Jalaram Baba Bhajan at local temple

An evening well spent at the local temple. Thanks to my friend Sanjay Patel and family for organizing and inviting us to a social gathering - A BRAJAN (Devotion song) session for Jalaram Baba, a well known Hindu Saint from the state of Gujarat.

Initially I couldn't make much out of those changings in Gujurati language, as my mind and thoughts started wandering, me wondering how long this session will continue. But slowly me and my mind settled down, as I could figure out meaning of some, as they were liberally laced with Sanskrit words. The singing and the beats were melodious enough to bring my flickle mind back to the venue. Music has no language, good music can touch your souls, more if they are catchy ones to catch your attention :

Bhang Piye Shivjee, Amrut Piye Raam

Jalaram Naam Niyo, Jalaram Naam,

Oh Oh re Mara Jalaram Baba

(Lord Shiva drinks cannabis paste water,

 Lord Raam drinks nectar,

 Take the name of Jalaram,

 Oh my God Jalaram).

Snakes who have poor eyesight but can sense movement. Similarly, I have poor understanding of Gujarati, but could sense it. There was the mention of Jagannath a few times in the lyrics of the Bhajans, which apart from the vegetable Parval (POTALA in Odia) links Odisha to Gujarat.

I am not a very religious person, consider myself an agnostic and forgotten when was the last time I visited a temple last. Sermons bore me to death - they better preached than practiced, more said than done. Bhajans can be boring, unless they're melodious and I understand them. The selfish in me only remembers God at the time of distress.

But the singer duo, especially the female one did a good job. They kept on singing one after another, seemed pretty seasoned and experienced. It was followed by some hot and sweet food Gujurati vegetarian food. Loved the freshly made steaming Khichdi (boiled rice with veggies with dolllops of ghee) which was perfectly soothing to my taste buds on a blistering cold evening.

Apparently, we were the only non-Gujju (a slang for Gujuratis) present there. It didn't escape my notice the admirable decorum and disJalaramcipline, as they formed a line with the volunteers serving them food. Contrast that to some of our NRO (Non Resident Odia) Bhais (bros) who have an inflated sense of entitlement and world champions in breaking lines (they do so elusively at Odia gatherings, but quietly fall in line if Americans are around). I wish they come to the next Bhajan gathering and get trained on mannerisms and hunger management.

Linking Aurangzeb to Naveen

There used to be a popular saying during the days of Mughal dynasty which ruled India during the medieval period of 1526 to 1750. "TAKHT YA TAKHTA", meaning "Crown or Coffin", it aptly described the fratricidal wars fought between the brothers for the prized Kingship which knew no Kinship. In the end one ended up with Crown, the rest rested in their graves.

The last powerful Mughal emperor Aurganzeb was no different. After killing his 3 brothers he captured the prized Peacock Throne and put his ailing father  Sahajahan to house arrest overlooking river Yamuna.

It is probably true that when Aurangzeb sent his father, his dad's favorite son and his own blood brother Dara Shikoh's head (actually served on a platter when Shah Jahan was dining), the old man fainted at the sight and his face crashed into the table, breaking his teeth.

But Sah Jahan, the old man who fainted at the sight of the ghastly, macabre sight of his son's severed head, at prime of his youth had no qualms about blinding and killing his brothers for securing his throne. He inhereting these traits from his father Jahangir, who blinded his rebellious son who wanted to usurp his father for the coveted crown. 

So why was Aurangzeb so cruel ? The question can be reversed. Why did Shah Jahan hated Aurangzeb so much? It is not easy to understand, but it is true. From a very young age, before he was an adult, Aurangzeb was sent out by his father on impossible missions, like reconquering their ancestral lands in the badlands (still is) of modern day Afghanistan, while his pampered eldest son Dara Shikoh was mollycoddled in court, apparently groomed as Sah Jahan's heir.

Unfortunately, for both father and his favored son Dara, this mistreatment of Aurangzeb backfired and produced a hardened and experienced warrior. While the suave, erudite Dara Sikoh sat with Pundits busy learning Sanskrit and translating Upanishad (a sacred Hindu text) to Persian, the younger Aurangzeb was mastering military strategies in dry and dusty Deccan. 

It was no surprise when the crunch time came, the battle tested 3rd son of Sah Jahan used his hard earned military skills and strategies against his elder brother. He defied the odds by making strategic military alliances with his other brothers, and then defeating his father's blue eyed boy Dara Sikoh in spite of the later having the backing of the Royal Mughal Army. Eventually Aurangzeb double crossed his other brothers, killed them and went on to rule Delhi for half a century. After long time the Mughal Dynasty produced an able warrior since Akbar (Jahangir was a hedonist and Sah Jahan an indolent). 

It explains why Aurangzeb trusted nobody. Childhood psychology is known to percolate deep into the later age - a person who can't trust his father can't be expected to trust others. Aurangzeb was no exception. Sah Jahan groveled over Dara's gruesome death for rest of his life, looking vicariously at the mammoth masterpiece called Taj Mahal he built on the banks of Yamuna river until he died.

Fast forward to three and a half century later, a similar parallel can be drawn. Like Aurangzeb, the current Chief Minister of Odisha is also known to be ruthless and trusts no one. This part of his personality can be attributed to his legendary father who was rumored to have a very low opinion of his youngest son, which contributed to the low self esteem of the son before the eyes of his father.

I would like to lift this episode from a well researched book by my friend Biswajit Mohanty. Sometime during the early 1990s when Biju Patnaik was in his last and final tenure as the Chief minister of Odisha, his Delhi based socialite son Naveen, a frugal visitor to the state suddenly dropped in with his British friend at the state capital. (Now it's other way round. Naveen, the Chief minister rarely ventures out of his state). 

The father avoided entertaining the duo at his home and instructed one of his ministers to house them at a local hotel. This is one of several instances of the Odia legend snubbing his son for reasons best know to him.

It is said, the son has paid back by not being a big fan and protagonist of his legendary father's ideas and vision, except using his name for political purposess. Yet, a la Aurangzeb who ruled the longest amongst the Mughals, the ignored son of Biju eventually had the last laugh by ruling the state for the longest tenure by any single individual the post independent Odisha has seen, with the possibility of lasting for quarter of a century. 

No wonder, History loves to repeat itself. Not much has changed - In the gory medieval days a severed head served on a platter was the harbinger of a long reign. In modern democracy days, the natural death of a father has paved the way for a long tenure of his distrustful son.

 

The beauty of the English language

Many from my generation studied 3 to 4 languages in school. I studied Odia, English, Hindi and Sanskrit. The last one, Sanskrit is not a language of the commoners, but is an ancient language known to be the origin of most Indian languages with quite bit of influence on the Dravidian languages which aren't sourced from Sanskrit.

There is a saying in Sanskrit - BINA AVYASE BISAM VIDYA, meaning "without practice the knowledge is poison". A language, skill or knowledge becomes useless when unused for a prolonged length of time.

It stood vindicated in my case, as no sooner I left High school, than I lost touch with Sanskrit. Till date I religiously read and follow Odia literature whenever I get a chance. My knowledge of Hindi is limited to watching Bollywood movies and talking to my Hindi speaking friends. I hardly read or write anything in Hindi but posses the ability to do so.  

Soon English took over the rest as the primary mode of reading, writing and communicating, especially outside my home. It is the unofficial official language of the globe, overpowering and overshadowing the rest. Originated in England, Pax Americana propelled it further, as the language grew leaps and bound with the growth of United States which adopted the language as its own. 

During World War II, a desperate Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister who was incessantly battered by the Nazi onslaught tried to mollycoddle US to drag it into the war with his famous quip - " We are common people separated by a common language".

He wasn't far from the truth. If English survives today, it is because of these two nations across the Atlantic who controlled the world at different stages in history. But the secret sauce behind its success - English constantly upgraded itself by liberally adding vocabulary from other languages, which includes thousands of words of Indian origin, not to mention one from my native state of juggernaut (originated from Lord Jagannath). 

English started as the language of the rich in India, but continued enriching itself. Any product, system, organism or society needs continuous improvement and adaptability to sustain on the long run. Dinosaurs couldn't adapt and survive, but humans being intelligent animals could do so and still thriving. Same is applicable to the languages.

Been a long time I haven't come across any new word in Odia or Hindi. But English and Urdu are so different, who bear stark similarities. Both are flexible, don't have a script of their own (English uses Roman and Urdu used Arabic) and any stringent grammatical rules (For that matter American English hardly follow any grammar). 

Urdu is a nice blend of Hindi, Persian and Arabic, a smooth blend like blended Scotch Whiskey. The flexibility of both has contributed to their richness, robustness and longevity. And they're the ones destined to flourish as long as they adapt as survivor of the fittest.

Happy birthday Bapu - 2017

Albert Einstein once described him as - "It's hard a believe such a man in flesh and blood ever walked on the surface of earth". The world famous scientist wasn't far from truth, as the man he was referring to rightly earned his accolades. We are talking about non other than our BAPU (Father of the Nation), Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as MAHATMA (the famous soul) Gandhi.

Newton's 3rd Law says every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Same is applicable to human emotions. Every violent action would naturally follow with an equal or more violent reaction, often leading to a continuous, never ending cycle of revenge. But Mahatma Gandhi decided to fight violence in an exactly opposite manner, something different and out of box called "Non-violence".

Born in Gujarat to an upper middle class family, educated in England, Mohandas Gandhi first experimented his peaceful protests against the brutally racist Apartheid regime in South Africa. He subsequently applied the same against the British rule in India. 

Gandhiji (as he was popularly addressed as) experimented with different vices and virtues early in his life, prompting him to write "My Experiment with Truth". But sometimes his experiments went little too far. At an old age after his wife's death, his experiment of sleeping naked with his nubile niece to test his control over libido attracted some controversies. His opponents, notably the Muslim League made a big deal out of it. Gandhi finally discontinued this practice after some persuasion by an image conscious Congress party. What happened in dark, stayed in dark.

His method of protest being unique, immediately caught the eyes of the world at a time when electronic media was at its infancy. The world stood up and took notice, appalled by the sight of the DANDI March protesters brutally mowed down by the DANDA (stick) of British Police. The victims didn't show an iota of retaliation or remorse and went ahead with their protest, still taking the blows from police baton and falling injured one after one another, until they couldn't carry on any further. 

This incident was covered extensively by the western media which brought Gandhi and his unique mode of protest to the limelight. Gandhi was an idealist, whose idealism did not fail as he fell to an assassin's bullet. His ideology of non-violence was later replicated by Dr. Martin Luther King Junior half a world away in The United States to fight for the Civil Rights for the Black minorities. Dr. King, like his idol Gandhi was too assassinated, but both vindicated the efficacy of "Non-violence" as a mode of protest.

When India celebrated its independence, arguably brought to by his non-violence means, instead of celebrating, Gandhiji spent the day praying and fasting. He was steadfast in his pursuit for Hindu-Muslim unity, but India was partitioned amidst bloody violence on communal lines, opposite to what he stood for.

Post partition, Pakistan asked India to pay Rs.48 crore (480 million), a princely sum those days. India refused to oblige. Bapu wanted India to pay the money to younger brother Pakistan and went on fasting, forcing India to relent and pay the money to its western neighbor. Pakistan used that lump sum amount of money to buy arms and attack India.

After his death, his countrymen hardly retained his ideologies. India continued to be riddled with violence of all sorts, later in the form of terrorism. The current affairs of our nation may aptly described by these few lines lifted from the Odia song LE NABEENA from 1981, depicting the sad saga of the Mahatma. (Naveena here depicts the typical down to earth Odia guy, no relationship to any person bearing the same name).

LE NABEENA TIKE PACHHAKU ANA,
HATHE BAADI DHARI THIA BAPUJI NANA,
BAPUJI BUDHA RA AAKHI RE LUHA,
TA RAMA RAIJE AAJI YAMA RA BHAYA

( O' Nabeena, take a peek behind.
Stick in hand Old man Bapuji is standing,
The old man's eyes are filled with tears,
Yama, the God of death has filled
His Dream Land with fear).

Happy Birthday to Bapu, the Father of the nation. We may or may not agree with what you did or what you could have done, or whether your out of box experiment with non violence was an useful weapon. But you carved your niche to be the greatest amongst the greats who ever walked on the surface of earth.

10 die hard old habits die hard - II

(Continued from the part I of my last blog of 10 die hard old habits which have died).....

6. The 4 Cs of youth of those days, i.e. Cinema, Cigarette, Cycle and Curly hair hanging over ears were the classic tell - tale signs of soneone turning CHHATARA TOKA (Girl chasing vagabond) and BAZAARI (Free roaming loafer). Good boys were not supposed to watch movies, smoke, go on long bicycle rides and keep long hairs. As a 10 year old, I was once chastised by my grandpa for keeping long, wavy hair cascading like waterfall over my earlobes, an early sign of stepping into the world of CHHATARA. The long hair was promptly mowed down.

7. Chocolates or Candies were exclusively for kids. Elders eating chocolates were frowned upon being childlike. It has been described in the popular Akshay Mohanty Odia song attributed to his daughter,

MU KHAILE ALU CHAP,
TU KHAILU LOLLIPOP. Transliterated...

As I savor my Potato cutlet,
Lollipop is what you just ate.

An elderly relative used to be very fond of Cadburies Milk Chocolates and Five Star Bars, but too shy to express it in public. He would buy those from a local store, loudly proclaiming to take it for his nephew and neice, but in privacy will devour a good portion of those.

8. JANHA NAMUN (Chanda Mama), Indrajaal (Phantom, Mandrake, Bahadur) and Amar Chitra Katha (history and mythology) comics were very popular those days with kids, though Chanda Mama was read by all age groups. The favorite of the youth from that generation were cheap detective stories of DASYU (Bandit) Ranjan and Dipak series and tiny SATHI POCKET BOOK novels. Not sure how many of them exist and read by the current iGeneration.

9. Remember Wall posters and scribbles - BASANTA ROGA RA PRATHAMA KHABAR PAIN 5000 TANKA PURASKAR (Rs. 5000 reward for the first information on Small Pox). The Cholera and Small Pox shots were dreaded by many those days where a needle as thick as DAMPHANA (the Odia term for thick needles used to sew jute sacks) was stabbed to your hand or ass with great force. It would cause severe pain and fever for next few days. Don't think the present generation is so afraid of needles.

10. NUA BARSHA or The New Year's Day was celebrated on 1st January, not on the night of 31st December. As the clock chimed at midnight, most were in deep slumber, well cushioned and cuddled inside their comforters rather than dancing their way in Bacchanalian jamborees in a faraway hotel or nightclub. A family lunch or dinner would suffice to welcome the New Year.

Few years back, one fine New Years day in India, I was trying to cross the Puri bound road close to our house in Bhubaneswar. The abnormal traffic that day caught me offguard. I had to tip toe my way, swaying my hips, waving and clenching my fist like an eunuch at the approaching traffic of vehicles big and small, zeroing on, blaring their cacophonic horn in unison at me. That day I went above and beyond my normal hip swaying skills which would have made any danseuse proud and finally managed to cross the road.

Back home, I queried my father the reason behind such an unusual rush on an usual day. He said, it has become fashionable of late to do a JAGANNATH DARSHAN (take a peek at Lord) on New Year's Day at His abode in Puri. Like a dip in river Ganga (Ganges), they trust the Lord of Universe with his ever pervading look will purify them off their dirt like Aqua guard from any sin accumulated in the previous year and shower them with His blessings for the next. Good luck to them.