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.

The Riot of Colours at the Flower Show, Lalbagh, Bangalore

                    Lalbagh was one of my favourite spots in Bangalore, not just for its greenery and the foral clock, but because it's pretty close to the MTR restaurant. I was there in mid- January, and it was just in time for the flower show. My schedule was packed ( I was eager to catch up with a lot of friends), so I was not too sure whether I'd visit the place at all. I managed to be there for the morning walk, but the catch was that one could see the beauty of the show in its famed Glass House only from outside- the show would open only at 9:30 a.m. I could not do much justice in identifying the plants, but I'm sure you'd enjoy the beauty of the flowers.......

The Eiffel Tower could be seen from all sides, but I could watch the mermaid only from one side.

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/-

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            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.

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