Chandramouleeswara Temple Hubli- Forgotten Magnificence

I had not explored Hubballi at all until my cousin googled and wanted to see this temple. Our cabbie had no idea, nor did we. I tried to convince him that it might have been the Channa Basaveswara temple on the Unkal Lake and not the one in Unkal Circle, as he contended. But, the boy held his ground, and pointed out that the elevation of the temple looked drastically different; he even showed me some googled pics. Those were enough to convince me and the historian-in-the-family to go for it. After asking for directions from nearly ten people, and losing our way in the by-lanes and narrow alleys, we found this magnificent edifice of 10th-11th century vintage! It was late Western Chalukyan, and had some additions made by the Hoyasala or even the Vijayanagara rulers! We thought we'll pay respects to Lord Siva on a festive day, but lost ourselves so much that we didn't regret having to give up our original plan of watching the orange sunset from Nripatungabetta. We thought we'd missed it, but got a breathtaking view from an unexpected location. The sunset pics will find place in a different post. 

Book Summary- The Professional by Subroto Bagchi

The Professional

By

Subroto Bagchi

(Portfolio/Penguin, New Delhi, 2009, 217 pages)

The world is increasingly getting professional.  But, the author states that the term, “Professional”, is not merely a means of “earning a livelihood, just another way to get ahead in life, build and seek further material comfort to eventually enjoy retired life”, but actually “nothing short of a religion”, while, the capacity to serve was “a blessing of life”.

A Teacher’s Day

          I packed my bag and water-bottle to leave school for the day, after Jana Gana Mana. As I alighted the steps of my first floor class room, I noticed him standing at the rear gate, waiting for me to come out. I knew that he was there for me because the maid, who was to carry the school bag, was away. How unfair this was! True, I cannot carry my heavy schoolbag. But that shouldn’t mean that he carry it. How did Amma agree to this arrangement, in first place? Now that he’s shown up here, should I make him carry my bag? No way! The moment I reached the rear gate, I found his outstretched arm eager to take hold of my heavy bag. It was so endearing that anyone but I would have happily handed over the bag to him gleefully and made the way back home. But I wasn’t going to give up, not as yet. ‘I cannot’, I said, still wondering how Amma had agreed to put him to this much of strain. ‘No, dear, give it to me’, he said, as he gently took away my bag from my shoulder.  I looked at his face, which showed the signs of ageing, but then his lean frame betrayed the strong arms which were a part of it

Of Leaders and Losers 8. The “Omniscient” Foister of Motives

No one is Omniscient. Except for God. If you are a believer, that is. We believed that the world was flat until……… well, you already knew it! In daily interactions, one comes across very confident individuals, masquerading as self- styled “Omniscient” people, who brag about their “wisdom” about worldly matters. Many tend to trust their judgement in one issue or the other. True, they would have gathered their “wisdom” based on their own experience or those of the ones they knew. But, that does NOT make them worldly wise. The world always challenges the existing wisdom, to ensure nothing is absolute and permanent. One cannot afford to get fixated with certain views. Yes, you got it right-- for the first time, I am chronicling a loser.

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ఓ బలహీన క్షణాన ............ In a weak moment.....Part 2 (concluded)

(continued from the previous post)

      ఇలా ఓ వారం రోజులు గడిచాయి. రాఘవ రావుగారిని ఐసీయూ నుండి వార్డుకి మార్చేశారు. సాయంత్రం నాలుగు నుండి ఎనిమిది వరకు ఎవరైనా సరే రోగిని పరామర్శించవచ్చు. మొదటి రోజున ఊళ్ళో లేకపోవడం వల్ల చూడలేకపోయాడు, విశ్వనాథం. ఊళ్ళోకి వస్తూనే తెలిసిన విషయమేమంటే, కాకులైన లోకులు పలకరించే నెపంతో రావు గారిని చూసి, వివరాలు కూపీ లాగడానికి ప్రయత్నించారట. ఆయన ఆవేదనా భరితమైన ఆవేశంతో అరిచారట. వీళ్ళు బయటికి వచ్చి ఆయనకు పిచ్చి అనే మరో దుష్ప్రచారం మొదలుపెట్టారు. విశ్వం ఎంతగానో బాధపడి, నాలుగు ఎప్పుడౌతుందా  అని చూసి చూసి, ఎట్టకేలకి ఆసుపత్రి చేరుకున్నాడు.

ఓ బలహీన క్షణాన ............ In a weak moment.....Part 1

ఈ కథ శృంగార రసానికి సంబంధించినది కాదు. మనోబలానికి సంబంధించినది. ఎంతో పేరు, ప్రఖ్యాతులున్న వాళ్ళు కూడా మానసిక వత్తిడికి గురి అవుతారు. స్వంత పేరుతో ఒక సమతౌల్యం (Equilibrium) కలిగి ఉన్న జాన్ నాష్ కొద్ది రోజుల క్రితం ఒక రోడ్డు ప్రమాదంలో మరణించారు. ఆర్ధిక శాస్త్రంలో నోబుల్ బహుమతి గ్రహీత, ప్రముఖ గణిక శాస్త్రజ్ఞుడు అయిన ఆయన తన యుక్త వయసులో స్కిట్జోఫ్రేనియా అనే తీవ్రమైన మానసిక రుగ్మతకు లోనయ్యారు. దాని నుంచి బయట పడ్డాక, ఈ విషయం బయటపెడితే తన పరువు ప్రతిష్ఠలకి  భంగం కలుగుతుందేమో అని ఒక సామాన్య మానవునిలా ఆలోచించకుండా, మానసిక ఆరోగ్యంపై అవగాహన పెంచేందుకు కృషి చేసిన మనీషి ఆయన. చంద్రునికో నూలుపోగులా ఆయన స్మృత్యర్థం ఈ కథ. నేను వైద్యం చేసే డాక్టర్ని కాను. అలాగని కనీసం మనోవిజ్ఞాన శాస్త్రం కూడా చదవలేదు. అయినప్పటికీ మానసిక ఆరోగ్యం అంటే మిక్కిలి మక్కువ. దీన్ని చదివిన వారిలో ఒక్కరైనా మానసిక రుగ్మతల పట్ల శీతకన్ను చూపకుండా వుంటే నా ఈ వ్రాత ధన్యమైనట్టే.

ఇక పోదాం పదండి కథలోకి ..........

*********************************

"విన్నావా గురూ, మన ఆఫీసర్ గారిని పోలీసులు పట్టుకెళ్ళి ఆస్పత్రిలో పెట్టారట!" కంగారుగా అన్నాడు విశ్వనాథం.

Kicking a Habit

          ‘When do we get married? How long do I wait?’

No, it wasn’t a girl asking a boy, but the other way round. No response.

‘Think of our friends. They are all married’. So what, seemed to be her expression.

‘Ravi and Sitara have a daughter. She’s already two. I’ll still keep asking you about our marriage and Guddi, meanwhile, would have found her man! Will we ever get married? I’d better ask an astrologer than you..’

The day I saw Death

I am tired of it all. I take care of everyone and everything at home, and yet, no one gives me a damn. I’m just taken for granted.

Let me tell you what happened this morning. I woke up fresh and fine, and made myself and my hubby some hot coffee, and sat in the balcony of our first floor flat, enjoying the cool breeze. My husband, who had just finished his workout, started, ‘I just don’t like the way the kids are idling. They don’t even wake up early!’ Being an early riser, I know of the benefits of being a lark, but my twins, aged ten, were too young to understand that. I am a firm believer in discipline, not in form, but in content. ‘Look at Kaushik, he’s one year junior to our useless fellows, but gets up early, takes the tennis class, goes to school, learns the piano, and can dance like MJ. Look at our fellows. Except for studies, they’re good for nothing’. ‘Oh, please stop that, won’t you? It seems you are cursing your children!’ said I, closing my ears from the foulness of the talk. Is this the way a father thinks about his children? Could he not think constructively? ‘You don’t understand my position. All my peers have achievers as their children. And look at me, I have twins, with half the achievement of any single child’. ‘There you are… You have twins, so you are doubly blessed. Achievements are not an end in itself. Recollect your district first rank in your X standard exam. Now, after being the father of two, does it give you the same pride and achievement as you did then?’

A Mixture of Opposites

One chapter in any elementary Chemistry textbook is “Elements, Compounds and Mixtures”. If one recollects the definition, a mixture is a physical combination of ≥ two substances that retains their original identities. In our lives, all hope for “compatible” people, who are more conspicuous by their absence. This story is about two girls who happened to lead a part of their life’s journey together.

          There were two room- mates in a college hostel, named Anita and Sunita (Ani and Suni for short). Apart from the roof, they shared an amiable nature, and would go to college together. Suni was two years senior, so her class timings did not necessarily coincide with Ani’s. They started for college together, even if either of them did not have a class then- they followed a routine, and that was a good start for the day. Ani was extroverted and boisterous, while Suni was introverted and silent. Ani was plump and healthy, and Suni was slim but weak. May be because opposite poles attract, they got along well.

పరుషపు మాటలూ, పాడు జపాలూ

మా షెట్టి, రాంప్రసాద్లు కొండంత ప్రోత్సాహాన్నిచ్చాక వ్రాయడానికి భలే ఉత్సాహమొచ్చిందంటే నమ్మండి! ప్రోత్సహించారుగా, ఇక భరించండి! ఈనాటి అంశం- “పరుషం మాటలూ, పాడు జపాలూ”. ఎందుకంటారా? మీరే చూద్దురుగాని!

ఈ రోజుల్లో పాడు జపాలూ, పరుషం మాటలూ, సర్వసాధారణమైపోయాయి. ఎందుకో తెలియలేదుగానీ, అలాగ మాట్లాడేవళ్ళకది గొప్పేమో అనిపించింది. ఆంగ్లంలో మాటాడేవళ్ళైతే మరీను. ఈ మధ్యనే మాకు తెలిసినవాళ్ళమ్మాయిని అనుకోకుండా కలిశాను. మహా అయితే ఐదు నిముషాలు మాట్లాడామేమో కానీ, అంతలో ఆ అమ్మాయి నరకాన్నీ, అశుధ్ధాన్నీ, ఇంకా చాలా చాలా చెప్పలేని మాటల్ని ప్రస్తావించింది. 'టైడ్' వాడకపోయినా అవాక్కయ్యాను. స్నేహితులని బండభాషతో సంబోధిస్తే, అది సాన్నిహిత్యమట! ముక్కుమీద వేలేసుకున్నాను. హతవిధీ, అని బాధపడ్డాను. కాలం మారిందో, నాకు వార్ధక్యం వచ్చిందో తెలియదుగానీ, నా చిన్నప్పుడు ఇలా వుండేది కాదు అని, అనకుండా ఉండలేకపోతున్నాను.

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నేను తెలుగులో వ్రాయగలనా? ఐతే ఎందుకు వ్రాయాలి?

నా మాతృభాషైన తెలుగులో ఒకప్పుడు బాగానే వ్రాసేదాన్ని. అంటే రెండవ భాషలో మంచి మార్కులు వచ్చేంత. ఎటొచ్చీ నవలలూ గట్రా చదివేదాన్ని కాదు. ఏ నవలలో అశ్లీలత వుందో, ఏ నవలలో హింసకి పెద్దపీట వేశారో, దేనిలో స్త్రీలను చిన్నచూపు చూశారో ముందుగానే తెలుసుకోడానికి ఆ రోజుల్లో గూగుళ్ళు వుండేవి కావు కదా! అలా అని ఆకాలపు సాహిత్యాన్ని తప్పుబట్టడంలేదు సుమండీ! నేను ఎందుకు అజ్ఞానిగా మిగిలిపోయనో మీకు చెపుతున్నాను, అంతే! అలా చందమామలో కథలు చదివి, పెరిగి, పెద్దైన నేను తెలుగులో వ్రాయడానికి భయపడడంలో ఆశ్చర్యం లేదు కదా!

Book Summary- The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

Publication Details:

“The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox; Productivity and Quality Publishing Private Limited, Madras; Special Edition, 2013 (First Published 1984); Rs. 495; 342 pages (299 pages of the novel per se).

Introduction:

          “The Goal” is a physicist- turned- management guru’s explanation of his Theory of Constraints (TOC) in the physical transformation process of manufacturing, through the medium of a business novel. This book also inaugurated a trend for his subsequent novels, which applied and extended this theory. It doesn’t need an intellectual to read and understand this book- it is written for the layman, and therein lies its biggest advantage. This eight million copy best seller is said to be widely used as a case study in Operations Management, and in helping students grasp the importance of strategic capacity planning and constraint management.

BOOK SUMMARY-The Underachiever’s Manifesto by Ray Bennett

The Underachiever’s Manifesto

The Guide to accomplishing little and feeling great

            By Ray Bennett, M.D., 2006, Chronicle Books 96pp. (85 pp. effective), $9.95(Rs.539 by Homeshop18)

            Underachiever? What does this writer want me to do? Does he want me to be a loser then? If that’s not the case, am I to be a pretender by feeling great without achieving greatness? If I had come across this book by myself, some of these reflections would have definitely crossed my mind. Thankfully, I have been spared of this natural thought process this time round, since the recommendation came from one of the serious readers of this page, Nanda. Thank you, Nanda, for the book suggestion.

Book Review - NITYASUMANGALI : DEVADASI TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA by SASKIA. C. KERSENBOOM

NITYASUMANGALI :  DEVADASI TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA 

by  

SASKIA. C.  KERSENBOOM

[Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi, 1998 Reprint, pp. 226,  price: Rs 295]

This was a book reviewed by me ages ago. 

INTRODUCTION

Who was the Nityasumangali (ever-auspicious woman) the author was dealing with?  The Devadasi.  How can the devadasi, one of the most despised women, be an ever-auspicious person? Is it just another foreigner’s attempt to love Indian culture so much as to admire the seemingly anachronistic tradition?  Does she justify it?  These are the questions which strike any reader’s mind when she comes across this book and this reviewer is no exception.  A study of the book answers them.

Book Review- Candide by Voltaire (First published 1759)

(Details of Publication: First Published: 1759. E- reprint: 1998, Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, http://www.esp.org. 98 pp, available free for scholarly and educational purposes, subject to statement of copyright (reproduced in the screenshot below)).

                Candide is considered to be the magnum opus of Francois- Marie Aruoet, a.k.a. Voltaire (1694-1778), a French writer, historian and philosopher of the Enlightenment Era. This novel is said to be the most taught piece of French literature.

            The introduction of the author itself is an indication of what to expect of his book. Yes, the reader can expect attacks on the established arbitrariness of that age. An add- on is a feel of the society of that time. The means by which this task of injecting modern and progressive ideas into the minds of the people is done classifies this book as one to be chewed and digested, despite the chill it sends down the spine of the reader.

Of Leaders and Losers 7. The One who Trusts

          All of us would have had someone who trusted us when a majority around us didn’t. This story deals with such people, who appear somewhere on the horizon but make a profound impact on us, all the same. It is a tribute to all individuals who see the dawn in us while the day is still dark. I’m happy to state that I’ve known many great individuals, who have a special place in my heart. As usual, fact is mixed with fiction to make this story, which actually happened in the life of one of them.

* * *

Teenage and Pimples

          All of us heard of second childhood. I thought I’ll tell you a story of a person in her second teenage. We’ll stick to the same old heroine, Padma.

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          Padma turned off the TV after her channel- surfing habit showed her the commercial of “No Pimples- Softy Skin” cream for the umpteenth time. The advertisement featured a fair complexioned girl with red eruptions all over her face, looking eagerly at boys of her college, wondering if any one of them, who were busy with other girls, would throw a second glance at her. Suddenly another girl pops up from nowhere and gives her a bottle of the “No Pimples- Softy Skin” cream and lo and behold, the indifferent girls of the previous scene are now trying desperately to hold the attention of their boys, even as the latter are unable to take their eyes off this “No Pimples- Softy Skin” girl.

Jargon Management: The Management of Internalization

An Amma’s Child had just spent a month in a reputed management institution. Amma wanted to find out how her Child was doing. So, one Sunday evening, Amma calls up her child and this is how they conversed.

Amma (A): How are you, Child?

Child (C): Fine, Amma.

A: How is the weather there?

C: It’s uniformly pleasant. I can say that the standard deviation from the mean temperature is hardly one or two. Meaning, it shows a high measure of central tendency. Since you have a high sensitivity to weather changes, I strongly recommend that you come over here to enjoy better health.

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma

by R.K. Narayan

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

27^th Reprint 2012, 256 pp, Rs. 125/-

          This is not one of wait to see the emancipation of one’s lot, rather it is of how a selfish individual waits for the Mahatma’s clearance to get married to the girl of his choice.

         

          The protagonist, Sriram, is an insipid person who can be easily influenced by anyone.  He grows up under the loving care of his grandmother, after the early death of his parents.

          When he is twenty, his grandmother hands over the fat sum of money she had been saving in his name.  His irresponsibility  is known immediately, when he wants to withdraw a huge sum of Rs. 250/-, but his watchful grandma restricts it to a decent Rs. 50/-.

Happiness

          Yes, I was missing someone.  I wanted to deny myself of what I was going through – in fact, I had camouflaged myself for a good fifty-two days!  This was the count after I realized that I was actually missing someone.  How many years went by since I actually lost this person?  I have no clue.  May be fifteen years, or, twenty.  Or may be more.  Anyway, now that I realized that this someone has left me (in the lurch!), I decided to place an advertisement in the seemingly vain hope of winning him back.