Yesterday I had the opportunity of watching the 'saptha swarangal' program in sun tv. It was amazing. Little kids under 12 years of age were singing songs from the old movies to the latest hits. Even the accompaniments like, drums, key board, flute etc were also handled by kids. It had to be seen(heard) to be believed. What a talent. Really India is a big country with a big population. But I am able to see the talent is also very very vast. I see lot of yougsters singing carnatic music which is of very high quality. They all achieve this by lot of practice and hard work and talent.
I watch one more program 'arattai arangam' which is a program where common people are given a chance to voice there opinion. It travels from place to place from small towns to big cities and even to foreign locatins where tamilians live. I am amazed to see the rural people talking so authoritatively voicing their opinion and lot of good work is also being done through this forum of arattai arangam.
Another program is achamillai achamillai which is anchored by actress laksmi in jaya tv which also covers a lot of social and cultural issues. some of them may be hyped but many of the episodes are good .
Apart from the movie based program which is aired the whole day there are these good programs which are watchable, which makes me feel proud to see so much talent in our country.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
science and religion
Lot of controversy is going on about the evolution theory and the biblical theory of independent design. I can not understand how religion can be taught under the heading science or vice versa.
I read a lot about people saying that brought up with religious belief that God created mankind, evolution theory should not be taught in science classes as the independent design theory has enough proof as it is written in Bible. They can not accept the evolution theory which contradicts the biblical theory as to how the world was created.
I am not very much aware of the independent design as I have never read bible, but one thing is certain that I know that evolution theory based on which the the whole biological science is built has lot of proof and it should be taught under science.
I do believe in God and Super natural power or what ever, but that does not stop me from studying science as I am clear that Science and Religion are in different level. When one is science the other should definitely come under philosophy. My religious belief does not stop me from studying science and I don't understand where the controversy is.
Why should independent design be taught instead of the theory of evolution in the heading Science. Let the evolution theory be taught under science as it has scientific proof and the independent theory can be taught under philosophy.
We in India have so many philosophies which just exist side by side and we never have any confusion or moral guilt while studying science.
Just changing the curriculam in school and not allowing the study of theory of evolution is another form of fundamentalism.
I read a lot about people saying that brought up with religious belief that God created mankind, evolution theory should not be taught in science classes as the independent design theory has enough proof as it is written in Bible. They can not accept the evolution theory which contradicts the biblical theory as to how the world was created.
I am not very much aware of the independent design as I have never read bible, but one thing is certain that I know that evolution theory based on which the the whole biological science is built has lot of proof and it should be taught under science.
I do believe in God and Super natural power or what ever, but that does not stop me from studying science as I am clear that Science and Religion are in different level. When one is science the other should definitely come under philosophy. My religious belief does not stop me from studying science and I don't understand where the controversy is.
Why should independent design be taught instead of the theory of evolution in the heading Science. Let the evolution theory be taught under science as it has scientific proof and the independent theory can be taught under philosophy.
We in India have so many philosophies which just exist side by side and we never have any confusion or moral guilt while studying science.
Just changing the curriculam in school and not allowing the study of theory of evolution is another form of fundamentalism.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Shopping trolley
Yesterday I had been to the local chain of super stores here which is called as Carrefour. This is a place where you get almost anything and everything from tv/computer to vegetables, fruits, to your clothes and mops.
While in the parking lot I could see some change which I had not seen earlier. I could see lots of shopping trolleys here and there scattered. I thought may be coming from US which is much more orderly place I am making up things.
When we went inside, I was waiting to take the trolley out with a one ringett coin. This shopping complex has a unique way of having all the trolleys lined up one behind the other connected with a chain. once you put an one ringget coin you can take out the trolley. when you finally finish the shopping and if you keep the trolley next to an existing one and connect it your one ringett can be taken out.
My husband said that the one ringett coin has been taken out of circulation by the Govt. and only an one ringett note will be there and no more coins. So we can just take the trolley without the need to put in the coin.
Now it dawned on me why I saw so many trolleys here and there at the parking lot. The human tendency!!! The people who used to meticulouly keep the trolleys in the place designated for them so that they can take out their one ringett, no longer bothered to keep the trolley in the designated place.
But I have to put it in records that Americans still meticulously keep the trolleys in the designated place without any of the coin system. We Asians have to learn to become real developed (country) I suppose.
While in the parking lot I could see some change which I had not seen earlier. I could see lots of shopping trolleys here and there scattered. I thought may be coming from US which is much more orderly place I am making up things.
When we went inside, I was waiting to take the trolley out with a one ringett coin. This shopping complex has a unique way of having all the trolleys lined up one behind the other connected with a chain. once you put an one ringget coin you can take out the trolley. when you finally finish the shopping and if you keep the trolley next to an existing one and connect it your one ringett can be taken out.
My husband said that the one ringett coin has been taken out of circulation by the Govt. and only an one ringett note will be there and no more coins. So we can just take the trolley without the need to put in the coin.
Now it dawned on me why I saw so many trolleys here and there at the parking lot. The human tendency!!! The people who used to meticulouly keep the trolleys in the place designated for them so that they can take out their one ringett, no longer bothered to keep the trolley in the designated place.
But I have to put it in records that Americans still meticulously keep the trolleys in the designated place without any of the coin system. We Asians have to learn to become real developed (country) I suppose.
LA Airport
Well I am back in KL. I am so used to cribbing about my own dear India and its condition, let me crib about some thing (body) else.
I left Desmoines (Iowa) surrounded by snow and landed in LA taking another flight at Denver. All fine and great and I am in the Domestic terminal at LA around 10 p.m and am to take the Internation flight Malaysian Airlines which is at 11.30 p.m. Very surprisingly unlike any other major airport which I have seen (I have seen quite a few) the International terminal in LA is to be approached from outside about a kilometer or so. (something like in chennai, the domestic and international airport ) . I was told I can take a bus or simply keep walking towards the International terminals. As there was so many cars and other vehicles which were there to pick up passengers, I preferred to walk. I kept walking and arrived at a dark place which was supposed to be the place where I had to go. I found out it was arrival hall and was asked to go to the third level. When I stepped out of the elevator for one second I was really shocked to see a big pandemonium in a big hall. People, people every where and it was like a bus station or may be a fish market. I just elbowed everybody and managed to go towards the malaysian airlines counter. There was a big crowd waiting with lots of heavy suitcases and I did not know where the queue ended or for which flight they were all checking in. I was supposed to be a transit passenger whose luggage had already been checked in and all I needed was a boarding card. There was a counter for that but there was no one there . I just elbowed my way telling who ever cared to listen that I am a transit passenger and plonked myself squarely near the counter which was open. (when it comes to survival read it as catching a connecting flight you forget your manners and queue jumping and what not) By then I was quite agitated and worried. To my woe the lady at the counter was talking to the passenger about some hotel accomodation on their return journey.
I was like what is happening here??? At last I was issued a boarding card and when I asked the lady if this is what it is like every day, she just raised one of her eyebrows and said how long have you been waiting madam in a tounge in cheek expression.
Job done now I rushed out from the crowd in search of the entry point to the innumeable gates. Here again lot of people with lot of luggage and no end or beginning to the queue. All luggages have to go thro' the x ray machine and then only it is checked in whether it is hand luggage or the check in luggage. I managed to find a queue which was for people with only hand luggage by shouting transit passenger(again), and entered the checkpost. As usual we are the ones targetted due to our color at the supposedly random check they carry on and the chains and bangles we wear beeping like crazy and at last I was out cleared and ran to my gate. At last I could see that the passengers were not yet boarding and I could call anu and tell her that I have reached LA.
So conclusion every thing is due to the explosion of people. While catering to more people you end up in confusion. India is no exception with such large population to cater to.
I left Desmoines (Iowa) surrounded by snow and landed in LA taking another flight at Denver. All fine and great and I am in the Domestic terminal at LA around 10 p.m and am to take the Internation flight Malaysian Airlines which is at 11.30 p.m. Very surprisingly unlike any other major airport which I have seen (I have seen quite a few) the International terminal in LA is to be approached from outside about a kilometer or so. (something like in chennai, the domestic and international airport ) . I was told I can take a bus or simply keep walking towards the International terminals. As there was so many cars and other vehicles which were there to pick up passengers, I preferred to walk. I kept walking and arrived at a dark place which was supposed to be the place where I had to go. I found out it was arrival hall and was asked to go to the third level. When I stepped out of the elevator for one second I was really shocked to see a big pandemonium in a big hall. People, people every where and it was like a bus station or may be a fish market. I just elbowed everybody and managed to go towards the malaysian airlines counter. There was a big crowd waiting with lots of heavy suitcases and I did not know where the queue ended or for which flight they were all checking in. I was supposed to be a transit passenger whose luggage had already been checked in and all I needed was a boarding card. There was a counter for that but there was no one there . I just elbowed my way telling who ever cared to listen that I am a transit passenger and plonked myself squarely near the counter which was open. (when it comes to survival read it as catching a connecting flight you forget your manners and queue jumping and what not) By then I was quite agitated and worried. To my woe the lady at the counter was talking to the passenger about some hotel accomodation on their return journey.
I was like what is happening here??? At last I was issued a boarding card and when I asked the lady if this is what it is like every day, she just raised one of her eyebrows and said how long have you been waiting madam in a tounge in cheek expression.
Job done now I rushed out from the crowd in search of the entry point to the innumeable gates. Here again lot of people with lot of luggage and no end or beginning to the queue. All luggages have to go thro' the x ray machine and then only it is checked in whether it is hand luggage or the check in luggage. I managed to find a queue which was for people with only hand luggage by shouting transit passenger(again), and entered the checkpost. As usual we are the ones targetted due to our color at the supposedly random check they carry on and the chains and bangles we wear beeping like crazy and at last I was out cleared and ran to my gate. At last I could see that the passengers were not yet boarding and I could call anu and tell her that I have reached LA.
So conclusion every thing is due to the explosion of people. While catering to more people you end up in confusion. India is no exception with such large population to cater to.
The rains
I am a bit worried about the incessant rains which is lashing Chennai/ India again. Anand and me were chatting about this phenomenon and this lead to some interesting observations by him.
We are faced with such change in the climatic conditions all over the world and this year especially in tamil nadu it is rains and more rains. We look at this in a entirely different perspective and many a time I hear ourselves saying , 'ok at least next summer Chennai will not have water problem'
We refuse to see the big picture as anand pointed out. These are all due to the Global warming which is happening around the world and this rain and more rains is all due to many reasons, one of them being the difference in temperature of land and the sea to put it simply and the other major reason being the melting of the glaceirs in a fast pace due to global warming. This can be seen clearly from the satellite picture of Gangotri glacier which can be seen in the link below. (I don't know how to incorporate images in my blog)
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/hazards/images/1557.html
For some time it will be more floods, rains, this will result in the increase in the ocean level and some islands/lands will be submerged. After some time, once the glaciers runs dry what next, there will be no rains, no floods, no water and rains will fail which will lead to famine and draught. This may not happen in the immediate near future but clearly that is the direction we are heading towards . But we tend to think oh it may not happen in my life time so why bother?
It is high time we sit up and take notice and do something about this.
But alas it is the people who are at power who have to take action. But what do we see, America the biggest contributor to global warming is refusing to sign the Kyoto treaty, which is approved by almost all the countries in the world, to do some thing collectively to reduce the global warming. The major culprit is the automobiles. The 'oil' lobby is so strong in America which made the president go to war in Iraq and no wonder it is making him refuse to sign the treaty and stopping some fast action like putting a cap on the emission and other pollutants which is being set on the nature.
I would like to end this with a postive note though. Human race I feel has a tenacity beyond imagination, and I feel that the tapping of solar energy might be a major contribution in reducing the global warming . We need a lot of research in this field so that solar energy becomes cheaper for the common man to use. I only hope people understand the gravity of the situation and start
an awareness program. Let us start by going to nearby places by walk rather than use that automobile.
We are faced with such change in the climatic conditions all over the world and this year especially in tamil nadu it is rains and more rains. We look at this in a entirely different perspective and many a time I hear ourselves saying , 'ok at least next summer Chennai will not have water problem'
We refuse to see the big picture as anand pointed out. These are all due to the Global warming which is happening around the world and this rain and more rains is all due to many reasons, one of them being the difference in temperature of land and the sea to put it simply and the other major reason being the melting of the glaceirs in a fast pace due to global warming. This can be seen clearly from the satellite picture of Gangotri glacier which can be seen in the link below. (I don't know how to incorporate images in my blog)
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/hazards/images/1557.html
For some time it will be more floods, rains, this will result in the increase in the ocean level and some islands/lands will be submerged. After some time, once the glaciers runs dry what next, there will be no rains, no floods, no water and rains will fail which will lead to famine and draught. This may not happen in the immediate near future but clearly that is the direction we are heading towards . But we tend to think oh it may not happen in my life time so why bother?
It is high time we sit up and take notice and do something about this.
But alas it is the people who are at power who have to take action. But what do we see, America the biggest contributor to global warming is refusing to sign the Kyoto treaty, which is approved by almost all the countries in the world, to do some thing collectively to reduce the global warming. The major culprit is the automobiles. The 'oil' lobby is so strong in America which made the president go to war in Iraq and no wonder it is making him refuse to sign the treaty and stopping some fast action like putting a cap on the emission and other pollutants which is being set on the nature.
I would like to end this with a postive note though. Human race I feel has a tenacity beyond imagination, and I feel that the tapping of solar energy might be a major contribution in reducing the global warming . We need a lot of research in this field so that solar energy becomes cheaper for the common man to use. I only hope people understand the gravity of the situation and start
an awareness program. Let us start by going to nearby places by walk rather than use that automobile.
Monday, November 28, 2005
cricket and we
Well first of all I wonder whether I should also join in the fray by commenting on this game. But I am reading too much nonsense ( it is a strong word) in the media, I had to have my say.
Majority of the people will not share my sentiments but I would definitely want to air my opinion.
Once upon a time I was a great cricket fan, coming from the family of great cricket playing brothers, (three of them being the captains their college team) and used to miss college to hear the radio commentary.( those days tv had not yet come into existance).
But once the scandal of the match fixing hit us with a big bang I felt like a big fool, who had watched in tv every single cricket match. When it was proved that there was indeed match fixing, I felt why I did waste my time watching it when the players (some of them at least) were not playing for the game but for money. It was such a disgusting feeling that I stopped watching cricket even though I was a great fan of the game and of some great players.
Till today I don't watch the matches and feel that undue importance is being given to the game because of the foolish fans (read it indians) while the executives of board of cricket control are rolling in the money they are getting out of advt. (I remember how only 4 balls in an over is shown in the tv , the first and the last ball of the over taken over by some advt.) and players are also getting exorbitant amounts. Be that as it may, let them have money my grouse is not that, my point is , why not they be professional.
Till last minute we don't know who the captain is. The captains, if they are not the blue eyed boys of the board or the influential members, can be just booted unceremoniously after just a match or two like what happened to Venkata raghavan's captaincy long ago.
The latest row about fans wanting the arrogant young(is he young any more) Ganguly to be taken in the team just because he is from Calcutta is too much for me to take. To add to the fuel some stupid coach who happens to be from some other country does something with his finger and almost riots are erupting in our cities.
We should stop playing this game for some time . Once Salem starts quacking we will get the concrete details about the match fixing. This sport which has become an underworld's game and the game of the Board of Cricket control who think they are some demi Gods. If they have to wake up, every body should stop watching this game. It can be done only when people stop watching for one's principle of not being taken for a ride, the game can come back later with a better respect for the people who watch it and make it such a big game in the first place.
But we don't have such collective wisdom of boycotting such things which insult the public.
So cricket will be played as if it is a fiefdom of some few big wigs.
Majority of the people will not share my sentiments but I would definitely want to air my opinion.
Once upon a time I was a great cricket fan, coming from the family of great cricket playing brothers, (three of them being the captains their college team) and used to miss college to hear the radio commentary.( those days tv had not yet come into existance).
But once the scandal of the match fixing hit us with a big bang I felt like a big fool, who had watched in tv every single cricket match. When it was proved that there was indeed match fixing, I felt why I did waste my time watching it when the players (some of them at least) were not playing for the game but for money. It was such a disgusting feeling that I stopped watching cricket even though I was a great fan of the game and of some great players.
Till today I don't watch the matches and feel that undue importance is being given to the game because of the foolish fans (read it indians) while the executives of board of cricket control are rolling in the money they are getting out of advt. (I remember how only 4 balls in an over is shown in the tv , the first and the last ball of the over taken over by some advt.) and players are also getting exorbitant amounts. Be that as it may, let them have money my grouse is not that, my point is , why not they be professional.
Till last minute we don't know who the captain is. The captains, if they are not the blue eyed boys of the board or the influential members, can be just booted unceremoniously after just a match or two like what happened to Venkata raghavan's captaincy long ago.
The latest row about fans wanting the arrogant young(is he young any more) Ganguly to be taken in the team just because he is from Calcutta is too much for me to take. To add to the fuel some stupid coach who happens to be from some other country does something with his finger and almost riots are erupting in our cities.
We should stop playing this game for some time . Once Salem starts quacking we will get the concrete details about the match fixing. This sport which has become an underworld's game and the game of the Board of Cricket control who think they are some demi Gods. If they have to wake up, every body should stop watching this game. It can be done only when people stop watching for one's principle of not being taken for a ride, the game can come back later with a better respect for the people who watch it and make it such a big game in the first place.
But we don't have such collective wisdom of boycotting such things which insult the public.
So cricket will be played as if it is a fiefdom of some few big wigs.
Culture
I have been getting lot of questions in my mind about culture. What is a culture? Is it a feeling felt by a group of people. What can we identify specifically as Indian culture? Is it is the food habits? In that case India has innumerable variety. what about language? Again we have so many. When I was much younger I used to think the temples are the connecting thread as Rameshwaram in south and Kasi in north plays a big role in connecting North Indians and South Indians. But I know now it is just Hindu culture and India is made up of people of other major religions. Is it race which has a specific culture. But we are told that we have Aryan and Dravidian Race and there are different religions within these two races. So my confusion continues.
According to Anand there is nothing which can be specifically called as a culture as it keeps on changing and we get assimilated over the periods of years and years of absorbing and incorporating many things which we call as our culture.
Till the period of British invasion, where the Britishers kept a strict distance between the rulers and the ruled, I think all the other conquerors by and large merged with the local culture(?)and mixed what ever their habits(?) with the local way of life and a new culture(?) emerged.
On a lighter note I can say that when I was much younger while in punjab I was sort of surprised that they did not have any specific marriage sign. like what we south indians have the 'thali' or mangal sutra. when we asked some one he said it is the lipstic and being modern, the girls have also started using it which is strictly to be used by married ladies. This evoked a great laughter among us and used to be one of my anectodes of Jullundar days to who so ever cared to listen for many years.
But now I am at a loss. Is mangal sutra the real symbol of marriage. But many don't wear it in their daily life any more and use it only for some special occasion! it does not make me raise by eyebrows any more to see many not wearing it. Girls /Women go for work in westernised outfit to office and feel that, t his does not gel.
So I can see during my life time itself some thing which I thought was a symbol of culture, no more seems that it is.(Again another question to myself does culture need any symbol?)
Incidentally in vedic period there was no 'thali' and even today until a man and woman take the 'sapta padi' (seven steps) around the fire together, according to hindu marriage Act they are not considered as man and wife legally . The significance of it being any two people taking seven steps together is considered as friends. So basically according to vedic rites a husband and wife is primarily considered as friends.( This concept I simply love very much)
Well I have digressed and am still wondering what is culture? Especially when hue and cry is being made about tamil culture by the self proclaimed guardians of tamil culture in the name of protecting it, but in turn encouraging barbarism.( I am referring to the Kushboo issue)
Like hinduism I think culture is also a way of life, which keeps on changing from time to time and the feeling of good ness we get when we live in a certain way without affecting the sensibilities of others may be called as culutre. When a group of people live in a similar way is this the culture?
A simple thing like cake cutting in a wedding can become a ritual after some years and in a thali tying, tamil wedding it would become a part which no one would realize was borrowed from western culture say some hundred years from now. This may be a trivial thing but that is how culture develops I feel.
So we should not look upon others way of living from an elevated platform and say our way is the best. Everything is a way of life I suppose.
According to Anand there is nothing which can be specifically called as a culture as it keeps on changing and we get assimilated over the periods of years and years of absorbing and incorporating many things which we call as our culture.
Till the period of British invasion, where the Britishers kept a strict distance between the rulers and the ruled, I think all the other conquerors by and large merged with the local culture(?)and mixed what ever their habits(?) with the local way of life and a new culture(?) emerged.
On a lighter note I can say that when I was much younger while in punjab I was sort of surprised that they did not have any specific marriage sign. like what we south indians have the 'thali' or mangal sutra. when we asked some one he said it is the lipstic and being modern, the girls have also started using it which is strictly to be used by married ladies. This evoked a great laughter among us and used to be one of my anectodes of Jullundar days to who so ever cared to listen for many years.
But now I am at a loss. Is mangal sutra the real symbol of marriage. But many don't wear it in their daily life any more and use it only for some special occasion! it does not make me raise by eyebrows any more to see many not wearing it. Girls /Women go for work in westernised outfit to office and feel that, t his does not gel.
So I can see during my life time itself some thing which I thought was a symbol of culture, no more seems that it is.(Again another question to myself does culture need any symbol?)
Incidentally in vedic period there was no 'thali' and even today until a man and woman take the 'sapta padi' (seven steps) around the fire together, according to hindu marriage Act they are not considered as man and wife legally . The significance of it being any two people taking seven steps together is considered as friends. So basically according to vedic rites a husband and wife is primarily considered as friends.( This concept I simply love very much)
Well I have digressed and am still wondering what is culture? Especially when hue and cry is being made about tamil culture by the self proclaimed guardians of tamil culture in the name of protecting it, but in turn encouraging barbarism.( I am referring to the Kushboo issue)
Like hinduism I think culture is also a way of life, which keeps on changing from time to time and the feeling of good ness we get when we live in a certain way without affecting the sensibilities of others may be called as culutre. When a group of people live in a similar way is this the culture?
A simple thing like cake cutting in a wedding can become a ritual after some years and in a thali tying, tamil wedding it would become a part which no one would realize was borrowed from western culture say some hundred years from now. This may be a trivial thing but that is how culture develops I feel.
So we should not look upon others way of living from an elevated platform and say our way is the best. Everything is a way of life I suppose.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Grandma story 2
I am just going to record just one more story of my grandma which has really helped me to always have a positive attitude about life. I feel this story is more about Courage and being fearless, than about Victory as the cursory reading of the story might imply. Before I proceed to the actual story I want to record about what the great Second World War Heroes, Roosevelt and Chruchill had to say about Fear and Courage.
Roosevelt: The only thing to fear is fear itself.
Churchill: No matter how bleak the forecast, courage would carry us forward, for courage is the essential virtue because it guarantees all the others.
Now the story.
In tamil she used to give the heading as 'jayamulla varai bhayamillai' which has become a motto for me in any bleak situation and I always believe there is jayam. If you translate it, it means 'So long there is Victory there is no need to be afraid'.
There once lived a sage in a forest. One fine day Jayadevi the Goddess of Victory came to him and said from today onwards I am going to be with you always. He said fine, but when you leave me you need to come in front of me like this and tell me you are leaving. She agreed to this condition.
He just wanted to test if she is really being with him. So he went to the court of the King and pushed the King from his throne, which is just unthinkable for any body to do. At that very moment the bar in the roof came crashing down where a few seconds ago the King was seated. The King was indeed very moved and was very thankful to the sage for saving his life and asked the sage to be with him as he can protect him always.
After a few days, the curious sage wanted to know if jayadevi is still with him went to the 'anthapura' the family quarters of king and went into the bed chamber of the King and Queen. For any body to do this foolish act only attracts a capital punishment! He dragged the King and Queen out of the bed chamber and within few seconds the whole room was engulfed in fire as a small fire had started beneath the bed without any body's notice. After a couple more incidents like this, the King never allowed the sage to leave him.
One day the King and his men went to the forest for hunting. The sage was also accompanying him. After some time the duo got separated from the group and got lost in the forest.
The king got tired and was taking rest under a tree. The sage was sitting next to him. He saw a Cobra lurking in the tree which was about to strike the king. He did not want to disturb the king and drew out his sword to kill the cobra. At that very moment Jayadevi said Ok time is up I am leaving you. The cobra got suddenly distracted and just dissappeared in a jiffy, the very same moment the King also got up. To his horror he saw the sage with a drawn sword and got so worked up and said 'oh how long have you been waiting for such an opportunity to be alone with me so that you can kill me and become the king yourself' and got him arrested once his troupe joined him.
The sage laughed loudly and was not perturbed by this turn of events. The King was surprised and asked him to explain why he was laughing. Then the sage explained to him all the turn of events and how jayadevi left him at that moment and how he was misunderstood. The wise King understood the sage and he let the sage off . The sage went back to the forest to continue with his usual activities.
Why should we be scared for every damn thing we do. Think always that 'jayamulla varai bayamillai' and keep doing what you feel is right. If you are scared and afraid you just can not do anything. I always like to think that way and jaya devi is always with me and keep doing things if not bizzare things but at least what ever I want to do.
Roosevelt: The only thing to fear is fear itself.
Churchill: No matter how bleak the forecast, courage would carry us forward, for courage is the essential virtue because it guarantees all the others.
Now the story.
In tamil she used to give the heading as 'jayamulla varai bhayamillai' which has become a motto for me in any bleak situation and I always believe there is jayam. If you translate it, it means 'So long there is Victory there is no need to be afraid'.
There once lived a sage in a forest. One fine day Jayadevi the Goddess of Victory came to him and said from today onwards I am going to be with you always. He said fine, but when you leave me you need to come in front of me like this and tell me you are leaving. She agreed to this condition.
He just wanted to test if she is really being with him. So he went to the court of the King and pushed the King from his throne, which is just unthinkable for any body to do. At that very moment the bar in the roof came crashing down where a few seconds ago the King was seated. The King was indeed very moved and was very thankful to the sage for saving his life and asked the sage to be with him as he can protect him always.
After a few days, the curious sage wanted to know if jayadevi is still with him went to the 'anthapura' the family quarters of king and went into the bed chamber of the King and Queen. For any body to do this foolish act only attracts a capital punishment! He dragged the King and Queen out of the bed chamber and within few seconds the whole room was engulfed in fire as a small fire had started beneath the bed without any body's notice. After a couple more incidents like this, the King never allowed the sage to leave him.
One day the King and his men went to the forest for hunting. The sage was also accompanying him. After some time the duo got separated from the group and got lost in the forest.
The king got tired and was taking rest under a tree. The sage was sitting next to him. He saw a Cobra lurking in the tree which was about to strike the king. He did not want to disturb the king and drew out his sword to kill the cobra. At that very moment Jayadevi said Ok time is up I am leaving you. The cobra got suddenly distracted and just dissappeared in a jiffy, the very same moment the King also got up. To his horror he saw the sage with a drawn sword and got so worked up and said 'oh how long have you been waiting for such an opportunity to be alone with me so that you can kill me and become the king yourself' and got him arrested once his troupe joined him.
The sage laughed loudly and was not perturbed by this turn of events. The King was surprised and asked him to explain why he was laughing. Then the sage explained to him all the turn of events and how jayadevi left him at that moment and how he was misunderstood. The wise King understood the sage and he let the sage off . The sage went back to the forest to continue with his usual activities.
Why should we be scared for every damn thing we do. Think always that 'jayamulla varai bayamillai' and keep doing what you feel is right. If you are scared and afraid you just can not do anything. I always like to think that way and jaya devi is always with me and keep doing things if not bizzare things but at least what ever I want to do.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Snow
The first snowing of the winter has started today. I am just watching it from the glass window of anu's house. This is just the first few snow flakes falling on the ground. Since the ground temperature is above the freezing temperature, when it falls to the ground it is falling as water. It is so fascinating to watch this. These are like cotton flakes what we call 'panju podi' in tamil.
I always love watching rains. This is also rain (sleet?) falling as snow. It is just a beginning. So the roads etc are not yet filled with snow and turned white. It is just the snow flakes. This I am told is sort of dangerous to walk and drive as it will be very slippery. I am waiting for the snow fall when the ground temperature is also sub zero and the whole place will look white and lovely. This is what I wanted to look at so long ago in Srinagar. But I can afford to say this is lovely, as I am sitting inside the comfort of the house with a heater system to boot. All the others have to wear layers of dress, remove the sheet of snow from their cars and drive carefully which is such a pain. No wonder these people long for sunny days.
I always love watching rains. This is also rain (sleet?) falling as snow. It is just a beginning. So the roads etc are not yet filled with snow and turned white. It is just the snow flakes. This I am told is sort of dangerous to walk and drive as it will be very slippery. I am waiting for the snow fall when the ground temperature is also sub zero and the whole place will look white and lovely. This is what I wanted to look at so long ago in Srinagar. But I can afford to say this is lovely, as I am sitting inside the comfort of the house with a heater system to boot. All the others have to wear layers of dress, remove the sheet of snow from their cars and drive carefully which is such a pain. No wonder these people long for sunny days.
Grnadma's story 1
Well my grandma was one great story teller, which I have tried to pass on to the next generation(s). One or Two stories are a great favourite of mine which I feel has basic lessons of life inlaid underneath. Though the story is best heard in the original tamil, I want to try to translate it to Queen's language and see how it sounds/looks.
This story has a very funny heading. 'amma amma kozhakattaikku kannu (m)undodi' .ha ha.
Once there lived a family of parents and seven daughters. (I wonder if the seven was my grandma's idea as we were seven kids in our family or was it a norm those days to have seven kids like the two kid norm of today). One day mom prepared a sweet dish (called) kozhakattai. The elders all ate the dish and mom left exactly 7 pieces and asked each kid to take one each. (this is where you can introduce the little kids to simple arithmetic) All the kids took one by turn and when the turn of the (wicked?) 6th one came she ate one and since liked it very much ate the next one also and caught a little mouse and kept it and closed the lid of the container. The poor last kid came and opened and could see the eyes of the mouse. As she had not seen 'kozhakattai' before, she went and asked her mom the question 'amma amma....... 'meaning if the dish has eyes. The busy mom was naturally irritated and asked her to shut up and go eat the dish. She went again and saw the nose, came back and said 'amma amma kozhakattaikku mukkumundodi', now again the mom sends her back. Next the poor kid sees the tail, and runs back again to ask amma amma ko... vaalumundodi. Now this is the limit of the patience of the overworked mom. As the little girl had got scared and threw the lid open the mouse had ran away. So when mom comes and sees the vessel is empty. Mom thinks the girl ate the dish and simply irritating her. she throws a fit and throws the girl out saying get lost.
The girl keeps walking crying and sees a lot of small ants on the road. The little ants come and tell her not to stamp on them and this nice girl obliges and goes further without harming them.
Then she comes to some rose and jasmin bushes which ask the girl to help them as they are very thirsty. she draws water from a nearby well and waters the plants.
She trudges along and sees an elephant in agony with a thorn in its trunk. Since the elephant asked her to help , she removes it much to the delight of the elephant.
Now she has to cross a small rivulet. The river asks her not to make its water muddy and just to cross it carefully. She carefully wades out of the water only to come to a small house which as usual in other tamil stories belongs to a 'ammayar paati' a good old woman.
Here she is welcomed and the 'paati' says come little child you are tired you go and have bath, I will give you food. She asks the girl 'you want hot water or cold water' The girl replies politely not to trouble herself, and will have bath in cold water. But a hot nice bath is waiting for her. Grandma gives her two lemons and asks her to use one on her hair and the other she asks her to throw. She listens to her and hey and presto her hair becomes luxurious. Now when it comes to the question of food, again the question is asked what she wants freshly prepared food or the old food to be precise 'pazhaya sadam' you guessed it right, when she says she is content with pazhaya sadam she is given hot nice fresh food. The same thing is followed about change of dress where the girl who is content with any tattered cloth, is offered new set of clothes. Now she takes enough rest and next day starts her return journey knowing her mom's temper would have cooled down.
Now when she comes near the rivulet it is waiting with lot of 'muthu and pavalam' (pearls and coral) for not making it muddy. The elephant is waiting to take her on its back. On her way back she picks up the roses and jasmines, which are given to her in plenty and the ants give her a sack full of sugar (yes sugar) .
When she comes home and knocks, for a second, her mom is not able to recognize her. When she realizes the mistake, she welcomes home the little girl and now it is the turn of the wicked? one to go on the said journey. No points for guessing the further story line. This girl just does the opposite of her younger sister, by stomping on the ants, not watering the plants, and jeering at the elephant's discomfort and making the rivulet as muddy as possible by jumping up and down and comes at last to the 'ammayar paati's ' house.
Here the moment she enters, she demands loudly asking the old lady to keep hot water ready for her bath and hot food and good clothes. Old lady simply smiles and gives her the two lemons and the greedy kid who finds only the cold water tries to use both of them and looses what little hair she already had on her head. She is given the 'pazhaya sadam' and since she was so hungry she eats it and is given some old tattered clothes.
Now on her journey back the rivulet throws mud on this girl and the elephant gently lifts her throws her towards the rose bush whose thorns prick all over her and the ants add to her woes by stinging her everywhere.
Now she reaches home crying loudly and now the mom really can not recognize the battered girl.
She is taken into the house and the little one explains how she came back as a winner from her little trip. The sixth one has learnt her lesson and promises to share the eats and ony eat her share (hhaha) and they live happily ever after.
I have seen in life, many times it is the 'amma amma..' story syndrome, and when you demand something you don't get it and when you are prepared to accept and give the choice to the other person you get a better deal.
This story has a very funny heading. 'amma amma kozhakattaikku kannu (m)undodi' .ha ha.
Once there lived a family of parents and seven daughters. (I wonder if the seven was my grandma's idea as we were seven kids in our family or was it a norm those days to have seven kids like the two kid norm of today). One day mom prepared a sweet dish (called) kozhakattai. The elders all ate the dish and mom left exactly 7 pieces and asked each kid to take one each. (this is where you can introduce the little kids to simple arithmetic) All the kids took one by turn and when the turn of the (wicked?) 6th one came she ate one and since liked it very much ate the next one also and caught a little mouse and kept it and closed the lid of the container. The poor last kid came and opened and could see the eyes of the mouse. As she had not seen 'kozhakattai' before, she went and asked her mom the question 'amma amma....... 'meaning if the dish has eyes. The busy mom was naturally irritated and asked her to shut up and go eat the dish. She went again and saw the nose, came back and said 'amma amma kozhakattaikku mukkumundodi', now again the mom sends her back. Next the poor kid sees the tail, and runs back again to ask amma amma ko... vaalumundodi. Now this is the limit of the patience of the overworked mom. As the little girl had got scared and threw the lid open the mouse had ran away. So when mom comes and sees the vessel is empty. Mom thinks the girl ate the dish and simply irritating her. she throws a fit and throws the girl out saying get lost.
The girl keeps walking crying and sees a lot of small ants on the road. The little ants come and tell her not to stamp on them and this nice girl obliges and goes further without harming them.
Then she comes to some rose and jasmin bushes which ask the girl to help them as they are very thirsty. she draws water from a nearby well and waters the plants.
She trudges along and sees an elephant in agony with a thorn in its trunk. Since the elephant asked her to help , she removes it much to the delight of the elephant.
Now she has to cross a small rivulet. The river asks her not to make its water muddy and just to cross it carefully. She carefully wades out of the water only to come to a small house which as usual in other tamil stories belongs to a 'ammayar paati' a good old woman.
Here she is welcomed and the 'paati' says come little child you are tired you go and have bath, I will give you food. She asks the girl 'you want hot water or cold water' The girl replies politely not to trouble herself, and will have bath in cold water. But a hot nice bath is waiting for her. Grandma gives her two lemons and asks her to use one on her hair and the other she asks her to throw. She listens to her and hey and presto her hair becomes luxurious. Now when it comes to the question of food, again the question is asked what she wants freshly prepared food or the old food to be precise 'pazhaya sadam' you guessed it right, when she says she is content with pazhaya sadam she is given hot nice fresh food. The same thing is followed about change of dress where the girl who is content with any tattered cloth, is offered new set of clothes. Now she takes enough rest and next day starts her return journey knowing her mom's temper would have cooled down.
Now when she comes near the rivulet it is waiting with lot of 'muthu and pavalam' (pearls and coral) for not making it muddy. The elephant is waiting to take her on its back. On her way back she picks up the roses and jasmines, which are given to her in plenty and the ants give her a sack full of sugar (yes sugar) .
When she comes home and knocks, for a second, her mom is not able to recognize her. When she realizes the mistake, she welcomes home the little girl and now it is the turn of the wicked? one to go on the said journey. No points for guessing the further story line. This girl just does the opposite of her younger sister, by stomping on the ants, not watering the plants, and jeering at the elephant's discomfort and making the rivulet as muddy as possible by jumping up and down and comes at last to the 'ammayar paati's ' house.
Here the moment she enters, she demands loudly asking the old lady to keep hot water ready for her bath and hot food and good clothes. Old lady simply smiles and gives her the two lemons and the greedy kid who finds only the cold water tries to use both of them and looses what little hair she already had on her head. She is given the 'pazhaya sadam' and since she was so hungry she eats it and is given some old tattered clothes.
Now on her journey back the rivulet throws mud on this girl and the elephant gently lifts her throws her towards the rose bush whose thorns prick all over her and the ants add to her woes by stinging her everywhere.
Now she reaches home crying loudly and now the mom really can not recognize the battered girl.
She is taken into the house and the little one explains how she came back as a winner from her little trip. The sixth one has learnt her lesson and promises to share the eats and ony eat her share (hhaha) and they live happily ever after.
I have seen in life, many times it is the 'amma amma..' story syndrome, and when you demand something you don't get it and when you are prepared to accept and give the choice to the other person you get a better deal.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
cowardice or tolerance
Where to draw a line regarding these two. We see lot of unrest and terrorist activities around the world. It is due to the intolerance of other 'religion, belief, people of different ethinic background, langauge, color, creed, caste add anything including gender'
This is leaving the people and youth in general confused as to how to react. If you just stop reacting to such things I personally feel that the violence will abate(reduce) as the theory of revenge 'leg for leg, hand for hand and life for life' will end up more people being killed. But what happens when we just don't react, and you end up being coward not standing up to the right cause. won't it encourage the person indulging in violence and increase it.
We in India have lost so much because of tolerance. We are putting up with corrupt politicians and officials, the harassment of local goondas and in the lowest denomination the black mail of auto drivers who either charge you exorbitantly or simply tamper with the meter.
How many of them you can fight every day for situations you keep encoutering in your day to day life. The irresponsible ration officer who thinks what you have is a bogus card simply because you did not draw your ration for few months, or the officer in the medical directorate who happens to be a medical doctor who harrasses you for an internship for your daughter by making you stand there for days on end just to harass you because he knows from your face that you are a brahmin and he thinks he is avenging for what his forefathers underwent under your forefathers. The list continues including the experiences in the Indian Embassies outside India where they treat Indian citizens as s...
Certain cases you are incapable of reacting as you need the work to be done and put up with all the nonsense.(harassment)
Some times you try to fight when you know there is no big stake which will be lost by fighting. (like in the autoriksha case the worst is you might get hit). Many a time you let your anger by shouting after coming home and sometimes there is some big argument among the family members (without understanding) who interestingly are saying the same point but in different ways and all shouting because each one is saying it in his own way. After making a big issue of such incidents we think we have done our share and get on with life without actually taking any action about the actual incident.
Is this Cowardice or is there a forum for common man where he can register his/her protest so that something comes positive about it.
Tolerance when we are on the other shoe this is what we expect. How can we explain a person who works for us at our home minimum 2 hours a day, without taking a single day of leave, we pay her a pittance of 500rs a month. we are paying per hour less than 10rs. We expect her to be tolerant and happy when we give her some of our old clothes and think that we have done a great charity. We expect her to be tolerant when we go past her with our latest cars and when she is walking fast to go to her next stop for 2 more hours of same cleaning and mopping.
But if every one stops becoming tolerant and starts taking law into their hands we will end up in anarchy. So I honestly don't know if we are cowards or tolerant and where to draw the line. So we take each issue at a time and react according to the situation , the importance to us, our mental make up at that time.
If each individual in Power dicides to do something which will make a difference to the common people the situation might improve or am I again passing on the responsibility as I am not in the Power circle.
This is leaving the people and youth in general confused as to how to react. If you just stop reacting to such things I personally feel that the violence will abate(reduce) as the theory of revenge 'leg for leg, hand for hand and life for life' will end up more people being killed. But what happens when we just don't react, and you end up being coward not standing up to the right cause. won't it encourage the person indulging in violence and increase it.
We in India have lost so much because of tolerance. We are putting up with corrupt politicians and officials, the harassment of local goondas and in the lowest denomination the black mail of auto drivers who either charge you exorbitantly or simply tamper with the meter.
How many of them you can fight every day for situations you keep encoutering in your day to day life. The irresponsible ration officer who thinks what you have is a bogus card simply because you did not draw your ration for few months, or the officer in the medical directorate who happens to be a medical doctor who harrasses you for an internship for your daughter by making you stand there for days on end just to harass you because he knows from your face that you are a brahmin and he thinks he is avenging for what his forefathers underwent under your forefathers. The list continues including the experiences in the Indian Embassies outside India where they treat Indian citizens as s...
Certain cases you are incapable of reacting as you need the work to be done and put up with all the nonsense.(harassment)
Some times you try to fight when you know there is no big stake which will be lost by fighting. (like in the autoriksha case the worst is you might get hit). Many a time you let your anger by shouting after coming home and sometimes there is some big argument among the family members (without understanding) who interestingly are saying the same point but in different ways and all shouting because each one is saying it in his own way. After making a big issue of such incidents we think we have done our share and get on with life without actually taking any action about the actual incident.
Is this Cowardice or is there a forum for common man where he can register his/her protest so that something comes positive about it.
Tolerance when we are on the other shoe this is what we expect. How can we explain a person who works for us at our home minimum 2 hours a day, without taking a single day of leave, we pay her a pittance of 500rs a month. we are paying per hour less than 10rs. We expect her to be tolerant and happy when we give her some of our old clothes and think that we have done a great charity. We expect her to be tolerant when we go past her with our latest cars and when she is walking fast to go to her next stop for 2 more hours of same cleaning and mopping.
But if every one stops becoming tolerant and starts taking law into their hands we will end up in anarchy. So I honestly don't know if we are cowards or tolerant and where to draw the line. So we take each issue at a time and react according to the situation , the importance to us, our mental make up at that time.
If each individual in Power dicides to do something which will make a difference to the common people the situation might improve or am I again passing on the responsibility as I am not in the Power circle.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Preconceived notions
We tend to generalize everything. We have this preconceived notions about everything.
what I see here in United states of America a bout the common people makes me feel that my ideas about them in general is wrong. They are very family oriented and very attached to their family. We have this notion that every other day they just divorce for the sake of divorcing the spouse. The divorce rate may be high but that is not the general rule. There are scores and scores of people who lead a life like us with their family.
I always used to think that americans, 'oh they just send their kids out of the home when they turn 18'. It was as if they just say 'come on you are 18 so please get out'. It is not so. There are many kids who do their college as day scholars and only if they go to the university which is in a different place, they stay in a dorm or take an apartment and they do come home for holidays and week ends! They do live an independent life and try to support themselves as much as possible.
I had this notion that here every body will be up till midnight partying. Actually Americans are the ones who are really early birds so to say. They get up very early and evening they finish their dinner or supper or what ever they call it by 6 p.m. ( 3 p.m. is evening for them and 8 p.m. is night and bedtime) Which ever place I have been I see them getting out of the house by 7. a.m. and come home at around 4.30 /5 p.m. Since they don't have the benefit of extended family one of the spouses come back from work around 4.30 to be home when the children arrive from school.
They have a great regard for family values and give importance to family.
There will be always exceptions to rule and one should never generalize.
what I see here in United states of America a bout the common people makes me feel that my ideas about them in general is wrong. They are very family oriented and very attached to their family. We have this notion that every other day they just divorce for the sake of divorcing the spouse. The divorce rate may be high but that is not the general rule. There are scores and scores of people who lead a life like us with their family.
I always used to think that americans, 'oh they just send their kids out of the home when they turn 18'. It was as if they just say 'come on you are 18 so please get out'. It is not so. There are many kids who do their college as day scholars and only if they go to the university which is in a different place, they stay in a dorm or take an apartment and they do come home for holidays and week ends! They do live an independent life and try to support themselves as much as possible.
I had this notion that here every body will be up till midnight partying. Actually Americans are the ones who are really early birds so to say. They get up very early and evening they finish their dinner or supper or what ever they call it by 6 p.m. ( 3 p.m. is evening for them and 8 p.m. is night and bedtime) Which ever place I have been I see them getting out of the house by 7. a.m. and come home at around 4.30 /5 p.m. Since they don't have the benefit of extended family one of the spouses come back from work around 4.30 to be home when the children arrive from school.
They have a great regard for family values and give importance to family.
There will be always exceptions to rule and one should never generalize.
Team Work
The other day Tejas came home from school and said we all missed out on free time. I asked for what? He said we were all slow in cleaning up and so we all lost on our free time.
Yeah he was talking about his school activity.
I have been observing the kid from the day he has started going to school here. I find now that he automatically, trashes the chocolate cover in the dust bin, and automatically says thanks, when ever I give him any thing. Initially I was worried about his schooling here. He had done his first standard in India and he was able to write very well in cursive hand, he could say by rote the tables upto 10, and in addition he was able to write in kannada also. First few days of his schooling here I was disspointed with the methods of teaching here, and was thinking whether it is a come down for the kid .
Now I am slowly coming to understand that it is about the behaviour and way of life they teach here rather than lessons and they learn the lessons as a byproduct. Once again I have learnt lesson not to jump to conclusion.
The kids do every thing as a team. It is the class which behaves good or bad and not the individual child. He says our class will lose out if we do this or that wrong. Each child takes some snack for the class once a month (the turn comes once a month) so that he can share it with the class. He is supposed to take what ever he likes. So now Tejas searches to get what he likes and loves to distribute it to class in the snack time.
Each child is assigned a job and and jobs are named as door holder,(has to hold the door for others) line leader,(is responsible for forming a line while going to the class) calendar changer(responsible for changing the day for yesterday, today and tomorrow in the calendar), lunch box helper(should keep all the lunch box in a particular place) etc. Some days he comes home and tells me sadly I did not get any job today.
Some times he tells me that some body's mom comes and helps them out in writing and also in arranging the party (fall party for example for halloween day) I am told parents can do voluntary work in assisting the teacher in the class. How sweet.
Each child has a desk and four of them form a table.
No child is compared with the other. When I see his writings which he brings in his home folder (he does not carry any book just a folder called home folder and a lunch box) I ask him how the others performed. He says I don't know I did not see the other's paper.
By and large I see a lot of subtle but welcome change in his behaviour. When I saw him and other kids waving happily to the bus driver yesterday I felt real happy.
They make the kids think on their own. For subtraction he says each child is asked to arrive at the number 2. It is like a game. he came and played that with me saying 31 - 29 is 2 and so on. and was telling me when some kid started going to thousand and got stuck the teacher said it seems don't go beyond 100 . He said so we can not go beyond that number from tomorrow for other problems.
There are certain things which can be added from our system. The tables can be learnt by rote as it is so easy for kids to remember and it is so useful when they grow up. certain simple multiplication they can just recollect so easily because of the rote system. The kids have to be asked to write a little more as the importance is given to reading than writing at this stage here.
I heard a friend in K.L. who lived in USA telling me that once the kids in USA come to Grade 5 they really find it tough to write as they are not used
By and large children are taught to share and do things as a team without losing the individuality.
Yeah he was talking about his school activity.
I have been observing the kid from the day he has started going to school here. I find now that he automatically, trashes the chocolate cover in the dust bin, and automatically says thanks, when ever I give him any thing. Initially I was worried about his schooling here. He had done his first standard in India and he was able to write very well in cursive hand, he could say by rote the tables upto 10, and in addition he was able to write in kannada also. First few days of his schooling here I was disspointed with the methods of teaching here, and was thinking whether it is a come down for the kid .
Now I am slowly coming to understand that it is about the behaviour and way of life they teach here rather than lessons and they learn the lessons as a byproduct. Once again I have learnt lesson not to jump to conclusion.
The kids do every thing as a team. It is the class which behaves good or bad and not the individual child. He says our class will lose out if we do this or that wrong. Each child takes some snack for the class once a month (the turn comes once a month) so that he can share it with the class. He is supposed to take what ever he likes. So now Tejas searches to get what he likes and loves to distribute it to class in the snack time.
Each child is assigned a job and and jobs are named as door holder,(has to hold the door for others) line leader,(is responsible for forming a line while going to the class) calendar changer(responsible for changing the day for yesterday, today and tomorrow in the calendar), lunch box helper(should keep all the lunch box in a particular place) etc. Some days he comes home and tells me sadly I did not get any job today.
Some times he tells me that some body's mom comes and helps them out in writing and also in arranging the party (fall party for example for halloween day) I am told parents can do voluntary work in assisting the teacher in the class. How sweet.
Each child has a desk and four of them form a table.
No child is compared with the other. When I see his writings which he brings in his home folder (he does not carry any book just a folder called home folder and a lunch box) I ask him how the others performed. He says I don't know I did not see the other's paper.
By and large I see a lot of subtle but welcome change in his behaviour. When I saw him and other kids waving happily to the bus driver yesterday I felt real happy.
They make the kids think on their own. For subtraction he says each child is asked to arrive at the number 2. It is like a game. he came and played that with me saying 31 - 29 is 2 and so on. and was telling me when some kid started going to thousand and got stuck the teacher said it seems don't go beyond 100 . He said so we can not go beyond that number from tomorrow for other problems.
There are certain things which can be added from our system. The tables can be learnt by rote as it is so easy for kids to remember and it is so useful when they grow up. certain simple multiplication they can just recollect so easily because of the rote system. The kids have to be asked to write a little more as the importance is given to reading than writing at this stage here.
I heard a friend in K.L. who lived in USA telling me that once the kids in USA come to Grade 5 they really find it tough to write as they are not used
By and large children are taught to share and do things as a team without losing the individuality.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Bureaucrats
Heavy rains every where headlines are screeching. Bangalore and Chennai Army called, this is the other headline I am seeing in 'Samachar' on the net.
Well this set me to think what next. Great Chennai will not have water problem this summer, and over head tanks can be filled twice a day in our apartment. But what about roads man? Is it not going to be a nightmare to commute on these roads if it is already not . I am already reading about the conditions of roads in Bangalore. Who is going to set right all these?
We are always used to blaming the politicians. We know they are third rated and we strongly feel so, justifying ourselves for not entering politics. The Devegowdas and the Lallus prove that our hunch or feeling is absolutely right.
Our only hope is the Bureaucrats. But the way in which they work is just unpardonable. They just lack the intiative and they just keep passing the buck and don't want to take any responsibility. There are many roads which are already redone only in papers every thing till the minute details being kept in record, but alas there are no actual roads. No wonder our people are so good in virtual reality fields.
I have seen many retired officers, boasting they did this and that. All they do while in office, is just stall the work, by raising some objections some querries, for some small detail, when actually they don't have the back bone to stand up to the political boss for their convictions. They Yes Sir their bosses and the political bosses and harass the people who work for them or with them. The so called Government auditors , will be scrutanizing for some small aberrations , but close their eyes while lakhs and crores of rupees are being swindled. This probably they do to calm their conciousness that they are adhereing to the rules and going by the books.
What we need is not only honest officers, but more than honesty it is people who can deliver and get things done is what is needed for us. I am not saying we don't need honest people. I am saying people who are honest enough but can bend the books, for the common good who can use their discretion in interpreteing the rules so that it works out for the common good is what is needed for todays scenario.
Our bureaucracy is half filled with corrupt officers. About these we know and we can curse them and hope one day they are caught and punished if not at least are shamed if they have what is called ' shame'.
But the other half are the ones to be blamed more, who just don't do any work (they are the one who will be in the office working late hours) but just go on finding objections to every proposal, and increase the correspondence keep on asking querries and get transferred or promoted and retire one fine day just to boast to all and sundry how they did (not do) this and that.
India is kept moving ahead (I suppose) because of some few officers who are actually good, like the collective will of bureacrats, in 'Melur' in Srirangam saved the town from the breech in the cauvery who took and organized the help of local youth also.
I hope at least this time they rise up to the occasion and with what ever money is allocated they get to spend half of them in actually repairing and laying the roads.
Well this set me to think what next. Great Chennai will not have water problem this summer, and over head tanks can be filled twice a day in our apartment. But what about roads man? Is it not going to be a nightmare to commute on these roads if it is already not . I am already reading about the conditions of roads in Bangalore. Who is going to set right all these?
We are always used to blaming the politicians. We know they are third rated and we strongly feel so, justifying ourselves for not entering politics. The Devegowdas and the Lallus prove that our hunch or feeling is absolutely right.
Our only hope is the Bureaucrats. But the way in which they work is just unpardonable. They just lack the intiative and they just keep passing the buck and don't want to take any responsibility. There are many roads which are already redone only in papers every thing till the minute details being kept in record, but alas there are no actual roads. No wonder our people are so good in virtual reality fields.
I have seen many retired officers, boasting they did this and that. All they do while in office, is just stall the work, by raising some objections some querries, for some small detail, when actually they don't have the back bone to stand up to the political boss for their convictions. They Yes Sir their bosses and the political bosses and harass the people who work for them or with them. The so called Government auditors , will be scrutanizing for some small aberrations , but close their eyes while lakhs and crores of rupees are being swindled. This probably they do to calm their conciousness that they are adhereing to the rules and going by the books.
What we need is not only honest officers, but more than honesty it is people who can deliver and get things done is what is needed for us. I am not saying we don't need honest people. I am saying people who are honest enough but can bend the books, for the common good who can use their discretion in interpreteing the rules so that it works out for the common good is what is needed for todays scenario.
Our bureaucracy is half filled with corrupt officers. About these we know and we can curse them and hope one day they are caught and punished if not at least are shamed if they have what is called ' shame'.
But the other half are the ones to be blamed more, who just don't do any work (they are the one who will be in the office working late hours) but just go on finding objections to every proposal, and increase the correspondence keep on asking querries and get transferred or promoted and retire one fine day just to boast to all and sundry how they did (not do) this and that.
India is kept moving ahead (I suppose) because of some few officers who are actually good, like the collective will of bureacrats, in 'Melur' in Srirangam saved the town from the breech in the cauvery who took and organized the help of local youth also.
I hope at least this time they rise up to the occasion and with what ever money is allocated they get to spend half of them in actually repairing and laying the roads.
Observations
As the Gasolene (read petrol) prices are increasing there are lot of things which I observe as a passing visitor to this country America.
We happen to live in a State (Iowa) which is in the midwest . America basically has vast streches of land and it is a very very young country . When they built this country they built the cities far and wide and even a moderately small place like where we live (Desmoines) is far flung. Even for basic necessity like grocery and milk one has to go a few miles say 5 miles. So without a vehicle (car) virtually living is just not possible. There is no public transport system at all. For that matter surprisingly except for in New york, I have not travelled or seen a public transport system, in Ralleigh, (north carolina) Memphis(tennesse) Tuscon (Arizona) or this place.
I see even Universities are quite big and to move from one department to another you need a vehicle. I don's see that many bicycles also inside the campus and almost all the students have cars. So basically the whole structure depends on individuals having a vehicle to commute.
While planning the importance was not given for the public transport system. Probabaly they took the cheap petrol for granted, like they take so many other things for granted.
I am told by anand that in contrast public transport system is very good in Europe even in small places. He says you can just commute by trams and buses which are very good and about the inter city trains I have heard so much. He says Europeans are very much aware of enviromental issues and many people use the bicycle to avoid pollution. May be it is because the petrol is quite expensive in Europe and they are health conscious too.
He was saying there were lot of clean and neat small stores every where so that you can buy whatever you want without having to travel long distance.
Coming back to America, anand was saying he could see many neighbour hood small stores in washington dc (like our old chettiar kadai?)which sell many things unlike in the cities which I have mentioned you have only the chain of super markets, like Walmart, Target , etc etc. .... This concept of small neighbourhood stores help people so that they need not have to commute every week just to buy those much needed groceries.
I was thinking of Mumbai's suburbs , each of which is a city in itself which contains everything from, stores to schools to hospitals to college to what not. So many of mumbaikars don't move out of the suburbs except for work which of course again is a night mare.
So I can visualize in America, in a few years down the lane many small shops coming in each or some of the housing complexes and those who take the intiative and start these shops are going to make real money.
My wishful thinking is that some invention helps in making solar energy cheaper and viable so that commuting does not become costly.
One added advantage of small shops is at least it will put an end to the monopoly of big chain of stores which kills the small business.
We happen to live in a State (Iowa) which is in the midwest . America basically has vast streches of land and it is a very very young country . When they built this country they built the cities far and wide and even a moderately small place like where we live (Desmoines) is far flung. Even for basic necessity like grocery and milk one has to go a few miles say 5 miles. So without a vehicle (car) virtually living is just not possible. There is no public transport system at all. For that matter surprisingly except for in New york, I have not travelled or seen a public transport system, in Ralleigh, (north carolina) Memphis(tennesse) Tuscon (Arizona) or this place.
I see even Universities are quite big and to move from one department to another you need a vehicle. I don's see that many bicycles also inside the campus and almost all the students have cars. So basically the whole structure depends on individuals having a vehicle to commute.
While planning the importance was not given for the public transport system. Probabaly they took the cheap petrol for granted, like they take so many other things for granted.
I am told by anand that in contrast public transport system is very good in Europe even in small places. He says you can just commute by trams and buses which are very good and about the inter city trains I have heard so much. He says Europeans are very much aware of enviromental issues and many people use the bicycle to avoid pollution. May be it is because the petrol is quite expensive in Europe and they are health conscious too.
He was saying there were lot of clean and neat small stores every where so that you can buy whatever you want without having to travel long distance.
Coming back to America, anand was saying he could see many neighbour hood small stores in washington dc (like our old chettiar kadai?)which sell many things unlike in the cities which I have mentioned you have only the chain of super markets, like Walmart, Target , etc etc. .... This concept of small neighbourhood stores help people so that they need not have to commute every week just to buy those much needed groceries.
I was thinking of Mumbai's suburbs , each of which is a city in itself which contains everything from, stores to schools to hospitals to college to what not. So many of mumbaikars don't move out of the suburbs except for work which of course again is a night mare.
So I can visualize in America, in a few years down the lane many small shops coming in each or some of the housing complexes and those who take the intiative and start these shops are going to make real money.
My wishful thinking is that some invention helps in making solar energy cheaper and viable so that commuting does not become costly.
One added advantage of small shops is at least it will put an end to the monopoly of big chain of stores which kills the small business.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Winter
Winter is slowly setting in here in Desmoines in Iowa. The temperatures are dipping rapidly. We could see some snow flakes flying in the air the other day.
I am able to appreciate the sunny climate more now I suppose. The factor which is called wind chill is always some few degrees less than the actual temperature. This means you can not go for walks even with all the winter clothings. The cold wind will blow on your face and you just can not walk.
Kids look very smart and plumpy with their plump big jackets and cap and gloves and what not. Poor thing we only at home know about their running nose, cough and cold when the weather change sets in and above all their boredom sitting at home in the evenings and the parental problem of how to engage them and make them get some exercise so that they can spend their energy and not behave cranky.
I always used to think I love winter, especially the snowing and the white snow every where pictures I used to love. When I went to Srinagar/Kashmir in summer I told the localites, how I would love to come to Srinagar in winter, they laughed on my face and said ' you won't survive the 10 inch snow and it is not lovely as you imagine' . I took that comment in my stride and few years later when my brother was there on bank inspection duty during winter I wrote to him saying how he must be enjoying the snow fall. Pat came the reply, Yeah when ever outside, I am enjoying as much as a man can without hands, as all the time I have to keep my gloved hands inside the pockets of my coat, otherwise I will be left with frozen fingers.
Jokes apart, actual winter has not yet started here and I have seen the real snowfall in New york in the height of winter, where I ventured with anu to go and see the ruins of 9/11. We just could not stand there for more than 2 minutes to take pictures, even after fully covered from head to toe.
It is human nature I suppose that I will say about the unbearable heat of chennai or even Delhi in the height of summer how unbearable it is.
But I have come to appreciate the sunny interface and see the tv for the temperature outside and if it says anything above 55 F, I put on my shoes and coat and go for my running/walking outside.
I am able to appreciate the sunny climate more now I suppose. The factor which is called wind chill is always some few degrees less than the actual temperature. This means you can not go for walks even with all the winter clothings. The cold wind will blow on your face and you just can not walk.
Kids look very smart and plumpy with their plump big jackets and cap and gloves and what not. Poor thing we only at home know about their running nose, cough and cold when the weather change sets in and above all their boredom sitting at home in the evenings and the parental problem of how to engage them and make them get some exercise so that they can spend their energy and not behave cranky.
I always used to think I love winter, especially the snowing and the white snow every where pictures I used to love. When I went to Srinagar/Kashmir in summer I told the localites, how I would love to come to Srinagar in winter, they laughed on my face and said ' you won't survive the 10 inch snow and it is not lovely as you imagine' . I took that comment in my stride and few years later when my brother was there on bank inspection duty during winter I wrote to him saying how he must be enjoying the snow fall. Pat came the reply, Yeah when ever outside, I am enjoying as much as a man can without hands, as all the time I have to keep my gloved hands inside the pockets of my coat, otherwise I will be left with frozen fingers.
Jokes apart, actual winter has not yet started here and I have seen the real snowfall in New york in the height of winter, where I ventured with anu to go and see the ruins of 9/11. We just could not stand there for more than 2 minutes to take pictures, even after fully covered from head to toe.
It is human nature I suppose that I will say about the unbearable heat of chennai or even Delhi in the height of summer how unbearable it is.
But I have come to appreciate the sunny interface and see the tv for the temperature outside and if it says anything above 55 F, I put on my shoes and coat and go for my running/walking outside.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Clinton
I have been reading the auto biography of Clinton (My Life) I was impressed by what I read. It is what he says about his Inagural address he gave as the Governor of Arkansas, much before he became the president of United States of America.
I wish this becomes a standard for our Beurocrats , if not for our politicians.
I said some things in that speech that I believe as strongly today as I did then, words that capture what I have tried to do in all my public work, includintg the presidency:
For as long as I can remember, I have believed passionately in the cause of equal opportunity, and I will do what I can to advance it.
For as long as I can remember , I have deplored the arbitrary and abusive exercise of power by those in authority, and I will do what I can to prevent it.
For as long as I can remember, I have rued the waste and lack of order and discipline that are too often in evidence in governmental affairs, and I will do what I can to diminish them.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved the land, air and water of Arkansas, and I will do what I can to protect them.
For as long as I can remember, I have wished to ease the burdens of life for those who, through no fault of their own, are old or weak or needy, and I will try to help them.
For as long as I can remember, I have been saddened by the sight of so many of our independent, industrious people working too hard for too little because of inadequate economic opportunities, and I will do what I can to enhance them.....
I wish this becomes a standard for our Beurocrats , if not for our politicians.
I said some things in that speech that I believe as strongly today as I did then, words that capture what I have tried to do in all my public work, includintg the presidency:
For as long as I can remember, I have believed passionately in the cause of equal opportunity, and I will do what I can to advance it.
For as long as I can remember , I have deplored the arbitrary and abusive exercise of power by those in authority, and I will do what I can to prevent it.
For as long as I can remember, I have rued the waste and lack of order and discipline that are too often in evidence in governmental affairs, and I will do what I can to diminish them.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved the land, air and water of Arkansas, and I will do what I can to protect them.
For as long as I can remember, I have wished to ease the burdens of life for those who, through no fault of their own, are old or weak or needy, and I will try to help them.
For as long as I can remember, I have been saddened by the sight of so many of our independent, industrious people working too hard for too little because of inadequate economic opportunities, and I will do what I can to enhance them.....
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Good thing about Indians
I have written too many complaining articles. Let me write something postitive even though it appears like a left handed compliment.
The first time I went abroad it was to malaysia in 93 December via Singapore. I had few hours in singapore to catch my next flight to K.L. I was sitting in the lounge watching people around.
I happen to meet an Indian travelling in the same Air India flight who was travelling to India as the flight was going back to India via K.L.
He was a professor from IISC Bangalore. I was happy as usual to see a Bangalorean.
He was coming from some African country after attending a seminar. He said he was booked in one of the sleek airlines (I don't remember which one) which get the efficieny awards all the time. He missed his connecting flight to India after landing in singapore as his flight from Africa was delayed. When he approached the ground staff he was told curtly but politely that all flights are full and they can not help him in any way and will see if any seats are available on the coming days. They said it is not their fault and left him to fend for himself. He then approached AirIndia and some good fellow Indian helped him to get a seat in that particular flight after great difficulty as it was a very busy holiday season. It was two days since he had come to singapore and living in airport with few dollars in his pocket. He said if you want efficiency and smartness you go to these great airlines. If you want inefficient but humanitarian airlines always go to Air India. But for me it is this humanitarian side of our country which has helped. poor fella was so happy to nibble at the cake served indifferntly by the aged airhostess, saying that this is the decent meal I am having in two days.
This humanitarian consideration I have also seen. The immigration department of other countries are for that matter embassies are very strict and you sort of get intimidated and wonder always if you will get that visa .
I happened to be in the police commissioner's office in Bangalore for tejas's visa(Indian visa) extention which acts as an immigration dept. in Bangalore. I was waiting for my work to be done and watched as some bangla desis approaching the counter. They had some problem, they were students who did not get their reservations in train to go back and so their visa was expiring before that date. I heard the clerk shouting at them but finally I could see that he did help them and gave them that extra two or three days they wanted. This is what I call the Indian humanitarian side and I never felt intimidated at that office but did get irritated with so many forms to fill and so many criteria to meet, to get the visa. If only we can add the right amount of efficiency with this it will be nice I suppose.
The first time I went abroad it was to malaysia in 93 December via Singapore. I had few hours in singapore to catch my next flight to K.L. I was sitting in the lounge watching people around.
I happen to meet an Indian travelling in the same Air India flight who was travelling to India as the flight was going back to India via K.L.
He was a professor from IISC Bangalore. I was happy as usual to see a Bangalorean.
He was coming from some African country after attending a seminar. He said he was booked in one of the sleek airlines (I don't remember which one) which get the efficieny awards all the time. He missed his connecting flight to India after landing in singapore as his flight from Africa was delayed. When he approached the ground staff he was told curtly but politely that all flights are full and they can not help him in any way and will see if any seats are available on the coming days. They said it is not their fault and left him to fend for himself. He then approached AirIndia and some good fellow Indian helped him to get a seat in that particular flight after great difficulty as it was a very busy holiday season. It was two days since he had come to singapore and living in airport with few dollars in his pocket. He said if you want efficiency and smartness you go to these great airlines. If you want inefficient but humanitarian airlines always go to Air India. But for me it is this humanitarian side of our country which has helped. poor fella was so happy to nibble at the cake served indifferntly by the aged airhostess, saying that this is the decent meal I am having in two days.
This humanitarian consideration I have also seen. The immigration department of other countries are for that matter embassies are very strict and you sort of get intimidated and wonder always if you will get that visa .
I happened to be in the police commissioner's office in Bangalore for tejas's visa(Indian visa) extention which acts as an immigration dept. in Bangalore. I was waiting for my work to be done and watched as some bangla desis approaching the counter. They had some problem, they were students who did not get their reservations in train to go back and so their visa was expiring before that date. I heard the clerk shouting at them but finally I could see that he did help them and gave them that extra two or three days they wanted. This is what I call the Indian humanitarian side and I never felt intimidated at that office but did get irritated with so many forms to fill and so many criteria to meet, to get the visa. If only we can add the right amount of efficiency with this it will be nice I suppose.
pimeapple rasam
let me try for a change to post a reciepe.
pineapple rasam
boil puli (imli) thanni, (can make it with a (tamarind paste) puli paste of 1 tea spoon) salt and sambhar powder. cut tomotoes 1 or 2 and put it . add asofoetida. let this mixture boil till the podi vasanai(smell) goes. cook the tur daal in water in a pressure cooker. take the cooked tur dal a little add water and mix the dal nicely to make it watery. To the boiling mixture on the stove , add a tea spoon of coriander powder, one tea spoon of jeera powder and if available one half t spoon of mysore rasam powder. now add the watery dal little by little. mean while in a kadai put little ghee and jeera and fry cut pineapples. use either fresh cut ones or use the tinned pineapples available in market. fry for about 5 to 10 minutes in low fire and add this to the rasam which is about to come to boil with all ingredients. if you want to enhance the taste you can add a little bit of coconut milk at this point by squeezing out the milk from grated coconut adding hot water to it. This is optional. when it comes to a boil add cut coriander leaves and switch off the stove.
pineapple rasam is ready.
pineapple rasam
boil puli (imli) thanni, (can make it with a (tamarind paste) puli paste of 1 tea spoon) salt and sambhar powder. cut tomotoes 1 or 2 and put it . add asofoetida. let this mixture boil till the podi vasanai(smell) goes. cook the tur daal in water in a pressure cooker. take the cooked tur dal a little add water and mix the dal nicely to make it watery. To the boiling mixture on the stove , add a tea spoon of coriander powder, one tea spoon of jeera powder and if available one half t spoon of mysore rasam powder. now add the watery dal little by little. mean while in a kadai put little ghee and jeera and fry cut pineapples. use either fresh cut ones or use the tinned pineapples available in market. fry for about 5 to 10 minutes in low fire and add this to the rasam which is about to come to boil with all ingredients. if you want to enhance the taste you can add a little bit of coconut milk at this point by squeezing out the milk from grated coconut adding hot water to it. This is optional. when it comes to a boil add cut coriander leaves and switch off the stove.
pineapple rasam is ready.
Dreams of little shivu
This is again an article written by my friend Dr. Ramamani and sent to me by mail some time ago. This makes an interesting reading. I am blogging it.
Dreams of little shivu
I was posted in first shift in male ward for fifteen days. I took over the ward from the previous night staff nurse who gave me charge of the patients, as was the routine. All the twenty beds in the ward were occupied. There were two new admissions the previous day, one was a middle aged man with history of accidental fall from scooter and the other a young boy of about 8 admitted with vomiting and tiredness.
His name was Shivashankar. He was actually ten years old as recorded in hospital case sheet. He was small built with narrow bone structure, he had a shriveled body with sunken eyes. Investigations of boy revealed he was a juvenile diabetic.
Doctors ordered insulin injections 3 times a day for him. Whenever I carried insulin loaded syringe towards him the boy would show his left little finger and would disappear into toilet. It required 15 minutes of coaxing by his mother and a lot of luring with goodies like murku to get him out of toilet. After his forcible extraction and deposition on bed, there would ensue a struggle between him, his mother and ward boy with me hiding the insulin syringe behind my back. My other nursing responsibilities for other patients would stall.
On the third day of my first shift I was relatively free after my lunch break. I called the boy and his mother to nurses’ station and had a chat with them. Always working amidst sick patients, talking to kids lightened us.
Chatting with him for a few minutes after lunch break became a routine as long as he stayed in hospital. The little boy started talking and slowly opened up his world to me. He told he was called Shivu at home. He talked about his school, his friends and the bullies in his class and his favourite games. He shared his past secret with me, how teacher caught him while he was opening his friend’s tiffin box. He played many games including hopscotch with his sister but his favourite game was cricket. He liked driving and wanted to become driver, not an ordinary bus driver but a driver of double decker.
On the last day of his stay he told me that I can call him Shivu and that he would call me “sister auntie.”
He was admitted twice later in the same year for other problems when our friendship thickened. As soon as I entered he would shout “sister auntie” to draw my attention and then greet me with a squeaky “Good morning.” He volunteered to assist me in my work. As part of assisting he would give the small bottles meant to collect urine for checking sugar to other diabetic patients in ward and would arrange them on the stand according to number written on the bottle. As I dipped the dipstick meant to find the amount of sugar in diabetic patients he would watch fascinatingly the change in colour in dipstick. He picked up reading the percentage of sugar in urine within a day as he watched the change of colour in dipstick. From next day as I dipped the dipstick he would loudly announce the percentage of sugar like an umpire in a game and I would enter the results in patient’s chart. It was a great game for him. I heard from staff nurses from other shifts that he did the same assistance to them also.
During his last admission he discussed his problems during our chats. He told me he loved sweets but his mother had stopped preparing it. He wanted to know why he should not eat sweets. How could I explain to a little boy of 10 about lack of insulin in the body, about breakdown of sugar, about damage to organs if blood sugar is not controlled? I just told him sweets turn into poison in diabetic people and sweets prevents him from growing tall and he cannot drive a double decker when he grows into a big boy. The boy thought hard over my explanation. He asked whether he couldn’t play cricket if he ate sweets. When I answered in affirmative he looked disappointed. Finally he made a sort of wavering decision.
“Sister auntie” he said, “I will not ask for sweets.”
After a few seconds added “ I don’t like sweets”.
“I too don’t like sweets.” I lied.
“You too don’t like sweets?”
Our bondage of friendship grew thick from then onwards.
The other day I was coming out of hospital after my first shift. I heard the familiar squeaky voice calling behind me. “Sister auntie, sister auntie”. I turned back and saw Shivu. He had a gleam in his eyes and excitement in his voice. .
“Guess what?” he called out. “I saw Wasim Akram yesterday. I shook hands with him.” He started jumping after sharing the most exciting event of his life.
I remembered having read about Wasim Akram’s visit to Bangalore in newspaper and had seen his photograph along with diabetic children splashed over the front page of newspaper.
“Really?” I said.
“My doctor told me that he also has diabetes. Do you know he played cricket for Pakistan?” In the same breath he said, “I also want to play cricket just like him.”
“That is a sweet dream.” I said.
Dreams of little shivu
I was posted in first shift in male ward for fifteen days. I took over the ward from the previous night staff nurse who gave me charge of the patients, as was the routine. All the twenty beds in the ward were occupied. There were two new admissions the previous day, one was a middle aged man with history of accidental fall from scooter and the other a young boy of about 8 admitted with vomiting and tiredness.
His name was Shivashankar. He was actually ten years old as recorded in hospital case sheet. He was small built with narrow bone structure, he had a shriveled body with sunken eyes. Investigations of boy revealed he was a juvenile diabetic.
Doctors ordered insulin injections 3 times a day for him. Whenever I carried insulin loaded syringe towards him the boy would show his left little finger and would disappear into toilet. It required 15 minutes of coaxing by his mother and a lot of luring with goodies like murku to get him out of toilet. After his forcible extraction and deposition on bed, there would ensue a struggle between him, his mother and ward boy with me hiding the insulin syringe behind my back. My other nursing responsibilities for other patients would stall.
On the third day of my first shift I was relatively free after my lunch break. I called the boy and his mother to nurses’ station and had a chat with them. Always working amidst sick patients, talking to kids lightened us.
Chatting with him for a few minutes after lunch break became a routine as long as he stayed in hospital. The little boy started talking and slowly opened up his world to me. He told he was called Shivu at home. He talked about his school, his friends and the bullies in his class and his favourite games. He shared his past secret with me, how teacher caught him while he was opening his friend’s tiffin box. He played many games including hopscotch with his sister but his favourite game was cricket. He liked driving and wanted to become driver, not an ordinary bus driver but a driver of double decker.
On the last day of his stay he told me that I can call him Shivu and that he would call me “sister auntie.”
He was admitted twice later in the same year for other problems when our friendship thickened. As soon as I entered he would shout “sister auntie” to draw my attention and then greet me with a squeaky “Good morning.” He volunteered to assist me in my work. As part of assisting he would give the small bottles meant to collect urine for checking sugar to other diabetic patients in ward and would arrange them on the stand according to number written on the bottle. As I dipped the dipstick meant to find the amount of sugar in diabetic patients he would watch fascinatingly the change in colour in dipstick. He picked up reading the percentage of sugar in urine within a day as he watched the change of colour in dipstick. From next day as I dipped the dipstick he would loudly announce the percentage of sugar like an umpire in a game and I would enter the results in patient’s chart. It was a great game for him. I heard from staff nurses from other shifts that he did the same assistance to them also.
During his last admission he discussed his problems during our chats. He told me he loved sweets but his mother had stopped preparing it. He wanted to know why he should not eat sweets. How could I explain to a little boy of 10 about lack of insulin in the body, about breakdown of sugar, about damage to organs if blood sugar is not controlled? I just told him sweets turn into poison in diabetic people and sweets prevents him from growing tall and he cannot drive a double decker when he grows into a big boy. The boy thought hard over my explanation. He asked whether he couldn’t play cricket if he ate sweets. When I answered in affirmative he looked disappointed. Finally he made a sort of wavering decision.
“Sister auntie” he said, “I will not ask for sweets.”
After a few seconds added “ I don’t like sweets”.
“I too don’t like sweets.” I lied.
“You too don’t like sweets?”
Our bondage of friendship grew thick from then onwards.
The other day I was coming out of hospital after my first shift. I heard the familiar squeaky voice calling behind me. “Sister auntie, sister auntie”. I turned back and saw Shivu. He had a gleam in his eyes and excitement in his voice. .
“Guess what?” he called out. “I saw Wasim Akram yesterday. I shook hands with him.” He started jumping after sharing the most exciting event of his life.
I remembered having read about Wasim Akram’s visit to Bangalore in newspaper and had seen his photograph along with diabetic children splashed over the front page of newspaper.
“Really?” I said.
“My doctor told me that he also has diabetes. Do you know he played cricket for Pakistan?” In the same breath he said, “I also want to play cricket just like him.”
“That is a sweet dream.” I said.
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