MOTHER SERIOUS STOP COME SOON

MOTHER SERIOUS STOP COME SOON

This is the message that Sagar – let us call our protagonist by this name - received by a telegram sent by his father. He rushed to his place without giving a thought to the wording of the message. He did not stop to think as to when his mother was ever in a lighter mood. She was always serious – serious about whatever she was engaged with at any time. Rarely would she be in a lighter mood!  

What Sagar did, is beside the point. What we are concerned here is the correct meaning of the words of the telegram. To go strictly by rules of English Grammar and Composition, the message should have been worded as: MOTHER SERIOUSLY ILL STOP COME SOON.  But that is the way telegrams are worded – and understood correctly. One thing to be noticed here is that in telegrams inessential words like verbs are omitted to cut cost and since punctuations cannot be transmitted by telegraph, the word ‘STOP’ is used at the end of each sentence.

For long years, I used to think that ‘telegram’ and ‘telegraph’ were one and the same thing although I had noticed that the agency handling telegrams was named ‘Department of Post & Telegraph’ and never ‘Dept. of Post & Telegram’.  This was till I found out that ‘telegraph’ is the means, the process, the equipment by which a message is sent and telegram is the message, the product!

                                                        The Telegraph Equipment

All this quibbling is going to end soon. As this service has become un-remunerative, Bharat Sanchar Nigam, which took over the telegram service from the Dept. of P & T in 1990s, will discontinue it from the 15^th July, 2013. Much earlier, the minimum charge for sending a telegram containing 8 words including the address was Rs. 3.50. (For messages exceeding 8 words, there was a charge for each additional word.) Then the minimum charge was increased to Rs. 4.50. In May, 2011, the minimum charge was increased to Rs. 27.50 to cover a part of the cost. (I can’t understand why there is always that 50 paise and the charge is not in round Rupees like Rs. 3 or Rs. 5.).Despite this steep increase in charges, the total expenditure of BSNL on the service in 2011-12 was Rs. 149.37 Crore while the revenue earned was a meager Rs. 13 Crore! Reports say that U K had discontinued this service in 1982 and U S A did so in 2006.

There has been a revolution in telecommunication in India and due to widespread use of e-mails and mobile phones, particularly SMS, telegraph service, like sending of letters has fallen into disuse. In 1985, there were more than 4500 Telegraph Offices in India. At present there are only 75 Telegraph Offices in the whole country. Telegrams, which came into use in India in 1850, i.e., more than 160 years ago, are going to be extinct by the Darwinian principle of ‘Survival of the fittest’. Just as TV has almost killed radio and mobile phones are killing land phones, digital communication is going to push telegrams to history.

To mark the demise of telegram, Amul, in its series of brief and witty ads, has released an ad titled, TELEGRAM FULL STOP. This headline is followed by ‘ut-taar-ly – Butterly Delicious, bringing to mind its slogan - ‘Amul. Utterly Butterly Delicious’.

However, telegrams have their uses. Telegrams and telegraph-receipts are accepted by courts as proof of delivery of communication. The military uses this service most. Requests of employees for sanction or extension of leave are permitted on the basis of telegrams, not phone calls. Since telegrams are sent by wire, such a messages themselves are often called ‘wire’. Banks receive Bills for collection and quite often one of the instructions of the sender would be, ‘Advise Payment by Wire’, meaning, when the Bill is paid by the Drawee, the Bank should send a telegram to the sender.

In 1792, Claude Chappe of France devised what was then called ‘Optical Telegraph’. To overcome the problems of Optical Telegraph, the American painter Samuel Morse developed electric telegraph in 1836. His assistant Alfraid Vail developed what is called the ‘Morse Code’ signaling alphabets, with Morse. On the 24^th May, 1844 year, Morse sent the first telegraphic message from Washington DC to Baltimore. It read as: WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT. His ‘taare takka’ was the expression of a kind of sound.  The telegraph was first used in British India in 1850. The first telegraph line was established between Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Diamond Harbour on the Hoogly. Telegraph facility was made available for commercial use in 1854 in India. Then the oceans were wired and a direct link was established between London and Calcutta. East India Company which was ruling India at that time, used the system of telegraph to suppress the ‘ Sepoy Mutiny’ (the First War of Indian Independence) of 1857.

At the receiving end, telegrams get typed, all in capital letters, on strips of white paper which are pasted on a pink form and then are delivered in or without an envelope. Arrival of a telegram invariably increases the heart-beat of the recipient. It may bear good or bad tidings. It may announce the birth of a child, death or success of a near one, a congratulatory message for the addressee or the journey-plan of a visitor.

For bringing into the world our First Born, the wife had gone to her parents’ place. At that time I was working in a small District Head Quarters town in U P. The birth of Daughter I was conveyed to me by a telegram. I have carefully preserved this valuable document among other memorabalia. Here it is.

When Daughter II arrived, use of telephone had become more popular. So this news was conveyed to me over telephone. So I had no way to preserve such nostalgic news carried on pink paper, for posterity. Daughter II and I will always miss it.

 

The impeding death of telegram brings to mind how Trunk Calls have come to disuse after the telecom revolution ushered in STD- Subscriber Trunk Dialing. Before that, for talking to a person in another place one had to call the Telephone Exchange and book a Trunk Call. Trunk Calls came in 3 forms, Ordinary, Urgent and Lightening.  The operator at the telephone would receive these bookings, note such  requests in serial order and call the bookers one by one in that order. A separate list would be made of requests for Urgent Calls. For Lightening Calls, the telephone operator would give the connection immediately. The charges for Urgent Calls were double that for Ordinary Calls. The charge for a Lightening Call would be much higher. That was the time when for making even a local call, one had to call the Telephone Exchange, tell the operator the telephone number of the person one wanted to talk to  and request the operator to give the connection! And for talking over Trunk Calls, one had to shout with full lung-power to be able to be heard at the other end!!

When I joined my Bank, my seat was next to the Officer who was in charge of maintaining the Position of Sale and Purchase of Foreign Exchange. He used to make  and receive calls to and from various Branches of the Bank all over India for this purpose. The poor fellow would have to shout over Trunk Calls throughout the day and would have a sore throat and coarse voice at the end of each day.

Telegrams have to be brief. Sometimes, this brings unintended fun. In a rural Branch of the Bank, there was only one Officer who was the only Authorised Signatory in the Branch. Whenever he had to go on leave another Officer of the Bank used to come from the Divisional Office to take charge of the Branch. The poor fellow’s wife met with an untimely death; he sent a telegram to the Divisional Office, ‘WIFE EXPIRED STOP SEND SUBSTITUTE’.  

During the war of Independence of Bangladesh in 1970-71, the U S Consul General Archor Blood used to send diplomatic dispatches from Dhaka, giving details of atrocities being committed by the Pakistani military on Bengalis there. Archor Blood’s telegrams detailing the bloody genocides were called ‘Blood Telegrams’, the term aptly carrying a double meaning.

Napoleon loved the body-odour (fragrance if you like) of Jesophine. While returning from one of his successful military campaigns, he sent a telegram to her saying, ‘DON’T WASH I AM COMING’.

Dorothy Parker sent a telegram to her friend who just had a baby, ‘DEAR MARY – WE KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU’.   

Mark Twain sent a telegram to a newspaper, ‘RUMOURS OF MY DEATH ARE VASTLY EXAGGERATED’. The author of this terse telegram received a telegram from his publisher, ‘NEED 2-PAGE SHORT STORY TWO DAYS’. Promptly he telegraphed back, ’NO CAN DO 2 PAGES TWO DAYS STOP CAN DO 30 PAGES 2 DAYS STOP NEED 30 DAYS TO DO 2 PAGES’.

TAIL PIECE:

Oscar Wilde once wanted to know how his new book was selling. He sent to his publisher a message “?”. His publisher matched the brevity with brevity and wit with wit by replying “!”.  

2. "Goodbye, telegram. And goodbye letters in envelopes, goodbye post office, goodbye beautiful days, goodbye childhood , goodbye happiness." - Taslima Nasreen, Bangladeshi writer living in India, on the end of telegraph service.

POST SCRIPT
July 15, 2013

On July 14,2013, the last day in the life of telegrams in India, a Member of Parliament from Odisha sent a telegram to the Prime Minister of India saying, "THIS IS THE LAST TELEGRAM".

9 P M of that day was the time for withdrawing telegraph service. There was a big rush at most of the Telegraph Offices in India that day as people wished to say 'Goodbye' by sending a last telegram:(((((

Many of the visitors were first-timers who wanted to send souvenir messages to friends and family. A techie at Bangalore sent a telegram to his wife saying "I LOVE YOU STOP". He said that his wife always complained that he had never proposed to her; he sent the telegram to STOP her complaint. The revenue earned by BSNL on the last day was a whooping Rs. 69 Lakh! 

SAMAKALA II

In my post ‘Samakala’ of 19.06.2012, I had narrated my experience of attending a Festival of Contemporary Dance last year.

The Department of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha and Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy organized the 2nd Festival of Contemporary Dance at Bhubaneswar from the 11^th to the SAMAKALA II

13^th June, 2013. I attended the Festival.

The word ‘contemporary’ means ‘at the same time as’. Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance which connects the mind and body. It combines the vocabulary of several dance-forms. The thirst for improvisation caused its birth.

Contemporary dance is like abstract art. It needs an effort to understand its nuances. A deep insight into it is needed to appreciate its meaning and beauty. I tried to remember these while watching the performance but I shall be less than honest if I say that I could fully understand the nuances.

Padmini Chettur of Chennai’s presentation was first item of the first evening. Her dance-number ‘Beautiful Thing -2’ represented the relationship of the body’s geometry with space. The booklet made available at the function explained: ‘The performance prescribes nine ‘lines’ in space. The physicality of the body becomes abstracted over time till the spaces it holds and moves become more present.’ Padmini quotes the statement of her teacher Chandralekha, “Where does the body begin and where does it end?”

One can have a glimpse of Padmini's dance-number 'Beautiful 2' from Youtube.

The second presentation in the first evening was by Ashavari Majumdar from Kolkata, who originally trained in Kathak. Her item ‘Surpanakha’ was a combination of Kathak, spoken text and video presentation. The production drew from various versions of The Ramayan to present new perspectives on Surpanakha, through her relationship with Ravana, Sita and Rama.

The second evening started with 2 dance-numbers by Anita Ratnam from Chennai (web portal www.narthaki.com). The first one, ‘Avani’ was inspired by the epic poems by Rabindranath Tagore, his call to the earth as Prithvi, mother, protector and destroyer. Like Durga, she is both gentle and fierce and capable of caring and devouring. Her second presentation was ‘Sita’. It presented Sita refusing to return to safety on Hanuman’s shoulders.

The second presentation of the second evening was by Astad Deboo from Mumbai. The 4 parts of his performance were titled ‘Surrender’, ‘Your Grace’, ‘Awakening’ and ‘Walking Tall’.  

The third evening started with the presentation ‘Dravya Kaya’ by Navetej Johar from New Delhi.  Dravya is objects and kaya means body. It focused on select objects in Ramayana and attempted to imagine the visceral exchange between these objects and their human users. It explored the tenacity of Rama’s kodanda (bow) as well as the bow-ness of the archer’s body. It focused on the valkala vastra (garment made from tree-bark) that Sita wore when banished into the forest. It also dealt with the relationship between inside/outside as well as between earth and food through the episode of Lakshman Rekha.

The last presentations of the programme were River Sutra and other dance-numbers by Ramli Ibrahim and his Group from Malaysia. These were inspired by Bharatanatym, Odissi and modern dance. Trained in classical ballet, modern dance and Indian classical dance, Ramli has single-handedly established Odissi dance in Malaysia.

Like last year, I attended the 3-day Dance Festival out of curiosity and to be a little familiar with Contemporary Dance Forms and have a little insight into it. I must confess that I could not fully comprehend everything that was being presented on the stage. Some of the nuances were inscrutable and intriguing. Most of the interpretations given in this post are from the booklet made available to the viewers at the venue. The compere in her introductory remarks explained that most of us are familiar with traditional dance-forms but we can develop a taste for contemporary dance. To understand its nuances, the viewer has be mentally a participant in the presentations. One has to be more attentive and more involved than when viewing presentations of classical dance-forms.

I hope attending the 3-day Festival last year and this has slightly expanded my horizon of appreciating the world of dance-forms.

            

An Age-Old Story

It is an irony of the social life of human beings that no one is happy about her/his age. A child does not like to be small. It wishes to be an adult; it likes to put on the dress and slip into the shoes of adults. A child wishes to become older as soon as possible. A young boy or girl wishes to grow, as soon as possible, out of world controlled by parents, other adults in the family and teachers.

Contrarily, adults wish to go back in time and become younger. Or, at least to look younger! A woman never likes to be addressed as ‘auntie’ by people other than her nephew or niece; she would love to be addressed as ‘Didi’ by all non-relatives. There is the ad of a hair-dye wherein a couple is shown getting ready to go out to attend a social function. The lady teases her man with a slightly greying hair saying, “At the party everyone will call you ‘uncle’.” He dyes his hair. At the party, he becomes a favourite with the ‘sweet young things’ there. The woman gets upset and drags him back, barking at those girls, “My husband.” !!!

Another ad of a toilet soap presents a very young-looking and very pretty model. A young man asks her, "In which College are you studying?" She responds, "Me? College?". Then a cute child enters the scene and hugs the model with a call, "Mummy". The man wonders, "Mummy?". The ad implies that if a woman uses that particular brand of toilet soap, she will continue to have a young look for ever!  

A wise saying goes: Never ask a woman her age and a man his income! A woman creates a scene if you ask her age but the same woman creates a bigger scene if her man forgets her birthday! When birthdays and wedding anniversaries of ladies are mentioned, it contains only the date and month, blithely omitting the year; it is not ‘politically correct’ to mention the year. Ladies wish to pull back their age.  Anti-ageing creams and lotions are a must for ladies conscious about their appearance. Small packs of these cost a fortune but the price bothers no lady worth her salt (or looks). Once I came across a piece written by a man and titled, ‘When the Wife Dyed’.

When streaks of grey hair appear near a man’s temples, these are clipped off to camouflage the advancing age. A man used to sport a bushy and luxuriant moustache. His wife liked it very much. One day, she asked him to shave it off and never again to grow a moustache. He was surprised as he loved the macho image that the moustache gave him. When he asked her the reason for this, she whispered,” A few strands of grey are appearing in your facial hair. If people notice this, they will think you are growing old. And with you I also shall be viewed alike.”  In many cases, by a quirk of nature, streaks of grey appear on a man’s face before they appear on his head. When a person crosses the age of forty, she/he is said to be ‘on the wrong side of forties.    

Talking of looks, I recollect the pictures of Akbar and his Queen in story-books like Amar Chitra Katha. In almost all the pictures, Akbar is shown with grey beards indicating a ripe age but his Queen is always a good-looking young lady. Was it the effect of some indigenous anti-ageing cosmetics used by her or was Akbar marrying young ladies regularly, sending his older queens to some Retirement Home in his palace?        

While joining a social club, I was asked about my Birthday. When I stated that, the next question was, “Is it the official or the real birthday?” In many cases these are two different dates. Registration of births is only recent practice in India and is still not the norm in many parts of the country. So, many persons have one real and another official birthday as mentioned in school-records. In many cases, the real birth-day is forgotten. Obtaining a copy of the Birth Certificate for recording the Date of Birth at the time of school-admission is still not the universal norm. So the school records whichever date the parent/guardian of the child states at the time of admission.

Till liberalization and privatization which came to India recently, Government-service was the preferred vocation of most people. In Government Service, retirement-age is fixed at 58 or 60. So, to ensure that the child remains in service for a longer period, parents used to state a date subsequent to the date of actual birth, as the date on which the child was born.

In most cases, rules prescribe that a person would retire on the last day of the month in which he/she was officially born. So if the person’s birthday is say, the 2^nd March, he/she would retire on the 31^st March. However, if the birthday is the 1^st March, the person would retire on the 28^th of the preceding February! The logic here is that the first person in this case attains the age of superannuation on the 1^st of March and so would retire on the 31^st March but the second person attains that ‘golden’ age on the previous 28^th February.

In the recent Delhi gang-rape case, the person who inflicted the most inhuman injury on the victim is likely to escape punishment as he is officially a minor (a couple months less than the age of 18) and so is being tried in the juvenile court and not by the regular court. He is likely to be let off after a short ‘probation’ in a Juvenile Home. His Defence Lawyer produced the record from the school where he studied, showing that he is a minor. He cannot be subjected to medical examination to determine his actual age as under law, medical examination is permissible only the absence of any other proof of age. When the school-authorities were asked by Press Reporters as to basis of the recording of the date of birth of the accused, a grin was the reply. In interior areas, where parents do not remember when the child was born, the school-authorities put some approximate date as the child’s date of birth, at the time of admission.

Grey hairs are considered as an indication of a person’s wisdom. When a person’s hair becomes grey with age, she/he is supposed to have gained wisdom from life’s experiences that she/he has gone through. But in the present day polluted environment, age has no connection with greying hair and premature greying of hair is the norm rather than exception.

In China, one has to deduct 1 from the stated figure to know the actual age of a person. That is because a Chinese child is considered as already 1 year in age at the time of birth itself!

In my school-days I had read an Odia poem which, loosely translated, runs like this:

   He is not old,

   Who has a head of grey;

   He who pursues knowledge in his youth,

   People call him wise.

In Hindu mythology, gods are ever young and youthful. It is said that the ocean was churned by gods on one side and the rakshasas on the other side, placing Meru Parbat  at the centre and using the Great Snake  Vasuki  as the rope. From the churning, the deadly  poison halahala came out at first and, to save the situation, Lord Shiva drank it and became Nilakantha (blue-throated). Then came out the pot of elixir. Both the gods and rakshasas wanted to drink it. Lord Vishnu played a trick and gave the elixir only to the gods, which made them immortal and ever young. Here, a question comes to  mind: Were gods mortal before this? Or, did this churning of the ocean happen at the beginning of Creation?

Why do most women, more than men, detest ageing? Clopatra was an exception. In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare declares:

   Age cannot wither her nor custom stale,

   Her infinite variety.    

So, let us age gracefully and become ‘senior citizens’ rather than ‘old people’.

TAIL PIECE

An innocent and rustic middle-aged villager visited a city with his wife for the first time. They stood before a tall building and were awe-struck. At this time, the lift of the building opened and an old-looking woman entered it. The lift went up and came down in a minute. A pretty young lady came out of it. Our villager told his middle-aged wife, “You enter this machine and come out.”

2. "Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle."
                                                                                                      - Bob Hope, American actor and wit

No News Is Good News

I started reading newspapers when I was in the High School. We formed a Students’ Association, collected a small amount from each student every month and with that money, subscribed to the leading newspaper of the State and to a few children’s magazines. 

My reading English papers started when I joined the College. I was staying in the hostel. The papers came in the morning and were kept in the Hostel Common Room. Morning was the time for study and so I used to read the papers after returning from the Classes in the afternoons. By that time, the sheets would have been separated and would be lying on different spots and different tables. So my first task would be look for my favourite English paper, The Statesman, collect its different sheets from different tables, arrange them neatly, straiten the crumples and then proceed reading them. Since studies were to be resumed in the evening, I got limited time to read the papers. But the practice of arranging the sheets became a habit and has stayed with me.

Now we get 4 newspapers at home. I have chosen these not only for their news-presentation but for their features as well. My early mornings are spent in the garden. So, by the time I get to the papers, the wife would have grabbed 3 of them, except the financial paper (Although at home, her position is akin to that of the Expenditure Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India, she shuns the financial paper.), read them hurriedly before going to the kitchen for preparing the breakfast. So when my turn comes, my first task becomes to go back to the early habit and arrange each paper neatly. I don’t feel comfortable unless the paper is more or less in the same condition when the hawker delivers them.

The reading goes on intermittently the whole day and sometimes, spills over to the evening and even sometimes to the next or the subsequent day. For me, a newspaper becomes old only after I have read it .

The front pages say what is new and the editorial page containing the editorials, the lead article and the letters to the editor say what the news means. Yes, some letters are really enlightening. Among the features I like reading, are the Middles and the Sunday Supplements. The third editorials, by the editorial staff and by other contributors, are mostly in lighter vain and make excellent reading.

My habit of reading papers in detail became intensified soon after I finished my Post-Graduate studies and started preparing for various Competitive Examinations. At that time I was subscribing to 2 newspapers, one vernacular and the other, English. Since I had more or less ample time, I used to read the papers, particularly the English one, in detail, from the masthead at the top of the first page to the name of the editor at the bottom of the last page, of course excluding the advertisements other than those relating to employment. I was doing this more for polishing my knowledge of the English language and improving my vocabulary. When I came across new words, sometimes I used to consult a dictionary and at other times I could get the meaning from the context. However, I invariably used to consult a dictionary when using a new word, to make sure that I was using it correctly. This habit also has stayed with me.

Of course, now I do not read every bit of the news. Every news is not useful. A glance at the headline tells one whether to read the details that follow. Pocket cartoons by the late R K Laxman published in The Times of India were great treats. So were the cartoons of the late Mario Miranda in The Economic Times. The comic strips in The Times of India, particularly the travels of Archie, Veronica, Betty & Co. make great viewing. And who can resist the temptation of going through the antics of the darling ‘Denis, The Menace’?  Also, I always look for the cartoons under ‘Blinkers Off’ by Salaam in The Economic Times.  Amul ads occasionally reproduced in The Economic Times in the form of pocket cartoons (www.amul.com )are witty commentaries on contemporary happenings. I view these ads daily in the internet. 

Newspapers and magazines serve me well in utilizing my time. Whenever I go somewhere (particularly accompanying the wife when she goes for buying sarees) I carry with me my unread newspaper. Whenever I have to wait, I utilize this time by reading my newspaper or magazine. Even when I visit a hair-cutting saloon or a doctor, I carry my unread newspaper and read it instead of going through the reading material provided there for ‘time-pass’ which are really ‘time-kill’.

Press reporters are advised to report only what is unusual. Elaborating on this, one Editor gave an example to a young reporter: 'When a dog bites a man, it is not news; however, when a man bites a dog, it is news'. Reporters are also advised to be brief in their reports, so that maximum news is covered in the available space of a newspaper. Taking this to heart, one Correspondent filed a report:  ‘A man opened the tank of his bike to see if there was enough petrol. It was dark. He lit his cigarette-lighter. Age 26 years.'  

A retired person is typically pictured as reclining in a chair, face hidden behind an open newspaper and a bald pate prominently in view. I read my newspapers, sitting in my comfortable rocking chair. Luckily, my top has still a good crop of dark hair, although not as dense as it was in yesteryears.

TAIL PIECE:

To understand the whole thing, we are advised to read between the lines of reports. And sometimes it is fun joining the lines of newspapers. Some headlines read as ‘House-wife Murdered’ and the next line, in smaller prints, would be ‘By Our Staff Reporter’ or ‘By Our Correspondent’. Try joining the two lines! Or take another example. One headline screams, ‘One Kg Heroin Powder Seized’ and the following line in smaller print reads, ‘From Our Correspondent’. Poor correspondent! Luckily, I have not come across a headline like, 'School-girl kidnapped and raped' followed by 'By Our.....'   

 A QUERY:

Ignoramus wants to know why the word ‘news’ is singular number and not plural.

Those Hard Days, That One Rupee And A Sweet Tail

In my last post ‘A Temple and the Umbilical Chord’ I have very briefly referred to my primary education in my village-school. Our village is about 15 KMs from Cuttack, which was the capital of Odisha from 1936 (when Orissa - as it was spelt till 2011- was separated from Province of 'Bihar & Orissa' on the basis of language) to 1949. I started my education in the village-school. At that time the lowest Class was called Shishu Shreni (equivalent to Nursery). The next was Class I. Usually, when a child was first admitted to the school, the parents used to present a coconut and a few coins to the teacher. The first lesson started with learning to practise drawing 3 big zeros, representing the Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswar. After a brief puja, the teacher would draw the 3 big zeros on a slate and holding the pupil’s hand, would make the pupil draw again and again over the zeros till the pupil would be able to draw the zeros independently. After this, learning of the alphabets, one by one –or, most of the times, two by two- would start in the same process. The modern management concept of ‘hand-holding’ must have come from this.

In the beginning, the writing instrument would be khadi,  a chalk-like long but thin piece made of the same material as that of a slate, probably a little less hard. Pupils would practice learning and writing letters of the alphabet and then numbers by writing these on a slate by using a khadi. Later, perhaps in Class I, pupils would start writing with pencil on paper and then with ink-pen. We would buy ink-tablets and put these into water in an ink-pot to make ink. Writing was by dipping the nib of an open pen into the ink frequently. There would be smudges all over the paper as well as on the thumb and the fore finger with which the pen would be held. Along with a bag containing a few books each student used to carry his/her ink-pot to the school. There was only one teacher to teach all the students of all the classes. Of course, the total number of students in the school was not large. Any mistake would invite caning and other corporal punishments. Since I was a good student, I escaped this.

My first teacher was a wise and old soul. He retired perhaps when I was in Class II. A new and younger teacher joined. We were required to get by heart mathematical Tables. These Tables were written as below:
12   15
   
4     5
3     3
meaning 3x 4=12 and 3x5=15 etc. in the present form. The columns were separated by vertical lines drawn from top to bottom after writing each column.

120
10
12
meaning 12x10=120 in the present form.


In addition, the product, 120 here in this example, was to be converted to Rupees and Annas. One Rupee had 16 Annas and one Anna had 4 Paise. Here, 120 was to be converted as 7 Rupees and 8 Annas. This was to be written as 7 followed by the symbol for 8 Annas. This was to be written above 120. The tables were read starting from below, like, twelve tens (are) hundred twenty (which is equal to) 7 rupees and 8 annas. We had to get by heart such Tables up to 25.

The school-timing was from 10 A M to 4 P M. One thing I remember about the days of my first teacher was that the school had no clock, nor the teacher had a wrist-watch. I do not remember how the starting time of the school was determined. However the closing time was determined by an aeroplane. In the afternoon we used to hear the sound of its flying overhead and that was taken as the closing time of the school! I passed out from this school (Class III) in 1956. The nearest school having Class IV and above was more than 3 miles away (about 5 KMs). (The metric system of measuring distances by Metres and weights by Grams was yet to be adopted in India. The switchover came in 1957. Along with this, came the new monetary system of Rupees and Paise – first called Naye Paise –NP.) My elder brothers were studying in that school. They used to walk to that school. I was considered too frail to be able to walk 10 KMs (to and fro) daily. So I studied the lessons of Class IV at home, helped by an elder cousin-brother who, after passing High School Examination, was a teacher in that school. He was teaching in Classes up to VII.

          My recent photo against the background of my village-school           

   

When the next Academic Year started in July, I joined Class V in that school. For admitting me to Class V, the school conducted a special short Test for me to find whether I had really learnt the lessons of Class IV. My first walk to that school was memorable. The road was laid by spreading moram (red-coloured gravels) on the top. Wearing chappals or any other foot-wear was not in vogue. We had to walk bare foot. So when I returned from my first day at this school, both my feet were full of blisters. I could not walk. I had to absent myself from school till the blisters were cured. Then I learned walking on the extreme sides of the road where a little grass had grown, to avoid having blisters. After some days, I became habituated to walk on such roads without hurting my feet. The road in the village was of normal earth and no one had problem in walking on it. No one of the village, except those who traveled daily to Cuttack, the nearest city, to work in Offices, used any foot-wear.

I used to secure the first position in the Class in my village-school. The number of students in Class V of the High School was much larger. I stood 4th in the Annual Examination. The top 3 positions were occupied by three students who belonged to that locality and who were already studying there when I joined Class V there. I felt very sad. However in the Annual Examination of Class VI, I secured the First Position and maintained it till Class XI. At that time, High School was up to Class XI. At the end of Class XI, students were required to appear at an examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Examination. The Centre for this Exam was a school other than the students’ own. My Board Exam Centre was a school in Cuttack. When I went to appear at the Board Exam, my eldest brother, who was working at Cuttack, purchased a pair of hawai slippers for me. That was the first time that I had foot-wear. I used to walk to school during my first one year in the High School. The river Kathajodi, a branch of the Mahanadi, the longest river of Odisha, flows near our village. The river would be half dry in about 8 out of 12 months in a year. During rainy season, we used to cross the river in the boats which plied when the river would be in spate. When there would be no flood, people used to cross the river on foot. I also used to do that. From April till the school closed for Summer Holidays in mid-May, there would be morning Classes. We used to return from school in the mid-day. At that time, the sands of the river-bed would be very hot. As I said, we had no foot-wear. So, before having to walk on the hot sand, we used to uproot two bushes from the river-side. We used to put one bush over the hot sand, place one foot on it, put the other bush a little ahead and place the other foot on the second bush. Alternating like this, we used to walk on the sand on the river-bed. I went through this ordeal of having to walk on hot sand, bare feet for one year.

When I went to Class VI, I became a paying guest at the residence of one of my teachers whose house was near the school. From Class VII till Class XI, I stayed in the school-hostel. Since I was a good student and used always to top the Class, I received special help from my teachers. I never took private tuition like many of my Class fellows. For each subject, I had two long note books. I used to write the answers to the relevant questions on the subject in one note book and give it to the subject teacher. He would take it home, correct it and give it back to me the next day, when I would give him the second note book with my next set of answers. I can never forget this help of my school teachers. In fact, they were my mentors.

The school where I studied from Class V to Class XI was originally an M E School, having Classes from IV to VII. (At that time schools with Classes up to VII were called Middle English School – a legacy of the British days - and those with Classes from VIII to XI were called High English Schools. (These were not English-medium schools; English language was one of subjects taught there.) Around that time, the word ‘English’ was omitted and the schools became simply ‘Middle School’ and ‘High School’. The school where I studied was originally an M E School. I clearly remember an incident of those school-days. Prof. Ratnakar Pati, a retired Professor of Ravenshaw College, Cuttack and belonging to that area, painstakingly upgraded it to a High School. He was the President of the Managing Committee and in that capacity he used to visit the school and interact with the students. During one such visit, he came to our Class. I was in Class VI or VII. He asked us a question and then said “Raise your hands.” I was one of the few students who raised their hands. Another student answered correctly before the question could come to me. Then he said, “Spell the word ‘raise’.” Now only two hands were up. The first student spelt the word incorrectly. Then Prof Pati looked at me and I spelt it correctly. He became very happy, took out a one-rupee note from his pocket and gave it to me as a reward. (The year was 1958 or 1959. Then one rupee had substantial value!)

At the end of Class VII, I was selected to appear at the Scholarship Examination at Cuttack. In it I secured one of the Top Positions and got the Scholarship for the next 4 years, i.e., up to Class XI.
 
 I shall end with another situation I passed through during my first year in the College. I passed the High School Certificate Examination with good marks with which I secured a seat in Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, the premier College (established in 1863) of the State. I was also allotted a seat in the hostel. However, the family finances did not permit bearing the hostel fees. A person known to our family was working as a peon in the College. He was allotted a small room as accommodation. I stayed with him. He managed to get the key to one of the class rooms of the College. I kept my meager belongings and books in his room. For my studying, I used to open the Class Room in the mornings, evenings and holidays and used to study there. A few peons had joined for cooking their food and I was their paying guest.

 On the basis of my results in the H S C Examination I got a scholarship but the lengthy procedure for getting it meant that I received the amount only about 9 months after joining the College. With the scholarship money and an interest-free loan-scholarship from Government (The condition was that if after education, one took up teaching as a profession, 10% of the total loan-amount would be waived for each completed year of service.), my family could put me in a hostel of the College from my second year onwards. The general rooms of the hostels were meant to accommodate 4 students each but in view of the good marks secured by me in the Examinations every year, I was allotted one of the few single rooms of the hostel.          

       Postage Stamp issued on Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, in 1978

TAIL PIECE

My future wife was a student of the same College and 3 years junior to me. She got admitted to the College when I was in the Final Year of the Degree Course. That was my last year in that College, from where I went to the University for Post-Graduate Course. After our marriage, once when she was in an expansive mood, the wife confided with me that during her first year in the College, a thought passed her mind that her future husband must be studying in the same College. What a self-fulfilling thought! We did not know each other then, but must have seen each other during that year, without noticing or having an inkling of what God and fate were brewing for us! 

A Temple and the Umbilical Chord

I had been supporting the construction of a temple dedicated to the deity of my ancestral village. Swept by the current trend and due to demands of my working life, I had moved from my village to an urban area. I had constructed a house in the State Capital Bhubaneswar, almost 30 years ago. Due to call of work, I had moved all over India and had never got the opportunity of living in this house. After my retirement in 2009, the wife and I moved into this house. At this time, I felt the pull of my village where I had spent my childhood and had my primary education. The village-deity was housed in a small structure of about 6 feet with a dome at the top. Soon after my retirement, the villagers felt that it was time for construction of a bigger temple. A 25 feet temple was planned and my fellow villagers sought my support. This was the time I was experiencing the pull towards my idyllic village and I was only too willing to join.

The construction took about 3 years and the beautiful temple was consecrated in a 5-day ceremony from the 17^th to 21^st February, 2013. The Ratna Muda (sealing of the top of the structure) ceremony had been conducted about a year ago and the villagers had chosen me to be the Karta (principal performer of a puja) in it. In the final consecration ceremony also, I was chosen to be the Karta. So, for 5 days, I discarded my Western clothes and donned a two piece dhoti. On the first two days, it was white dhotis. It was preliminary puja on the first day. Puja was conducted on the idol to be installed. Then the idol was placed in a horizontal position and first, my wife (as kartri) and I as karta  put paddy over it amidst chanting of mantras. Then others put paddy over it as the chanting of mantras continued. The idol was fully covered with paddy.

The principal activity on the second day was panitola (ceremonial bringing of water from a river about 3 Kilo Metres from the temple to the Yajnasthala), walking the distance bare feet. One hundred and eight specially chosen ladies, attired in yellow-and-red coloured sarees, carried water in kalasas (earthen pots). I was at the head of this procession and carried the main kalasa.

The procession was a colourful one. We were preceded by drummers and musicians. The priests walked in front of me. A large number of other ladies, men and youngster (girls and boys) were at the tail end of the procession. The number of people in the procession exceeded 1000! Fire-works accompanied the procession. The serpentine procession meandered through the village. The onward journey, during which I carried the empty kalasa with a mango-twig and a green coconut on top, was easy.

After we reached the river, there was ceremonial puja near the water. The priests and I sat on the river-bed at the centre. All the Kalasas also were placed there. We were surrounded by a thick ring formed by the 108 ladies wearing identical yellow sarees with red border and small red flower-designs on the body. This ring in ‘uniform’ was surrounded by another layer of women and men in ‘civil’ dress. The whole thing appeared like a sight fit for gods to see!

The return journey was a difficult job. We had to trudge the village road bare-foot, carrying the water-loaded kalasa. Mine was larger and so heavier. And the requirement was that no water should spill on the way. To add to my pleasing burden, we had to halt at about 5 places, where ladies of the locality did puja and arati for the main kalasa which I was carrying. Before arati, one of the ladies would wash my feet with turmeric-water. During this process, I had to stand erect and almost motionless. At one of such ceremonies a lady put a tumble of green coconut water to my mouth and I sipped it with great relief. It was later explained to me that since I was carrying the main kalasa, I represented the deity and hence my feet were to be ceremonially washed. (However, I felt embarrassed.)

Towards the end, I felt tired and started worrying whether I would be able to make it to the temple. Throughout the return journey, a young man walked close to me to avert any possible mishap. I planned to hand over the kalasa to him in case of need. But with the blessings of the deity, I completed the journey. At the end, I was fully exhausted but felt very happy.   

The kalasas were placed near the Yagnasthala. In the evening, the yajnakunda where homa (holy fire) was to be conducted was ceremonially lighted. On the third day, ceremonial worship of the sun and then of a cow and other rituals were conducted. On the fourth day, the ceremonial worship of the sun and a cow was repeated. This cow was later gifted to the chief priest.

Then the idol was brought to snana mandap (bathing place) and turmeric paste, sandal wood paste, ghee were applied on it. After that the idol was bathed with milk and finally, with water. As usual, my wife (as the Kartri) and I as karta started the process which was completed by the other devotees. After more puja,  the idol ceremonially ‘slept’ on the yajna mandap and evening arati was conducted.

On the final day, after worship of the sun, the process of jibanyasa (breathing life into the idol) was conducted and the spirit of the deity was instilled in the idol. After more puja, the deity was taken around the entire village in a decorated vehicle improvised as a rath (chariot) along with beating of drums and playing of music. The priests, I and a few other devotees sat at the feet of the deity. Others followed on foot.  The vehicle stopped at a few places where the residents worshipped the deity. Then the deity was taken into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple amidst chanting of mantras, playing of devotional music and beating of drums. Purnahuti (final offering) marked the completion of the process of consecration of the temple.

With the entry of the deity, the structure became a temple.

In all the 5 evenings, bhajans, kirtans and other devotional programmes were conducted. In one evening, Arabinda Muduli, the leading devotional singer of Odisha performed. In another evening, Swami Krishna Premanand Saraswati Maharajji of Chinmaya Mission conducted a Prabachan (spiritual discourse).

The 5-day programme was an humbling and uplifting experience for me. From mundane life, I felt transported to a different world. The memory of that exalted feeling has been permanently etched in my mind. The wife was all along by my side as sahadharmini.

My parents, uncles and aunts are no more. My brothers and I have moved away to cities. No one from my extended family any longer lives in my village. Our ancestral house has been let out to a neighbour on a nominal rent, to take care of its maintenance . Our visits to the village are scarce. This temple will provide me an attachment and attraction and raison detre for me to visit the village where I came into this world.

During these 5 days, I stayed in our ancestral house (which was earlier my home) in the village; I became a guest in our own house! The tenant's family took good care of me. By a coincidence, the room in which I was put up was the same room where I was born! I visualised myself as a baby. Nostalgic memories of my early life filled my mind. Throughout, I felt the presence of my mother by my side.

One day, I visited the village school (since upgraded) where I first learnt the alphabets on a slate with a 'khadi'. I talked to the students and teachers sharing memories of the past. I was taken back to a scene where I found myself as a tiny tot going to the school with a bag hung from the shoulders, containing a couple of books, a note book, a rather long ink-pen with an open nib  and an ink-pot in hand! I can't forget my first teacher (an old and wise soul) and the other teachers of my time there. I took a photo of mine against the background of the school, established in 1932. I passed out from this school (Class III) in 1956.

My mind is filled with emotions and feelings which I fail to find words to describe.

I feel the pull of the umbilical chord.    

Confluence of East and West at Deityless Temple

On the 8^th February, 2013, I had the good fortune of watching a programme called ‘Fastest Feet in Rhythm’ organized jointly by Odissa Tourism and U S Consulate General, Hyderabad. It was a unique and amazing Jugalbandi by Kathak maestro Pandit Chitrsh Das (creator of Kathak Yoga) and the Emmy  Award winner American Tap dancer  and choreographer Jason Samuels Smith. It was a fusion of the classical Indian Kathak dance and Western tap dance. They performed against the backdrop of the famous Rajarani Temple at Bhubaneswar. The receding winter, neither cold nor warm, provided a perfect atmosphere for this open-air presentation.

The first part of the programme was an innovative Kathak dance by Chitresh Das. After presenting Shiva Vandana in the classical style, he moved to his innovation. By skilled footwork he created the sounds of a galloping horse and then a running train and the crossing of two trains. In the second part, Jason started with the usual tap dance, moved over to dancing to the playing of Indian musical instruments and then to the ‘tapping’ effect with swift footwork.

In the third part, the duo danced with perfect synthesis. There was a perfect fusion between the Indian classical music and dance with Jazz music and Western dance.

Tap dancers use their feet like drums to create rhythmic patterns and timely beats. The sound is made by shoes with metal ‘tap’ on the heel and toe. The term ‘tap dancing’ is derived from the tapping sound produced when the small metal plates fixed to the dancer’s shoes touch the hard floor.  Tap dancing has two major variations: Rhythm (Jazz) Tap and Broadway Tap. Rhythm Tap focuses more on musicality while Broadway Tap emphasizes more on the dance.

It was a very enjoyable evening.

The previous evening, the two performers  spoke to a leading national newspaper about their unusual collaboration and the kind of reaction they get from the audience. Chitresh Das, who is 68, said that he felt younger when he performs with Jason. Jason said that their collaboration started at the backstage of the American Dance Festival in 2oo4.
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Interestingly, Rajarani temple, probably built by Somavanshi kings,  has a mystery about it. There is no deity in it and no puja is performed here. Nobody knows whether there ever was a deity in this temple. Some believe that it was a pleasure resort of Raja (King) and Rani (Queen) and hence the name but other historians show evidences to disprove this theory. Some historians say the original name of the temple was Indreswar Temple but later it came to be known as Rajarani temple as it is built of Rajarania, the fine-grained yellowish sand-stone. Both in art and architecture, it has all the features of a temple-structure. Beautiful statuettes and carvings adorn this temple which as tall as any other such structure. Some historians say it was a Shiva temple while others say its presiding deity was Lord Vishnu.  

A beautiful and well-maintained park and a lawn have been laid out around 

this temple. The precinct comes to life every year in January when the 3-day Rajarani Festival is organized here. Noted Indian classical vocal and instrumental artistes from all over India perform in this Festival and the temple reverberates with notes and strains of captivating music.

I am a regular visitor of this Festival.