The big giant elephant's renaissance?

"there are foundation stones for a hospital at three different places, by three differernt political parties before three different elections..."-arvind adiga, the white tiger

"india is no more a country than the equator is..."-winston churchill

the number of times people tirelessly talk about cleaning this country(india), when it is implicit that it is herculean, worse, it could be sisyphean. i will explain this clever phrase. sisyphus was given the task of rolling a stone up a steep hill, and the gods made sure that every time the stone reached the top, it would roll back down. vicious, isnt it? to think the gods did it!

to observe morality is to attain mastery over our minds and passions. so doing, we know ourselves. if that definition be correct, then india as so many writers have shown, has nothing to learn from anybody else.-(hind swaraj- m k gandhi)

it costs us a lot to keep gandhiji in poverty-sarojini naidu

there are always theories that our democracy is but a flawed experiment, with high moral grounds but flimsy real life schemes. and there is the back to socialism cult followers, anti-american, anti-globalist, anti-rich, and anti-up yours. and there are the corporate megalomaniacs, completely soaked in money and greed, trying to suck up more and more energy out of more and more people, increasing the miseries more and more, and taking this cycle to its next ugly level, more and more...

i am reminded of the pure form of river ganga, when i am reminded of india. the ganga of premchand's protagonist, who goes to a foreign nation, but on coming back, he witnesses all the pitfalls of the country, but finds solace in the river. is that plausible? the river is dirty as a b-grade movie, and he finds comfort? misunderstood point: he comes back to values, his roots, a place where he can be himself, and can walk with his head high among his own. but does he not find discrimination? yes, because he is a part of it! if you are the cancer, how can you diagnose right?

but what do many people do? shout and scream for india! the lines between patriotism and jingoism is very thin-as is the difference between madness and sanity; mathematics and understanding; love and obsession; poetry and poverty(!). the reason why people get attached to a nation is because they are strongly anchored to it by a form of identification-that they belong to something. when it is taken away, what are we then? 

"Muslims said the Hindus had planned and started the killing. According to the Hindus, the Muslims were to blame. The fact is, both sides killed. Both shot and stabbed and speared and clubbed. Both tortured. Both raped”-khushwant singh, train to pakistan

i am not sure if there is any other country in this planet that can claim diversity in such grandiose scale. not even america! we can be good hosts, but there are some stray incidents. the mughals, were the most understanding of plurality until aurangazeb, the hindus were proud of their ever-evolving religion until hindutva(savarkar?), the english were good and able administrators until general dyer...i am always torn by grief and anger when i read about partition stories. khushwant singh's "train to pakistan" is an excellent book on fiction in this regard.

 

i was agreeably impressed with pakistan's moderation in blasting only six, the smallest whole number greater than  five-amartya sen.

india' nuclear arsenal is growing, or i should say, our nuclear plant building capacity is growing. is it good? in my opinion, given that the monsoons fail frequently, it would be a great alternative source of power which would help the farmer focus more on dry-land farming and drip irrigation instead of having to worry about his electricity bills. subsidising electricity when it is surplus is a good idea towards realising food security and preventing malnourishment, but the implementation of such a policy has inherent drawbacks-farmers can misuse it, the usual redtapism associated with a project from the bureacracy. if only the latter would vanish!

what good can come out of writing stupid blogs and discussions on forums? what is the reason for public discussion? ah,now we come to the beauty of arguments. how india has always encouraged this tradition to grow and thrive! how we understand the various view points and sum them up to do something worthwhile!

i only wish india would do well to to the poorest of the poor, those in dire need of food-instead of stocking up food grains irrationally for a buffer, it would make sense to create a system to help the people by distributing them.(again, not socialism, merely empathy.)

i would like to modify gandhiji's talisman:

when you want to know what the poorest indian lives like(the closest to it), stop eating for two days, and scamper around for food with some spare change in the pocket on the third day. and that will melt all the ralph lauren designs in the heart...

lets hope that india alleviates(atleast tries to!) the miseries of the poor and the incapacitated.

The denouement!

"indian students can not only hold their own against their european rivals europe on  the latter's ground, but can beat them hollow..."-jamsetji tata

Jai hind! 

10 rules for a happy life

1. wake up with a smile. its impossible, becase getting up is the real big problem of the day. if you dont do that, there is no day as such, is there?

2. be clean. you never know when you would have to be in close contact with people. and frankly, some people dont like your sweat sweetened armpit scent.

3. look good, but look simple. we are not going to hit the beauty pageant, but we are not going to be ascetics, wandering in loin  cloth. or worse.

4. be concerned about others. but that's it, stop it right there. dont go out of the way to do things for others. you have a life you know.

5. be early, wherever you go. as much as as people hate coming in early, it has been deemed a virtue; do it for a few days, and you just might get used to it.

6. be polite. not in your mind though. you can scream abuse at the next person sitting and spitting on the road, but in your mind. as if we all have the guts...

7. act positive. i only say, act. there is a difference between 'be' and 'act'. and the best part is, nobody knows you are being, or acting...

8. pretend to listen carefully and compassionately. so what if your cat is dead, i have my problems is not the way to go.

9. eat healthy, and eat lean. we all love ice creams. there was once a time when america loved iraq and bush loved osama. we know what happened.

10. face your fear. stand up, be bold and screw up the presentation. let people laugh, and let them talk behind your back, let them think you are a complete loser, but dont laugh, dont talk behind other people's back, and dont be afraid of failure. it only means you are progressing the right way!

Swami Vivekananda

a race of dotards, you lose your caste if you come out! sitting down with an ever-increasing load of crystallized superstition...and what are you doing now? promenading the sea shores with books in your hands, repeating undigested stray bits of european brainwork, and the whole soul nbent upon gettin a thrity rupee clerkship...is there water enough in the sea to drown you, books, gowns, diplomas and all?

'life is nothing, death is nothing, hunger nothing, cold nothing...march ahead'

All the religions lead to him, and to him alone, says the swami. he also quotes something interesting-'if a bhangi(shudra) were to walk into a temple, he would be denied rights. but if he were to wear a sacred thread and a rich dhoti, who would deny him a seat or a handshake?'

while all people think these days are about differences, here was a man, in the nineteenth century, talking about embracing plurality and all the other faiths, asking people to believe not in faiths, but in people themselves. people are to be judged on the basis of qualities, not their birth rights and priveleges. As much as many people would agree, there is still a vast difference between agreement and practice.

come, be men! see how nations are on the march. let us struggle for higher and better things! look not back, not even if you see the dearest cry!

inspiration for all the generations to come, some of his speeches are bound with undecipherable strength and support, which can spur us to something when we are dismally down and looking for support. personally, subramanya bharati and swami vivekananda are the two brightest gems that the younger generation of the country should listen to, for inspiration.

a very intriguing question posed by the saint in one of his letters to his guru: 'if everything in this life be as per karma, what is the point of worshipping durga?'

i would like to venture a guess: to lessen the suffering, to see the emptiness of the cycle, and to live life in peace, at peace with ourselves. He was always interested in truly inspiring other people, a quality which is rarely observed in leaders these days. His philosophy to march ahead, and to not look behind, to think of the future, of the people, of service are indeed qualities of a great spiritual leader, but he shies away from calling himself a leader, but refers to himself as an humble servant of god.

starvation, cold, hooting in the streets on account of my quaint dress, these are what i have to fight against. but no great thing is achieved without great labour...

when the swami was in america for the conference, he had to put up with so many things, and one among them was the jeering catcalls from the onlookers because of his attire. and thus the swami reacts...

In all his letters, he refers to his despondency in not being able to let go of the worldly desires and how his love for his brother, his mother or for his guru is something that should be cast away...At the very end, he will be a man not remembered for his failures, but for his charm and imposing speeches, that would take the collective breath of the millions who would understand...

கல்லா பிழையும் கருதா பிழையும் கசிந்துருகி

நில்லா பிழையும் நினையாப் பிழையும், நினன்ஜெழுத்தை

சொல்லா பிழையும் தொழா பிழையும் துதியாப் பிழையும்

எல்லாப் பிழையும் பொறுத்தருள்வாய் இறைவா கச்சி ஏகம்பனே...

i am surprised when people give themselves an identity, by religion or by color or by race. when someone is a brahmin, a person who learns scriptures, a person who is revered in the community because of his knowledge, and his rhetorical skills, and the gift of the gab, the scholar; a kshatriya, a warrior, who is every bit as good as his counterpart, only much better, and is not the least hesitant to give up his life for the good of others, the sacrifice; the vaishya, the clever merchant, also the person who is responsible for making everyone responsible for their finances, the business man; the shudra, who cleans up for the good of the society, who is ultimately the one responsible for the demise of epidemic and plagues, who is the pre-emptive action against ill-health, the caretaker;

only when a person is competent enough to take up each of these tasks during various stages of his life does he understand the point of his life;

that being a brahmin is not in criticizing every other action but in helping others understand and gain knowledge;

that being a kshatriya is not in mindless blood-letting and vindictiveness but fighting for a just cause;

that being vaishya is not in being a cunning money monger, but in helping others financially to live a decent life ;

that being a shudra in not being complaining about the inferiority of the task, but in understanding that nothing is infra dignity and everyone has to do so called infra dig things at times.

when there is a will, there is always a way, to break it. when there is a fall, there is a always a climb that is agony. when there is loneliness, there is always company that is painful. when there is loss, there is always hope that is fleeting and evanescent. when all is lost, there is this will, hope and pain that makes us go through the whole spiral of life, only that, it gets better than better, and worse than worse. what do we make of the life spiral? does it try to tell us that it is simply impossible to lead a life that might make us happy all the time? or is it that suffering is a journey that we must undertake to understand the ultimate point of living? or is that life is always aimless and random, misfit, and imroperly tailored to suit anyone's requirement? or is it that we just complain till the very end about how this life is taking us nowhere to wherever it was supposed to take us? or that i should shut up and stop writing and stop thinking altogether for the good of the people around?

MoM:(moments of madras)

it is scorching in madras, i am told, but also, there are light showers at times.(ok, there was just the one time) my congratulations to barath for successfully getting married; also, i am really happy(oh yeah) for the friends who turned up for the wedding, and who had a wonderful(?) time together. i am sure these things would last for a while from now on, and i hope i would be able to make it to some of these, and definitely not miss mine, or that would be catastrophe.

the best part, prabu deva marries nayantara. and that is how the gods play dice.

what is the big deal about f****** ?

i am going to write about failure(not, by any stretch of imagination, the f word you are imagining), but please dont be let down by such thoughts. it is the only way you ever have a chance of understanding life, and all the hardships that come with it. if life were easy and happy, it is utopian, and it is important to understand that all models are only approximations. there is no "ideal" case in practice. So, a perpetual machine is not possible, and so is a happy life throughout.(and content life, as an afterthought) 

(also, i am not that sympathy seeking attention craving person you might think i am. i just love writing, and currently that seems to be the only proper thing happening to me.)

some interesting things you might do if you feel completely miserable:

#1 take a walk,  a very long one. 

#2 grow a beard.(i hope women dont try this)

#3 talk complete nonsense, and make your friends feel as though you are completely crazy.(you might be, but that is not the point)

#4 go out and play a team game. try to choke the other team.(if you lose, you have destiny to blame, or ill-luck or whatever)

#5 think of all the successful people in the world, and abuse them.

#6 try to threaten the next happy person with your cooking tips.

#7 scream in the bathroom. and drown yourself in the shower.

#8 pray that everybody else in the planet would be equally doomed, and that you dont want to be alone in this. 

#9 write blogs.

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when i listen to my friends talk of life, i somehow sense a dichotomy in people's life. failure is a big word, and very relative.and the joke goes that, the more number of relatives, the more of a failure you are. everytime you walk out feeling good, there is this idiot who throws that stray beer bottle on your back, or that interview which shatters those nerves, or that grader who is at best a vulture, judging a decaying and a horrible solution that was the product of misery, extraordinary haste and days of eating the same thing again and again, and again. gauthama budha was known for renouncing hatred, greed and delusion to become the first arahant. I am not one, inspite of sharing the name.(could be the sage gauthama rishi too, but he was a ascetic too!). most of the failures are only a result of foolhardy work organization and improper planning, and in retrospect, you learn all these things. so, its technically just a glitch, or a setback. nothing permanent...

life teaches us to abandon everything, and work to seek joy and serenity. maybe it needs a lot of spiritual hardening.thanks to the current year, i am almost there! but seriously, just because of a few stray incidents, i complain as if i were the biggest loser, but when i compare myself to the million refugee victims, the thousands of brain washed would be terrorists, the number of mothers and fathers who have to put up with a mentally deficient child, the child itself, the mothers of martyrs, the lives of divorced people, the lives of people who live together yet not together, the images of pain from the torture cells, the images of people who earn as much as would a fly or a mosquito, those who live in a box, work in gutters, and the many thousands who are eagerly waiting to watch a vijay movie... 

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there is this feeling of emptiness and gloom whenever i open my refrigerator-milk runs out like it was water in the sahara. Cereals lasts as long as the memory of that fully clothed girl does in a boy's mind. as opposed to micro skirts. which brings me to a very interesting topic, the length of skirts, shorts, etc. it is very fascinating to see so many women walking around with so much of clothing. it pains to see them cover so much. what's the rationale in arguing for equality when it is not possible to show that thigh muscle, those fully waxed legs, and the...let me not get carried away, because men definitely dont get carried away by such things. they have better things in mind(i am laughing so hard now, that i think there is a 911 car outside) and they are not all distracted by these "petty and small" issues. probably the next time i will talk about sports bra and invite more trouble than i can handle. but no, i dont have to worry about that now, do i?

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now for the moments of madras!! (sounds like MoM, method of moments!!!)

some of my friends are there.(hopefully reading this). i am sure they are aware of the beauty of the place now, more than ever. it brings a vicarious thrill to just know that some are already there(not metaphorical, not talking about life). I remember the first flight here, and i would probably give an arm and limb for that feeling when i am going back.(yes i am!). i also saw that it was 39 C in madras. its getting hotter by the year, and i dont know how the neighboring district of vellore, known for the heat(and only for that) is doing. i think vinnai thaandi varuvaaya is releasing sometime next month. or is it just the audio? i am not sure...

also, my friends, you are all not getting off easy, i am going to write a lot of stupid mails, and send them to you, even if it costs me for buying stamps. i am bored, and i will do this, like it or not. such selfish people we all are, (i am bored, otherwise there is no chance in hell that i would write letters...)

of all the temples i have been to, and that is a lot, i can relish one or two with the same amount of taste as i would a cup of fresh filter coffee. more than the temples, it is the place that lends the temples their aura, of mysticism, of life and color. particularly, if the temple happens to be located right in the heart of a big city, cocooning itself from the rest of the city and appearing to be as old as it really is, then it is a find.

but no, i am not going to write about kapaleeswarar temple, or marundheeswarar, or TTD in T.nagar. this is the travel diary of a trip to madurantakam, a beautifully created temple town 100 km from madras. you can take any of the express trains to chengalpattu, or the local unit trains(a train for every 45 minutes), or take a bus from koyambedu. the bus stop at madurantakam is probably the only centre of maximum human activity, and the rest of the town is peaceful, with the narrow lanes and kutti sandhus.

1# yeri kaatha raamar.
the instant i see raamar here, he is so larger than life, that i can feel a distinct presence of omnipotence around. he holds his bow, and has sita on his 'madi', and together, the divine couple enshrine everything that is beautiful and serene about the world that we know. there are temples for anjaneyar outside the main temple and also sakkarathaazhwars' and andals' on the prakara.

2# achirupaakam
the story of how lord vinayaka was angry that he was not worshipped when people took out a procession of lord shiva on a temple cart, and how the cart lost its 'achu'(dont know what that is in english!) and they had to install a statue of lord vinayaga before the cart would move! there are two siva perumans inside the temple. one for the king, and another for a sithar. one of the lingams is swayambu.

kanchipuram is a place that is a dream for me. it is too much to take in one single day, including the heat. but once you sink into the meals hall in saravana baavan, everything seems to fall into place, and you regain enough energy to drain for the rest of the day. the train ride to kanchi is fun too. especially with a friend. there are not many trains, so look at the schedule before you leave. take enough fluids, because the place is hot and humid, round the clock, throughout the year. kanchi is a two hour drive from madras by the transport buses(from pillar and koyambedu), and by a car could take less. the number of silk co-ops lining the roads on either side in the m.g road is not surprising, kanchi pattu is a big deal down south.

have good time going to these places, and maybe i can remember my other journeys and post them here.

two rotten movies for a lifetime.

#1. asingamana tamizh padam

a lifetime of misery was that. numbing pain. writhing and twisting in my seat, i asked myself, y other forms of torture when there are instruments like these that can be put to good use-i was watching azhagiya tamizh magan, and i was reassured by a divine message, that vijay's movies, even if directed by coppola himself, would be a cheap imitation of what he originally had in mind. imagine marlon brando shouting, vazhka oru vattam da, when he meets the other families, or al pacino dancing maniacally to ella pugazhum. the plot of the movie is hysterical along the lines just mentioned, and i definitely would have to congratulate the debutant director for his uncanny ability to have stopped the thought process of his normal human self while making the movie.
the second he steps in the room where the girl's father thinks that these two have been upto something, and the way he makes the father apologise, is annoyingly, well annoying. the songs are the upside, as its by rehman, who has wasted his talent in another useless vijay movie. the time taken while searching the bus for the little girl would have been sufficient to make act 2 popcorn,(maggi noodles, whatever) and still the train, which would have hit the bus years ago, crawls into infinity for the time being.hare krishna.

# 2kiss-na

the great indian rope trick.
the only thing other than isha sherwani's looks is her rope tricks, for which i spent 50 rs(thank god), in a movie which meanders aimlessly through an empty canvas of pre-independence period india. soul-sucking, soul-destroying are terms that you should keep in mind before you enter the movie hall as this is how your ratings are going to be. vivek's plight is understandable. he is mournful throughout the movie-cant blame him, after hearing the story, any sane person would be. he is clearly not in the mood to act, and sherwani, clearly has amazing tricks up her sleeve- she has a career that one, the number of circus troupes in india...
the first song, which is quite an hummable number is lost in the chaos of screenplay, when we understand nothing, and we find an old lady talking about something(her history, i guess), and seriously, most of the other songs are unnecessary. well, tell that to ghai, he makes movies for music.(remember taal, 11 songs.wow).
हंसने कि बात क्या है इसमे? सब कुछ!