Sachin Ketkar's Blog, page 176

मराठी असणे म्हणजे नेमके काय असणे ह्या गुंतागुंतीच्या विषयावर संध्याकाळी केलेले काही विसखळीत व

मराठी असंणे म्हणजे
मराठीत असणे


मराठी असणे म्हणजे शेतावर मराठी बुजगावणे लावणे
मराठी असणे म्हणजे बुजगावण्यांचीच शेती करणे
मराठी असणे म्हणजे मराठीत आत्मह्त्या करणे


मराठी असणे म्हणजे सातशे वर्ष जुन्या 
अनार्य गर्भाशयातून खडकाळ दरीत जन्मणे  


मराठी असणे म्हणजे मराठीत जगणे मराठीत हगणे 
मराठीत मुतणे 
मराठीत पिणे मराठी अश्रु काढणे
मराठीत रोगी होणे मराठीत भोगी होणे 
मराठीत उपभोगी होणे मराठीत योगी होणे
मराठीत उपयोगी होणे मराठीत खेळणे मराठीत चोळणे
मराठीत खुळे होणे
मराठीत लुळे होणे
मराठीत चरणे मराठीत हरणे 
मराठीत ऊठणे...

मी भाषेला बोलताना ऎकतो: सचिन केतकरची एक कविता

मी भाषेला बोलताना ऎकतो
सचिन केतकर


भाषा बोलतीय
मी ऎकतोय


सगळ्यांच्या पलीकडून ती बोलतीय
शेकडो वर्षांपासून
संततधार
अखंड
अव्याहात
भाषा बोलतीय मी ऎकतोय
लोकं तोंड फ़क्त हलवतायत
लोकाना वाटतय ते स्वत: बोलतायत
पण भाषाच बोलतीय
भाषेच्या उगमा पलिकडून


मी ऎकतोय
कित्येक नद्यांना पूर आले अन गेले
नद्यांनी कित्येकदा वाटा बदलल्या
भाषा थांबतच नाहीये
तिच्या सादेतूनच उभं होतं जग
हे घर हे झाड ही माणसं
भाषा बोलतीये


पण ती माझ्याशी बोलतीय का?
भाषा कोणाशीही बोलत नाहीये
म्हणून ती सगळ्यांशीच बोलतीये
पण भाषा स्वत:शीच बोलतीये फ़क्त
भाषेला बोलताना म...

Remembering John Ruskin in the Times of Global Recession: Or The Invisible Hand that Did not Show Up

I would not have read certain books, had I not been assigned the job of teaching them. And I am mighty happy that I was assigned such a job. One of such curious books is  `Unto This Last' by John Ruskin (1819-1900) which appeared in 1862. Probably, some bias against the Victorian literature instilled by my modernist preferences is one reason why I stayed clear of the Victorian Prophets. However, its time I got rid of my biases. There are hardly funnier and entertaining books than Carlyle's...

The Challenge called Dilip Chitre

This morning I received the sad news from Hemant that Dilip Dada is no more. With passing away of Dilip Chitre (1938-2009), an era of  Marathi poetry and literature comes to an end. He was one of the greatest poets in Marathi and one of the best Indian poets. He was a fantastic translator, critic and fiction writer. He was always a brave rebel, an immensely creative personality and uncompromising critical intelligence. He kickstarted the `Little Magazine Movement' in Maharashtra with his...

On Disliking Chetan Bhagat

It is as fashionable these days to dislike Chetan Bhagat, as it is to say that one doesn't  watch Ekta Kapoor's serials.  One of the reasons for disliking Bhagat is what his detractors call ` atrocious' English. The guy, these detractors say, cannot write `decent' English and is artistically very inferior when it comes to things like the plot or characterization or dialogues. I find these charges rather snobbish and elitist.

One reason why I find Chetan Bhagat interesting is because he is so d...

Books and websites for UGC-NET, SLET EXAMS

The season of the UGC-NET and SLET exams is approaching and I am often asked what books should be consulted for preparation. So here goes my recommended list.
For the first paper, I think one can use books on Reasoning and Clerical Aptitude published by  Competition Success Review. However, for other papers I recommend these books:
1) Abrams, MH A Glossary of Literary Terms , eighth ed.,New Delhi, Pearson Publication, 2008. Earlier editions of this book are easily available, but the eighth is...

From Shoka to Shloka in Gujarat

Today, I attended a very interesting lecture on `Poetry as Language of Persuasion' delivered by one of the best living poets of Gujarat, Sitanshu Yashashchandra Mehta at Forum of Contemporary Theory, Vadodara. Evoking the epics by Dante and Valmiki, Prof Mehta discussed how poetry is an account of travel and journey. The lecture was organized under the national workshop on ` Towards an Ecology of Knowledge' by the Forum on Contemporary Theory and Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics...