R. Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 20
August 14, 2021
Valmiki, breaking bonds and being independent. A tale of transformation.
We are bound by many bonds. Our ancient texts talk of getting moksha which translates as freedom. In life, many bonds bind us and some times they curb us. That is why our ancients said we need to break the bonds of Maya, illusion, to be truly free.
Today we celebrate India’s freedom from British rule as Independence Day.
But there are many other bonds we need to break free and be independent. The bonds of poverty, corruption, disease, lack of knowledge, caste, religion. All these to some e...
August 7, 2021
The Fort of Senji
Senji FortWe were discussing Neeraj Chopra, his Olympic Gold in the Javelin throw, and his Maratha roots. During the discussions on what’s up, a friend, Commander Ravi, commented, ” these types of histories never help the politicians so never will be told.”
I reflected on it and found there is truth in what he said. Thank you Ravi for that insight.
Much of history as we are taught is told with bias, a political bias. Many a time only the differences are highlighted, the common threads ...
August 5, 2021
Memories: Doorstep service, the vendors of yesteryear’s.
Cobbler at work.Service at the doorstep or home delivery is touted as a new revolution in retail.
But that’s not true, we had a variety of services and goods right at our doorstep when growing up in the Mumbai of the 70s and 80s which is now lost.
Not only did these people offer us service at our house they were also friends in many ways.
The human interaction was much more, unlike the current online and app-based ordering.
There was the traveling cobbler or rather handyman. He ...
Who am I? An existential quest.
Karna is one of the most popular characters in the Mahabharata.
One reason is that he keeps asking
” Who am I?”?
A fundamental question all of us ask ourselves now and then.
The search and the seeking of an identity is never-ending. This makes us try and belong to groups like family, religion, caste, nation and so on and on.
As a primate, we are also social animals, the sense of tribe and community is built into us.
But at the core is that doubt, that search who am I, what a...
August 3, 2021
The Prince at the Fork, a Ramayana story.
Once long ago I went to Orissa, this was much before I could afford to travel by flight or even in air-conditioned comfort in trains.
Travel was in three tiers third class and you were happy if you had a confirmed berth so that you could sleep during the night. A top berth was preferable as a lower berth meant someone was always asking you to adjust so that they could share your berth.
There was no point in protesting as these were local travelers traveling within a section of the rou...
August 1, 2021
Memories: The Indian Coffee House.
One aspect of growing up in the 70s and 80s was the hadda, a meeting place, where many youngsters like me met.
We had different places, in college, it was the steps of Bombay Gymkhana or the railings in front of the college where we boys sat and whiled away our time; when we were not watching a movie at reduced rates at any of the nearby cinema halls.
We had our own groups and places were marked for each group. There were only boys in the group but sometimes a few girls would join when we ...
July 31, 2021
In memory of Friends lost
The leaves are still
The trees don’t sway
The world waits
In hushed eerie calm
The Sun sinks slowly
Every Breath is pleasure
Who knows when it ends
Men in arrogant hubris
Owned the world
Ravaging the land
Nature with patience
She cajoled, she warned
Humanity was lost
The scourge unleashed
In droves we died
Like flies we dropped
Rich men, poor men
Great men,little men
The young, the old
Friends gone without a word
Leaving behind shocked...
Loss of Friends
The leaves are still
The trees don’t sway
The world waits
In hushed eerie calm
The Sun sinks slowly
Every Breath is pleasure
Who knows when it ends
Men in arrogant hubris
Owned the world
Ravaging the land
Nature with patience
She cajoled, she warned
Humanity was lost
The scourge unleashed
In droves we died
Like flies we dropped
Rich men, poor men
Great men,little men
The young, the old
Friends gone without a word
Leaving behind shocked...
July 30, 2021
Vasco da Gama and the European advent into Kerala.
An old European man of war firing its guns
The Zamorin of Calicut as painted by Veloso Salgado in 1898In the late 15th Century, Kozhikode, or Calicut as we call it in its anglicized form, was one of the prominent free ports of the world.
Most of the world knew of the free port of Calicut and its Hindu ruler the Zamorin. It was a rich kingdom full of treasures and the source of black gold that is pepper. Much of world trade passed through this great port and the Zamorin was a grand pr...
July 27, 2021
A migrant’s death
It hung swaying
The arms flapped
The head lolled
A puppet without strings.
Load on his back
He hung there
In pain
Searching help
In vain.
Family, food
Education, home
Children, parents
Siblings, marriage
Life’s load.
A long road
A strange place
A better life
Dreams he had
Reality struck today.
High up
He worked
A slide
Slab of stone
On his back.
Humans watched
No one helped
Life squeezed
In ...
