An idea, a thought, an anecdote, a story or a poem a day!

Happiness is a moment in life  caught through moments of living 😊 We can't find it beyond or before this moment!  It is, oh it was just now!

You promised to come to save the world, to save humanity from its sins. It is time now, to fulfil your promise of redemption come, now, to save humanity from itself!

Heard on RN, Radio National's Book festival today something to the effect 'Fiction tells lies that truth is made up of.'  Or 'Fiction tells truths, that life lies about',  And I'm thinking How true fiction is!  And how unreal, reality is sometime! Fiction or reality, which one lies, and which one tells the truth? I'll need to explore some more fiction to understand this life a bit!

Motivation is self direction, and this can only be only from within. I teach English to adults who mostly feel they are lesser because of their lack of language skills. Their self esteem gets hurt quite easily, and, this issue of hurt self-esteem troubles students from both age groups, younger and not so young ones. Constructive feedback is critical for their learning and progressing, but how we construct that feedback makes such a huge difference. Saying, that you have done all correctly, but for this, and this, and that, sometimes might work. They want to start all over again, and though they make some of the same, or similar mistakes, they keep trying. On the other hand, some students become really frustrated that they didn’t get it 100% right, and stop trying.  I’d say it is their self motivation, a sense of self-direction that is the key for their learning.

Reason Exploration of what is!  It is logical, rational,  and Imagination Thinking of what can be!   Originality creativity

 5 words From trailing clouds of glory Neera  Drawn with clay,  on this yellow canvas, we come to life. Blessed with five senses,  we still forget,  refusing to see or hear,  what's so clear! Our illusion,  that we are forever,  our tenacity,  not to understand that we aren't here to stay! We are just on our way,  to merge back into that glow, that we come from and where we go!

Freedom for whom? Freedom from whom? Freedom, how? Freedom, when? Freedom!  where? Freedom, WHAT?

 Nourished lips and parched soul I didn’t open my hand, as I was holding tight to the remnants of the pearls, left after the earth had torn itself apart  to nourish my body, my soul, my core.  And I kept my eyes tight shut too, as I didn’t want to see the devastation   I had wrought on everything, that I had taken to make my food, my bed, my shelter. I didn’t open my lips even to whisper, let alone shout my disagreement, my discomfort,  when it was all being consumed by our collective greed and hunger for more and more. I kept my heart insulated in the acid of greed, selfishness, in a jar of me, above everything,  everything that I had devoured to feed my ego, my insatiable thirst.  And suddenly like sand,  time, and life slipped out of my fist and  I was left  empty handed,  alone on a barren land,  on the side of a poisoned river,  looking up at the leafless trees under the canopy of rainless clouds. It was eerily silent all around,  and with no one to hear,  finally, I whispered  &q

Just reading about war, and thinking  how differences in people cause these wars! War, like all human works, is first an act of words. But these words reject the halo of ideas radiating from a counter-translator representing another intelligence and another discourse. The will no longer attempts to figure out and to be figured out. It makes its goal the other’s silence, the absence of reply, (Ranciere, 1991, p. 82).

 No, it doesn't, as it is said,  but who knows ? Maybe it does!  The heart wrenching scenes being streamed into my cosy, albite locked down life have the caption written a large on them HISTORY WILL NOT FORGIVE, and I wonder,  what does it actually mean? And if it doesn't, then how does it not forget? Does it matter to the person! For example, to the three perpetrators of this unwinnable war, that started in 2001, does it matter to them, what they did? Or does it matter to the one, who has pulled the plug! So if history does not forget  does it forgive? 

  The place of being different August 21, 2021 “Arey, why didn’t you wake up on time, now you have missed the bus. I’ll have to drop you.” I was annoyed, as I was going to be late for my own meeting at the office. I was actually late already, as I had been dilly dallying whether to go for the morning meeting at work, or take a day off. “But mum, I don’t want to go to school today, or ever!” and instead of reaching for the main door, he turned to the cupboard to get some cereal. “What?”, it seemed, Arey had spoken something that I was thinking too. I don’t want to go to my work place either, today, especially. But putting away my thoughts about my issue with work, I turned to my son and his issue with his school. He had come down from his room, dressed for school, but just in time to miss his bus. “But why? What’s the matter? Did you not finish your homework, the story you had to right?” Arey sat down on the breakfast stool, and started to pour milk into his cereal. I decided to sit dow

 If it's a  demand for visibility If it is giving voice to the voiceless,  If it is to demand equality and a right to speak Freedom to speech is a right And is right Otherwise it becomes a weapon To suppress the oppressed even more! 

Freedom to speech, is a convoluted phenomenon.  It needs to be explored. In Australia, for a while the debate on freedom of speech has been going on, whether, slandering someone is someone else's right to free speech, or whether it is vilification and should be punishable! Vilification laws, to protect minorities, can also impact on people's right to free speech.  Speech is certainly silver, if silence is golden,  And both are precious! Speech even if it is not gold, or even silver, but is iron, it is worth diamonds a saying in Hindi, hundred strikes of a jeweller, and one strike of an ironsmith!  A free speaker smiths rebellion, love, poetry, power! Speech is expression, silence is mysterious,  one is giving, one is holding  both can be cruel or generous!  

Freedom of speech  A right to be free,  to be able to say what is right!  But what is right?  I mean the opposite of wrong, right. Yes right that we want to be said, expressed without any fear.  That is the freedom that we want to have,  but for us,  we don't want it for those whose right is different from that  of ours. 

Who has the right to write and that too poetry. Has there been much poetry written  by farmers, field workers, the poor or women   The reason why all the poetry, I mean, the known poetry is written by those who had the money, the leisure to dream! It doesn't mean that those who lived a humble life didn't dream, or didn't write. They did, but according to Ranciere, "visibility" differentiated between  the two, "men of  leisure  and men of necessity",  those who are seen and  those who remain unseen, and unheard,  those who think, and those who cannot think! Ranciere's bourgeois masters were creators and thinkers while their workers who could have been artists, poets, and thinkers, in their own right, were not able to/couldn't create. Yes, those who had the time, the money and the luxury of having leisure as their vocation, and those who led a life of drudgery. They also wrote, but remained uncelebrated! In the French revolution when workers were r

At one stage when I was doing more academic work, my reading list consisted of those writers, who write about teaching, research, and environment, however, learning was naturally the underlying factor in all their writings.  Education  and educators, teaching and learning. At the suggestion of one of my supervisors, I had read Ranciere, and his Ignorant School Master. It was a fascinating account of a French teacher who didn't know the language of his Flemish speaking students,  while he was in exile in Netherlands and these students didn't know French, but he ended up teaching them a French classic! How? What worked was students' motivation to learn, and what was proven to be superfluous was the teacher who explicates or transmits knowledge.  How can this be applied in my work today, while I'm teaching English, I've been thinking. How can I reduce and even eliminate explication,  explaining again and again?  I'm ignorant as I don't know much about my studen

 Whatever I don't care Doesn't matter No problem Not interested. What? I care Yes if matters Tell me I'm interested! 

The area in between, that we talk about the most, where these shades of grey are, and that's how things are!  Neither black nor white Good or bad Right or wrong Left or right Conservative, or forward  For or against as it is a continuum, on a spectrum of black, and white  colours, there are layers of grey in  between! And that's where things exist!! 

It had been a beautiful sunny day And the evening was equally bright Waiting for the cool dark of the night the sky was all fired up  by the setting sun, and I was waiting!  And waiting and waiting  I got tired but the cows didn't appear I waited for a long time And then ... it became clear  that day no matter how much did I wait, no matter how long,  and how much we argued that this is right, or that is wrong the cows weren't coming home!   

 The area where I had moved in had presented a pastiche of nature, a garden of all colours, different foods and cultures.  the place that is home now.

Edge Master sigh moth wild In the wild wild jungle of the nigh The tiger was raging raging brigh All were a running running for life  "Everyone calm down,"  said the master with a sigh, "Don't be like a moth  to die  at the bottom of the edge,  take a chance, climb up, Tigers can't jump so high"!

For the past few days, I have been coming across a man on his wheel chair one of those motorised ones, coming to 'walk' around the park, with his dog, a beautiful golden retriever, tethered to the chair, it runs ahead of him, as if it directs him, pulls him,  accompanies him. His lush tail wagging along. It is such a beautiful sight! During lockdown, so many people have started walking, yes, walking as a pass time, not only as exercise, but as a way of entertainment too.  And also, I have seen a few people with dogs, some big ones, and some with tiny ones, and mostly people with puppies. We already have a cat, and we used to have a dog many years ago, and now we have got a puppy too.  I mean, we know a bit about animals, our pets. They are our besties,  they are great companions, as they stick with you, no matter what!  They are playful, naughty, and they have unconditional love., they  never keep a grudge. And never argue! Shaw's famous words sometimes seems so true: "

Is it the second coming, Caliphate,  or Lord Krishna, our Messiah  or the 1984* reality  being realised?  Yes, the self terminating race we humans are,  we had to finally reach this point!  Technology and the changing world, changing   l imitations,  new morals  and new rule.  The changing roles, i n which are we t he master or the mule?  Who is doing and what is doing and to whom, and to what?  Do we know what's happening Do we know, and also don't know? Do we have any answers? Do we have any questions? Do we know, or even care about  What is the point? Note:   Here, I'm reminded of Kena Upanishad   one of the Upanishads**, in which a student asks questions, and the teacher, the guru, answers in the form of questions, so knowledge is not just transmitted from the teacher, but is discovered by the disciple. For example: Who is thinking, speaking, listening, living, or looking through me? The answer to this question is : "It is the mind of the mind, the speech of the sp

 Forgetting or remembering the past, our collective past, or complete denial, So what is that we try to forget and what feeling do we have about it? is it shame or guilt? is it guilt or shame? Shame is for the person to change, Guilt is for the deed, or the other way? I was listening to a talk on the radio this morning, about this topic,  whether forgetting the past events,  or maintaining the connection with the past  could be an antidote to shame or guilt of the atrocities wrought by one on the other! Fascinating!

What is your 'why'? The other day,  my personal trainer asked me. And I looked at her through the computer screen, blinded by her sheen,  her aura! "Yes, she must have one"?  I thought.  As is it not the biggest question the very quest of this life! I mean, this "Why’? Why do you do what you do? Why do you want to do it? Yes, this ‘why’, the Greek term, ‘Telos’,   'the why’, which a guide, a guru,  and in this case a trainer, asks of a human being. What is your 'why'?   Your purpose, Your objective in life. "Isn't the purpose to find the purpose, and to pursue it in life?" Ulysses of Dante’s Divine comedy or Homer's Odyssey A hero, to pursue his dream,  or a betrayer,  to break the rules to go beyond mortality! Again, "Why? And that is the question!  But, do we ask this question of ourselves? "Why, do you get up each morning?’  ‘Why do you keep going/what keeps you going?’ And do we wait for the answer? Or are we even prepa

We used to have meetings,  arranged or meeting by chance, perchance meetings,  as we love to meet, you know!  But now we don't meet chance or by chance!  Why, cause we are in a lockdown!  Yes, another one, and this one is going very slow! We can't go to work, can't go out, unless we can say that we are exercising, shopping or have an emergency  as there are restrictions about doing a lot of things, both simple or fancy!  And meetings are one of those things, that are not allowed. We can't meet family, or friends,  as there is no socialisation. Faces behind masks, and hands sanitised we remain prim and proper, just as we're advised!  No mingling as we are in isolation! And if we meet someone by chance, or by arrangement,  we can't give them a hug, as that will be outrageous can't shake hands even, because that can be contagious. Our meetings are reduced to walks,  or muffled talks,  Yes, when we talk through masks,  or while roaming. or ringing, or zooming! 

Once they settled down, Teeku told Orio the whole story, telling him, from the beginning that what had happened in the morning, and why he was a bit sad, and feeling sleepy in the day time, and how upset he was, and that he just wanted today to end.  Teeku also told Orio, that they were not going to sleep in this room anymore, as he had a new room, which was actually not new, but it was their new bedroom now. So much was going to change, Teeku sobbed in Orio's neck. Yes, Teeku's daddy was painting this room, their old bedroom, and getting some new things for the baby.  Yes, Teeku's mum had told him, that his younger brother or sister was coming soon, and if Orio was surprised, then  "Don't be", as a new baby was coming!  And then from next week, Teeku was going to start going to the play school, he already had got his new bag, and a new water bottle  about which he was excited.   But he would be gone from home  for many hours, each day, alone! But yes, other k

Teeku was finding it a bit hard to understand what his mum had told him that morning. "You are going to have a younger brother, or a sister soon"! She had said this with a smile, sitting him down on her lap, and looking at him with great affection, but it had come as a shock to Teeku.  Yes, in this house, another child? A brother,  or a younger sister? He was not sure, what she expected him to do in response, was it meant to be a surprise gift?  AS on his birthday, a few months ago, she had told him, that he could choose any toy from the catalogue, and that he had done, yes, his two new trucks,  And just last month, mum had told him that his daddy was going to paint Teeku's play room, and get a new bed for him, as he was a big boy, now, and could sleep in his big room, and that he could choose his favourite colours. And Teeku had told his mum that he wanted blue colour, a bright blue! But today, when she told him about a baby, he didn't know what he could say. She did

Friends, it is said, are those relatives, that God forgot to give us. We meet them, with luck, by chance, and through some effort on our part too,  Sometimes, circumstances play a major role in creating opportunities for us to find each other, to get to know each other, to try each other out,  to build that trust, that binding, that special bond! So what is so special about friends, that is not in any other relationship? Unconditional love, the skill of listening, without giving advice,  and power to care for us, no matter what circumstances we are in,  the capacity to see beyond "what is in it for me" attitude. (It was friendship day a couple of days ago)

I was thinking that our feeling of comfort always, or mostly comes from the temperature.  Yes, how it feels on our skin, or inside,  When we are scared, we feel cold,  when we are excited, we feel hot,  when we are angry, we are fuming,  when we are jealous, we are burning. When we are sick, we get the fever,  and we get hot,  and then when we feel better,  we cool down. So, warm, cool, optimum,  these are all about the comfortable temperature.  And our comfort depends on whether  we feel warm in winter, or cool in summer! Is it a touch or a feeling, I mean temperature!

  “O' mighty cloud, capable of carrying immense quantities of  water, O'  noble relative  of  Pushkara,    please take a message to my wife!" In meghdoot , which is a poem by Kalidas, there is a Yaksha , a demigod, who beseeches a cloud to take his love message to his beloved across the country, flying from one mountain to the other,  through the vast area of the whole country.    This Yaksha had been separated from his wife for more than a year, and since he couldn't see her, and she, him, he just wanted to send her his love and to bring a smile to her dry lips, to ease her pain of separation.  How important is this message of love, and what wonders this can do to someone suffering the pangs of separation and loneliness . Just getting a message, a letter, a phone call, or a text, from their beloved, how happy does it make them. How easy it is these days, sending a love message, as it only requires the will of the sender, and the rest is easy, or at least so much easie