206. Notes: 1

Here I briefly introduce the books that I read. The main purpose is to keep notes for myself. I would be happy if  readers of this blog find these books interesting. I also hope that other readers would share “their” books for my benefit. 

January 2014

1. Vhaya, Mee Savitribai (Marathi): “Yes, I am Savitri”: Sushama Deshpande. (pages 57)

   

For the last twenty five years Ms. Sushama Deshpande has been performing this “one character” presentation. The book is the script of this performance. It gives an idea about the environment in which Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule carried out their mission. It also throws light on the history of the evolution of the work, which I had forgotten over the years. The language of the old days is interesting and is appealing.      

2. A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens (pages 237)

I don't need to introduce this well known book. For me it is one of the "all times great". On the background of French Revolution, the story moves on narrating various dimensions of human emotions; thoughts and personalities. Till the end, one gets completely engrossed in the story.

Here is one of the paragraphs at the beginning of the novel, which I like very much.

      It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

      It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness.

      It was the epoch of belief; it was the epoch of incredulity.

      It was the season of the Light; it was the season of Darkness.

      It was the spring of hope; it was the winter of despair.

      We had everything before us, we had nothing before us.

     We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way –

In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. 

3. Gospel of Sri Ramkrishna: Mahendranath Gupta (pages 322)

This is one of the books, I like to re-read.

Mahendranath Gupta (M) was a disciple of SriRamkrishna Paramhamsa. The book was originally written in Bangla. These are the conversations of Sri Ramkrishna with his disciples – witnessed by M. These conversations tell us the philosophy of Sri Ramkrishan and more than that how his behavior was influenced by the philosophy and how there was never a gap between his preaching and practice.

I always used to wonder why Swami Vivekananda is so grateful to Sri Ramkrishna; the first time I read these conversations, I understood. The simplicity in expression of complex thoughts; the everyday real life examples; the clarity of thoughts; tolerance and flexibility without compromising with the values; innocence and wisdom …. these facets of Sri Ramkrishna surprise me every time I read these conversations.

Here are two examples:

Once Sri Ramkrishna asks his disciples to discuss whether God is with attributes (Form) or without. They discuss. Then Ramkrishna remarks, "There is no harm in looking at Him from this point or that point of view. Yes, yes, to think of Him as Formless Being is quite right. But take care you do not run away with the idea that that view alone is right and all others are false." Alas, if we all follow this rule!

We should carry on our duties with full dedication, but that does not mean we should forget the purpose of life. God should be always in our heart. While explaining this thought, Sri Ramkrishna says, "A rich man's maid-servant will do all her duties, but her thoughts are always set upon her own home. Her master's house is not hers. She will, indeed, nurse her master's children as if they were her own, saying often "My own Rama", "My own Hari". But all the time she knows fully well the children are not hers."

This book reminds me to understand the difference between wisdom and scholarship; information and experience; art of giving speeches and conversation. 

If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it to you. 

4. Life Beyond Death: Swami Abhedananda (pages 240)

I don’t remember when and how this book came to my collection – whether I purchased it or whether someone gave it to me as a gift. Looking at the title of the book, I had never felt the necessity of reading it. I have enjoyed reading “Lecture on Geeta” by the same author and so could not throw away the book without reading it. Finally I decided to take a decision about – whether to throw it away of keep it with me.

The book starts with a comparative review of Modern Science and Spiritualism. It introduces us to ancient belief that “there is life after death” (Egypt, Hindu, Bible, Zoroastrian etc.) and the author elaborates “scientific” views on “life after death”. The author shares his experiences of “talking to souls (of the dead) through a medium” – his own experiences and experiences of others.  While reading this section I was doubtful about reading the remaining book, but somehow I went on.

Swamiji then takes the reference of Vedanta philosophy and explains that: soul never dies, it is without beginning and without end; body is destroyed but sour never is. He is against recalling souls to the earth as that hampers the journey of the soul.

Frankly speaking, I was caught in two minds while reading the book. I did not accept all the ideas the author has presented; but some of them I could not reject whole heartedly. So, presently I have decided to continue keeping this book in my collection. Maybe, during the next reading, I will get another perspective.

And who is Swami Abhedananda? He was disciple of Sri Ramkrishna Paramhamsa. For years he was in USA, Canada and Great Britain to spread message of Vedanta. In 1901 (o2?) California University offered him honorary doctorate. He was born in 1866 and passed away in 1921.

http://ebookily.net/pdf/life-beyond-death-abhedananda      

205. 6174

I was reading “Our Scientists”; National Book Trust Publication of 1986. Reading this book was long overdue, so I was determined to finish it. As the title says, the book introduces various scientists – from past to present – very briefly. If NBT has brought out this book for children, I wonder whether they would find this engrossing enough.

I came across an article where a process of finding a “Constant” is described.

Let us see it.

1. Take any four digit number; which uses at least two different digits. Numbers like 1111, 2222 will not serve the purpose. (I write 4632)
2. Arrange the digits in descending order. (I write 6432)
3. Reverse the order of the digits. (I write 2346)
4. Subtract step 3 from step 1. (4632-2346= 2286)
5. For the number arrived at step 4, repeat steps 2 to 4.

So, I arrange the digits in descending order: 8622

Then I reverse the order of the digits: 2268

I subtract: 8622-2268= 6354

Repeat steps 2 to 4.

Here it goes.

6543

3456

6543-3456 = 3087

Repeat steps 2 to 4.

Here we go.

8730

0378

8730-0378=8352

Go on.

8532

2358

8532-2358=6174

  

Repeat.

7641

1467

7641-1467= 6174

Oh! 6174 is reappearing.

Let us try another number;

9423

9432-2349=7083

8730-0378=8352

8532-2358=6174

7641-1467=6174

Hmm...

Third try:

8417

8741-1478=7263

7632-2367=5265

6552-2556=3996

9963-3699=6264

6642-2466=4176

7641-1467=6174

This number 6174 is known as Kaprekar’s Constant.

I don’t know what the constant is used for. But it is fun.

I don’t know how and why Mr. Kaprekar arrived at this constant. Need to know more about him and his work.

For those who are interested, here are some links to know more about the number and the man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6174_(number)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._R._Kaprekar

http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts/ffiles/10002.5-8.shtml

204. Void

Readers of this blog know that I have a poor memory. As is my habit, I must have shared this fact with you a number of times. I hardly worry about poor memory – but on some occasions it creates embarrassing situation for me. Today was one of those days.

Today I started early for office. I had to prepare for a meeting and in the evening I was planning to leave early. Taking advantage of ‘flexi-time’ facility, I took Metro early than my usual time. I had a different crowd around me. Everyday though I do not have conversations with my co-passengers, we do exchange smiles. If someone is in good mood, she would ask me where I was last week and then I share travel experiences with her. Today too, I was taking Metro after a gap of couple of weeks. But as I mentioned, this was not my usual time, so there was no possibility of meeting someone.

I entered Metro and found a vacant seat. The route I take is underground, so there is nothing to watch through the window. As the journey takes hardly 20 minutes, I generally don’t read book in the Metro. I close eyes and just relax – that is what I was planning to do even today.

Suddenly a young woman sitting opposite to me said “Hello” and smiled. I too smiled spontaneously, but I did not reply. I realized that I did not know this woman. I assumed that she must have addressed to some other woman. So, I kept quiet. Smiling to strangers is alright, even I talk to strangers, but today I did not want and so kept quiet.

I noticed that none of the women sitting either to my left or right spoke to that young women. I was curious. Of course, it was happening in an instant – I am take much longer time to write it; even your are taking more time to read it. I was looking at that women but did not respond to her. Suddenly she showed a feeling of insult and stopped smiling. Her eyes showed frustration and anger. She stopped looking at me, and adjusted her earphone for music on mobile handset. It was clear from her body language that she was not comfortable.

By that time, I too wasn’t comfortable. Part of my brain was trying to find out ‘whether I know this woman and if yes, where have we met.’ The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I have met this young woman earlier. In knew her face, her eyes, her voice … I was sure that the women had said “hello” to me and to none else.

So, I wanted to initiate dialogue with her and started looking at her. But now the woman was not at all looking at me. As if the one-two feet distance between us has suddenly become one or two kilometers. For a moment, I thought of leaving my seat, approaching her and talking to her. But I noticed that the woman was completely ignoring me. That created another wave of doubt. Was she really addressing me or someone else?

I kept on staring at the woman and with every passing moment, I was sure that I knew this girl. She must have been aware of my gaze, because next moment she looked at me. I was fully ready for that moment, and I asked, “Do you everyday catch the same Metro?”

She nodded – indicating ‘no’. I said, “I am surprised that we have never met on the Metro.”

Now she was completely relaxed and gave a big smile. I said again, “How is it that we have never met on the Metro? I travel everyday around the same time.”

She explained about car servicing and said, “Are you coming to Chanakypuri office today? We have to gate down at Race Course station.”

Listening to her, it dawned upon me that this young woman was none else but Shehanaz.

I was ashamed of myself.

I know Shehanaz for more than a year now; I have met her at least 25 times during the year. At for hundred times I had tele-conversations with her. She is receptionist –cum –telephone operator in one of my offices.

/

Shehanaz is a good natured woman. She is efficient and proactive. Her work is always of a good quality. She has offered me help on many occasions. Whenever I visit Chanakypuri office, Shehanaz is always kind to me. She always asks about my wellbeing, offers me coffee and helps me to sort out my work in that office. What I have observed that Shehanaz is good with everybody around. She is a kind soul. I have a very good opinion about Shehanaz and I have written good words about her to her seniors.

I speak to Shehanaz. We hardly get five minutes. Shehanaz is now in good spirit and she is smiling. Metro arrives at Race Course. Shehanaz gets down. Doors close. Shehanaz moves away but turns back and smiles at me, waves her hand. I too smile and wave back.

However, I am engrossed in thought. Why did not I recognize Shehanaz immediately? If I meet someone after a long gap or someone whom I hardly know and like – I can understand poor memory. But I like Shehanaz and I keep on meeting her regularly – still I failed to recognize her.

It is possible that as I had never met Shehanaz on the Metro, I least expected her to meet here. Well, if I was surprised, it would have been natural – but I failed to recognize her cannot be justified in any manner. Generally we picture people in a given set up – it is hard to recognize postman in civil dress and without postbag; or a vegetable vendor at a movie theater. So, maybe meeting Shehanaz here was not at all expected by me.

Am I equating human being with his/her work? Am I looking at them as machines and not as human beings? Am I too selfish or insensitive to existence of others? Am I always lost in my own world? Am I getting disconnected from the reality around me?

Life has its own speed. There are always new happenings in life, so the old ones are easily left behind. But is it just a game for me – to replace old memories by new? Am I looking at life as a game? What will it lead to me? Until I get old, new persons, incidents, memories will keep on entering into my life – so I can afford to forget the past – persons, incidents, memories and what not. Because I am still active, my senses are working alright, I can play this game; as if it the only one of any significance.

What will happen if I get long life? By law of nature, my senses will become weak; a time will come when nothing new would be added to my life. When the inflow of new persons, incidents, memories etc. stops (and it will stop one day); what will I remember? By that time past will be dead and there will be hardly exciting ‘present’. If I remember something from the past, will that past have any place for me? Will those people, incidents, memories of the past mean anything to me? Will there be only a vacuum – where there will be no past and there will be no present. What will I do then? With the Mind, with the Body and with the Ego?  

Will I be able to live happily in that void? 

**

203. Change Makers

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 45; the forty-fifth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

The girl was married at the age of nine.

Are you surprised? Wait, let me explain. It was the year of 1840. To marry the girl at this age was the norm, accepted norm I must say.

The girl never went to school. “Girls going to schools” was unheard of during the period. If educated women get spoiled, they become irresponsible, they become vulgar – was the common perspective. It was also feared that if a girl prefers schooling, education, she is sure to become a widow – because to be educated was against religion.

Hence the girl was trained only in cooking and other household chores by her mother.

After marriage the girl moved to her husband’s home in Pune. The society in those days strongly believed in caste system and according to the existing social structure, the family belonged to the lower strata of the society (shudra). However, the husband of this girl was going to school. He and his friends used to discuss how education could be spread across.

The young man taught his wife the art of reading against the wishes of his family. Not only she was able to read but also learnt to write and do simple mathematical calculations.

One evening the husband came, worried to the core. One of his teachers (a high caste man) was threatened of the dire consequences of helping spread of education and he had left the teaching job. The husband asked the wife whether she could teach in the school.

The statement made by her husband struck the girl hard. It was as if a storm had entered her life. Would it destroy everything around her – she thought and shivered.

“Go to the school? But women don’t move out of house.

Teaching in the school by a woman – unheard of, what would people say?

Will she be able to teach?

What will her father in law say? Won’t it be too much of rebellion for him?

Will the students accept her as a teacher? Are there any girl students in the school?”

The girl was frightened. She kept on pleading her husband to find another teacher. However, there was no other teacher available at that time.

The more the girl went into her shell, the more the husband was determined to implement the idea. He strongly believed that women are no less than men; women have the capacity to take on any task that they want.

The husband kept on convincing his wife, tried to build her courage.

 Isn’t it a good work to spread education? If they are doing a good work, a service to the society, why should they worry? People will accept it – maybe slowly. Yes, she can teach – hasn’t he taught her enough to take on this task? If she rejects the task, the work they (he and his friends) have been doing for years will all be destroyed. Sure, there are no women teachers around. But does it mean that she should not start?

The girl kept on thinking. The husband kept on convincing.

The girl realized her mission. She decided to carry on the work the husband expected her to do – not because she was compelled, but she knew it was her mission as well.

The night after storm was full of light, full of courage, full of determination, full of conviction, full of vision, full of compassion.

The young girl Savitribai joined inspiring work of her husband Jyotiba. Both Savitribai and Jyotiba, together with their colleagues created monumental work and created history. They were one of the greatest Change Makers.

It brought a revolutionary change in India and inspired and continues to motivate generations of people. 

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Participation Count: XX

202. From Narmada Valley ... (2)

Part (1)

Myth of Rehabilitation

For many years I have been reading (and listening to) about ‘Zero balance’ in Rehabilitation –meaning 100% households are rehabilitated. From experience I have learnt to assume a certain percentage of success of any reported success – however even those assumptions failed here. In Madhya Pradesh 193 villages are in submergence area – out of that in 150 villages people are still living as they do not have any option. “When Government reports ‘Zero balance’, it is not only a lie but we are treated like a non-entity” remarked one villager sadly. Chota Badada, Pipari, Pichodee, Kadmal, Khaparkheda, Bhitada, Bilgaon …. Villages are different, districts are different, states are different – but the situation is the same. Farmers rejecting cash and demanding ‘land for land’ compensation; people living in the fear of floods; people visiting courts regularly in the hope of justice; people changing together “aamu aakhaa ek se” (we all are One) and “ladenge – jeetenge” (we will fight and win) – keeping alive the hope.

Initially Madhya Pradesh government had asked people to “accept money (as compensation for land) and manage your life” – but people have rejected this policy. When people insisted on “land for land” – they were shown on which farming was not possible. In some villages people have planted and cultivated crops on “Krishi Seva Kendra” land (a government property) and distributed the crop among them.

With many such efforts finally Madhya Pradesh government accepted the demands and 21 families have been given land (five acres each) at Khalbujurg. 10 families from Pichodee and 11 families from Bhadal have received land. When we visited the place the farm was filled with green Soybean. The success of these 21 families has motivated large number of people in the area. Even though farmland has been provided, these families are yet to receive land for construction of house. In Khalbujurg nine to ten families are sharing one residence.

This is Khalbujurg Rehabilitation

This residence is shared by 9 or 10 families. Is this proper and adequate rehabilitation?

Prior to this, in 2000, nine families from Bhitada (the village has more than 300 families) was given five acres of land (each family). The distance between Pichodee and Khalbujurg is about 150 kilometers. Out of 700 + families in Pichodee only 11 have received ‘land for land’ – this clearly speaks about status and speed of rehabilitation. According to Madhya Pradesh government, 5257 families are affected by dam and need to be rehabilitated. All these will need land for construction of house; and there are 10000 landless families, which need to be allotted land for construction of house. The quality of construction is another issue.

How many families are affected by dam and need to be rehabilitated? The numbers are not clear. The number 5257 (of the families affected by dam) accepted by Madhya Pradesh government does not include “adult sons”. It is all a number game. For example, Bhitada was submerged in 2006. But the “cut off” year for Bhitada is 1993. So the minor sons in 1993 are still treated as part of the same family in 2006. Government has not considered the reality that the sons will grow up, they will marry, they will have progeny, and they will need a separate house …..So, for many villages the land for necessary rehabilitation is not available.

Even for declared number of affected families by state government, there is no sufficient provision. In Kadmal – Khaparkheda there are 700+ families. The plan is to rehabilitate them into eight different locations. So according to local people, government is not only drowning their village, but it is also destroying their relations with the community. One village getting divided into eight different locations means people have to leave behind their relatives and support groups. People are not sure that they will be accepted and provided support by the villages they would be rehabilitated into. If government discusses with people, even these eight groups can be properly re-arranged. But for many government officers ‘discussion’ means ‘they speak and others accept’ – this must have happened here as well is my guess.

I came across a very interesting term while discussing rehabilitation with the local people. They were easily talking about ’60 meter wale’, ’70 meter wale’ ’80 meter wale’ ….. “80 meter wale” means people/families expected to be rehabilitated before the dam reaches the height of 80 meters, “70 meter wale” means people/families expected to be rehabilitated before the dam reaches the height of 70 meters and so on.  People accused that “even when ‘80 meter wale’ families are not yet habilitated, governments (state governments) are claiming “Zero balance” (meaning nobody remains to be rehabilitated, 100% rehabilitation complete), providing affidavit in courts (since 2008), the dam height was increased up to 122 meters. I was amazed by the knowledge local people had about this situation. Now villagers at least want the height to remain at 122 meters and not to increase it. But I wonder why Government hurried to say that the rehabilitation is 100% complete. With the experience of working with Governments, I know that government is no more a “welfare” institution or mechanism – but how can it work against welfare of its own people?

 Sand Mining: a new way of looting

Next morning we went to Pichodee. Andolan has stopped illegal mining in this village by demonstrations and stopping the sand filled trucks and sending some of the culprits to the jail. In our group there was substantial discussion on “Sand mining”. Some of us argued: to construct new buildings we need sand. If we stop sand mining altogether development will stop and it would possibly create ecological imbalance. (In short the question was: why are you always against development?) The most important question we hardly discuss is: why only a certain group of people have to pay the price for development of others? Why one has always to renounce and others always get fruits (i.e. facilities) of development? So, we kept on discussing these two perspectives. We had discussion on what is legal sand mining and what is illegal sand mining.

As Pichodee village in the submergence area of Sardar Sarovar, it is under Narmada Control Authority; local authorities are not entitled to provide permissions for sand mining. That means the whole field is open to those who have connections.

When we reached the banks of Narmada in Pichodee, we realized how destructive illegal sand mining could be. No theories were necessary; no convincing was required as we stood on the spot. Words lost its meaning and only a feeling of destruction was around us.

Looking at all the three photographs, one realizes how deep is the river and how the illegal sand mining has allowed the river to rush in. The line of water at the back is Narmada. The green patch at the height is the land level – that was two months ago. The photographs show how deep the mining was done. These photographs were taken when it was not raining – you can imagine how devastating it would be in monsoon. Narmada rushes in bringing in huge volumes of water – she is like a Sea then. She has taken all the silt with her and deposited it in Sardar Sarovar. It is not fault of Narmada – it is the fault of human beings who are playing with the river.

Like the canal story, the illegal sand mining is seen for miles. There are alliances across political affiliations, involved in this destruction. One wonders whether the police are taking action against the sand mafia. 

To be continued ...

201. Light

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 43; the forty-third edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "LIGHT"

“You know the code?” asked the chief.

He nodded.

“Repeat the code”, the next guy spoke in a low voice.

“Sir, one light: “stay where you are”, two lights: “move forward safely” and three lights:  “move back”.

The chief laughed like Gabbar Singh!

The young man had a question, but sensing the antagonism he kept quiet.

They started towards the forest.

“What if there is no light?” he asked slowly.

“There will be no light today. That will end the darkness” an old man uttered smilingly.  

He realized that they had a plan to surrender the chief to the authorities.

(*This is a Drabble)

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200. Color

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 42; the forty-second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "COLOR"

Every evening Grandpa holds my hand and takes me to the garden.

I like it.

Today children are playing some new game.

“Tipi Tipi Tip Top”, one girl shouts.

“What color you want?” responds the chorus.

“Blue” the girl says and everybody rushes around.

They catch something and laugh.

The laughter is joyful and clear like a sea wave.

Now it is another girl, her voice is different.

“Tipi Tipi Tip Top,” she shouts.

“What color you want?” the chorus.

“Grandpa, what is color” I ask with curiosity.

Grandpa sighs. He holds me close.

His tears fall on my face. 

(This is a Drabble) 

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Participation Count: XX