A Celtic Bonanza...

Event : A Celtic Christmas
Group: The Boys of the Lough
Organizers: MSC-OPAS, TAMU
Date: November 29, 2005
Attendance: Rudder theater, almost full

The Boys of the Lough, gave the audience an aural treat of traditional Celtic music from Shetland, Ireland, Scotland, etc. with added flavours of Scandinavian music too. They further included a few non-religious music pieces. What made it all the more special was the variety of instruments at display (both visual and aural). Some of them were encountered by the author for the first time in his life. The ensemble included Mandolin, Citter, English Concertina, Fiddle, Flute, Whistle, Button Accordian, Melodeon and the Guitar.

Inferences:

1. Instrumental music is truly truly universal, transcending across all possible human barriers. The Hare's lament conveyed melancholy and despair while the Wren Polka No's 1 and 2 conveyed emotions of joy and excitement.

2. Music continues to prove its global appeal. It exists in a myriad of forms, both classical and non-classical. Each region in the world has evolved with some music form or the another. The author must admit that it is difficult to not compare the music forms for their sophestication, appeal and merits.

3. Such evolution from the fundamental notes emphasises the need for a strong fundamental basis for everything that we do in our lives.

All in all, a cherishable experience and a blessing.

People in our lives...

#1. Why do so many people come into our lives?
#2. Why do some people go beyond their means and limitations to help when it really matters?
#3. What does a friend mean to you?
#4. Why do some people knowingly/unknowingly help someone chase his/her dreams?
#5. Why do some people come as omens and provide us with valuable lessons and go away?

Everyone has a role to play in our lives. It is upto us to realize, acknowledge and thank them. Thanksgiving time. A simple thank you to one and all. In the end, it is just the individual who matters and his/her journey is what counts the most. Difficult though it might seem to love everyone, the universal fact is - "Every face has a story to tell worthy of respect and compassion".

Happy Thanksgiving!

The obvious....

What do you do when the "obvious" is not obvious to you?

What do you do when "intuitive" brings the fear in you?

I have often come across people, includes my own self, who throw around these words for added effectiveness whenever they talk (be it technical or non-technical). What does one do in such moments of despair? Attempt not to destroy the ignorance at the cost of acceptance among the circle or become an object of ridicule for not knowing what you should be knowing about in the first place.

This is an experiment that often proves to be enlightening and useful. Keep asking questions till the so called "obvious" things lose their obviousness. The outcome of the experiment is usually the same. We would realise that the entire world is a sham and the person (who becomes the guinea-pig by making those "obvious" and "intuitive" claims) is equally hollow and empty as one can be. It is not possible to know about all the things in the world. What one should call for is a change in the attitude of the people.

Respect a person's questions, both profound and silly. Accept your ignorance if you are truly ignorant. It doesn't really make sense to be in the veneer of a "know-it-all" when you actually do not know much. Guess this becomes all the more important for people involved in the domain of teaching. What does one do when a motivated and enthusiastic student with a keen willingness to learn asks simple questions that in fact takes one out of the blue?

As we progress in life, we get so very accustomed to the happenings, and we unfortunately forget the founding fundamental assumptions that we started with in the first place. We accept things as they are. We fail to question things. We fail to think outside the box. We are getting more and more entangled into a limited domain as we grow up. Is it the fault of the person or the society at large? I would end this post with this quote,

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.

This topic might have been covered in a different sense in this post. However, this question troubles the author a lot. Hence, he doesn't see as to why he shouldn't write once again about the obvious and intuitive aspects of the world and wait for answers.

A few drops of water....

The author was a witness to this amazingly funny event. Let me give a gist of the incident.

People were running here and there.

Some people were angry with themselves

Cos' they had forgotten one of their possessions

Seemingly prized and invaluable.

People who had that same accessory

Were proud of their own selves.

They had done something spectacular that day

And vanity was their virtue and sin.

How they looked down upon the first set of people?

Btw, what was the author doing out there?

He had lost that same "valuable" possession recently.

Yet, he was happy watching them and ...

Or so he thinks;

Or is it a case of sour grapes?

Now, let me not hold the suspense further. It was a slight drizzle on a hazy winter morning that lead to this chaos. Would a child have behaved in such a fashion as the adults in question. Believe me, this was of a truly universal nature and almost everyone out there, irrespective of caste, creed, sex, nationality, etc. were the "extras" in the comedy/tragedy. That "valuable" possession happened to be an umbrella and the "hero" in the comedy/tragedy. Most of them were in such a hurry that the author was wondering as to what they would be doing once they reached their final destination. How would the act of simply doing nothing and allowing the few drops of water caress their entire physical being seem to them?

Growing Up....

Why does it seem that everyone around you has grown up while you happen to be the eternally same soul? When you look down deep within yourself, you would realise as to how much you have changed. There is nothing permanent in life but change. This is very much true even amongst the dearest of friends. People who know one for eternity or know someone to the "T" would be more than surprised with the changes in someone.

I guess I need to write more on what I mean by growing up. As we grow up, we meet more and more new people, who definitely influence us. We become relatively more "mature" and world-conscious. And, yet, as adults, we seemingly begin to lose the inherent quality of a child - to ask and be curious about everything. "Life has become boring" is a complaint amongst many of us. It has become boring because we have made it so.

Anyway, getting back to the original topic of discussion, people change. So, how would it be to meet the people of the past? People whom you knew so well, and who knew you well too. Would it be plain joy or would there be apprehension too. Would each one understand the other again, now that both have changed a lot. What makes it all the more interesting is that each thinks that only the other has changed. I guess with mere acquaintances it doesn't really matter much. We would be happy to have met them. Period. Ironically, it is with the important people or the people in our circle of life that the many questions arise.

Lastly, why do so many people come into our lives?

PS: The reader is encouraged to read this and this for the sake of completeness.

Languages....

Why do languages seem to be more of a barrier? Each language has its own repertoire of beautiful works that it does seem highly impossible to appreciate their inherent beauties. To heighten the misery, there are these prejudiced and heavily jaundiced opinions on certain languages.

To add more salt into the wounds, certain works that were meant for ease of comprehension and for the layman; have become esoteric in nature to the people of today. While transliterations do thankfully exist, none of them do justice to the original work of art/ literature.

To name a few, (a not so comprehensive list)

• Thyagaraja Krithis in Telugu - highly philosophical in nature, yet comprehended by a few fortunate souls
• Purandaradasa Keerthanas in Kannada - ironically, simple in content and beautiful in compositions, meant for the layman
• Tirrukural in Tamil - words of wisdom from Tiruvalluvar
• Kabir, Rahim and the vocal compositions of Hindustani classical music in Hindi - profound philosophy in supposedly "simple" language
• Rabindrasangeet in Bengali - the songs of devotion, love, romance, nature, and patriotism
• Pablo Neruda's odes in Spanish - all types of love - both divine and materialistic find sweet mellifluous expressions in his poetry
• Rumi, Hafiz and Khayyam - beautiful poetry in Persian; when the transliterated works are unimaginably beautiful, then what can one say about the originals.
  
• Ghazals, Shers and Shayari's in Urdu
  
• The Gita, Vedas and the Upanishads in Sanksrit
• and so on....
  

What can one do with his/her ignorance of the languages? Doesn't instrumental music sound as the solution?

A Taste of India....

Event : Swaad 2005

Organized by : AID-TAMU

Venue : Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Date : November 3, 2005

Attendees : 600

AID-TAMU pulled it off in a grand spectacular fashion their biggest fundraiser yesterday - the annual Indian food festival at Texas A&M University with a set of around 30 dedicated, enthusiastic and motivated volunteers. The theme of this year's Swaad was "Festival of Lights" to coincide with Diwali. Organizing the event was a nightmare for the organizers themselves for cooking an assorted variety of exotic Indian dishes for 600 people was no mean achievement. The author was fortunate to have been a part of the volunteer team and was also responsible for the ambience/decoration of the hall.

AID-TAMU strived to bring about a taste of the magnificently rich and diverse Indian cultural heritage to the people of Bryan/ College Station community. The hall was decorated with a lot of lights of all possible kinds, with the prime objective, of lighting up the entire place. Handicrafts for sale, Mehendi tattoos for a reasonable price, Art exhibition consisting of collages and photographs, Rangoli, etc. were part of the learning tools about India provided by us for the attendees. Soft instrumental music (mostly Indian classical) was playing in the background. Further, there was a video show "Transcendental Emotions" that depicted the universal emotions of love, yearning, frustration, pathos, joy, bliss, etc. through the medium of songs from Indian Cinema (right from the 1950's to present).

The event was a grand success. The author was fortunate to have interacted with two American ladies, aged definitely 70 and above. They told him that they were fortunate to have been there and how much they had enjoyed everything that we had offered. People outside India need to have the right image of our own exotic India and the onus lies on us - the Indians - both the resident and the non-resident ones. Sadly, I have encountered people ( read some Indians ) who do nothing but criticize and comment on the problems of the country. What they fail to realise is that criticism without action is not the solution. It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

I am sure, that this event, would have been a great learning experience for one and all of the volunteers. Nevertheless, there are a few issues that need to be addressed and improved upon for the future Swaad's.

Happy Diwali...

Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya wishes its readers a very happy Diwali.

It is possible to bring a light into our own lives and other's lives in every possible, seemingly small and insignificant way.

Music - the road to salvation....

The author was treated to two scintillating Hindustani concerts this weekend. The concerts vindicate the truth that music is the road to salvation. The world couldn't have been any better. Nothing else seemed to matter. It was like a flying dream. There are certain things in the world that cannot be expressed. Expressions of Silence would be the best approach. Nevertheless, I want to write about these concerts and the musical aspects in my own humble way.

Hindustani Classical Music, with its highly romantic concepts of Ragas for the moods and the time of the day, does touch the heart of a person. This post is not meant to denigrate other forms that exist in the world. The emphasis is on the Hindustani form alone. All other forms converge to the road to salvation.

What was special about the two concerts was the universal nature of the recitals. Instrumental Khayals, could be appreciated by a western audience too. Languages often prove to be a barrier for the proper appreciation of music.

Concert #1 A Sitar Recital

A contemporary sitarist, of the Maihar Gharana, Sri. Partha Bose enthralled an audience of around 150 people, with his virtuousity on the sitar. Sri. Gourisankar accompanied him on the tabla. He started off with an elaborate essay of Raga Patadip, an afternoon raga. He ended with a light classical composition on Raga Khammaj.

An interview with Sri. Partha Bose can be found here.

Concert #2 Sarode, Sitar and Jugalbandhi Recitals

Dr. Shankar Bhattacharyya, a disciple of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Sahib since 1982, treated us to Raga Zila Kafi, a late afternoon raga, a mixture of Raga Kafi and Raga Zila. He followed with a short composition of Raga Tilak Kamod.

Sri. Indrajit Banerjee, a senior disciple of Kartick Kumar, a senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar, played three different Ragas - Desh, Charukeshi, and Piloo.

We were fortunate to witness a Jugalbandhi of Raga Manj Khammaj by these two musicians, that definitely reminded me of the great Jugalbandhi duo Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee.

One word that would best describe the performances - sparkling.

***

Words failed me. I was speechless. Silence would be the best way of expressing the aesthetic and emotional impact of the concert. This brings me back to the question of surrender. Is it all right to emotionally surrender to musical compostions? Is it all right to be just musically alive and break down each composition for a detailed analysis of the technical aspects. I feel that it is all right to emotionally surrender to a musical piece within the gambit of the technical aspects. Sounds vague, right? Well, music has been a road to spiritual bliss and emotional contentment. The rasas and the bhaavas of the compositions are for us to discern and appreciate. It is a circular loop. What starts with feelings and moods has to converge back to the same.

***

Isn't it a wonder that music had, has and would continue to hold its own appeal among the people of the world. Life without music, unimaginable and frightening.

Tell me your dreams...

Is it wrong to dream? It is one thing to dream, and an another to chase it. Wouldn't it be better to simply sit laidback and let time takes its own course. Why does it so happen that following your dream also comes with the heavy price of pain, hurt, tears and suffering?

As much as I love the concept of "The Alchemist", I seem to have these questions. Answers from my readers are more than welcome.

A different post at a different point of time.

Happy Dassehra....

Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya wishes its readers a Happy Dassehra.

May all your dreams come true.

PS: More than 1000 visitors since June 17, 2005.
A sincere thanks to one and all.

The Lens....

The human eye would undoubtedly be one of the best when it comes to the quality of the lens and the visions captured by it. Stored in the memory of the human brain, the pictures are often unerasable and deeply imprinted. The memories could be good or bad. What the heart understands, the mind does not and is merciless. Sadly, we take such wonderful functions for granted at times. The true incident cited over here, highlighted this fact in a rather embarassing manner for the author.

One of my friends had purchased a new state-of-the-art digital SLR camera with amazing features. We were naturally enthusiastic and had wanted to capture the beautiful small crescent and an adjoining "small" star on a night sky. What we finally managed to obtain was in no way comparable to what the human eye had captured. It merits mention, that we were amateurs in photography and didn't know the features provided by the camera as we would have desired. Nevertheless, the human eye would still be the best camera in the world.

Often, we are moved by wonderful photography. Photography is a medium where in a person can communicate with an another soul what he/she wants to convey. It is mostly a personal statement. While it is a good practice to appreciate the pictures captured by a camera; over reliance and dependence on a camera would only make us not appreciate the beautiful visions captured by our own eye.

Further, the vision gets modulated with the state of the mind. A beautiful vision might appear blurred due to a frenzied and frustrated state of mind. A worried mind is similar to over exposing a camera to light. We would then obviously fail to appreciate. I would treat this incident as a gentle reminder to me and to my readers to have that smile and look out for the beauty everywhere through our very own eyes.

The fine art of dancing.....

The author had two refreshing, and charmingly different experiences with the fine art of dancing. The stark contrasts in them would definitely bring upon a smile on any one's face. The purpose of this article is not to denigrate one art form over the another. The author, admits, out here, that he enjoyed both the performances. It is not that one is spiritually elevated over the another. The more and more we resist the emotions, whatever be them (incl. lust), the more and more they persist.

***

#1 Bellydancing

Courtesy: Turkish Festival, Houston, Oct 1 2005

Ms. Pinar, enthralled the audience consisting of young men, old men, children, women with her belly histrionics. She would have definitely put all those histrionic gyrators that we get to see in commercial Indian cinema to shame. Agreed that she was minimally clad, to just cover the woman in her, and that she would have definitely evoked emotions of lust in men, and envy in the women... thankully, there was more to it. Her control and mastery over her own belly was awesome. Swaying to the apt music, she definitely brought a smile on everyone's face. Needless to mention, she was the most popular and the bellydancing event the most anticipated event of the day.

#2 Bharata Natyam

Courtesy: SPIC MACAY, TAMU, Oct 2 2005

Mrs. Shirisha Shashank, a Bharata Natyam danseuse, enthralled the audience with her grace, charm and dance. Her eyes were brilliant and emoting appropriately the moods to be conveyed. Her recital of Jagadodharana(where she played the roles of Yashodha and Krishna, interchangeably) was the best of the best. She is a talented contemporary dancer and she needs the support and encouragement of the populace. Well, more than her, it is the danceform that needs to be kept alive through such talented dancers. Some of her recitals also had the underlying philosophical and spiritual meanings in them.

***

Lastly, I dedicate this post to Ms. Pinar and Mrs. Shirisha for their spectacular dance recitals.

Ignorance.....

Is it wrong to admit one's ignorance. How does the world look upon a person who admits "I do not know". Often, people make this claim of knowledge, most times superficial; and strangely love to bask in the glory of a know-it-all. There are things that are obvious or intuitive for them. How I hate those words? Dig them deep, and you would find that they are as hollow and empty as can be. I am not against being hollow and empty. It is just this simple fact - feigning one's emptiness that is difficult to digest. So, looking at ignorance, it can be classified in two ways.

(a) Destructive ignorance

A case where ignorance is NOT bliss. There are so many wonders and beauties in the world that being ignorant of them would simply amount to losing out on the better ways of life. Again, people who are smug and happy with their present state of affairs and sensibilities would get bored of it all as time progresses. Here, is where the wonders help one in coming back to life. Hence, it would be destructive if one were to ignore "the callings" that would finally lead us out of our mundane vegetating life (a complaint of many). It is how we make out our life to be.

(b) Constructive ignorance

Have you ever wondered or pondered about this. The more and more we get immersed in our passions that have become our ways of life, the more and more we realise as to how ignorant we are. The knowledge out there is a vast ocean. Be it music, technical, other art forms, literature, whatever. What we claim to possess would be one miniscule droplet of water in the ocean. Ignorance unites one and all. The moment, we think that we are perfect, we know-it-all, it is gone. Perfection would always remain an elusive state. "It is hard to improve upon perfection". So, how can one be perfect?

Blessings...

Do we count our blessings. We have been blessed in so many wonderful ways. There would definitely be the downs too, but aren't they blessings too for a better way of life. The lessons learnt would be invaluable to us in the long run.

If this be so, then why is it that a man/woman is never really happy and contented with the existing state of affairs. Why don't they try to see as to how blessed they are? Its always like this. The creation of a vicious circle in life by the people themselves, that would only make life seem all the more "unblessed". Here, I go on certain incidents in life that I guess is universal.

1. Childhood - a wonderful phase in one's life. Wonderful in its own sweet ways. The closest an individual gets towards counting his blessings. Simple things move the child. It is happy for simple reasons. Simple reasons make it throw tantrums.

2. Adolescent Blues - a confused soul. Wondering as to what he/she would be doing for life. Needs to take those decisions which charts its professional career at a rather tender age. Engineering/Medicine/Commerce/Arts/... It is when he/she starts making those indiscriminate generalizations on one's own capabilities. Also the time when one comes into terms with the process of "growing up".

3. Youth - even more confused. What career option would be the best for him/her? Which would get us more money. How can I be happy? Do I need money or satisfaction or both. Which career would be personally stimulating and satisfying too. Is it all right for me to compromise on my career for money?

The time when he/she starts yearning for the right someone somewhere. A process, a long journey, when the fictitious him/her becomes real. It has its own ups and downs. When it seems that the right life partner, or if I dare say so, the soulmate would make things wonderful.

One must indeed realise that it doesnt take long for the right person to become right or wrong. It is all in the mind. One must nevertheless, be willing, to overlook the negatives in the right person. As long as there is respect and love, I guess it is all fine.

4. A new beginning - The person is no longer alone. He is with her and she is with him. They embark on a new journey together, full of dreams, romance, aspirations, and what not. Sadly, in most cases, the honeymoon period is very short. Once, they begin to live together, the other's faults seem to be unbearable. Responsibilites of parenthood, stability in career, disillusions in romance, etc. seem to bother them a lot.

5. Mid-age - seemingly crisis prone. All those dreams of youth lying unrealised and sacrificed for the family's interests. Disenchantment sets in. The soulmate is no longer the soulmate. The relationship has become more of a marriage of convenience for them. It is more for the sake of their children and society. Romance is gone. Yet, the society thinks that they make a wonderful couple and is envious of them.

6. Retirement Blues - the world thinks that you are no longer fit to do work. People take it real hard. Infact, it is one of the most blessed states in one's life. They can do whatever they want to during that time. The children have gone away. Now, it boils down to the stage in life where the significant other is more of an acquaintance. They seldom talk to each other. Every point of discussion ultimately leads to what happened in the past and fights. Fights can be romantic. But then, fighting daily over seemingly mundane happenings of the past is totally unromantic.

7. Old age - they are all alone. The children are well-to-do. The parents have been successful on that count. Yet, they are failures. The love is lost. They love their children so much that they would never blame them. They would blame themselves. The children would make it a point to call them up once in a while. The parents survive on their savings, if any. They yearn for the company of their grand-children. Yet, they are deprived of the same because of a MIL-DIL problem or the arrogant SonIL or because the children are abroad . Finally, they die a peaceful death in their sleep or a violent death because of some fatal disease.

So, life does seem to be cruel, right? Where, each phase, seems to be confusing, hazy, disenchanting, tortuous, what not? There is no concept of settling down to a better way of life. The mistake lies with us. We need to count our blessings and learn to accept things as they are now. Further, we need to be grateful for our upbringing, our parents, our family, our friends, our education, our downs for the lessons, our share of ups, everything. Yearning for a better way of life would be at the cost of losing out on the present important days of our lives.

PS: Well, the author has given the worst possible scenarios in each phase. It might not be so. But then, it might very well be a reality too. None of the events are real. They have been weaved in the mind of the author to hopefully drive the point home. The author must admit, that he is not immune to the ways of the vicious circle. However, in the best interests of the readers and himself, it is but natural to sermonize; with the hope that we never get deeply entangled in the vicious circle of life that there is no way out.

PS2: If some instances do touch a raw nerve, then it can be safely assumed that we are not heartless. No one would love to get ensnared in this circle where life becomes a struggle. Let us hope for the best for all.

Disasters..

Nature has its own catastrophic way of getting back at mankind. The Tsunami disaster that more than just shook South-East Asia earlier this year; and now the Hurricane Katrina. I must admit, the author had only vaguely heard of the tsunami (was an important quiz trivia in those geography talent quizzes) and didn't really know the modus operandi of the hurricane/other cyclonic storms. Both these events have been devastating for sure. Lives and property have been lost. All this would be a not-so-gentle reminder, that, despite what all that mankind can do, nature still holds the upper hand. Irrespective of the sophisticated weather-monitoring systems in vogue today, such disasters continue to happen.

One gratifying thing that I noticed during both these difficult times, was the spirit of humanity in action. Sadly, the same spirit lies pregnant inside the womb of "My life, my blues, my family, my work, ...etc" most of the times. Sometimes, I do wonder if human beings have lost that vital sense to think beyond just their lives. No, no, I am not advocating any of anti-Roark sentiments out here. But then, do we do anything at all towards Mother Nature - to whom we must be more than just grateful. Do we acknowledge and count our blessings. Definitely not, in most cases. It's always the life of a cribber. Nothing could possibly satisfy us. There is always a yearning and a craving for something beyond the present. I guess I am digressing out here. I will address this in a separate post.

Coming back to disasters!! The world has come together in providing relief efforts, and thankfully, most differences are forgotten. Is'nt it ironical. The world needs disasters to stop fighting and come together. The affected regions receive attention and finances too. There is an unprecedented spurt of development in those regions. This is in a way good. But again, one of the ironies of life. If no disaster were to happen at that place, that place would have been rusting its way to under-development. This was coming straight from one of the relief camps of Tamil Nadu, after the Tsunami disaster. Villagers living just outside the affected regions, were wondering, as to how unfortunate they were because the Tsunami didn't affect their lives. They felt that the relief efforts post-Tsunami would really benefit their "fortunate" neighbours. Strange are the ways of the world.

***

Hurricanes are beneficial too. They provide rain to those regions in the world which would otherwise have been very arid. Nature's feedback mechanism of driving the heat from the hot equatorial regions to the tropics helps in maintaining the heat balance in the earth.

***

This blog is dedicated to the people affected in these two disasters. Sadly, nothing can be done about the lives and property lost. The survivors need great fortitude in beginning a new phase of life. Here's wishing them "All the very best".

Pottermania....

This post was inspired by that unknown little Mexican (presumably) girl who was sitting out in the open, glued to one of the Potter books, with not a care for the outside world. She was understandly lost in her own "Muggle" world. I must admit, such is the amazing reach of Rowling and Harry Potter.

The purist would find it difficult to accept Rowling and Potter. The children of yesterday (the youth of today and the older generations) would find it difficult to digest the fact that Rowling might very well replace Enid Blyton as one of the greatest children's writers (which might very well turn out to be a reality).

Rowling Vs. Blyton. Does it really matter as to who wins.

However, the very fact that such girls (for that matter, children) exist in this world proves to be a gratifying factor. Nowadays, it is difficult for children to develop the healthy habit of reading in this increasingly net and visual based entertainment era. The fantasies that the human mind can weave are unimaginable and visual effects often tend to spoil/limit that creativity to a great extent.

***

Lastly, this blog is dedicated to that little girl.

Q w/o A - I ....

Is everything written or "maktub".

Is the future charted by destiny or free-will.

***

I have no answers.

Associative Nostalgia - III ... Children's Comics

This is an attempt to write about the more beautiful things that thankfully exist on earth; after what had been a series of serious posts.

***

Tinkle, Chandamama (not strictly a comic, but still...), Amar Chitra Katha, Champak, Billoo, Pinki, Chacha Choudhary (whose brain works faster than a computer), Mandrake, Chacha Bhatija, Gokulam, ...... and the universal Tintin, Asterix, Richie Rich, Casper, Archie (and the Little Archie ones..; never really liked them though), ......

The one thing that is common to all of them, is that they would remain beautiful no matter how old, matured and worldly the once-upon-a-child becomes. Each comic has its own USP. Each is colourful. The good and the bad exist (as real as it can be). It is always the triumph of the good over the evil. The characters are as real as real life ones. Of course, in some of these, like Champak and some stories in Tinkle (Kalia the crow, Kapish, etc.), the characters happen to be animals. Who cannot but remember the Jataka Tales of Wisdom and the ready wit of Birbal and Tenali Rama brightly captured as comic strips. Amar Chitra Katha does cover many topics ranging from fables to biographical accounts of the historical greats to spotlight on Indian culture to what not.

Such simple children's comics do have valuabe lessons for us, no matter how old we are. I recently came across a Mathnawi by Rumi which was similar to a tale from the Panchatantra. The lessons remain the same, but in different forms and languages. It is not a shame to continue to read these comics. They often bring a smile onto us. The very Obelix and his cravings for wild boar, the Thompson and Thomsons (one with and without the "p"), the gifted language of Captain Haddock, Cacophonix and his musical abilities, the duel between Fullyautomatix and Unhygienix, the intelligence of Asterix and our very own Chacha Choudhary (both happen to be short persons), ....

***

The truth is a big circle and at times a paradox too. A person is always in search of the truth, and more often than not, he/she comes back to the same point of departure. This is to remind us.. We have come from the earth and we would go back to the same. So, when we are here, it would be best for us to love the beauties that the earth has to offer us in so many forms; without any pride and prejudice, whatsoever.

August 15....

The Independence Day of India. Back in 1947, the partition of India lead to the birth of two new states - India and Pakistan. India has come a long way since then, with her own share of ups and downs. A few of her dreams have been realized and a few shattered to pieces. Yet, she goes on dreaming with the hope that people begin to realize and act.

The middle class youth and the educated would be disenchanted with the politics. Politics, my dear reader, is the same everywhere. Every country has its own share of turmoils and politically motivated masterplans. People, the very educated ones, once they settle down towards a decent living, begin to criticize at India. It is like dishonouring her. She is what we make her to be. This is more so among the Indians out here in the US (the NRI's or as Geeta from the movie Swades puts it - "The Non-returning Indians"). This is not to mean that all the Indians in India are proactive and working towards her development. This is not to mean that the Indians in India don't criticize.

There are a few organizations like AID, ASHA, etc. out here in the US which do significant work towards the development of India. It all depends on the attitude of the people. These organizations have a limited yet dedicated volunteer base. It doesn't really matter as to where one is.

It is time we did something rather than just sit laid back, talking and criticising. I urge everyone of you to be a lighthouse, spreading light in whatever significant/ insignificant manner. This is the only solution thanks to which the concept of "India Shining" would become more of a reality rather than remain a virtuality or an impossible dream.

Jai Hind.

PS: Coverage of July 04.