A colour(-n-)full result

 Even a casual listener of Western music knows what blue notes are. No, it is not the Aamrikn "nili patti". Well, references to  "hari patti" are so very Indian, na! So say the "aaawsome" Aaamerikn-Indians. That is not the point today though! 

The blue notes are the flattened or "worried" notes (typically the third, fifth, and seventh scale degrees, so say the experts) that create a distinct, melancholic sound. As votes stand this evening, these are the notes Trump must be sobbing to today! Well, the "ye lal rang kab hamen chod de" was apparently the rhyme most Americans were crooning for quite some time as the midterm election results indubitably prove. 

How long this mood will last, difficult to decide it is. Yet all the Indians in the looooong queue for the 'green' card and the software industry, harassed as it is by the AI invasion, must have now left behind their blues, right? In brief, as the 'red ko salaam' returns to pavilion, hurt n down with almost a duck, so does that much missed voice, ah, yes, Nobel Peace Prize winning Obama's! 

In Aesop's "Fables", the donkey is the beast of burden. In American realpolitik, often it outsmarts the elephant, the big brain, ah, rather the big brawn which reduced 'MAGA' in to "Make America goon awfully" for the whole world, what with the Hormuz becoming the strait straight all states feared. Happy days seem to be here again. No need for the blues, in brief! 

Pratima@Actually, as for India, the Dems are not much different from the Republicans, except that they prefer the velvet glove treatment rather than the in the face blow with a Muhammad Ali kinda brute force. Yet good to know that all the American-Indian candidates in the fray have not gone down the Vivek Ramaswami path! 

Quote of the day:                                                          "The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” So opined Abraham Lincoln, THE ultimate American leader, and the first Republican president. Wish his descendants had followed him, both in letter and in spirit!

Word of the day:                                                           Blue is the Democrats' colour, while red is the Republicans',whose election symbol is the elephant.

Pune Proud

 Pune IS my city, well, currently metamorphosing in to a 'metro' in all senses of this term. True, I was not born in Pune, but I have been brought up here, even when my childhood got spent in other cities. In brief, l love Pune. 

Why this panegyric to Pune? Well, Pune simply deserves the praise. You, too, would agree with me if you were to have a look at the latest acquisition of Pune, the Metro Route, "Pink Line Number Three" .

To begin with, this new addition, though running rather late, is itself smart, sophisticated, sauve. The sleek glass doors, the posh interiors, the perfect platforms n stations with the latest gadgets, the very look of this 'rail gadi', which is energy-efficient uniquely, is wow. 

While the "beech wale stations" that for a 'dekho' say 'ruk, ruk, ruk', the simply superb skyline that the metro zooms past has the picture perfect élégance of a well designed movie set. If you were not to know that it is the Pune-Hinjewadi-Mann scenario, you could easily confuse it with the skyscape of New York or Tokyo. 

Yes, Pune-Hinjewadi has that unique combo of the traditional n the modern. This city, supposed to be the Oxford of the East, has indeed been riding in the right direction, from a city of cycles to a town of two-wheelers to electric buses roaming the suburbs to now a 'metro' every which way.

Well, as the Hinjewadi 'Phases' boast of international institutions, this metro line appears savvier then the other two lines which, too, are quite some beauties. Oh, yes, the rakes are squeaky clean just as the stations are elevator-enabled. Have to be! After all, ye Pune hai meri jaan! 

Pratima@ In the typical Pune progressive way, the "Pink Line 3" would be run by women pilots, and it was shaped in to its 'propah' avatar by ladies, too. In brief, Pune's ''Pink Line 3'' metro makes us Punekar's proud indeed! Hope this latest amenity, as it soon settles up-n-down, would downsize the terrible traffic woes of M/S Hinjewadi and Co and/or Associates!!!

Quote of the day:                                                         Currently "the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people," says Ludwig von Mises. 

Word of the day: amenity/amenities                          This term, singular and/or plural, refers to everything that makes a place pleasant or easy to live in.

N.B. : Technology, if used sensibly and without threatening the ambience in any way, makes accessible to us amenities and comforts that could not even be imagined by kings and emperors! Hence the Chief Minister of Maharashtra deserves a "thank you", whatever might be your political/ideological affiliations/inclinations/associations. 

Further n Far Flexi Education

 The Covid days changed the educational scenario suddenly, and decisively. Yes, earlier, too, there was Open Education. It was not mainstream though. Nor was it totally online. There would be regular weekend lectures. I should know because I have taught UG to PG courses to Open University students  as well. Some of them thus grew quite friendly with English Literature so much so that they positively began reading the actual texts, rather than the ready made to order notes provided by the concerned University.

It was, however, the corona virus that made online education an inevitable alternative to the till then standard offline education. Screens were seen as the alternative to blackboards, and so on. Why remember those 'heroic' days which gave an entire batch a unique nomenclature? 

Well, November 2 to November 6 is the National Distance Learning Week. This annual event, celebrated especially in the U.S., would have a slew of webinars (yet another post-Covid development) debating the worth n relevance of the flexi Distance Mode Education. 

In my opinion, such an event is an utmost necessity currently because the AI is drastically shifting the gears of the educational machinery. Our academics may not show very many symptoms of this 'dis-', or rather, 'un-' ease. Yes, though! The AI IS re-defining academics. 

Education, now, surely would be virtual. In fact, huge, impressive, multi-storeyed buildings are already appearing dysfunctional. Most UG/PG students do not attend lectures. Most often, those big halls are embarrassingly empty. 

Students prefer online educational mode. Already they are sure, completely convinced, that the ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, et al, are much better than most teachers! Moreover, inter-disciplinary education is yet another diversion away from traditional modes. The skills-oriented credit-based system is adding its own unique dimensions! 

There is, for instance, a one-credit course entitled 'Introduction to Vedas', it seems. Apparently, it is finished off in two/three lectures, with downloaded material shared online, and possible questions outlined! Such is, of course, the student grapevine. One is, for sure, in the 'mute' mode, in all possible senses of the term. 

Try giving homework to your students, and, voilà, all sorts of AI stuff is there 'for your eyes only'! Why, once one of my students was convinced that an app is better than a book when it comes to learning! 

Apps can be full of errors as they might be developed by non-experts, you try to gently point out. Aye, AI, THE AI has so charmed the reel obsessed gen's that it becomes your prime duty as educators that the LLM's as well as (advanced) learning management systems bear some semblance to accuracy! 

Honestly, the exam system needs a huge re-vamp, if classroom are going to be virtual/remote. Instructional design as well as information sources need fine tuning, too. Oh, yes, there is an acute need to think through supra-academic skills such as on-the-job training, corporate training, adult learning, not to forget, extremely sensitive issues such as telehealth, as the AI has made most all quasi-medic's! In brief, not merely a week, the far away from classroom education, needs beyond the 'celebratory'  week, also a year long fine-tuning! 

Pratima@ At times, the distance enabled education seems to be more and more bureaucratised, not to forget its capital-intensive nature. How to make human(e) beings, the only n real goal of education, out of such further n far education, that is the question!

Quote of the day:                                                            Said Jean de la Bruyère, "reading keeps us away from being a burden to ourselves." Equally true would be the quote if "studying" replaces "reading" !

Word of the day: flexible                                               Flexible means anything that can be changed easily.

November 1

 November 1! A day that makes you feel a little nostalgic, what with the year about to end! Some sixty days more, and it would already be 2027. I always feel that November has that Janus feel. It is not exactly the final fold of the year like December. It lingers in the past, and yet unmistakably starts looking forward to the future. 

 Not exactly through with the bitter-sweet events of the year soon to end, and yet absolutely  aware of the next year right at the doorstep.  Yet another image for November could be a  good straightforward innocent girl of about eighteen, "part woman, three parts a child," as W.B. Yeats would put it, not forgetful of the past, but one foot in future.

With that selfsame innocence, let me add that i am indeed very happy about the fact that November 1 was not disastrous hereabouts. Despite so many strangers thronging the capital (the kindest estimate apparently is below fifty thousand), nothing untoward happened. 

That is, may be, because India is our 'mother'land. Look at Germany, for instance, THE seat of the Enlightenment. Look at how the Germans have treated the warehouses, showrooms, super-markets, and what have you in their 'Vater'land! Today itself, the rioting 'hood'lums there have destroyed malls, et al, with the harsh cruelty of an ungrateful son affronting his old helpless father! 

Yet November 1 brings unhappy tidings. For one thing, yet another cyclone is about to batter the Andhra-Orissa coastline. Apparently, the British, American, Japanese governments, say some newspaper reports (how much to believe them, what with the Indian Express report creating the EC havoc), are asking their citizens to stock up enough eats, et al. Hope this news is some AI concoction! In the meanwhile, let us be happy that we have outlived November 1!

Pratima@ Grace under pressure, I am getting more and more convinced, is indeed the real nobility. If, for instance, as per popular demand, the Delhi show were fast forwarded by a fortnight, may be, Diwali days would have been sweeter for one n all, right? 

Quote of the day:                                                          "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” says Soren Kierkgaard. 

Word of the day: Janus                                                  Janus is the Roman god, traditionally depicted with two opposite-facing heads, looking simultaneously to the past and the future.

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.