Sunset in Nripatungabetta, Hubli and Tungabhadra Dam

Nripatungabetta is a hillock  near Hubli, Karnataka, from where one can not only have a bird's eye view of the city but behold a beautiful sunset as well. Recently I was there and here are the pics....

Whatte view! Nripatungabetta, Hubli

Twilight, Sunrise and Brightness

I was extremely lucky to get this one on an October evening in Baroda  in  2009

Suddenly, I realised that I was hardly doing any justice to the photo blog. So, let me make a small beginning. I did not want to stop at dusk, because it is followed by dark. So, I fast forwarded the night and took it to the next morning's sunrise......the locations are given in the caption.

Of Leaders & Losers 6. The Valmiki Part II (concluded)

(contd from previous post)

Life cruised on merrily until he bumped into former class-mate of his on one of his regular visits to the station.  ‘Hi, Vishy, are you going somewhere?’ asked Mohan.

‘No, I am here to help someone I know get into the train’, said Vishy.  After the exchange of pleasantries, Vishy learnt that Mohan was appointed as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Railways, and that he got his ticket confirmed through the Emergency Quota.  Suddenly, Vishy felt odd-indeed, a petty clerk had a right royal way of getting tickets confirmed (i.e., by being a railway employee), while he was dealing in manipulation and earning his livelihood by it! Moreover, jobs in the Railways were permanent, and one could be assured of regular income and lead one’s own life, with no requirement to bribe one’s way through.  The best way to beat bureaucracy was by being a part of it, he felt.  Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by guilt and wanted to get into the railways to be assured of traveling accommodation.

Of Leaders & Losers 6. The Valmiki- Part I

Prologue:

          This is the story of a man who wasn’t a manipulator per se, but sought to ‘adjust’ to the ‘system’, but finally reformed himself.  We know of several people who reformed themselves, but neither do we nor they reflect on such reformation.  This is an amalgamation of umpteen such transitions, accumulated as one as a piece of fiction.

* * * * * * * * *

          Yes, he had understood it, rather proud to have understood.  He’s managed to get the better of system.  How many people have done that? 

Of Leaders & Losers 5. Who should be the Scribe?

          Many times, we think we are doing a great job by being helpful to people in need.  This story attempts to see this attitude in new light.

* * * * * * *

          Amrita held the hand of an unknown person with disability when he was about to step into a trench dug up on the roadside for underground drainage, and thereby, prevented him from falling.  She was glad she assisted a blind person.

She got up!

          Tejaswini’s memory is clear – she’s sure of it.  She was four years old, and was in kindergarten, her first year at school.  She tried to slide during the lunch break.  Before she was prepared to descend, someone pushed her from behind.  She lost her balance, dashed against the sides of the slide as she went down, and had bruises on her elbows and knees.  But, she got up and was administered the tincture.

Of Leaders & Losers 4. Ms. Casabianca is Right

Padma could not make much sense of it.  No, she wasn’t trying to understand the ‘New Year’ mood of the people in the last three or four days of the year 2004.  Nor was she thinking about the cold water poured on such mood by the tragic Tsunami.  Two days later, while in office, she heard one of her colleagues announcing a tsunami warning in Visakhapatnam, and advising them to approach their boss for permission to leave office to care for their families.

Of Leaders & Losers 3. The Man who was Loyal to a Shadow

We live in a changing society (now, does that sound dumb?) . The definition of the words, family and relationship, may be getting metamorphosed.  ‘Open’ relationships and ‘Friends with Benefits’ are talked about.  While I leave it to the choice of the advocates of such relationships, I DO NOT endorse them.  Did extramarital or clandestine relationships never exist?  No, they did exist.  Despite them, Lord Rama became the icon of loyalty to wife or Ekapatnivratya (Women were always expected to follow their husbands, though).  I vote for loyalty between the spouses for it differentiates humans from their ancestors, the apes.

Anyway, the discussion is not about the way society was, is or going to be.  Each one of us has known of couples who were loyal to each other despite challenges like familial pressure to separate, inability to beget children (which is a valid ground to file for divorce), chronic ill-health of one of them or politics, plain and simple, to inherit property, so on and so forth.  If there were a re-incarnation of Rama in the 19^th – 20^th centuries, he would have been called Ramakrishna Rao.

Book Summary – The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes

The Sense of An Ending

by

Julian Barnes

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, 2011. 

Vintage 2012, Paperback, 150 pp, Rs. 299/-

_____________________________________________________________

            The book narrates the revisit of the past in an old person’s life, which throws up a few surprises.

Is Idealism Affordable?

( already published in an in-house magazine)

          This is a real life event narrated in the form of a story. 

          Padma, as you all know, was born into a middle class family. She grew up listening to stories of how Rajah Rammohun Roy braved the society of his time to bring in the Sati Abolition Legislation, how Kandukuri  Veeresalingam Pantulu conducted widow remarriage, braving ostracism  from his fellow castemen, how Sir Raghupati Venkataratnam  Naidu brought about a transformation in the Devadasi community, so on and so forth.

          It was her grandpa, Sitaram, and her aunt, Lakshmi, who were her story-tellers. After relating the anecdote, they would add, ‘See, how courageous he was?’, or ‘One should stick to ideals like that’.

          ‘What are these ideals, grandpa?’  Padma would ask. Sitaram’s definition was ‘Ideals are beliefs in situations which are desirable, but not easily attainable’.

Book Summary – Mahashweta by Sudha Murty

Mahashweta

                             by

                   Sudha Murty

         

          Penguin Books India, 2007, 154 pp, Rs. 175/-

___________________________________________________________

          This novel deals with the stigma of leukoderma, a skin disease which makes the patient’s skin colour turn pale white.

          The novel has its links with the character of Mahashweta in Banabhatta’s classic work, ‘Kadambari’.  While Banabhatta made it a happy ending, life doesn’t always give one a ‘lived happily ever after’ type of ending. While the Mahashweta of Kadambari wears white to get her beloved, Pundarika, back to life, the Mahashweta of this novel turns white.  The link is just in the white colour.

Book Summary – Gently Falls the Bakula by Sudha Murty

                   Gently Falls the Bakula

                                by

                             Sudha Murty

Penguin Books India, 2008, 169 pp, Rs. 175/-

          The book is about a marriage gone sour.  Of aspirations suppressed for long.  Of non-acknowledgement of silent support.

Book Summary – Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murty

  Dollar Bahu

                              by

                   Sudha Murty

Penguin Books India, 2007, 142 pp, Rs. 175/-

          My reading of Sudha Murty was intermittent.  It all changed when a friend ‘flipkart’ed a copy of her latest book, ‘The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk’.  I ordered all her available books and read them, but will summarize only three novels.  This is the first one.

Of Leaders and Losers- 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it-Part III (concluded)

(contd from the previous post)

Anita had a passion for teaching.  She completed her Ph.D. and taught at a University.  She was a popular teacher and was well-respected in the academic community. 

In recognition of her performance, the State Government even honoured her with the ‘Best Teacher’ Award on Teacher’s Day.

She had a consistent pain in her right knee.  She consulted a normal doctor.  She felt better and went about with her work.  After a few days, it recurred.  She consulted an orthopaedician this time.  He administered some pain killers; it got worse.  After a series of investigations, he declared that she suffered from arthritis and prescribed medicines accordingly.

Of Leaders and Losers - 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it- Part II

      (contd from the previous post)

       Sundari felt a lump on her chest.  She thought it was just some inconvenience.  Her younger son’s final year degree examination were fast approaching.  She thought she’d wait for Ravi’s examinations to be over, before she paid attention to her problem.

                                        

Of Leaders and Losers- 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it- Part I

          After a while, I’m back to the Leaders and Losers series.

          I am highlighting three fighters – all of them women, all diagnosed with the dreaded disease of cancer.  These individuals are known to me, but their names are withheld for purpose of privacy.  When a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, let’s listen to their stories of fight, which have basically been adhered to, with the writer’s liberty taken here and there.

* * * * * * * * * *

Omens and Superstitions and their ‘Ominous’ Implications

               Padma was plucking jasmines in her garden when she heard the starting sounds of her neighbour’s scooter.  She was first amazed to notice that the neighbouring uncle never went out without ‘ensuring’ good omen – one (and not both) of his unmarried daughters coming from the opposite direction.  It struck her that both of them, ‘Akka’s as she called them, were away at their grand mother’s place to spend the summer holidays.  How will uncle go out, she wondered.  She also recollected that Sakti, her mother, had warned not to be around when the neighbours moved out, to avoid unnecessary unpleasantness (‘Omens are just beliefs.  People use them to blame someone if something goes wrong’, was what her mother said).  Along with the buzzing sound of the breeze, she also happened to hear the reason why the uncle never went out that day.

* * * * * * * * *

Book summary – Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Book summary – Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie

                                                                     By Mitch Albom

                    2012 Reprint, 192 pp - £7.99

                   Published by Sphere, UK.

          The book’s sub-title, ‘An old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson’, itself is an indication of the philosophical harvest the book has on offer.  And the reader is not disappointed.

          The book is a tribute to a teacher, who shared more than his academic expertise with his students.  There is a plethora of one-line aphorisms which are to be remembered forever.  If you have already read this book, you may feel you are reading it again.  I have summarised what appealed to me the most. 

Book Summary- The Bachelor of Arts by R.K. Narayan

The Bachelor of Arts

                                                                             By R.K. Narayan

                   31^st Reprint 2012

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

                   Introduction by Graham Greene

                                      166 pp, Rs. 100/-

          I have now taken it upon myself to read (or re-read) the entire collection of R.K. Narayan.  My first view of the book was when I was a child (it was my grandfather’s copy of the 1^st Indian edition, if my memory is still good).  I wanted to be a Bachelor of Arts before reading it.  Somehow, this book missed my eyes after I completed my B.A. (not that I have a great memory of the ones I read before), so I decided to start with this one while revisiting R.K.

Book Summary- One and a half wife by Meghna Pant

One and a half wife

By

Meghna Pant, Westland Ltd. 2012, 296 pp, Rs. 250/-

          Meghna Pant’s debut novel is interesting and deals with social and marital issues that the middle class face, but shy away from.  It traces the story of Amara Malhotra, who arrives in US and tries to live her mother’s version of American dream (posh and polished lifestyle yet Indian in values).  Her efforts to impress others by living someone else’s life always meet with failure, and her ‘Indianness’ makes her the bride of an ivy-educated millionaire, being his mother’s choice.  Then follows a life of Jekyll & Hyde – trying to be her Indian self from within and seeming to lead the husband-friendly lifestyle from without.  She forces herself to compromise on her likes and dislikes and tries to adjust to her husband.  She ends up with a double whammy – failing to rise up to his expectations as well as being herself.  All her efforts to ‘save’ the marriage prove futile, because her husband never wanted her in first place.  The truth of the failed marriage is something she has to come to terms with and at the same time, face the adversity of her parents and the ostracism of the Indian American community.