R. Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 19
October 2, 2021
Snapshots from history: The Mahatma a Conundrum.
It is the 2nd of October again, and suddenly Gandhiji is remembered. His statues are garlanded and dubious politicians of all hues and ideologies stake a claim on him.
Gandhi, the man, what he stood for is forgotten in the fiction created over the years.
What we have is a demi-God, a myth invoked by all politicians to justify themselves.
Politicians and princes had gathered on the night of the 14th of August 1947 in the constituent assembly awaiting the “stroke of the midnight hour.”
...
October 1, 2021
Snapshots from history: Vasudev Balwant Phadke, the first revolutionary.
Vasudev Balwant Phadke.
Mumbai is a bustling metropolis, one of the great cities of the world.
Just about an hours drive from Mumbai, at @ 45 km, is the small village of Shirdhon in Panvel Taluka in Raigad district.
During weekends and at other times too you have droves of tourists thronging the picnic spots around the Karnala bird sanctuary on the Mumbai Goa highway.
Just 4 km away from Karnala is Shirdhon, a sleepy little hamlet that nobody knows or visits.
In this sleepy litt...
September 26, 2021
Snapshots from history: The kingdoms Travancore and Kochi become a union and a part of India.
Kerala, a scenic view on the way to Munnar
When you travel from the south of Kerala to the North of Kerala today, it seems simmilar in all aspects.
God’s own country, Kerala, is blessed with nature’s bounty. As we travel from Trivandrum all the way to Kasaragod that’s the impression we get.
There are mountains with breathtaking views, rolling hills, every now and then you get glimpses of the sea through the greenery along the road.
You cross enchanting backwaters or cross a swift...
September 9, 2021
Why we don’t look at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi.
It was Ganesh Chaturthi and the world was celebrating this auspicious day.
Ganesha was happy but also a bit hassled he had so many invitations. He did not want to disappoint any of his well-wishers so he tried to accept the maximum he could.
Everywhere he went his devotees had made his favourite foods, especially the modak in its different versions.
Ganesha finally decided to call it a day, even he was satiated with all the food he had and it was late night now.
Ganesha mounte...
Karna and Kunti
Karna and Kunti
I stood in the light
The dark in me alight
Small she stood straight
Red eyes on my face
My son, she whispered
My sin, I heard.
Krishna came too late
The truth so frightening
She now stood before me
My heart exulted, mind numb
My mother, burden and sorrow.
Speech fled, thought died
Anger and sadness mingled
Harsh words I spoke
Love burst and regret flamed
I took that small hand.
She gripped with strength
Hu...
August 31, 2021
Indian Oil
Indian Oil
India had become independent in 1947, but foreign corporations still dictated terms in many sectors.
One crucial sector was energy, especially Petroleum.
Burma Shell, Caltex, and Esso, all large corporations, controlled this sector and they acted as a cartel and at times their actions were not in India’s interest.
To have some control on energy supplies and as an alternate Indian Oil was born on 30 th June 1959.
The fledgling Petroleum company was headed by Shri S....
August 27, 2021
Karna’s Soul
Karna’s Soul
The soul shed its mortal coil
Broke the bonds that drag
It was twilight, harbinger of night
Yet I lingered , not fully free
Above that ground of death
Barren land drenched in blood
The body lay headless
Strong limbs asprawl
The head unblinking watched
Jackals tore the entrails
I felt not the pain
It was me for so long
Striding in strength
Alive across this land
My arms were strong
My shoulders broad
Benign Sun, ...
August 21, 2021
Onam, Sadhya and Mahabali.
Onam sadhya.Seasons come and seasons go, they mark the passing of time. This year time seemed to be on a slow track as the pandemic hit.
Another year and another Onam stuck without being able to travel or have an Onam Sadya, the traditional feast with friends.
I was on my bed, despondent, fiddling with my mobile when I noticed him.
He was sitting on my chair, a stalwart handsome man, watching me with a smile on his face. I felt no surprise at seeing him even though the door was loc...
August 19, 2021
The Green Monster
R.Radhakrishnan
Another of my short stories:
It sneaked silently along with him as he came wailing out of his mother’s womb. Its initial forays were greeted with mirth as he wailed when his mother picked up another child or favored his siblings.
Slowly as he grew the green worm was greeted with less of mirth and more of wrath. In school any manifestation was strongly put down. It grew quiet and dormant, never evident but always there.
Silently lurking in the corners of his mind, biding i...
August 17, 2021
A Mumbai Story
A Mumbai Story
One of my first short stories written years back in 1992 or thereabout.
The blood seeped from my wounds; my brother lay beside me his blood mingling with mine. The shock cushioned the pain in my body, my mind wandered into the past.
“Amma” I cried as the darkness crept in and my soul flitted away from this world.
I writhed in the pain of memories.
A sincere serious boy was I, the eldest of my family, the apple of my mother’s eye. We lived in a housing board chawl ...
