Diwali - the Festival of Lights

Diwali is a five day Hindu festival which occurs on the fifteenth day of Kartika. During this time, homes are thoroughly cleaned and windows are opened to welcome Laksmi, goddess of wealth. Candles and lamps are lit as a greeting to Laksmi. Gifts are exchanged and festive meals are prepared during Diwali. Diwali, being the festival of lights, thousands of lamps are lit in and outside every home on the day. Lamp or “Deep” is the symbol of knowledge. The act of lighting the lamp of knowledge within us signifies an understanding and reflection upon the significant purpose of each of the five days of festivities and to bring those thoughts in to our day to day lives.

According to Ramayana, Diwali commemorates the return of Ram, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the eldest son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya, from his 14-year exile with Sita and Lakshman after killing the Ravan, a demon king. The people of Ayodhya illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas and fireworks to celebration of the return of their king.

There are other myths as well, that explain the existence of the festival, but for me the festival means Diwali pooja, gujiyas, flowers, rangolis (though I can't make one!), malpuas, lights strung across homes, diyas (loads of them), new clothes ;-) and kheer...it's my favourite festival, despite the pollution created by the fireworks which are a major nuisance...

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DIWALI & A POSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

Have a colourful, exciting Diwali - but let's not forget our duty to the environment!

Notes From My Appointment Diary...

As I said earlier this week (or was it last week?) this week has been a flurry of activities for me. This is pretty much how the week progressed:-

Tuesday 9th Nov – Inauguration of the Phoenix Mecano India factory at Pirangut by Mr GoldKamp, CEO of Phoenix Mecano A.G.

This factory is basically the reason why I’ve been uprooted from my beloved Bombay, yet I couldn’t stop myself from beaming with pride, since this factory is proof of my father’s achievements. He first started working with PMI when he was asked to audit the company back in 1996 when the company was riddled with losses. He took on as a Managing Consultant by the end of the audit and soon became the Managing Director and share-holder. My father has put in his blood, sweat, money (he is one of the few men I know who can put in their own money to give the company the monetary boost it needs, even at the cost of nearly wiping clean his personal account) – in short my father has dedicated his life to PMI in the last 8 years. And it paid off – for the company that was on the verge of being shut-down and took 3 years to break even, after my father took control at the helm, has become a successful, fast-growing enterprise today. Needless to say, the Inauguration of the factory went off smoothly…

Wednesday 10th Nov – Pooja at the factory – one elaborate affair. I’d expected a low-key, simple Diwali pooja, but it turned out to be a grand pooja for good beginnings, that swallowed up the entire morning. It was followed by a press conference, the results of which I saw in the papers this morning! We got back home, changed, wrapped a few details for the evening’s presentation and rushed back across town and up the “dongars” to Pirangut for the 10th anniversary celebrations of Phoenix Mecano India. A bit pressed for time, running slightly behind schedule, and praying that the rains would hold off since the terrace where the programme was scheduled to take place was uncovered, the evening was definitely a success. Hats off to my father - the company wouldn’t be where it is today without him, for the Germans had decided to shut down operations in India when he took on. But he didn’t let them, kept pushing the company uphill and he hasn’t stopped yet – MY DAD ROCKS!

Thursday 11th Nov – Lunch with Dr.Metzger at our home. My cousin arrived early in the morn’g to help us out – she’s a chef par excellence and an army-wife to boot. Needless to say, she organized the kitchen in a jiffy and produced some mouth-watering stuff for lunch! I am in the “cleaning department” for such rendezvous at home, so I had to make sure the place looked spick-n-span...plus I’ve inherited my parent’s inherent need to see perfection in what we do. It may be simple, but it has to be perfect. The morning passed way too quickly for my liking, but my efforts at re-organising and sprucing up the place paid off! I think we won’t have to do much tomorrow in that department, apart for the daily cleaning that one really can’t avoid!

Went out in the evening to pick up the stuff for tomorrow’s pooja – Ghorpodi gaon, with my skirt pulled up high up my calves in an effort to keep the skirt clean, with a shawl wrapped around my self to ward off the after-rains cold breeze. Drooled over the mounds of flowers, the rangoli colours, the "kheel-batashas" being sold after every two shops,and the diyas at the potter’s shops…this was something I never saw in Bombay since we got everything in our local grocery shops and never ventured into the “market-areas” of the city. Quite a treat for me!
Even though I’m exhausted with the activities and running around of the last 3 days, I can still feel the adrenaline running through my veins…saved some of it for tomorrow! ;-)

The Queens That Ruled The Roost Before Schnapps

Since I posted a pic of Schnapps, I couldn't resist posting pics of my previous pets -

Tika came to us, just before I was born. My brother who loves dogs more than anyone else in the family, tried for a camel, horse, monkey and finally settled for a dog! She hated kids and was jealous of me, when I was born, but dare anyone scold me - Tika was at my rescue immediately, growling deep in her throat at whoever it was who dared raise his voice at the baby of the house! I've been told by all those who saw us grow up together that I used to share my b'fast toasts and biscuits with her - how? One bite goes into Geetanjali's mouth, next into Tika's and the last back in Geetanjali's! I still miss her sometimes!



On our terrace in Gayatri - playing with her ball! This is one of my fav pics of Frisky! She was very camera-reticent, so we have very few...Our neighbour had brought her back from his brother's house, but aunty brought the house down! Mom took one look at the cute black pup cruled up in the basket looking fearfully at Smita aunty and melted. So she became ours...

When she came to us, she was this bundle of energy who wouldn't stop frisking around (thus her name!) - but over the years, she grew into the most lovable, gentle soul, who loved her food, wanted her CoffeeBites immediately after dinner, irrespective of whether the humans had dessert or not! She was a very sensitive dog who sat by my mother's bed through-out the time Ma was convalescing after the bypass. We lost her to a tumour in Dec 2002 - my last memory of her is of her sitting in the back of Suku's Bolero, excited that she's going for a drive. Even though I knew that if we didn't put her down then, she'd die a painful death a few days later, it felt like cold-blooded murder...I cried for days after.

Hardly a day goes by when I don't think of her and compare her to Schnapps - only to remind myself that they shall both occupy their own niche in my heart!

She was a Queen, like her predecessor... he's a Royal Brat!

Monsieur Ginger Schnapps a.k.a Lucifer

Je vous presente Monsieur Ginger Schnapps, mon favori Diable!

Achoo-Sniff-Cough...

« Achoo – sniff – cough... »

That’s been my refrain since Tuesday evening. A nasty cold descended on me within a few hours and by night-fall I was sneezing, sniffing and sure I’d have a sore throat & congestion by the next morning. One prophecy of mine that did come true! Hah!

Anyways I spent a couple of days, pretty miserable coz this was one of my worst colds ever – luckily my colds get cured within a few days, without me having to take any major medication. My cough syrup insures I sleep well at night, lozenges drag me through the day and plenty of tissue papers come to the rescue when a running nose threatens to embarrass me! Taking the exam yesterday was a pain, but I’ve gone through several exams with much worse hanging over my head – be it my world falling apart just before the BA Univ exams coupled with Ma's bypass surgery, or Papa’s stroke during MA-I exams…this was a cake-walk in comparison! How was it? As usual – OK. The rest as we’ll find out when the results are declared! For now “Cest finit!” Finished. Over. Done with.

Am well on my road to well-being now – infact I spent the whole morning cleaning out and re-organising my book-shelves and cupboards as a part of my annual “Diwali” cleaning…

While we don’t indulge in spring-cleaning in the true-blue sense of the term, Diwali does call for some basic dusting off cob-webs and sprucing up the cupboards, pulling out the new/lesser used linens etc, so that the house looks nice and welcoming for the guests atleast, not to mention Goddess Lakshmi ;-) Larger house this time, but far less work, coz we don’t have half-as-many cupboards and storing space here, so most of the crockery and crystal is still packed away in cartons… Feels odd not having to wash the Swarovski this year, or dust the books that lined the unit in the living-room…Also going to miss stringing lights across the terrace we had back in B’bay – but I think we’ll figure out a way to string some lights on the sorry excuse of a “terrace” we have here! Where there is a will, there is a way! :- )

Next week sure is packed with activities (good thing my cold is beating a fast retreat!) – the Chairman and Dr.M are coming down for the official inauguration of the PMI factory at Pirangut and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of PMI, so I can look forward to some corporate dinners and lunches. Not going to be easy on the daily routines – hectic and tiring, but fun as well! And then Diwali…ohhh I’m excited!

Currently:-

• Planning things for the next few weeks…
• Listening to Pdt.Shiv Kumar Sharma’s Santoor Virasat
• Fed-up of hearing & seeing music videos that sound & look so similar – be it the hip-hop videos with the nearly naked babes in thongs, or our desi variety of remixes and Indi-hip-hop with the half-naked babes in ethno-chic! Gimme a break and come up with something original guys!
• Reading Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

The Incurable Bombay Disease

Got back from B’bay this morning and have been sluggish ever since – the exhaustion of cramming in a month worth of rendezvous with friends and fun combined with the effect of being back in this hamlet sucked all energy out of me! But…

WHAT A WEEKEND!

I left for B’bay immediately after the “Examen Orale” at AF (which was comme ci-comme ca – it all depends on whether the examiners thought I was upto the mark!) reaching there late anoon. Walking down to Dadar station, up the pedestrian bridge across to the Western railway line and running to catch an Andheri local, sweat pouring down my back, running errands at Andheri stn before catching the 249 to 7-Bungalows, and walking into the breezy compound of Gayatri Housing Co-op Society shaded with Ashoka trees planted a year before I was born…it felt to great to be back where I belong.

“Home” may technically be Pune for now, but my heart is never here…I leave it behind each time I leave the city to come back here. As I told someone recently the "Bombay Disease" is incurable... ;-)

This time I crammed lots of rendezvous into just one-n-half days : – met up with Shivaji after aeons (I used to each him French once upon a time – somewhere along the line he became a good friend). Dinner at Lemon Grass (I can still taste the succulent Chicken wrapped in leaves - ummmm - and my cheeks still ache when I think of the amount I talked and laughed that nite!) with Tasneem-Aranyak and Kunaal, followed by Irish coffee at Prithvi, which is getting geared for the Prithvi festival – it was beautiful – the hand painted glasses and bottles, the way they’ve strung different coloured clothes-line across the compound, the red shoe dangling in one corner…quite charming to say the least! Hrishit (my 10am Sunday morng film-show companion!) dropped in for a quick hello. Volleyed bitchy comments with him (LOL!) before he went back to his beloved CA preparation!

The next day it was errands time again (for Mommy dearest) and quick hellos to Suku who’s house I raid while I’m in B’bay and our much beloved maid, Shanta. Lunch with college friends – catching up with the gang – Amrita, Sherry and Yamini…

Next up – darling Madusa who gifted me Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale. Mrrci beaucoup ma chere amie!! We went for Morning Raga with Kunaal. An AWESOME movie, with a mind-blowing performance by Shabana Azmi and pretty good supporting cast. (though Abhinav could have been played by a less wooden actor) – the music, needless to say, has wormed its way into my system…can’t wait to get my hands on the soundtrack! Fusion-Carnatic music rocks! As for the scenes shot in a village near Hyderabad – picture-perfect is all I can say…a MUST SEE!!

Kunaal and I dined on Frankies, at his current pad, with the inimitable Akhil Seth (classmate from AVM) for company – needless to say we found out about a lot about who’s earning how much and doing what with life…

Sauntered back to Gayatri around midnight, packed and collapsed coz I had to arise at 5 am, in order to be out by 6.15 and catch the 7.15 bus at Dadar…boy did I drag my feet last night – I soooooooooooooo didn’t want to come back. Sigh…

Got the written exam to look forward to – and then Diwali. One of my favourite cousins is in town for Diwali – so it’s going to be fun this year, more so coz I have to make up for missing Diwali last year! Got to plan my trip to Delhi to visit Appu…and figure out what next if the Diplome Superieur doesn’t start soon…

But before all that is my first ever BWC meeting at Pune on 7th November – excited about that :-)

Ganymede and Zeus

Ganymede, the son of King Tros of Troy, was an exceptionally handsome young man. Zeus found him desirable, and changed himself into the form of an eagle to abduct him from Troy. He snatched Ganymede into the air with his claws, and carried him to Olympus, much to the annoyance of his wife Hera (Juno). Annoying Hera further, Zeus made Ganymede the cupbearer to the gods, a task which was previously carried out by Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Zeus went further still, commemorating his love for Ganymede in the constellation Aquarius, the water-bearer.

The Rape of Ganymede - painting by Anton Domenico Gabbiani (1700)

This affair is believed to be a religious justification for homosexuality within Greek culture. Others state that it’s merely a reflection of Greek life at that time – Plato used this myth to justify his sexual feelings towards his male pupils. This myth did serve to increase tolerance for sodomy, which till then was only accepted as an external for of goddess worship – Rhea’s (Mother of Gods – also the Goddess of Caverns and earth in its primitive state, known in Roman mythology as Cybele) male devotees tried to achieve unity with her by castrating themselves and dressing like women.

In the 19th century, homosexuality was attributed to moral degeneracy, mental illness and 'congenital anomaly'. Come 20th century, we are still not completely rid of such theories, but scientific research done on the subject states hormonal imbalance, psychosocial influences and biological factors (difference in brain structures & genetic reasons) named as possible suspects.

The most interesting reason (according to me) was the one given by Appollodorus (Greek historian and scholar, to whom the ‘Bibliotheke' or Library of Greek mythology is attributed). According to him, this myth emphasized the victory of patriarchy over matriarchy, showing that men don’t need the attentions of women and they did not need women to exist!
*Gags in disbelief*

Whatever the reasons behind homosexuality, the question that nags most of us is whether it is normal?

But then what is normal?

That, which is accepted as the norm by the majority and enforced on the minority? That which comes “naturally”? Or that which the Gods intended us to be? And if the Gods themselves indulged in homosexuality…umm?

All said and done, I say - live and let live!

Sources: Mythology – Myths, Legends, & Fantasies, Ed. Parker Janet, Stanton Julie
© Global Book Publishing Pty Ltd, 2003
"Ganymede." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online
[Accessed October 29, 2004].

Beauty and the Beast

The fairy tale of “Beauty and the Beast” was strongly influenced by the myth of Eros (better known as Cupid) and Psyche. Both are stories of love being tested by outward show. Beauty and Psyche both fail the test at first, as beauty does not learn to love the Beast until he lies dying, while Psyche believes her sisters’ story that her husband is a murderous monster. Beauty is literally confronted with a Beast; however it is only in Psyche’s imagination that Eros is anything but a most desirable god in the shape of a man. In the fairy tale both Beauty and the Beast have something to learn before they can fully love one another. In the myth, there are numerous ordeals for Psyche but not for Eros, who manages to stay hidden at his mother’s (Aphrodite) house while his beloved is suffering. (Why am I not surprised ?)
Perhaps this helps to explain, why Eros is often depicted as a little boy who never grows up.

(The myth of Eros-Psyche and Psyche’s ordeals is worth reading!)

Source : Mythology – Myths, Legends, & Fantasies, Ed. Parker Janet, Stanton Julie
© Global Book Publishing Pty Ltd, 2003

The Missing Half

The philosopher Plato explained the nature of love by telling a myth about the first human beings that were circular creatures each with two faces on a single neck, four legs and four arms. They traveled by rolling their bodies along the ground. Zeus (Jupiter) grew angry with these early humans when they challenged the rule of the gods, and sliced each of them in half, leaving humankind with only one face, two legs and two arms. Zeus threatened that if, ever there was any more serious trouble from humankind, he would cut everyone in half again. Then with one leg and one arm each, reduced to hopping everywhere, people would finally learn how to treat gods with respect. According to this myth, we are all halves of lost wholes, each longing and searching for its missing half. Love according to this myth, is the desire and pursuit of the whole.

Source: Mythology – Myths, Legends, & Fantasies, Ed. Parker Janet, Stanton Julie
© Global Book Publishing Pty Ltd, 2003

Buzzing with Ideas & Thoughts...

My head is buzzing with thoughts and ideas almost constantly these days – I’ve been reading up on varied subjects as a part of my “More Gyan, Better Geets” project and cutting out all sorts of write-ups from the newspapers and magazines these past few months. The last few weeks it’s gained momentum and the direct effect was on my schedule as I tried to do more than one thing at a time – something I’ve never been very good at. Multi-tasking I can do, provided the tasks are linked or they create a kind of harmony for the main task at hand – but when I haven’t chalked out some kind of order/schedule then I end up falling behind in one or the other thing. In this case blogging…

Anyways so here I am – after a rather interesting week. Lots of reading up online, sparked off by some gyan-search needed for my AF exam which kind of spread out, with some attempts to study and a successful effort at organizing my notes. Had planned to visit Bbay this weekend and have some much-deserved fun now that Kunu has officially shifted back to Bbay (I envy him big-time!), but my BP played truant and dipped low (54/90 - horror of horrors!) forcing me to stay back….the mood-swings oscillating faster than a pendulum didn’t help matters much! So now I’m under the scrutiny of Mommy dearest who’s doing her best to pump Vitamins into me – atleast she can’t complain that I’m not eating well – with the amount of weight I’ve gained since I got back from Europe I have to now start thinking seriously of getting an exercise regime into action, if I hope to continue fitting into my size 24 jeans! Ah where went those days when I was ridiculously underweight? ;-)

Note on advertisements that caught my attention recently – The (Motorola?) SLIM advert annoys me. I find it quite disturbing that the advert promotes the ‘slim’ image for women – and we are trying to battle the growing incidences of Anorexia among young women?
The new Reliance phones advert makes me want to slap someone – could the girl have been portrayed more materialistic and silly? Gawd – but that couple is the heights!
On the other hand – the Tata Indigo Marina advert is very nice. Tasteful. Classy. And I love the way they wove the by-line into the story. "Because we like to carry the world with us" - I like! :-)

Right now

• I’m reading a book on Picasso – it’s a Taschen publication. I picked up the book from the Taschen outlet, Paris (yeps it’s been months since then) and started reading it last week to get the French flowing in my head! Though I didn’t quite comprehend Picasso's style of painting earlier, it’s slowly starting to make sense to me now and I'm regretting having missed the Picasso exhibition when it had come to NGMA (Bbay). Am finding myself increasingly interested in Art and with my preliminary readings I think I quite like the Impressionists.
• I’m listening to Billy Joel’s We Dint Start the Fire.
• I'm feeling very Smug and Content with today's shopping at FabIndia, my decision to send personally made cards this year for Diwali and my initial preparations on this new project - and finally having bought a nice book to jot down quotes/poems/gyan that catch my attention! The double dessert of Kheer and left-over Apple Stew just made that smile broader! :-)

Being Twenty-Something

"They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't.

One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook-ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out...maybe it will help to think that you aren't alone in this state of confusion...

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US. " - Anonymous

- I received this forward a few years ago, when I'd just turned twenty and found it amazingly "spot-on" in its content...an ex-classmate from college sent it again today - and as I read it, I was struck by how many of the things mentioned have been experienced by me, and even catalogued in this very blog. Simply had to post it!

Amused & Bemused

A classmate remarked on my appearance today, leaving me amused, not to mention bemused!!

"You are looking very Indian today"
- Eh? So normally I look like a....??? LOL!!

Current mood :- Very very nostalgic about my stay in Germany last year -October, November and December (the month I travelled to Sweden and France) - I soooooooo wanna go back to France...not to mention Magdeburg. I've been thinking about our apartment, the route to REAL/Karstadt, the trams, all those soirees with Annika...hope I can go back one day - preferably soon! :-)

The Spread of English or the Death of Native Languages

The British Council Library organised a series lectures by David Crystal, world-renowned linguist who's publications include Cambridge Encyclopaedia of English. Unfortunately I didn't know about the lecture in Pune in advance, so I couldn't go attend it...ICK! I really should get that BCL membership, being too lazy...anyways found these articles in the TOI reporting his lectures in Delhi and Pune :-

The world'll speak in Hinglish'

'One language is dying every two weeks'

They are worth reading - what he says about the spread of English and it's impact on world languages is highly pertinent and something that we should all be conscious of, since our generation is after all the generation that speaks a very hybridised language most of the time, and is losing touch with "Indian realities" in terms of language and culture very very fast...

Ranting, Raving, Raging

Tempers are flaring in class as the mess with our course schedule & exam schedule gets worse – so now the Director wants us to have our written exam also to be held in end Oct. Ofcourse people have problems – while the Director is right when he says that the long gap will affect our performance, I find it extremely annoying that the institution is acting in such a hap-hazard confused manner. It’s unfair to ask students to adjust because a new exam schedule has to be made – no official institution should be changing the schedule, just because a professor has to go elsewhere for work….a replacement should be arranged. When students signed up for the course they assumed that the exams would be in December – moving it upto November was one thing, but to move it upto Oct and then blatantly ask people to re-arrange things that they have planned and oragnised 3 months ago is highly unjust, unprofessional and unethical, in my opinion. And if you’re falling short of teachers – hire new ones damn it – AF doesn’t fall under the awful government bureaucracy that prevents them from hiring teachers easily…

Yesterday I could feel the difference in the ways the AF-Pune and AF-Bombay are run, more than ever before…I felt like telling my professor that THIS is why Bombay is a better city – this kind of unprofessional behaviour would never be seen in AF-Bombay. Schedules once fixed are not screwed around with.

Now you wonder why I’m up in arms about all this – I have no plans for Oct – I can give the exam as easily in Oct, as Nov or Dec…Heh…I’m just falling back on an old habit of taking up for classmates and crusading for their cause. I so hate it when people say “We can’t make adjustments for one or two people – you have to think of the good of the whole group” – yes, you do…but if you really mean that, then you wouldn’t mess up in the first place, would you? Hypocrites – banish them from the surface of the earth please!

Phew…I raged about this yesterday in class and later at home, while cooking up a meal for my dear brother, who’s been pining for an “English dinner” (read – no roti, sabzi, dal, chawal – but stuff that I cook!)…Ma got quite fed-up of me banging utensils around and hearing me rant and rave…Hahaha…but the catharsis sure feels good.

On a different note – Papa had accidentally broken the bottle of wine I’d bought in Bordeaux and was saving for a special occasion, when we’d just shifted into this place…I was really upset with him and didn’t speak to him for several days…the darling that he is, he asked his Boss, Dr Metzger to get 2 bottles of French red wine for me. And...the nice man that Dr.M is, he picked up pretty good wines – Provencal and Sauvignon…

Ok Papa I take back all those nasty things I said that day – you still are the bestest father in the whole universe!!!! :-)

R.I.P

In the last one month we’ve lost several great people, who have shaped the way culture is as we say it today – world culture and Indian culture…

Christopher Reeves – Superman – passed away 2 days ago, after a long struggle against the paralysis that had confined him to a wheelchair and forced him to survive on a respirator, after a equestrian accident.

Derrida, the founder of the Deconstructionist school of thought (which I studied in MA-II but still don’t under what it is all about!) passed away a few days back in Paris – the man definitely has an enormous impact on philosophy and the way literary texts are analysed today. Even though most of those who profess to understand him don’t really understand anything, he is a person you can NOT be ignorant of, if you’re in the field.

In India, we paid our last respects Mulk Raj Anand, one of the founders of Modern Indian English Literature, Shobha Gurtu who played an influential role in way Indian music developed and Arun Kolatkar, bi-lingual poet of collections of poems such as “Jejuri” and “Kala Ghoda”….

R.I.P

P.S. While on the subject of literature, I couldn’t resist making this small point – as I read about the latest Nobel Laureate, I couldn’t help but think that there is at least one person I know who would want to read “The Piano Teacher” ;-)

Stressed...

Discovered this week that my AF classes for this session are getting over in 2 weeks – our prof has to go to France, so we were having extra sessions in order to wrap up the syllabus before she left…in the process, we’ve wrapped up the syllabus and completed the number of hours well before her departure…so they’ve decided to prepone the exams, since a very long break before exams would obviously effect our performance, specially in the orals. My oral exam is scheduled to be held in the last week of October and the written will be held during the last weekend of November…

When I began the course I thought it's a 6 month course with my exams in end Dec - that moved up to end Nov, and I assumed we'd have classes till the Diwali break, which starts from Nov6th...now suddenly I have to prepare myself for the orals which will be in another 3 weeks...doesn't help that this time one of the examiners will be the Director of AFP and our papers go to France for correction. Ah well, just an exam...so I've been moved into action sooner than I thought...and so the schedule has been moved around...nothing earth-shattering!

Remember my belief :-

Exam is just a letter word - so are "Life" and "F***" both of which are more important!! ;-)

I am a bit upset with the change in schedules though -hopefully the next (and my last level) at AF will start in Jan : Diplome Superieur. If that doesn't go as planned, then my plans for the immediate future are sure going to be screwed up royally...I'll be the dhobi ka kutta, jo na ghar ka hota hai na ghat ka...
*Crossing my fingers tight*

Puzzled...

Ever wondered :

1. Why Indians hardly frequent museums – shouldn’t museum visits be an integral part of every person’s childhood (& parenthood, for that matter), specially considering that as Indians, we pay a measly little sum of Rs.25/- at most museums, and that they are an excellent source of the country’s rich historical background & heritage culture, not to mention an “outing” for the little ones?

2. Why Indians returning from a stay abroad, or NRI’s visiting the “pyaara desh” for a holiday complain about the poor infrastructure, the bad roads, the slums and filth on the streets, the corrupt officials etc etc, when so many times it is there very people who throw every last vestige of basic civic sense out of the window, and carelessly spit on the road, litter the streets with assorted junk, and bribe the local pandu for breaking the signal without blinking an eye?

3. Isn't it time we shrugged off that “Hum to aise hi” tag and started doing something to make maximum use of the endless resources of manpower, natural wealth & culture, instead of merely mouthing inanities about all this at the annual beauty contests? That we started standing up for our own country when someone blithely criticizes it, instead of shame-facedly apologizing for it’s faults?

Hmm…

Ick

Life's not fair - so one of those people I absolutely adore(Amit) is in B'bay for a week (on work) before flying out of the country (again) and I have no hopes of meeting him!!
Ick Ick Ick
I want to go back to B'bay!!

TOI Reports

Two articles in the TOI caught my attention today :-

Frequently Flying to Cancer Zone
( I know plenty of people who fall in the category of frequent flyers - my father used to be one himself, though he didn't fly trans-atlantic often, and this sure made me sit up and take notice....)

Do We Deserve the Taj? - Bachi Karkaria
(The Taj - a monument we are immensely proud of, and which has been the the centre of much discussion recently; whether it was Mayawatiji's plan to build a mall in its background, which my German friends nicknamed 'Aldi Mahal' - sacrilige I tell you - or our lack of efforts to preserve the monument etc etc...we all have read and heard much about it.
Basically, you know what she has to say, but it's the way she says it. The language, the articulation of thoughts, the subtle but effective sarcasm...she actually uses words like 'mofussil'....she kills me! *Chortling with glee!*
The innumerable, annoying adverts on the site take away some of the joy of reading a Karkaria write-up, nevertheless this is one article of hers that you've got to read! Me -I'm cutting it out and saving it!)

Un Mosaique

A mosaic of thoughts & events – that’s what this blog is gonna be…

Spent the weekend translating stuff from English to French – my first assignment – was up till 1.30 am last night finishing it off and by the time I wrapped it up, I was feeling like even my dreams would be in French ! (That didn’t happen mercifully!) I have never used the dictionary as much as I did in the last 3 days – and I couldn’t even curse the copywriter for using such ornate & embellished language, since it was me who wrote the stuff in English also! Or wait, who’s to stop me from cursing? Ha!

I could have finished the work by Sunday evening but Daddy dearest summoned us to his factory in the hills (he’s a workaholic, so don’t be surprised that he was there EVEN on a Sunday!) coz he wanted Bhaiyya to take some photographs – we were supposed to be there for just half-an-hour, but ended up spending over 3 hours there till the work got done. Spent the time exploring the place – it’s huge so I managed to while away quite a lot of time in that. Then took Schnapps out to run around…peered over the walls at the adjoining fields, trying to figure out what it is being grown – could make out tomatoes and brinjals…went back in and tried convincing papa to buy “fresh vegetables” from the farmers and got chased away. LOL! I didn’t give up – I was back a few minutes later with a list of questions about what is being done, why and how – turns out they were making the work-stations for LG Mobile that is apparently going to produce the first GSM phones to be manufactured in India. Since the machines used for this produce a high amount of heat, the tables were also being fitted with exhaust-fans at the back…hmmm…interesting.

Oh btw - I think if I end up with a guy who has a genuine 9-5 kinda job, I won't know what to do with him...am too accustomed to my father & brother staying out of the house for a minimum of 12 hours and want to throw them out of the house when they are on a break of more than 2 days! LOL!

On our way back, it was all dark and I couldn’t make out any of the rolling green countryside dotted with patches of yellow and orange wild flowers, which makes the drive to the factory so pleasant – we stopped for dinner at a restaurant in the IT Park of Hinjewadi. What an experience – the place is obviously very popular with the new breed of highly paid BPO employees and IT consultants and after having sat in a room full of them, I’ve come to this conclusion : high salaries don’t necessarily come packaged with basic etiquette of social behavior. The amount of noise those guys generated – all we wanted to do was gobble our food out and escape into the silence outside!!!

Hmmm....

Was seeing Stewart Little II on *Movies on Saturday night, and noticed something – the NY cabbie, in the scene where the Elder Littles realise their darling Stewart is out in the big bad world and set out to rescue him from the falcon, was an Indian who keeps saying “Okie-dokie, no problem” in the most obnoxious irritating accent. Feeding the stereotypes about Indians in NY????

Also saw the new Brit comedy “Coupling” on *World – BRIT COMEDIES ROCK!!! You can’t miss this one – its outrageously funny and will keep you in splits! I’ve seen it thrice and each time I’m rolling on the floor laughing my ass off! :-)

Currently nostalgic about M*A*S*H* and Karma Chameleon!!!