Soulful…!

By definition, BLOG is a Web Log – keeping logs of your thoughts with the help of Web. Just like a Diary with only a difference that it is made available in public domain. Otherwise, “As you write more and more personal becomes more and more universal…” said a wise man!

With the post ‘Prologue’ on Tuesday, 8th December 2009, my writing (and publishing on web) journey started with this blog to talk about philosophy, moral/mythological stories, socio political statements, and developed into sharing TED Talks having Ideas of common good that I found worth sharing. Today it has completed 15 years of being my stress-buster, if nothing else and I might just take a break after this 649th Post.

Eventually a Marathi Blog Et Cetera [Eeetyadee] based on Poetry - ‘Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility’ as defined by William Wordsworth, has some poems [and prose] by me as well as my friends and some notable poets. 

Be[a]Cause – a WordPress Blog started to realize the Socratic concept "The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear." has miscellaneous things, including Educational, Environmental, Political and Social… largely ‘Human’ concerns.

All these writings along with my expressions on LinkedIn and publishing on ResearchGate have about 2+ Lakh views/readings collectively and if I have made at least one person think about something, I have lived Socrates’ belief, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”, I would like to believe and it’s time to pass the baton, I guess!

After attempting to recollect the spontaneous overflow of her powerful feelings in tranquillity in the form of a Gazal, Maitrayee this time has resorted to Prose for expressing her feelings and insights she gathered in her first solo trip which proved to be more than a wanderlust. It would be prudent to put this as the fourth episode of the ‘Fatherhood’ series on this blog.  

Following are pages of Maitrayee’s Diary about her Solo trip to the city built on top of seven hills. After going through and reflecting on the intent and extent of this content, I am assured that the legacy of intense expressions through both – Poetry and Prose has not only survived but in a more eloquent way with a fineness. Now I can hang my boots, maybe!

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Solo…

Maitrayee P

Saturday, 16 Nov 2024

3 hours of reading ‘Midnight's Children’ in the cosy Brews and Books cafe left me with two things – the desire of meeting Tai in his Shikara in the Dal Lake at Kashmir and with the rosy vision of Salman Rushdie which captures minute details of the surroundings.

Salman Rushdie has scribbled on sheets of papers for years and has written magnificent books, only to make him immortal and meaningful. My eyes absorbed his narrative style and vision as I closed reading the book, only to be reopened by another stranger sometime in the book cafe and set to walk in the streets of Shimla.

There was an air of romance in the night streets of Shimla, as the chilling cold of 4 degrees was pleasantly brushing the tips of my covered hair.

Truly as the name suggests, Shimla, the Queen of Hills, has not diminished even an inch of its pristine natural beauty over the years. Other than the flared modern jeans with pockets that the young women are seen wearing roaming around the city, there is nothing else that can point out the age of the city. 

The summer capital of India, through its wooden houses made in British architectural style, English names of the places and the European streetlights, is frozen in time, making the tourists travel back through time in the pre-independence era when talks for freedom were being conducted by National leaders at the Viceregal Lodge, which is now converted into Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.

As it was half past ten, the crowds of lively tourists were slowly disappearing, leaving with only a few groups of young folks trying to capture their memories in front of the historical edifices of the city. The Ridge, the Mall, the Scandal Point and the old Church were standing tall and alone in the cold chilly night, seeing new people come and go everyday through the years.

I climbed up to the Young Men's Christian Association Hostel, which also endured the memories of history through its old-fashioned British architecture (it also had an old attic at the top!) to enter my hostel room. My French hostel mate, who has been backpacking around the world for a year now, exclaimed that she was worried about me as I came too late. We had met only a day ago and didn't even know each other’s names, and yet the caring she showed for me was a metaphor of the connections that people make during their short stay in the city.

I went out to the terrace-cum-cafe, to take a last glimpse of the glittering snowy city, as I bid adieu to the queen of hills. There was pleasant silence in the atmosphere, only to be accompanied by soft Punjabi music playing at some clubs, which reminded me that the city was earlier the capital of East Punjab. The city was contained between the huge statue of Hanuman peeking out from the hills to the extreme left, and the crystal white church standing tall to the right. On a starry night, it would be difficult to distinguish between the shining stars and the glittery sparkling lights of the city.

I take back from here sweet memories of my first solo trip to the city of 7 hills, looking forward to having more such soulful journeys!

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Reference links for related reading:

Fatherhood…!     https://ego-wise.blogspot.com/2012/01/fatherhood.html

Monday, January 9, 2012

Fatherhood 2…!            https://ego-wise.blogspot.com/2014/06/fatherhood-2.html

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Fatherhood 3     https://ego-wise.blogspot.com/2016/05/fatherhood-3.html

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Truth…?             https://ego-wise.blogspot.com/2018/09/truth.html

Saturday, September 1, 2018

#Metaverse…!     https://beacauseorg.wordpress.com/2022/05/29/metaverse/

Sunday, May 29, 2022 

गुफ्तगू ...!            https://eetyadee.blogspot.com/2024/03/blog-post.html

रविवार, १० मार्च, २०२४

Celebration…!             https://ego-wise.blogspot.com/2024/03/celebration.html

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Celebration...!

 

Lately, on this blog I am sharing selected TedTalks about the ideas that I like, honour, and adore and have converted this blog virtually into a Vlog, it seems! As the tagline of TED goes – Ideas Worth Spreading – I am just helping take their mission ahead which TED won’t mind, I believe!

However today it’s a different idea that I am sharing, and it is needless to mention that it is very very close to my heart for all possible reasons! This is a dance performance of Maitrayee with her friend Harita and what makes it even more ‘Special’ is the occasion (Women’s Day), the subject and the message the performance conveys.

This celebration took place at Department for Empowerment of persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice - Government of India, where Maitrayee is a Consultant at Project Monitoring and Data Strategic Unit at Delhi.

Although the anchor has narrated the script of the performance, it may not be audible, clear, or understandable and as I do not want the readers to miss the context which is not just interesting but overwhelming (I broke into tears, thanks to the song they have chosen that makes it even more poignant!) and must be understood thoroughly to enjoy the act.

Here is the ‘Transcript’ of the ‘Performance!’ Read it carefully and Repsect… HER!

"Having a child with disability can make a woman’s life different from what other women experience. On a day like Women’s Day, while their friends receive wishes, cards and gifts from their children, your heart yearns for the day you hear your child say the words ‘I Love You’.

This woman, despite everyone advising her to go for abortion after knowing that the child has intellectual disability, decides to give birth to the child. Standing up to the doctor, relatives and the entire world, shaking inside and holding back her tears, she raises her precious daughter and tries her best to make her independent in life.

She gives her everything. She feels so deeply and she loves so abundantly.

Today, we want you to know that you are not alone and that we celebrate the wonderful woman that you are.

This performance is a tribute to all those strong women who are mothers, sisters and caregivers for persons with disabilities. 

Happy Women’s Day... This is for you!"

I have shared Maitrayee's Hindi poem on my Marathi Blog, read it here - गुफ्तगू

CIP...!

 

"I named our nonprofit the Collective Intelligence Project, as a nod to the ever-evolving project of building collective intelligence for collective flourishing. Since then we've done just that, building new collective intelligence models to direct artificial intelligence, to run democratic processes. And we've incorporated the voices of thousands of people into AI governance..."

 

"Here are a few of the things we've learned. First, people are willing and able to have difficult, complex conversations on nuanced topics. When we asked people about the risks of AI they were most concerned about, they didn't reach for easy answers.  Out of more than 100 risks put forward, the top-cited one: overreliance on systems we don't understand..." 

 

"It is impossible to have any one of these things progress, safety or democratic participation without the others. If we resign ourselves to only two of the three, we will end up with either centralized control or chaos. Either a few people get to decide or no one does. These are both terrible outcomes, and our work shows that there is another way. Each of our projects advanced progress, safety and democratic participation by building cutting-edge democratic AI models, by using public expertise as a way to understand diffuse risks and by imagining co-ownership models for the digital commons..."

 

"As the Indian author Arundhati Roy once said, 

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. 

On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." 

I can hear our new world breathing. 

One in which we shift the systems we have towards using the solution of democracy to build the worlds we want to see. 

The future is up to us. 

We have a world to win..."

Indeed, you said it, Divya! 

Way to go...

Bingo...!

 

"I think the first point to make is that we need to recognize natural capital.

Basically the stuff of life is natural capital, and we need to recognize and build that into our systems.

When we measure GDP as a measure of economic performance at the national level, we don't include our biggest asset at the country level.

When we measure corporate performances, we don't include our impacts on nature

and what our business costs society. That has to stop.

In fact, this was what really inspired my interest in this phase."

I can see the reflection of my thought process expressed in my article 'Why CSR won't work?' written exactly six years ago...!

Way to go...!

Power...!

"Because of the skills of a few, the platforms of many and the will of hundreds of thousands of meddling kids unified in our intolerance of injustice, we were far more powerful than a couple people in official positions of power."

"But power manifests differently to different people. If you have a pen, write something. If you have an instrument, play something. If you have the anger of a thousand suns and disposable income, open your purse."

"The stability of democracy internationally requires that we use whatever skills and resources we have to combat hate, bring movements to life and stand united in solidarity with one another on every corner of the globe. Justice can't wait, so take what's in front of you, get really creative and cause a ruckus."

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On the 75^th Republic Day of India, we must not forget that we made a promise to ourselves...

"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC...

...this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."

Seventy Five Years ago when we declared this, it became our responsibility to  UPHOLD THE DEMOCRACY and its tool, the CONSTITUTION

... As Republic of India, it’s up to us to rise above cast politics, cultural differences and devastating disparity to end all of it by raising our voice, in a CREATIVE DEMOCRATIC WAY! If TECHNOLOGY is the tool for that, let be it…!

Long live Democracy... Way to go!

Fail...?

It is no wonder when a creative person started his career as Production Controller for 'Jane Bhi Do Yaaro' [a satirical black comedy by Kundan Shah that remains unmatched in its category even after 40 years] took the path of making 'different' movies like Parinda [1989], 1942: A Love Story [1994], Mission Kashmir [2000], Munna Bhai MBBS [2003], 3 IDIOTS [2009], PK [2014] - has made another inspiring film that would be a milestone in Indian Cinema - 12th Fail!

Vidhu Vinod Chopra has nailed it with 12th Fail not just because it is a story based on real life journey of IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma or because of its authenticity in all departments like casting, acting, locations, music, look and feel that brings memories of Masaan [2015] – Vicky Kaushal’s debut film; but what makes it literally outstanding is the message it shares and the conviction with which it is shared.

It is but natural that the film grabbed attention of Legends like Kamal Hassan who after watching the film at NFDC, Chennai said, ‘…long time since we saw a good film like this. It brings back hope in filmmakers like me to confidently go ahead and do what you love most…’

Just like Manoj Kumar Sharma, VVC has made an incredible comeback after failing at Shikara [2020] and passed with flying colors with 12th Fail! Now does VVC need any other validation, appreciation or award? And do we need any other reason to watch and celebrate the spirit of this film? I guess not!

Way to go, India…!