The curious case of APPLE

Immobilized by the gravity of inquisitiveness, I stretched my imagination to check if there was any other ‘fruit’ which can come close to an ‘apple’ in terms of having such a kaleidoscopic presence in history and discovered my curiosity bouncing back with not much to drive home. This prompted me to take a stab at some portion of existing gamut of knowledge to demystify (is it?) the case of Apple. A for Apple Guess, 9 out of 10 kids all over the globe learn the first letter of English alphabet with an almost obvious reference to the fruit. And I am sure no hell will break loose if kids start learning ‘A’ for aeroplane or ant or something else. Why does it have to be an apple to start with? All said and done, apple is so easy to pronounce and equally easy or even easier to remember no matter how lackadaisical we may be inclined to be. As I see it, life always offers many choices and blessed are those who cherry-pick the simplest one. Something as simple as an apple cannot be left to hindsight which is always a rear-view. Adam & Eve and the forbidden apple Reckon, any story on apple would have this inevitable reference to the origin of (all the sins of) human race on the planet. Though the forbidden fruit in many of the books is not identified, popular Christian tradition has held that it was an apple that Eve coaxed Adam to share with her. As a result, in the story of Adam and Eve, the apple became a symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man into sin, and sin itself. Amidst all the human drama the poor apple had to swallow all the blame for the rest part of history. Some eye-brows would rise to know was it all that necessary to attribute this to an apple? What if Adam and Eve chose otherwise? However, the case in point here is simple yet huge. Anything that is apparently forbidden gets the first stab (or let’s call it biting). I cannot say if that happens because of this apple saga. Look at the typical human nature. You ask someone not to do a certain thing and its anyone’s guess that he/she would either take a vow to do only that and then turn to something else or allow it to play on the back of his/her mind as if ‘if’ and ‘but’ are the only two words existing on the earth. And then, almost every-time the buck stops at the third one which has to own up take the responsibility for you and I. Newton and the apple falling from the tree I don’t really think anyone else has popularized ‘apple’ more than how Newton seems to have done. If he chose to change his date of birth, the royalty money from Apple Inc. would probably make him a banker’s darling. I sometimes wonder why Newton had to sit under an apple tree. Did not he ever notice any other thing falling onto the ground? There is nothing left to be desired, but may be his idle mind or the good fortune of the apple which was destined to fall that day. More often than not, we so conveniently ignore such obvious things in life unless one fine day we wake up to embrace reality and then turn ourselves into a Newton. Not for a moment I intend to say that life throws surprises at us at the slightest of opportunity. But then, senses and sensibilities are far bigger virtues only if we carry them on our sleeves wherever we go. An apple a day keeps a doctor away The phrase is probably a close second when the question is again about popularizing the ‘apple’. The proverbial apple here needed the Godly breed of doctors to stamp its presence in the DNA of all the goodness on the earth. Apples have a good claim to promote health as they contain Vitamin C, which aid the immune system and phenols, which reduce cholesterol. They also reduce tooth decay by cleaning one's teeth and killing off bacteria. It has also been suggested by Cornell University researchers that the quercetin found in apples protects brain cells against neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease. (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/an-apple-a-day.html). However someone also tells me that apples may be good for us but it wasn't their precise medicinal properties that were being exalted when this phrase was coined. Guess what- we always need a doctor to tell us to stop smoking, else as if we don’t realise the ill effects smoking, otherwise. I grew up seeing people literally live on fags . Many of them would have never even gone to consult a doctor for they seemingly led a healthy life albeit without getting themselves medically examined. But imagine if they run into some (God forbid) terrible health ailment and see a doctor, the 1st thing probably the doctor would advise is to drop the stick. And then, it would be anyone’s guess what these guys would resort to. At times, we humans knowing fully well that what we are doing is not ok, end up doing only that for reasons may be unknown to even ourselves. We actually feel at times that its infra-dig for us to learn from mistakes no matter whose. And being knocked on the head to accept that from the significant others is like – common, give me a break- do I even know you? In any case, it is my life!!! Apple, the i-factor I am sure it would be hard for the turn-of-the-millennium-generation folks to imagine a world without Apple. Such is the impact of ‘apple’ in the world of computation and digital life-style. RIP, Steve Jobs! What the team offered to the world is something really out of the world. Incidentally, it was an apple. Started with the name ‘Apple Computers’, it did away with the word ‘computer’ to venture into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. Little over three decades and its insanely amazing to see i-pod, i-phone and i-pad almost replacing roti, kapdaa aur makaan as the basic needs! Need I say any further? The ‘i’ factor has certainly revolutionized the term further. Little the founders knew in 1976 how they would be redefining digital behaviour. It all started with Mac OS. With a paltry market share of less than 2% it gave sleepless nights to the giant leader- Microsoft. The case in point inspires many by emphasizing that size does not matter. The larger than life image of ‘apple’ draws me to have a closer look at life out there. The basic needs of human life seem to have taken a real backseat allowing those with aspiration-values to call the shots, don’t they? Innovation at its innocent best I was narrating this passing thought of putting down something on apple and make it a real curious case. Then, my six-yrs old daughter twisted my thoughts and gave me a blank look. Out of sheer inquisitiveness, i turned to her and waited to hear. Blended with innocence she demystified it further, saying how is this? I asked what? Pat came the 24 carats of fun- How about- A for apple, B for bada- apple, C for chhota apple, D for dusra apple..........? I almost fainted!

On a serious note........

Little over a year ago when my younger one was born, there was this friend of mine from Bhubaneswar who joined me with his share of good news announcing the arrival of his son – incidentally his second one and our elder ones, both girls, are buddies too. We celebrated together as our kids were separated at birth by just one day. Well, I have this envious thing called celebrating my birthdays together with friends and saying ‘same to you’ after being wished. Any ways, that is not even a distant point that I am driving home here. This friend of mine (not revealing his name here, as I have not spoken to him abt my blog) and I keep meeting every now and then chit-chatting (we call it khati in local lingo) over almost all the things under the sky. Our elder daughters were going to the same dance school. Hence we used to catch up every week at least once while dropping or picking up the girls. Not seeing him there for few weeks, I took my legs to his place to steal a glance of his wellbeing. He was not to be seen at home and I met his younger brother whose appraisal took a piece of earth from underneath my feet. News was- he had to rush to AIIMS-Delhi for the treatment of his 11 months old son. I was like- what could have happened in past 2-3 weeks which warranted such an urgent move to a place like AIIMS. Bhubaneswar is certainly not a remote village devoid of decent healthcare facilities. The kid had a problem in one of his kidneys. Kidney problem for a 11 months old boy? Called my friend at once and he was not to be reached. So called up a common friend of ours in Delhi who gave me a brief idea about things. The kid had this problem since birth. There was a tiny hole in one of the kidneys, which had grown huge for his size by now. Knowing very little myself, I just had to include the baby in my prayer. My friend narrated the entire story. My natural question was well, that could have been addressed by the docs here. We do have some decent hospitals here in bbsr. I was told, the kid was attended to by best ones available here in the city and they had offered to remove the damaged (as they said) kidney. Thinking about such a thing still gives me a massive shivering down my spine. Now my friend had to stay put in Delhi for few weeks and then got back to bbsr just to go back to AIIMS in another month’s time. And, this time it was for the real treatment. After initial assessments, the kid’s ailing kidney was put under observation for about a month. I just could not believe my ears when my friend told me that abt one and a half litres of liquid (called it water) was to be pumped out of the ailing kidney. The local docs here called it ‘something that may have happened due to some gastric problems and hence not so serious.’ Few days ago, the kid underwent something I forgot what they call in medical terminology. Now there is a pipe planted in the kid’s body which connect the kidney with the urinary tract so that the recuperating kidney does not have to take any load and it gets healed up and compressed back to the near-normal size. My friend has been asked to report back in another month’s time and the docs may remove that pipe and help the kidney further. Well, I asked him again, cannot this step even be done here bbsr?. Mind you, my friend has been squeezing his life-long saving all these while. And then he quoted the doc from AIIMS- doc folks in Orissa are nothing better than ‘gadhas’. It does not give me any pleasure saying this here. But I repeat the term that was used. Something that the local docs should have diagnosed when the kid was reported to them with a swollen stomach when he was about 4 months old and he was being periodically checked for the same ever since. The doc apparently went on to say, on a lighter note, and I quote- ‘I don’t even know if they take out some other thing from the kid’s body instead of the pipe that’s been inserted. We cannot simply leave the kid’s fate to some illiterate docs’...Felt like banging my head in shame!!!

Prof. Chita Baral (ASU.edu) Ratnagiri-Lalitagiri-Udayagiri Knowledge Complex revival committee

from Prof. Baral through email.


Dear Pranay:

Hope you will have time between your cricket and hockey watching to read the following. :-)

Last year I came across information regarding Ratnagiri, Lalitagiri and Udayagiri Complex and Puspagiri (all in Odisha) being (part of) an ancient Buddhist university comparable to Nalanda.

While I had read about Nalanda and Taxila in high school, and read about the recent revival of Nalanda University (with efforts led by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and President Kalam) I had not heard of Ratnagiri and Puspagiri, even though Ratnagiri is about 70 kms from Cuttack (and 100 kms from Bhubaneswar).

The comparison of Ratnagiri and Puspagiri with Nalanda intrigued me and for the last year or so I started exploring and researching the Buddhist art history and archaeology literature to find out more about Ratnagiri (Lalitagiri and Udayagiri) and Puspagiri and how they compared to Nalanda. In the process I exchanged mails and met with Professor Thomas Donaldson of Cleveland State University who has written several books on Art history and archaeology of Odisha and India. He gave me several pointers. I also met professors at Utkal University who do research on these areas and went with some of them to see Ratnagiri, Lalitagri and Udayagiri.

I am astounded by what I found through my exploration and research. The Buddhist art history literature is replete with references and mentions of comparisons between Ratnagiri and Nalanda. Following are some samples:

0. Professor Thomas Donaldson (in his email):

As you know Ratnagiri was a rival to Nalanda as a site of Buddhist learning and some later Tibetan texts even ascribe the origin of Mahayana and Tantrayana to Ratnagiri. Collectively the three closely situated sites certainly compare artistically to the site of Nalanda ...

1. From the Archaeological Survey of India Brochure made available at the Archaeological Musuem at Ratnagiri:

Extensive excavations conducted at the site by the Archaeological Survey of India between 1958 and 1961 have brought to light remains of a Buddhist establishment consisting of stupas, monastic complexes and temples hitherto unparalleled in Orissa and comparable to the well known Buddhist site at Nalanda.


2. From pages 226-227 of Debala Mitra’s book: Buddhist Monuments (Debala Mitra was the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India between 1975-1983)

Ratnagiri-mahavihara … It played a significant role in disseminating Buddhist culture and religion forming itself, like Nalanda, an important religious and philosophical academy, to which flocked the entrants and scholars to take lessons from the intellectual stalwarts of Buddhism.

… Indeed, excavations have revealed that here was an establishment that can be compared with that of Nalanda. In the overwhelming number of portable monolithic stupas Ratnagiri can compete even with Bodh-Gaya.

3. From page 152 of Debala Mitra’s book: Ratnagiri

Monastery 1 … Not a single monastery of Nalanda, which has yielded so far the largest number of spectacular structural monasteries , can compete with this one in respect of embellishment.

4. Page 114 of Sunita Dwivedi’s “Buddhist heritage sites of India”

Lalitgiri, Udaygiri and Ratnagiri in Cuttack district on the banks of river Birupa are famous as the `golden traingle’ of Orissa. … The triangle is supposed to have been the famous Puspagiri monastic complex mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. It was considered as an important seat of Buddhist learning, next only to Taxila and Nalanda.

5. Page 143 from “Tourism in India and India's economic development” By Kartik Chandra Roy, Clement Allan Tisdell

The Ratnagiri Vihara like the Puspagiri Vihara was known throughout the Buddhist world as a great center of learning, and a rival to Nalanda.

6. Yojana: Volume 43 India planning commission, India Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

According to archaeologists, a Buddhist University known as Pushpagiri Vihar was located on the hills about 70 kilometers from Cuttack. Since it was as important as Nalanda and Takshila, the Chinese traveller Huen Tsang visited this place.

7. The Maha Bodhi: Volume 95

In about 5th century AD, a Buddhist academy under the title of Puspagiri Vihara came into existence in Ratnagiri. This academy, rather university, was in a very prosperous condition like Nalanda and Vikramashila.


More details and more quotes are in the attached power point slides.

Considering the very low level of awareness about Ratnagiri (Lalitagiri and Udayagiri) among people from Odisha, let alone among Indians and others, I think it is important that we make some serious efforts to increase awareness about this.

But more importantly, Ratnagiri being a contemporary and competitor of Nalanda means that it was one of the early universities of the world. This is of great significance; perhaps as significant or may be even more significant than the Konark temple, Lord Jagannath Temple, and various temples in Bhubaneswar, as those places were (a) places of worship with (b) great architectural as well as artistic value; while Ratnagiri (Lalitagiri and Udayagiri) in addition to having those two attributes also have the added dimension of being one of the early centers of knowledge in the world.

In other words the Ratnagiri, Lalitagiri and Udayagiri complexes, as one among the first (pre) universities in the world, may be the biggest contribution of Odisha to the world and the mankind.

Yet, this is not much known in Odisha, India or the world; outside of Buddhist art history and archaeology research circles.

As ambassadors of Odisha, we ought to make efforts to address this.

I discussed this with Annapurna apa (President of the Orissa Society of America and a faculty in Anthropology teaching at the University of California Santa Cruz) and we both agree that we should make an all out effort to make this known around the world and in the process revive this ancient university.

We would like your help towards that effort. As a start, we would like to invite you to be a member of the Ratnagiri-Lalitagiri-Udayagiri Knowledge Complex revival committee. Our immediate plan is to organize a meeting about this in July 2012 and formulate a steering committee that will lead the efforts to (re)establish a university there perhaps called the Ratnagiri-Puspagiri International University.

We look forward to hearing from you on this.

sincerely,

Chitta