a jack of many subjects and a master-cum-student in the area you love, which you have chosen as a passionate pursuit that lasts a lifetime. 

Well, currently, however, the AI seems to question these very (basic) premises. It seems to be progressing at a supersonic speed. You complete a course, quite a basic one for sure, you feel now I would practise it to perfection, and, voilà, in that zilch second, the AI industry springs a new surprise on us, the poor innocent unsuspecting world! 

At times, the changes are minor. Often, they are yet another quiver for the same bow! Yet these arrows are quite life threatening because, in no time, across the world, that area, Montessori to M.D. (incidentally, currently, a Ph.D. doctor is, well, less said, the better!) gets saturated to excess. And, so on, and so on, ad infinitum! 

Honestly, one pities the GenZ, Gen alpha beta kappa, et al, given such a future. Sure, in a lifetime, one should wear (n tear) a few professional hats simultaneously. One must multi-task. Yet, given the speed with which the AI shifts gears,  in the future, one's crown would sure be sans hats, sans hair, sans brains! Any wonder at all that the GenZ protests are hare-brained!!?!!

Pratima@ Very soon I would re-write the seven (st)ages Shakespeare immortalised! Yes, would sure share them on our blog, too.

Quote of the day:                                                           "When we think we're multi-tasking we're actually multi-switching. That is what the brain is very good at doing - quickly diverting its attention from one place to the next. We think we're being productive. We are, indeed, being busy. But in reality we're simply giving ourselves extra work," argues Michael Harris. Yes, indeed! 

Word of the day: hare-brained                                  Hare-brained means crazy and unlikely to be successful. 

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 Journalists can at times coin concepts and related phrases that may define an entire discipline. An example of this phenomenon, which academics would typically love to hate and look down upon, is Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov's fourfold process.

Bezmenov was a Soviet journalist for the Novosti Press Agency. In 1970, he visited New Delhi as a member of the Soviet mission. During that tour, Bezmenov defected to the West, and the U.S. re-settled him in Canada as per an arrangement between the US and the Canadian security agencies.

May be, such turns and twists in his career helped him define how a political system, nay, the country itself, is brought in to the fold of the powers that be. 

Name the four stages Bezmenov talks about.  The discussion might help many understand the turmoil brewing in the countries neighbouring India. Critics may accuse the CJP of being a stooge of the Deep State, et al, trying to thus disrupt India itself. 

Pratima Agnihotri

Lies lead ....?!?

 I would not know about you. Personally though, I love fairy tales and folk tales. They have such a wealth of wisdom. One such story is Pinocchio's. Yes, he is the boy whose nose grows longer n longer when he lies! Good that it is just a story about a fictional wooden puppet, and it was created by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi in his 1883 novel "The Adventures of Pinocchio."

If the Pinocchio phenomenon were real and operational right now, havoc it would create! Look at our poor Dipke. Yesterday itself, our blog sympathised with his grievous loss, right? Well, there is a proper video wherein the police are gently and repeatedly informing him that every possible help would be extended to him, given the unfortunate circumstances. And, yet, huge propaganda goes on and on about the dictatorial government that ignored deaths of dear n near ones! Let us not even mention the Gurudwara lie by the CJP which is so very irresponsible, in addition.

How about Elon Musk who declared that the Indian Prime Minister is M/S Ambani! Unlike certain characters hereabouts, he  seems to have forgotten the rhyming Adani! Well, the hard truth about why he is grumbling about not getting the portion of the pie, eh, the huuuuuge number of Indian internet users whom he would so kindly like to serve, is hidden in the forests in North-Eastern India. If you were to read up the details, you, too, would agree that lies lead to, luckily for the twenty-first century not to Pinocchio noses, but to a loss of credibility.

Career politicians in our country who are lusting after Lady Power, too, seem to have never read the fairy tale during their school days. Otherwise, they would have, like the common indian, celebrated the ISRO mission EOS-05 which would help avert large scale destruction due to natural calamities, not to forget, the excessively friendly border activities by certain neighbours!

Why lie through the teeth? It entertains the audience who chuckle at your mendacity, and at your loss of credibility which, in the long run, is sure to take you away from your 'power'-ful ambitions!

Pratima@ Lies, lies, every where!/How any truth to find?

Quote of the day:                                                              "I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."  So summed up Friedrich Nietzsche the after effects of what lies lead to!

Word of the day: propaganda                                          Propaganda is information and ideas, that may be false or exaggerated, but which are used to gain support for a political leader, party, and so on.

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 These two Brothers  were academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors. It is often argued that their work in folklore, linguistics, and literary scholarship shaped the development of modern folkloristics. It contributed in a big way to the expansion of their mother tongue as well. 

  During their  University days,  they developed a lasting interest in medieval literature and the cultural history of their country. Thus saw the world the first ever collection of folk tales and fairy tales.

A clue: We have, all of us, as children loved the tales they told in the collated version. As we grew up, the sub-texts of these stories made more sense. 

Pratima Agnihotri

Goddess greetings!

 Today begins the Sharadiya Navratra. Impossible it is to translate "Sharadiya" in to English, because like all the other European languages, English, too, has neither the monsoon nor the 'Sharad' season. In India, however, it occupies a central position in parlance. In a way, such a linguistic usage is inevitable because India continues to be an agrarian economy.

True, right now the talk of the town, eh, of the world, is the way America has "cut off the head of the snake" as the Sonderling saying goes. Yet we all know that the real grouse is the Indo-American treaty regarding the agricultural produce, and the related livestock and fisheries businesses. 

Some proof this tariff trough is of the fact that the agrarian sector matters the most to us. The Shardiya Navratra is a celebration of this primacy. The Kharif crop is almost ready for harvesting around this time. True, this year, the Niño effect has ripped off reaping. 

Yet the seasonal cycle is unmistakable. The bounty of nature is beatific. Hence its symbolic representation as the ever prolific goddess. Beautiful, just like this underlying signification are the 'strotras' extolling the goddess. 

She is the holiest of the holies, she is beneficence itself, she is the daughter of the mountains (the Himalayas from whence begin five rivers that have enriched civilisations and cultures for centuries), she is the parent principle, she is strength, she is the intellect, she is the spirit, she is the soul. Hence her adulation! Happy Navratri! 

Pratima@One of the items in my basket wish list is visiting Kolkata during the navratri. It has to be what Ganesh Utsav is to Pune. Well, with a Bengali friend, I did attend the "pujo" pandals in Hyderabad. But it was not mere nostalgia nor fomo when she insisted that it was no patch on "amar shonar" Debima for whom the only supplication would be "Bhalo bashi"! 

Quote of the day:                                                         "The goddess is the great nurturing mother who contains all things, gives birth to all things, and ultimately reclaims all things back into her cosmic womb." Yes, Carl Jung.

Word of the day: beneficence                                  Beneficence is the ethical principle of acting with kindness, charity, and an active obligation to promote the best interests and well-being of one n all.

Aspirational Anarchy

 What with the 'chasing Delhi yet again' pogrom by the CJP, certain centrally relevant questions arise, which we, the citizens of India, as the Constitution defines us, need to explore honestly. 

The moot one is why diminish the basal institutions? Just as deforestation leads to the collapse of the natural cycle, unjustifiably corroding the institutions that go in to the making of a nation state destroys the very base of a democracy which deliberates issues in the parliament!

Well, the present Chief Election Commissioner assumed office much later than the major state assembly elections in to which he/his office supposedly interfered! Simple decency demands that in the lust for power, legitimacy of base institutions need not be undermined.

Hence the title of our blog. Who all are involved? The CJP, apparently a frontispiece of the AAP? Congress which won three states with the exact same procedures? Does not the same cynicism colour all the other Opposition parties? Yes, power sure matters to career politicians. Why use openly malicious methods? 

Oh, yes, while hating a person, a party, a procedure/pattern of  thinking, is not it better to remember that 'hatred for the sake of hatred' tarnishes, nay, diminishes, the hater? Espcially necessary in this context it is to recollect, and not a la Wordsworthian tranquility, the transactional modes of the multi-polar wor(l)ds today. 

Why must our capital replicate either the Parisian streets right now or a fortress? Why aspire to anarchy (Please do remember that anarchism is a totally different political philosophy which, incidentally, our very own Revolutionary Bhagat Singh, if you were to read his committed writings, did not advocate in post-Independence times) so that your own power games lead to the throne!?!

Pratima@ When I saw the video of Dipke c(r)ackling about the police deployment, I remembered the childhood story of a mouse who thinks of his cap as the crown, and mocks the king with it! Sure, though, one feels sad about his Granma passing away. Hope he gets to see her one last time. RIP!

Quote of the day:                                                               Says Aldous Huxley, "The worst enemy of life, freedom and the common decencies is total anarchy..." 

Word of the day: anarchism (is not anarchy!) Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish capitalism and all forms of hierarchical authority, replacing them with a stateless society based on voluntary cooperation, free association, and mutual aid!!!

The Day of Reckoning

 Absolutely convinced I am that you would have easily found the answers to the queries our 'Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities' series would as usual pose from Monday through Thursday. As per our convention, here are the answers 

1)The Monday query: The first ever bio-geographist, who hugely  influenced Darwin and in a way initiated ecology and environmental awareness, is Alexander von Humboldt. His linguist brother, Wilhelm von Humboldt, founded the Humboldt University in Berlin. 

2) The Tuesday query: The Buddhist saint is Angulimala. 

3) The Wednesday Query: Was not it as easy as it was juicy? Yes, it is Jeffrey Archer. 

4) The Thursday Query: This most controversial name when it came to Nobel for Literature is Bob Dylan. 

Hope you found the queries to be both, enjoyable and yet informative even though  on a small scale. Do look up the queries each week, Monday through Thursday. There is no knowing how they they could help! Knowledge never goes waste even in an era of information explosion!

Pratima Agnihotri

Celebrating Marathi

 Marathi is my mother tongue. As a child loves her parents, so do I adore my mother tongue. Oh, yes, my articles, stories, translations in Marathi have been published in highly respected magazines. No hard feelings whatsoever, in brief. 

And yet, may be, because l respect it a lot, may I put forth a few points that I think need deliberations? First and foremost, despite my adulation for my mother tongue, I am honest enough to admit that Marathi is not exactly a language of science and/or technology, nay, neither of knowledge! 

Honestly, a language is sure admired due to its historicity, due to the multiplicity of its dialects, due to its ethnic spread, et al. Yet a language is considered a lingua franca because of its dominion across different disciplines. 

Look at English, for instance. For one thing, it is highly democratic. From everywhere under the sun, it has adroitly accepted countless words. Unlike "echte Deutsch", for instance, it is untouched by excessive purification obsessions, and, yet, it does not lose its 'origin'-ality. Given such mould-ability, mention any field of specialisation, English assumes the wor(l)d of honour! 

Its standalone vocabulary count, beyond grammatical declensions, is truly huge. Major dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary contain over 170,000 to 600,000 plus active and historical words, continually growing by borrowing from global languages and technical fields.

Marathi must spread its wings in all such directions. German Duden dictionary enterprise, for instance, is such that for each and every major/minor human activity, available is a detailed dictionary which, moreover, is an absolutely authentic source. 

Look at Japan, for instance. Their excellence in scientific and technological fields is such that there is a tough competition when it comes to clearing the international examinations in Japanese, despite the complexity of the script!

Look at Israel, for example! Surrounded by enemies of all sorts, this tiny country has revived its linguistic roots, and inalienably! 

No dominion of any language may grow through mere jingoism. Its children must overcome intellectual/ideational laziness, if the mother tongue is to survice in the AI world! 

Pratima@ Can I point out an interesting fact? Israeli pop singers immediately chose to recite the 'Hanuman Chalisa' in honour of Captain Smit Machchar. Was there a rap monody lamenting the Chabad House tragedy? May be, there was one, and I do not know the existence thereof. Shalom, in brief! 

Quote of the day:                                                             "The limits of my language are the limits of my world," asserts Ludwig Wittgenstein, a great thinker-linguist. 

Word of the day: lingua franca                                     A lingua franca is a shared language used to make communication possible between people who do not speak the same 'native' language. It is also known as a bridge, trade, or auxiliary language. 

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 The Nobel Prize is the most coveted, world wide recognised celebration of geniuses. Mostly, the nominations in sciences, even when often unfair to women, are rarely much contested. When it comes to Literature, however, the opinions may differ sharply. 

Let us look at an example. The year was 2016. The citation maintained that the oeuvre represented "new poetic expressions within the great American tradition." 

Not everybody was so convinced, thereby renewing the debates about pop culture because the crux of the matter was whether pop song lyrics can be great literature! Who was the awardee whose output thus embittered the cultural scenario? 

Of all the quizzes this week, this one is sure timely, yet the easiest, right?  No need to wait till Friday evening, I suppose!

Pratima Agnihotri 

Global Diversity

 Yes, October is the global diversity month, and global diversity is an important theme currently. Let us see if we can explore it a little. 

If we were to speak historically, and beyond the religious divides, diversity becomes dominant with the onset of the industrial revolution. In the prior barter system, there was more of a give-n-take which had a sense of equality. Why, even the feudal lord had to share the produce, if he desired fealty as a feeling and/or in the form of goods/services. 

With the onset of capitalism, initially as mercantile, to be soon followed by the industrial version, the chasm amongst individuals, between social groups started widening, and ad infinitum. 

Yet another, in fact, THE major cause behind diversity issues is colonialism. The racist prejudices thus began to fester. The colonisers, moreover, marauded histories, cultures, educational processes to suit their agendas, and thus were the colonies completely conquered.

These wounds refuse to heal. Certain intellectual mafioso, moreover, make it their business to mal-nourish fraternity! As a result, fractured is the notion of human amity. Each sub-group tries to out-re-present every other in being THE discriminated,  resulting in simmering societies!

What could be the solution? First and foremost, necessary it is to understand the difference between equality and equity. Next, it is always the best strategy to contextualise past and present debates. Most importantly, it is necessary to remember that the cyclicity of the erstwhile victim tending to be the current victimiser can complicate realities beyond repair!

Inclusivity would otherwise be, forever, hampered. In a non-linear, multi-foci reality today, abetted by the AI further, is not it necessary to remember that solutions matter much more than empty debates that hide their own agendas behind all the sound n fury signifying very little! 

Pratima@An aspect of the diversity debate is the gender 'i'dentity. So murky is this discussion currently that certain theorists propound some seventy-two different sexual initiations, a terror in its own way in the AI era. 

Quote of the day:                                                            Argues Audre Lorde, an author and Civil Rights activist, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

Word of the day: equity versus equality.                  Equality means giving everyone the exact same amount of resources, rights, or opportunities. Equity means recognizing that people start from different places and distributing tailored resources and opportunities based on individual needs to reach a fair outcome.

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 The very thrill pumps more adrenaline in  to the illicit affair. Well, at the breakfast table, she is reading a naughty letter by her lover, full of the crazy capers they enjoyed during the their recent rendez-vous. Her husband notices her excitement, and peeps in. 

How does the wicked wife save her imaginary honour? The trademark twist in the tale adds such, and so much, to this very short story. 

Guess who is the author we are talking about. No, the answer is not O'Henry, though both had to go to jail for (financial) frauds. In fact, story writing was almost a means of monetary survival for both. Who is this author who wrote the hyper dramatic short story "The Letter"? 

A clue: He died recently.

 Hope, the re-search-er in you would not allow you to wait till Friday.

Pratima Agnihotri 

Right(-n)ful(l) Rituals

  Let us look at the etymology of the term "shradhdh". In Sanskrit "shr(a)t" means faith, belief, sincerity, devotion.  The "dh" part of the word originates from the verb "dharay" which is to hold. In other words, the term itself means a holding together through sincerity and devotion. 

That spirit of the letters is what I think is important when it comes to the "pitru pandharawada", the fortnight devoted to our ancestors, during the Mahalaya period. Instead of overfeeding the poor recipient, the shradhdh Brahmin, why not give him some 'dakshina', a little money, an amount which he can fruitfully use, and thus bless us happily throughout the following year? 

That is the way we offer our remembrances to our parents at the Mahamrtyunjay Temple. To begin with, we have instituted prizes in their memory. We offer annual donations every death anniversary, in addition. In other words, they are in the proper formal memorial space, too, beyond the forever intimate memories. 

Well, now that I think of it, I have offered them both the 'tarpan' via the proper shradhdha mode twice, with the purest 'Gangajal' at the very source at Gangotri, and at the divine Badrinath with the Alaknanda literally splashing my back. 

Actually, come to think of it, both of them were such clean, straightforward, good, genuine, kind people who lived contentedly. They must have hence attained 'nirvana', I am absolutely sure, happy n fulfilled wherever they are. The 'shradhdha' hence is more a mere memorial ritual right(-n-)fully performed! 

Pratima@ I think of the ritual more as a memorisation born out of grateful memories n immense love for forever prioritising us over their own comforts, their own likes/dislikes, why, their own selves. An eternal 'thank you' full of love marches round my heart hence, beyond any formal shradhdha rituals. 

Quote of the day:                                                         “Nothing (or no one) is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it (and them.)" True, L.M. Montgomery! Hope he would mind my additions (in brackets).

Word of the day: ritual                                               The word refers to an action, ceremony or process which is always done the same way.

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 All of us know the story of Rishi Valmiki before he transformed himself thus. The tale of him trying to waylay Narad Muni whose basic query opened the inner eye, thereby turning a rugged robber in to a saint and a poet is much told. 

Can you name another ruthless brigand who underwent a similar complete conversion, thus proving the redemptive power of an enlighten-ed/-ing encounter? 

A few clues: In South and South-East Asia, he is the patron saint of child birth, and is associated with fertility. Yes, the Theravada tradition proudly owns up his lineage.

Why wait till Friday to find out, right?

Pratima Agnihotri

Peace, please!

 Peace is piecemal currently! What with newer versions of the Twin Towers type of total annihilation being thought out in terrorist minds, though most courageously fought out by our very own Smit Machchar, can peace have any piece of peace at all? 

Why, just last month, peace was a major and high volume 'debate', what with Vidyanand Bapat giving interviews after interviews about noise pollution to anyone ready to conduct one, while the drum beats kinda decible levels surpassed the richter scale at its worst! 

Such fun contradictions are rampant, and everywhere. Russia and Ukraine talk of peace, and in the same week latest, they start bombing each other! As for Iran, I am not sure, Americans themselves understand what they are up to! 

With the Third World War appearing imminent, is not the World Peace Day a mere convention, just like the UN itself!?! Actually, the world needs to piece out such conundrums, if peace is to have any chance at all. 

No need to go to the Himalayas, themselves under tourist attack, even when the Everest is involved! Instead of further destroying that thinning Third Pole, on terra firma itself, nations need to urgently think peace-fully! 

Pratima@Peace is under threat everywhere, in the professional arena, in the familial space, and/or name any (-n-every) place. Hence the need to let it rest at least awhile in every human heart! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion,” says Dalai Lama. 

Word of the day: prace                                                   Peace refers to a situation or a period of time in which there is no war or violence in a country or an area. It also means the state of being calm or quiet.

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 In 1769, on August 15(!!!) was born Napoléon Bonaparte, a boon n bane for France, nay, for the whole of Europe.

 Exactly a month later, on September 14, 1769 was born this 'philosophe' so to say. A proponent of Romanticism, this polymath geographist, explorer, naturalist deeply influenced Darwin. Can you name him?

 A clue: His brother, a linguist, helped begin a famous university. 

Worth an exploration, right? Otherwise, wait till Friday for the right answer!

Pratima Agnihotri 

Memories@Melodies

Music maketh memorable mates. Some proof of this homily is the superb showcasing by the late Dr.S.V. Gokhale of his lifelong camaraderie with THE maestro, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. In the late fifties began their bond which blossomed in to the unique homage entitled "Swaradhiraj", an audio-visual treat offered by Mitra Foundation in association with Kaveri Kalakshetra.

The wondrous evening began with a great 'Ganeshparan' by Anand Bamanikar who was felicitated for his lifetime accompaniment with n through tabla. The warm memories of Panditji he shared set the tone for the  distinctive documentary crafted by Dr. Gokhale, a unique combo of audio n video clips of 'mahfils', and  t.v.interviews, and most importantly,  'melodious' memories.

The presentation, structured like the classical 'baithak' Panditji preferred, a 'bada khayal' in 'vilambit gat' followed by a semi-classical 'thumri' which gave way to a 'drut gat' presentation to crescendo in a 'natya geet' and Panditji's signature 'bhajan', and finally the soulful 'bhairavi', was finely edited with unique transitions that zoomed in to Panditji's memories n 'mehfils'.

What all treasures Dr. Gokhale thus shared with the aficiandos of music! Why, there were gems like the varieties of 'todi', the unique 'hori' very rarely heard, the unusual 'raag' Panditji masterfully attempted, be it 'abhogi' or 'darbari kanada', his unique LP not easily accessed, and so on, literally ad infinitum. 

How can one ever forget the 'raag mala' of five classical structures Bhimsenji used as a music director, his trademark 'natya sangit' represented by 'ugich ka kanta' and his   playing with 'sur n lay' that made Calcutta fall in love with his much admired 'abhang', the beautiful 'bhajan' 'Tirth Vitthal'!

Yet it was the memories that Dr.Gokhale shared, often through audios of unusual private 'mahfils' at his home, which made the tribute truly humane and warm. The 'one rupee coin' bait, the Peddar Road 're-vision' with Ustaad Amir Khan, the assertive singing of Panditji in the Pune mahfil for which Dr. Gokhale scouted the perfect space, this quasi-biography of Panditji never had a hagiographic note. Instead, there were  joyful 'recollections in tranquility' full of admiration and respect.

The documentary was also a subtle graph of Dr Gokhale's own growth as a 'rasika' who is often best described as a 'sahodar', a brotherhood that blooms despite differences in age and profession. Indeed, the Gokhale family can never be thanked enough for making accessible to us all this family heirloom.

Pratima@ 'Once more, once more, and once more,' please, Gokhale Ma'am, please!!! An 'encore' is much deserved, right? How can just one listen of a lifetime of melodies@memories be enough, right? 

Quote of the day:                                                           "If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” So said Albert Einstein.

Word of the day: 'Swaradhiraj'                                   The term means the emperor of the kingdom of music that Pandit Bhimsen Joshi indubitably was!

Let's laugh a little!

 We have not had a laugh for a loooong time, right? Let the week end with a few guffaws, okay? 

1) "What could be the gender and profession of the AI?" "A very easy question! Has to be a female, and a lecturer at that!" " Why do you say so?" "Well, ask for an easy answer, 'prompt' comes back a huge list of ready made commands which must lead to further action!" 

2) Why not 'cast' the IIT's in a lighter mould? There is this job interview, and on campus, too. It is about to end. Hence the typical question by the HR guy. "What are your terms n conditions about the pay package?" The genius, as most iit-ians believe themselves to be, has a smart suggestion up his sleeve. "How about fifty lakhs per month? Yes, I am very good at the latest AI." The HR guy asks,  "How about a crore per quarter, with a month-long Swiss holiday at the end of the year?" "Hey, man, are you kidding?" "Well, you began it!"

3) Lady Duck buys a lipstick. At the counter, she quacks, " Put it on my bill"!

Quote of the day:                                                            "Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine." Ho, ho, ho, Lord Byron!

Word of the day:                                                           The prefix 'a' means 'without'. For example, atheist. So now you know why they call the latest (r)evolution "ai"! 

The Best Destination

 Recently was celebrated the world tourism day. What is so very special about it? Is not it celebrated every year? Are these your questions? Well, look at the theme statement this year. Invasion of the AI, it proves yet again. 

The official theme of the 'Tourism Day 2026' is “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.” Its key focus area is integrating the AI in to the travel experience! It explores how artificial intelligence and digital tools shape travel, planning, and visitor experiences. No wonder "smart destination management", that is, using data to manage crowds, ease communication, and support sustainable practices is the sub-theme! 

Well, the sub-theme could be the need of the industry.  But why should the AI shape the individual experience? To an extent, yes, because sitting at home, through the AI, you can travel beyond the space, too! Yet why should the technology decide destinations, decisions, as it is, vitiated by the show-off madness, eh? 

Which is the best destination? I would say that it is absolutely subjective and truly individual oriented. At times, it could be a quiet weekend back in the fields that once belonged to your grandpa, but which you sold off to buy that swanky flat in the city.

At times, it could be spent in the diminishing- by-the-decade light with which the fireflies illuminate the forest. A weekend at a fort soaked in the rains and sailing off the monsoon winds can energise. Listening to the deep rumble of the ocean prefarably on a full moon night can calm all the tension tempests, right? 

Why should the AI determine the destination(s)? If such an invasion by the ever increasing AI influence is allowed, the already swollen- beyond-tolerance touristy destinations would plain crumble, collapse, nay, literally cave in.

Let me give you an example. Kedarnath can be the ultimate dream destination, even if you are an atheist, believe me. The very aura of that space is unique. If the AI starts promoting it, the chaotic crowds, already beyond control, would be such that the mythical Nal and Neel mountains would hasten to meet fast and block the entry entirely.

The AI should not, in brief, invade that small little private space which it is anyways shrinking by the second. The Best Destination hence has to be not what the technology  dictates, but to what the individual heart and soul aspire. Only then can tourism go beyond monetary mindsets, and become a travel the soul celebrates!

Pratima@ At times, the best weekend destination can be the old photo albums that bring back memories dimmed due to the daily rush of the routine. No exotic destination can match such nostalgia, celebrated with some great music, superb coffee and the company you care for and will continue to covet!

Quote of the day:                                                             "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." says Henry Miller.

Word of the day: tourism                                           Tourism is defined as the commercial activity of providing travel, accommodation, and services for people traveling outside their usual environment for leisure, business, or other purposes.

On October 2!

 October 2 is unique because the whole nation tends to remember two distinguished individuals who have contributed to the Indian identity in unique ways. 

Let us begin with Lal Bahadur Shastriji. Sure his very motto underlines two special classes absolutely necessary for India, and especially in the contemporary times when sustainabilities of all sorts are under threat. 

He was, moreover, a powerhouse of probity, integrity and sincerity. If he were not martyred in Moscow under suspicious circumstances, the very history of India would have been different.

As for Gandhiji, I like him more for his writings, whether as an autobiographer or as a journalist or as an essayist. One tends to find gems therein which truly are illuminating. 

Yes, currently there are multiple debates and discussions regarding his political positionings. Well, the least that can be said is what I strongly believe in; namely, contexts define individuals. In hindsight, it is always easy to castigate or praise an individual out of proportion. May be, that is THE lesson October 2 has to offer! 

Pratima@Equally important it is to note that neither hagiography nor hatchet jobs help us understand an individual. No person can be fully agree-able (in every sense of this term). Undoubtedly, there would be principles, quotes, actions that can be questioned, opened up, debated whether the person concerned is someone whom we vilify and/or consecrate. Yes, that is what October 2 should teach us. 

Quote of the day:                                                           "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." Yes, indeed, Marcus Aurelius!

Word of the day: hagiography                                   A hagiography is a biography of a saint or a leader that praises its subject in an idealized, glowing way without critical skepticism. 

Nuggets@ Know thy Humanities

 The laconic Lal Bahadur Shastriji may not have written volumes. Yet his leadership was a masterful lesson when it comes to government management as an ethical expanse. What is the title of the archival compilation of his official speeches put together by the Publication Division under the aegis of the IB Minstry? 

The 'NEP, 2020' shares certain commonalities with Gandhiji's "Nayi Talim" (1937). Name any two, and prefarably with a little elaboration. 

Since this is our very first attempt at the new "Nuggets@ Know Thy Humanities" series, and since it is a Friday as well, here are the answers. 

1) The archival compilation is entitled "Jab Azadi Kharate me ho", that is, 'when freedom is under menace'. 

2) a) Gandhiji insisted on the prevalence of the mother tongue, even of the local dialects. For him, it was a critique of colonialism. For the NEO, it should more be like a 're-turn' to roots, right? b) Gandhiji insisted on education being productive, and socially useful. The similar insistence on skills in the NEP is also an attempt to wipe out the stigma attached to 'blue collar' work, I suppose. 

Pratima Agnihotri 

Nuggets@Know Thy Humanities

 The most unfortunate downfall of the absolutely tragic suicide by Sahil, and the ugly fracas that followed, is the assault on Humanities by one n all. It is no critique either, mind you. 

Hence, in defence of the discipline(s), be it Literature and/or Sociology AND all the modes that make the Humanities, let us begin this new series entitled "Nuggets@ Know Thy Humanities." Begun today, on October 1, let us structure it as a quickie (who reads, forget loooong 'letters', these days?) of information tidbits from Monday to Thursday. Oh, yes, there would be a quiz every day, too. It would be answered each Friday. The best beginning would be October 2, the birth anniversary of Shastriji and Gandhiji, right?

In brief, watch this space tomorrow onwards!

Pratima Agnihotri

The World Translation Day

 Does translation matter? For sure, it does. Why, during and beyond the colonial era, the Maxmuller (and others of his ilk) translations made-n-marred  the ancient Indian identity. That central to existence translations are! 

Yes, errors of/in translations could create havoc, both seriously, and crazily. All of us know the jokes about the Russian translation of the Biblical injunction as "meat is less, but vodka is enough" or the German giving "Gift", that is, poison, killing the lasvicious senior of a German junior. 

Yes, linguistic diversity matters hugely. Yet the historical hierarchisation in this field has been rendered null n void due to the recent technologies such as the AI translators which are quite right and enough for the STEM areas. 

Anyways, most translations published and sold these days are of the "DIY" variety, even when it comes to the much maligned Humanities ever since the III-B issue erupted. As for literature, who cares anyway? In a world where the attention span is byte sized and copy-pasting influencers of the AI variety rule the roost, who is going to read hundreds of pages? 

Ah, there is another variety of translation, that is, medium wise. There are the audio books that translate tomes in to listen-able versions. Of course, who can how forget the film versions of books which mostly ruin the original. Remember the anecdote of the ass who preferred to chew the book to a reel? 

Well, when the real goes the reel way, translation is hardly transcreation. Rather, it is a mere business proposal, right!?!

Pratima@ Yet there are authors and translators true to their inner calling, and that saves the (translation) day.

Quote of the day:                                                              "Writers make national literature, while translators make universal literature.” José Saramago thus glorifies translation. No wonder, there are efforts in India to translate from and in to the very many Indian language. 

Word of the day: Transliteration                                  Transliteration is the process of writing words from one alphabet or writing system into another based on phonetic similarity (as is typically tried @ WhatsApp), preserving how the words sound rather than what they mean.