The social movements calendar 2011

Posted on by sudhagee

Yesterday morning, when I came in to work, I found an over-sized grey envelope on my office desk with the words “Social Movements Calendar 2011” printed on it. Now, there was nothing unusual about receiving a calendar as my office receives quite a few calendars this time of the year. However, the calendars come rolled up and tied with a string and not enclosed in an envelope. Intrigued, I opened it immediately.

The cover of the Social Movements Calendar 2001

 The Social Movements Calendar (SMC) 2011 is a themed calendar on “peoples’ struggles against international financial institutions(IFIs)”. Right from the cover (see photo above), which is a rally of protesters against land acquisition for mining in Jharkhand to the list of resources on this topic, each page of the calendar reflects the theme.

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Mumbai Lens: St. Andrew’s Church, Bandra

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The distinctive Portuguese-style facade of St. Andrew’s Church in Bandra, Mumbai

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To Rachel teacher, with love

Posted on by sudhagee

By the time I finished 12 years of formal schooling, I had studied in 8 schools spread over 6 towns/cities of India. I did not attend nursery or kindergarten having been home-schooled by my mother, father, and older brothers till I joined Uttari Bharat Sabha’s (UBS) English High School in Bhandup, Mumbai. UBS was my first school and also the school that I studied for the maximum number of years in.

I was 5-and-a-half when joined UBS in the middle of first term after a painless admission process where neither I nor my parents were interviewed. I was asked for my name, date of birth, and home address, and once satisfied that I could communicate verbally, I was deemed admitted to the school and escorted to my class by the school principal. My parents were asked to take care of mundane formalities like paying the fees, getting my uniform, books, etc., etc.

An English class was in progress when we arrived. I must have been introduced to the class, the teacher, and shown to my seat, but I don’t remember any of this. All I remember now is the teacher’s warm welcoming smile. The teacher was Rachel Kurien. Even after all these years, when I think of Rachel Kurien or Rachel teacher as we kids called her, it is her smile that instantly comes to my mind.

Class I A. I am the pouty, sulky looking girl seated extreme left in the first row, all because I wasn't seated next to Rachel Kurien (centre) 😉

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The Emerald Route: One book, many narratives

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What would you call a book that

(a) is primarily a travelogue,
(b) is also a concise literary, spiritual, religious, mythological, and political history of the region,
(c) is part autobiographical, and
(d) includes a description of taming wild elephants, a folk tale and a one-act play.

The cover illustration is by R.K. Laxman

The book that I am talking about here is R.K. Narayan’s (RKN) The Emerald Route, which is the outcome of the author’s travels along with R.K. Laxman, his brother and the famous cartoonist, through the length and breadth of Karnataka.

First published in 1977 by the Director of Information and Publicity, Government of Karnataka, and then by Penguin India in 1999, I recently bought the latter edition on the recommendation of Smeedha, a friend.

RKN chose to title his book “The Emerald Route” for one important reason—he did not encounter even a single dry patch during the first phase of his tour from Mysore through Hunsur and Hassan and back. He says:

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Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas?

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There is political correctness and then there is political correctness, but of the absurd kind. Wishing people Happy Holidays, instead of Merry Christmas belongs to the latter category. In the mistaken spirit of secularising everything for fear of offending those not celebrating the festival, the whole idea of wishing someone has been trivialized.

Christmas at Covent Garden, London December 2008. I will always remember this Christmas for the lovely music played at street corners, for walks in brightly lit streets of London, and of course drinking mulled wine 🙂

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Travel Shot: Brihadeeshwara Temple

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Brihadeeshwara Temple

My parents and I visited the Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, in December 2005. We couldn’t have chosen a worse time as it was raining heavily and there a flood alert as well. The upside was this had deterred a lot of tourists and we arrived to a practically deserted temple at around 8.30 in the morning. Needless to say, I was delighted at the lack of people around.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Brihadeeshwara Temple Complex is very well maintained and remains, to this day, one of the most beautiful and cleanest temples that I have seen. The temple, which celebrated in 1000th anniversary earlier this year, is huge and yet, very compact and intimate.

I took many photographs of the Temple, but the one featured here is my favourite as the wet temple ground as well as the perspective add a mysterious depth to this magnificent temple. Don’t you think so?