On Blogging...and a Book Review to boot

I seem to have taken a long break and am feeling really guilty about it. My last blog post was written some time back.....I am not only lazy in writing, but also in publishing it once done (The one on Madurai was written a few months back). In any case, I have been thinking quite a bit about why I want to write and the reasons for putting in all this effort and time in this endeavour in the first place. So here are my distilled thoughts.....and nuggets of wisdom?? ;-)

I want to write to get into the habit of putting my thoughts and ideas into words. Without being able to put my ideas in words, there is no way that I can explain it to others or put it into action myself. As I gain more experience in life (ie grow older), I am more and more convinced that the ability to write coherently is an essential skill to be able to achieve anything in life. So this blog is a kind of practice arena. And as they say, practice makes perfect. 

So, what do I want to write. In the last few months, this blog seems to have been developing into a kind of travelogue with historical leanings. Is that what I want this to be....not really. It kind of gets boring and repetitive after sometime. The tropes and writing flourishes (such as the *****Rant**** etc) that I use are in danger of getting boring, and maybe also irritating after a few times. And it gets difficult to come up with new and innovative writing techniques, just writing being difficult enough right now. The fact that a travelogue/ history lesson type blog further restricts the basic structure makes it more difficult. So I have now decided that I need to diversify. In this season of spring (metaphorically speaking), as change sweeps through nature, government, and everything in between, I too intend to make a new beginning.

In light of such noble thoughts, what are the new directions in which this blog will move? Well, I have decided that this blog is going to be a reflection of my interests. These interests include books, history, music, travel, science, computers, technology, etc, etc, etc.... So my intention (which are always good....and not necessarily followed) is to write at least one blog every week. It will be my thoughts on any issue that interests me.

Today we start with books. 


The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Recently I finished reading a book by the name of 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. My final verdict first. Is it worth reading? Yes, without a doubt. It is a great read and gets a score of 8/10 (Whatever that means). 

The Book Thief is a book in the mould of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. I read TKAM when I was in school. It was a nice read, but I really did not understand why it was so so so famous and popular. It was a simple story of a girl in the American south describing her life and her view of certain events which took place in her small town. The event is the rape of a white woman by a black slave and the ensuing social and legal battles. Why am I talking about TKAM. Because I did not understand that book then. But I understood The Book Thief and this gave me insight into why I did not really enjoy TKAM. 

So what is that great insight? The Book Thief is one of those books which has many layers of meaning. You need to understand each layer before proceeding to the next to truly understand it. The deeper layers may need repeated readings to appreciate them.

The first layer - It is the story of a young girl, Liesel Meminger, growing up in the outskirts of Munich in the late 1930s and early 40s, the Nazi era. It can be seen a simple story of a girl growing up in a hostile world. It is an inspirational story about how words and reading books can bring meaning and joy, even in the darkest of times. The name of the book derives from the fact that the girl starts 'borrowing' books to read and how circumstances nudged her down that path. The cast includes her foster parents, friends, Jewish refugees, Nazi officials etc. The characters are well rounded, interesting and you can imagine them vividly from their description alone. No spoilers, so I wont say any more. But it does involve tragedy and death. For a person without knowledge of 20th century European history and the World Wars, this would be the level of understanding and appreciation of this book. 

The second layer - The events in Germany prior to commencement of World War 2, the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party and the progress of World War 2 form the backdrop. These events are watched and interpreted through the eyes of a small girl. You need to know the events to understand this aspect of the book. It gives insight into historical events and how it affects the lives of ordinary people. It shows how adults get swept up by events on the canvas of time. It shows how we go along with totally unjustified and inhuman actions for the minor gains we may anticipate. It shows us how the meek and cowardly may behave in the most cruel manner, as they do not have the courage to raise their voice against injustice. And it shows us the cruelty of humans, seen through the uninitiated, innocent eyes of a child. The story at this level is a study of human nature and the societal changes in Germany as Hitler comes to power and the mistreatment and later extermination of Jews. 

The Third Layer - And finally, there is the layer where the story is just a prop to discuss larger philosophical issues of human frailties and failings....and of course the strengths and redeeming factors. A reader needs to read between the lines to gain from this and each reader would have his own understanding and derive his own message, depending on his thoughts and inclinations. It is a silent dialogue between the reader and the author and the readers interpretation of what is the larger or deeper message embedded in the text by the author, irrespective of whether the author even thought of any such message. 

This is the beauty of books. The interaction of the author's words and reader's thoughts can bring out totally new interpretations and ideas. This interpretation not only varies for different readers, but also for the same reader with every reading over time - a clear indication of the change in his/her psyche, attitude and knowledge.  

The narrative style of the book is very informal and light. The story is narrated in the voice of a third person, who has intimate knowledge of all the events in Liesel's life as well as of world events. I will not reveal his identity, though it is not exactly a spoiler (especially when you have seen the book cover :-) ). In any case, his identity is revealed within the first few pages of the book. But I guess it is still better to read it the way the author meant it to be read. 

The book has been made into a movie last year. I haven’t got around to seeing it yet and am looking forward to see if the makers have been able to portray the book on film the way I have imagined it.

So, read the book (....before seeing the movie, as it would bind your imagination to the film-makers when you read it later). It is a lovely read. Knowing about WW2, the treatment of Jews during this period, etc would further enhance your enjoyment and appreciation of the book.

Happy Reading.

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The Taking of Tawang (Facebook post rehashed)

Sad how ignorant and indifferent we are about our own history as a nation. An interesting tale of how Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh became a part of India in 1951. Reproducing an article which appeared on Kangla Online.

Khathing & the taking of Tawang

By Yambem Laba

TAWANG was lately in the news because of the unfortunate demise of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu, who hailed from the area, in an unfortunate helicopter crash. But last year Tawang made headlines for a totally different reason: China`s reassertion of its claim over the area prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare time and again that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India. The Chinese claim is nothing new. In 1962, they attacked India and occupied the entire area, almost reaching the foothills near Tezpur. The abrupt Indian withdrawal then prompted Jawaharalal Nehru`s infamous statement that `my heart goes out to the people of Assam`, meaning that the Indian Army was withdrawing to defend the Indian mainland, leaving Assam and the entire North-east to the Chinese.

Why that country withdrew thereafter is for contemporary historians to ponder, but the fact remains that as late as 1951 the entire area up to Dirang Dzong was under Tibetan administration, long after the Indian tricolour had been hoisted at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947. Dzong in Tibetan means a fort, where sat the magistrates or dzongpens to administer the area. That is why the Chinese had once stated that Tawang would have been their territory had it not been for Manipuri adventurer Major Bob Khathing who, in 1951, occupied the area for India. The truth is that while the McMahon Line was laid as early as 1914 between British India and Tibet, with the Chinese refusing to participate in the deliberations, it had never been demarcated meaning the border lines were never laid out on the ground. That was when Khathing became a legend in his own lifetime.
Born Ranenglao Khathing on 28 February 1912 in Manipur`s Ukhrul district, he was a Tangkhul Naga. He studied initially at Sir Johnstone High School in Imphal, completed his matriculation from Shillong and later joined Cotton College in Guwahati. Though he failed to clear his BA examinations in 1936, he was determined not to return home until he had his degree. So he went to Harasingha in Assam`s Darrang district, founded a middle elementary school and planted a tree that stands to this day. He cleared his examinations in 1937, the same year SJ Duncan, the British subdivisional officer of Ukhrul, asked him to come back and teach. By 1939, Khathing was serving as headmaster of Ukhrul High School, and when World War II broke out over Europe and soon found reflections across Asia, he bade the blackboard farewell and enrolled at the Officer`s Training School.

Commissioned into the 9/11 Hyderabad Regiment, he had General Thimaya as his company commander and there was another person who was later to became Chief of Army Staff, General TN Raina.
By 1942, Khathing was transferred to the newly raised Assam Regiment in Shillong and became a captain. It was in the officer`s mess at Jorhat that he acquired the name Bob. Apparently the Americans found it difficult to pronounce `Ranenglao` and instead called him Robert, then truncated that to Bob. It was also at this time that the Allied Forces fighting the Japanese decided to raise V-Force, a guerrilla outfit like Wingate`s famed Chindits but comprising hill people of the region, led by an Allied officer. These people, because of the topography and their ability to live off the land, sometimes operated 150 miles from the nearest supply base and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese behind their own lines, acting as a screen for the 14th Army of the Allied forces.

Khathing was sent to command a V-Force group in the Ukhrul area, his happy hunting ground. He shed his army tunic, shaved his head like a typical Tangkhul tribesman, with a thick mane running down the middle of his scalp. Mohawk style. On his back he carried a basket with dried meat and salt, rations for two weeks, and concealed his gun in his Tangkhul shawl. It is believed that he himself killed some 120 Japanese soldiers. He was awarded the Military Cross and made a Member of the British Empire.

With the war won, he was, on request by the late Maharaj Kumar Priyabrata Singh, returned to Manipur in 1947 and joined the then interim government as minister in charge of the hill areas. In 1949, when Manipur merged with India following the now controversial merger agreement, the interim government was dissolved and Khathing, by his own admission, found himself `without a job for six months`.

That was when Sir Akbar Hydari, then Assam governor, asked him to join the Assam Rifles as a stopgap measure. He served with the 2nd Assam Rifles in Sadiya and by 1951 he was inducted into the Indian Frontier Administrative Service as an assistant political officer. Summoned by then Assam governor Jairamdas Daulatram, he was asked, `Do you know Tawang?` He was then given a `secret` file to study and told to `go and bring Tawang under Indian administration`. This task could not be implemented by the British for 50-odd years.
On 17 January 1951, Khathing, accompanied by Captain Hem Bahadur Limbu of 5th Assam Rifles and 200 troops and Captain Modiero of the Army Medical Corps left Lokra for the foothills, bound for Tawang. They were later joined by a 600-strong team of porters. On 19 January, they reached Sisiri and were joined by Major TC Allen, the last British political officer of the North East Frontier Agency. Five days later the party reached Dirang Dzong, the last Tibetan administrative headquarters, and were met by Katuk Lama, assistant Tibetan agent, and the Goanburras of Dirang. On 26 January, Major Khathing hoisted the Indian flag and a barakhana followed. The party stayed in Dirang for four days, during which time they received airdrops. On 1 February, they moved out and halted at Chakpurpu on their way to Sangje Dzong. On the third day, they made a five-mile climb to cross Sela Pass and pressed on to what was entered in Khathing`s diary as the `Tea Place` where water could be collected from the frozen surface to make tea. By 7.30 pm, the party closed in on Nurunang.
On 4 February, they reached Jang village where two locals were sent out to collect information and gauge the people`s feelings towards their coming. The next day, the headmen and elders of Rho,Changda and the surrounding villages of Jang called on Khathing, who lost no time in explaining the purpose of his visit and told them in no uncertain terms that they were no longer to take orders from the Tsona Dzongpens. That day, he, Captain Limbu, Subedar Bir Bahadur and Jamadar Udaibir Gurung climbed about half a mile on the Sela Tract to choose the site for the checkpost and construct a barracks.
On 6 February they camped at Gyankar and Tibetan representatives of the Tsona Dzongpens came to meet them. It was also Tibetan New Year or Lhosar, the first day of the Year of the Iron Horse. In the evening it snowed heavily and the villagers took this as a very good omen. Tawang was reached on 7 February and two days were spent scouting the area for a permanent site where both civil and military lines could be laid out with sufficient area for a playground.
A place was chosen north-east of Tawang Monastery and a meeting with Tibetan officials was scheduled for 9 February, but they had shown a reluctance to accept Indian authority overnight. Khathing told me in 1985, when I`d accompanied him on his last trip to Tawang, that, left with no option, he told Captain Limbu to order his troops to fix bayonets and stage a flag march around Tawang to show he meant business. By the evening it had the desired effect and the Tibetan officials and elders of the monastery came to meet him. They were then given notice that the Tsona Dzongpens or any representatives of the Tibetan government could no longer exercise any power over the people living south of the Bumla range.
On 11 February, Khathing visited the monastery, called on the abbot and presented him and the other monks gifts that comprised gramophone players, cloth and tiffin-carriers. The next day all the chhgergans (officials) of the 11 tsos or Tibetan administrative units were called up and a general order was issued directing them not to take any more order from the Dzongpens or Drekhong or pay tribute to them any longer. That afternoon, Tibetan officials and the Nyertsang called for time and permission to exercise their authority till they heard from the Tibetan government in Lhasa. Khathing put his foot down and told them the `area is ours according to the Treaty of 1914` and there was no question of a reply from their government in Lhasa and, hence, no extension could be given. Thus did Tawang effectively become a part of India from that day on.

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Jama Masjid (Facebook Post rehashed)

After all these years of visiting Delhi, finally went and saw the Jama Masjid. A truly huge and magnificent structure. Open, airy and clean. Surprising, when you see the stink and filth outside.The view from top of the Minaret is nice.You can see a little known design element of lutyens Delhi- the Lahore Gate of the Red Fort (where the national flag is unfurled on independence day), the Jama Masjid, Connaught Place and Rashtriya Bhavan are in one straight line.

Also made trip to the paranthe wali gali. Went to the '5 Generation Parathewale'. He had photographs of Dr Karan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, Shiela Dixit, Ranbir Kapoor, Cyrus Broacha, etc on the walls. In todays world of photoshop, can never be sure though. Parathas were OK, nothing mind blowing (...Ranbir thought so) or exceptional. (If I thought Lavanya would read this post, I would have said her parathas are yummier). Original plan was to walk along Chandni Chowk from Jama Masjid to the Fatehpuri Mosque, seeing the sights, including the Bird Hospital, along the way. After three parathas, the walk didnt seem as interesting and I beat a strategic retreat to the AC comfort of the metro. As they say, live to sight another day, preferably in the winters.


 









 

 





 

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Madurai - The City of Temples (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1

Ramana Maharishi Self-Realization House

From the temple, we walked to the childhood home of Ramana Maharishi. He is a revered guru and teacher of Vedanta who lived from 1879-1950. He is worshipped by thousands, both in India and the west. The Maharishi first  experienced awakening or self-realization when he lived with his uncle in this house. Devotees from around the world come here to meditate. Nothing to see here if you are not spiritually inclined. It is a sparsely furnished house with people sitting in various rooms in dhyana.

Tirumala Nayak Mahal

Next stop - the Tirumalai Nayakar Mahal. Again walking distance from the temple. 

 
 This palace was built in 1636 by King Tirumala Nayak.

 

1636 ring a bell...? it is the year that the Taj Mahal was built. Looking at both the structures, one has to marvel at the sheer longevity and enduring quality of the Taj, which has survived after all these years without anyone having tried to modify it, break it, destroy it or just use the marble for some other building plan. After all, this has been the fate of most structures in India. 

 

The king is believed to have hired an Italian architect to design his palace. It was built in a blend of Dravidian and Islamic styles. When built, it was considered one of the wonders of the south. However, today only the Entrance Gate, the Main Hall and a Dance Hall survive. As is standard indian practice, the grandson of Tirumala Nayak removed the jewels, woodcarvings, etc and demolished most of the structure in order to build his own palace in Tiruchirapalli (a different town). The British partially restored it in 1866 and after independence, it was declared a National Monument. 

 

Today, it is a constant struggle between the forces of restoration (ASI doing the best they can, I guess) and the forces of destruction (in the tourists who love to scribble and carve their names onto every pillar, wall or sculpture they think is beautiful).

The Palace is not is not grand, but the limited restoration, including original stucco work, shows how truly magnificent it would have been in its heyday.

They also have a Light and Sound show, telling the story of Kannagi (a tamil epic). But we couldn't see it.

Tirupparankundram Temple

In the evening we visited Tirupparankundram, a temple dedicated to Subramanya Swamy or Lord Murugan. Like most Murugan temples, it is located near a hill. In fact the sanctum sanctorum is actually inside the hill. The temple is built around the hill in such a way that as we walk further into the temple, you go further into the hill. By now, you would know that the Gopuram you see below is not the temple, but only the gateway to the sanctum sanctorum.

 

According to legend, Lord Murugan married Devaiyani, the daughter of Indra, here. This temple is considered one of the six main abodes of Lord Murugan. 

 

(Source : Wikipedia)

This is another feature of Hindu temple mythology - all temples come in sets. The number in a set range from 2 to 64. Some are pairs - you have to visit Bedh dwarka when you visit dwarka. There are the 12 Jyotirlinga, 51 Shakti peethas, etc.

At the entrance was an idol of Mahakali, a form of Parvati. We heard the story in the morning in the Meenakshi temple, where Mahakali and Nataraja (Shiva) have a dance competition. They are equally matched. Finally Shiva enacts a pose where he lifts his leg to his ears. But Parvati is unable to do the same due to her modesty as a lady. And so she loses. And she is furious. The sculptures in the Meenakshi temple showed the dance. Here, it is the furious and fierce form of Parvati, as Mahakali, which is depicted. There are guys selling balls of white butter, which you can throw at the deity to calm her down. In my honest opinion, throwing balls of gooey butter at someone who is angry is not a great idea and is unlikely to calm them down. But then the workings of the divine are strange and not for us to comprehend. So I too threw a few butterballs.

Another interesting feature of this temple is that the Shiva and Vishnu idols face each other. Anybody who knows tamil brahminical structure knows that the Iyers (Shaivaites) and Aiyengars (Vaishnavites) DO NOT SEE EYE TO EYE. They have taboos against marriage (you may marry a north indian, but never an aiyengar), have rude jokes about each others habits and rituals, have seperate temples and generally avoid each other to the extent possible. This rivalry can also be seen in the way myths have been modified to show either Shiva or Vishnu as a simpleton requiring to be saved by the other. So image of them facing each other in the main shrine is rare.

From the temple, we headed straight to the hotel, picked up our baggage and had a quick dinner. Thanks to our guide, we were able to savour the other speciality of Madurai - Jigarthanda. Someone, long ago, came up with the idea of mixing Icecream, China grass and rabri and got a bestseller. in fact it has become so popular that it has a wikipedia page of it's own as Jil Jil Jigarthanda. Jil is cold in tamil. Jigar is heart in hindi and thanda is cold, again in hindi. So the entire name translates to 'Cold Cold Heart-Cold'. In a hot place like Madurai, such a dessert had to be popular I guess. It tastes just like.....cold rabri with vanilla icecream. Worth a try, I guess. Go ahead, cool your heart.

After dinner, we headed back to Chennai by the next train.

I was looking forward to my visit to Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. Had heard interesting stories, especially about the cyclone which hit the region in 1964. It seems that the town of Dhanushkodi was fully submerged and an entire train with all passengers was washed away. Dhanushkodi, which was an important commercial centre with a railway station and a minor port, was never resettled. Today the only signs left of this town are a church, temple and railway platform.

A few photos, courtesy the internet......

 

  Ruined Church 

 Railway Station

So that remains a place to be seen another day.

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