Posted on by nikita

Sacred Saffron: The smell, the sight, the scare.

“Kesar joiye che biju?” 

The word kesar immediately conjured up images of kesari dhwaja everywhere in the city. Coincidentally, I was preparing mithai on 22nd January 2024. And my mom had called me to ask if I needed more saffron for my mithai preparation. 

January 2024 was the month of saffron. Saffron was omnipresent. And now, it seems, it is omnipotent too. The demand for saffron flags had skyrocketed, generating earning opportunities for the seasonal hawkers. Suddenly, roadside hawkers, who make a cameo appearance before the 15th of August, 26th of January, and 25th of December, selling miniature Indian national flags and Christmas caps, showed up out of thin air even this time. There was a surge in saffron flags and banners of varied sizes with the image of the deity, His devotee, and His controversial abode. Huge saffron banners covering the length of high-rise buildings were also put up to remind people of their culture and religion. 

Is it just the colour people need to remember, or even the associated conduct? 

I completely respect people’s love for their religion. After all, India is known for its varied range of religions. But what confuses me is the frenzy attached to religion. And for that matter any religion. As the date of consecration ceremony was approaching near, I felt more apprehensive.

What if such a show of a particular religious belief led to some unforeseen disorder and disturbance?

And then, the next month was the month of red. Suddenly, we see a sea of red across the city. A display of red clothing and lingerie in shop-fronts. Gift shops display paraphernalia related to Valentine’s Day – all lovely reds. I am not sure if even today this day is celebrated with the same fervour as in the days of Archie’s card. I remember seeing huge cards in gift shops with poetic messages for loved ones: even red and pink teddy bears and soft heart-shaped cushions. I was blessed enough to see them, but not enough to receive any.

With time, the idea of cards and gifts seems to have changed just as the understanding of the meaning of valentine. During my time, the celebration was limited between lovers: a boy and a girl; a husband and a wife. Oh! The romantic charm of yesteryear’s tokens! Today, not many people would want to make an effort to go out and shop for their loved ones. BTW, love is not just a feeling; it’s an effort. Now gift items like flowers, chocolates, jewellery, and so on are just a click and a doorbell away. So, no more the moral Sang(h) and Rang to worry about. No more worries about saff-run (to your houses). Love is still in the air. 

You must be thinking why am I celebrating vasi uttarayan now? Because even today when I sit back and think about these events, I ponder – Do we need religious tokens in excess to establish our religiosity? Do we need to make a show of it? Do we need ostentatious religious rituals to prove that we are religious? And nationalists as well? 

*****

Of course, we do need tokens of love. Even if hearts fly across the screen.

Friend: Maryada Purushottam Ram is a vyavahar (demeanour).
Me: Agreed. It’s not a vyapar (business).

Posted on by nikita

From a Hush to a Hash

Gone are the days of indistinct murmurs, funny gesticulation, and coded language. It seems so after 2018. The year when the Padman made an attempt to break the taboo around menstruation.

The recent debate in the parliament tells us that it is no longer a hush-hush subject of discussion. It is no longer smothered within the four walls of several households. And such open acknowledgment of their emotional and physical pain might have brought a sigh of relief – a hash –  to many menstruating women and girls. 

No. By no means do I want to argue in this blog about whether the Indian parliament should pass any law on ‘paid period leave’ at workspaces or not. What about those homemakers who have to cook (because their culture or religion allows them)? 

I am happy with the idea of people talking about periods, even though the conversations are through paid period leaves. Acknowledging the fact that periods are exhausting in every way and immensely painful for many. (At least for me.) And it’s not simply periods, more than that the rules and prohibitions that come along in many cultures in the name of religion. Again, I don’t want to delve into any discussion about whether gods passed any such law that women shouldn’t do certain things and not be in certain places while they are menstruating. He must have had more pressing issues to be addressed in His discourses. 

Sorry, but I have not been able to put this thought out of my mind for a long time. You can also ponder over it. 

Just imagine God sitting on the highest pedestal or the divine peak of some heavenly mountain sermonizing a vast assemblage of His followers. Patriarchy at its peak? Would He talk about menses or values like honesty, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, truth, love, non-violence, and so on? Is it that He must have instructed the women gathered there, “Please don’t come to me when you are in pain? Menstrual pain. I can’t help it. It’s your biology, your problem”. Or, do you think He must have said, “Hark, fair ladies! Thou hast sinn’d and transgressed, hence thou art destined to be women”! What if a woman dared to respond, “Thou, Heavenly Father, art born of a woman”.

Anyway, the point here is about having a dialogue. Even if it’s in the name of equal rights for women at workplaces or any other hidden political agenda, MP Manoj Kumar, without covering his face with his hand, debated on the topic of paid menstrual leave with the bahu of BJP in the parliament. 

Seems like we are progressing, even if it’s at a slower pace.

Because even today there are families who don’t talk about menstruation openly. Recently, a friend of mine called me. I asked him about the absence of his wife at a particular event. He said, “Enathi avai evu nahi hatu. Aaram hato”. Even when I was growing up, people in my family and friends used to talk in coded language. Personalized euphemism to make it sound polite. Phrases like ‘wicket padi gai’ or ‘out of order’ and gesticulations like tapping the head or a thumbs down were used to send the message that the woman was menstruating. The fun part was, and is, that the absence of the lady of the house at family functions, or festivals would indirectly send the message to all the relatives that she was going through the three painful days of the month. So, something that was supposed to be a hush-hush was out in the public. The amusing paradox of a woman’s life ha! 

Friend – What’s your take on ‘paid period leave’?
Me – Pondering. Period.

Happy Progressive New Year

Posted on by nikita

#CelebWatch NJ @ A Social Function

Aamir Khan’s day out!

It sounds so much like – Baby’s Day Out. 1994 movie. Here it’s not a baby though. It’s a big babo. For us, the Gujaratis, a baby is a baby – a girl. Chhokri. And babo is a boy. Chhokro. And you can still be addressed as babo and baby even after you have crossed the age limit of infancy. Even when you are a parent to a baby boy or a baby girl.

In the past, my parents would be asked – Tamari baby su kare che? (What does your daughter do?) And they would happily respond – Amari baby have baby nathi rahi. Paranva layak thai gai che. (She is no longer a small girl now. She is old enough for marriage.)

With time they had to change their answer. 

*****

Kareena Kapoor Khan was spotted outside a salon in the city today! She looked stunning as always in her khaki baggy pants and a black T-back top, with a pair of expensive sunglasses.

We get such news on social media every day. And this made me ponder, what kind of news would be set floating on social media for an asocial person like me. Not antisocial, mind it.

NJ (that’s me) was spotted at a social function! She wore a Duchenne smile (which seemed fake) on her seemingly unapproachable face, with a pair of cat-eye glasses. While some of her fans considered the glasses made her look older, others considered it as a mark of an aspiring writer. 

Fans gathered to click pictures of Kareena, blocking the way to her car. She couldn’t deny selfies with some of them. 

So that her fewer fans, other than a few friends, can’t spot her in the multitude of people where most of the time she felt lost, NJ spotted an empty chair on the rear end of the 3rd row near a pedestal fan. In a futile attempt to reach to the spot unnoticed, she was eventually followed by a couple of her fans who prodded her into seemingly intelligent conversations with them. But the soft consonants and vowels uttered by her in between these conversations were shredded to pieces by the huge rotating blades of the fan.

And when she was not talking, she would be posing awkwardly for some pictures with them, since they supposedly wanted to keep some memories of her. The buzz was they might not see her again for a year or two. Or until her 50s.

There were selfie lovers too in the crowd. NJ had to give in to their persistent humble requests as well. Already trolled for her alleged snobbery, she wanted to refrain from any controversial actions, behaviour and comments. Last time her behaviour was misconstrued.

Click! Click! Spot on! 

*****

Friend: Did you watch Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne when you were small?
Me: My dear friend, many a true word is spoken in jest.

Source of the image – https://aglaiapsicologia.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/tF1KhbkNpyk.jpg

Posted on by nikita

An order that brought disorder to an odd-er mind. What if…

colorful drawings on wall

‘Hello! I am Tarun. I am here to assist you today. Hope you are doing good. Please tell me how can I help you?’

My communications – chat and telephonic –  with agents of the largest online retailer would start with these professionally pleasing words. For almost a week, every time I had to narrate the same story to different agents. Almost 9-10 agents. (I would get calls from their Customer Care Service every other day. Thus the numbers:)) At one point I wanted to tell them badly – Please, change the narrative. Let’s just get down to business. No pleasantries. No formalities. But, still, I hadn’t lost my sanity to the point of being disrespectful. 

I would just repeat the same question – Where’s my order?

No sooner had these words left my partially cracked winter lips, than I was bombarded with a volley of counter questions.

Ma’am, could you please tell me the date when you placed the order for these two items? Ma’am, could you please confirm your mobile number and address? Didn’t you get any call from the delivery agent? Did you call him on the sms-ed mobile number to track your order? Ma’am, could you please share the tracking ID of your order?

And every conversation ended with empathetic words from them – I can understand.

Did they really?

Is it possible to feel empathetic at all times? 

I pondered, what if – 

A man tells a woman I can understand your frustration when your pics on IG do not get ‘likes’ in 2 digits along with some positive comments. 

A woman tells a man I can understand the relief you feel when you shed a few tears you are accustomed to holding back. 

A teacher tells the parents I can understand the hopelessness you feel even when your child’s indefatigable endeavours do not give the desired result. 

A wife tells her husband I can understand your annoyance when even on Sundays you are deprived of peace of mind due to the mayhem around. I witness it daily.

Akshay Kumar tells Ranbir Kapoor I can understand that unspeakable disappointment when your films turn out to be a massive failure in a single year.  

Jacqueline Fernandez tells Nora Fatehi I can understand the mental trauma of accepting expensive gifts from a con man whose criminal background we are not aware of. 

Rahul Gandhi tells Kejriwal I can understand the embarrassment you feel after losing the political battle by a huge margin against the BJP in Gujarat. 

Putin tells Zelensky I can understand your feeling of nationalism even when the ramifications of our decisions have brought destruction and death to many.

Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me, and the entire human race
– Dangerous by MJ

2023 – I am feeling scared. In a year my life will come to an end.
2022 – I can understand. 

Merry Christmas
Wish you a Happy & Happening 2023

 

Posted on by nikita · 2 Comments

Agneepath Agneepath Agneepath

flare of fire on wood with black smokes

‘MAKING WARRIORS, NOT WORRIERS’

This is the tagline of one of the coaching institutes in Surat. Whenever I happen to pass by the hoarding with an advertisement for this institute where I see a boy with a sweet smile, his hands folded at the chest and a tagline that states with pride that they are creating future warriors by preparing them for competitive exams, I wonder, why not make them Agniveers? A very recent and new career option. Let them apply to the Agneepath Scheme by the government which is recruiting youngsters from the age of 17.5 to 21 years. Let them join any of the three services of the armed forces and serve the nation. Let them be warriors in the real sense.

If they are not willing to do so, it should be a worry for parents that their children are on the path to becoming warriors for marks, universities and the best job placement in or outside their country. Parents should become Worriers. The institute’s claim of creating Warriors constitutes the notion that writing an exam is like fighting a war. The very idea of education being a war instills fear and anxiety in children, thus making parents anxious enough to consult a counselor. Not a career counselor but a wellbeing counselor. A mental health therapist. So, it’s like such institutions and therapists are thriving and students are striving.

Why do we want our children to become warriors simply to gain the highest score in competitive, nerve-wracking examinations? Are we not audience to wars around us, around the globe, literally and metaphorically?

I understand that for a bright future, one’s career is important. But the smiling faces of students we see on hoardings across the city with their scores or percentage mentioned below their photographs are just for that particular advertisement. Otherwise, most of the time, their faces seem to reflect tension, pressure, and stress. Why are we making academic life so competitive for students?

And I am not just talking about those preparing for such exams. I am also talking about children whose parents send their kids for tuition even at pre-primary and primary levels. As adults, we start instilling in them titbits of fear and reluctance for education at a very early age. We want them to become fighters at a very young age itself.

In any case, they will have to fight wars once they are out in the real world. Not just fight outside, but there will be battles within too. Don’t we all fight some sort of battle within us every now and then? The intensity and gravity might be different for different people, but we all fight battles in our day-to-day life. So, instead of letting children become warriors at an early age and expecting them to fight (compete) with others, why not teach them to fight with their own fear, anxiety, stress, failure? Why not teach them values like patience, respect, compassion, faith, gratitude, courage, discipline, and the like.

Aren’t the wars in the name of religion, culture, race, politics, and position enough for us? Today the youngsters in many states are at war with the government because of the Agneepath Scheme. I am not sure how many of them have actually weighed the pros and cons of the scheme. If these people feel that the scheme is a sham and it is unjust and unacceptable, they have the right to protest. Agreed. But protest without being disruptive. How sane is the idea of disrupting public property in fury, rage, and ignorance? 

We are a nation of Gandhi. The Mahatma. We take pride in his philosophy of satyagraha and non-violence. Then why such uproar and unrest?

यह महान दृश्य है,
चल रहा मनुष्य है,
अश्रु स्वेद रक्त से,
लथपथ लथपथ लथपथ,
अग्निपथ अग्निपथ अग्निपथ।

On the one hand, we have the youth fighting against the government, and on the other hand, we have politicians like Uddhav Thackeray who was fighting a battle within his government, against the Sena rebels along with his son Aditya Thackeray. The drama has finally ended with his resignation as the CM of Maharashtra. And as if this is not enough, in the northeast, we see people battling against nature. It has been almost one month and the people of Assam are still fighting against floods and rains.

And how can we forget Russia and Ukraine?

Making warriors simply for achieving the highest score is not enough. It is a subject of worry. Children need to be prepared for the exams of life because the real world is going to be different and challenging. At such times, marks and merit won’t matter. What will matter the most will be the will to survive. The patience to persevere in the battle of life.

तू न थकेगा कभी,
तू न रुकेगा कभी,
तू न मुड़ेगा कभी,
कर शपथ, कर शपथ, कर शपथ,
अग्निपथ अग्निपथ अग्निपथ।

– Sri Harivanshrai Bachchan