Tulsi, A note on Mother

When we are too close to someone, when our life significantly overlaps someone else's, possibilities of strange kinds of differences among ourselves pop. Trivial differences and of the kind which can easily perish on second thoughts. Perhaps, being less judgmental on the very first note is a trait of an educated soul of highest degree.

Her healing touch.

Mummy, under whose lap I decided to re-mushroom for a while, one day, out of either over indulgence in my daily affairs(which can never be ruled out, she is a mother afterall) or contempt towards my flailing approach to life these days, decided to put her delegations of empathy on hold and I enjoyed  few solitary days. However, nature, decided to play its role in our qualm and abode Winters, brought its own kind of wrath. With an overdose of spicy meals I developed heavy throat and one afternoon, after the lunch said to her, that I need 'tea' and coughed a bit. Thats all I did, coughed, dint tell about the problem. Sitting outside on a chair, the tea arrived and the first sip was a realization. It had Tusli (Basil) and she knew I needed it. I only wanted tea, thats the thing that came to my mind for that sick throat but 'Tulsi' was her ingredient, a mother's ingredient. 

That night we ate together, thereby putting an end to the week long qualm.  

Curious case of girl in the back seat: A Story

Today, I was on board a Volvo Bus, coming back to Haridwar from Delhi. It must've been years, since the last time I used ISBT (good trains, you see). I was skeptical to see it in its new avatar till the moment I saw some buses, for anybody could mistake it for a Metro Station, if not an Airport itself. What a makeover! 

Go check.

Anyways, ISBT's not the issue here. 

Whenever I visit Delhi/Mumbai the most common difference with a smaller town is in its Womenfolk. Outward, large in numbers, publicly socializing, shopping, engaging in all those works, which in smaller towns you'll find only the men occupied with. A peculiar thing and which is on rise these days is their display of love or rather indifference towards the public at large , while doing so. Most of the times we might pay little or no attention and perhaps acts like these can as well be considered the seeds of an open and progressive Indian society. But where do we draw the line? 

A case exemplifies my concern. 

While I was discussing the stops and route of the Bus with the Bus-Conductor, stood beside me a couple. The girl had to leave and her boyfriend was seeing her off. Usual things, no big deal. 

She took(got) a window seat exactly behind me and the windows were all sealed. Another guy sitting next to me, took his copy of Hindustan Times out and got immersed with no signs of being perturbed. Nice, I had a book in hand and it was good to see him reading too. Random partners, cool! The engine fired and the bus started to roll back, making a u turn and then heading on its course out of The Kashmere Gate. 

A phone rang but the girl was doing her bags on the upper shelf. Moments later, settled, she picked up the phone and started off! The journey for me was then to become not mine but a narration of hers.

Bus journey, a collective responsibility.

"Anil, where are you? I cant see you, ohk dont worry, you must head back to office now. And how much money have you put into my purse? You! Ohk. Lets talk after sometime and hey! don't forget to eat something. You know one thing which I like coming here about is the fact that you eat properly because of me, else you stay like a log only. Yeah Yeah. Hang up! Love you!"

Just 10 mins later, "Hey where are you, I am crossing Shahadra Metro Station, 5 mins later I am crossing that big pile of filth, now in a Traffic Jam, not in Jam, are you in Jam? You ate something? I'll come back on 9th. Shilpa's ring ceremony na! Even if I dont come, atleast we have an excuse na. NoNo, please dont stand on the terrace, go to office instead, I dont want to see you (Wait a minute! House visible from the road, and a plan for that too? Incredible)! What! your promotion is due? Perhaps it'll surely happen if we marry. Thanks for the Wrist watch and Volvo tickets too. Love you!"

She was not to stop, like forever. Shrill voice, all over.  

I kept my book, The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P Huntington, inside my backpack and took out the Tablet to watch its documentary instead. However, Sun played the rest of the part and I dozed off. Meanwhile the back-lady said something really good, her battery was dying off. For a moment, I thought isn't it great that Samsung gives only 6 hours of Talk time? For a moment I thanked them for this technical barrier they haven't been able work on, which I used to crib about (in college days). 

The Hindustan times was now all read (Editorials including) and the next-seat-guy joined me in the siesta. Midway through our journey the fallacy broke the hell out, when I was awaken with the back-girl still lingering on with her dismal battery over matters she was most dear to. 

"I'll eat na, I'll eat at McDonalds once it stops. Though it didnt. It was Gupta Ji resorts, she(we all) finally had to resort to, in case she did. You haven't eaten since then!? Go, or I'll hang up. Hang up? Really? Perhaps only the battery would've done the wonderful thing. But it dint. So she kept on.. I have my SSC exam day after tommorrow and then we'll catch up again in Delhi ohk ?(SSC exam? This girl is plan-marrying @ 22(say)? Great!), Hey listen I'm so sorry for this months expenditure of yours, you could have bought a Bed instead. 'Arey my company pays na!' Hey when are you buying Gas Connection? We've never had Dal-Roti in Delhi! Ohk I am sorry na! Love you!"

Then there was sudden calm. Her parents called and she talked for 2 mins! like a real sensible ward, updated her route, the interview she had come for, before the wonder actually happened and I took the book out, again. Gupta ji Resorts wasnt that bad too. 

I was a forced on-looker. It was Anil, whom I was forced to think again and again. Down faced, in his cubicle with a pile of work brushed aside trying to weave his future and the present, unknowingly, in public. Who was to blame? Was she right on her part of not giving a damn about anything else. What about the guy who sat next to her? Perhaps he was poorer than me too? Where do we draw the line? What is sensible, if nothing is insensible? The fact that, for now, she only wanted to be a Girlfriend and then very soon a Wife, was it at all connected to the expectations with which her parents had brought her up and the interview from which she was returning, back into the lap of her big eyed parents? Is this new-age-love , with technology defining intimacy, also holding the capacity to define us as an individual? And what if I had asked her to stay put for a while? Would that have worked as a solution or an irritant, to the things so dear to her? 

Oh girl!

PS: No names have been changed as luckily, she never called her own name out loud thus keeping the entire narration, practically anonymous. 

Routine

How do you think you will conquer the World?

" By showing respect to and following your daily routine, each second."

Early morning cycling, an effort which fuels discipline.

Got a better song than this?

"Summer 68" by "Pink Floyd"

Album "Atom Heart Mother"

"Would you like to say something before you leave 

Perhaps you'd care to state exactly how you feel 

We said good-bye before we said hello 

I hardly even like you, I shouldn't care at all 

We met just six hours ago, the music was too loud 

From your bed I gained a day and lost a bloody year 

And I would like to know 

How do you feel, how do you feel, how do you feel? 

Not a single word was said, delights still without fears 

Occasionally you showed a smile but what was the need 

I felt the cold far too soon - the wind of '95 

My friends are lying in the sun, I wish that I was there 

Tomorrow brings another town and another girl like you 

Have you time before you leave to greet another man 

Just you let me know 

How do you feel, how do you feel, how do you feel? 

Good-bye to you 

Charlotte Kringles too 

I've had enough for one day" 

PS: How we are surrounded by moments discussed above. 

New Age Relationships

There are very few ads which you like at the first instance you see them. They are slightly ahead of their time, if not a real portrayal of the present. It then gets even better when they get discussed by masses (become newspaper articles or long social threads), while you thought you were the only one who subtly and quietly liked them. 

              A new Airtel commercial has come up with a fresh idea of betting on the Woman Boss. 

The ad portrays, how these days, couples are handling life and relationship together. Girl, here, has been shown having an upper hand, being the boss, has brought out the issue of woman empowerment (an issue I was dealing with in my previous Job, though in rural India). The times now are such, that a woman can no longer just work but can even be a boss, a breadwinner, not just craving for an equal footing. Education has done wonders. Who would've thought of it a hundred years ago in India? The pallu/duppatta clad aunties and didis which were there a generation prior to mine, have now been, in fair amount, taken over by Jeans or Suited screen scrolling ants, busy doing something. Take no offence, reader, this doesn't meant the earlier ones weren't good or something. I am only stating the observations on the social metamorphosis I see. On second thoughts, it wont be wrong to ask whether if, the Boy were to get back home first, would be have done the same? How easy it is for the boy to welcome this change of status quo, of him being the Junior? Has our society been overburdened/altered by professionalism? How do we actually see 'time-for-each-other' as an issue these days? What about the Work Life balance?   

The ad entails a realistic optimism and brings out a fresh take on relationships these days! I wonder, who was the first person who really came up with this and what the team presentation discussion it would have generated.. 

Let us ask ourselves

The set, here, has a tinge of grave satire if not outright criticism towards a lot which is going on around us and which includes us. While we, as individuals, live and make all sorts of behavioral perceptions about the world and live to justify them, we fail to understand that these perceptions live on, even after we are dead. What importance do we give to the implications of our thoughts and mindsets can have a lot to answer about the problems we face today, as a race. I hereby attempt to figure out few fundamental questions we can ask ourselves, answers to which will generate nothing less than credos for a better world. 

Non-Philosophical (More likely to be implemented by this generation):

1. What/(Who) drives the world? Is it the Government or the Industrialists? Also, who makes the bigger impact?  

2. Why are people, in their respective firms or professions so excessively proud about their justifications to be where they are and what they do? 

3. Why do we love someone, even, if required, at the cost to hate(or kill) someone else? How then is the whole definition of love justified?

4. Why do most of the people depend on others for their live's progression and at times survival? What stops them from realizing their potential and their duty to solve their own problems? 

5. How do people believe in the claims of the 'History of Religion'? Is it this easy to be-fool humans or keep them organized under one specific belief-system, which will usually refuse to believe in other such systems? 

6. If every one is taught the ideals of honesty,love and integrity in schools why do people end up blasting airplanes, raping young girls and crucifying ordinary souls? What use is such a schooling system of? How can we match the wrong people with right ones?

Philosophical (Less likely to be implemented by this generation):

1. What is our Cosmic Context? It appears Physics is far away from providing validated answers, only axioms run the show. 

2. Is there any account of the problems humanity has created vs the solutions it has to offer? A road-map which shows where we are heading?   

3. If our birth is everything which defines us, what can be in store through our death? What if someone refuses to live altogether? Will he be any different from the best man(or perhaps the best raccoon) alive?

4. Why do people prefer ignorance over knowledge? 

5. If the only thing which Wars justify over the destruction they entail, is the protection of national sovereignty, then why can't we just get rid of borders altogether? Isn't there a tremendous possibility that such a trivial justification can pop up every now and then?

6. How can we have such a persisting inequality? Justifications aside. 

At the heart of The Capitalist(Growth driven/Wealth creation) Economy lies a fundamental worry, that which asks everyone to be concerned just about themselves(their self interest). Is Capitalist Economy, perhaps the best theory (ever) which actually explains animal behavior? 

While I ponder, the merciless killings, the exploitation behind the veil of economics, border shelling, majoritarian outrage and unfathomable resource usage across the globe will only continue to be a normal occurrence. 

Opportunity Costs

Of all those things that I don’t do
and the places I am not a part of, 

Were they renderings or debacles?
Self made shackles?

To my mind,
They weren’t an oblivion of choice
Nor the first of their kind,
They had turned into a behavior of prejudice
Perhaps, a renunciation of a kind
Which asked for a unintelligible price 

Of all the things I miss the most 

The tides of time which are long gone
Such, friends, are the opportunity costs.

Neeraj Pandey 

PS: A certain kind of ascetic behaviour has been discussed here which laments renunciation and lack of desire. 

"Shahid" The Movie and its Indelible message

"Pyaar hai dheh sa gaya

Hai kadar kahaan

Mann hai yaadon ka ek majmaa"

Its been a year or so I saw Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and I wondered, why it was not adjudged the Best Film at National Film Awards. I was so wrong.

There are movies which can stir and enrage you to a point where to not speak up is hardly an option.  Which can test your dormant conscience and make you believe that yes, there is injustice in society and that all’s not fair and what if, he were you? A Courtroom drama, with Human values, the city of Mumbai and picturesque Kashmir valley revolving around it, tied with reverberating background score is a Biopic of Late Shahid Azmi (played to perfection by RajKumar Rao), who took up cases for ordinary people who are dragged to court, outrageously put behind bars, tortured and questioned with disdain. People who had lesser means to prove the truth.

Let us believe, first, in the systems & institutions we've made.

This world*, which, quite mercilessly allows a person to only be on one side of *its propaganda. It cannot let him seek his own calling and if he dares to overrule the side he has once chosen or to build up on his committed mistakes, to fight for a rampant injustice he sees, which the world itself is oblivious to, the world fights back and stabs his nuanced, noble efforts to help re-build humanity. Oh gosh! To imagine all this to’ve happened to someone is horrendous.

Shahid Azmi makes two valid points,

We don’t have to consider an accused, a criminal simply because he is in a lock up for two years, if his arrest proves the point completely, what good is Judiciary for? 

Having said that, I wonder do I really believe in courts or do I decide on my own contempt? Actually, the accused, the moment he is publicly raided, arrested is then immediately put on trial by our societal opinions and media. We need to shun our contempt and let Judiciary do its task. Let us believe in our courts and not take laws in our hands. (Shahid Azmi gets shot at and dies in 2010 chiefly due to common people taking laws in their hand). :-/

The other point is actually his life. It is the society which enrages him to step into a terror (read fundamentalist) organization, especially in Islam, where its easier to do things for your religion, there is no doubt about it and especially at his age of 15 years. I remember how easy it was for me to think of doing anything that came to my mind. Then, it was easier to get convinced, who researched, who cared, enough? And still he came back and he got himself educated to a point of bourgeois acceptance. However, quite irrationally the society inflicted rage onto him via some disillusioned but acceptable fundamentalists. Not done! This is not done man!

I then, think the biggest problem this world is facing is nothing but fundamentalism, whichever side you take. Why can’t we see the other side, let them live their life and lead ours?  I am grief struck, so as to think, exactly which world am I living in?

Issues aside, I rated the movie 9/10 at IMDB. It, as a lot of good films, is slightly underrated in terms of its popularity. Can the readers, atleast, spread it out?

PS: Shahid won two Awards at National Film Awards 2014, with the Best Film Award, however been bagged by another masterpiece, Ship of Theseus. 

'Ankhon Dekhi' What makes it a good movie

This film is about a thought experiment which is so common that everyone wishes it to be done by everybody else. It signifies an intropspective, inbound phase in the lives of many people which can more easily be felt than can be expressed. It lies beyond Joy, Wonder or Amazement. It is something which defies comprehension. When a man(Sanjay Mishra), accidently but soulfully gives himself a chance to question things around him, all, big and small and accepts faith into anything but his own ability, such, is the theme of the movie. Spun around a Delhi middle class joint family which has more family members than the time to address them, all at once.

The most striking feature of the film is an attempt to make it end like the contemplative, dying protagonist who finally come to terms with a certain cosmic reality and wisely speakes till the end, like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. That particular part though could have been much better, both philosophically and in terms of cinematography.

The rising attempts in Parallel Cinema

I've rated it 7.5/10, the film lacking mainly in the expectations it sets upon the audience in the beginning. However, the acting, the sets and the characters couldn't have been better. It is thus aptly rated at IMDB as well.

The way Bollywood has left us unassuming about expecting films that have elements more than just plots and stars is being continuously challenged in recent times. Films of the likes of The Lunch box, Dhobhi Ghat, I am Kalam etc have been praised and cherished by an increasing number of people.
A man who can more than be credited for creating these simplistic masterpieces back to back, Rajat Kapoor is one of the best thing which is happening to Bollywood and personally an effective reason to indulge into the genre of 'realism/parallel cinema' over the Friday flicks or the Blockbusters.
Having said that, I wonder, what makes this cinema parallel? Is it the Issue? The Ssar cast? Portrayal of reality over sensation? Music over songs? Lesser viewership? Lesser budget? What?
IMO, these are hardly any predicaments which may land a film in the vicinity of parallel cinema and be preserved over being watched. Also, what is Parallel to one can be mainstream to another, right?

PS: Drop in your emails in case you cannot download, shall share it over Google drive. (And sorry for open copyright violations, I'll try and make up with Rajat Kapoor & Manish Mundra) :) .

A piece on Nath Sect, Rajasthan

Intreaction with Nath Community at Kala Gora Temple, Sawai Madhopur

What goes around, comes around. I had recently put down William Darylmple’s Nine Lives. A book which talks about the nine community-based/localized religions, showing how fragile and virtually unknown they are to the common Indian, eg. The Rewari community of Rajasthan worshipping the Pabuji of Pabusar, was an interesting account, with the incumbents in a relentless battle to save the fragmented pieces of  an ancient, locally generated religious belief system. 

Kala Gora Temple, Sawai Madhopur

During my visit to Ranthambore National Park, I took time out to visit an acclaimed and ancient temple of Kala Gora. Carved into the steep ridges of Aravallis around 10 KMs from Sawai Madhopur Railway Station, is a small but colourful complex.  This Temple, one of its kind in India belongs to Nath Sect, a sub tradition within Hinduism. The two deities Kala and Gora (Goraknath) are two brothers, with the Gora being the famous Hindu god Bhairavnath, a reincarnation of Shiva and Kala his brother. Goraknath, a common man belonging to Nath community performed Siddhis to attain the highest order, Bhairavnath(a shaivism belief). Interestingly, Nimnath and Parsvnath (from Jainism) were disciples of Bhairavnath and are connected to the Nath Sect. This complex interlinkage of Indian religions(Hinduism and Janism, here) is something I need to explore more.

The two moortis of Kala and Gora present atop the temple complex at quite a height, gave a beautiful view of the old city and its surrounding mountain line. With only a little expectation in heart, I climbed up and entered into one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had in recent times, with the Priest of the temple (Shiv Narayan).

How old is this temple? I asked. “Around 1200 years old”, He replied.
 
He then remarked with a question, “Why have you come here? There is no god, You’ve put your own money, taken the bus, you decided and you walked up till here. If it weren’t your will and effort you could not have reached here”. It was an unsolicited remark. I felt captivated by this unassuming, unorthodox way of welcoming anyone on a temple(unlike the usual priestly-sweet-talk).

With of Old Sawai Madhopur from Temple Complex

The stoical views he shared about his religious standpoint were strikingly self-centric, that god resides within and that the god should never be extolled and put to a higher level altogether. These are bold statements and having the whole community to follow them is even bold yet beautiful. He elaborated that a person of his sect lived on the edge of a sword, tight-roped, always, forever. Meaning, unlike the usual hindu community, they invite sufferings and physical pain in the process of attaining Siddhi. This seemed to borrowed from Jainism. The Temple, he told was the only place to attain Tantrik Siddhi for the entire Nath community and people from whole of the Rajasthan came to visit this temple.

Thoughts on Rama: He was on ordinary man who did a lot of common things, good and bad. He killed an animal for his wife. He killed Ravana and almost destroyed his entire clan and empire.  Exactly, what do you think remains of the original Lanka, like does the Ayodhya? His only great part was his obedience. If only every child obeys his parents the way Rama did, that’s what we can credit him for but the way and the moment we start giving them(Rama) a place above us, when we elevate their status to something that we cannot reach, that’s when we discredit our own existence. God is within us. Science has now and in our community it has been said for ages that the same constituents which make us, made the planet and this universe, made the God. Its all one, chemically.

Thoughts on Human existence: The right question is not why we exist, it is, given that we exist, what is the most important and meaningful reason we should be alive. No one has ever and can ever stop the cycle of creation and destruction. Its like the waves at the sea-shore, the way air bubbles are created. Some of them stay for a long time, you have to be that bubble and important one who stays for a while and creates meaning. Interestingly, there is no point questioning why the bubble is created. Humans are undoubtedly the most important race. They have consciousness, can differentiate, judge, create and destroy unlike any other creature.   

Temple priests, Shivnarayanji on extreme left.

Thoughts on Festivals/Diwali: Do you celebrate Diwali? I asked. Yes, when we are done with our field harvests, we take time out to clean our houses, paint them. It isn’t that ‘Ram’ came back or something like that, no! Though, I must say, community needs festivals to grow together, there is nothing bad is celebrating Diwali but not because Ram came back. It is me who has ploughed and I want rest and I want to celebrate.

Can we have something to take from this sect? Was this really a spin-off from Hinduism or stood on its or can now be attributed to have contributed to Hinduism as one of its constituent smaller religions ? Above all, I felt happy that there are sects, which can stand on their own and question what is written in sacred texts, as even texts were written by humans, like us.