Makar Sankrant

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

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

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

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

Pratima@ in the lingo today, I love Sankranti.

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

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

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

Bhogi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dedicated to youth!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Piecing together the Peace Prize

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Hindi Connect

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The NRI Affect

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bird Day

 No, the title is not a mock at the village idiot type pronunciation of "birthday". I AM referring to birds, and the day dedicated to them. Yes, in India, January 5 is the bird day. Why, this bird day, avian scientists found three amur falcons who are some migratory wonders. 

In my school days, we had to prepare very many projects. One such project that I had loved was about migratory birds. Those young days, it literally was a wonderland for me. Why, even now, I find the migratory capacities of birds simply wonderful. Raju, my brother, sent me beautiful pics of the pink herons, the beautiful migratory birds who nest in the garden of the Merchant Navy institute where he teaches. For days on end, I was in the seventh heaven, like those wondrous beauties. 

My morning always begins with all sorts of lovely warbles. Without fail, small birds nest in our trees. I neatly preserve their nests. Each next year, some pair or the other uses the nest of the earlier year somehow or the other. Once, during the childhood days, an unbelievably beautiful blue bird had nested in our jui/jasmine creeper. We had guarded the nest literally like the police!

Once a bird mother had deserted her chick. I had literally fed it for days. The silly beak that would open each second I would hover there was both a pity and a beauty. One fine day, he just flew away in my face!

Lovely memories I have of birds. Once I had taken Kunal to Peshwe Park. We were standing together in front of the peacock enclosure. God alone would know what the peacock felt, but he spread full his lovely plumage, and 'danced' for minutes on end. Enchantéd we both were, and stood there as if our very sense of time was lost! 

Yes, birds are our best friends. The generation today eats their baby food in the company of some weird mobile cartoon. We ate ours in the company of the moon, the sparrows about whose city disappearance I wrote an article in a major newspaper. 

Birds have for ages mesmerised mankind. Their joyful fancy flights, their lovely appearances, the sense of freedom their life enshrines, no wonder, they are the themes of countless literary texts, and the muse that energised Wright Brothers. The aeroplane is a great invention because in a way it helps us enjoy a bird's flight. 

True, the cityscape today is dominated by crows and pigeons who are excellent at making a nuisance of themselves. And, yet, at a busy crossroad, while waiting for the signal to turn green, if one sees a flight of birds, the very soul starts singing, and flies away with the heavenly (in all senses of the word) wings! Long live birds, even when the cruel Corona was somehow caught in their wings!

Pratima@ Very soon I am going to try all the adventure sports that give one the feel of bird like flying.

Quote of the day:                                                        "I would like to paint the way a bird sings," asserts Claude Monet, one of my favourite most artists.

Word of the day: avian.                                             'Avian' refers to the bird or the bird like (as an adjective). 

Let us learn grammar:                                         Whatever is unique, one of its kind, always is preceded by the definite article 'the'. Nature, the unique creator, would provide many such examples, right? The earth, the sun, the moon, the Ganges, the Himalayas can be a few familiar instances.