Sur na saje kya gaaun mein....

Heard someone saying ‘every song has its DEY’! Sans this Dey- Prabodh Chandra Dey aka manna dey- songs are never going to be the same again... I faintly remember as a very young boy I used to get glued to my transistor to listen to an oriya song 'jamuna jaa na, jaa na jamuna, kadamba mula re luchichi se kanha...." the singer of which I had absolutely no idea about...Sometime down the line when I kind of developed some elementary sense of/for music, it was the velvet voice in that  duet- 'aja sanam madhur chandni mein hum'  from the hindi movie 'chori chori' took me into its grip....Melody at its typical best and manna-da doing what he always does the best... The inimitable rendering in 'laga chunri mein daag'  from 'dil hi to hai' was just a chance stumble upon and remains one of my ATFs till date... The taraana to end that song, I reckon is the best possible thing to have ever happened to hindi film music.. Those were the times when we were not blessed with getting any song that you want at your finger tip. All India Radio and/or cassette tapes were the only resort. There was this friend of mine in Hyderabad, Satya who must have taken pain to sing (on demand)the taraana for us umpteen number of times , anytime anywhere- many times reluctantly and understandably so.... Some of my Bengali hostel mates introduced me to the bangla gem- 'coffee houser sei adda ta aaj aar nei' and ‘bado adorer chhoto boun'. I don’t think I can thank them enough. As if those were not enough, the silken touch in 'ae meri zohra jabeen' stamped manna da's impact somewhere in me which later got reinforced by the 'basant bahar' locking-horns-of-the-titans rendering (with pt Bhimsen Joshi), 'ketaki gulab juhi champak bane phoole....' . Another dear friend Bama can only vouch for the number of times we would have passionately listened to and endlessly discussed this particular song.

‘Coffee houser sei adda ta’ and ‘laga chunri mein daag’ will walk into my top-10 all time favourites, if I am put at gun point and asked to pick such a list. Had Manna-da sung only these two and nothing else, I repeat nothing else, still he would be a darling of same stature that he is right now.

I cannot possibly imagine the movie Anand being complete without manna da’s immaculate rendering ‘zindagi kaisi hai paheli haye, kabhi to hasaye kabhi to rulaye.’ At the same time, I don’t think anyone else could have done better justice to Jaydev’s mesmerizing composition of Harivanshrai Bachchan’s ‘madhushala’.

It is a no-brainer that for a classical number Manna-da must have been the first choice for many music composers of yesteryears. But he was equally preferred for many unforgettable melodies. I was always in awe of Manna-da’s  versatility that he established by singing songs of an incredibly  wide range of genres and singing them with impeccable ease . While we could easily associate the songs like ‘ sur na saje kya gaaun mein’, ‘puchho na  kaise’, ‘kaun aya mere man ke dware’, ‘jhanak jhanak tore baje payaliya’, etc. for their classical base, others like ‘aao twist karein’ , ‘ae mere pyare watan’ , ‘chalat musafir moh liya re’ , ‘masti bhara yeh sama’, ‘yeh raat bheegi bheegi’, ‘bade miyan deewane’ etc. are not the usual suspects that one would typically attribute to manna da’s kind of singing. May be a Md. Rafi or  a Talat Mahmood could easily cross any unaided mind.

Thank you Manna-da for being such a huge reason for the happiness of many. As you leave for your heavenly abode I can only feel the void and an irreparable loss. RIP.

An Apple to an(other) Apple

My obsession with ‘apple’ continues. Taking from where I had left in the previous edition of Jijnasa, the curious case of ‘apple’ gets even more curious. Few days ago I was driving back home piercing through the heavenly rain drops when something from the music system of my car struck me: “Tu chanda mein chandni, tu taruvar mein shakh re....”from the 1970 movie “Reshma aur Shera”. For a while I allowed myself to keep inhaling in a half-conscious state the rhythms, the words, the music that very succinctly brought out the ingenuity of the trio Lata Mangeshkar, Jaidev and Kavi Balkavi Bairagi. I am sure any music lover would say Lata ji could only have done justice to the beautiful composition by Jaydev and to the imagination penned down by Balkavi Bairagi. The moving frames of a desert landscape where Wahida Rahman in traditional rajasthani attire sneaked out of her house for a waiting Sunil Dutt danced in front of my eyes. Before I could get further into the grip of the song, something else got superimposed on my captivation. And guess what, the next moment I was comparing a seasoned nightingale that Lata ji was with a thirteen-year-old child prodigy on the stage of the mega finale programme of the reality show ‘meri awaaz suno’ in 1996- a certain young Sunidhi Chauhan. The mesmerized looks of Manna Dey, Bhupen Hazarika, Pt. Jashraj and Lata Mangeskar herself in the judges’ seats were just about enough to tell the story. I knew what I was thinking. But I somehow could not help that thought crossing my mind so judgementally. I was imagining an improbable thing and that was, may be a young Sunidhi Chauhan sang that song better than Lata ji did. For goodness sake and with a sense of unknown dismay, I locked up that thought only to myself. I would be declared either a paranoid or an obsessed soul if I had discussed this with anyone who understood music, even in passing. To tell you the truth I have spent hours listening to both renderings one line from Lata ji’s original song and then the same by Sunidhi on Youtube (whatever limited was/is available) and so on. I would end up convincing myself that Sunidhi’s rendering was more convincing. But then, what is the yardstick? Do I have a benchmark or a referral point on the basis of which I would draw a comparison? Well, pat comes the answer. Yes, that has/had to be Lata ji’s original number. However, that is beside the point. The point that I am trying to drive home here is why ‘comparisons’ become so invariably inevitable. We agree, we disagree, we fight, we scream, we argue and we do what-not. Logic goes for a toss. Reasoning is rendered quickly meaningless. We go to any possible extent to defend our views over the others’ sending merit and context to the back burner. Let alone an ‘apple to apple’ comparison. We don’t even let go an apple to orange one. A dear friend of mine received a shock of his life when I very subtly placed before him my thoughts about the song ‘tu chanda mein chandni’ and he without dropping an eyelid declared me crazy and my comparison as something like ‘an apple to a pumpkin’. I had all the reasons in the world to spitefully agree with him.

 Then the restiveness climbed up looking for an apple and yet another apple to pit against it. Frankly saying, I did not have to shed any sweat for that. A single press of the button to the trip down the memory lane took me straight to my college days. I would have shouted my lungs out in frenzied arguments (cannot qualify those to be called discussions) over Md. Rafi vs Kishore Kumar or an even more popular one Sachin Tendulkar vs. Brian Lara. We never cared for the unprecedented amount of respect that these legends command on their own rights. What we essentially used to get into was profoundly pronouncing our own limited knowledge of what they had achieved and pick up an argument and make it uglier than ugly. I would always claim that Md. Rafi sang the song ‘tum bin jaun kahan...’ from the 1969 hindi movie ‘pyar ka mausam’ better than Kishore Kumar. Some of my friends would pull out the audio cassette (those were the days of taped cassettes) and play both the songs. Post that, what would have been a discussion until then would turn into an argument. We would end up looking at the versatility of both the geniuses. My friend would pick Kishore-da’s songs of various genres and I would have my picks from Rafi sa’b’s renderings and a quiet evening would go into a noisy mid-night in no time. By the stroke of midnight we would have moved on to comparing Manna Dey and Pt. Bhimsen Joshi over the song “Ketaki Gulab Juhi...” from the 1956 movie Basant Bahar. And to everyone’s shock, I would have purposefully dragged Rafi sa’b’s classical number ‘madhuban mein radhika naache re...” from Kohinoor. The old monks by then would be in a panic room exploring further. Genre after genre in a free flow we would be in the grip of ghazals discussing Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hasan, etc. Out of nowhere I would come up with ‘koyee saagar dil ko bahtlata nehin’ from the 1966 film ‘dil diya dard liya’ and then ‘kahin bekhayal ho kar’ from the 1965 movie ‘Teen Deviyan’ and further claim that Rafi was a better ghazal singer too, just to get my head banged by another friend declaring that ‘this guy is impossible... hence no point in discussing any further’.

 In a country like India where we all claim to be a better cricket pundit than any other one on the planet, any discussion on a comparison of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara has a huge potential to get anywhere, literally anywhere. I reckon the amount of bandwidth that is spent on ‘statsguru’ at cricinfo.com may easily be second to none, not even pornography. Then we start abusing e/o saying- you know nothing about cricket....Lara has a 400 in a test inning and 500 in a first class inning to his name and Sachin does not even have a triple ton. Lara plays better under pressure and has won more matches for his team (very much like an ignorant Ponting did some time back). An ardent Sachin follower would blast back with a barrage of facts and figures. 20 out of 51 Sachin’s test centuries and 37.01% of career test runs have gone into winning cause where Lara has only eight tons and 24.50% of his runs to similar effect. So, who is a better match winner? Now the counter punch comes: well, sachin plays only for his records and is so selfishly holding onto his place in the team and he only cares for making more and more money. Boy, what is that? What about this- Lara played that 400 inning only to get back his record which was snatched away by certain Mat Hayden? There is nothing called giving away your place to anyone else in a professional sport. Other deserving players have to earn their places. That’s his profession and he has earned it through his hard work and talent. Why does someone’s thick wallet pinch me? Any argument on someone’s earning (if through fair means) does not make any sense whatsoever. Ok, let’s dump money here and move ahead with the discussion. Lara played better with tail-enders. Now, give me a break. The numbers tell me a different story altogether. By the way, what was Ponting trying to tell? During his tenure and against his own mighty bowling attack if one has scored 3060 runs in 29 matches at an average of 61.20 with 9 centuries and another scored 1453 runs in 16 matches at an average of 46.87 with 6 tons, who should he be losing more sleep over?

There was this mixed and confused sense of being counted and make things count, choosing which attitude to wear and which to let go, shackles which to be winged and which to be clipped, allowing oneself to go with the undefined flow or get judgmental....... I am sent into the grip of nostalgia. Needless to say those were the best days of life, when apple was just a fruit. Coming back to apples vs apples, our lives also tell a similar kind of tale. Don’t we have this tendency to think that others do less work than us? Don’t we get inclined to reckon that others are happier than us? If I get something, I always deserved that. And if someone contemporary to me gets that before I do, then he must be up to something. My views are always wiser than others. Doesn’t every generation think that it is smarter than the preceding one and more intelligent than the succeeding one? Time to wonder whether we see the apples in our mind’s eyes or do we see them in real !!! When we are a part of any system or order, each of us has a role to play so that the larger system that we are essentially a part of moves on as Durkheim would put it. For that to happen there must be a division (and dignity) of labour. Be it an apple or be it an orange.

Youth Social Responsibility: Some Sense and Some Sensibility

I am not sure if there exists any universal definition of youth. However, in sociological terms ‘youth’ can best be expressed as a period of transition between the dependence of childhood and the relative independence of adulthood. A more popular usage of the term would associate youth with people in the age group of 15-24 years. Youth, in this age group who are either in schools or colleges or in the process of taking up jobs in various walks of life, constitute nearly one-fifth of India’s population rendering themselves a very significant target population segment for market, for policy makers, for demographers, for media, etc. Though social responsibility has not eluded this vibrant demographic segment, it is not honky dory either. Having said this, I am not demeaning those who have in fact shouldered loads of them. But, many from our older generation would, at the drop of a hat, tend to associate freaky, care-free, restless, just-take-it-easy kind of attitude with today’s youth. Blame it on their perception, but they are not entirely wrong in their assessment. Youth today are to a large extent an indifferent lot, especially the urban youth who are more focused on individual achievements (well, nothing wrong with that at all), but are little withdrawn when it comes to the willingness to initiate action to further larger social interest. I am inclined to believe that most of them are kind of trapped in a false sense of contentment that once you post or share a status message on facebook and receive some likes and comments, you are done. Or for that matter, retweeting a socially appealing message from someone is believed to be you-know-what-I-did-my-bit. This vibrant and strong resource of the country needs to be motivated and mobilized to travel some extra miles for the society. Are our young people conveniently shying away from their responsibilities for the society at large, passing the buck to others? It would be unfortunate if the answer is ‘yes’. We live in a country where a Sachin shines at 16, where a Koneru Humphy humbles the big dads of chess at 15, where a Darsheel Safary at 9 inspires millions of children reach out to the stars, where an Agatha Sangma at 28 breaks into the parliament, where a Sania Mizra sizzles at the Flinders Park before even getting behind the wheels. But aren’t these names just a few? Don’t we need one such name in every street and every mohalla? Youth and Social Participation We focus on those young people between the ages of 15 and 24, because they are old enough to understand civic obligations but still young enough to be forming and/or setting examples of civic habits. Young people have a role as targets of community-building work and as active leaders and participants in it. Not only does youth participation in social activities have societal benefits through the development of social responsibility and the fostering of social inclusion but equally importantly it also has potential benefits for the young people themselves. Social participation encourages the interpersonal and practical skills that give young people a sense of self-worth and self-confidence. Civic engagement can thus empower communities and citizens to take greater control over the issues that affect them as significant agents of positive change. The personal benefits participants acquire through opportunities for civic involvement help foster a sense of social cohesion and responsibility. Put simply, if you take a certain amount out of the system, you must give a certain amount back. The more you take out, the more you should give back. By being socially responsible, it has to participate in the development process of the country and accelerate the process of development. With respect to the present generation of young people, sometimes written off as a group of indifferent freeloaders, the reality is much better than the perception. On the positive side, today’s youth are more likely to volunteer than at any time in the past. Youth of yesteryears can show the right path to this generation. The older generation always has viewed the younger one with a mix of hope and alarm. On one hand, the older ones hope their children will improve the society they have inherited. On the other hand, each generation of young people seems all too willing to discard tradition, embrace individualism, and carves out its own niche and course. How well the younger generation lives up to the expectations of its predecessors, or to its own, is a question to which every generation, sooner or later, turns its attention. Youth and Social Capital To each generation, the term ‘youth’ evokes contradictory yet powerful images. We might think of individualistic, self centered, intolerant ones who rebel against traditional values more often than not. But we are just as likely to witness s/w professionals, sport stars, entrepreneurs, social activists, artists, etc. Whether good or bad, the prevailing images or stereotypes of young people often say as much about the communities in which youths are coming of age as about the young people themselves. Young people want what everyone else wants: affiliation, community, solidarity, respect, success, and opportunity. Whether those needs are provided by anti-social elements or conversely by families, peers, market, and schools– is entirely up to us as a society. The nature of the social capital available to young people influences how well they learn, the odds that they will attend college, whether they will set examples as responsible citizen, and the likelihood that they will do drugs or commit crimes. In a nation that prides itself on its young people representing the promise of a more progressive India, their well-being is one of the determining indicators of the nation’s future. As our young people go, so goes our nation. Tad Homer-Dixon at the Tyler Booker Memorial Lecture on ‘Youth, Social Responsibility, and Political Action’ (march 1989) had lauded , “a person is required to do his part as defined by the rules of an institution when two conditions are met: First, the institution is just (or fair)…., and second, one has voluntarily accepted the benefits of the arrangement or taken advantage of the opportunities it offers to further one’s interests…..We are not to gain from the cooperative labours of others without doing our fair share.” In light of the principle of fairness, does youth have any special responsibility? Well, the answer is simple and is ‘yes’. Self belief is the order of the day. Today’s youth symbolizes energy and enthusiasm. They stand for innocence and innocence that makes them believe that impossible is nothing. Because young people embody our hopes and carry out our dreams, they and the organizations of which they are a part must be at the center of efforts to rebuild social capital. The i-pad/facebook generation is yet to be disillusioned and yet to be cynical because they have the energy and the belief that they can move mountains. They need to act to bring about the change they want in this world. They need to be socially responsible because if they are they can change the society. History bears the testimony to the very fact that all the major revolutions in the world have been led by the youth and campuses have been the hotbed of revolutions. At the same time young people have less invested in the status quo; they have less to lose from change. Role of Media Youth-focused institutions in our country are not generally designed to solicit young people’s input on bigger social issues- governance, social development, poverty alleviation, clean environment, etc. This lapse translates into thousands of squandered opportunities to prepare the next generation of social capitalists. It will take a major shift in attitude and practice to create a lifelong pathway of civic engagement. As young people seem to grow up faster and more independently than their parents did, the society needs to provide them the right platform to translate their energy into meaningful social action. Concern about the current generation of youth's sense of social responsibility and commitment to larger social cause surfaces frequently in the media. At best, youth are presented as disinterested in political processes and ill prepared to help run the country; at worst, they are portrayed as self-indulgent and increasingly impatient. Current debates about mandating corruption free system, community service programs, revamping citizenship education, and changing juvenile justice legislation represent attempts to promote social and political engagement in youth and to control their rebellious tendencies. The Surf Excel 10/10 campaign to help poor children, the concept of citizen journalist of CNN IBN, among others have certainly contributed in raising awareness. Lifebuoy ad campaign, to cite another example, depicts young children charging up for cleaning up their neighbourhood. Again, it starts with the idea that a single individual can make a difference. The ad campaign by a popular tea brand shows a vote seeking politician getting outwitted by a young man. These are not really a fictitious plot but quite contemporary and pragmatic. Lead India was a wonderful platform to expose young minds to several needs of the hour. ‘Range De Basanti’ was not a writer’s imagination, rather an imaginative pick from the reality which went on to have significant impact on the psyche of the young people of India. The NDTV campaign to get a retrial for Jessica Lal is what we get in return. And I salute the renaissance of youth as a powerful catalyst of change. The greeting cards marketed by CRY on occasions like New Year, Christmas, etc. have always caught our attention and at times without our knowledge we have acted responsibly. So why not doing is consciously and leaving others to follow the suit? The media has am affirmative role to play in molding this generation youth. This role is not given or authorised by anyone but the media is vested with this role by itself. With the 24x7 news and entertainment channels and social media taking the centre stage, media shapes the character of people not just by providing information, education and entertainment to them but also by acting as the forum for public discussion and debate thus providing an opportunity to find expressions for their ideas and feelings. When it comes to youth that are increasingly media savvy these days, media provides to them not only information but also educates them on various aspects of the society pertaining to their career choice, moral growth and entertainment needs. We all know how unprecedented can the viral impact of facebook or twitter go. With information moving faster than ever before, it makes the youth aware of global social changes, developments, innovations, research and experiments being carried out in various fields aiming at changing the very human existence for betterment, etc. It inculcates in the youth the desire to learn more and more and imbibe the fast changing technologies and development processes while competing and vying with each other. The Way forward On the greener side, today’s youth are more rational, less corrupt, more progressive, less tolerant and more risk-taking. Let’s allow them the luxury of being little more impatient than what we think we are/were. If the common wisdom prompts them to take the path less traveled by and take the plunge into the unknown by violating a rule or two, then be it. Two wrongs will never make one thing right. But, if the wrongdoing can be self-destroying or self-defeating then I think every wrong thing must be allowed to be done once and once for all. Thomas Hardy puts it this way- “In dreams begin responsibilities”. So the need of the hour is to dream big and be more (socially) responsible. Being socially responsible one does not need to be like another Raja Ram Mohan Roy or a Swami Vivekananda or types to start with. If one can make even the smallest yet desirable difference to the society that would make the world a better place to live in. A small storm in the tea pot may just snowball into a far reaching and defining change in the society. Merely blaming the system (we do it quite often and quite conveniently) for anything and everything that is perceived as not-done is not really done. Today’s youth should come forward and be a part of the system to initiate changes. Rome was never built in a day. But I am sure one can lay a brick everyday to ensure that a Rome is built in due time. Today’s youth possess the right/balanced mix of self belief and attitude to make things happen. Let "if not us, who; if not now, when?" be the mantra. Nothing changes unless you make it change. Go for the kill, boys! The elders have not brought about the change, you have to. Because I have all the reasons to believe that you believe in change and you believe you can bring about that change.

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

A Letter to JRD from a Girl

Have Passion!

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science.

I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India.

One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.

At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.'

I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.

Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers...
Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?

After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco

I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.

'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.'

I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.

It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.

To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.

There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business.

'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.

Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.'

They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude.
The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.

Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.

I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.

I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'

Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.

It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him.

I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.

She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).

Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'

'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.

After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.

One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.

'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.

I'll wait with you till your husband comes.'

I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.

I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'

Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.

Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'

'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.'

'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'

'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me 'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.'

Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.

Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you.
The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'

I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.

Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence.
(Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)

Article sourced from: Lasting Legacies (Tata Review- Special Commemorative Issue 2004), brought out by the house of Tatas to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of JRD Tata on July 29, 2004 .