Mahakumbh Ends; SFV Festivity Continues

Mahakumbh ended on Wednesday, Mahashivaratri, 26 February. It is estimated that in Prayagraj more than 66 crores of devotees took a dip – snaan, to give it a religious tinge. Some say it is nearly twice the population of USA. No wonder many call it the event of the century, and world’s largest religious gathering. 

SFV residents did not lag behind in being part of it. Names that I heard include Preeti and Hari, Sudharshan and wife, Ravi Shankar and Shobha, Gururaj, Satya Prasad, Sanghamitra, Saroj, Srinivasan, Vishwas…Those of us who missed it could make-do by receiving bottles of the holy water from them, mix it while taking bath and receive blessings of powers that be. We sincerely appreciate their gesture. During the morning walks, some shared their accounts and literally allowed us to partake in the journey. By and large we heard only good things about their experience.

While the Mahakumbh has ended, the festivity in SFV continues unabated. Today the residents performed Thyagaraja Aradhana in Club House to a houseful attendance. Aside the established and budding artists of SFV, some accomplished artists from outside gave a programme in flute, violin and mridangam that enthralled the audience for nearly two hours. This was followed by Thyagaraja Aradhana recital jointly by SFV and outside artists. I was specially delighted to see my neighbour, Priya Anant, 3196, participate in it. Till now I meet her only in morning walks. Front-runners of the event I spotted included Dilip, Paneendra, Sudharshan, Gururaj and Vasuki, Ramasubramanya…  Kudos everyone. As usual, the prasadams were simple, but plentiful.

A few days earlier, Uma Maheswari of Oak 2011, had organized two separate functions in her house. One was Saptaham  - reciting Bhagavatam in the mornings and discourse in the evenings for seven days). The other was Navaham - Ramayanam slokam-chanting in the morning and discourse in the evenings, for nine days).   The chant and discourse were performed by learned pandits. The evening sessions were well attended where residents got an opportunity to refresh their memory on both Bhagavatam and Ramayanam. Thanks Uma and Dr Ramakrishna.

On the cards is another major event – Thiruppugazh– in praise of Lord Kartikeya. A team of 23 well versed men and women from Coimbatore will set foot in SFV in mid-March for a rendition of Thiruppugazh. Mythili Ravichandran, of 7242, ably assisted by a team of volunteers will spearhead the operations. If the corridor news is anything to go by, each of these 23 persons will be accommodated in one or the other SFV flats.  We look forward to a new experience.

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Changing with Changing Spirit of Time

One witnesses change in almost every walk of life to the extent that only change is constant. 

Brevity is the essence of WhatsApp communication. If you are in it, by now you would have uncovered that DM means direct message; DP means display picture, and GBU means God Bless You. However, the more difficult terrains, for me, are: TBH means To Be Honest, IDK means I don’t know. K means OK, and FOMO means Fear of Missing Out (Ex: You attend a function for FOMO). 

In medical parlance, you no longer refer to a person as physically disabled. It is outdated and amounts to looking at the darker side.  One should be positive, and use the term physically challenged. Speaking of staying positive, I had an English friend in Geneva. Even in day-to-day conversations, I never heard him speak in negative terms. Even to convey: “I don’t like him,’ he would say: “he is not among those whom I like the best.” No wonder he featured regularly in a Morning Pep-Talk Show in one of the Swiss radio channels. 

Change is no less in the cine field. Thriller, suspense, science fiction, action or horror have long eclipsed family dramas, comedies, historical or religious movies. In the 18 or so years that I spent in the village, it was full of them – and them only. The only occasions I can recall where ‘thieves’ figured in movie titles were: “Malai Kallan”, or “Kalvanin Kathali”. I am sure it must be so in other Indian languages as well.

Also, while buying readymade garments, I have to remember to specify, Regular Fit; otherwise, I end up getting a Slim- or Smart-fit trousers or shirts packed up – ideal for gym-goers. Don’t be surprised if the shopkeeper occasionally responds, “Regular fit out of stock sir.” It is his polite way of telling you that they are here to cater to the fashionable segments, and not the customers of yore.

In the electronic communication sector, E-invite is the order of the day. In olden days it used to be very much a guess work for the host on how many would attend Muhurtam lunch, how many Reception, and so on. Not any more. Now the e-invite incorporates bullet points to respond on what time of the day you would arrive – in the forenoon or afternoon and when you would leave (for hotel accommodation), how many persons would attend (1, 2 or 3 – which means the host does not ideally expect more than 3)… Stay tuned to computer applications, otherwise life will become something less. I shall deliberately skip the ‘e-Khatha’ (in Bangalore), to avoid earning the ire of many of my fuming co-residents.

I guess that the door-step delivery concept has made the fastest stride. From a one-time same-day-delivery, the promise has progressed to within-two-hours. As this piece goes to press, it stands at within-ten-minutes. Yes, in good old days we used to ask someone, “Would you like to join me for lunch at Volga?” Now it is, “I am ordering some dishes from ….. restaurant, and getting it delivered through Zepto, Zomato or Swiggy whosoever brings it fastest. Would you like to rush to my home and join the fun?”

To end the piece, I recall a filler I read in a magazine. It ran like this. One fellow told the other that very soon a day would come when at the press of a button while still lying on one’s bed, a tooth-brush would pop up, then the paste would apply itself on it, and a handle will brush it without your having to hold it in your hands…. So automated it is going to be.  “Good,” said the other, “but who will push the button?” Yes, for each technological progress, there will be an equal and opposite expectation.

Regardless, the moral is: change with the changing spirit of time.

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Hinduism Beneath the Surface – A family’s attempt to understand Sanatana Dharma - by Kannan K N)*

*(Kannan is a Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, having worked as Head of Finance, Director, MD, Mentor... and now runs a charitable trust for upskilling financially challenged students from Tier-2 colleges in small towns and providing them with placement assistance.  Also my wife's brother.)

Happily, as the very title suggests this book is a fictional Rajan family’s attempt to understand Santana Dharma, and not a heavy-weight book that will demand repeated readings to get to the bottom, let alone its possible sedative side-effects.  Simple, straightforward.

To pack a subject that many would write in volumes, Kannan manages to do it in 315 pages - as they say, containing the ocean in the palm. हथेली में समंदर समेटे हुए - hathelee mein samandar samete hue. Full marks on this, Kannan.

Converting such a demanding subject into a lucid discussion point within the confines of 12 x 14 drawing room of a middle-class family, takes the cake; and the author does it with undiluted success. Simple, conversational style. Cheers.

The author makes no secret of the fact that very often he himself was unable to answer some of the spiritual queries of his children, and hence he did not want to broach the subject with them unless he was fully equipped to do so. Hence, over a period he read and assimilated several Hinduism books before embarking on the subject in the form of this book, so that the explanations reach way beyond his own sons. Well done.

Some of the fundamental concepts Kannan chose to deal with are: Is it Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, Life’s Purpose, God and Godliness, Who Am I, Fate (Prarabdha) versus Free Will (Purushartha); the suggested paths for attaining bliss; Your Prakriti and Gunas Decide your Best Path; Duties are not negotiable though; Inaction Not an Option, Mind Management (for long I have been looking for something on this).

This book liberates readers from having to read it with a pen and pad to note down the key takeaways. Kannan does that with aplomb in a separate section on Takeaways and Conclusion – Atmano Mokshartham Jagat Hitaya Cha; The Ten Minute Summary, Takeaways for the Rajan Family, and A Festive Feeling.

Personally, on reading the book over thrice - earlier in manuscript and pre-final forms, and now in its finished format, I feel I lost a wonderful life-time opportunity from Kannan to be a co-author. But then, dashing the ‘t’s and dotting the ‘i’s, and adding no substance or content whatsoever just does not entitle one to co-authorship. First deserve then desire. 

A copy of the book rightfully deserves its place in every household for its simplistic, lucid explanations of all that one might have wanted more clarity on. But don’t take my word for it. Just see what some of the top echelons of the society who read the book have to say: 

“For a long time it was my fond wish someone would come up with a simple and concise book on Sanatana Dharma – not complicating it too much…This book exactly does all those and surpasses all expectations…” writes a retired senior executive from Tatas.

“It (the book) elucidates the core of Hinduism/Sanatana Dharma which focuses on attaining permanent Peace and Happiness by managing one’s own Mind, Energy, Body…Highly recommend reading this book and sharing with the younger generations so that they can manage their lives better holistically and create a better world order.” – opines a leader from India’s Tech industry.

‘All fine uncle, but how can we get a copy of the book?” Yes, you can buy it on Amazon India https://shorturl.at/9jOvy; You can buy it on Amazon USA https://tinyurl.com/2upduf5y; You can buy it on Amazon UK https://tinyurl.com/3jkupfju; You can buy it on Amazon Australia https://tinyurl.com/4aw9z3zt; You can buy it on Amazon UAE https://amzn.eu/d/ggPjFzs

The Author’s earnings from the book are pledged to Swapnodaya Charitable Trust (www.swapnodaya.com)

(If you have any comments, please write them not in Telegram, WhatsApp or ADDA, but in the Post a Comment column of the Blog.  It then stays with the blog. Thanks.)

Lucca’s World – Netflix Movie

Sometimes circumstances conspire to give you a good deal. Two or three months ago Netflix discontinued (detected?) the Add-on viewing facility that parents enjoyed (unauthorizedly?) against the subscriptions of their children abroad. Since then, we had been cut off from Netflix. 

Yesterday evening when we failed to identify a short movie to watch before going to bed, we asked ourselves: “Why should we deny ourselves the pleasure? Why not we subscribe ourselves to Netflix?.” And thus began our attempt to subscribe to it. But it was a tall order considering that all these platforms have an in-built AutoPay subscription for 10, 20 or 30 years – 30 years in the case of Netflix. I tried my best to meddle with it to make it for just one year but failed. So, I have made a note to take a call.

The reason why I mention all these is that our effort was well rewarded, to begin with. As we browsed the various options on Netflix, we chanced upon a clipping that showed a foreign family in an Indian temple and praying for their son’s recovery.

We picked it. Yes, it was Lucca’s World, based on a book by the same name. For those who have not either read the book or watched the movie, it is in Spanish, dubbed in English. A family from Mexico makes frantic efforts to find a cure for their son suffering from cerebral palsy. The mother feels guilty that she did not push well enough in the labour room resulting in a concussion. She swore to do everything to bring the baby back to normal.

She was working for a media channel interviewing eminent personalities. In one such pre-interview casual conversation the person to be interviewed observed that she was unduly tense and worried. She disclosed her problem. He shared with her of an institution in India, yes, Namma Bengaluru, where they have cured a few such cases successfully.

They were a middle-class family. Her husband, unemployed for months, had a leg amputation and had prosthetic steel leg for mobility. On top of that, they were paying back housing loan. In other words, a visit, and to speak of stay, in India was just unthinkable. 

Sorry, at this rate, I might as well end up telling you the story and deprive you of the charm of watching it. Were they able to make it to India despite the warning of the Mexican doctors of the risks involved in such a long-haul travel. Also, if the child gets an epileptic attack of longer duration. 

Did they make it to India? Did they find it an exercise in futility as they drained out their frugal funds, or was it rewarding? What are the procedural wrangles such a project involved. All these, and more, are what this movie is all about. In the event you decide to watch it, be sure that however best you remind yourself that after all you are watching a movie, you cannot help wiping a tear or two on occasions.

The movie is based on a true story.

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Air Travel – Expect the Unexpected

Chances are many of you might have undergone similar trials and tribulations while on air travel – a few to write off, and some to guard against.

I have had my own quota of good, bad and indifferent experiences ranging from airlines’ last-minute cancellation of flights, missing the connecting flight for no fault of mine, unaccompanied luggage, booking agents not complying with full documentation formalities…

The most recent one was last month.  We had our Boarding pass printed at home and were just twenty minutes away from the Bangalore airport to take off to Ahmedabad. Suddenly lands an email instead to say that for operational reasons the flight has been cancelled. It was one of the best-rated domestic airlines. Luckily, at the airport we managed to book in another airline leaving around the same time. Of course we coughed up three times more money. Yes, everything has a price – and all the more, the last-minute purchases.

This flight was Delhi-Chicago – a few years ago. Passengers had already lined up to board the flight – wheelchairs, babies in arms, seniors, Executive class, Business class…in that order, much to the dismay of the last two categories that they were sidelined. Suddenly the America-based airlines announced that the front door of the aircraft was not locking properly and hence the flight stood cancelled. “Please board the bus waiting nearby for overnight hotel stay,” reassured the airlines staff. Believe me, those till then in wheelchair for priority boarding literally ran to the bus with no less speed than P T Usha. 

We went to the airlines counter in the hotel for rebooking but were told that in our case the main ticket was issued by another airline. They were in the picture only for the Delhi-Chicago sector. Hence, we should go to the main airlines. Their office was elsewhere in Delhi. Luckily, as an ex-Delhi-ite, I knew the place. It turned out that the Manager of this airline was my cousin’s son. He offered not only upgrading but a night’s free stay in London if we wanted to have fun. We were anxious to get to US, and so politely declined his offer.

This one relates to our last US trip in 2022, the Bangalore-San Francisco-Phoenix travel via the airlines’ hub in Europe. Because of delayed departure from Bangalore and consequent delayed landing in the hub airport, we missed the connecting flight to US. We were dumped into an alternative see-the-world detour flight. Meanwhile both our mobiles ran out of charge. We could not contact our sons. Luckily the elder one suspected this and arranged with the younger one in SFO to meet us at SFO airport, which he did with our grandson. A bonus meeting, we were delighted. We spent the night with them in SFO airport and took the next early morning flight to Phoenix – minus our luggage.  Of course, we fought for and got compensation for all this.

In another flight, we missed the connecting flight from London and were accommodated in a hotel for one night.

Among the small incidents were one when my suitcase arrived damaged in Geneva. They promptly authorized us to get it replaced from the nearest Samsonite shop.

This flight was a flight from Delhi to Geneva via a Scandinavian country. We landed and were asked to sit in a corner in the Immigration section. Twenty minutes later we observed that all the alighted passengers had cleared immigration and gone; we were still being seated. “Any problem? We asked the Immigration official. “Yes, you are the problem, sir,” You had travelled without a transit visa. But you happen to hold a UN Laissez Passer (UN Passport). So, we shall accommodate you in the jeep along with aircraft staff that leaves straight from the ground to the aircraft. Yes, some agents do mislead passengers on visa requirements just to book business.” 

“So nice of you, sir,” we thanked them profusely for being led to the aircraft, instead of to a possible lock up.

(If you have any comments, please write them not in Telegram, WhatsApp or ADDA, but in the Post a Comment column of the Blog.  It then stays with the blog. Thanks.)