The Artist's Growth

Once upon a time, in a village in India lived a poor artist who used to make idols of Hindu gods and sell them in the daily marked in the neighbouring village.

In due course, this poor artist had a son. As the son grew up he watched his father make those idols, and he got interested. The son also started making the idols under the guidance of his father. Then one day the father took the son with him to the market with his idols. The idol made by the son sold for Re. 0.25. He was really happy. The artist's own idols sold for Re 2.00 each.

The young son made more idols, and his father pointed out the flaws in them and urged his son to do better. The son did do better and his idols started to sell for more - first 50p, then 75p and then a whole Rupee.

There came a day when the son sold his first idol at Re. 2 alongside his father. He was ecstatic. The father was very proud of his son. But he never stopped criticising his son's work.

Slowly the son's work started to surpass his father's. His idols would sell for Re. 3 while the father's idols still sold for Re.2. 00. He still criticised the son's work every day.

One day the son flared up "My idols sell for more than yours. How come you still criticise my work?"

The father took a deep breath "Son, I also used to be like you, my idols used to tell for 10p and slowly I got to where I could sell them for 2 rupees each. But once I became proud of my work, I never got better than that. I stopped at 2 Rs. and I don't want you to stop like I did."

Moral: There never comes a time when you can stop learning and growing.

WakeupIndia: Story - The Real Story

I have decided to write a series of short stories on this topic. I wanted to write so much on this topic but I found that every time I started to blog about it or even planned a post I felt that onrush of frustration, rage and sorrow that I had felt when I read that Nirbhaya died. I was unable to write at all.

After a lot of thought I decided that instead of writing a post which is "real" I could write a story which would be "fiction" thus allowing me the distance I need in order to be able to write without giving up in despair.

These stories are not meant to be literary masterpieces but simply meant to illustrate a point or allow me to vent my frustration at the current system in which a girl is India is blamed for being a girl.

I have some other initiatives in mind as well, which I will tell you about as they take shape. Right now, I am planning and organizing.

For now, here's the first story in the series. You are welcome to share your thoughts.

The Real Story

Inspector Kiran Prakash entered the police station with a civilian in tow. The civilian was carrying a notepad and pen and looked generally like the stereotype of a journalist.

“Actually, reporter babu,” said the Inspector, “your news is little bit true. There are really many cases of rape reported in this area.”

Journalist Jyotiramaya nodded, encouraging the other to talk, which he did.

“But they are not real rapes.” said the inspector.

“They are not?” the journalist asked in his usual alert manner.

“No, no, not even half of them. Most of these cases are reported by prostitutes.”

“Prostitutes?” the reporter was genuinely puzzled now.

“It’s not so strange as you think, sir. These prostitutes carry on their illegal trade, and when a customer does not pay them, they cry ‘Rape!’ to involve the police and harass the poor guy.”

The inspector took a seat behind his desk, inviting the journalist to sit in front of him with a gesture.

Jyotirmaya sat down and asked “How many of these cases are registered by these prostitutes?”

Inspector said with contempt “Arre all of them, yaar! I know these girls. Bloody whores! They think they can fool the police!”

Hawaldar Jagtap Singh approached the inspector’s desk “Jai hind, saab ji!”

Inspector nodded “Haan jai hind. Jagtap, this is journalist Jyoti babu. He is writing an article on rape situation in India. Send someone to bring 2 coca-cola. And bring today’s cases.”

Jagtap left and came back with bottles and a file.

He placed the bottles on the table and handed the file to Kiran Prakash, “Saab ji, main case is only one, a girl has come to report a rape.”

The Inspector looked at Jyotirmaya, “Your lucky day! You will see with your own eyes how I do ‘justice’ to these cases in 2 minutes.”

Jyotirmaya only nodded, with his pen poised over his notepad.

The inspector faced the Hawaldar again, “What is the case?”

“You know our MLA saab’s elder son Bunty...this girl is saying he kidnapped her from her college and raped her in his father’s house.”

The inspector turned to give his comments to the journalist again, “Bunty is a bit naughty, but I don’t believe this girl at all.”

The journalist, against his habit, commented with astonishment, “But you haven’t even heard her story yet!”

Inspector Kiran Prakash took a sip of his Coke and gave a derisive grin, “Oh, Sir ji, I don’t need to hear her story. I know the real story. Just one of those whores I was telling you about.”

Jagtap contributed readily, “Reporter babu, our saab ji is fully right. I knew it as soon as I saw her. She is beautiful but characterless!” Then he turned to his superior, “Sir ji, I have put her in the lockup with the other prostitutes. Imagine her nerve! Accusing the MLA’s son, hain ji?”

The inspector looked at the journalist as if to convince him, “You will see yourself, sir ji. Jagtap, le ke aa saali ko. Bring her in!”

Jagtap left and re-entered a minute later, herding in front of him a girl that had clearly gone through a violent and traumatic experience. Her face and clothes were all dirty and damaged but her eyes held a grim determination.

Inspector Kiran Prakash’s chair collapsed on the floor as he got out of it explosively, his eyes wide as he looked at the girl.

The single word came out of his hoarse throat in a mixture of horror and disbelief. ”Rashmi!!”

The girl looked up at his voice and tears ran down her cheeks in streaks, “Bhaiya!” (Brother!)

Kalidas Katha

Princess Vidyottama was a scholar woman, and very proud of it. She was insistent that she'd marry only a man who would defeat her in Shastrarth (scholistic debate). All the learned men in the kingdom tried, but all of them lost to her and had to leave in disgrace. 

The pundits of the state also tried their luck but none could defeat this learned woman. Their ego was hurt and they decided to join together and get their revenge by making her get married to an absolute fool. With this intent they ventured off to find the most stupid man in the kingdom. 

They happened to come across Kalidas who was sitting on a tree branch and cutting it, sawing between him and the tree trunk, putting himself in danger. 

The pundits shouted to him, "O fool! You are cutting the branch you are sitting on. You will fall!"

Kalidas replied, "So what? It took me a long time to climb up here. At least I will come down faster!"

They then knew that he was the right person! They persuaded him to come down and talk to them. By promising to get him married to a beautiful princess they persuaded him to come with them. But they made him promise that come what may he would not speak a single word in front of the princess. He agreed.

The pundits took care that Kalidas looked the part of a learned pundit with his clothes and appearance. When they put him in front of Princess Vidyottama they told her that he was a great scholar and they were all actually his disciples. They told her that he was willing to engage in Shastrarth with her but he had a maun-vrat (vow of silence) which would last for a few more days. The princess agreed to have the debate by hand-signals.

Here's how it went.

The princess lifted one finger to signify that God is one!

Kalidas in his idiot mind thought that was she was saying, "I would gouge your eye out!"

He lifted two fingers to say, "I will gouge both your eyes out!" 

The princess was confused. She asked the pundits to interpret. They asked her why did you lift one finger. 

She said, "I said that God is one."

परमात्मा एक है। 

Pundits said, "Guruji says that God and Human Soul are two. Without the one the other is incomplete." 

"आत्मा और परमात्मा दो हैं। एक के बिना दूसरा अधूरा है। "

The princess conceded and they moved on. 

Now the princess lifted five fingers to signify that the human body is only a combination of five elements. ( आकाश, पृथ्वी, वायु, जल और अनल )  

Our genius hero thought that she was saying, "I would slap you!"

So he showed her a fist to say, "If you slap me, I would punch you!" 

Again the princess was confused. She asked the pundits to interpret. They asked her, "What did you mean?"

She said, "I said the human body is only a combination of the five elements." 

शरीर तो पांच तत्वों का पुतला है। 

The pundits said, "Guruji replied that when these five elements come together only then the human body is constructed which can be used to worship God!"

जब पंचतत्वों से मिलकर शरीर बनता है तभी मनुष्य उसे इश्वर की आराधना में लगा सकता है। 

This continued for a little while more and finally the princess conceded her defeat. She was happy to marry the learned scholar who had finally defeated her and proven himself worthy of her. 

Now, here comes the twist in the story. 

After the wedding, on the wedding night, Princess Vidyottama and Kalidas were in her royal palace. Out of the window Kalidas spotted a camel and delightedly pointed it out to the princess. 

But when he spoke, he used the word "utra" for camel whereas the correct word in Sanskrit for camel is "ushtra."  

The smart princess understood in a second what had happened and how the pundits had gotten her married to an utter fool. 

She was furious! She called Kalidas a fool and kicked him out. 

But hold on, this is not the end, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost. 

Spurned by his bride and tortured by his love, Kalidas left the kingdom and travelled far and wide. He was not heard from for many years. 

But several years later, he returned back to the same kingdom. He had spent the years studying and learning everything he could. And now he was a real scholar. 

When he knocked on the door of  Vidyottama's private palace, she asked, "Who is there?" 

In Sanskrit, this sentence has four words. Such was the new, learned Kalidas that he created 4 epics each one starting from one word of that sentence - Meghadutam, Kumarsambhava, , Raghuvansam, Ritusamhara. 

He wrote many other works one of which "Abhigyan Shakuntalam" is considered his masterpiece and was one of the first Sanskrit works to be translated to English. The flow of his flawless Sanskrit in those epics is still unmatched to this date. 

He went on to become one of the "nine gems" of Emperor Vikramaditya's court. 

Now, here's my shame. When our Sanskrit teacher told us this story in high school, he told us the princess's question also in Sanskrit and then he narrated the first shloke (verse) in the original Sanskrit from each of the 4 epics created by Kalidas illustrating how each one started  with one of the words in the question. I feel very ignorant to admit that I don't remember any of that in the original Sanskrit. :( 

Technomythology: 2050

"Baba, baba, tell us a story!"

My two favourite rascals in the whole world came running and plomped on the bed. Having uttered their demand in the first sentence they just settled down resting their chins on pillows and sat looking at me with those twinkly eyes that said they were not ready to move until they had heard a story.

I know when to give in...besides I knew how to keep these two amused.

I started, "Once upon a time, long, long ago.."

"Even before Google?" My fair-haired granddaughter interjected with her pixie face showing genuine astonishment.

I ruffled her hair which she combed with her fingers immediately, "Yes, sweetheart, even before Google."

"So once upon a time", I started again, "long, long, ago, even before Google, there was a time when computers lived in little boxes. There was a man who owned the search business and was called Billoo. Everybody went to him for search and respected his search Engine. You have to understand that in those days search was a symbol of status. The more time  your search took, the more respected you were by your peers. Why, elders in the city used to have searches that could run for several full SECONDS."

"Wow!" They opened their mouths in incredulous wonder.

"Then one day a new search Engine was created and it was called Google. People shunned it because it was too fast. But then it was discovered that the search Engine was created by the two men called Page and Brin.It was rumoured that they were incarnations of the deities Brahma and Vishnu."

I paused to look at their little faces, still rapt with attention.

"They vowed to destroy the Search Giant Billoo. But then suddenly one day a new demon stormed the cyberworld. His name was Applasur and he used a rotten apple as his symbol." I tried to convey the horror of the thing with my voice.

"There was a BIG war! And I mean BIIIGGG!! Applasur attacked the twin deities with ifonaban and ipadashastra. But the deities were strong. They built a big weapon Androidachromashastra that was both a weapon and a shield all in one.  Applasur threw new version after version of his weapons and many, many people became victims of his weapons. The deities were strong, they cast a spell upon their super-weapon...they said.."

May the SOURCE be with you!

They watched me with open-mouthed awe.

"Then what, baba?" My grandson asked breathlessly.

"Then...what always happens, the victory of good over evil...Applasur was destroyed by the deities and the people of Earth were blessed forever with good technokarma."

"That was bound to happen." my smartypants graddaughter proclaimed.

"Okay, now off to bed, you two."

..........................................................................................................................................................
As they exited their grandfather's room, her brother said. "That was a good question huh, even before Google?!" He imitated her voice.

She tittered, "Of course. I know when granddad begins to tell such big whoppers, that means the story is going to be good. He doesn't know our teacher already told us that Google always was, is and always will be. But the story was good, no?"

"Very true", he agreed then chuckled, "Computers in boxes...ha..ha..ha."

They ran off to their rooms.

Akbar-Birbal - The Wisdom Fruit

We all want to be wise. Here's a story from Akbar-Birbal about a king who tried a shortcut to wisdom. 

Emperor Akbar's court was in session when a messenger arrived from the neighbouring country with a message for the Emperor. The message was as puzzling as it was it simple.

"To Emperor Akbar,

We have been informed that your court is a treasure trove of wisdom. As your neighbour we would like you to share your wisdom with us. Please send one Fruit of Wisdom to us, so that we can grow our own from the sample.

Inability to send us a Fruit of Wisdom from your side will be regarded as an act of hostility and will be reciprocated in kind from our side."

"Fruit of Wisdom?", the Emperor was perplexed, "Who starts these rumours?"

Nobody had an answer to that. It was learnt later that the neighbour king had heard the legend of Birbal's wit and had concocted this plan in his jealousy to show up Birbal or find an excuse to attack Akbar's kingdom.

After a period of idle speculation and fruitless (no pun intended) discussion, all eyes finally turned to Birbal who was sitting silently.

"Birbal", Akbar asked, "You are the only one who has not offered any comments on this situation. Do you have an answer to give to this messenger?"

Birbal said, "Yes, Your Majesty.", he turned to the messenger, "Tell your king that we are all out of Fruits of Wisdom at the moment and it will take 6 weeks to grow a fresh one. Once the Fruit is ready, you can come and collect it. In 6 weeks' time."

The messenger departed without further comment and as soon as he was out of earshot, Akbar could contain his puzzlement no longer.

"Birbal, have you gone mad? Grow what? In 6 weeks? There is NO such thing as a Fruit of Wisdom. Why did you tell him 6 weeks. What will we give him when the messenger comes back in 6 weeks?"

Birbal smiled his knowing smile that used to drive the Empror insane because he could not guess what he was thinking, "Your Majesty, please leave this small matter in my hands. When the messenger returns in 6 weeks he will be given the Fruit of Wisdom and rest assured that it will satisfy our neighbour king."

Next morning, Birbal sowed some seeds of pumpkin in his garden at home. He kept a careful eye on their progress every day. When the Emperor asked him in court about the matter of the Fruit, he would reply complacently, "The Fruit is being grown, Your Majesty!"

When the pumpkins were 2 weeks old, Birbal covered 2 of them with earthen pitchers (ghade) and made supports for them so that they would still get sunlight while growing completely inside the ghade.

When the pumpkins grew big enough that they filled the earthen pitchers completely without breaking them, Birbal plucked them off.

Two days later the messenger arrived as expected. When he walked into the Emperor's court and demanded delivery of the Fruit of Wisdom, Birbal stood up and handed him the earthen pitchers filled with the fully grown pumpkins.

He addressed the messenger, "In view of our cordial relations with your kingdom we have prepared two Fruits of Wisdom instead of one to be delivered to your king. But please tell the king that special care must be taken when extracting the Fruits. If you cut the Fruit with a knife or break the special container, the Fruit will be entirely spoilt."

The messenger looked at Birbal's face, then looked at the Fruits of Wisdom and retreated in silence.

Moral of the story: Your mind is a wonderful tool, the only way to sharpen it is to use it.

The Shirt of Happiness

Once upon a time, there was a king who was rich and powerful and respected and feared by the neighbour kings. His ministers were intelligent and hard-working. He had a beautiful wife who loved him very much. He had a son and a daughter who were obedient and fast learners. His subjects were loyal and paid their taxes on time. The Royal vault was full of money.

(I know you are waiting for the "but"...here we go)

BUT he was not happy. Ever since his coronation nobody had ever seen the king smile. As the months passed, his mood stayed dull and actually turned to melancholy.

The Royal Vaidya was summoned. He checked as best he could, but couldn't find a single thing wrong with the king's health. He prescribed some general medicines to try and cheer the king up. Nothing worked. Then other medicine men were consulted, doctors, vaidyas and even tantrics. Needless to say, nobody could figure out what was wrong with the king or how to cure it. The ministers all but gave up.

(You know the twist is coming, right?)

Then one day a sadhu baba arrived in the kingdom (no, not baba Sunilanand). Babaji was famous for his wisdom and his miraculous powers of healing. The king's ministers wasted no time in calling him to the Royal Court to see the king.

The sadhu looked at the king, talked to him, and declared that he had diagnosed the king's disease and he could cure it.

Prime Minister: What's wrong with our king, baba?

Baba: He is sad. He needs to have his happiness replenished.

Prime Minister: How will your cure him, Baba?

Baba: I can cure his disease, I have done so many times. I need only one thing.

PM: What's that?

Baba: Find a man who is happy, truly happy. Then borrow his shirt. The king needs to wear this shirt for one day and then the king will be happy again.

PM: Only that? I will arrange for this right away.

The PM asked the courtier next to him for his shirt. The courtier agreed readily, but before the shirt could be passed to the king, the sadhu asked, "But are you happy? Truly happy?"

"No maharaj", the courtier replied..and out came a list of his problems. It seemed like he had reasons to be sadder than the king himself.

(And now the plot thickens...)

The prime minister asked the next courtier. Same story, eagerness to lend his shirt to the king, but also a list of woes long as his arm. Then it was the turn of the king's ministers. They were much more richer and more powerful than the courtiers so success was almost guaranteed. But to everyone's surprise, these powerful, affluent creatures were also not really happy. Each had something that made him worry, made him sad, or stole his happiness. For some it was an errant son, for some it was an unwed daughter, some were saddened by the family affairs, others  by business matters. But all in all there was not one truly happy man in that court, up to and including the PRIME MINISTER!

So, the net was spread wider. The families of those present in court were asked with the same result. Then the whole city was scoured for a man who was truly happy and could lend his shirt to the king. Unfortunately, not one could be found!

The Prime Minister was dedicated to his king's happiness. He created a special task force and sent messengers all over the kingdom to find such a man. There must be at least one truly happy man in the kingdom!

(Enter, the hero)

While going from village to village one day 2 royal messengers happened upon a shepherd. This man was sitting in a tree playing the flute while his sheep were grazing around. The messengers asked him, like they had asked 19,259 people before him, if he was truly happy. To their amazement, he replied yes!

This was it! This is what they wanted!! The whole puzzle was solved! Now they only had to do one thing..

Messenger1: Listen, we need you to do a big favour for our king.
Shepherd: Anything for the king. Long live the king!
Messenger2: We need you to lend us your shirt for the king.
Shepherd: Sir, I don't have money to buy food for tomorrow, where will I get money to buy a shirt!

Indeed the man was shirtless! This created a problem for the messengers. But dedicated and intelligent men of action as they were they simple took the shepherd with them and presented him to the king with the full story.

(And the climax...)

When the king met this man who had no shirt, no shoes, and had to work every day in order to be able to eat in the evening, he realized that he had many more reasons to be happy than the poor shepherd.

With the sadhu's help and guidance, within a few days the king learnt to find the happiness within him and nothing saddened him again, except when Ekta Kapoor's new serial was announced.

Moral of the story: If you want to be happy, buy a freaking flute!

Akbar Birbal - Finding The Right Balance

Once it happened that Birbal and Akbar exchanged some hot words and Birbal took off in anger.

After a few days the Emperor cooled down and realized that he had treated Birbal unjustly. Also he was missing Birbal's scintillating wit and his intelligence in solving the daily issues in the court.

But even though the emperor was ready to call Birbal back the problem was that Birbal had left no forwarding address. He had simply disappeared. Also, Akbar didn't want to have to apologize to Birbal even though he wanted him back.

Having lived in Birbal's company for so long, the Emperor had also gained some craftiness. He devised a plan that would find Birbal without having to make an announcement that would give away Akbar's eagerness to have Birbal back.

Soon, all the district Sarpanch's in the kingdom received a goat from the Emperor. With the goat was a message - the goat was the property of Emperor Akbar and was being entrusted to the district for safekeeping for a month. The goat must be well taken care of and returned at the end of the month. The most important thing was that the goat must not gain any weight during the month nor should it lose any weight.

Sarpanch after sarpanch watched as the messengers from the Royal Court weighed a got in front of him and told him that it should be the same weight 30 days later, within a reasonable limit.

And once the messengers were gone, the Sarpanch invariably scratched his head. The message from the Royal Court was as baffling as it was clear. The whole thing sounded like a riddle.

Even though a huge crowd collected on each site to watch the sight of a goat being put in a balance, no citizen had any ideas to keep the goat's weight constant.

I am sure some smartasses would have suggested sending it to a slimming clinic had such been invented back then.

Some villages tried smart methods like feeding the goat for fifteen days and then not feeding at all for the remaining fortnight and other variations. Invariably the goat either died or lost weight. In some cases the goat actually gained weight.

On the 30th day, there was only one goat that weight almost exactly the same as a month ago. The Emperor was extremely interested in that goat. He found out which district the goat had been sent to and went there immediately.

On questioning from the Supreme Ruler himself, the Sarpanch gave up the secret - "Sire, we fed the goat very well, as the rations were kindly provided by the Zille-ilahi, but after a day's feeding the goat was then taken away and tied in front of the tiger's cage for the night."

Akbar smiled at the clever solution. Fear of the tiger would counteract all the goat's feeding without starving it. It was ingenious! Then the Emperor asked the million-dollar question - "Who told you this solution?"

The Sarpanch gave the name of the wise villager who had saved the Sarpanch from going crazy with the insoluble puzzle and in a short amount of time Birbal was standing in front of Akbar accepting Akbar's weak apologies with a tolerant smile.

Moral of the story: A full stomach does not equal happiness if the heart is not free of fear. 

Hold the elevavator, please!

You know this feeling when you arrive at work, you have been walking fast from the station or bus stop to make it in time, you run up the steps, you go through doors like you are running a hurdle race, and you get to the elevatorbank and.....and you stop! After all the urgency and speed, you are obliged to cool your heels in that corridor after you press the lift button! What an anticlimax!

Happens to me every morning!

But not this morning!

As soon as I rounded the last corner I saw one lift ready to go up, the doors just closing. At the precise moment when I saw them the doors were about 50% closed. I covered the remaining distance in 2 swift steps and shoved my hand between the double doors that were now 75% closed and still closing. As soon as my arm passed through doors..the doors kept closing! 

Have you seen those Ninja movies where the Ninja takes out his long samurai sword and chops down in smooth, fluid motion? I did that...just without the sword and upwards instead of down. The doors, even though they were 90% closed now, arrested their progress and opened back! Phew, right?

As I entered the lift with the air of a world-champion Samurai, I realized to my horror that there was somebody in the lift! The closing doors had hidden this lady from my view who was a silent witness to my shenanighans with the lift doors with wide eyes! 

I took out my earphones and apologized, "I am sorry. I hope I didn't scare you." 

She started laughing, "No, no, it's ok. But you are very brave to push your arm in like that!" 

"Oh," I replied non-chalantly, "I know where the sensors are now."

You see, just last Friday one of my colleagues had told me where the sensors are between the lift doors, and by chopping upwards I had been able to intercept the beam and stop the doors closing. 

She started laughing. We had to ride a few floors together and I kept my embarassed silence, but she could not stop laughing. Actually now that I think back on it, I can't stop smiling either. This one will be my most embarassing lift moment for quite a while even though I have others. 

Have you ever done anything as silly as that? 

Interesting story about quicksand

I just came across it and liked it. Short and nice to read with a happy ending.

http://www.highlightskids.com/Science/Stories/SS1200_quicksandShoes.asp

Akbar-Birbal - Words Can Kill

A well-known astrologer and palm-reader came to Agra and such was his fame that the Emperor Akbar himself called him to his court.

The palmist looked at Akbar's hand and looked serious. Then he told the Emperor, "Maharaj, you will suffer the separation of all your family members and relatives, they will all die in front of your eyes."

This, understandably, made the emperor very angry. He ordered the Pandit to be put in jail.

As usual, the refuge of the downtrodden, besaharon ka sahara, was Birbal. The Pandit asked to see Birbal in prison and when he came he poured his troubles into his sympathetic ear.

Birbal understood the problem. He whispered a plan into the Pandit's ear.

The next morning, the Pandit sent a request to see the Emperor one more time, saying he suspected he had made a mistake and must be given a chance to confirm or refute his earlier prediction.

Akbar welcomed this opportunity to rid himself of the dark shadow of this Pandit's ominous prediction and called the Pandit to his court.

This time, after carefully examining the powerful ruler's hand, the Pandit looked up and delivered his address thus, "Your Majesty, I did indeed make a big mistake. Your palm is in fact the palm of an extremely fortunate and privileged man. You are such a kind and just emperor that even the Gods want you to continue to rule this country for decades to come! I can clearly see it in your hand that you will have a long and healthy life. You will live so long that none in your friends, family or relatives will be able to equal that! You will have the longest life of all of them! May the Gods bless Your Majesty with years and years of happiness in your long, unsurpassed life!"

The Emperor was happy to hear the "true and correct" prediction and rewarded the Pandit handsomely.

Moral of the story?  When it's your head on the line, choose your words carefully!

Akbar-Birbal: The Harbinger of Bad Luck

AH's latest post, reminded me of an Akbar Birbal story.


A poor worker who used to work in Emperor Akbar's palace had the misfortune to be considered unlucky. He was one-eyed and according to a superstition it was very bad luck to see his face first thing in the morning. The legend went that you would not get food all day if you saw his face in the morning.

One day, when the Emperor woke up early and strolled out to his palace balcony. This one-eyed servant, let's call him Sirju, was doing some chores there and the Emperor happened to look at him. That made Akbar groan with disgust as he knew that his day would be ruined now.

Later that day, while coming down the steps of his court, the Emperor suddenly slipped and sprained his ankle. More than the pain, the Emperor felt anger because he blamed the servant, (what did we name him?, yes, Sirju), for his injury.

From his sickbed, Akbar ordered that Sirju be arrested and beheaded at sundown. When some courtiers tried to protest, the Emperor shot them down. Nobody was willing to risk their own lives for the well-known harbinger of bad luck.

As usually happens in these stories, Birbal was the last resort of the poor and the downtrodden for justice. Sirju's wife went to Birbal, crying and begging for mercy for her husband. Birbal promised to try and help him.

A little while before the beheading was to be conducted, Birbal went to see the Emperor and asked if he thought his harsh decision regarding Sirju was just. Despite Birbal's well-reasoned argument in favour of forgiveness and mercy, the Emperor refused to budge from his position.

He said, "Birbal, We (this is the royal WE)  are doing a service to all the citizen's of Agra by eliminating this constant bad luck that plagues them every day. If you see his face in the morning, you have to go hungry for the day..nobody should have to live in such fear."

Birbal replied calmly, "I believe you are right, Your Majesy! But consider this, this morning you saw his face and you sprained your ankle. But the poor wretch happened to gaze upon the Majesty's glourious countenance...and he's losing his life! Who would you say is more unlucky for this fellow humans?"

[Daily soap music and 3-shot close-up zoom shots as Akbar's head jerks up and he stares at Birbal in disbelif!]

Then, of course, the Emperor freed the poor man, and gave him some gold coins so that he'd not file a defamation case against him. ;)

Moral of the story? Never go to see an Emperor before he has had his morning coffee.

Beauty is a sham!

“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”, we have all been hearing it since ages, haven’t we? I have too, but then I ask myself, “If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder then what the hell are all those beauty contests for?”

I used to watch as many of the beauty contests as I could. I still wouldn’t mind watching if I knew beforehand of the schedule. But I wouldn’t because I don’t read, watch or listen to the news.

There have been times when the judges have selected a beauty queen and I have said, “Well-deserved!” (Like Sushmita Sen winning Miss Universe), but there have always been times, when I have screamed, “Are you bloody kidding me!?” (No, I don’t say “bloody” that’s more of a British word and I have recently moved to Britain, but the word I was going to use is not so nice. Anyway…)

So you can say that since my idea of beauty differs from those judges, it really is in the eyes of the beholder. Are you sure?

There are common ideas of beauty, as a group of people or society at large would agree to what is beautiful and what not. That same group of people might agree on a 100 people and yet may have dissent about others.

Or, you could meet a girl you don’t find attractive at all but who is somebody’s girlfriend or somebody’s wife, the apple of their eye, the prized possession or whatever..(ack! The inscription on the knife in my back reads “Women’s Lib”). And you do see the kind of guys or girls who look to you like nobody can find them beautiful by any stretch of imagination and yet….for example I think Julia Roberts is ugly, but her fans would want to kill me a slow and painful death just for saying that. There is a quote that I read recently, it says “..in the right light, from the right point of view, in the right situation, everything is beautiful…”, something like that.

So what’s the deal here? Is it in the eyes of the beholder or is it something that can be defined?

I have been thinking about it lately, quite a lot, and I have come to the conclusion that leaving apart the extreme cases of individual preferences beauty is largely defined by society. Beauty is what a certain ratio of the population may possess. It has to be a group not so small that almost nobody has it, but it has to be something that not everybody has it. Let me take an example.

Big breasts are considered sexy and something to have, so much so that surgery and money come into play. But if all the women in the world had big breasts, it wouldn’t be sexy. If only a few hundred women in the world had big breasts, it wouldn’t be sexy. It’s something that’s possible to see in a man’s lifetime, but something that’s not common - that’s beauty!

I will take two examples to illustrate my point.

My friend N in Germany, has a preference of brunettes, dark-haired girls. I can’t understand why because I think blondes are so sexy! But, he argues, Germany is full of blondes, brunettes he doesn’t see so often. On the other hand, India is full of brunettes almost exclusively, and blondes….not really. Hence my fascination.

Second point is from a story I read in high school - Country of the Blind. Don’t ask me who wrote it, I am too old to remember that now. One peculiar thing that I never forget about that story is that the hero, who is the only person with eyes and a stranger in that land, falls in love with a pretty girl who is considered ugly in that society. The barometer of beauty in that land of the blind is skin. Yes, the smoother the skin of the girl, the more beautiful she is considered. I don’t remember the story in its entirety and I doubt that it has any statistics but I will give you even odds that smooth skin was something not every girl had in that country.

Beauty, as per my arguments, is nothing more than a statistically selected group of features, a standard defined by the society and thus, is completely worthless!

So, do you agree or do you want to cross swords with me on this one?

Book Review - Starman Jones

Ok, I admit it, I am addicted to Heinlein's writing. He is the only one who can get me to read regularly no matter how many other things I am busy in. I tried to kick this addiction, did not buy or read any Heinlein books in August, but then I did not read much of anything else either. I started having withdrawal symptoms and even thought about re-reading the Heinlein books I already have. Finally, I gave in.

So I have recently finished Starman Jones and after you finish a great book you miss it, and talking about it is one way to deal with that.

To be honest, the title of the book sounded very boring to me, I bought it only because it's a Heinlein book. Still, the title is completely apt, the story revolves around a boy who, in the course of the story, becomes a man (get your mind out of the gutter!) and a star.

Like an expert storyteller RAH (Robert A. Heinlein, spelling his name is not very typing-friendly), plays with the details, hiding some, describing some. He doesn't mention the actual age of this boy anywhere, other than that he is a minor. So, oldest would be 17. The time is in the future when intersteller travel has been invented and there are spaceships that can travel to other universes. Again, enough technical details are provided to make the story plausible, without going into too much intricate, and boring, details.

There are guilds for all glamorous, profitable professions, where you have to be either born into the profession or enter by nomination by a member. Such is the case for astrogators. Our hero, Max Jones, had an uncle who was an astrogator and he himself is fascinated by it. His mother marries a man whom Max dislikes intensely, and they don't get along at all. So, like a teenager with more emotions and less planning, he leaves home in the middle of the night, to go to Earthport.

On the way, he meets a stranger Sam, who becomes his friend and stays in the role throughout. He is a character who is older, and very different from Max.

The story goes through many predictable and unpredictable twists, some of them are very unlikely but again, Heinlein's screenplay always sticks to common sense and makes the unlikely possible, plausible and almost inevitable. Max progresses up through the ranks as the story goes on and like a good book, the further it goes, the more interesting it becomes.

Of course, I can't say what happens in the end, but I do want to say that Heinlein has a knack for the perfect climax. Well, most of the time. This one is also perfect. Heinlein creates a good mix of dreams and reality in his climax which makes it both fantastic and yet believable.

Heinlein also has a very sound grip on human psychology including the mindset of kids. The way he describes or rather portrays the frustration of a teen who is faced by an adult that he cannot overrule, knowing you are right and not be able to shove it in the face of an adult, it reminds me of very real feelings from my own teenage.

There is a romantic angle in the story and again Heinlein keeps it real without making it dull like an art film.

The bonus in Heinlein's books is that you just don't read a story, you evaluate morals, you think about soceity, everything is connected to you and your world and that's what make it hard to put down his books or forget about them after you have finished them.

In Starman Jones, Heinlein has expertly brought up the issue of rules and customs. It is not always possible or human to stick by all rules, and yet, if you start breaking rules where do you stop? Through the hero's struggle Heinlein makes his standpoint clear.

A very readable book, not very thick, but very un-put-down-able!

What I am NOT reading!

I watch this comedy show quite regularly - Two and a Half Men. Two brothers who live in the same house, one of them has a son (the half man is the son). I one of the episodes, this young boy has a book report to do on a classic novel - "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. This is the first time I had heard of this book. In Indian schools we don't do book reports, reading books is for losers. (Or at least you'd think so judging by the percentage that reads anything other than textbooks.)

Anyhow, the father is explaining to the son how this classic tells a tale of some children stranded on a desert island where they start their own society and one of them becomes the leader. Having recently finished Heinlein's "Tunnel in the sky" on exactly the same theme, and having really loved it, I decided to read this one.

What a load of crap! I mean it's a classic, sure! But what a horribly boring way to tell a story. Since my main motivation to buy this book was Heinlein's "Tunnel in the sky" I could not help but compare this with that and it loses very badly. While Heinlein's story grabs you by the collar and drags you deep into the plot, this one drags on like the funeral service of a remote relative where nothing seems to happen and time just stands still. No sense of identification, no leadership qualities in the leader, logical flaws in the psychology, too much detail where not required, too few details of the things that would interest the readers...

Well, finally I decided to follow this great quote -

"Never read a book through merely because you have begun it. ~ John Witherspoon (1723 - 1794)"

So, I closed the book and left it shut. I think if somebody decided to pay the postage I might just send it to them - UK only. But after the fantastic build up that I just gave it will anybody risk it? LOL.

Anyway, people write for different reasons and people read for different reasons - I have read a lot of different types of books and my only demand from a book is that it has to be interesting. I am willing to read anything as long as it's interesting and enriching. Funnily enough, the enriching part takes care of itself. Even if you read nothing but thriller novels, you still learn a lot, more than you expected and more than you can ever measure. Books are great!

I want to conclude with a quote from my favorite author - Robert A. Heinlein

"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards."
~ Robert Heinlein

Book Review - Tunnel in the Sky

I was not likely to go to London without my insurance viz. a book to
read on the train. The book I was reading currently, "To Sail Beyond The
Sunset" was too heavy for my pocket and I didn't want to take a bag just
to carry a book. So I picked up another unread Heinlein novel from my
shelf - "Tunnel in the Sky".

It turned out to be the thriller kind which grips you right from the
start and you keep thinking about it when you are not reading it and you
can't stop reading it as soon as you get time to see how it turns out.
And when it ends you are happy to know the outcome but you are sorry
that it ended.

In that way, finishing a really good book is like breaking up with a
great girlfriend/boyfriend. You still stay friends with them though, and
think about them and when enough time has passed to heal the wounds
(meaning that you have forgotten the story details) you can still get
together and enjoy! I find that writing a book review gives me the
needed "closure" for this breakup! :-)

About this book. The story line is simplicity itself. In future time, a
group of students is sent to an unknown planet for their survival test.
Typical school assignment lasting 2-10 days, the only difference is you
don't have to look at the notice board for your result when you get
back. If you come back alive, you pass!

Only this time something goes wrong and there's no recall. Nobody comes
to say "Hey, test over, come on back!". These students, story focuses on
our hero, a highschool student, Rod Walker, learn to survive. Not all of
them but quite a few. And as Heinlein puts it, "He was not interested in
survival tests, he was interested in survival!"

Heinlein's hero is always a good character, very heroic without being
Superman. He is smart enough to be a hero and silly enough to be human.
If you cut him, he bleeds! When he hurts, he cries!

These students survive the perils long enough to pass the test but then
what? They were not planning to spend a lifetime here. But they will
have to. It is interesting to see how their focus changes from surviving
to living. How the things that seem so small in our lives, seem to
matter most in theirs.

The book is full of very well thought-out characters like survival
course teacher "Deacon" Matson and Rod's elder sister, Captain Helen
Walker. You can feel the warmth towards them that Rod feels.

You can feel the dangers and the conflict of emotions as the hero goes
through each of them. And you also feel the sense of pride when he does
something admirable.

As Heinlein says through Deacon - "The most dangerous animal is the one
that walks on two legs. The one who hunts even when he is not hungry."
This is very well depicted in the book without going the Hollywood drama
route.

One thing that I admire in Heinlein's heroes is that they are very human
and very understandable. They might not always act prudently or even
sensibly but their actions are understandable and you can't deny that
you'd most probably act the same way in their place.

I absolutely loved the ending of this one. Heinlein has a knack for
perfect endings - not too long, not too short. There is no shortage of
twists in the story but it doesn't feel like the author is manipulating
the story, it all fits in naturally.

The journey of Rod walker from boy to a responsible man is fascinating
and intriguing to say the least. We, all of us, are acted upon by
cirumstances and situations every moment of our lives and each moment
changes us. This same sequence of change you can see in Rod as the story
progresses and yet without the monotony of a documentary film. The
psychological content is the strong backbone of the story but then,
that's Heinlein's speciality.

I loved the climax. As usual, the very last scene of the story is the
very best! Very touching!

It's a small book about 200 pages, but the canvas of the story is quite
big and Heinlein has done it justice.