R. Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 21
July 26, 2021
Friends and memories.
Old friends like old wine get better with age.
The pandemic has brought home the fact with devastating effect that life is momentary.
Each moment needs to be cherished, as I age and lose friends the thought that I will no longer be able to banter and talk with some of them is depressing, and my mind is desolate.
It makes me cherish more, those friends who remain.
Many a time ego comes into play and there is the urge to prove a point. So you get into debates and discussions. These at ...
July 23, 2021
A story for Guru Purnima
Today we celebrate Guru Purnima in India and Nepal. More than a religious festival it is a cultural or traditional occasion.
It goes beyond religion in the sense that I wished one of my school teachers who is a follower of Islam. He accepted my wishes and blessed me. This is a typical Indian practice that is followed irrespective of the faith one follows.
It is a celebration of those who share their wisdom, knowledge, and experience with us. Those who light up the path ahead for us.
Gur...
July 20, 2021
An experience with online abuse.
I recently published a small book with stories from Indian Mythology.
I happily went and announced it on my Facebook Author page and promoted it a bit.
A new book, especially for new authors like me is a matter of pride. I was happy and basking in the praise from friends and family.
But then the reality of the world hit me..I got trolled.
I was called names, abuse heaped upon me and I was flabbergasted.
The objection was to the use of the term Indian Mythology by me. These few s...
July 15, 2021
Migrant.
I have seen death strike sometimes sudden and sometimes lingering reluctant to take.
When it is sudden it is always a shock as it is unexpected.
Today a migrant worker died, a slab slid high up on a new building trapping him between a iron rod and the slab as he hung outside on the scaffolding.
We watched him die.
It was traumatic and brought home a fundamental truth that we all are transient.
A friend and classmate sent a link to his podcast and the first one was on the need to ...
July 10, 2021
Memories : 3 : Crushes and blushes
The first crush I had as a kid was Diana from the Phantom comics which were my favorite comics and the Phantom still is my favorite hero.
I was highly disappointed to learn later that she was just an author’s creation.
As we entered into our teens all of us boys became more interested in the girls in our class.
But in those days what most of us did was look surreptitiously at the girls in our class. Not many of us gathered up the courage to even have a proper conversation.
Egged on ...
Memories : Crushes and blushes
The first crush I had as a kid was Diana from the Phantom comics which were my favorite comics and the Phantom still is my favorite hero.
I was highly disappointed to learn later that she was just an author’s creation.
As we entered into our teens all of us boys became more interested in the girls in our class.
But in those days what most of us did was look surreptitiously at the girls in our class. Not many of us gathered up the courage to even have a proper conversation.
Egged on ...
July 7, 2021
A Dark Diwali: Tipu Sultan and the Melkote massacre.
An ancient pillar inside the temple.Long long ago when I was a young man, I along with my sister visited Seringapatnam on the banks of the Kaveri.
Both of us were history buffs and were thrilled to see the place from where Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore came.
We grieved over him as we saw the place of his last stand and where he finally fell wounded but fighting the British till his last breath.
We had learned about him and his exploits in our history books and were admirers of th...
July 4, 2021
The Story and the Song
Folk tales in the form of songs have a different perspective from regular versions. If the folk song is sung by women the perspective will be even more different.
In a patriarchal society, the voice of women gets suppressed but in folktales and songs, these get expressed.
We see that in the lovely story of Draupadi being protected by the women which I had retold earlier.
This is a retelling of a folk tale from Karnataka on the perils of not listening to a woman or stifling her voice. V...
July 3, 2021
Memories part 2
On a field trip to Alibaug, with my professor Raveendran Sir. I am the one holding the collection bag.1980 I think.We are what we make of ourselves. Our experiences as we grow and age keeps changing us and makes us what we are today.
What we will be tomorrow will be shaped by our yesterdays and our today.
Every day I get messages on social media that ask me to hate this or that community, indignation at perceived insults and so much that I don’t even understand. I used to protest again...
June 23, 2021
Sita of the Ramayana
Sita in the Ramayana is worshipped às goddess incarnate. She is gentle, knowledgeable, an ideal wife, and later an ideal mother.
She is unlike the fiery Draupadi of the Mahabharata and today many look at Sita as a symbol of oppressed womanhood. Modern retelling of her story looks at her as a woman who suffered in silence while Draupadi is the one who opposes and seeks retribution for the wrongs she suffered.
Draupadi was born in the fire, from a yagna her father performed for getting r...
