Book Review- Journeys Beyond and Within

 One of the learnings (hers) that comes through is getting over the idea of the White Man/Westerner being superior to others. In India with our fairness fetish, this is more pronounced. But that is just skin deep, is what you learn when you go inter-cultural over long periods. Like she did in Chile in a volunteering stint, teaching English to local kids (My wife taught local immigrants English in a small US town a long time ago- they were adults though).

Simple joys like drinking in public - near the Eiffel Tower, or the Seine- are captured well, along with the more elaborate journeys into the unknown, inaccessible or less travelled parts of the world. The Indian parent syndrome also gets panned, particularly the gender discrimination- the same things done by a Son are praised, and by the Daughter, criticized.

I found the insights into growing up in our (patriarchal) culture very accurate. Of course, every culture has its issues- the U.S. had loneliness, teen pregnancies and drugs as some of theirs. Maybe Trump too, now!

The style of writing is honest and not showy, and it helps to keep you going, wanting to know more. Well done, Priyanka Gupta.

Why should you read the book? Hope you got the answer to that above. I can't tell all- you have to read it to experience it fully. You can get it from Amazon.  https://www.amazon.in/Journeys-Beyond-Within-Life-Changing-Adventures/dp/B0DTT1Y2HB

Kantara - Film Review

 An awesome movie, and a must-see, if you haven't watched it. Saw it (with Hindi dubbing), in Indore.

It is rare for a Hindi film-goer to come across such a film. So rooted in local culture and mythology. Yes, this is also larger than life in parts, where the supernatural element enters the plot. But utterly believable traditions of rural life in India.

The plot never slackens, and the mother's character is really delightful-what a contrast from the Nirupa Roy-style mom of Hindi movies! The hero, his cronies and the villain are well-played. The forest officer character is also portrayed really well. Since I don't know the actors, can't name them.

It's a brilliant screenplay, edited to perfection. No major songs except in the background. The Wow sound that emanates from the Daivi -possessed form, is a great value-add, and makes that character/form memorable, apart from the make-up.

Difficult to describe, but it's an experience you don't want to miss. Rishabh Shetty, hats off!

Once a Hyderabadi Always a Hyderabadi

I don't have to tell you I grew up in Hyderabad and thereabouts. The environment, people, culture, sort of seeps into your blood, as many Hyderabadis will testify, if you ask them. Anyway, I will not wax eloquent- baataan nahin karte, hum Hyderabadi- and instead give you a peek into some of what Hyderabad does best-

The blend of the old and the new- a view from behind the metro station (above), and the station itself.

The last one is only to highlight one of the many bowlis..before Gachhi Bowli came along, it was Putli Bowli that was well-known to Hyderabadi public..phir yeh IT wale logaan aake sab bigaad diye :)

Discovering Indian Culture

I came across, thanks to Padmapriya, a former student and an actor with a conscience (and a National Award to boot), a novel organisation that she joined recently. It is called Sahapedia, on the lines of a wiki, and is about discovering various facets of culture.

It is an open online forum that relates to Indian culture and heritage. This is the link if it interests you, to find out more-  https://www.sahapedia.org/aboutus
Heritage walks are one way they do it, but there are many other dimensions to their activities such as writings, videos etc.

I found the idea very interesting, and hope to engage a little more when possible.

Remembering Anthony Bourdain

He was a chef, a traveller, and a writer- a rare combination of talent. I don't recall how I first got to know him, but I think it was while browsing TV channels on an idle evening. Some cookery shows in the past few years have caught the fancy of a lot of us, and his might have been one of those. But his good looks and personality made his show different, and also the way he introduced local culture, street food etc. to you. It seemed like the next best thing to travelling there.

I remember reading a regular who-dun-it penned by him, though I forget its title (Maybe it was Gone Bamboo). It was not bad at all, for someone who was not a regular in that genre. But he seemed to enjoy trying different things. Apparently he did write columns and articles, starting with The New Yorker, no less.

It is surprising though, that (it seems) he killed himself by hanging. Why, one wonders.

Airport Art

Airports generally have a lot of advertising- for tourism, or cosmetics, or for their own duty-free shops if international. But depicting your culture through airport art is an art..and Mumbai airport Terminal 2 seems to have done a lot of it right. The murals on its walls are good at showing Indian motifs - sample these.

Iran and the World

I have no idea of the politics that goes on in the world driven by the supercop, but I have a lot of reasons to wish it would not lead to Iran being left out of the world scene. I have had colleagues and friends who were from Iran, and I always enjoyed my interaction with them. The hide and seek that goes on between Iran and the Western powers should not cloud India's historically good ties with the country and its people.

There is good news that the sanctions will go soon. Hope Iran returns to the mainstream. I also find that Iranian films are of a high quality, and appreciated by many. I have seen around six or seven, and most were very good, if slightly political. I think we all have a lot to learn from each other culturally, and Iran and India have usually had a good exchange. We are respected there, and I think we can build on that to further ties, going beyond just oil. We all stand to benefit.

Pragati Maidan and the Exhibition

There is something about a mela-an exhibition- that Indians can't get enough of. The turnout on Sunday, when I chose to visit the annual exhibition at Pragati Maidan, was unbelievable. I stood in a line that was really long to get in, after standing in one to buy a ticket- not cheap, 80 rupees on a weekend. But was it a sellout. They actually stop selling tickets in the afternoon, because there are too many people inside.

Once inside, it is a rainbow of colours, people, stalls, and,..you guessed it...FOOD. There is so much food inside of all types that you can't get enough of the sights and smells. Of curse, it is overpriced and not as good as some of the specialty joints in town, but there is enormous variety. But why talk of food?

There is plenty more, and some of the stalls I visited always had something on offer for everyone. Clothing of all kinds, in particular. The huge crowds on that day made it tough to savour things at a slow pace (my preferred pace) but still, it is an experience to be there. Glimpses into the arts and crafts of all our states is a great benefit of visiting this one, and that is available in plenty. One can only marvel at how much we don't know about our own country and its people. Ignorance zindabad!

Garden in Thailand

The botanical garden called Noong Nooch near Pattaya. It is huge, and you can spend a day there just wandering around. Nice, imaginatively designed. The cropping of trees and shrubs is great. There are artificially created giraffes, and many more creatures. Live cultural shows and elephant shows are a part of the setup.

Americanisms and Britishisms

Right now we have an American and a Brit on campus doing various things. So I was reminded of an old joke. A Brit and an American were taking a walk. The Brit looked around him, and as is the habit of his countrymen, wanting to make conversation, said, "Spring in the air."

To which the surprised American replied, "Why should I?"

Not sure what an Indian would have done in a similar situation. He might have brought a small spring coil and thrown it up in the air, maybe?

Anyway, there is funny communication that happens all the time. Another classic that I remember from my experience is the play on the word 'bus' and 'boss' thanks to some friends from Orissa and Kerala, where they mix up these two words with hilarious consequences.

The Bengali propensity to pronounce a 'v' as a 'b' leads to amusing exchanges if one is not used to it. We had a sentence in school that made fun of this Bengali trait. You have to say, "Venkatramana, Venkatramana, why are you walking in the verandah?", with all the Vs and Ws pronounced as Bs.

Gujaratis are hilarious with some words too. They say 'snakes' when they mean snacks, and 'rape' when they want to say 'wrap'.

Anjaiah, an old Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, was known for his lack of command over English and a few jokes became legendary. As in, he was shown around a hospital, and when they showed him the labour room where mothers in labour were housed, he praised the staff for taking care of their labourers (he used to be a minister for that Labour earlier). Well, let me not belabour the point. I suppose you got it by now. Say 'gotcha' if you did! 

Of Culture, Epics and Epidemics

Heard that there is an obesity epidemic in the land of burgers and Coke. We were used to some good old epidemics like Malaria, or Plague, or Chicken pox or something similar. But what is an obesity epidemic? Is it more, or less terrifying than a terrorist epidemic? Also, is it endemic (whatever that means) to a particular culture? Also, a related question- is culture good or bad for you?

Organising my thoughts neatly (something I keep attempting from time to time), here they are-

Culture is not entirely good for you, because it is more out of habit that one gets used to a type of food, or songs, or ways of celebrating something like festivals, or a wedding, or many such things. The problem is, you tend to cling to your way of doing things, by force of habit. Which is also fine, but for the tendency is to view your culture as being superior to other cultures that may be different.

Epidemics have a positive side too. They restore the balance between living beings and consumable resources like water, food, fuel, etc by reducing the former. Of course, if you happen to be 'reduced' it is not good for you as an individual, but we are talking humankind here.

What about epics, the third angle of this scholarly discourse? Why do people write them? One can imagine that in the pre-Ekta Kapoor (or pre-Facebook, depending on what you are addicted to) days, it was a way of passing the time, or shooting the breeze. That this marathon exercise was successfully accomplished in different parts of the world from Greece to India, itself is a tribute to man and his indefatigable nature.

Before the blog gets to acquire an epic status, let me stop this flow of thought-provoking thoughts.

The Indians by Sudhir and Katharina Kakar

This is a book I am reading, and contains a fascinating portrait of us Indians. Some of the authors' observations are insightful, and ring true from experience. Particularly if you have had a close look at other cultures or people, you may get more out of this.

Their take on leadership and team work are relevant for all students of management. Sample this-

"Among the subordinates, there is a tendency to idealise the leader and look upon him as a repository of all virtues, an almost superhuman figure ...."

"Since Indian institutions are markedly hierarchical, collaborative teamwork across levels of status and power proves to be difficult. Decisions tend to be pushed upward.."

"The absence of a democratic mode of functioning in Indian institutions is not resented as long as leaders develop a close relationship with the led."

They also talk of the family being the cornerstone of an Indian way of life, and not the man-woman couple as in many Western societies. The saas bahu (mother-in-law vs. daughter-in-law) struggle is essentially a means of subjugating the romantic relationship and upholding the primacy of 'the family' and the saas is only an agent of the family in achieving this goal.

Indians are corrupt because corruption, nepotism etc. are secondary when compared to the importance of fulfilling obligations to one's kith and kin or "extended family", according to the authors.

They also have interesting explanations for the Indians' fascination for the fair skin colour and the abhorrence of "lower castes" that pervades even non-Hindus in India in some form, in spite of Mahatma Gandhi.

Fascinating, must read for every Indian. Even if you can't change, it will at least make you aware of what we are.

Two gems from the book, to close with.

Indians are the most undemocratic people living in the biggest democracy.

We are the cleanest people living in a filthy country (refers to public spaces).