Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Twists and Turns In Life This Year
This year life took various twists and turns. I started doing a new job from Jan onwards and by the last month of the year, I quit the job for pursuing higher studies abroad. I got a decent score in GRE, which I took in Oct. I have decent scores in TOEFL also. With two referee reports and a research proposal, I submitted an application to a University in Sigapore. Finally, by Dec 29, I could join the PhD programme here. I consider this a major break in life, since for the last 4 to 5 years it was passing through bumpy roads.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Relief Funds, Gulf Returnees
I wished to participate in a young scholars' programme organised by a prestigious institute in Mumbai. I created a write-up showing my interest to participate in the project. The write-up is published here. I was, however, not selected for the programme.
Why I wish to participate in YSP – June 2009
It has become a norm among governments all over the world to announce relief and stimulus packages when the respective economy fails to withstand the erosion of wealth in the stock markets. Similar packages have been announced by Central and State governments in India too, notwithstanding the fact that ‘downturn’ has been the day-to-day experience of majority of the country’s population for years on end. I do not wish to enter into the polemic ‘How inclusive was India’s economic growth in the last few years’. Instead, the question that haunts me is, are relief packages utilised at a micro level to implement long-term and sustainable livelihood strategies among the affected population? A case in point is the relief package announced by Government of Kerala for Malayalee labourers returning from the Gulf due to recession. The package worth Rs 100-crore has been allocated in the 2009-10 State budget. The relief package has a proclaimed aim of helping new business ventures by the returnees, of covering immediate relief measures, and helping the school admission for the children of these returnees. This is a good example of a typical governmental intervention at the time of crisis, which do not go much beyond the principle of ‘quantitative easing’ of economy.
I would be happy if get an opportunity to discuss and study in detail how funds are utilised in crisis situations such as the one pertaining to the return of migrant workers to the home country. The questions I wish to discuss in the forum are:- Do these funds help the returnees settle in their motherland and acquire new skills needed for the future? Or are these funds meant to simply replenish an income gap caused by the loss of job of the breadwinner in a family? How does a relief package help the returned migrant worker ensure his/her ascent along the development index? The attempt is to find a development-oriented solution to the problem of return of migrants.
xyz,
April 22, 2009.
Why I wish to participate in YSP – June 2009
It has become a norm among governments all over the world to announce relief and stimulus packages when the respective economy fails to withstand the erosion of wealth in the stock markets. Similar packages have been announced by Central and State governments in India too, notwithstanding the fact that ‘downturn’ has been the day-to-day experience of majority of the country’s population for years on end. I do not wish to enter into the polemic ‘How inclusive was India’s economic growth in the last few years’. Instead, the question that haunts me is, are relief packages utilised at a micro level to implement long-term and sustainable livelihood strategies among the affected population? A case in point is the relief package announced by Government of Kerala for Malayalee labourers returning from the Gulf due to recession. The package worth Rs 100-crore has been allocated in the 2009-10 State budget. The relief package has a proclaimed aim of helping new business ventures by the returnees, of covering immediate relief measures, and helping the school admission for the children of these returnees. This is a good example of a typical governmental intervention at the time of crisis, which do not go much beyond the principle of ‘quantitative easing’ of economy.
I would be happy if get an opportunity to discuss and study in detail how funds are utilised in crisis situations such as the one pertaining to the return of migrant workers to the home country. The questions I wish to discuss in the forum are:- Do these funds help the returnees settle in their motherland and acquire new skills needed for the future? Or are these funds meant to simply replenish an income gap caused by the loss of job of the breadwinner in a family? How does a relief package help the returned migrant worker ensure his/her ascent along the development index? The attempt is to find a development-oriented solution to the problem of return of migrants.
xyz,
April 22, 2009.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Content Writer for a BPO in India
In the first round of the selection process for the post of Content Writer in a BPO in Gurgaon, the candidates were asked to write in about 100-150 words about any one of the three topics given below:
- Balanced diet is essential for a healthy life
- Listening V/s Talking
- Dogs are man's closest pets
Listening V/s Talking
Perhaps the dichotomy between these two characteristics of a human being has never been as evident in history as it is today. Human kind as a race has increasingly become self-assertive and persuasive in its approach to the world such that its members are more favorably inclined to talk than to listen. I should refrain from making a sweeping statement here, upholding the true spirit o our topic of discussion itself. However, I am sure it won't be completely out of context if I try to associate these two human activities with two different philosophies.
Listening negates the importance of one's 'self' and gives importance to the events and people around. Knowledge acquisition and to a greater extent, emotional satisfaction are the main objectives of listening, which is initiated by external sensory stimuli. One listens to people talking, to the chirping of birds and to all pleasant sound in nature. What more, many a poet has acknowledged that the most original of his/her works happened in lonliness and silence. One listens to silence too!
While listening is characterized by introspection aided by external stimuli, talking expound the philosophy of sharing. From the western school of 'Rhetori' to the eastern method of 'Tarkka Shastra' (the science of arguing), talking has prime importance in all human endeavors for knowledge. Talking clarifies doubts, helps to share knowledge and in most cases reassures everyone who is audience to it. Though listening and talking have equal importance in human life, due to the overemphasis given to the latter, human life faces a disequilibrium. Are we ready to unlearn what we have acquired from talk shows and empty election debates? Let's listen to our inner self for an answer.
Perhaps the dichotomy between these two characteristics of a human being has never been as evident in history as it is today. Human kind as a race has increasingly become self-assertive and persuasive in its approach to the world such that its members are more favorably inclined to talk than to listen. I should refrain from making a sweeping statement here, upholding the true spirit o our topic of discussion itself. However, I am sure it won't be completely out of context if I try to associate these two human activities with two different philosophies.
Listening negates the importance of one's 'self' and gives importance to the events and people around. Knowledge acquisition and to a greater extent, emotional satisfaction are the main objectives of listening, which is initiated by external sensory stimuli. One listens to people talking, to the chirping of birds and to all pleasant sound in nature. What more, many a poet has acknowledged that the most original of his/her works happened in lonliness and silence. One listens to silence too!
While listening is characterized by introspection aided by external stimuli, talking expound the philosophy of sharing. From the western school of 'Rhetori' to the eastern method of 'Tarkka Shastra' (the science of arguing), talking has prime importance in all human endeavors for knowledge. Talking clarifies doubts, helps to share knowledge and in most cases reassures everyone who is audience to it. Though listening and talking have equal importance in human life, due to the overemphasis given to the latter, human life faces a disequilibrium. Are we ready to unlearn what we have acquired from talk shows and empty election debates? Let's listen to our inner self for an answer.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Doha negotiations in the wake of food crisis
5th May 2008
Once again food has proved to be capable of generating valuable insights in everyone around the world. Only that, this time it's the lack of it that has provided us with valuable thoughts. For a discerning mind, it's also time for a few key lessons in economics. Addressing the Global Agro Industries Forum in New Delhi in April, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said: “... for the first time, there is a direct linkage between oil prices and food prices. Food markets have got interlinked to oil markets, making food policy-making extremely complex as well as uncertain.” We may very well add to it, cost of fertilizer as well as transportation, which adds to the complexity of the problem.
While global bigwigs did several statement somersaults in the last fortnight, the world saw 21st century economic understanding of some developed nations stoop down to the level of outright bargaining and blame-game. US and other rice-importing countries urged the rice-exporting nations not to put curbs on food grains exports. Equally amateurish were Bush's as well as US State Secretary's now controversial “improvement in the diets of people in India and China” statement. That proponents of free trade are not aiming at the welfare of all stakeholders involved was also evident from a motion introduced by a Conservative MP from Shipley, north England, in Britain's House of Commons last week. MP Philip Davies wanted to address the grievances of Indian restaurant industry in his constituency as well as in Bradford. But his motion ended up saying, “(this House) condemns the EU for imposing tariffs of up to 65 euros per ton on basmati rice from Thailand, Egypt, Uruguay and the US; believes in the principle of free trade; and therefore calls on the government to regain trade policy from the EU and abolish these tariffs for the benefit of these restaurants, takeaways and the customers they serve.” (italics mine) Does free trade mean unrestricted availability of goods and grains even when they are scarce and dearer in the global market?
Ethanol was once the champion among environment friendly automobile fuel and was considered the sustainable fuel source of the future, which is capable of substituting petrol to a large extent. On the wake of food crises, the question has now changed to “how feasible is the idea of shifting to ethanol based fuel if it risks the food security of millions.” Brazil from the BRIC block is one of the countries that have profited heavily from the fuel changeover to ethanol. World's largest producer of sugar cane, Brazil now runs most of its cars with ethanol, produced from sugar cane. But in a matter of months the world became sceptical about the new invention. UN agricultural scientists, who had supported the biofuel programme until last year, changed stance in a matter of months. Jean Ziegler, United Nation's Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, called the changeover to ethanol a 'crime against humanity'. Olivier de Schutter, a law professor and human rights campaigner from France, joins the debate pointing fingers at the interests of certain lobbies involved in the changeover to biofuels. In an interview to Le Monde in April, Shutter says: “The ambitious goals for biofuel production set by the United States and the European Union are irresponsible.” Billions of dollars have already been poured into the biofuel project in countries like the US, Brazil, Canada and in Europe. In such a situation, can anyone expect the biofuel projects be scrapped in these countries until and unless the amount invested in them is recaptured with profit? No. On the other hand, there will be attempts to apportion the policy flip-flops the developed countries face domestically with the developing countries in international forums. This is where we need to be cautious.
The major twist for the whole story is kept in pending for the Doha rounds. Here again US is far-sighted than many of our policy makers. If we can read between the lines of US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who hinted at the changing US stance on May 4th while talking to media persons on the sidelines of Southeast Asian trade meeting on the Indonesian resort of Bali, we can make one thing out: Global food crisis is a time for overall trade regulations; is a time when self-sufficient countries restrict their global food trade so as to make domestically produced food available for its own people; is also a time to, theoretically, deregulate imports so as to allow cheaper foods from anywhere in the world to come to your country so that you can quell food scarcity. This itself is what US wants from the Doha rounds. Global food crisis is the best time for the US and other developed countries to negotiate with the developing countries to open up their market. New trade distortions could emerge from worries over access to food, which, according to Schwab, “really would hurt the Doha round, because it flies in the face of what you should really be doing, which is really eliminating as many distortions as you can so you have a free flow of food.”
Food stocks are depleting in many countries, many are unable to meet the stock targets of the year (Fortunately India will be meeting the procurement target for this year around, but fears are not totally out of place for the long term.). Everywhere in the world there is growing concern over 'tomorrow's bread'. Taking advantage of this situation, US can highlight a new set of expediencies in the May 19th (or 26th) key Geneva meeting of World Trade Organization ministers to push through its interests. While US negotiators are keen to make use of the emerged food situation across the world, has India done its homework in the changed scenario? In the panic of feeding the hungry, or ensuring food for its millions for tomorrow, developing countries are likely to put the economic interest of the farmer under the carpet. Remember, countries have least concern about others, less so when the whole world is negotiating with the same monster issue – global food crisis.
Once again food has proved to be capable of generating valuable insights in everyone around the world. Only that, this time it's the lack of it that has provided us with valuable thoughts. For a discerning mind, it's also time for a few key lessons in economics. Addressing the Global Agro Industries Forum in New Delhi in April, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said: “... for the first time, there is a direct linkage between oil prices and food prices. Food markets have got interlinked to oil markets, making food policy-making extremely complex as well as uncertain.” We may very well add to it, cost of fertilizer as well as transportation, which adds to the complexity of the problem.
While global bigwigs did several statement somersaults in the last fortnight, the world saw 21st century economic understanding of some developed nations stoop down to the level of outright bargaining and blame-game. US and other rice-importing countries urged the rice-exporting nations not to put curbs on food grains exports. Equally amateurish were Bush's as well as US State Secretary's now controversial “improvement in the diets of people in India and China” statement. That proponents of free trade are not aiming at the welfare of all stakeholders involved was also evident from a motion introduced by a Conservative MP from Shipley, north England, in Britain's House of Commons last week. MP Philip Davies wanted to address the grievances of Indian restaurant industry in his constituency as well as in Bradford. But his motion ended up saying, “(this House) condemns the EU for imposing tariffs of up to 65 euros per ton on basmati rice from Thailand, Egypt, Uruguay and the US; believes in the principle of free trade; and therefore calls on the government to regain trade policy from the EU and abolish these tariffs for the benefit of these restaurants, takeaways and the customers they serve.” (italics mine) Does free trade mean unrestricted availability of goods and grains even when they are scarce and dearer in the global market?
Ethanol was once the champion among environment friendly automobile fuel and was considered the sustainable fuel source of the future, which is capable of substituting petrol to a large extent. On the wake of food crises, the question has now changed to “how feasible is the idea of shifting to ethanol based fuel if it risks the food security of millions.” Brazil from the BRIC block is one of the countries that have profited heavily from the fuel changeover to ethanol. World's largest producer of sugar cane, Brazil now runs most of its cars with ethanol, produced from sugar cane. But in a matter of months the world became sceptical about the new invention. UN agricultural scientists, who had supported the biofuel programme until last year, changed stance in a matter of months. Jean Ziegler, United Nation's Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, called the changeover to ethanol a 'crime against humanity'. Olivier de Schutter, a law professor and human rights campaigner from France, joins the debate pointing fingers at the interests of certain lobbies involved in the changeover to biofuels. In an interview to Le Monde in April, Shutter says: “The ambitious goals for biofuel production set by the United States and the European Union are irresponsible.” Billions of dollars have already been poured into the biofuel project in countries like the US, Brazil, Canada and in Europe. In such a situation, can anyone expect the biofuel projects be scrapped in these countries until and unless the amount invested in them is recaptured with profit? No. On the other hand, there will be attempts to apportion the policy flip-flops the developed countries face domestically with the developing countries in international forums. This is where we need to be cautious.
The major twist for the whole story is kept in pending for the Doha rounds. Here again US is far-sighted than many of our policy makers. If we can read between the lines of US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who hinted at the changing US stance on May 4th while talking to media persons on the sidelines of Southeast Asian trade meeting on the Indonesian resort of Bali, we can make one thing out: Global food crisis is a time for overall trade regulations; is a time when self-sufficient countries restrict their global food trade so as to make domestically produced food available for its own people; is also a time to, theoretically, deregulate imports so as to allow cheaper foods from anywhere in the world to come to your country so that you can quell food scarcity. This itself is what US wants from the Doha rounds. Global food crisis is the best time for the US and other developed countries to negotiate with the developing countries to open up their market. New trade distortions could emerge from worries over access to food, which, according to Schwab, “really would hurt the Doha round, because it flies in the face of what you should really be doing, which is really eliminating as many distortions as you can so you have a free flow of food.”
Food stocks are depleting in many countries, many are unable to meet the stock targets of the year (Fortunately India will be meeting the procurement target for this year around, but fears are not totally out of place for the long term.). Everywhere in the world there is growing concern over 'tomorrow's bread'. Taking advantage of this situation, US can highlight a new set of expediencies in the May 19th (or 26th) key Geneva meeting of World Trade Organization ministers to push through its interests. While US negotiators are keen to make use of the emerged food situation across the world, has India done its homework in the changed scenario? In the panic of feeding the hungry, or ensuring food for its millions for tomorrow, developing countries are likely to put the economic interest of the farmer under the carpet. Remember, countries have least concern about others, less so when the whole world is negotiating with the same monster issue – global food crisis.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Diary Writings - Ubiquity
From the rented room in which I put up to the office where I work, I am distributed, diffused: in the staircases, verandas, along the road and over the two canals which I cross everyday on my way to office. As if this is not enough, there are other problems too, which are of equal concern to me. My spirit lingers around those who are known to me (of course, to ensure this I have to often think about them). This helped me understand that infinity might be incomprehensible but possible and that death is impossible.
Google might be the only contemporary who has found out the real possibility of this. Quite different from those third-rate paparazzi who stick their nose in anything and everything, I have noticed this formless coherence in a few cartoonists also. Google's actual genius is in showing neither any interest nor any disinterest in anything in the web world. You should be able to endure the aftermath of your own existence, your own being – that is what Google Ads are. They say: “Like a conscience, we're tattooed on you for ever. It's inevitable, ad infinitum. Till the time you exist you'll look at us for being convinced of your own existence”
Here, noises are the ones which behave in a totally indiscreet manner. Going high in volume or lowing down – I see this only as an attempt to attract attention. Owing to this property alone, contrary to what McLuhan said, noises always proclaim the sources they emanate from.
(Originally written in Malayalam. Translated to English by the author with modifications.)
Google might be the only contemporary who has found out the real possibility of this. Quite different from those third-rate paparazzi who stick their nose in anything and everything, I have noticed this formless coherence in a few cartoonists also. Google's actual genius is in showing neither any interest nor any disinterest in anything in the web world. You should be able to endure the aftermath of your own existence, your own being – that is what Google Ads are. They say: “Like a conscience, we're tattooed on you for ever. It's inevitable, ad infinitum. Till the time you exist you'll look at us for being convinced of your own existence”
Here, noises are the ones which behave in a totally indiscreet manner. Going high in volume or lowing down – I see this only as an attempt to attract attention. Owing to this property alone, contrary to what McLuhan said, noises always proclaim the sources they emanate from.
(Originally written in Malayalam. Translated to English by the author with modifications.)
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Monsoon in Delhi
It rained in our area today. Monsoon had hit Delhi a few days ago, on 28th June, to be precise. Personnel at the Metereological Department said that it was one day early. But there wasn't even a slight drizzle in our 'labour class area' till yesterday night. Yesterday night there were stars in the sky, vivid and bright. There was cool breeze. And as usual, I slept on the terrace, like many other tenants in the apartment. They are manual labourers who easily adapt to any living conditions. And then, today early morning it rained. I withdrew to my room at the corner of the apartment which has holes, which have width of a brick, on the walls instead of windows. The room reeks with warm vapour always.
Last week one of my friends in JNU, with whom I often spend my weekends, invited me for our routine discussion over a beer. I replied him, "Dosth (friend), I am not free this weekend. Monsoon may hit our 'labour class area' too in a day or two. If that happens, I will sleep for the whole Sunday." Rain has always been associated with good sleep. That is a typical Malayali behaviour, right?
I keep records of my daily expenses now. I have never done that in my life. Life is so cheap in our area. I got a room for just Rs.1000/- plus water charges of Rs.30/- per month in addition to electricity charges. Water is pumped to the storage tank at 5 in the morning. When the motor runs, I store one bucket full of water for bath and a bottle full of drinking water for the day. In summer, collecting water for bath in the morning is very important since the water stored in the tank on the terrace will get terribly hot during the day. It remains to be hot even in the next morning. June 8th and 9th were the hottest days in this summer. The temperature rose upto 44.9o C on one of these days. Hearing that I wake up at 5 in the morning to collect water, one of my friends in JNU quipped: "Every experience is now there with you to write a story."
Rain wreaked havoc in many Indian states this season too. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra were the most affected. Northeastern states were also flooded, as always. Mumbai Municapal Corporation had taken great precautions to take on the monsoon this season. But water logged roads and floods gave the lensmen a good catch for their daily beats in this season too. Perhaps the only people who are happy about floods are the journalists. We know that everyone loves a good drought.
Last week one of my friends in JNU, with whom I often spend my weekends, invited me for our routine discussion over a beer. I replied him, "Dosth (friend), I am not free this weekend. Monsoon may hit our 'labour class area' too in a day or two. If that happens, I will sleep for the whole Sunday." Rain has always been associated with good sleep. That is a typical Malayali behaviour, right?
I keep records of my daily expenses now. I have never done that in my life. Life is so cheap in our area. I got a room for just Rs.1000/- plus water charges of Rs.30/- per month in addition to electricity charges. Water is pumped to the storage tank at 5 in the morning. When the motor runs, I store one bucket full of water for bath and a bottle full of drinking water for the day. In summer, collecting water for bath in the morning is very important since the water stored in the tank on the terrace will get terribly hot during the day. It remains to be hot even in the next morning. June 8th and 9th were the hottest days in this summer. The temperature rose upto 44.9o C on one of these days. Hearing that I wake up at 5 in the morning to collect water, one of my friends in JNU quipped: "Every experience is now there with you to write a story."
Rain wreaked havoc in many Indian states this season too. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra were the most affected. Northeastern states were also flooded, as always. Mumbai Municapal Corporation had taken great precautions to take on the monsoon this season. But water logged roads and floods gave the lensmen a good catch for their daily beats in this season too. Perhaps the only people who are happy about floods are the journalists. We know that everyone loves a good drought.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Abraham from AP
Salvation is now closer home. In political parlance, it's the positive wind of multi-ethnicity which our country eagerly looks forward to in the recent period of religious fanaticism. Linguistically, it's again an attempt to find out the commonality of expression among a group of human beings; the laws that bind them together, the sanity which they ascribe themselves to. Historically, it's yet another truth with an explanation and/of evidence.
Salvation is coming closer home when we discover that Abraham, the forefather of many a Semitic religion, was dark, had a typical south Indian moustache and fed on vada-sambhar and dosa-chatni. Whether he was from Aluru or Gudduru is yet to be found out. But the important point is that he can now be an indigenous legendary icon who can help India's Semitic minorities take major stakes in their bargain with the age-old saffrons. But if the debate goes beyond the place of origin to that of oldness of origin, then there are fewer chances for the Abrahamic brigade to win. Let us, therefore, limit ourselves to space, rather than to time (for the time being) and say, salvation is now closer home.
Based on a news story in The Hindu
Salvation is coming closer home when we discover that Abraham, the forefather of many a Semitic religion, was dark, had a typical south Indian moustache and fed on vada-sambhar and dosa-chatni. Whether he was from Aluru or Gudduru is yet to be found out. But the important point is that he can now be an indigenous legendary icon who can help India's Semitic minorities take major stakes in their bargain with the age-old saffrons. But if the debate goes beyond the place of origin to that of oldness of origin, then there are fewer chances for the Abrahamic brigade to win. Let us, therefore, limit ourselves to space, rather than to time (for the time being) and say, salvation is now closer home.
Based on a news story in The Hindu
Monday, June 18, 2007
Real, image and the imaginary
When US billionaire Samuel Zell, in a recent remark, said, “India's greatest asset today is everyone's imagination,” he was, perhaps, laughing at the state of affairs in this once-mysterious sub continent. That Zell's chief intention was to downplay the recent 'India Poised' media hype is evident to anyone in the first reading itself. But what about the pun in his word 'imagination', which he himself might have failed to capture at that moment?
Ever since, we know that 'imagination' has been a key element for any ailing artist anywhere in this country who wants to hit the media headlines and who won't mind a bit of pampering from cultural celebrities. All that the artist needs to do is to simply draw from his 'imagination' a few female nude pictures and say that the figures hidden under his strokes are goddesses and that representing them in this way is his freedom of expression. Religious fanatics, considering this a real or imaginative threat to their religion, will immediately take necessary measures so as to make sure that the nation's spiritual tradition is secure. On the same note, 'imagination' is also a key element for the leader of a less known religious sect who has to dress himself up like another religious Guru for reasons known for the former alone. Consequently, this 'imaginative' threat to one's religion can be quashed only through protests on the streets in which all the believers have to brandish their swords.
Similarly, a high level of 'imagination,' which flies in the face of media ethics, is required for a newspaper organization to conduct a public survey in which the audience have to answer, 'who will be the political heir (legitimate or otherwise) of the influential artist-legislator, Mr. X?' If the legislator's son 'A' tops the list, then son 'B' will vandalize the newspaper office along with his goons, while nothing less harmful could be expected if the survey had it the opposite.
But Zell's sarcasm failed to notice the assertive mandate of a substantial number of people in a politically vibrant region of the country. 'Imagination' had played a great role in their politics when they thwarted, in the name of caste and partisan politics, every developmental initiative in their State for years. Of late, they have realized that Manuwadis and Mlechas are 'imagined' concepts and the problem of underdevelopment is what is more real and relevant to their day-to-day life. And, as readers, we know that this is true, when newspapers report with glee that the elected members of this State have recently allowed the Governor of the State to complete his speech, without being interrupted, in the assembly for the first time in last 19 years. It is, perhaps, in this context that Zell's fellow country man Bob Dylan once crooned, “How many times must a booth be captured/ Before the EC says, 'friend, this is no jungle raj anymore.'” Which means, many more sectarian clashes are in store for the country, till the time its citizens are mature enough to differentiate between the real and the imaginary.
Postscript: Non-inclusion of keywords within the text is deliberate.
Ever since, we know that 'imagination' has been a key element for any ailing artist anywhere in this country who wants to hit the media headlines and who won't mind a bit of pampering from cultural celebrities. All that the artist needs to do is to simply draw from his 'imagination' a few female nude pictures and say that the figures hidden under his strokes are goddesses and that representing them in this way is his freedom of expression. Religious fanatics, considering this a real or imaginative threat to their religion, will immediately take necessary measures so as to make sure that the nation's spiritual tradition is secure. On the same note, 'imagination' is also a key element for the leader of a less known religious sect who has to dress himself up like another religious Guru for reasons known for the former alone. Consequently, this 'imaginative' threat to one's religion can be quashed only through protests on the streets in which all the believers have to brandish their swords.
Similarly, a high level of 'imagination,' which flies in the face of media ethics, is required for a newspaper organization to conduct a public survey in which the audience have to answer, 'who will be the political heir (legitimate or otherwise) of the influential artist-legislator, Mr. X?' If the legislator's son 'A' tops the list, then son 'B' will vandalize the newspaper office along with his goons, while nothing less harmful could be expected if the survey had it the opposite.
But Zell's sarcasm failed to notice the assertive mandate of a substantial number of people in a politically vibrant region of the country. 'Imagination' had played a great role in their politics when they thwarted, in the name of caste and partisan politics, every developmental initiative in their State for years. Of late, they have realized that Manuwadis and Mlechas are 'imagined' concepts and the problem of underdevelopment is what is more real and relevant to their day-to-day life. And, as readers, we know that this is true, when newspapers report with glee that the elected members of this State have recently allowed the Governor of the State to complete his speech, without being interrupted, in the assembly for the first time in last 19 years. It is, perhaps, in this context that Zell's fellow country man Bob Dylan once crooned, “How many times must a booth be captured/ Before the EC says, 'friend, this is no jungle raj anymore.'” Which means, many more sectarian clashes are in store for the country, till the time its citizens are mature enough to differentiate between the real and the imaginary.
Postscript: Non-inclusion of keywords within the text is deliberate.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
People Richer Than RBI
You might have read oodles of analyses about the economic growth that India enjoys at present. The country witnesses the highest GDP growth in seven or nine years, reports say. And along with the growth in economy there comes an expected inflation. Economists say that the country need not panic looking at the current inflation rate, on the other hand, some wise moves can bring it under control. Why China, a country which has much higher GDP growth than India is not hit as badly by inflation as it does with India? No one knows. Ironically, some recent measures by Reserve Bank of India, the highest authority which should have a clear vision about the whole situation, underwent widespread criticism by many economy experts. When RBI increased the CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) it was seen as a childish step to bring inflation under control. Prices of vegetables have seen steady increase in the last few weeks. Growth should not be cutailed in the name of inflation, some experts argue. Government should adopt measures to increase production in agriculture sector in order to freeze the price rise of cereals and vegetables. If economic growth resulted in increased flow the money flow among individuals in the country and investors from abroad, it is not a wise move to reduce the flow by curbing growth, The Economic Times argues. Instead, RBI should try to make productive use of the money increasingly reach the hands of the citizens.
This said, there is a simple method to check whether RBI is the real authority of money and currency that flow in the country. You should have two mutilated 100 rupee currency notes to participate in this simple experiment. Naturally, you will curse that moment during transaction when those currency notes reached your hands. Calm down, like many other unexpected incidents in life which have helped you learn experience for a life time, these unlucky notes will give you deep insight into the nation’s economy. Go to the RBI headquarters in Delhi (I know mutilated notes can be replaced in any of the RBI branches in the country but inorder you receive the right education, I strongly recommend a journey to the headquarters.). After a series of security checks, you will reach the main hall of the bank where you find several counters for business transactions. Contrary to your expectations about a high security zone, you see inside the bank people typically dressed like peddlers, involved in money exchange. Sensing your intentions they will also come to you and ask you if you would mind showing them the mutilated notes you have brought here for getting replaced. The currency numbers are lost, one cannot expect an at par replacement value for the notes. But suddenly the private ‘money exchanger’ offers you an unexpected deal!!
“The bank will give you fifty rupees each. Which means hundred rupees in total. I shall give you hundred and twenty rupees.” You will not believe this. How can a poor peddler like exchanger give an amount more than what the central bank offers? “Check it out from any of the counters, if you are not convinced.” You know that if you are going for a replacement through the bank, you will have to take additional burdens: you have to glue a white paper to the torn out part of the currency which will make it look structurally like a complete note and you have to wait in the long queue before the counter. However, you don’t want to entertain private exchangers. You go to the official at the counter and inquire about the exact situation, come back to the private exchanger and give him the notes right away. You don’t have to repair them, you don’t have to wait in queue and they paid you 20% more than what RBI could have paid. Tucking the notes in your purse and leaving the big hall of the bank, you realize there is nothing surprising about the current economic situation in the country – a highly disproportionate rate of inflation and economic growth. In India there are people richer than RBI!!
This said, there is a simple method to check whether RBI is the real authority of money and currency that flow in the country. You should have two mutilated 100 rupee currency notes to participate in this simple experiment. Naturally, you will curse that moment during transaction when those currency notes reached your hands. Calm down, like many other unexpected incidents in life which have helped you learn experience for a life time, these unlucky notes will give you deep insight into the nation’s economy. Go to the RBI headquarters in Delhi (I know mutilated notes can be replaced in any of the RBI branches in the country but inorder you receive the right education, I strongly recommend a journey to the headquarters.). After a series of security checks, you will reach the main hall of the bank where you find several counters for business transactions. Contrary to your expectations about a high security zone, you see inside the bank people typically dressed like peddlers, involved in money exchange. Sensing your intentions they will also come to you and ask you if you would mind showing them the mutilated notes you have brought here for getting replaced. The currency numbers are lost, one cannot expect an at par replacement value for the notes. But suddenly the private ‘money exchanger’ offers you an unexpected deal!!
“The bank will give you fifty rupees each. Which means hundred rupees in total. I shall give you hundred and twenty rupees.” You will not believe this. How can a poor peddler like exchanger give an amount more than what the central bank offers? “Check it out from any of the counters, if you are not convinced.” You know that if you are going for a replacement through the bank, you will have to take additional burdens: you have to glue a white paper to the torn out part of the currency which will make it look structurally like a complete note and you have to wait in the long queue before the counter. However, you don’t want to entertain private exchangers. You go to the official at the counter and inquire about the exact situation, come back to the private exchanger and give him the notes right away. You don’t have to repair them, you don’t have to wait in queue and they paid you 20% more than what RBI could have paid. Tucking the notes in your purse and leaving the big hall of the bank, you realize there is nothing surprising about the current economic situation in the country – a highly disproportionate rate of inflation and economic growth. In India there are people richer than RBI!!
Friday, February 09, 2007
In my territory
“In this manner we can make it a collective of like-minded individuals,” the HR Executive concluded the brief conversation she had with me along the verandah wherein she suggested me to rope in more Content Writers to the company from among my contact circle in the city. It was morning, to begin with, and the computer virus which was taking its toll for several days in our office seemed to push that day too into total inactivity. Outdoors, thick fog muffled the buildings to the point of even disallowing them some room to shiver. I went to my seat, wrongly entering the third floor first and then going up to the right one, where I settled myself and started writing something hesitantly but freshly provoked.
Everyone seemed to have settled in their seats and the inertia inside the hall resembled the interior of some passenger vehicle just about to take off.
That song was playing even in the morning: “aaj ki raath hona hai kya.” I listened to it for a while trying to recall the image of a nude fiesta that it entailed. The song continued to play several times during the day – in offices, in public and private vehicles, in restaurants and in all waiting rooms – and by the time it’s night no one heeded to it, and so, nothing of that sort ever happened at night.
An hour later I took a look at what I wrote:
“That like-mindedness does not have an origin interests me a lot. Neither does it stem from the Self nor from the Other. It was already there as something intersubjective. For us, who are only familiar with the binary of objectivity/subjectivity, this concept which focuses on intersubjectivity would be a mediating philosophical position in the field of Business Administration and Management.”
It’s really dull. This is certainly not what I wanted to say, I fretted. Blame it on the cold outside that has crept into our minds transforming aesthetic experiences to philosophical problems!
I looked around; waved at the programmer who was actively leading the antivirus struggle. Any chance to get back net connectivity?
“dubhara restart karke dekho,” she said vaguely.
Leg-pulling? I became cautious. How on earth do repeated restarts help to keep the virus at bay? I defended myself for a while but finally did what she said. Perhaps she’s right, I thought, we content writers are over confident in matters of technology -a method to defend ourselves from being taken for a ride by technicians.
The day dragged on. I started feeling myself useless. Everyone else was working silently. Aren’t their systems affected? I made one more attempt to write something more on like-mindedness but soon withdrew from it.
When I went for a smoke in the bathroom, I saw through the window that the fog had backed out a bit. Where did it go? Has it gone up and merged with the clouds? Two stray dogs bounced at a rag picker down the building, barking. A sudden attack!! Dogs barked fiercely, with beastly faces. They stepped sideways and forward when they barked, distancing themselves away from the prey and circling it at safe lengths. The boy in his early teens was not frightened. He turned to them and showered them with some abusive words. The dogs retrieved a bit, slowly. Their loud and discreet barking now toned down to a long growl. Everything happened in the flash of a few seconds. There seemed to exist some mysterious understanding between the two parties which was sometimes unconditionally broken by one party – by the dogs, invariably, because they can go irrational at any time they want – for which they are thoroughly abused. The little crud walked away as if nothing had happened. My eyes hovered around the dogs which were now getting ready for the next drowse, walking around in a circle as if to wipe away even the minutest trace of the event. Has the place of the event become a vacuum after the ambush? Has the air around it become clean and thin allowing a fresh beginning for everything there? At the last puff of my cigarette, the world appeared to me complete and perfectly logical. And along with it, for a moment, I stood face to face with the joyous knowledge which took me to that time when everything in the world redeems; the redemption of all lost sense of beauty, all opportune moments, all insatiable appetite, everything. With my failing senses on that day, I thought, I would enjoy the world to its full. I would have stayed there relishing the taste of tobacco and contemplating long on a fortunate tomorrow had the stink from the toilet not struck me by my head evoking a spontaneous twitch of muscles around my nostrils.
I came back to my seat and over a cup of coffee started transliterating some abusive words of my language into English, asked the person beside me to read them. When he stuttered, both of us laughed; he, out of embarrassment.
During lunch I tried to smile at people. But then one of them asked, “Are you crying?” As soon as he asked this, everyone looked at him and nobody heard what I answered, not even I myself.
But I must admit it, I go to the verge of crying when things make fool of me, when things pester me to make an opinion on their quality. I go mad at this and my wrath sees no limits. One prominent newspaper had concentrated only on pretty faces of mothers who held the demonstration against Nithari killings. One pretty mother with the same lighted candle appeared twice in the same paper. The report said: “While Mallika Sherawat was shaking a shapely leg, luring the New Year in, the cops in Nithari were sniffing the rotten flesh up the back side of Pandher’s house all the way to his personal abattoir.” Why are celebrations so superfluous and grief so deep? I asked myself. And you want to show me and make me believe that things weigh differently in your balance? “I tell you,” I argued with one of my colleagues, “the reporter will make us equally sensuous on both ways.”
“But this is highly cryptic,” the world replies me in the most modest way possible, “you are well aware how things work, and you know how to give a simple account of everything around you. You betray every possible solution by being unhappy; happiness, though appears to be our goal, is instead a prerequisite. But remember, we have people cleverer than you who would always ensure your conformity with our norms, voluntarily or otherwise. Come out of your borough and see the seditious brightness out here. When a person comes up with a workable solution he/she is duly acknowledged, that’s simple logic. That we fail at times to find out the efficacy of solutions is a different question altogether. But that is just a matter of time; how many generations do you think are yet to see the light of the day? Won’t they judge all our doings with clinical precision then? If you have some kind of madness, we have the way to market it. But make sure that you play it well and never give up. It is quite sure that with the passage of time you will also fall in line, though at present you resist everything. After all, who is not afraid of one’s own old age?”
I waited anxiously for something unknown for the rest of the day, looked queerly at familiar faces. In the seat I yawned several times, enjoying the bad breath at the end of each yawn from down the stomach. Closed my eyes and sank into the chair. What joy!! I left the office very late, though. Took a long walk in the evening cold and got drunk heavily.
Early morning I was awakened by a dream, though not a vivid one: I saw a lady colleague, who is a content writer and whom I like, along a thoroughfare in our village. I was riding on a bicycle and going down a road on a slope, while she stood at the other side of the road. Since the downhill road saved me from pedaling I could look long at her while I rode past her. She didn’t seem to have seen me and was busy talking over her mobile phone as if asking the reason why the person she awaits is late to turn up. I was on my way, probably, to pay the electricity bill or was going to the post office which I often did as a boy. I didn’t talk to her, though I was aware that I am a native of the place and she is not. On my way back, pedaling the bicycle uphill, I saw her at the same place, this time at the side along which I was riding. She would see me, I thought, and I was eager to start a conversation. But a few feet to reach her, me still pedaling hard, a car overtook me and stopped beside her. She entered the car and it went forth. At no point of time she was aware of my presence, it seemed. My bicycle virtually stopped at the rear of the car, a few feet away from it. On entering the car she should have turned around in the seat and have definitely looked at me, I concluded, but I could not see anything clearly as the shaded back glass of the car marred the vision of both of us.
Everyone seemed to have settled in their seats and the inertia inside the hall resembled the interior of some passenger vehicle just about to take off.
That song was playing even in the morning: “aaj ki raath hona hai kya.” I listened to it for a while trying to recall the image of a nude fiesta that it entailed. The song continued to play several times during the day – in offices, in public and private vehicles, in restaurants and in all waiting rooms – and by the time it’s night no one heeded to it, and so, nothing of that sort ever happened at night.
An hour later I took a look at what I wrote:
“That like-mindedness does not have an origin interests me a lot. Neither does it stem from the Self nor from the Other. It was already there as something intersubjective. For us, who are only familiar with the binary of objectivity/subjectivity, this concept which focuses on intersubjectivity would be a mediating philosophical position in the field of Business Administration and Management.”
It’s really dull. This is certainly not what I wanted to say, I fretted. Blame it on the cold outside that has crept into our minds transforming aesthetic experiences to philosophical problems!
I looked around; waved at the programmer who was actively leading the antivirus struggle. Any chance to get back net connectivity?
“dubhara restart karke dekho,” she said vaguely.
Leg-pulling? I became cautious. How on earth do repeated restarts help to keep the virus at bay? I defended myself for a while but finally did what she said. Perhaps she’s right, I thought, we content writers are over confident in matters of technology -a method to defend ourselves from being taken for a ride by technicians.
The day dragged on. I started feeling myself useless. Everyone else was working silently. Aren’t their systems affected? I made one more attempt to write something more on like-mindedness but soon withdrew from it.
When I went for a smoke in the bathroom, I saw through the window that the fog had backed out a bit. Where did it go? Has it gone up and merged with the clouds? Two stray dogs bounced at a rag picker down the building, barking. A sudden attack!! Dogs barked fiercely, with beastly faces. They stepped sideways and forward when they barked, distancing themselves away from the prey and circling it at safe lengths. The boy in his early teens was not frightened. He turned to them and showered them with some abusive words. The dogs retrieved a bit, slowly. Their loud and discreet barking now toned down to a long growl. Everything happened in the flash of a few seconds. There seemed to exist some mysterious understanding between the two parties which was sometimes unconditionally broken by one party – by the dogs, invariably, because they can go irrational at any time they want – for which they are thoroughly abused. The little crud walked away as if nothing had happened. My eyes hovered around the dogs which were now getting ready for the next drowse, walking around in a circle as if to wipe away even the minutest trace of the event. Has the place of the event become a vacuum after the ambush? Has the air around it become clean and thin allowing a fresh beginning for everything there? At the last puff of my cigarette, the world appeared to me complete and perfectly logical. And along with it, for a moment, I stood face to face with the joyous knowledge which took me to that time when everything in the world redeems; the redemption of all lost sense of beauty, all opportune moments, all insatiable appetite, everything. With my failing senses on that day, I thought, I would enjoy the world to its full. I would have stayed there relishing the taste of tobacco and contemplating long on a fortunate tomorrow had the stink from the toilet not struck me by my head evoking a spontaneous twitch of muscles around my nostrils.
I came back to my seat and over a cup of coffee started transliterating some abusive words of my language into English, asked the person beside me to read them. When he stuttered, both of us laughed; he, out of embarrassment.
During lunch I tried to smile at people. But then one of them asked, “Are you crying?” As soon as he asked this, everyone looked at him and nobody heard what I answered, not even I myself.
But I must admit it, I go to the verge of crying when things make fool of me, when things pester me to make an opinion on their quality. I go mad at this and my wrath sees no limits. One prominent newspaper had concentrated only on pretty faces of mothers who held the demonstration against Nithari killings. One pretty mother with the same lighted candle appeared twice in the same paper. The report said: “While Mallika Sherawat was shaking a shapely leg, luring the New Year in, the cops in Nithari were sniffing the rotten flesh up the back side of Pandher’s house all the way to his personal abattoir.” Why are celebrations so superfluous and grief so deep? I asked myself. And you want to show me and make me believe that things weigh differently in your balance? “I tell you,” I argued with one of my colleagues, “the reporter will make us equally sensuous on both ways.”
“But this is highly cryptic,” the world replies me in the most modest way possible, “you are well aware how things work, and you know how to give a simple account of everything around you. You betray every possible solution by being unhappy; happiness, though appears to be our goal, is instead a prerequisite. But remember, we have people cleverer than you who would always ensure your conformity with our norms, voluntarily or otherwise. Come out of your borough and see the seditious brightness out here. When a person comes up with a workable solution he/she is duly acknowledged, that’s simple logic. That we fail at times to find out the efficacy of solutions is a different question altogether. But that is just a matter of time; how many generations do you think are yet to see the light of the day? Won’t they judge all our doings with clinical precision then? If you have some kind of madness, we have the way to market it. But make sure that you play it well and never give up. It is quite sure that with the passage of time you will also fall in line, though at present you resist everything. After all, who is not afraid of one’s own old age?”
I waited anxiously for something unknown for the rest of the day, looked queerly at familiar faces. In the seat I yawned several times, enjoying the bad breath at the end of each yawn from down the stomach. Closed my eyes and sank into the chair. What joy!! I left the office very late, though. Took a long walk in the evening cold and got drunk heavily.
Early morning I was awakened by a dream, though not a vivid one: I saw a lady colleague, who is a content writer and whom I like, along a thoroughfare in our village. I was riding on a bicycle and going down a road on a slope, while she stood at the other side of the road. Since the downhill road saved me from pedaling I could look long at her while I rode past her. She didn’t seem to have seen me and was busy talking over her mobile phone as if asking the reason why the person she awaits is late to turn up. I was on my way, probably, to pay the electricity bill or was going to the post office which I often did as a boy. I didn’t talk to her, though I was aware that I am a native of the place and she is not. On my way back, pedaling the bicycle uphill, I saw her at the same place, this time at the side along which I was riding. She would see me, I thought, and I was eager to start a conversation. But a few feet to reach her, me still pedaling hard, a car overtook me and stopped beside her. She entered the car and it went forth. At no point of time she was aware of my presence, it seemed. My bicycle virtually stopped at the rear of the car, a few feet away from it. On entering the car she should have turned around in the seat and have definitely looked at me, I concluded, but I could not see anything clearly as the shaded back glass of the car marred the vision of both of us.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Football – My favorite spot
I am proud to say that I love football, a game loved by majority of the populationin the world. I regularly watch the football matches in ESPN and TenSports. Playedin ninety minutes, football has a very unique feature of allotment of extra time andtie-breaker if no team wins in the prescribed time. Different teams across the worldresort to their unique and indigenously developed strategies in this game. While Brazilians form a group of four players when they attack the enemy post giving animpression of an advancing wave to the spectators, Italians play a defensive gametill the seventy fifth minute. Mid-fielders in any team are usually the play makers.Famous names in the football world, Pele, Maradona, Baggio etc. were mid-fielderswho gave some crucial passes to the Strikers and helped them score magnificent goalsfor their team. However, despite the joy and pleasure offered by this game to itsspectators, football players do not hesitate to go violent in their goal attempts.
Ecotourism in India
Ecotourism in India is a long cherished dream which is still to be realized fully.One needs just to look at the pollution level of various tourist spots in order torealize the importance of implementing Ecotourism in this sub-continent. Despite therich cultural, geographic and art heritage that India holds, we are unable to makeuse of it to the maximum for lack of proper planning and vision. Ecotourism in Indiawill not reduce the number of tourists coming to a particular tourist spot. But onthe other hand it will sustain the resources of a region for the future generationsas well. Ecotourism can be successfully experimented in nature tourism in thebeginning and later on the concept can be extended to heritage, cultural andmonumental tourist spots in the country.
The Impact of Internet on our lives
The impact of internet on our daily lives.Before discussing this particular topic one has to define the most important part ofthis sentence ‘our’. Internet in India has not still penetrated to the ruralpopulation and for that reason the impact of internet in cities will be more whencompared to its impact on the rural population. Let’s make our discussion based on asample population in the cities who use internet at least 5 hours a week. With theadvent of internet newspapers, print newspapers have lost their status of beingproviders of timely news. An internet newspaper gets updated every half hour whichhelps its subscribers become highly up to date in current affairs. This would be themost important effect of internet on our day to day lives: we have become more up todate on current affairs. The second effect would be an increase in informationsharing. Free information, authentic and unauthentic, is available in the internetin such an extent that one is bombarded with information overload everyday. Inshort, internet has brought in a sea change in the knowledge scenario of humankind.
Proper names
Hi all,
This is a response to the article "Equally you" which you can read in this page.
Hi Mr. ..........G. ......,
I have read your art-tickle. I liked it in the first place. I think nothing can be as disastrous, to take a leaf from your notebook, as the experience of being chased by the fathers' ghost. Hamlet is chased by the scrupulous ghost of his father and met with no lesser fate than death. The most deleterious combination that could lead a parturition of a miserable individual is the metaphoric 'father,son and the holy ghost'. That
can be one of the reasons why people desert churches these days! I plead you, thus, to free your father from being crammed between two nouns in your name - ......... and ....... Let Mr.G. go back to places he is interested in- why take him to your sad caverns of philosophy? If you say that the 'G....' of your name represents something else, i will be interested to know what. I am sure not the smell of a footbal player, an H.S. teacher, but something or nothing at all 'verum veruthe'.
I think of a more dreaded scene one might face at any time in one's life.think of somebody coming to you from some dark corner of your city or from a cinema hall,telling you that he is your father's youth, claiming that he had been to all these places and had undergone all these phases:"Nambarirakkalle poore njanithokke ethra kandatha, njan thannayado than ho ho ho" (don't play your number here, you asshole. You are me myself, my boy, ho ho ho) . You feel like pulling him to the corner(as you seemed to have done in the former case) you raise your hands to gift him with a nice slap.Unfortunately you end up saying : "nanni pithaji ellam thankalude kripaanugrahangal thanne" (thanks my dear father. all is your blessing). You don't stop there you bend a little bit and manage to touch his feet showing a typical Indian reverence. This activity achieves perfection when you have a feel of blessedness which promotes you to chant:matha pitha gurur daivam...
Think all these Mr. ..... G. ..... May god bless you too.
Namasthubyam (all the best),
Wayanadan.
This is a response to the article "Equally you" which you can read in this page.
Hi Mr. ..........G. ......,
I have read your art-tickle. I liked it in the first place. I think nothing can be as disastrous, to take a leaf from your notebook, as the experience of being chased by the fathers' ghost. Hamlet is chased by the scrupulous ghost of his father and met with no lesser fate than death. The most deleterious combination that could lead a parturition of a miserable individual is the metaphoric 'father,son and the holy ghost'. That
can be one of the reasons why people desert churches these days! I plead you, thus, to free your father from being crammed between two nouns in your name - ......... and ....... Let Mr.G. go back to places he is interested in- why take him to your sad caverns of philosophy? If you say that the 'G....' of your name represents something else, i will be interested to know what. I am sure not the smell of a footbal player, an H.S. teacher, but something or nothing at all 'verum veruthe'.
I think of a more dreaded scene one might face at any time in one's life.think of somebody coming to you from some dark corner of your city or from a cinema hall,telling you that he is your father's youth, claiming that he had been to all these places and had undergone all these phases:"Nambarirakkalle poore njanithokke ethra kandatha, njan thannayado than ho ho ho" (don't play your number here, you asshole. You are me myself, my boy, ho ho ho) . You feel like pulling him to the corner(as you seemed to have done in the former case) you raise your hands to gift him with a nice slap.Unfortunately you end up saying : "nanni pithaji ellam thankalude kripaanugrahangal thanne" (thanks my dear father. all is your blessing). You don't stop there you bend a little bit and manage to touch his feet showing a typical Indian reverence. This activity achieves perfection when you have a feel of blessedness which promotes you to chant:matha pitha gurur daivam...
Think all these Mr. ..... G. ..... May god bless you too.
Namasthubyam (all the best),
Wayanadan.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
A conversation
A conversation between Ground Zero (GZ) and his colleague (TT) through chat network inside office. GZ's colleague is a seasoned follower of Christianity (I don't know which congregation he belongs to), and you know the religion of GZ, right? read on... The occassion mentioned in the conversation is a prayer ceremony at a Sikh Temple on the third day of the sad demise of our MD's mother. All the employees in Delhi office were invited for the prayer ceremony on this occassion.
TT to GZ: is your net working?
GZ to TT: no, not working for a long time
TT to GZ: yeah same here
GZ to TT: !!
TT to GZ: tommorow all r going to Sikh Temple Ist half
GZ to TT: yes, i'm thinking of going
TT to GZ: i won't be going
GZ to TT: whY?
TT to GZ: well does not agree with my faith
GZ to TT: man is mortal, be s/he a Christian or a Hindu.
TT to GZ: well i agree to this but going and praying in a temple does not ...... i don't agree all my sentiments are with the greiving family.
GZ to TT: there is no faith or religion cut off from man. What one practices itself is the religion. Praying or not praying is not the real thing that counts, but what matters is how much can one be complacent with the cultural psyche. for me, that's the crux of all rituals
TT to GZ: i respect ohters religious sentiments but for me my faith does not stand on pantheism. i respect the culture of the land but agreeing to thst whic is right is not waht i have learnt
TT to GZ: agreeing to taht which is not right i have not learnt
GZ to TT:yes, for me the single truth of God can be overlooked but many truths of man should be accepted as a reality. No attempts to unify, homogenize or reduce truth by defination means that which corresponds to reality.
TT to GZ: it is not all inclusive it is objective and not relative.
GZ to TT: I love to call 'they' rather than 'it'
TT to GZ: i am sorry i did not understand
pronoun for truth should be 'they'. Whereas you used the sentence 'IT is not all inclusive, IT is objective..." we're in a world of multiple truths.
TT to GZ: well if your truth believes that you shoud go to temple my truth says that ishoud not go. then you should be able to accept my truth as for yoyther are mant truths. as for you there are many truths
GZ to TT: good, asserting difference is a mature philosophical position. I appreciate it.
TT to GZ: relativism is a dageorous stand for any civilized society or an individual
TT to GZ: i hope the court of law does not practice the post modern school of thought then it would be difficult for any conviction as what the culprit did i was right according to him.
GZ to TT: in a discussion between absolute truth and relative truth i find the place of Court of Law at the rear end.
TT to GZ: why so?
GZ to TT: society is run by management techniques, not according to philosophical positions, be it Court of Law or sub-altern social movement. all workable truths..
TT to GZ: well even management techniques are based on some ideology. in a court the truth is quest and in such a setting the relativism cannotand should not have any space be it a court or any setting.... one cannot do away with absolutes if there is any absolute one cannot and one should not.
GZ to TT: but if there is none, then?
TT to GZ: the very statement thet you make that there is no absolute truth, is in itself a absolute statement. as you want me to believe that what u rsaying is the truths or even a relativist needs the absolutes to support his views
GZ to TT: indeed, a sound argument from your part. I need to study more.
TT to GZ: truth by nature is not all accommodative but exclusive
GZ to TT: but conflicts apart, i'm looking forward to some good philosophical discussions between us...not to reach at a conclusion but only to share our views.
TT to GZ: i m reminded of the story that says only a live fish swims acroo the current across
GZ to TT: not accomodative but exclusive, sounds like a foucauldian statement
TT to GZ: well Michel foucault was himself a relativist, post modern scholar, idon't support him
GZ to TT: good, down with all relativists!
TT to GZ: truth has to be there in any society and in every individual
GZ to TT: consider Derrida, for him everything is a text, and there is no reality outside the text.
GZ to TT: yes, foucault has never said that there is no truth... his genius is in saying that truth has always been constructed to exert power.
TT to GZ: the decostructionist are a part of the disillusioned groups. they were all disilussioned from Marxist approach that waited patiently of a truth
GZ to TT: following Nietzche he asked, \'why do humans need truth?\' it is jut to exert power, in social institutions, in sexual discourse, in morality etc.
TT to GZ: yes, Marxists waited patiently for a truth to unveil, i agree. How does a religious Christian differ from this?
TT to GZ: the disiciple of Nietzhe is the popular figure of History that remindseveryone of the dangers of postmodernism----Hitler
GZ to TT: all bookish interpretations, sorry for the direct statement.
TT to GZ: well that is the truth and not a mere interpretation well coming to ur question of why not a Xtian agree with marxists
GZ to TT: If Marxism after Marx and Christianity after Christ has become a unidirectional representation of the symbol, Nietzche\'s writings areinterpretable in several ways. end of interpretation is end of world.
GZ to TT: everything rests on interpretation not a single meaning of the symbol..
TT to GZ: well then interpettaion should correspond to that which is the truth. if not there would thousnad interpertations for a fact. in the 19 and the 20th cent.ies in the era of the knowledge boom the world has witnessed massacers and deaths more than all the massacres out of wars put toogeother in history and still we claim to be civilized
GZ to TT: i\'m not
TT to GZ: i hope that is just an interpretation and not the truth if then the (company name) would find it difficult to continue with you
GZ to TT: if I say \'yes\' interpret my \'yes\' in the way you want. I won\'t mind
TT to GZ: i hope u can understand the seroiusness of the issue....
are you trying to convice me of some truth, single truth? then please don\'t let us talk, talk and talk.. sometimes i\'ll lose my seriousness, i\'llblame myself, i\'ll curse the society...everything varies with mood. Mood is my philosophy,
TT to GZ: well i hope ur mood is always corrected according to what is right.
GZ to TT: not moods
TT to GZ: if u are a person governed by moods then tommrow ur mood may be to kill your apponent.
GZ to TT: a negative interpretation, just to keep me down!
GZ to TT: I\'ve never killed anyone!
TT to GZ: no brother that is just they way u r trying to tell me about urself and im not coming to any conclusion
GZ to TT: yes, there is always a possibility of the unexpected in everyone\'s life pure accidents are, in your words, \'absolute truths\' of life
TT to GZ: not clear
GZ to TT: there is always an element of unpredictableness in any social phenomenon, be it the behaviour of an individual or be it the outcome of a LokSabhaPoll.
TT to GZ: well even in the weather....the weatherman in india also makes mistakes
GZ to TT: which is supposed to be a scientific phenomenon!
TT to GZ: see the crux of the issue is that that unprdictablitiy is there even in my life at times i wrong but i go to the mirror of truth to always allign myself with the truth.
GZ to TT: I don\'t correct myself
TT to GZ: then there is no scope to learn in ones life its like trying to draw a straight line wothout a scale of course,
GZ to TT: i learn to avoid circumstances which i find harmful to me.
GZ to TT: Learning by intuition or by trial and error.
TT to GZ: wise is the man who learns from others mistake
GZ to TT: i agree
TT to GZ: well we need to conform at all times to what is right
GZ to TT: this is a good starting point: "well we need to conform at all times to what is right" note this sentence and we\'ll continue later.
TT to GZ: yes
GZ to TT: do you mind if i publish the whole conversation in my blog?
TT to GZ: please
TT to GZ: that would be great
GZ to TT: thanx
TT to GZ: is your net working?
GZ to TT: no, not working for a long time
TT to GZ: yeah same here
GZ to TT: !!
TT to GZ: tommorow all r going to Sikh Temple Ist half
GZ to TT: yes, i'm thinking of going
TT to GZ: i won't be going
GZ to TT: whY?
TT to GZ: well does not agree with my faith
GZ to TT: man is mortal, be s/he a Christian or a Hindu.
TT to GZ: well i agree to this but going and praying in a temple does not ...... i don't agree all my sentiments are with the greiving family.
GZ to TT: there is no faith or religion cut off from man. What one practices itself is the religion. Praying or not praying is not the real thing that counts, but what matters is how much can one be complacent with the cultural psyche. for me, that's the crux of all rituals
TT to GZ: i respect ohters religious sentiments but for me my faith does not stand on pantheism. i respect the culture of the land but agreeing to thst whic is right is not waht i have learnt
TT to GZ: agreeing to taht which is not right i have not learnt
GZ to TT:yes, for me the single truth of God can be overlooked but many truths of man should be accepted as a reality. No attempts to unify, homogenize or reduce truth by defination means that which corresponds to reality.
TT to GZ: it is not all inclusive it is objective and not relative.
GZ to TT: I love to call 'they' rather than 'it'
TT to GZ: i am sorry i did not understand
pronoun for truth should be 'they'. Whereas you used the sentence 'IT is not all inclusive, IT is objective..." we're in a world of multiple truths.
TT to GZ: well if your truth believes that you shoud go to temple my truth says that ishoud not go. then you should be able to accept my truth as for yoyther are mant truths. as for you there are many truths
GZ to TT: good, asserting difference is a mature philosophical position. I appreciate it.
TT to GZ: relativism is a dageorous stand for any civilized society or an individual
TT to GZ: i hope the court of law does not practice the post modern school of thought then it would be difficult for any conviction as what the culprit did i was right according to him.
GZ to TT: in a discussion between absolute truth and relative truth i find the place of Court of Law at the rear end.
TT to GZ: why so?
GZ to TT: society is run by management techniques, not according to philosophical positions, be it Court of Law or sub-altern social movement. all workable truths..
TT to GZ: well even management techniques are based on some ideology. in a court the truth is quest and in such a setting the relativism cannotand should not have any space be it a court or any setting.... one cannot do away with absolutes if there is any absolute one cannot and one should not.
GZ to TT: but if there is none, then?
TT to GZ: the very statement thet you make that there is no absolute truth, is in itself a absolute statement. as you want me to believe that what u rsaying is the truths or even a relativist needs the absolutes to support his views
GZ to TT: indeed, a sound argument from your part. I need to study more.
TT to GZ: truth by nature is not all accommodative but exclusive
GZ to TT: but conflicts apart, i'm looking forward to some good philosophical discussions between us...not to reach at a conclusion but only to share our views.
TT to GZ: i m reminded of the story that says only a live fish swims acroo the current across
GZ to TT: not accomodative but exclusive, sounds like a foucauldian statement
TT to GZ: well Michel foucault was himself a relativist, post modern scholar, idon't support him
GZ to TT: good, down with all relativists!
TT to GZ: truth has to be there in any society and in every individual
GZ to TT: consider Derrida, for him everything is a text, and there is no reality outside the text.
GZ to TT: yes, foucault has never said that there is no truth... his genius is in saying that truth has always been constructed to exert power.
TT to GZ: the decostructionist are a part of the disillusioned groups. they were all disilussioned from Marxist approach that waited patiently of a truth
GZ to TT: following Nietzche he asked, \'why do humans need truth?\' it is jut to exert power, in social institutions, in sexual discourse, in morality etc.
TT to GZ: yes, Marxists waited patiently for a truth to unveil, i agree. How does a religious Christian differ from this?
TT to GZ: the disiciple of Nietzhe is the popular figure of History that remindseveryone of the dangers of postmodernism----Hitler
GZ to TT: all bookish interpretations, sorry for the direct statement.
TT to GZ: well that is the truth and not a mere interpretation well coming to ur question of why not a Xtian agree with marxists
GZ to TT: If Marxism after Marx and Christianity after Christ has become a unidirectional representation of the symbol, Nietzche\'s writings areinterpretable in several ways. end of interpretation is end of world.
GZ to TT: everything rests on interpretation not a single meaning of the symbol..
TT to GZ: well then interpettaion should correspond to that which is the truth. if not there would thousnad interpertations for a fact. in the 19 and the 20th cent.ies in the era of the knowledge boom the world has witnessed massacers and deaths more than all the massacres out of wars put toogeother in history and still we claim to be civilized
GZ to TT: i\'m not
TT to GZ: i hope that is just an interpretation and not the truth if then the (company name) would find it difficult to continue with you
GZ to TT: if I say \'yes\' interpret my \'yes\' in the way you want. I won\'t mind
TT to GZ: i hope u can understand the seroiusness of the issue....
are you trying to convice me of some truth, single truth? then please don\'t let us talk, talk and talk.. sometimes i\'ll lose my seriousness, i\'llblame myself, i\'ll curse the society...everything varies with mood. Mood is my philosophy,
TT to GZ: well i hope ur mood is always corrected according to what is right.
GZ to TT: not moods
TT to GZ: if u are a person governed by moods then tommrow ur mood may be to kill your apponent.
GZ to TT: a negative interpretation, just to keep me down!
GZ to TT: I\'ve never killed anyone!
TT to GZ: no brother that is just they way u r trying to tell me about urself and im not coming to any conclusion
GZ to TT: yes, there is always a possibility of the unexpected in everyone\'s life pure accidents are, in your words, \'absolute truths\' of life
TT to GZ: not clear
GZ to TT: there is always an element of unpredictableness in any social phenomenon, be it the behaviour of an individual or be it the outcome of a LokSabhaPoll.
TT to GZ: well even in the weather....the weatherman in india also makes mistakes
GZ to TT: which is supposed to be a scientific phenomenon!
TT to GZ: see the crux of the issue is that that unprdictablitiy is there even in my life at times i wrong but i go to the mirror of truth to always allign myself with the truth.
GZ to TT: I don\'t correct myself
TT to GZ: then there is no scope to learn in ones life its like trying to draw a straight line wothout a scale of course,
GZ to TT: i learn to avoid circumstances which i find harmful to me.
GZ to TT: Learning by intuition or by trial and error.
TT to GZ: wise is the man who learns from others mistake
GZ to TT: i agree
TT to GZ: well we need to conform at all times to what is right
GZ to TT: this is a good starting point: "well we need to conform at all times to what is right" note this sentence and we\'ll continue later.
TT to GZ: yes
GZ to TT: do you mind if i publish the whole conversation in my blog?
TT to GZ: please
TT to GZ: that would be great
GZ to TT: thanx
Friday, August 18, 2006
Gite Università per Stranieri
This post is aimed at providing information to those who would come to Università per Stranieri (University of Foreigners), Perugia - Italy to pursue course in Italian Language and Culture.
Tours are arranged to different parts of Italy all throughout the year. Indians who would be coming to this university mostly during the months of July, August and September can get a clear picture of the kind of tour packages offered to them.
Given below are the different tour-packages offered in August 2006.
Aug 6 Firenze (Florence): 40 Euro
Aug 12-15 Sicilia: 212 Euro
Aug 12 Todi e Orvieto: 27 Euro
Aug 16 Palio di Siena (city of horse-race): 27 Euro
Aug 19/20 Napoli-Pompei-Capri: 105 Euro
Aug 20 Ravenna: 38 Euro
Aug 26/27 Venezia e le Isole: 105 Euro
Aug 27 Roma-Musei Vaticani: 30 Euro
The rates do not usually include expenses on food except breakfast, but they often include accomodation charges and entry-ticket charges.
Address of the tour company that arranges the tours this year:
Giullis Viaggi - Via Fabretti, 35 Perugia
Tel: 075 5727666
You don't need to plan the trips ahead by calling from your home country. But you can of course plan your budget by studying the charge for each trip.
Tours are arranged to different parts of Italy all throughout the year. Indians who would be coming to this university mostly during the months of July, August and September can get a clear picture of the kind of tour packages offered to them.
Given below are the different tour-packages offered in August 2006.
Aug 6 Firenze (Florence): 40 Euro
Aug 12-15 Sicilia: 212 Euro
Aug 12 Todi e Orvieto: 27 Euro
Aug 16 Palio di Siena (city of horse-race): 27 Euro
Aug 19/20 Napoli-Pompei-Capri: 105 Euro
Aug 20 Ravenna: 38 Euro
Aug 26/27 Venezia e le Isole: 105 Euro
Aug 27 Roma-Musei Vaticani: 30 Euro
The rates do not usually include expenses on food except breakfast, but they often include accomodation charges and entry-ticket charges.
Address of the tour company that arranges the tours this year:
Giullis Viaggi - Via Fabretti, 35 Perugia
Tel: 075 5727666
You don't need to plan the trips ahead by calling from your home country. But you can of course plan your budget by studying the charge for each trip.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Perugia life progresses
Here boredom is slowly creeping into our Italian life with an exception of routine wine and beer. One of the Indian students who came here on scholarship left for India just after one month saying that it's just a waste of time being here for three months. The syllabus of Level 3 programme is largely based on language learning and grammar. All in general. But Level 4 has specialisations in translation, culture and techno-economical. Level 4 is more challenging. Those who expect more from the course, but who do not have sufficient knowledge of Italian language will get caught in Level 3. Of course, one can choose one level up and get into Level 4. But it would be risky. In Level 3 classes are good but the lessons don't pose a challenge to you, which means it is the problem with the syllabus.
I didn't go anywhere outside Perugia. With a nominal amount of scholarship I do not want to spend any Euro on trips. It's true that Italy is a live museum of the world. But everything what you see around you is antique enough to take you to Periodo Etruscho, Periodo Romano and Periodo Medeovale. There is a Arch or Fort Door called Arco Etrusco, beside our university building. It was built a few centuries before Christ. What else, here one hardly finds an archaelogical building later than 12th Century AD. After a few days you will not be fascinated by the antiquity of the buildings. Firenze, Torino, Venezia, Napoli all the cities will have the same historic tales to tell. About the grandeur of early Catholic Church, about the conflict between the Church and the noble families, about medieval art, about Romans and their civil and military life. I avoid them knowingly.
What to say about World Cup 2006 celebrations. Public celebrations are the same anywhere in the world. Those who enjoy, enjoy. For me, who loves football not by watching others play but playing it myself, the game between Italy and France was important. France played better than Italy. I still have faith in Zidane and still think that he would not have been provoked unless something seriously had happened between Materazzi and him. I was supporting France during the final because it was frustrating to see Italian good-for-nothing fellows watching the game with a bottle of beer in their hand while their native or foreign girl friends, who do not know anything about the game, encouraging the Italian team only to convince their boy friends and to show them that they too are passionate about the game. Worse were the intentions of some of my Indian friends. Some of them told me that they took photos with European or American girls only to get a friendly kiss from them.. so pathetic.
One litre wine or beer costs only 0.50 Euros (of course, there are costlier ones). But a daily newspaper costs 1 Euro. Rates are all absurd here.
More info on Perugia Click here
I didn't go anywhere outside Perugia. With a nominal amount of scholarship I do not want to spend any Euro on trips. It's true that Italy is a live museum of the world. But everything what you see around you is antique enough to take you to Periodo Etruscho, Periodo Romano and Periodo Medeovale. There is a Arch or Fort Door called Arco Etrusco, beside our university building. It was built a few centuries before Christ. What else, here one hardly finds an archaelogical building later than 12th Century AD. After a few days you will not be fascinated by the antiquity of the buildings. Firenze, Torino, Venezia, Napoli all the cities will have the same historic tales to tell. About the grandeur of early Catholic Church, about the conflict between the Church and the noble families, about medieval art, about Romans and their civil and military life. I avoid them knowingly.
What to say about World Cup 2006 celebrations. Public celebrations are the same anywhere in the world. Those who enjoy, enjoy. For me, who loves football not by watching others play but playing it myself, the game between Italy and France was important. France played better than Italy. I still have faith in Zidane and still think that he would not have been provoked unless something seriously had happened between Materazzi and him. I was supporting France during the final because it was frustrating to see Italian good-for-nothing fellows watching the game with a bottle of beer in their hand while their native or foreign girl friends, who do not know anything about the game, encouraging the Italian team only to convince their boy friends and to show them that they too are passionate about the game. Worse were the intentions of some of my Indian friends. Some of them told me that they took photos with European or American girls only to get a friendly kiss from them.. so pathetic.
One litre wine or beer costs only 0.50 Euros (of course, there are costlier ones). But a daily newspaper costs 1 Euro. Rates are all absurd here.
More info on Perugia Click here
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Wine and Women
Narrating my Perugia experiences I wrote in a mail to a friend: "Wine is cheap in Italy." He replied: "It is frustrating to know that wine is CHEAP there." He's right; wine cannot be cheap in Italy since it has been given high value in this country.
Vino Bianco (White Wine) and Vino Rosso (Red Wine) are the two varieties one can enjoy here. Their price varies from 1 Euro to 10 Euros per litre (i don't know whether there are much costlier ones). But why do I write all this. Wine is popular not only in Italy but in the Middle East, a region much familiar to an Indian. There is nothing new in knowing that Italians drink wine. But as an Indian, and particularly as an ex-JNUite I cannot forget the experiences with my lady classmates (with women) here. The difference in my experience is striking. In Jawaharlal Nehru University there is an air of gender sensitivity prevalent all along the campus, which is alleged to be one of the achievements of student community there. It is an air of suspicion, of anxiety and of neurosis. But here, a university in Europe, I have never come across a gender sensitive neurotic. Women are not here to nail you down if you stare at them. There is nothing like good relation or bad relation, nor is there anything outside the realm of 'enjoyment'. Everyone wants everyone else, perhaps always in an absolute sense. I know if one tries to comprehend this situation sitting in my subcontinent everything will seem to be problematic. But I don't think Europe has an answer for it. At least if what I see here is a cross section of European life. Are women cheap in Italy?
Vino Bianco (White Wine) and Vino Rosso (Red Wine) are the two varieties one can enjoy here. Their price varies from 1 Euro to 10 Euros per litre (i don't know whether there are much costlier ones). But why do I write all this. Wine is popular not only in Italy but in the Middle East, a region much familiar to an Indian. There is nothing new in knowing that Italians drink wine. But as an Indian, and particularly as an ex-JNUite I cannot forget the experiences with my lady classmates (with women) here. The difference in my experience is striking. In Jawaharlal Nehru University there is an air of gender sensitivity prevalent all along the campus, which is alleged to be one of the achievements of student community there. It is an air of suspicion, of anxiety and of neurosis. But here, a university in Europe, I have never come across a gender sensitive neurotic. Women are not here to nail you down if you stare at them. There is nothing like good relation or bad relation, nor is there anything outside the realm of 'enjoyment'. Everyone wants everyone else, perhaps always in an absolute sense. I know if one tries to comprehend this situation sitting in my subcontinent everything will seem to be problematic. But I don't think Europe has an answer for it. At least if what I see here is a cross section of European life. Are women cheap in Italy?
Friday, July 28, 2006
Italy's own 'Calcio'
| Is there anything to theorize on Football? Once, one of my friends told me: football is a game in which one gets a feeling of "advancing". It is like eliminating your enemies in a war and advancing. And finally, reaching the goal. Football is a game that visually convinces the spectator that a team has really won or lost... Some first hand pictures from Perugia on the day Italy won the World Cup championship 2006 |
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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Life at Perugia
Perugia, a city 220 kms away from Rome. Perugia is the "capoluogo" (like district headquarters) of Umbria, one of the 20 regions of Italy. I am here for pursuing a three months course in Italian Language and Culture in University of Foreigners, Perugia-Italy. Enrolled for the course on 3rd July. This is an intermediate level of language learning (we call it Level 3). Classes, food, accomodation, climate everything fine here as of now. The couse is partially funded.
We scholarship holders were asked to carry an amount to meet the expenses of at least one month. Moreover, we had to bear the flight charges from our own pocket. I didn't have sufficient money for all this. I had to borrow from home the amount for my to and fro air ticket. I really had a tough time with my family this time. It was very difficult to convince them about my plans (in fact "planlessness") for future. I did not go anywhere outside my house, did not visit any of my friends. In fact for the last two months I was facing a whole lot of techinical problems of life.
Now in Perugia, I have more time to spare. There are about 2500 students in this univsersity. All the 40-44 students in my class are non-Italians. We have 22 hrs of class every week, from Monday thru Friday. Academic work is not heavy. Only problem is to sustain oneself economically. I cook my food often alone and sometimes with my friends. A flat or room one avails on rent here will be fully furnished with kitchen, gas, and utensils. Water and electricity is assured for 24 hrs. The apartment is of the kind "Serviced Apartments" which I have seen in Delhi. We pay 200 Euros per month per head.
Climate here is more similar to Kerala than to Delhi. Temperature will not go above 32 degrees. We do not prespire at all. In short a good alcoholic weather. We do not have celing fans in our flat, surprising, no?
I will return to India in the beginning of October. During this period you can expect frequent updates...
I have a stupid post for you: it's about my experiences during my first air-journey: Click here to read the post.
We scholarship holders were asked to carry an amount to meet the expenses of at least one month. Moreover, we had to bear the flight charges from our own pocket. I didn't have sufficient money for all this. I had to borrow from home the amount for my to and fro air ticket. I really had a tough time with my family this time. It was very difficult to convince them about my plans (in fact "planlessness") for future. I did not go anywhere outside my house, did not visit any of my friends. In fact for the last two months I was facing a whole lot of techinical problems of life.
Now in Perugia, I have more time to spare. There are about 2500 students in this univsersity. All the 40-44 students in my class are non-Italians. We have 22 hrs of class every week, from Monday thru Friday. Academic work is not heavy. Only problem is to sustain oneself economically. I cook my food often alone and sometimes with my friends. A flat or room one avails on rent here will be fully furnished with kitchen, gas, and utensils. Water and electricity is assured for 24 hrs. The apartment is of the kind "Serviced Apartments" which I have seen in Delhi. We pay 200 Euros per month per head.
Climate here is more similar to Kerala than to Delhi. Temperature will not go above 32 degrees. We do not prespire at all. In short a good alcoholic weather. We do not have celing fans in our flat, surprising, no?
I will return to India in the beginning of October. During this period you can expect frequent updates...
I have a stupid post for you: it's about my experiences during my first air-journey: Click here to read the post.
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