Reflections
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When I look back, I feel, the childhood days were much simpler. I guess every individual says that about the years gone by. They often appear to me as either black&white or sepia tinted images surfacing from the past. School days followed a set rhythm which continued for twelve years from the same institute at a stretch without any surprises. Long stretch of summer holidays were usually spent studying too. Since both sets of grandparents had already left for the next world, our holidays were sans any expected visit to meet grandparents.
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Sunday, June 19, 2016
Mouthpiece #26
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Reviews : Rupa Books
Title :
Ganesh
Author :
Subhadra Sen Gupta
Illustrated
by : Tapas Guha
Publisher
: Red Turtle (Rupa)
ISBN :
978-81-291-4029-6
Thanks
for beautifully illustrated children's books and movies on Ganesh, the Lord has
become the most endearing and much loved friendly God for children. The stories
behind his unique physical characteristics like pot-belly, elephant's head and
a broken tusk - keep the children engaged to no end. While we all know the most
popular stories associated with Ganesh, they are being retold by Subhadra Sen
Gupta with a slight twist.
Though
acclaimed as the most learned and witty divine being, yet the antics of Ganesh
bridge the gap that a devotee feels with the divine. He is the adorable and
friendly God for all, and the one who can be made happy by pure innocent love.
The book
Ganesh has four stories - How Ganesh Lost his Head, Ganesh Loses a Trunk,
Ganesh versus Kartik and Ganesh Curses the Moon. Each of the stories are
beautifully accentuated by colourful illustrations by Tapas Guha. A perfect gift to children of age group 5 to
8 years.
Available on flipkart,
Title :
The Story of Hanuman
Author :
Mala Dayal
Illustrated
by : Taposhi Choshal
Publisher
: Red Turtle (Rupa)
ISBN :
978-81-291-3717-3
And who
is the other God that incites the same feelings as Ganesh, none other than the
monkey God Hanuman. Known for his unflinching devoutness towards his deity Sri
Ram, the stories associated with Hanuman are equally amusing and awe-inspiring.
When he was a child, he thought the shining Sun is some big juicy fruit in the
sky and so leapt into the sky to pluck it. This led to a lot of chaos and many
Gods had to intervene which made Hanuman's father the Vayu God very angry. The
other Gods had to appease the Vayu God by bestowing special blessings and
powers to Hanuman. When the time came to seek knowledge, Hanuman approached
Surya to be his guru and in return Surya asked Hanuman to look after his son,
the monkey prince Sugreev. Hanuman facilitated the bond of friendship between
Sri Ram and Sugreev. He was entrusted with the task of searching for Sita in
the south direction where Lanka is situated. He crossed the great ocean, met
mother Sita, set Lanka on fire, brought the news of Sita to Ram. Soon after,
the great battle began between Sri Ram and Ravan. Hanuman remained by the side
of his Lord all through.
His
devotion to Lord Ram is unparalleled. The whole story from the childhood of
Hanuman to Ram-rajya has been retold by Mala Dayal in 'The Story of Hanuman'.
While everyone is well versed with these mythological stories from the epic
Ramayana, it is always interesting to read the same through the words of
different authors. The added bonus that this book offers is extra trivia about
names of different trees, and some activities like puzzles, mazes and games.
Available on flipkart
Available on flipkart
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Mouthpiece #25
A pat on the back
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I often used to wonder, if destiny is supposed to have the final say then what is my role in the whole scheme of things and what impact can I make in doing what I choose to do. Gradually I rationalized it by understanding that perhaps the ‘where’, 'how’ and 'when’ part of my situation is determined by the chain of events which are mostly not in my control, yet there is the 'what I do’ part that is surely where I can make the difference. While a big portion of 'what’ is being constituted by our external interface with the world, a bigger fraction of the same is what we are towards ourselves.
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Mouthpiece #24
Snowball Effect
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Though I am still a little far from the stage when I could officially be called senile, I do sense senility knocking at my door already. If not all the time, I am sure it is teasing me through my inconsistent memory these days. While reading a certain passage, sometimes I dare make some mental notes thinking - oh, this is so interesting, I must come back to it later, but how and when those notes disappear from the mental surface, just prove the fragile state of my memory cells. It just doesn’t end here, rather it leaves me frustrated and restless when I want to know what note had I made and my memory just refuses to divulge any cues whatsoever. Anyway, the ruing is perhaps to be left for some other time and for some other place, but why I mentioned the failing faculties here is simply because I read somewhere something about the power of thought and wanted to quote the passage to be shared here, but no reward for guessing why I can’t do it now.
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