Random thoughts

Plans must have been made by now or may be in the final stages for the 31st of December, 2010 to say good bye to the year 2010 and welcome 2011. These plans would be ranging from bonfire dinners to hotel hopping and enjoying musical bands at clubs to a quiet dinner at home with family and watching programmes of various channels on the idiot box. Till a decade back a change in the years did not mean a celebration on a grand scale in Patna as it means now. None of the hotels lag behind in offering excitement and entertainment! Obviously one needs to cough up money for this excitement and entertainment. But we forget that there are people to whom the dates don't matter. it's all the same..2010 or 2011...the daily routine has to be followed, money has to be earned, children have to be fed! The change in years is just a marker of the passage of time; everything else remains the same. while I may fall in the danger of sounding pessimistic, I realise that the group I am referring to i...

From the morning of 'Mahalya' the atmosphere takes a sudden turn. It seems so pure and divine that words can not express it and the best part of it in small towns and cities is the chanting on loud speakers by the priests. This is the beginning of Navratra which also signals a beginning of festivities which continue till Holi. Navratra is not only associated with prayers to God Durga but also with good food. On the one hand, one can find people on a fast for the 9 days when they eat 'satvik' food: fruits, halwa of kutuk flour, makhana kheer. On the other hand are the mortals who love navratra for the 'prasad' and the good food. In houses where priests come to perform puja, the kids wait excitedly for the gentleman to finish his puja so that they can get the 'prasad' which can be anything ranging from illaichidana to fruits or sweets. The actual feelings start sinking in by the 6th day when the idols are nearly ready and the roads are blocked for vehicul...

This comes straight from the heart to acknowledge the man who was an inspiration for my grandmother and my family. The man is Dr. R.K. Sinha the well-known Professor of English. My grandmother, his younger sister was so influenced by him that she wanted her daughters to study English literature and become teachers of English. Not only was she successful in her endeavor, she rubbed this onto me and I grew up in the shadow of a living legend: a man possessing great knowledge, a man who was sought for his academic skills by one and all. After my graduation, I was taken to meet the great man and I must say I was awe-struck. For a person in his 70s, his mind was sharp and the shine in his eyes was mesmerizing. What struck me the most was the books lying on the bed reflecting the intensity of his reading. Born in a small town Munger, Blessed by the almighty with brains, He traveled across the seas, To create new highs and fulfill dreams. Armed with degrees from Patna University, He sought th...

A nice, bright, sunny Sunday morning.... I couldn't wish for anything better than that when I have to wash the week's collection of dirty clothes and wish to dry them in the sun. I had a nice cup of tea with the morning paper and there came the unexpected visitor happily knocking at the door reminding me of the Porter scene in 'Macbeth'. One look at the visitor and I knew that the day is ruined. No other reason but the fact that this visitor would bring in two more and the day would be gone making and serving tea and washing the cups and the pan. And this process wouldn't end even after the departure of the visitor. The visitors may leave physically but there presence will be felt by one and all. And if you are still wondering who these visitors are here's the answer. The first one to enter was cold with a bout of sneezing and when I sneeze the whole house rocks! This was followed by headache and fever and the cups of tea kept flowing. And this is the most ir...

Thank God that in India we have some sanity in form of the judiciary. Census 2001 categorizes housewives, prostitutes and other women who are not working in the organized sector as 'unproductive'. I wonder at the greatness of such minds! Haven't they seen the amount of work their mothers or grand mothers do in the house. Who would offer service 24X7 365 days (add one more for the leap year) without taking a pittance? Right from morning till late in the night, the women in the house see to it that all the residents' needs are fulfilled without thinking of their own troubles. I am a working woman and I openly say that I am more callous than my grand mother who was a non-working woman; my work does not allow me to give my family the same kind of time and attention that my grand mother devoted to her family. I live in a nuclear family and get irritated if things do not happen the way I want them to. My mother and grand mother lived in joint families and worked to keep all h...

In three week's time we'll be celebrating our 64th Independence Day with great fervour! All around the town, there will be gaiety and festivity. The loudspeakers will be pouring forth all patriotic songs: from 'Jana Gana Mana' to 'Vande Matram' and Lata's 'Mere Waton ke Logon...'! The tri-colour will be on sale every nook and corner and all cars and rickshaws will be decorated by one! But the real question is what are we celebrating? Independence. What is independence? The public during live interviews for radio and television channels makes tall claims but the reality is something different. Does being independent mean that we spit and throw garbage on the road and use the road as a urinal? (becoz its public space - belongs by right to the public to do anything and everything) Does being independent mean that we ignore traffic rules and drive as if we were driving on the highway without any care and concern? Does being independent mean that we follo...

Chand is a young man working in the store and purchase section of a government office. All purchases are made through this section and it is his responsibility to see that things are done in the manner specified by higher authorities. One day Chand told his mother that he was planning to buy a bike. His mother was very happy. After a few days, she asked him what happened to his plans of buying a motor bike. Chand, tired form work, said, "Mother, first the indent has to be raised. Once the indent is approved, an NIQ (Notice Inviting Quotation) will be floated and a time period fixed. After the deadline the quotations will be opened. At least three quotations have to be there, else the NIQ will be floated again. After the approval of the committee, the bike can be purchased." The mother was shocked, "Son, what is this NIQ and three quotations?" Chand said, "Mother, this is what life has come to: raise the indent, float NIQ, open quotations, send the purchase orde...

I need a break from some things and one of them is Bandhs. Bandhs are the in-thing in Patna as its nearly election time and each political party calls for a Bandh someday or the other. The funny thing is that two or more parties may want to organize a bandh on the same issue but they call for a bandh on different days in order to protect their individual identities. As a result on Monday we had the BJP-JD (U) combines bandh against the rising prices and on Wednesday, the bandh is organised by CPI(ML) on another raging issue: naxalism. I do not know what fun these parties get in organizing these bandhs. Don't they realize that such bandhs disrupt public life, lead to hugh economic losses (refer to TOI dated 06.07.10) and cause a lot of nuisance? When I was in school, I looked forward to these bandhs as it gave us a day off in the middle of the hectic academic year. By the time I reached college, bandhs of all types became the norm of the day and invariably we would have quite a numb...

Regionalism is one of the biggest challenges facing India today. We remember that we are Indians only on the 15th of August or 26th of January each year when we sing loudly and clearly the National Anthem standing in the monsoon showers or the chilly wind of January. On any other day we are Biharis, Gujratis, Bengalis, Keralities etc. All the feeling of oneness and unity disappears! The challenging task of changing the situation lies on the shoulders of the younger generation. Its high time that we crossed the barrier of region and started thinking of ourselves as being one. To this extent an important role is being played by the various National Law Universities and the new IITs (not to forget the old institutes) across the country. Most of the new IITs have students from regions other than their own. The presence of students from various backgrounds and different parts of the country lend these institutes a national flavour! One would be surprised to find that students defending thei...

NET or National Eligibility Test is conducted by the UGC and is a qualifying exam for future lecturers and researchers. With the 6th pay commission the number of candidates appearing has gone up but the number of candidates qualifying the exams has been pretty low. Does this mean that UGC NET is a tough nut to crack? Or are our students not prepared for such exams? well, in most cases the latter seems to be true. Students pursuing their Masters in Universities like JNU, DU clear this exam before completing their Masters. Some at places like BHU take a few more chances. But those at Patna University, Magadh University and other state universities seem to take forever to clear this exam. Where is the problem? Is the syllabus of the state universities not at par with that of the central universities? What are the teachers in the state universities doing in the classroom that the students are left terrified of the NET? What I have observed over the years and specially in the subject of Eng...

Today's newspapers again carry horrifying stories of killings supposedly called 'Honour Killings'. The question is what is honourable about these acts? To a mind like mine they seem to be bringing 'dishonour' upon society. Not delving into specific stories, one would like to focus critically on the reasons behind such gruesome murders. Most of these murders are related to the institution of marriage, specifically inter-caste, inter-religion, same-gotra marriages. And the reasons are sociological. Migration to cities, swallowing up of villages by cities has led to a disintegration of certain customs and traditions which were taken for granted by the earlier generation. Exposure to western culture and changes in life style has brought about a change in the attitude of the younger generation. Working in offices of MNCs one is not bothered with issues of caste or gotra. The choice of a life partner in such cases is governed by emotional and intellectual needs. This is ...

Gender: Female. Age: 20-21. Education: Graduate in History, sociology, Political Science etc. Ambition: Waiting for the best catch in the marriage market. Next year enters Post-Graduation in the subject concerned or a professional degree course but the aim remains the same. reason: marriage didn't materialize. This is the story for most of the girls (very true of the middle class). Higher education is not a matter of choice but from compulsion to get the best person available in the marriage market. Again if someone has been unlucky till this point, she is 'permitted' to work because a working girl is preferred to a non-working one. If she is interested in studies, the next mark is a doctoral degree so that she can take up the teaching profession- generally taken to be a safe one for women and which will not let them neglect their home. What happens if someone's marriage is arranged while completing the doctoral degree? a supportive husband and family will certainly lea...

June 9, 2010 goes into personal history as a very sad day due to the death of a very dear friend, Mr. C who had been with me through the good as well as bad times. I became friends with Mr.C in March 2008 at his Tagore Hill Road residence in Morabadi. He was handsome looking sporting a moustache similar to Poirot's. A stout looking man with a wheatish complexion, he was a gentleman to the core. Well known for his warmth, he was a grand host serving tea at all times. With him was also Mrs. C, an equally loving and warm person who loved wearing sundresses blue in colour with 'I love you' written all over. Once I did ask her the reason for wearing the 'I love you' dresses and she said, "It's for Mr. C, dear. It keeps his mood uplifted and he feels wanted. With age catching up, one never knows when the other person might feel neglected. This is our way of keeping each other happy. We need not depend on others for our happiness." I found this very touching....

We always complain about BSNL's services but this is one occasion where I can proudly say BSNL Jai Ho! And this is to do with 3G services. I had to do a conference call with people in Canada. We thought of doing a test call and fixed up a time which was 10:00 AM IST. Since this is the time to get to office, I decided to take my 3G modem and use it in on the way with my lap top. It was an unbelievable experience. I got unhindered connectivity through the busiest street in town and the person at the other end was surprised at my being connected on the road. In US and Canada, offices, college/university campuses and houses have wi-fi connections. One doesn't find people using the internet on the road. No wonder the person I was talking to found this very 'cool'! And I was able to give the person from the other side of the world a glimpse of Patna! Thank you BSNL!

This blog comes after the recent 'same gotra marriage' crisis that has erupted in Haryana and after reading today's TOI report on Navin Jindal and the explanations he has given. Traditionally people belonging to one particular gotraor clan are said to have a common ancestor and India as such has numerous gotras. Those who do not know there gotra are assimilated into the KASHYAP gotra. As far as marriage was concerned, children were never married in the gotra of the father. My paternal grand father went far ahead to issue a diktat that he would marry his children neither into the gotra of father nor the mother. You might be surprised to read this. He was a doctor and as children share the genes of both the parents, he said, they should not be married into either of the gotras. The new entrant into the family should come from a different gotra so that the children would not inherit genetic defects. This sounds a reasonable explanation. My father tried to follow the same princ...

Two men were heard in a conversation: Speaker 1: Can you eat chicken, daily? Speaker 2: No, I can not. I need a change. Speaker 1: Then how can a person live with one wife throughout his life? This is what our world is like. On the one hand, we celebrate women and womanhood on the 8th of March every year, 2010 being special due to the women's reservation bill. But the sad thing is that in a country like ours where women are compared to female gods and put on a pedestal during navratri, in everyday life they do not have any voice or say and are left compared to birds! That is indeed derogatory.  A girl has no say in the choice of her partners, except a very small percentage of the female population. Once married, the husband's house is her home where she must survive or perish (in terms of her identity). Generally people make attempts at survival through compromise. Nothing bad in that. But what do you in case of neglect and rejection and complains of boredom? This is where the ...

Its time for the new census.. census 2011 which will yield a new data base regarding our population. But the government and its machinery has come in for criticism on account of including 'CASTE' as a category in the criteria. How long are we going to make caste the most important characteristic of our population. Our Constitution talks of the Right to Equality as a fundamental right and states that discrimination can not be made on the basis of caste, class, religion etc. among the citizens of India. The question is then why does one need to have caste as a criteria for census 2011. Is it just to further certain political interests? It does not seem that averages worked out in this manner would help the cause of the most deprived. The various commissions over the years, like the Mandal Commission engaged in this act to no end. The condition of the most deprived has remained the same while those in the creamy layer are enjoying better life. Again this criteria does not seem con...

The papers reported that Bihar CM was bitten by a mouse while resting during his 'Vishwas yatra' at the Sitamarhi circuit house. An interesting question comes to my mind: Why did the mouse bite the CM? My colleague Benjamin showing his worldly wisdom says, "Mice are found in areas rich in agricultural produce." This would mean Sitamarhi is rich in agricultural produce and hence the presence of the mouse and the mouse does not like industries...so he bites the CM! Sounds reasonably good! Or is it that the mouse was attracted to the rich abundance of hair with which the CM is blessed - on his head as well as on his face! Moving from the trivial to the significant: Probably the mouse represents all the Benjamins of Bihar who feel that this yatra is an unnecessary expenditure where thousands are without food, clothes and shelter. It is insignificant compared to the one of the major problems inflicting the state: Education. Institutes are talking of bringing quality educat...

Its been two years now that new technology farms came into existence courtesy Napoleon and his colleagues at Animal Farm. They sent Snowball from the technology farm in the Hills to manage the new technology farm in the Plains and Snowball undoubtedly did a great job. He worked hard recruited workers for the new farm and also worked at creating the windmill which would give them power and increase their efficiency. After setting up this farm Snowball was asked to go back to his own farm. A new manager, Squealer, was appointed for this farm. Squealer arrived one hot summer afternoon and was welcomed by Clover, Boxer, Benjamin and Raven. At the first barn meeting Squealer told the animals that they would be given good working conditions so that they can work to their maximum. He said that all would be treated equally and given the same privileges. The next step that Squealer took was to arrange his work place. While the other animals were given cubicles in small barns, Squealer kept a la...