Timeline of a transformation

“But Ma’am, actually Lalu is also very smart, but people don’t realize it,” says my student – let’s call him XZY (and the Y is significant as you’ll realize by the end of this piece).

I teach a subject called Pharmacognosy that deals with plant-based medicines. I’ve been explaining about Ayurveda and how the world today is again waking up to its value. In passing, I mention about how Yoga too is gaining visibility thanks to the International Yoga Day that has been initiated by our PM Narendra Modi, who is smart enough to recognize its value.

It is to this statement that my student XZY has responded with his opinion about an earthy politician from Bihar. I acknowledge his opinion and move on with Ayurveda because politics is out-of-syllabus – after all, I’m not a prof at JNU! It is September 2015, a month before the Bihar elections that saw the Mahagatbandhan sweep to power. Busy with the academic schedule, neither I nor XZY have the time to discuss Lalu’s reversed fortunes.

***********

“Ma’am, my family is into politics in Uttar Pradesh. One of my relatives is a Samajwadi Party candidate and I’m going to campaign for him in the 2017 elections,” says XZY to me. We’re outside the classroom, in a hospital actually, where I’m visiting a student who developed sudden, severe, debilitating back pain. It is January 2016. XZY tells me he’s going to get into politics after a few years, and we talk about general aspects of how it’s going to be a challenge, but he is determined. I advice him that no matter which party he chooses, he must never lose sight of the fact that he should serve the people. It is February 2016.

***********

XZY completes his course and leaves the college in July 2016. He keeps in touch with me through an occasional message on Whatsapp.

***********

“Ma’am, UP mein bahut drama chal rahaa hai!” is XZY’s first statement after wishing me a Happy New Year on Jan 1st, 2017. It’s been a few days since the much-publicized spat and making-up between Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav. I ask him how his campaigning for SP is going on and he lobs the equivalent of a bomb at me, “Ma’am, we’re supporting Bharatiya Janata Party!” 

Flabbergasted, I ask what happened to cause this shifting of loyalties. He tells me about how although Akhilesh Yadav has good intentions, he hasn’t been able to act on them. There’s quite some concern about appeasement politics too. And the youth all over the state are firmly behind Modi ji. XZY’s family has received feelers from local BJP leaders for putting up a candidate under their flag and they’re in the middle of finalizing the issue. I wish him luck and say goodbye, but not before realizing he’s been singing the PM’s praises for quite a few minutes. 

***********

In the last week of February 2017, XZY texts me, “Ma’am, some people are saying that Akhilesh is coming back to power, I’m worried.” I think I detect a mild desperation and try to buoy him up saying, “It’s OK, let’s wait…there are two more phases of voting to go.”

***********

On March 11, 2017, I rush from the classroom to the staffroom to catch up with the election results pouring in. Within minutes, I have a text from XZY, exulting in the fact that the lotus has well-and-truly bloomed in UP.

***********

One week later, at around 7 pm, I’m alternating between news channels, WhatsApp and Twitter to make sense of who actually is the UP CM-designate. Predictably, I receive a message from XZY saying, “Ma’am, UP mein Yogi Yug start.” I say I’m glad to know that and ask how he is feeling about it. I needn’t have bothered with the caution, because XZY is throwing it to the winds, telling me he is very happy about the news and that he’s planning to join the RSS because he wants to serve the nation. I tell XZY that I’m going to be waiting eagerly for the day when he becomes an MLA or MP. Immediately, he recoils, “No, Ma’am….I don’t want to be MLA or MP…all I want is to serve the nation!!”

Remember, at the beginning of this article, I said the ‘Y’ in this guy’s name is important? It stands for ‘Yadav’ the community that political pundits opine, transferred its vote from its namesakes in the SP to the BJP. This watershed assembly election in the largest state of the country is bound to pave the way for change. To me, one of the best things it has done is make one young man (and perhaps, several others like him) aspire to move from being merely a Yadav towards becoming a yogi who wants to work for the betterment of Bharat. 

To see the magnitude of the mandate, check this out !

Thai Velli Poojai and Blessings

It's 8.10 am as I pick up Amma en route to the temple she's identified for the Thai Velli Naagar poojai. This is a particular form of worship offered to the Snake form of the Lord during the Tamizh month of Thai. In the midst of a concrete jungle like Bengaluru, you don't find live snakes living in anthills; so a temple that houses a tree under which snakes had traditionally lived, will generally have Naaga vigrahaas (idols) made of stone, placed under the tree in a separate area to allow people to offer worship.

I've brought nothing but flowers; the rest all she's taken care of herself because she doesn't want to burden me as I have to rush to college after the poojai.

We enter the temple and make our way to where the Naagar vigrahaas are installed. It’s a little dark in that area and so, I go to request that the lights be switched on. Amma performs the initial purification of the area around the idols by sprinkling water and drawing a tiny rangoli with the white powder taken out of a zip-lock cover. 

Reciting the Mahalakshmi Ashthakam, she anoints the vigrahaas with kumkum and asks me to follow suit. Next, we offer flowers and place a thamboolam (betel leaves, betel nuts, a packet of kumkum-manjal, 2 dried rhizomes of turmeric and 2 banana fruits). We pour the milk little by little over the hood of the Naagar that has been etched into the tree below which the vigrahaas are placed. 

Then, we offer an aarati, praying for the well-being of everyone. I know with certainty that Amma must be saying a few extra prayers asking that her grandson (my son) be blessed with good health.

A lady devotee passing by stands awhile to let us complete the ritual. Then, she offers to the deities the flowers she has brought and looks towards the aarati lamp we’ve placed aside where the camphor still burns bright. I assume she’s wondering if she can also do the aarati, and nod at her to go ahead – after all, aren’t we all bound by the same devotion? And when all belongs to Him, where is the bheda (difference) of “our” aarati and “her” aarati?

As she finishes her worship, I ask her to wait to receive a thamboolam. Amma makes me give it to her and the woman, who I’m sure is older to me, accepts it and suddenly dives to do namaskaar. I hastily step back, trying to tell the lady to do namaskaar to Amma because she’s older, but she persists. 

I look askance at Amma and she quietly nods, as if to say, “It’s ok. Don’t interrupt her.” I’m reminded of what Dr Balasubramaniam said during the Vivekananda Jayanthi a few days ago about how strongly rejecting something is also a manifestation of ego; the truly ego-less are those who are able to stay equanimous even when they receive recognition, calm with the realization that they are but a medium for that to pass to the Divine One who is their rightful recipient.

Having completed the poojai, we do a pradakshinaa and get ready to leave. Amma gives me a little of the left-over milk to be taken home consumed as prasaadam. “Kulanthaikki kudu” (give it to the child), she repeats so that I don’t forget to ensure the prasaadam reaches the no-longer-child-but-wannabe-grown-up-teenager.

As we move away, I feel like taking a picture as a reminder of the hallowed feeling that has enveloped me during these few minutes. 

I’m not given to too much of ritualistic worship, but don’t shy away from it when it has to be done, either. Perhaps the regular practice of chanting the Lord’s Name at all times has been purifying my mind, stripping away from it the need to question the need for rituals, choosing, instead, to see in them yet another way to experience the same spiritual emotion and exalted feeling that comes from the chanting.

Poojai completed, we move out of the temple. I hail a passing auto, we get into it, and manage to confuse the driver with our instructions. I say, “Please go to the left” because I want to drop her to the entrance of the apartment. She tells him, “No, stop here and let me get down, then you go right. I can walk home” because again, that concern about not delaying me for work. 

While I do benefit from the concern she has, born out of herself having pursued a successful career for close to 30-odd years, I have learned now to overrule her on such occasions, and get my way, because the busy roads of Bengaluru city are an equal-opportunity tormenter with no discrimination between old and young.

I reach home, get busy putting together breakfast and tiffin box for myself and the “Kulanthai.” No lunch to be prepared because – yet again – Amma has been the savior, suggesting she will prepare lunch for her kulanthai so that I – yet again – don’t have to overstress.

Like innumerable times before, I pause for a few seconds, saying a heartfelt thanks to God. I wonder if I’ve already done a lot of Thai Velli poojais in some past janmaa. After all, not every woman is fortunate enough to be blessed with such a caring Amma in the form of her husband’s mother !!

Food for the soul

Recently, I went to this place after a relatively long time and was amazed by how it appeared. Of course, I knew that changes were underway but the sheer magnitude and more importantly, the direction of the transformation was a shocker.

A broad, newly tarred road. Imposing buildings on the one side. On the other, commercial joints, cheek by jowl, vying with each other to draw in the most customers. The air in between heavy with the flavours claiming to represent local, national and international cuisine.

If this description makes you think of a food street, you’re not far off the mark. For indeed, it is how some of the inmates of those buildings described their new surroundings. There were some rueful jokes cracked about how, in the near future, this place is going to become famous as a cool hang-out space for gastronomic delights rather than cerebral endeavours. Which seems like quite the anti-thesis of what those in the lofty towers of those buildings say they intend to achieve.

Take a look at these images and then, I’ll explain why I say this.

I certainly understand the compulsions of the persons who conceived and authorized this move. Educational institutions today are behemoths, constantly demanding greater resources to retain their “world-class” tags. And when students come from outside the state and even outside the country, it is vital you strive to provide them with amenities that make them feel comfortable, ensuring word-of-mouth publicity gives you the edge over other institutions.

There’s no questioning of these motives. Just that in my opinion, the manner of executing what is perceived to be the solution, is not really constructive towards achieving the stated aim of an educational institution.

Knowing how extremely distractible students are, I do not really see any wisdom in creating such spaces in a way that the flavors of food for the body constantly assail their senses and mind. When we ourselves provide the diversions to students, aren’t we creating a greater demand on their already low powers of self-restraint? 

With the smell of some exotic dish wafting in through the window, what’s the likelihood that a youngster’s attention will not stray to the rumblings of his stomach and his brain rather than focusing on the Kreb’s cycle or reflex arc his teacher is trying to explain?

Or perhaps, could it be possible that indeed, the world has moved on so far ahead that today, there’s no longer any value left for what Plato said?

Disclaimer: About 10 years ago, I too was a resident of one of the imposing buildings mentioned in this post. Perhaps the memory of what WAS THEN is making what IS NOW more incongruous in my eyes......

Lessons from the Jallikattu saga

I once watched a Tamil movie at the insistence of my son. The story line was not really unique: a hooded and masked vigilante fighting to eradicate the evil powers-that-be responsible for trafficking of women, corruption and terror attacks. However, a scene in the climax of the movie stayed with me, because of the hero’s address to all the people assembled to witness a supposed miracle to be performed by him. Of course I don’t remember the words, so I looked it up online….           

For those who don’t get Tamil, a simple translation:

All of us eat to appease our own hunger, sleep when we’re drowsy and laugh to express our own joy. Yet, when we feel anger, we suppress it and keep waiting for someone else to come and express our outrage. Why????

As I listened to RJ Balaji’s speech at Marina Beach during the peaceful, dignified yet spirited protest against the Jallikattu ban, I felt a stirring of hope. That perhaps, here was the answer to that movie hero’s angst. Finally, it seemed like the people had woken up from the slumber of waiting for some vigilante and decided to act in their own interests.

Yesterday, I listened to 'Hip-Hop Tamizha', Adhi, a musician who was one of the well-known faces of the protest, explain why he had backed out of the Jallikattu agitation. As he spoke of the anti-national hue the protest was taking on, the strongest vibe I caught from his video was one of disbelief that this could actually be happening.

Today, we’ve been told that a #Jallikattu bill has been passed unanimously in the TN assembly. Yet, there was a mindless vandalism that surely could not be the handiwork of simply college-going youngsters who formed the majority of the protesters. It appears like a concerted move to hijack this people’s movement and at this moment of truth, it seems uncannily similar to the plotlines of many a potboiler.

As we take stock of things, it is vital we stay alert. More important is to not grow cynical or lose hope. Unfortunately, whether it is TN or any other state, there are multiple issues that continue to sap at our collective resources. 

Which is why, in a way, this peculiar turn of events in the Jallikattu saga may yet prove to be a blessing in disguise. 

Because, it can teach our youngsters one vital lesson – that in actual life, there is no ONE climax scene to put an end to problems. 

Let’s leave the chutzpah-fuelled dialogues for the movies and keep pressing on to raise a voice when confronted by issues. 

For, in the real world, true grit is what will ultimately decide who wins.

Menu for Life

31^st December, 2016. I’m lucky enough to share my birthday with a wonderful person. My sister-in-law, Padmini. She’s just 2 years younger to me and we hit it off right from the moment I stepped into the Ranganathan household. Today, her daughter and my son are in a celebratory mood and want to eat out. To humour them, we give in to the demand for what’s a censored item on our menu, relegated to a once-in-a-month treat.

We troop into Dominos Pizza and make our way to one of the tables. There’s one woman I notice at once. She’s dressed in a black saree and green blouse, with a black kitchen apron secured at the back of her neck and waist, a plastic cover over her hair that’s drawn into a bun, with a black cap perched on her head.

She’s just one of the staff in this bustling fast food joint and yet, she stands out for the sheer incongruity of her presence. An OLD woman scrubbing the table clean of food that youngsters half her age are having fun preparing or serving or eating.

She shuffles slowly around the tables, carefully collecting all the crumbs of food leftover into one large carton box. She moves to another part of the room to dump it all into a dustbin. Then she crosses her arms across her chest and stands quietly in the area marked as “Handwash” for the next table to become unoccupied so that she can clean it.

I watch her for a while and the realization dawns on me that I’m going to write about this. But then, there’s also this overpowering thought of wanting to know how and why she is there because I sense there’s a lesson hidden in this chance encounter.

As she stands waiting for the next table to empty out, I walk up to her and gently say, “If you don’t mind, can I ask you something?” The dour expression on her face gives way to something like wonder and she says, “Of course, what do you want to know?” I ask how she came to be working here despite the fact that she looks quite frail.

In the next 5 minutes, she narrates her life story – of losing her husband who had a government job. Of having a son who, despite being qualified, did not wish to find any job but instead, insisted on waiting for the father’s government job that had been promised to him. Of not wanting to knock on the doors of either her parents or her in-laws. Of working as a domestic help in four houses from 8 am to noon and then in the pizza outlet and dental clinic above till 9 pm. Of being saddled with illnesses like typhoid and having had surgery for hernia that had sapped at her almost non-existent strength.

And yet, this woman says calmly to me, “I have lots of difficulties, but I know God is there with me. He will take care of me always.”

As I bid her goodbye, she smiles and says, “Thank you for listening to me,” and walks slowly to yet another table. Indeed, as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa said, “A tree laden with fruits always bends low.”

NaBloPoMo Day 30: Mission Accomplished !

And, just like that, the 30 days of November are over. The NaBloPoMo blogathon is ending today. While I do have the option of continuing writing every day – as I was doing on my Facebook page until NaBloPoMo started - I doubt if I will get back to it with the same level of regularity immediately. 

Maybe because I diligently wrote each day’s blog post, trying to make each one count, with something of value, but now, I feel like a small break is necessary to recuperate from this loquacious onslaught on my own psyche, not to mention the one on people who’ve been reading my blogs 😉

To all those whose topic suggestions I took up and wrote about – cheers! You got me to say what I feel about things that matter to you although it may not have been exactly what you were looking for, in some cases 😉

To those who didn’t find their topics covered in this blogathon – take heart! I have your requests safely in a Word file, and will definitely write about them in the days to come, and send you the link, too, so you know I’ve kept my word 😊

I’m expecting a few things to happen from tomorrow –

· The chores I’ve neglected to devote time to writing will get their due attention

· The tidiness coefficient at home will inch upwards

· My laptop will finally find its way to the service centre to get its faulty hinge mechanism repaired

· The Sanskrit study will get greater attention, hopefully boosting my chances of doing well in the Sanskrita Bharati exam that’s due in February 2017

· The new nickname I’d earned at home – “Bloggie” – will gradually fade away

When I first invited myself to join Swathi Ram in this blogging initiative, I didn’t realize it would lead to such a huge learning experience.

I met many new bloggers, read what they wrote, had the opportunity for some wonderful insights from their writings

I picked up a few skills in commenting on others’ blogs

I learned how it feels when people you don’t know at all read and comment on your blog, and you realize you share the same perspectives….

Overall, it was an enriching experience that I wouldn’t have missed for anything.

Thank you Swathi, Priya, Rekha, Deepti, Shilpa, Varsha, Tara, Rajitha, Saritha, Ashwini, Ashwathi, Uma and all the others on this journey 😍😍😍

Thank you, dear readers – friends and family, commenters and non-commenters-but-silent-readers…

I hope to get back in a few days time, rejuvenated, with some more of Anu’s Words..God Bless! 

NaBloPoMo Day 29 : May Our Brave Martyred Soldiers Attain Sadgati

For the first time in these 29 days, I find myself too drained out to write a blog post. Probably, I should have written it earlier in the day when I had some free time, instead of reading a long-pending John Grisham novel that needs to be returned to the library. Or maybe I should have even got it done before the news of 7 of our Army men being martyred in a terrorist attack in Nagrota today got me all upset. 

Just a few days back, a friend expressed surprise that I hadn’t written anything about 26/11 (yes, I have somehow built up that kind of an expectation) and I’d replied saying a cold, heavy-headedness and mild fever had left me with no energy to write on ‘involved’ topics that raise strong emotion. 

But there had been a few thoughts I had put down subsequently on how we – the common public who can’t give ourselves to fighting the enemy on the border – can work for our country to see better days. The news of today’s terrorist attack with so many of our brave hearts sacrificed moved me in such a way that I spent about an hour writing about this, and combining it with those other thoughts, to prepare an article for Post Card News for whom I write occasionally.

Somehow, now, writing about anything else seems to be superfluous. I know – life has to go on, and we can all only do that which we’re equipped to do. But it seems so unfair – us sitting comfortably here, talking of this and that, reading books, watching TV, sharing jokes on WhatsApp and Facebook, while our men’s lives are snuffed out so cruelly by a rogue state. How many more must we have to lose before it is brought to book???

I don’t generally allow negative emotions to spill to this blogging space, so I guess I’ll just stop here with a prayer to the Almighty that may He grant Sadgati to the brave souls who sacrificed for our nation!