Category: Misc

 

Reading is mostly a passive activity for most people , but it can be an interactive pastime too. Even fiction can be so stimulating ; as against some passive leisure activity, when there is a constant churning of the mind through reflection, debate and criticism .  This is particularly so, when you intend to follow up the read with some serious writing.

Here I  shall restrict myself to fiction.

There are writers who start with a pain point in a society. It is this issue that is aimed to be conveyed from different perspectives. Then characters and events are so developed and the main issue is never lost sight of. There are stretches ,particularly in a long novel, where the writer goes on to some superficial aspects of life, just enjoying writing about the day to day happenings. But a reader is by and large kept anchored to a deep reality.

Jayakanthan says in his foreword to a short stories collection , that he has not written a single word as a pastime. He comes down heavily on his critics who demand that kind of leisure reading .

 

Once when Mahatma Gandhi was ill , doctors advised him to avoid stress. He asked , if it was okay to read. He was told he could do light reading . Gandhiji asked “ What is light reading ?” 

Then there are other writers who just love writing ; enjoy writing for the sake of writing. They are happy showing to the reader an exceptionally painful or beautiful or maybe a comical scene from day to day life. These scenes may relate to the realities of that period but the events themselves stand out making no moral judgements on the society or individuals.

As someone who loves reading Tamil fiction , I would say, Thi Janakiraman or Jayakanthan fall in the first category while Sujatha or Raa ki Rangarajan would fall in the second. 

Both types of writing can be immensely enjoyable depending on the reader’s mood and inclination . There are times when one  is so carried away by the style of writing that nothing else matters much. 

Recently , I read a book by Raa ki rangarajan “Housefull”  the writer says “Just for the fun of doing things differently, he started with the fourth chapter and let the reader guess the earlier chapters. Then he went on to the third , second and the first chapter , in that order,  to resume the story from the fifth .This was done as a serial in  a weekly magazine. He observes with satisfaction that no reader had any difficulty in understanding the story nor were they any complaints .

That’s pure fun of writing and reading.

Most people would agree that it is the leisure kind of reading that’s more popular. 

There are many writers who need to put in a lot of effort to  write pulp fiction and there are wordsmiths who effortlessly write on serious themes. Whatever be the kind , for a discriminate reader , it shows when the writer enjoys writing as much as the reader enjoys reading.

The pure joy of writing comes, I suppose, when there are no deadlines to meet and no conscious effort made  to make money or to please his readers.

To wind up, here’s an interesting anecdote from Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi.  

Bharathiyaar wrote his master piece Panchali Sabatham in two parts . The first part was published by Bhartahiyaar himself in 1912. Unfortunately there were not many takers for this book. Around the same time, he wrote a parody on the elites in India aping the British,  “Fox with a golden tail” . The book was written in English just for the fun of taunting the anglophiles in India and the condescending Indo-philes from England.

The book “Fox with a golden tail ” sold like hotcakes ; so much so that there was a huge demand for reprints .

Bharathiyaar’s reaction was typical .

There’s a story that he gave away the English book for free to anyone buying his Tamil masterpiece , Panchali Sabatham.

 

I must warn the reader that the title is very misleading.

Mhow cantonment is a small place and most often the morning walkers cannot avoid meeting and greeting every other walker and there are times you meet more than once in a single session. It’s generally a wave or a nod without breaking your stride.

On one such nod, something made me stop. The lady’s face was full of questions and it was obvious that she was trying to put them into words. “Aren’t you handling that insurance for Jupiter ?” or words to that effect.

I have heard of mangal- yaan and Chandra -yaan , but Jupiter -yaan was still light years away. It took some time for me to connect the dots. Yes, I am part of the organization facilitating purchase of health cover for veterans and this health cover policy gave the insured access to Vishesh Jupiter Hospital, currently the most preferred hospital in Indore.

For years , veterans have known nothing except the military hospitals , though they were some of the best hospitals in the country during the socialist era, pre – 1990. Post 2000, the private hospitals came up in a big way and today hospitals are not just for medical treatment but are competing with hospitality industry in services providing comfort and good life .

Despite the huge progress the country has seen in health care facilities, veterans covered by ECHS have very few empanelled hospitals , particularly in tier 2, tier 3 cities.  So, the idea of  five star hospitals is always a talking point . 

During our morning walks , I hear as much about the cuisine at Jupiter hospital Cafeteria as about the medical facilities. One also hears about the wide range of rooms available for an in patient. A hospital is no more a place just for medical treatment. 

Most multi specialty hospitals remain out of the reach of veterans depending solely on ECHS. Under the circumstances the health cover provided through our organization , Sainik Seva Samiti is certainly a passport to Jupiter.

As I sat watching  the last sunset of 2023, musing over the year it was,  it occurred to me that the year has been a phenomenal one for stock market watchers.

While the individual stories may differ, there would be a general consensus that the year has given above average returns to hard core professionals and absolute novices , alike .

So , is the stock market turning attractive to the public ? Is everyone trying to get into stocks and mutual funds ?

Curiosity kindled , I turned to Google for some quick figures.

As expected, the MF inflows have increased by 125 %.

The number of demat accounts increased by 27%.

So is it going to be many happy ‘returns’ year after year? Are all the new investors going to be blessed by 15-20% annualised returns for rest of their lives?

The investment world seems to be a happy place and yet we keep seeing threatening, mandatory information wherever you try to enter .

Anecdotes abound in many a family about uncles (never aunts) who went bankrupt due to Dalal Street.

There are many who believe, not without reason , that stock markets are gambling dens .

So, what’s the truth ?

Who makes money and who bites the dust?

I am sure many would have come across the book ” Psychology of Money ‘ by Morgan Housel.

The author states emphatically that it’s all in the mind .

That’s the theory and today I saw it in the real world.

A friend of mine has a mutual fund portfolio created for him by somebody who is now not available to monitor the same.

The friend never bothered to check how his investments were faring.

 

I , a confirmed technology addict cannot refrain from checking through various apps and websites on how my modest portfolio was faring . At times it happens thrice a day and gets too boring despite the high that Dalal Street gives.

Looking for something to do, I casually enquired the friend about his portfolio and as expected I got an indifferent reply.

With some effort and the magic of internet I could compute his returns in minutes.

It was a ‘Wow’ moment as the last nine months had given him a whopping 50 % returns and he was not even aware of it. In simple terms, at this rate, his money was getting doubled in a year and a half.

That’s the kind of returns any mutual fund manager would be proud of any day.

What did he do right? He just left it alone by design or default.

What happens when you don’t leave it alone?

A human mind is hardwired to lose money in stock markets, sometimes at an astonishing pace.

When the stock / MF moves up a 10% the fear of losing that 10% says ‘ sell , sell !’

When it moves another 10% , (after you have sold) the fear of missing out and the greed for more says ‘buy buy !’.

So, one keeps buying high and selling low. In a bull market , this only minimises the profits while in a bear market , this phenomenon can wipe out your capital.

Smart people use  technology to quantify everything ,including emotions !

The market mood index is supposed to show the dominating emotions. Theory says , that a smart investor should buy when the public is in panic and should sell when the public shows avarice.

Will it work ? Unfortunately No.

As on date (01 Jan 2024) , Tech pundits say it’s  Greed that is dominating. Suppose this image goes viral among investors and the multitudes start selling , the indicator itself will be affected showing ‘fear’. That would mean ‘start buying’.

So in the age of technology and social media any action based on these indicators will influence the indicator itself !

So, what’s the way out to beat the street , in case you want to be fully invested in the stock markets directly or indirectly?

There are two options :-

The difficult way is to be Buddha like or as a karmayogi would say  ‘ be like the water on Lotus leaf; be there but totally detached ‘. See the ups and downs and the wild swings but don’t give in to greed or fear. It’s easier said than done.

A more human way would be to just invest and forget about it ; and probably that’s what my friend did right .

It would be fun to see how the new investors behave in a bad year.

Today we see a whole range of labels ; old labels  and new labels ; and also many old labels acquiring new meanings..

Anyone expressing an opinion on any issue is slotted into some rigid compartment and each compartment has a name for what they call themselves and what others call them, for eg anyone calling himself a ‘pure vegetarian ‘ may be called a racist or a bigot  by a ‘ liberal’ who himself would be labelled a woke by a ‘traditionalist’.

Identities and labels could be global or local; like Liberals, Indian liberals, libertarian, dem , republicans, wokes, Islamists, christoislam, sanghi, hindutvavadi, secularists, feminists , feminazi, black feminists, leftists , rightists, raita wing, trads and so on.

For the unversed , please follow the link to understand the ‘raita wing’ or Rayta wing’ politics.

https://www.opindia.com/2022/01/trads-vs-raitas-and-rw-fights/

Most of these labels are so defined to make it look beautiful or ugly as seen by the definer.

To someone an idealist would mean a person of character pursuing lofty ideals .
To someone else it could mean an impractical, head in the air , useless person.

I feel any label is better understood when you can identify the antithesis, so as to be able to choose between the two.

Idealist or practical ?
Idealist or an opportunist ?

Secularism has different meaning to different people.

Are you a secularist or spiritualist? Makes sense to identify yourself as one or the other.

Secularism or communalism ? (Makes no sense to me but the Indian liberals define secularism as opposite of communalism which itself means just living in a community,any kind of community)

Secularism or equality of all religions ?

This question makes sense in India where secularism has come to mean privilege for certain religions.

I would definitely choose ‘equality for all religions ‘ over ‘Indian  secularism’.

When it comes to finances,

What is ‘saving’ ?    Mostly it is taken as opposite of spending.

Can it mean something else, say the opposite of investment, or sheer indifference to money ; that precludes any conscious saving , spending or investment ?

The winds from the West are blowing all over, unsettling anyone  not anchored to his  roots.

‘Living’ in modern times means following your passion, following your interests and living for yourself.

Paropakaram idam shareeram is an ancient Indian concept.

Well, a libertarian idea of ‘living ‘ appears to mean ‘death ‘
as seen by  Swami Vivekananda .

Nurturing your gifts of talents is wonderful ; but  what purpose does it serve if that talent is not used freely and unconditionally to help the community or the surroundings such as to include humans, animals and vegetation?

Share whatever you have ;  knowledge,  wealth, or a  state  of peace and tranquillity . Serve unconditionally.

That’s also a way to enjoy life, perhaps that is living.

 

We left the flaming dragons quite late at night or may be early in the morning with a strong hangover of some spirited dancing .

 

But some of us were keen for a morning walk along the  famous promenade beach.

 

 

Satya was busy doing a  brisk walk completing his 10,000 steps , 4 Km or whatever, while OV, Venkatesh and I had a leisurely stroll along the promenade taking time for selfies.

 

 

Flaming dragons was a surprise event for most of us.

Later I learnt from Gnana that it was in their plans to include a visit to the youngsters dream place to shake a leg after dinner!

The original plan was was limited to 3-4 guys and when the ‘boys’ started piling into the cars, the number was almost ten . I for one had decided to give it a miss on Saturday as we , in any case were going there on Sunday.

So we proceeded with Gnana leading the way on a scooter with me on the pillion and the cars following.

I will never be able to say if it was right on our part to have accepted the generous offer from Gajan and Gnana for a free entry to a place where other  revellers had to pay an entry fee of Rs 2000/ or so.

It was a kind of gate crash into a party and we all trooped in . Baburaj and Ilango straight away got into the dance floor and others followed.

There were only 20 plus and 60 plus dancers and nothing in between. Seeing the mood of Ashokarajan , one could have grouped him with the 20 plus. It was absolutely a feeling of shedding of the years at least temporarily . For some reason our ladies didn’t seem to share the spirit of adventure or may be ‘boys’ never grow up. Only Divya, the young lady was there enjoying the beats .

Whatever, it was an experience of a lifetime and even those who didn’t hit the dance floor were mentally there.

For me it was a proof that you don’t need spirit inside you to bring out the spirit ! Energy was flowing freely , so visible and so was the spirit of camaraderie. A great event to remember for ever !

Here are some videos

 

Veshti (வேஷ்டி) is  a  humble piece of cloth that was worn by kings and commoners for centuries in Tamilnadu. Now only a small group of boomers and some politicians from Southern India are keeping the flag flying high ( or is it flying low ?)

Prime Minister Deve Gowda at Moscow 1997 at a wreath laying ceremony . It was a cold windy day ; a solemn occasion and the only sounds heard were the sounds of fluttering of the flags and the Indian PM’s Veshti.  (Quoting from a newspaper report 🙂  )  Photo : Courtesy AP.

Here we go

Firstly it is not veshti but vetti as it is called in Tamil. The cloth was woven as long pieces and then cut into pieces as required by people as per their needs . Vetti in Tamil means ‘ to cut’.

The Sanskrit lovers made it Veshti to make it sound sanskritised!

It is a simple white piece of cloth in cotton or silk worn by men , and in earlier times this was the only attire for men of all ages , all classes.

Though it’s worn as a wrap-around skirt style to cover the lower part of the body, it is actually a multipurpose cloth.

It can be a headgear or a waist band ; can be worn like a poncho to protect from cold or mosquitoes (Southern India enjoys a hot winter  and a hotter summer)

It is folded half mast to be worn like  a pair of shorts; oh, not a pair really.  With a little ingenuity, it is tied dhoti style to be a pair of trousers, shorts or something in between.

There are no buttons , pins, velcros or even knots to hold the garment  in place ; so how does it stay there ?

Easy does it.  While wrapping it around just suck in your waist and gently roll down the edge. There you are , it’s your breath that holds it in place to cover your modesty ! Hold your breath for a second and the breath holds the veshti for the whole day! Sounds nice !

A simple  search on you tube  would throw up visuals of the breath control involved in getting the garment in place .

Whatever, accidents or wardrobe malfunctions as they are called today do happen and a hand is always poised to stop the costume from slipping away. These days you have nice velcro belts with big brand names , available, but a puritan wouldn’t use these kind of crutches .

Wouldn’t it be boring to wear just white all day , all year around and where is creativity ?

Not really, veshtis have borders narrow or broad; that’s where creativity shows. You may have intricately made motifs on the borders. In ancient days these were made in gold and now it’s all plastic ,but the skill shows.

The border design  is also used to make a political statement. The Dravidian parties have made it a feature to wear their ideology on the veshti borders , not just on their sleeves as an angrez would say. So when a Tamil politician jumps party, he has to change his whole ward robe !

Then you have the color veshtis where each colour indicates the religious inclination; black for Ayyappa, Red for Parashakti etc.

What is really interesting is the Avtar s that a veshti takes after the original purpose is accomplished.  It is white, it is pure cotton and it’s fine. It is ideal for any kind of reuse from bedspread to bandages. The famous puthur traditional bone-setters use yards and yards of this kind of cloth .

Even about 50 years back a Tamil Brahmin housewife would have struggled without these worn out Veshtis. The cloth was white, fine and unstitched. It was used for all purposes like Idli cloth (anything steamed), drying papads in the sun, making jaangri ( imarti or the South Indian cousin of Jelebi).

Outside the kitchen , generally it was used as  hammock for the baby. (thooli as it is called in Tamil )

In short there was more demand for old veshti than for the new ones. There are husbands who keep searching for their veshti all over the place only to find that,  it has become a bedspread or hammock for the baby , too prematurely. God forbid, if the border had rich zari, a clever housewife would exchange it for some utensils at the first opportunity. There was a thriving industry for extraction of gold from veshti zari.

The only item of clothing that a man had to buy was veshti. This could also be gifted during functions as everyone used it and it was not only free-size but multipurpose.

Wish we go back to those times when life was simple.

The ancient Tamil poetess Avvaiyaar said ” உண்பது ஒரு நாழி,  உடுப்பது நான்கு முழம் “; Meaning one can eat  only about a cup of grains for food and four feet of fabric for covering ; but thoughts (desires) are in thousands bringing misery to man.

Man, that’s simplicity!

Are the activists keen to save this Earth listening?

On the lighter side, I can hear the advaitin expounding ” it’s all one , some call it veshti, some call it head gear or a waist band, some may call it idli cloth or hammock ; it’s all the same. The divine weaver weaves his magic cloth ; it’s all Maya !”

Tathastu

 

 

”