There is some good in this world that is worth fighting for!

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

(Lord of the Rings: The two towers)

That's my favourite movie dialogue ever! I keep remembering it when I despair looking at all the horrible things that we keep reading about and seeing around us, and this year had its sizeable quota too! I am particularly pained by the horrible acts of violence on children and women. And at this time of the year when one reflects on what went by, I am fighting the temptation to give up hope and accept things but to take courage and fight in whatever ways we can!

Fight by giving our precious time to support a cause that takes the evil head-on even if everybody else says it is doomed  to fail. Fight by standing for what we believe is just in whatever ways we can. Fight by practising what we want the world to be at our own home. Fight by bringing up our children to be the change makers. Fight by not accepting 'What can I do? Because YOU and ME make the world and we can together make a change! And we need to, because 'There's some good in this world and it's worth fighting for'!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Are our kids reading too quickly and too early?

I know this sound silly or even outrageous but my answer to the above question is an uncomfortable ‘yes’. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I am a big advocate of early reading and I am always looking out for interesting books, new genres / authors to introduce to my daughters. Some of these suggestions go down well (many don’t and I have learnt to not push) but what works best is what the rest of the class is reading or the teacher is talking about.  But, I am also witness to instances where the child picks a book the whole class ‘says’ has read and recommended, and diligently attempts to read it.  And confesses at a candid moment that it is not to her liking!  I also sense a slight disappointment in the child at these times of not being ‘a part of the crowd’ by not liking or not completing the book.  My own reaction during these times is to discourage the child from trying too hard, put the book aside and go back to what she is comfortable for the moment.

Times like this, I am concerned that some peer pressure and even parents (unconsciously) are depriving a child the pleasure of discovering a book and pushing her towards the ‘trendy / trending at the moment’ choice!  

This process of discovering a book (which is more than just reading!)  is a magical process - one reads a book first time, unravels the plot, goes back to certain chapters to read between the lines, thinks of possibilities the author missed, goes back to the back and so on and so forth. Some of the pleasures of my growing up days were the times I have curled up in our verandah with either a stupendous tamil book like ‘Ponniyin selvan’; or ‘The adventures of Tam Sawyer’ – being an obedient child, I was awestruck at the ingenuity and the audacity of the characters!  A recent déjà vu experience was when I read Janaki Lenin’s ‘’My husband and other animals’’ where she describes about his pet python! Many a days I have spent day dreaming of things I read in books which I would probably never do in real life.  And as I grow, I find myself attempting some of them or even secretly hoping my child would pull off something like that!!

So, I worry if the fast paced life discourages this process of slow discovery and ‘’growing into a book and author’’ not just in kids but adults also?  And are we subconsciously encouraging a ‘skimming habit’ by taking the habit of reading books to another level, almost to the level of a social snob!  And I worry that many classics go into an ‘also read’ list for youngsters without so much an impact, without a chance to plunge into the musical comedy that Wodehouse talks about! 

Such is the joy of getting lost in this world that makes me want to tell the kids to go slow at times and take their time in living the lives of those characters that they read about. In imagining possibilities. In doing things in their minds even if the world will never get to see them. In giving a chance to the book / author to impress the reader and not ‘help the reader to impress the world’!

The art of complimenting

When I was in school / college, it was common to ask friends to write in an autograph book along with their addresses (pre face book / mail era!) before the graduation.  If I am not wrong, many of us still do preserve these books and like flipping through them particularly during trying times in our lives. And have you noticed that when you are down, you reach out to people who generally think high of you and can lift you up by their words about you.   

There is this primordial need in all of us to be recognized and complimented. Though I do worry at times if we are overdoing this with our kids, do we truly and openly compliment our friends, relatives, helps, colleagues, acquaintances and even parents as much as they deserve?  There is some shyness that creeps in. The compliment if it comes is usually restrained. Sometimes, there is the fear of the person taking advantage (with helps, colleagues).  But complimenting opens a two way road.  You start complimenting and the person will want to carry the good will that you have started and will want to compliment somebody else if not you.  At some point, it will come back to you also.

And complimenting is an art!  In my autograph book, I particularly like to keep going back to one entry where a friend had methodically listed what I was good at and complimenting me for all those. In fact, she was not even in my course nor was she a close friend.  We used to meet in a co-curricular class.  Her writing never fails to lift me up and tell me all the things I am capable or was capable of!  Many other entries in that autograph book were also saying good things about me, but this one was unique because of a few reasons.  Her words were not shallow like ‘You are great’. She specifically wrote what I did and why she thought it was compliment worthy. 

I think that is where a compliment is different from a passing remark.  You mean it when you say it and it is not shallow.  You also substantiate it with facts and say why you think it deserves praise.  And you took the effort to notice the good deed and take time to say this to the person.  All this makes it so memorable and so up lifting.

So, let’s try complimenting in all sincerity.  See the glow it brings to the person’s face and the peace it brings to you and the world!  

R for Reduce during Festivities

What prompted me to write this piece are moments when I or my friends exclaimed Óh, this is interesting, I should do it!' I am talking about ingenious ways to reduce the amount of garbage that we tend to generate innocuously, especially during festivals!  And my inspiration comes from people who have graciously adopted with the times, though the tradition dictates otherwise. 

This being Navarathri season, let me start with the golu, the doll display that is common in South India.  From being a modest affair with neighbours calling on, it has become a big social event – not that I complain about this change!  But it comes with its own devils.  You can’t give the Prasad in an open container like leaf bowl and you can’t carry that long distance.  Then there is paan and fruits and a token gift – how is one expected to carry all these?  One generally tends to dress up and saunter into golus without the burden of carrying a bag to pack the goodies! 

It is disturbing when you come back from a golu visit – take a peek into that goodie bag!  Mostly the goodie bag is plastic and it is already soggy or soiled and ends up in the bin.  Then there are those small pouches of haldi and kum kum which you empty and then throw away (I don’t understand those teeny weeny pouches with micro grams – by the time you succeed in opening them, half of it is spilled!).  Then there is the Prasad (usually a savoury or sweet pulse preparation, commonly called Sundal) packed in a plastic pouch.  Also ends up in the bin after emptying.  Though the quantum could be less, I have seen that this small grammage plastic is what actually chokes our garbage disposal system as they are not picked by resellers! And I know that many of us would like to reduce this, given a choice. So, what do we do?

When I look around, I realise that it is not actually difficult to do away with these, provided one has the mind and chooses again ‘Substance over form’ (my favourite saying).  This time, I tried packing the sundal in a thick brown envelope – I experimented myself by checking out the taste after some time.  Found that it kept well for quite some time and tended to become soggy after an hour or so or only when squished.  They are as expensive or sometimes cheaper than the plastic pouch and they come in all sizes and thickness, available in any stationary shop!

And,  I requested my visiting friends to transfer it to vessel as soon as they reached home; for visitors with a long commute, I packed in a reusable plastic jar. Then the haldi, kum kum – I consciously decided to do away with these – offer when they are home.  It is a choice and when thought through, makes sense. Then the goodie bag – this is indeed tricky as many of us give a banana or a coconut with betal leaves.  Any packaging has to be sturdy and comes with a cost – I managed this time as my goodie bag literally was a bag but that was just coincidence this time – what to do, when you are giving away something else? 

Here, I would think that the visitor should carry a bag – remember the old times ?  Though we used to get only sundal those days, we still used to carry a small cloth bag to bring back the newspaper wrapped sundal.  Then we would sort them out at home and consume.  Why not go back to that culture – especially when there are so many designer cute bags out there (jute is my favourite)?  Make a fashion statement with that sling bag along with your saree or traditional attire. 

When I write this, I am reminded of my child hood days and what strikes me is that our culture actually is built around at least the 2 of the 3 Rs – Reduce and reuse.  It could have been because the thin plastic bags were unheard of those days, but I am fascinated by that culture.  Nobody stepped out with that yellow cloth bag (oh,  what a transformation it has gone through and just check the range available these days on cloth bags!).  Every packaging item was consciously reused.  I have seen people saving the unusually long plastic sheets for drying the papads and crisps (vadams) made at home.  I have myself been amused by this when I was young, but today, it is their ‘responsive usage’ that I want to applaud for more than the thriftiness (which is also not bad!). 

Whether it is golu or any other festival, I think it would do well for all of us to think little bit out of the box and may be, chat with our moms to get some ideas on how to reduce the garbage.  And   I am sure many of you have your own ideas and ways of reducing garbage, and do share them with others and inspire others!  We owe it to mother Earth whom we celebrate in all these functions and of course our kids!  And we owe it to our own creativity and ingenuity and actually wisdom to adapt the traditional practices to today's environment, literally! 

The price of going organic - is it worth it?

Check out my latest article at thealternative.in here 

Ditch that wrapper

Every time I receive my copy of National Geographic Traveller, I do it with a pang of guilt!  What do I do with that thin wrapper? Is it degradable? I know it provides safe shipping and prevents damage due to fingering.  I even wrote a letter to Nat Geo about replacing this with a paper flap, which they promptly published in the magazine but that issue still came with the same wrapper.

I did some reading to understand what is used for the wrapper.  The perfect product is Cellophane which is regenerated cellulose and can be degraded.  But good things don’t come cheap!  So, the cheaper alternate is BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Poly Propylene).   And BOPP can at the best be recycled.  Given the flimsy thickness of these wrappers, it is unlikely to be profitable to the rag picker or recycler.  My guess is that it ends in the land fill. And my guess is also that BOPP is what is used by most magazine publishers and not cellophane.

Can publishers look at some other options?  A thick paper flap that seals the front page to back page should work well.  A paper envelope should again work well for shipping though it may take away the look.

Will the publishing Industry choose ‘Substance over Form’?

You know the books I read – You know me!

Well, it had to be this theme for my first posting in the blog!   

Books shaped me into what I am and what I am not today.  Inspired by the recent FB lists on My 10 favourite books, I started making the list.  I have never been good at precise writing and it is no surprise that I could not pare the list to 10.  Also, I wanted to capture the mood of each book.  Result – this list.  Thanks, www.goodreads.com , for helping me keep track of my reading. 

1. Books that which initiated me into reading –Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and Around the world in 80 days by Jules Verne 
2. Book that made me laugh –Dork by Sidin Vadukut and The Elusive Pimpernal by Baroness Orczy
3. Book that made me cry – Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and The poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Book that gave me hope  – The Geography of bliss by Eric Weiner and Three cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
5. Book that made me brood – After Dark by Haruki Murakami
6. Book that made me a child  - Danny, the champion of the World by Roald Dahl
7. Books that I consider most romantic  – Bridge across Forever by Richard Bach and The Time Traveller’s wife by Audrey Niffenegger
8. Book that made me want to go to last page to see who did it  – Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
9. Book that made me aspire to be a better woman – On Balance by Leila Seth
10. Book that made me go mushy – The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
11. Book that made me want to travel - Neither here nor there by Bill Bryson
12. Grandiose Books– Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki and Lord of the ring by JRR Tolkien
13. Classic book –The Name of the rose by Umberto Eco
14. Books I am partial to , with river themes  – The Ganga – a journey down the Ganges river by Julian Crandall Hollick , Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia, Nadanthai Vazhi Kaveri by Thi Janakiraman
15. Book that was complex but un put down-able  – Atlas shrugged by Ayn Rand
16. Books which enlightened me most – The evolution of God by Ajay Kansal and India after Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha
17. Book with the best futurist theme – 2001-A space odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
18. Book with unusual structure  – The Golden gate by Vikram Seth
19. Books with unusual theme – Locks, Mahabharatha and Mathematics by V Raghunathan, Synchrodestiny by Deepak Chopra
20. My Go to book when all is fine or when all is lost – Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Reader, Can you spot the two related authors in this list?

And do you have other choices ?

And this post is dedicated to Friend 'V' whose opening remark to me till now has been 'Where is your  blog?' 

Cheers.