Why is it that one wishes to side with the Underdog all the time. Is it because one considers oneself, or is actually, an underdog?
Is it a phenomenon only with the pesssimists, the ones that are diffident, the ones that are average or below average?
The only exception is when ones own country is playing one supports one's own country even if the other team happens to be the underdog.
Why this discrepancy?
Unable to control one's emotion and remain "stoic".
What has it come to? A dynamic lady leading a leading stock exchange of not just India, but of the world is found guilty of abusing her position and is found being led by a scamster "yogi". She has been found divulging the company strategy and financial details to the unknown "yogi". Based on his advice she appoints someone who has no background in stock exchange as a consultant and then elevates him almost into the top management cadre of the exchange.
Chitra Ramakrishnan, the name has been dragged through the mud in the last month or so. Not many, except those in the financial industry, would have heard about the lady. She was among the chosen few who was inducted into National Stock Exchange from IDBI. She was the blue eyed girl in IDBI and was made part of the team who were expected to setup a Stock Exchange as rivals to the Bombay Stock Exchange
BSE had been ruling roost as the country's premier exchange for several decades now. The BSE was run, managed and exploited by the brokers. When a normal retail investor placed a buy order he would be told that the stock was bought at the highest price of the day and when the retail investor placed a sell order he would be told that the stock was sold at the lowest price of the day. Who enjoyed the difference? Of course the brokers who were the only ones with exclusive access to the trading floor of the BSE. And they also charged the investor the brokerage fee. Double cream for the broker and double whammy for the investor.
There were other shady deals like the now infamous badla deals. Where one could buy and sell shares even if one did not have the money to buy them or the shares to sell. One could keep rolling the buys and sells till one ran out of steam. The infamous Harshad Mehta, with the connivance of the bankers exploited the exchange and rolled in money till the weakest link came apart sinking him and the exchange.
The brokers were all powerful in the exchange and they dictated the rules and regulations. The National Stock Exchange was setup to counter this all powerful lobby and at the same time it was supposed to win the trust of the same. brokers to become its member and work with an electronic system. They would have a limited say in the rules and regulations. SEBI had been setup to establish vigilance of exchanges while it was yet to grow teeth and fangs to scare the exchanges its presence could be felt hovering over the exchange.
The NSE under Mr. R. H. Patil and the team of young turks including Mr. Ravi Narayan as the CEO and MD and Mrs, Chitra Ramakrishnan successfully setup first the money market and then the equity market. It was a huge success. What made it successful was the trust the retail investors placed in the electronic trading. Electronic Trading made it possible and SEBI made it mandatory for the brokers to disclose the exact price at which the trade was done. This along with the stringent audit of the accounts of the brokers made it difficult for the brokers to charge the retail investors more than what they should.
While the late nineties and the beginning of the new millenium saw the rise and rise of NSE the regional stock exchanges (Cochin, Ahmedabad, Calcutta) got reduced to the level of brokers. They were forced to shut shop. All the listing from these exchanges were moved to BSE and NSE and these exchanges remained as an exchange only in name. They ended up being glorified brokers.
In 2013 when Mr. Ravi Narain moved out, it was no surprise that Mrs. Chitra Ramakrishnan took over the helm of the NSE. Nobody could have imagined what was to come. Mrs. Chitra came under the influence of a "Yogi" who claimed to be in the Himalayas and he conned Mrs. Chitra to reveal a lot of information about the Exchange. He also pushed Chitra to taking on Mr. Anand Subramanian who was the spouse of a close friend and an employee of the exchange. Now what exactly prompted Mrs. Chitra to be taken in by the "Yogi" will be known only to her, the "Yogi" and God.
This is what possibly happened. Mr. Anand Subramanian who would have Mrs. Chitra personnally, or at least through this spouse is likely to have create the facade of the "Yogi". He might have pretended that this "Yogi" is a highly spiritual person who had helped him in his career. He would have further acted like he was introducing Mrs. Chitra to the "Yogi" and would have made the "Yogi" impress Mrs. Chitra by revealing secrets about her and her family which she may have shared with her colleague and friend. Mr. Anand would have seen this as a golden opportunity toi further his growth. Mrs. Chitra seems to have fallen hook, line and sinker for this "Yogi" and she started giving Mr. Anand Subramanian more and more powers based on instructions from this "Yogi".
How Mrs. Chitra claims to have met the "Yogi" and how Mr. Anand Subramanian conned her on this front is so far known only to those two. It seems to be a fact that they both travelled to Seychelles and other tax havens together. What was the relationship between them and how far it extended is also at this time known only to them.
It is pertinent to note that there possibly was no protest, at least in public and there were no whistle blowers at NSE who spoke up against the one upmanship of Mrs. Chitra. There would definitely have been heart burns enough to raise the heckles with NSE. This is thanks to the typical Indian mentality of "Boss is right and Boss can never be wrong" Even if boss is wrong tell them that they are right. The culture of not questioning the "leaders" (Can we even call them leaders?) in the Indian Corporates (It is not to say that the corporates of the other countries are any better and there is enough evidence to prove that it is almost the same in most countries) that helps the head of the organization to have their say in the running of the organization. As long as the organization is financially doing well no one questions the head. And in this case NSE was going from success to success under the mantle of Mrs. Chitra. There was no seeing back for NSE. In the derivative market BSE was decimated and in the pie of BSE in the equity market was very less compared to that of NSE. NSE was also equally successful in the other markets that it ventured into. So no one questioned Mrs. Chitra.
What brought about her downfall was something of which she is very unlikely to be guilty of. It was the starting of era algorithmic trading, which is nothing but a way for the rich to get richer. Brokers who were rich enough to put up their own server, create their own algorithms, who are able to push back a speculative order milli or sometimes even microsecnds before other rich borkers made money. Most of these are speculative trades. It was a mechanism to beat the day traders who bought and sold or sold and bought on the same day so that the only settlement they had to do was to pay up for the loss or to collect the money when they profited. Now instead of a human speculating it was a machine, an algorithm which did the speculation.
One of the keys to succeed in algorithm trading is to get the latest price as early as possible. So the elite brokers were allowed to setup their servers almost alongside the servers of NSE where the trading took place. This is what happens world over in the exchanges where algorithmic trading is allowed (which is today all the major stoick exchanges). Now to ensure any software works without failure one ends up hosting more than one servers from which the services provided by the service provider can be availed. So keeping that principle in mind NSE had setup two servers to serve the prices to the brokers. The other key point is that the prices were sent to the brokers on a first come first serve basis. This was possibly not a public knowledge to begin with.
Now what is being stated are two situations that could have happened. On a particular day a broker might have complained that their servers are getting the price with a long delay. Someone from the operations might have inadvertently told the broker about the existence of the second server. Now when the broker tried connecting to the second server they would have noticed that they get the prices much earlier than on the main server. This broker or the set of brokers would have used this knowledge to now start connecting to the second server to get the price earlier than the other brokers.
The second possibility, which while possible seems a little unlikely, is that some of the brokers could have got to know some of the operators on the NSE side and would have weedled out the presence of the second server or could have got into an agreement that if they are given the whereabouts of the second server they would give a cut of their profits. The regulatory and investigative authorities seem to believe that this has happened. And it is on the basis of this that Mrs. Chitra has been arrested. Even if this was the case it is unlikely that Mrs. Chitra would have come to know about it and it is very unlikely that if it had been brought to her notice she would have let it be that way and have accepted a cut in the illegal profits.
What exactly happened at NSE between the operators and brokers is anyone's guess. It is unlikely anyone will come forward to confess the truth. Did some one connive with the brorkers? If not did someone notice the usage of the second server? If so did they understand the import of the usage of the second server? Did they notify the management? Was Mrs. Chitra aware of this? Seems very unlikely. but unfortunately for Mrs. Chitra this incident has worked against her. Her, if we can call it that, abuse of power by bringing in Mr. Anand Subramanian and elevating him to such a high position in quick succession which is what should have been investigated more in depth has been sidelined to a large extent and the preferential feed of price to some brokers seem to have taken precedence.
To summarize is Mr. Anand Subramanian guilty. Absolutely without any doubt. Is Mrs. Chitra or Mr. Ravi Narain guilty. Very unlikely. If at all Mrs. Chitra, at least to begin, seems to have been naive to believe in the "Yogi" introduced to her by Mr. Anand. Later on the relationship might have taken a different turn and she could have found herself in a situation where it was difficult for her to say that she fell for a charlatan. If at all she is guilty, it is of abusing her power as the head of the organization to bring in someone who was incapable of the holding the post he was given by her.
As for the preferred price feed issue as mentioned earlier it would most likely have been an inadvertent revelation by some operator at the NSE. It is unlikely that they connived with the brokers for a cut. If this has happened the change in the life style of the operators in that time period would clearly reveal who all benefitted.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The book is all about people that one may term "insane". Dr. Oliver Sacks tries to bust this myth. The book is about people who have strange neurological disease. Each patient is unique in his or her disease.
They get these disease due to various reasons, either an accident or it is from childhood. The behaviour of many would appear strange to the ones who do not know them. But under the right circumstances and under the right supervision these people do blossom and come close to normalcy.
Some of them are extremely talented in some way. Some of them are encyclopedia of music, some can count the matchsticks that fall out from a match box and also relate to some mathematical relation that can be derived from/for the number. Not all of them are insane or dumb.
It is nevertheless a strange world which is difficult to imagine. Hope the book evokes the empathy of the ones reading it.
WARNING: If you are paranoid about your health do not read it. It can give you strange thoughts.
A good read.
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The Paradoxical Prime Minister by Shashi Tharoor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Shashi Tharoor has put his whole heart behind the book. It is an election campaign for his Congress Party from him.
He has tried his level best to punch a hole in everything that the Modi government has tried to do and the Modi government has given him enough material to puncture them.
As one reads the book one gets the feeling that Mr. Tharoor expects Modi to lose the 2019 elections spectacularly. He would definitely have been surprised at the election results where his party was once again decimated and the people of India voted Mr. Modi back to power with even more majority.
In his eagerness to pull Modi down he has used some numbers without looking at the history. One glaring errors is India's rating in terms of freedom of media. He says that Indias ranking dropped precipitously to 140. If he looked up the site that he quotes he would see that India was ranked 140 even during the UPA reign.
While Modi has not crowned himself in glory. His silence in not pulling up the "cow vigilantes" and other atrocities in the name of religion, attempts to thrust Hindi on the South Indians not only switch off the halo around him, but also show how biased his thinking is.
At the same time like everyone Mr. Tharoor spews enough calumny against demonetization and implementation of GST. Demonetization was a daring move and GST was a good move. Yes demonetization was initiated early. The government should have pushed for ePayments and only after sufficient adoption of ePayment should the government have pushed for demonetization. And the second mistake was to print as much currency as was in circulation before the demonetization. The corruption in the banks was unanticipated by the government. This was unprecedented corruption of huge proportions.
Overall not a very great read except for those who are hardcore anti-Modi. If you are anti-Modi then do read the book, you will enjoy. If you are Modi bhakth then do not read the book as you may end up tearing it up or breaking your ebook reader. If you are like me who is neither then stay away from the book, you will get nothing. :-)
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Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond by William Dalrymple
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An intriguing story of what could be said to be the world's most enigmatic diamond.
The book starts with what could be possibly references to Kohinoor from the early 12th and 13th centuries. During this era it is not clear if the diamond referred to was Kohinoor or some other one.
Most likely from the time of Babur the diamond referred to is the Kohinoor.
The diamond has moved from India to Persia, back to India then to England. The violence always accompanies the transfer of diamond from one hand to another. Practically every owner has lost something precious. Only the duration for which they hold the diamond varies.
The British use skulduggery to take possession of it from a young Duleep Singh the grandson of Ranjit Singh, one of the bravest Sikh and Dalhousie gives it as a present to the Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria is not protected from the black karma that the diamond seems to carry along with it. Prince Albert, her consort dies young leaving a brooding Victoria.
From then on the diamond graces the various crowns or bracelets worn by the British Queen and it looks like it has lost its black karma soon after it was cut into half by Prince Albert to give it the sparkle that it carries today. It has not done as much damage after the cutting.
An interesting history to read.
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The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
To be very honest did not try to read between the lines, so am unable to comment on anything hinted. The person is stranded in the Sahara desert and he meets a little prince who weaves a story about how he has come from a different planet or asteroid?
He leaves his planet and goes to multiple planets before coming to Earth and landing in Sahara. He has been waiting for close to a year before he meets the protagonist.
Need to read it once more to read between the lines.
A decent read.
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Zikora: A Short Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A single woman is on the verge of giving birth to a child. She has been abandoned by her boyfriend who does not want to take responsibility. He is of the opinion that she should have consulted him before becoming pregnant.
Highlights the patriarchy in the society.
A decent read.
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Ahalya's Awakening by Kavita Kané
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A modern interpretation of Ahalya's story. As per original story Ahalya is married to Rishi Gautam and Indra in the guise of Gautam beds her and Gautam curses her to be a rock till Ram redeems her aeons later.
In Kavita's interpretation Ahalya is a very intelligent girl who is not allowed to grow her learning thanks to the patriarchy around her and ironically her mother wishes to get her married to Indra who is a constant visitor at their palace and is smitten by her beauty. Ahalya flatly refuses to marry Indra.
During a war she is sent to the ashram of Gautam with whom she has a lot of intellectual discussions and in the process the fall in love, without either one of them expressing it explicitly.
After her return home she becomes forlorn and it is exacerbated by the fact that her father and brother are arranging for a swayamvar for her. She finally spills her being in love with someone else, but succumbs to the pressure and agrees to the swayamvar which everyone predicts will be won by Indra.
Fortune favours her and Gautam surprisingly wins her hand and he comes and weds her too. The initial days of marital bliss turn bitter as she gives birth to one child after another, looks after and runs Gautam's ashram. Her learning comes to a grinding halt as the burden of managing everything keeps increasing. The bonhomie between her and Gautam evaporates and Gautam appears another masochist.
Indra comes in at the opportune moment and Ahalya willingly gives in.
The question the author asks is should Ahalya be punished the way she was. The author's answers come out when Ahalya meets Sita in the forest after she has been banished by Ram. The discussion between the two women is worth reading.
One wonders does it make sense to look at millenniums old events through the coloured glasses of present day feminism.
A decent read.
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Jayakanthan Sirukathaigal Thoguppu - 1 by Jayakanthan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A the name suggests it is a series of short stories. Most of the stories are about the exploitation of the poor (read non-brahmins) by the rich (read brahmins). It could be based in any city or town or village in Tamil Nadu a few decades back. The situation has changed from then on and the exploitation has thankfully reduced. It has not disappeared completely as one would like it to.
This exploitation continues in the North of India to a large extent and time someone starts a social revolution to change this.
A decent read.
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Miss Moorthy Investigates by Ovidia Yu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The location is Singapore and there is a killer going around killing young women and cutting off their hand.
Ms. Moorthy an English teacher in a catholic school gets dragged into the murder mystery when her colleague is also murdered.
Ms. Moorthy enters into the murky world of the rich and powerful and tries to figure out if it is her colleague's ex or her colleague's present richie rich playboy who could have killed her.
Using her wits she goes about solving the mystery.
A good read.
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மலை à®®ாளிகை / Malai Maaligai by Sujatha
One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A highly successful girl decides to get married and arranges for a wedding in a hotel in Goa. He exes come chasing her and she is left confused on what to do?
How her exes try to woo her back and how the would be groom accepts her background forms most of the book.
The book ends with her going around the world rejecting the groom and finally she ends up meeting her would have been groom.
The author leaves it to the imagination of the readers as to what will happen.
An OK read.
Has enough ingredients and masala to be made into another Bollywood "A big fat Indian Wedding" block buster a hybrid between Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun and Queen.
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Girl Made of Gold by Gitanjali Kolanad
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The book revolves around a set of devadasis in a village near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The richest man had lived with the elder devadasi and now is living with her elder daughter. He sets his eyes on the younger one even though there is a suspicion that she maybe his daughter. The younger one helps out with the pooja at the temple.
One fine day she doesn’t appear and instead there is a exquisite golden statue in the sanctum sanctorum. The story jumps around through various timelines through eyes of various characters to unveil the disappearance.
An ok read.
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Aimless in Banaras: Wanderings in India's Holiest City by Bishwanath Ghosh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The author named after the main deity, Vishwanath, in Banaras is drawn repeatedly to the city. He first goes there to cremate his mother who has wished that she be cremated on the banks of the sacred river Ganga which passes through this city. The only stretch in this mighty river where the river flows south to north.
The author keeps coming back to the city to explore the nooks and corners, lanes and bylanes of the this city.
There are various nuggets like how the Ganga aarthi by which many swear today is actually a very modern phenomenon setup to attract tourists and not a tradition.
The modernisation of the city by the Modi government has not gone down well. The Modi government has cleared a whole track of land leading to the temple and on to the ghat of all the houses (which they term as encroachments while the occupants claim that they have been living there for generations) and have built a pathway for the tourists. It is a very difficult to decide if this is a good move or a bad move.
There are multiple smaller anecdotes of various famous personalities in the town.
A good read.
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Harappa: Curse of the Blood River by Vineet Bajpai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The era when Mohenjadaro was a thriving civilization. The chief priest of Harappa is about to be accepted as the Eighth Rishi making the Saptarishi as Ashtarishi. Fate wills otherwise.
There is enough intrigue that happens.
Switch to the 21str century, a suave IT professional running a IT security company is called to Varanasi to meet his dying great grandfather who reveals the entire story of Mohenjadaro to him and hints that he is the Rishi who due to intervention of fate had lost out being the eighth rishi in the Saptarishi mandala and he is here for a mission which is about the begin.
There are references to the Church intervening to prevent the Rishi from succeeding and many other conspiracy theories.
The book ends with the Rishi in Harappa standing up literally like a hero in the Indian movie injured hurt, thrashed, but standing up to fight against all odds. He is fighting everyone in Harappa and the mighty river Sarawathi who is threatening to wipe out the entire civilisation.
A decent read.
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Whiskey Devils by Brandon Zenner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A freewheeler leaves his day job and joins his roommate in growing and selling marijuana.
One thing leads to another and they are soon running from a bunch of Russian goons.
How the protagonist survives the Russian Drug mafia forms the most of the book.
Not a very great read.
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A Stranger Truth: Lessons in Love, Leadership and Courage from India's Sex Workers by Ashok Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The author has described his journey from being a high level consultant in one of the top consulting firms to leading a successful HIV prevention in the remote corners of India.
The author was pulled out from a lucrative job in Mc Kinsey to lead the HIV programme in India by none other than Bill Gates.
HIV was threatening to infect millions of Indians, thanks to their proclivity to have unprotected sex with commercial sex workers of all genders. The trucking fraternity was one which was threatened the most from a male perspective and of course the CSW were the most threatened from a female perspective.
The state of the CSW comes out, as expected, to be very pathetic. Not only did they have to face the fear of contacting HIV AIDS, they had to put up with social ostracism and live in the fear of the police and their male live partners.
The task was challenging and required a lot of meticulous planning and that is exactly what Ashok Alexander did. The result is for everyone to see. Thanks to actions taken by the author and his team with funding and guidance from the Microsoft CSR team, India has avoided an HIV AIDS pandemic.
The author has traced his growth from a naive person who had limited understanding of how the commercial sex work happens to leading an operation to ensure that they are safeguarded from all the dangers they were facing.
A fascinating read.
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Suleiman Charitra by Kalyana Malla
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A very intriguing book. A books in Sanskrit based on stories from the Bible (David and Bathsheba), Koran and the Arabian nights.
The author has taken the stories as is and has blended in Indianess into the whole narrative.
A very different book to read.
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The Templar's Cross by J.R. Tomlin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A knight, Sir Law Kintour, who has fought the English in the continent along with the French returns to Scotland with a lone companion who has also saved his life. He is injured and the prospects of being taken in by some Lord looks bleak.
An apparently rich person comes seeking Sir Law and asks him to search the person who has eloped with his wife. While Sir Law has his doubts on the genuineness of the request he gets into the game as the money being offered is good. He also solicits the help of his companion in the quest.
His companion is murdered along with another person who appears to be the person whom Sir Law was asked to ferret out. Sir Law is on the verge of being blamed for both the murders.
How he goes about finding out the truth and extricate himself from the noose that seems to be tightening around is neck with every moment forms the reminder of the book.
An interesting book to read, if not for anything at least to get a feel for the life in Scotland centuries ago and the rivalry between the Scots and the English.
A decent read.
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No Game For a Dame by M. Ruth Myers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Soon after she takes on a seemingly easy client, Maggie Sullivan gets an unwanted visitor to her office who threatens her with dire consequences if she continues to probe without stating exactly what.
The person ends up dead and Maggie is arrested for his murder. Her office is raided and everything is put in disarray.
These only make Maggie more determined to get to the root of the mystery.
She goes about thinking and gathering enough information to finally solve the problems at hand.
A decent read.
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Sikhs: The Untold Agony Of 1984 by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A little muddled detailing of the riots in Delhi and other places in India where Sikhs were killed in hundreds after the two Sikh guards of Indira Gandhi assassinated her in 1984.
The author has taken pains to collect a lot of information, meet quite a few people and so that material is fairly comprehensive.
Where the book fails is in the presentation. The presentation is completely non-linear and it reads like some embellished random notes jotted down by someone gathering information from various sources.
It is a history that India would like to forget, but it should not. Just like the Godhra affair and the riots after the Godhra incident this is another event that should be written as part of the black history of India.
Read with the above non-linear expectation.
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Self-enquiry by Ramana Maharshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
These are a translation of notes written by Ramana Maharishi himself in answer to various questions from the devotees.
It revolves around the "Who am I" which is the question that Maharishi has repeatedly asked the truth seekers to ask themselves again and again.
Not an easy read and not at all easy to practice, but one can feel the tremendous potential and value of the same.
A very good read.
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Russia Girl by Kenneth Rosenberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A village girl turned vigilante. The first in the series, introduces us to Natalia Nicolaeva, who like many other girls from the erstwhile USSR gets trafficked to Turkey.
The story is about how she escapes the clutches of the underground who hold her and how she gets her revenge.
It is on the lines of the Millennium series of Stieg Larson, but does not stand up to the mark.
A decent read.
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Greatest Folk Tales of Bihar by Nalin Verma
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A wonderful collection of folklore stories from Bihar. The one story that stands out in my mind is "Andher Nagari ...". It is about a stupid king who ends up hanging himself up. This is because, this is a story that my father used to tell us when we were children and somehow I still remember it after all these years (at least 40+ years). He possibly heard this story as he himself was born and brought up in Jamshedpur.
The author has tried to create a moral for each story. This may or may not have been the reason behind the story, but nevertheless it is worth reading them. It highlights the simplicity of the people who would have recited these stories and those that would have been entertained by them. It is nice to wear the shoes of simplicity when reading the book.
A good read and more importantly it is a good collection so that these stories are not lost to the posterity.
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10 Indian Champions: Who are fighting to save the planet by Bijal Vachharajani
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very appropriate book to pick up given the "Global Climate Crisis" that we are facing today. The book gives details of 10 different people who are trying their best to save the planet from this downward spiral towards a climatic disaster. Their efforts may be small but nevertheless the passion with which they are doing it needs to be appreciated.
One hopes the book makes every reader of the book rethink the way they are leading their life, but then it is likely that the book may be read only by those that are already aware and are trying their best.
Good to know that there are good Samaritans around who are doing their best. The world needs many more such Samaritans.
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Naan Naanaga... by Sivasankari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The protagonist is a middle class Brahmin lady whose desire to to learn Bharatnatyam. But thanks to the orthodox nature of her and her in-laws family she is denied this chance. She does learn dance for about three years in her parent's place and gives a few performances, but all that comes to a stop when gets married at 20.
After that her life revolves around her husband and children. She had a nursed an ambition that she would realize her desire through her daughter, but fate willed otherwise and she had two sons.
At the age 40, 20 years after marriage, both the sons have gone away from the homes to study and the old passion comes back to gnaw at her. With great hope she tries to express her desire to her husband, but her husband is dead against it, even though she says that she is only going to learn the theory part of the dance and is not interested in giving dance performances. Her husband ropes in her son and her parents to try and and talk her out of this. She persists and leads to a big fight between them which is the first from the time of their marriage.
Eventually and surprisingly it is her mother-in-law who comes to her rescue and makes her son understand that he should let his wife fulfill her desire.
The book highlights the patriarchal Indian society which expects the womenfolk to suppress their desires and continue to serve others. It tries to indicate that it is time we move out that thought and let everyone, irrespective of their gender, have a chance to try and fulfill their desires.
A decent read.
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Globetrotting for Love and Other Stories from Sakhalin Island by Ajay Kamalakaran
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sakhalin Island along the Eastern coast of Russia has what could possibly called a one of the most inhospitable climes in the world. It freezes six months and thaws for just about 3 - 4 months to provide some warmth for the denizens of this island.
The books is a series of short some sweet and some bitter stories of a variety of characters from this island. Till Glasnost this island was a secluded from the rest of the world and people lived a fairly decent life. With Perestroika and Glasnost ushered in by Mikhail Gorbachev opened up this oil rich island to the MNC oil companies to come and exploit. This meant boom for some and bust for many.
The oil companies brought in with them the employees from their countries, mostly men, and these men found the local women to be exotic and many developed romantic relationships with the local women. Some had a sweet ending to it and some had a bitter ending. The book doesn't cover any romantic relationship the other way round.
A good book to read to understand a little about this unknown island and its inhabitants.
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Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The book is the story of a Roman Catholic family consisting of a father, a mother and their daughter and son. The mother suffers from manic depressions and keeps trying to kill herself. Once in the hospital she is cheerful and helps the sisters at the hospital take care of the other patients.
The book describes in elaborate details the emotions that the close relatives of a person with manic depression have to go through on a regular basis.
It also covers a small slice of life in the city of Bombay.
A decent read.
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Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Mano Majra is a typical pre-independence village in the Indo-Pak border. It is occupied the hardy Punjabis. Some of them are Sikhs and some are Muslims. While there is probably and underlying tension between the two communities there is no explicit animosity. The caretaker of the Gurudwara and the Imam at the Mosque are close friends and enjoy friendly debates along with the motley crowd that they attract.
The village a railway station which becomes a hub of activity whenever a train halts there before crossing over the bridge in to what would become Pakistan or after it crosses over the bridge the other way round. There are very few trains that stop. Most activity goes on in the night when the varied goods trains pass through the darkness one way or the other.
All this changes when the division of India and Pakistan is announced. A local rich Lala is murdered by a gang of dacoits who also loot the riches in his house. A communist comes to stay at the local Gurudwara. A magistrate is sent over to the nearby town of Chundennagar to ensure that there is no trouble in this area.
The book elaborates on the local characters like the son of the dacoit who is having an affair with the young nubile daughter of the Imam, the local inspector of the police who has to make all sorts of arrangements for the magistrate.
Two trains with Hindus massacred in them arrive at the station. The army and the police take control and first time they burn the bodies and the second time they get an earth mover to dig a large grave and bury the dead. The villagers are simmering, refugees from the other side are wanting a revenge and the dacoits are just looking for some action. After a long debate the Muslims of the village are asked to join the refugee camp in Chundennagar. The others promise to take care of their belongings till they return. But much the chagrin and helplessness of the villagers the dacoits and the refugees take over the household vacated by the Muslims.
News trickles in that a train with a load of Muslim refugees is expected to cross over to the the other side in the darkness of the night. The refugees, some of the villagers and dacoits hatch a plan to hack down as many of the refugees as they would pass over the bridge. The son of the dacoit comes to know that the Imam and his daughter would most likely be in the train.
The denouement is the best part of the book. Read the book to enjoy it.
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Murder at Merisham Lodge by Celina Grace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Miss Hart and Miss Hunter are servants in the mansion of a rich owner. They are friends and they share a room in the servant's quarters. While one is kept busy in the kitchen the other is kept busy by the daughter of the Lady of the house.
As it happens, the lady of the house is bludgeoned to death and the suspicion falls on the son of the lady. Every circumstantial evidence stand against him and he his taken away by the police for questioning.
Miss Hart and Miss Hunter keep their eyes and ears open and they study the occupants of the house. They are not convinced about the charge put on the son. They also chance up evidences as they move around the house. They dare to speak to the police about the telltale evidences that they come across.
Soon enough the son himself is killed in the basement of the house. This time everyone is baffled, but not so Miss Hart and Miss Hunter.
They take on to themselves to theorize and they use their opportunity to verify their theory when they get a chance to go to London for some other reason. They verify and validate their evidence and provide them to the police so that the right legal action can be taken.
A decent read.
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The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and The Crisis Of Democracy in the 21st Century by Thant Myint-U
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The author is the grandson of the famous U Thant who was the Secretary General of the UN for 10 years during which he had to bring thaw in the cold war and he had ensure not to take sides during the war that US was waging in Vietnam.
While he has been born, brought up and educated in the west, he gone back to Burma to try and restore peace and bring prosperity to his country. He has had the privilege to be closely associated with the President and government of Burma closely giving them advice and helping them execute programs for the improvement of the country.
In the book the author has highlighted the various seams in the Burmese society arising due to the different races that occupy the different parts of the country and the animosity between them. He has almost clearly stated the reason for the Rohingya problem that has been plaguing the country in the recent past. Added to the variations across the various races in the country the immigrants from India who went and settled there during the British rule help fuel the xenophobia that is to be seen in almost all countries today.
The book once again highlights the fact that we as humans will use even the semblance of a fault line to bring out the differences between ourselves and the others and ensure that our side of the fault line is prosperous even if it comes at the cost of those on the other side. This fundamentally is the problem that Burma is facing today.
The military junta that ruled the country for decades exploited the resource of the country, specially the jade and teak and made money for itself and its friends. In collusion with the Chinese they practically looted the country of its natural resources and they have almost denuded it. The common citizens suffered unendurable trials and tribulations not just because of the government's negligence but also due to nature. The cyclone Nargis of 2008 caused massive destruction and destroyed the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Burmese. The government sat back and did not allow foreign NGOs with genuine interest in helping out the distressed as they did not want any outside people coming. They were more interested in building and developing the new capital city of Naypyitaw.
Aung San Suu Kyi, ironically the daughter of the first army general of Burma was their opposition and they kept her under house arrest for long years. People of Burma and of the world had high hopes from her. She was being heralded as the Nelson Mandela of Burma. Unfortunately Aung San Suu Kyi, who was expected to be a messiah has not lived up the to expectations. While her powers are limited due to the constitution established by the earlier military junta, she has not proved her mettle by standing up those from the old junta. She has not lived up to the image of a leader the way Nelson Mandela stood up and ensured equality among all.
The author implies that while there is hope for Burma, now that it is out of the clutches of the military rule, it still has a long way to go before it can become equitable and prosperous for all its citizen.
A very nice book to read to understand the recent history of the enigmatic country.
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The Hindu View Of Life by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is known to be one of best exponents of Indian Philosophy and he does not let one down in the book. His understanding of the Hindu religions texts and more importantly the import of the texts stands out.
One could nitpick and argue that one can see a "Brahmin" bias in some sections. In places one can argue that his "patriarchal" bias comes to the fore. To understand and discount this bias all one needs to do is to consider the background and the era in which the author lived and this bias can be understood. It is for the readers to not be biased by the author's bias and take the other good parts that has been expounded by the author.
Definitely a good read.
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Like A Girl by Aparna Jain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The book wishes to transform the implication of "Like a Girl". Many use the term as a derogatory term. The book presents the stories of a list of women who have struggled and met with success despite being a girl. The author wishes that the term "Like a Girl" starts connoting a more positive vibe than the negative vibe it generates.
It is good to read about the many women from Laxmibai to Saina Nehwal to P. V. Sindhu who have succeeded in life. It does give some hope.
Looking at it practically it does not look like the connotation will change so quickly. The need of the hour is to ensure that the males accept the women as equals and that every parent and teacher teaches the male child to treat every other female with the same respect as they do the other males. While the male superiority has to wane and this has to happen as quickly as possible, it is important to ensure that the scaled do not tilt the other way and a female superiority doesn't crop up its head.
It is worthwhile noting that Nelson Mandela who was primarily responsible for ensuring the end of apartheid in South Africa kept stressing on this fact and he practiced it himself. He ensured that the feeling of revenge did not raise its ugly head after apartheid was lifted.
A good book to read with a prayer that we start seen more such success for the female gender and that the phrase "like a girl" and "like a boy" disappear and instead the phrase "like a human" becomes more common place.
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Rumi's Four Essential Practices: Ecstatic Body, Awakened Soul by Rumi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rumi is Rumi.
For those who understand at least a little bit of what Rumi says, and appreciates the same, this is definitely a book to be read.
It reinforces all the guidance that Rumi has provided and helps one reaffirm that one needs to awaken one's soul through loving everyone and judging none. Easily said but not easily done.
A must read.
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Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji by Manu S. Pillai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The author delves into a detailed history of the Deccan Sultnates. He starts with how the Dynasties ruling Delhi during the 13th and 14th century send their generals to capture the southern kingdoms and how these generals settled down and setup their own independent kingdoms.
The book outlines their rivalry and friendship with the other kingdoms like the Vijayanagara, the kingdom of Kalinga (modern day Odisha) and other smaller kingdoms. It covers how they started off as one kingdom, but soon split into several. Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmednagar were the main ones and they had inter Sultanate rivalry too. Most of the time the succession in these kingdoms where bloody with many losing either their sight or lives. The women too played a role in many of these successions. Chand Bibi being of the main woman who played a big role in these Sultanate.
The Sultanates derived their hegemony from either Iran or Iraq depending on whether Shia or Sunni was the flavour of the season.
Once the Mughals took over Delhi they started fighting an internecine battle with the Sultanates and by the time of Aurangazeb almost all of them were wiped out and the Marathas took over from them at the end of the era of Aurangazeb.
An interesting read. If one really wishes to digest the details, it will be better to keep a notebook and pen alongside and keep noting the key events. It will be rather difficult to keep all the intricacies in the head and still have a clear picture. It tends to become muddled.
A good read.
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The First Firangis:Remarkable Stories of Heroes, Healers, Charlatans, Courtesans & other Foreigners who Became Indian by Jonathan Gil Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jonathan lives in Delhi and practices for marathons and runs for marathons. In the process he learns to adjust his steps to the various obstacles that one encounters on a typical Indian road like potholes, bull shit, garbage etc. He is also adjusting the "extremely" spicy, oily food that the Indian thrive on. His body is adjusting to digest this new kind of fully cooked food rather than the rare meats that his body has been used to all this year. Add to this the adjustment to extreme heat of the summer and the polluted winters interspersed with a heavy monsoon and one can imagine the forces that Jonathan's body has to adjust and get used to.
Jonathan delves into the past and tries to elicit from the sparse documentation as to how it would have been for the initial immigrants who to came to India to adjust the completely alien culture,
costume, conversation, climate and cuisine.
The history he delves into starts with the 14th 15th century with the first of the Portuguese settlers and traces down to the times of the Mughal emperors. He covers the immigration to almost the whole of India starting with the south from where Portuguese started, the West covering Gujarat, in detail the Delhi and its environs and also Eastwards towards Bengal and what is today Bangladesh.
In the process he also somewhere plays a victim by claiming that many of the immigrants were "slaves" of the various rulers under whom they lived and worked for. The word slave has a specific feel to it and it is hard to consider these "firangis" to be slaves to the rulers in India. While there are exceptions most of them enjoyed the patronage of the royalty and were given a much better treatment than the hoi-polloi of the kingdom. Yes they may not have been treated on par with another royalty, but their position was definitely an enviable one for the local populace, irrespective of whether they were the white skinned people from Europe or the jet black ones from Abyssinia. They were either given high military position, or administrative position. A few were recognized for their artistic skills (this more during the times of the Mughals).
The fact that some of these, especially those from Abyssinia, were actually bought as "slaves" from owners who actually bought and transported the "slaves" along with them would definitely be a surprise to many Indians who, in my knowledge, have never heard or read about these facts. Although it is likely that the lives of many of these slaves would have improved after being bought by Indian rulers.
An interesting read.
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The Arsonist: Poet, Weaver, Seer, Blasphemer by Kiran Nagarkar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The author has reimagined a hash of Kabir's time and the present times (circa 2014 onwards) and has presented on how Kabir would have acted or spoken if these were happenings in his time. Every chapter ends with an inimitable doha of Kabir and its simple translation.
The book is full of what some may call blasphemy, but that is what Kabir was full of.
In the first chapter he is asked whom will you prefer "A beautiful woman or God, A sunset or God or a song and God" and each time he says he prefers the former as God would always wait but the former would pass on.
The chapter ends with the doha.
Kabir yeh ghar prem ka,
Khaala ka ghar naahi,
Sheesh utaare bhuin dharey,
Tab paithe ghar maahi.
Kabir, this is the dwelling of love,
Not the home of your aunt,
Bend you head (ego) low, all the way to the floor,
Only then can you enter it.
Kabir talks of his wanderings in the Himalayas after running away from his family. He says he performed severe austere rites and subjected his body to rigours which few could endure like not using blankets even in severe winter, not eating for days together etc. He was being hailed as a Maharishi for his forbearance. He says a blacksmith's wife came with her son who was not good at learning and was being thrashed by this father every week. This boy tries to give Kabir blanket to cover himself which he refuses, then he tries to him food. Kabir refuses both. He says he had given up his family who were precious to him, now he is forsaking the blanket and food which are precious to him now so that he can reach the Almighty. What is left unsaid is that, this is his ego that was speaking. The blacksmith's son tells him "Then you should let go of the Almighty too?". The import of the meaning does not strike Kabir then, but as he mulls over he gets the real meaning of what the blacksmith's son said and makes him his guru.
Ja ghat prem na sancharey
So ghat jaan masaan,
Jaise khaal lohar ki,
Saan let bin praan.
That pot which is not filled with love,
Beware, it is as barren as the burial grounds,
Just like the blacksmith's bellows,
It breathes bereft of life.
Kabir runs a weaving factory producing cloth for the king of the land and many are enrolled in his classes cum factory. The high class members protest against the freedom of the low caste people working in the factory. Kabir sushes them by saying that God allows all humans to enter heaven irrespective of their class. If at all, he tells the upper caste people, he will ask the so called lower caste people to throw people like you who use the caste system to suppress a whole set of people.
Kabir kaun ek hai,
Panihaari anek,
Bartan sab ke nyare nyare,
Paani sab mein ek.
Kabir there is but one well,
but many draw water from it.
The pots come in all shapes and sizes,
But all contains the same water.
Once when a weaver in the factory asks him are you Hindu or a Muslim. He says that he is confused about his religious belief. He says God himself must be confused as to if he is a Hindu, or a Muslim, or a Christian or any of the other numerous religions that humans have created. So who is he to say that he clearly understand what his religion is.
Man ke mate na chaliye,
Man ke mate anek,
Jo man par aswaar ho,
So sadhu koi ek.
Don't let your mind lead you,
It is pulled in every direction by desires
The one who rides his mind
Now that is a rare saint.
He says the problem with a guru is that often one cannot see beyond the guru. The guru is a vision and a blinker at the same time. It is easy to forget one is not searching for the guru but for God. Once one has found a guru and have understood this teachings it is time to think of leaving him and making one's own way.
Boond samaani samand mein,
Jaanat hai har koi,
Samand samaana boond mein,
Jaanat birla koi.
The drop becomes one with the ocean,
Everyone knows this,
It is the rare soul who grasps,
That the ocean fits into the drop.
Once when his assistants started arguing as to if only Muslims will go to heaven and all others will go to heaven Kabir douses their heated battle with a vat of dye being used in the factory and tells them Shias will not allow Sunnis in their heaven and vice versa. He says the heavens are infinite and have space for every one. And he adds saying that the fights of us earthlings will come to and end as we being mortals will die and the fight will end, but those in heavens are immortal and there will be a permanent world war there.
Pathhar puje hari miley,
Toh main puju pahad,
Taase toh chaaki bhali,
Pees khaaye sansar.
If one found God by worshipping a stone,
Then I would worship a mountain,
By that measure a grinding stone is far better,
The whole world consumes what it grinds.
He argues how men philander but expect their women to be chaste and behind their burqa or veils. His wife argues that she is free to do with her body as she pleases, just as he does with his body and none has the authority to stop her from doing what she wants. As the argument gets heated Kabir pronounces the three times the dreaded word "Talaaq, Talaaq, Talaaq". Instead of being mortified with anger his wife rejoices saying that she is happy that she is now free from his fetters. She throws him out of her house where they had been living after Kabir had gambled away his own house. When he begs to be allowed to stay on so that he does not become a laughing stock in the town his wife offers him her burqa so that he can wear it and walk the streets without anyone recognizing him.
Soon his wife starts missing his humour. She says "Humour is not just fun and laughter, it is a call to sanity. It exposes all our inanities, platitudes and solemnities, our insufferable egotism, our endless self-regard and hubris. The curious thing is that it is as much a mirror to the follies of others as it is a dressing down of oneself. The moment is is infected with sentimentality it turns squelchy. Even stark poverty and starvation can then be romanticized and made to look desirable. It also comes handy when you want to pass the buck to someone else or disown responsibility. On the contrary, when it is clear eyed, it can see through all kinds of sham and chicanery. It may be harsh, but it is also healing."
Kankar pathar jod key,
Masjid liye banaaye,
Taa chad mulla bang de,
Kyaa behra hua khudaaye?
Putting stones and rocks together,
You build a mosque,
Then climbing to the top the mullah sings the azam,
Does he think God is deaf?
Have you noticed something else? Something bizzare? Satan, I mean Lucifer, has all the time in the world, and I mean quality time, for all of us. He is always available. Not just that, he takes the initiative, he is patient, he is persevering and, most of all he never gives up on us. He is always there, even when we do not want him. In fact especially when we do not want him.
Why does God get all the credit for good and why is all even attribute to Satan? If God is the creator, the can handle both. You must decide who is in charge here, my friends. Only then will you understand that all polarities and divisions are sacrilege. God, if I may use one of these newfangled academic terms, is the unified theory of the universe. Good and evil, warmonger and pacifist, Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, materialist and preacher, atheist and believer are all encompassed in Him. He is large enough and wise enough to accommodate all contradictions.
Karni kare toh kyun dare,
Aur kari kyun pachhtaaye
Tune boya ped babul ka,
To aam kahan se khaaye.
Having committed the deed,
Why would you be afraid, and then repent,
First you sow the thorny babul,
Then how come you expect to eat mangoes.
During holi Kabir was dancing and enjoying with the general public in their revelry. The mullah sees him and tells him for this he go to hell. Kabir replies "Thank you for your generous offer to find accommodation for me in hell, mullah. But perhaps you can enlighten me about a rather delicate matter. Who gave some of us the incredible benediction of a singing voice? The boon of dancing feet? And the gift of transcribing the sky, the Himalayan peaks, or the sheer extravagance of the flowers in the Kashmir valley or the intimacy between a man and woman? The miracle that conjoins speech with language and thus allows us to communicate with each other and tell marvellous stories? Certainly not you but our Maker. And now you have the gall, Shahi Imam, to place yourself about God himself and pass fiats and dikats in His name. You claim obeisance to the Almighty but in fact are shamelessly usurping his role. What is the make of the fact that you and your brothers in the priesthood insist that all women and men cover their heads? If God had disliked mankind's hair so much, he would have made no just women but all of us men also as bald. After all as you never stop repeating, He is the Creator and He knows the best".
Jab main thaa tab Hari nahi,
Ab Hari hain main nahi,
Prem gali ati saankari,
Taa me do na samaayi,
When I was the Almighty was not,
Now that He is, I am not,
The path of love is very narrow,
Two cannot fit in it.
When the fatality numbers rise to hundreds, thousands and hundreds of thousands, what you get is a pestilence like the plague, cholera or the pox as in small pox. Murder, however is a different kettle of fish. The top honcho on earth, none other than man himself, is the agent of perdition here.
Mala toh kaar mein phire,
Jeebh phire mukh mahin,
Manwa toh chahun dish phire,
Yeh toh simran nahi.
The beads move between the fingers,
The tongue rolls in the mouth,
If the mind wanders everywhere,
that surely isn't meditation.
Pothi padh padh kar jag mua,
Pandit bhayo na koye,
Dhai aakhar prem ke,
Jo padhe so pandit hoye.
Reading holy texts time and again,
Didn't ever produce a great scholar,
The one who lives by the four letters of the word love,
He alone will become a pandit.
The latter half of the book is fully about riots due to religious differences in the kingdom and about a gang massacring elephants for their tusks and how the king's men chase them down and catch them.
Bura jo dekhan main chala,
Toh bura na miliya koi,
Jo man khoja aapna,
Toh mujsey bura na koyi.
In my quest to spot the evil ones,
I found none who were evil,
On delving deep into myself,
I found none more evil than me.
Dukh mein sumiran sab karey,
Sukh mein kare na koye,
Jo sukh mein sumiran karey,
To dukh kahe ko hoye.
We invariably remember Him when we are disconsolate,
No one, however, thinks of Him when one is happy,
But if you remember Him when the times are good,
Why would bad times bother you?
Never forget, God, whichever creed He belongs to, is an extremely competitive guy. He has to be one up on all the other impostors who claim to be Him. So your guess is as good as mine when it comes to picking the right God.
Bada hua toh kya hua,
Jaisi par khajur,
Panthi ki chaaya nahin,
Phal lagey ati door.
Granted you are tall, so what is the big deal?
The date palm is tall,
But it offers no shade to the traveller,
And its fruits are beyond reach.
Pani keraa budbudda,
Us maanas ki jaath,
Dekhat hi chhip jaayega,
Jyon taara parbaat.
Human life is as short,
As a water bubble
It vanishes the moment you see it,
Like stars at dawn.
Kaal chakra chakki chaley,
Bahut diwas aur raat,
Agun sagun doi paatlaa,
Ja mey jeev pisaath.
The grinding stone of death,
Carries on day and night.
The form and formless are its two grinding wheels,
Every one of us is being ground in between.
Kal karey so aaj kar,
Aaj karey so ab.
Pal mein pralaya hoyegi,
Bahuri karogey kab.
What was scheduled for tomorrow, do it today,
What you planned for today do it now.
Who knows there may be a deluge the next minute,
Delay a moment and all may be lost.
Dheerey dheery re mana,
Dheerey sab khuchh hoye,
Maali seenchey so ghara,
Ritu aaye phal hoye.
Slow and steady, oh mind,
Everything will come about in good time,
The gardener may pour lots of water,
But the fruit will only arrive in its own season.
"Can you imagine", God asked in a towering dudgeon, "the gall of trying to bribe the Almighty? The animal kingdom, the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and all the big and small creatures roaming the earth leave me alone and demand nothing of me. They do their thing and I do mine. But when it comes to men, women and children, what can one say? A pox on them, their demands are endless and they are never ever satisfied."
Jasey til mein tel hai,
Jyon chakamak mein aag.
Tera sai tujh mein hai,
Tu jaag sakey to jaag.
Just as the sesame seed contains oil,
As spark is present in flintstone.
The divine is within you,
Comprehend this if possible.
Sayee itna deejiye,
Ja main kutumb samaye.
Main bhi bhooka na rahoon,
Sadhu na bhookha jaye.
Give me only so much, God,
It ensures that my family is fed,
I should not starve,
Nor should the holy man go hungry.
Where does the evil in us come from? Why is it that when all our needs are satisfied, we still cannot control our inexhaustible greed? Why is it that the less fortunate amongst us, the starving millions, the helpless children, the refugees fleeing their homes under the thread of death do not find succour in our hearts? We know the difference between justice and injustice, between right and wrong, good and evil, and yet when a Hitler turns up we are more than happy to benumb our consciences and let him indulge in holocausts. How come we will not stand up and force our feckless leaders to take stand?
I keep wondering what will happen when finally mankind achieves extinction. How many millions of years will have to pass before the next creatures turn up on earth? What will they look like? will they be far more advanced than us? Will they survive unlike us on carbon dioxide and plastic? And will they too ultimately ensure their own annihilation?
Akath kahani prem ki,
Kuchh kaha na jaye,
Goongey ker sarkara,
Baithey muskaye.
The story of love seals the lips,
It is akin to the mute.
Who has tasted a marvellous sweet,
But can only register a smile.
Kabira garv na keejiye,
Uncha dekh aavaas.
Kaal pairon punyah letna,
Uper jamsi ghaas.
Kabir don't be so haughty,
Living in your mansion.
Tomorrow you will be lying six feet under,
With grass growing on top.
Chinta aisee dakini,
Kaat kaleja khaaye,
Vaid bichaara kya karey,
Kahan tak dawa lagaaye.
worry is such a pickpocket,
It keeps nibbling non-stop at your heart.
How can the poor doctor help,
When this medicine can't cure this malady?
Guru Narayan roop hai,
Guru gyan ko ghat,
Satguru gyan pratap sey,
Man key mitey uchat.
The guru is but an avatar of God,
The guru's wisdom is like a riverbank.
The Lord's light will eliminate,
The darkness of the mind.
Chah gayee, chinta mitee,
Manvah beparvah.
Jisko kacchu na chahiye,
Vahi Shahenshah.
Desire disappeared, anxiety is gone,
The mind is without anxiety.
The one who wants nothing,
He is the king of kings.
Did God make man or man make God?
Must read for lovers of Kabir and Kiran Nagarkar.
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