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fatehbaz · 11 months

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The use of English shorthand and typewriters expanded towards the end of the 19th century in clerical work in the major cities of the subcontinent. The use of shorthand in Indian languages, however, developed not in the context of office work but to meet the requirements of the new public sphere, particularly the quick notation of public speeches for reporting in newspapers. This led to the invention of new speed scripts, atitvarene lihiṇyāchī paddhatī (very speedy writing) or laghulekhan (shorthand) in Marathi, which relied heavily on Pitman and Munson’s English shorthand. Arguably the first use was in 1874 by RB Gunjikar [...]. Gajananbhau Vaijya, an English shorthand writer and reporter with the Indian Statesman, invented another speed script expressly for the quick notation of speeches [...]. Notably, Indian-language shorthand remained in the sphere of handwriting, as typewriters for non-Latin scripts did not become widespread in the subcontinent until the mid 20th century. [...]

[I]t is actually Bhujangrao Mankar, inventor of a third shorthand script with the book Laghulekhankalā (1897), who announced himself on the title page as the creator of Marathi and Gujarati shorthand. Mankar was a well-known English shorthand reporter for the press and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Bombay for all manner of political meetings in the early 20th century. [...]

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As Bernard Bate noted, Tamil shorthand came into its own when the colonial government attempted to acquire written transcripts of possibly seditious speeches during the Swadeshi movement.

In Bombay, too, shorthand found widespread application in CID surveillance with the growth in nationalist meetings and activity in the 1920s. Sub-inspectors could learn Marathi shorthand as an optional subject in the Central Police Training School; the usual practice was to pass a test in the office and regularly test for speed.

In the trial of the Ali brothers in Karachi following the Khilafat movement, speeches by Mohamed Ali and Shaukat Ali were entered as evidence of their seditious activity.

Similarly, charges against Communist leaders SA Dange, RS Nimbkar, and others in the Meerut conspiracy case (1929–33) were also based on their public speeches.

The cross-examination of witnesses turned on the accuracy of the transcripts and the methods used to obtain them and provides a rich window into the work of memory, notation, and translation involved in producing a speedy verbatim transcript of a public speech, and the issues of legibility, authenticity, and transparency that linked scribe, script, and language to state surveillance.

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Police reporters usually translated the shorthand transcripts of speeches in various languages into English longhand as soon as possible. In Karachi the Ali brothers’ Urdu speeches were recorded in Urdu shorthand. In Belgaum in June 1921, however, sub-inspectors of the Pune CID took down their Urdu and English speeches in Marathi shorthand. During a meeting in Bagalkot, also in northern Karnataka, Shaukat Ali’s speech in Urdu was orally translated sentence by sentence into Kannada as he spoke [...]. There was thus much processing of sound, meaning, and sign across languages, scripts, memories, and individuals, all at high speed. [...] The inspector [...] Deshpande mentioned a critical aspect of Pitman-based shorthand writing: since the signs matched specific sounds, he did not pay much attention to the content of the speech; he just noted down the sounds as best he could, even if he didn’t know the meanings of words. Gaps between sounds and meaning, it would appear, were filled in either during transcription through memory recall or by the CID itself. [...] These practices of notation, translation, and judicial discourse grappled with a spectrum of textual reproduction of oral utterances, from gist to verbatim.

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Text by: Prachi Deshpande. Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices, and Cultural History in Western India. 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

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ramblingsfromthymind · 8 days

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ramblingsfromthymind~

exactly what the name suggests..

hi! my name is manishika sahoo, but i prefer to be called mithi.

i am a 15 year old living in bangalore, karnataka, india currently in my summer vacation. i am waiting for my 10th board results (expecting around 80-82% which is... severely disappointing for me). i am going to start my 11th grade in the end of may (pcmb or pcb+psych, not sure yet) continuing in cbse board. new school (yikes!) and i'm probably gonna have like no close freinds because of my social anxiety.. ah the woes of a shy introvert (not in a cute way)!!

i am an intj. a libra.

for my fellow marauders fans- i am a remus and lily kinnie. my fav characters are mary, lily and sirius (in that order).

for my fellow percy jackson fans- i am a hades kid who would join the hunters of artemis if i had the chance. currently reading trials of apollo but by percy jackson and the olympians and heroes of olympus my favorite characters are reyna(icon honestly), nico, piper(overhated queen), annabeth and hazel (in that order).

i was born in october 2008, in farmington hills, michigan, usa.

i love literature, music & film (the holy trinity fr). i love reading, writing, dancing, singing, ranting in comment sections lol, plants, art, maximalism, girls (what's not to love honestly), chocolate, paneer (my life fr), coffee, platonic love (underrated), pinterest (hands down best social media app), aesthetically pleasing college vlogs on youtube (very specific but they own my heart. channel recs- mia aston, alicia jade, carys rachel, dakota warren, dobochobo, dustin vuong, grace garagan, linh truong, moya mawhinney, romney ellen, via li).

my dream uni is nyu (been stuck on it since 9th grade)

i want to be a successful writer, singer-songwriter, actress and youtuber in my future. my fall-back plan is to study psychology and enter academia.

i post a lot of varied content on this blog but most of the common themes include content related to feminism, being queer (i am a lesbian), writing, the marauders fandom, etc. i currently have two series of posts on here - 'extract(s) from my journal' and 'shitty poetry'. i try to be open with my thoughts here and want to create a safe space for all (unless you're a dramione/jegulus/tomarry/drarry/bellamione/any other nonsensical ship/darkalina shipper or a terf or a homophobe or a transphobe or just a hateful person in general, then you're not welcome here).

my youtube channel: @heyy.im_mithi

my (other actual non-tumblr) blog: mithisramblings.blogspot.com (name: ramblings of thy truly)

my ao3 account (i plan to solely write sapphic marauders content because we are starved of it. recently started a marylily fic!): heyy_im_mithi

my pinterest (it's on private until i turn 16 unfortunately): @heyy.im_mithi

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hrk4 · 4 months

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The year that was...

“Slippery slope. I carry a spare shirt, pretty soon I’m carrying spare pants. Then I’d need a suitcase. Next thing I know, I’ve got a house and a car and a savings plan and I’m filling out all kinds of forms.” —Jack Reacher (in Lee Child’s 2007 novel Bad Luck and Trouble)

For close to a year, I have been fortunate to be part of the Saturday morning conversazione that takes place in the office of Dr. S R Ramaswamy (SRR), who is more than a mentor to me. In one of the early meetings of 2023, SRR gave me his personal copies of two Jack Reacher novels (by James Dover Grant, who writes under the pseudonym Lee Child) and added with a smile, "I must warn you, these are addictive!"

A few days after that, I was going to be on a long train to Pune and had taken the novel with me. Even before we crossed the Karnataka border, I had finished reading the novel and cursed myself for not having brought the other one too (which was a result of my underestimation of my own reading speed). As soon as I came back to Bangalore, I raced through the other novel. When I returned the two novels to SRR, he gave me more. It had been years since I had read fiction and given that my day job involves reading, writing, design, and publication, I had forgotten the art of reading for pleasure. This gesture on SRR's part rekindled that spark. The flipside was that I started finding films and web series tiresome!

I mostly read Jack Reacher novels this year and what fascinated me the most (besides the intricate plots, value conflicts, and the edge-of-the-seat twists and turns) was the universal appeal of a character like Reacher who lives like a monk and fights like a tiger; even in the materialistic West the allure of a man who is detached and driven by a strong sense of dharma is irresistible. And that gives me hope.

Soon I will hit forty. Probably my best years are behind me but I like to believe that they are yet to come. To augment this belief, I lay out my plans for 2024 before getting into my recollections of 2023.

I have three short-term goals, which I wish to complete in the next six months: i. Organise my library ii. Simplify my wardrobe iii. Consolidate my finances and four lifestyle goals that I wish to continue through the year: 1. Exercise daily 2. Read more, and more varied books 3. Play the violin more 4. Avoid sugar and fried foods at all costs

Some of the books in the pipeline for this year are: A R Krishnasastri’s Kathāmṛta, a new edition of Bhāsa’s Svapna-vāsavadatta, D V Gundappa’s Jīvana-dharma-yoga translated by Raghavendra Hebbalalu and Sreelalitha Rupanagudi, Volumes VII and VIII of DVG’s Art Gallery of Memories, S R Ramaswamy’s Silhouettes of Excellence, Sripriya Srinivasan’s book on Pallava history for high school students, minor poems of Nīlakaṇṭha-dīkṣita, and Jayadeva’s Gīta-govindam, among others.

I'm also working on a few exciting projects with cousin Dr. Chandra Shekhar (a short stories anthology), my college classmate Sudarshan K A (on financial wisdom), and with my friends Ganesh Bhat Koppalatota and Neelakanth Kulkarni (curating the best of Kannada literature), and I hope that at least a few of these see completion by end of the year.

I was lucky to have a front row seat as the following books unfolded through the course of the year: Three volumes of DVG's Kannada writings in translation (Contemporaries of Vidyaranya, his writings on the two epics of India, and an anthology of his essays on poetics), Vols. V and VI of the Art Gallery of Memories by DVG, Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh's Kṣāttra: The Tradition of Valour in India, and Dr. L Subramaniam's Festival Beyond Borders, among others.

I was able to facilitate the publication of three books by family members: my mother's booklet of life-lessons titled Song of my Soul, my father's monograph on The Amazing Human Mind, and my great-uncle (Late) Sri S Rangarajan's mammoth 648-page memoirs titled It Happens as Ordained.

The highlight, however, was a little book that I co-wrote with Dr. Ganesh titled The Essential Sanatana Dharma.

In addition to working on a few books in 2023, I was also invited to give lectures on a variety of topics, some of which were at the insistence of Dr. Arathi V B who has often magnanimously offered me opportunities that are far beyond my ken. If my calculations are right, I must have given no less than eighteen lectures this year. Friends like Madhulika Srivatsa, Sagar Mehta, and Vani Anur invited me to their homes to give lectures to their family and friends, which were highly rewarding.

I had the singular fortune of addressing a large number of school children, teachers, young parents, devout Hindus, et al. on topics as varied as life skills to the essentials of Sanātana-dharma; from the importance of history and heritage to world musical genres (at an elders' enrichment centre); from Indian Knowledge Systems to the Art Gallery of Memories (series of lectures at the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs); and on the Artha-śāstra, Mahābhārata, Bhagavad-gītā, and Śrīkṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta.

For more than two decades I have been attending the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (LGMF) organised by my guru Dr. L Subramaniam (along with his wife, Smt. Kavita Krishnamurti, who is the director of the festival); for some years, I was also active in the organising committee of the festival. Each edition of the LGMF has been a historic event and 2023 was no different. The upcoming tour is no less exciting with a remarkable orchestra from Kazakhstan visiting India.

Some of the other memorable events that I attended in 2023 include the third edition of Madanotsava organised by my good friends Nirupama and Rajendra, the eightieth birthday celebrations of Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam organised by Drishti Arts Centre, the fifth World Coffee Conference (thanks to my friend Ananth Bhatt), and a lovely eighty-fifth birthday celebration of my great-uncle Sri R Vasudevan that included a superb concert by the musician-surgeon of our family, Dr. Mukund Jagannathan.

Despite some challenges, the home situation was stable. My mother and my grandmother moved to an apartment next to my place and my father and brother regularly visit. I became one of the Trustees of our family trust and that means greater opportunity to help the community. I have also been involved in some consolidation of my finances so that I won't have to worry about money after 2024. I echo the sentiments of Jack Reacher in Gone Tomorrow (2009) — “I'm a rich man. To have everything you need is the definition of affluence.”

There are times when our family and friends perform an unexpected act of kindness that leaves us fumbling for words. My grandmother's younger sister, Smt. Shanti Rangarajan, aged 89, made a trip all the way from Chennai to Bangalore (with her daughter Deepta) to spend time with my mother on her 66th birthday, given that she was just recovering from her surgery and was home-bound.

When I was in Mumbai earlier this year, I happened to ping my BMS College classmate Anshuman Borah, who emigrated to UK some years ago. He immediately wrote back saying that he was in Pune to sell his flat. I had been in Pune that very morning; distraught at having missed catching up with him, I called him up to berate him for not telling me earlier. He immediately said, "I'll come to Mumbai tomorrow. Just send me your location and I'll be there to pick you up." Sure enough, the next morning he took a taxi from Pune all the way to Mumbai just to meet me. We had a nice lunch and spent five or six hours before he took a taxi back to Pune. (And there were times in college when we have shared a jhal mudi costing Rs. 10 because we had run out of cash!)

Anu and Chandra (technically my mother's generation but more like friends/cousins to me) generously offered me a carte blanche to pursue whatever projects I wish to, without fretting about the monetary implications. Their gesture has inspired me to work even more towards a larger cause, especially in the fields of culture, literature, music, and education, which are of common interest to us.

Prof. L V Shanthakumari has been a mentor-guru-adopted grandmother to me and many other friends. Earlier this year, she was visiting her younger son Sri Niranjana who lives across the town from her, in faraway Marathahalli. Our ancestral house in Halasuru is almost the mid-point between her house and her son's house, so I requested LVS madam to consider visiting us for lunch. She graciously agreed and visited us with Niranjana, who incidentally lived in the same neighbourhood many years earlier! My family and I were thrilled to host LVS madam and we spent a lovely afternoon together.

My cousin Arun was slated to visit India in August along with my aunt and uncle. I was planning to borrow my father's car so that I could take Arun around. Right at that time, my good friend Chandrashekhar told me, "I just bought a new car and there's the old one languishing in my place. Just take it and use it for as long as you want." Thanks to Chandru, I was able to drive around Arun and later had reliable transportation for myself, especially during some of the busy months of the year. After relying on public transport for more than a year, this came as a real boon.

My good friend Arjun Bharadwaj always teases me of excessively indulging in what he playfully dubs "Eating-Outing-Meeting." While I am an introvert by temperament, I often step out for these E-O-Ms for a dose of enrichment. Outside of my books and my music, I find nothing more enjoyable than a meaningful conversation with friends and savants.

It has been my great fortune to have come in contact with so many greats of our time—and in some cases, even dine with them and travel with them.

One of our Saturday morning meet-ups took place on Church Street with SRR taking us (Vighneshwar Bhat, Sandeep Balakrishna, Arjun Bharadwaj, and me) to Select Book Shop, which was started by a friend of his. Later he took us out to lunch and simply refused to let any of us pay.

Ambi (my uncle, Dr. Koti Sreekrishna) visited India earlier this year and even stayed with me for a few days. I had a great time with him, discussing everything from the ridiculous to the sublime—often through the course of a meal in a nearby restaurant. I also had the chance to drag two of my friends (Arjun and GS) to meet Ambi and his elder brother Kanna (my uncle, Sri K Srinivas) at their ancestral house. The conversations, mostly revolving around the the great epics of India, were memorable (with some of it secretly captured on video and clandestinely posted on Facebook by Ambi).

My cousin Arun visited India in August and stayed with me. It had been years since we had met and there was so much to talk about. It was really inspiring to see his focus and his ability to grasp new ideas. I introduced him to a bunch of my friends and we all had a memorable time. Cousin Anita could not visit and was sorely missed, but she had just had a baby (my second nephew, Jayanth).

Arjun and I visited Mysore to meet Dr. S L Bhyrappa, who graciously invited us to lunch with him. Following that, we proceeded to Pandavapura to meet Mr. Anke Gowda, who has the largest personal collection of books that I have seen (over 1 million books). We were thrilled to visit his library as he enthusiastically showed us around. He has been collecting books for some seven decades with his meagre salary, driven by intense passion and devotion to literature.

Through the course of the year, in addition to the regular meet-ups with my friends, gurus, and family, I had the opportunity to meet a host of interesting people: Sri Prafulla Ketkar (Chief Editor, Organiser), Sri Shivaswami (Bhagavad-gītā scholar), Dr. Manohar Shinde (Founder, Dharma Civilization Foundation), Dr. Shekhar Borgaonkar (my father's college classmate and old friend), Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran (musician-composer-educator), and the dedicated people who run Rashtrotthana Vidya Kendra at Hagaribommanahalli, among others.

It is a co-incidence that the year began with a trip to Ellora and just as 2023 came to an end, during the course of our Madhya Pradesh road-trip, the first destination was Ellora. It was wonderful to visit that puṇya-kṣetra twice in a calendar year.

In addition to visiting Solapur, Sambhajinagar, Pune, Mumbai, Karwar, and Chennai, I went to Valparai (Tamil Nadu) for our annual boys' trip, with more friends joining the fray:

I spent the last days of the year on the road: traversing 3,800+ kilometres (Bangalore-Ellora-Maheshwar-Indore-Ujjain-Vidisha/Sanchi-Udayapur-Khajuraho-Bedaghat-Bangalore) in nine days with five of my friends and a shoe-string budget.

Among the many highlights of the trip was visiting Ahalyabai Holkar Smarak at Maheshwar.

To see her humble dwelling and to contrast that with her unparalleled achievements was an inspiration. These are the real heroes of our land and it is a sin to forget them.

Sri C R Sathya, the grandson of Prof. A R Krishnasastri and a remarkable space scientist (and writer) in his own right died earlier this year. He had been a great support during the time I co-translated The Essential Mahabharata. Not many people know that the gentleman on the right side of this iconic photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson is C R Sathya:

A few other greats who breathed their last in 2023 include Sri Siddeshwar Swamiji; the great gamaki Sri Chandrashekar Kedilaya; Wayne Shorter, the legendary jazz saxophonist; Sri B K S Varma, the painter par excellence; and iconic filmmaker Sri K Viswanath. I had the great fortune of meeting and interacting with both B K S Varma and K Viswanath some years ago.

The changes around us end up affecting us in some way, directly or indirectly, unless of course we are really cut off and have isolated ourselves from society. In this vein, it might be instructive to broadly look at some of the events from 2023.

India has marched forward under the visionary leadership of Sri Narendra Modi, who has never failed to impress with his tireless striving for a better future.

India is now the most populous country with a host of internal problems, largely fuelled by predatory ideologies, be it the clashes between the Kuki and the Meitei or the Nuh violence or even the denigration of Sanātana-dharma, which is the most inclusive religio-philosophical system in the world. Despite this and some of the self-inflicted wounds to the economy, the country witnessed the manner in which challenges were masterfully met, be it the organisation of the spectacular G20 or the rescue of 41 miners trapped in the Uttarakashi tunnel, be it seamlessly shifting to the new parliament building or sending Chandrayaan III to the moon.

After the demonic attack that took place on October 7th, 2023, the world is slowly realising the danger of the bloodthirsty death cult masquerading as a religion. More and more countries are rejecting the pseudo-liberal ideologies of the left and are instead moving far right, which is also dangerous in its own way. Coupled with this, we are unsure of the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the future of humans. And somewhere amidst all this chaos, unknown men are quietly doing their work. And that brings me a great deal of peace.

Thanks for reading this far, and with this I wish you and your family a wonderful new year! I hope it will be filled with joy, good health, prosperity, and moments to cherish. May your dreams come true!

— Appendix

I wish to share some of the fantastic accomplishments of a few people in my circle. It is, as always, an ad hoc list that I have prepared on the spur of the moment. I might have missed out some but those that I have listed are certainly notable:

Brahmin Genocide is an important topic researched by Sri Balaji Mahalingam (who writes under the pseudonym Asi) that brings to the fore an injustice that has pervaded our society in the last couple of centuries and must be immediately rectified if Hinduism is to survive. The first edition of the book was sold out in just a few months and he is now working on the second edition.

The seventh century CE Sanskrit play Bhagavad-ajjukam was documented by Nirupama and Rajendra with support from Sudha Murty, Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh, Praveen D Rao, Arjun Bharadwaj, et al.—see the Introduction and the complete play (with subtitles).

Bhāratīya Kṣāttra Paramparā (Hindi translation by Prof. Dharmaraj Singh Vaghela) Earlier this year, when the book Kṣāttra was released, I gave a copy of the book to my uncle Prof. Vaghela. The very next day, he called me and said that it is an important book which must reach the Hindi heartland and offered to translate it into Hindi. Dr. Ganesh immediately gave his consent. In a matter of months, he finished the translation, which is now appearing on www.prekshaa.in as a series and will soon be published in book form.

My good friend and former colleague Arjun Bharadwaj has come out with two remarkable books this year: the first, titled Nayana-Savana (co-written with Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh), which is a creative appreciation of some of the major productions of the legendary Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam and the second, titled Indian Perspective of Truth and Beauty in Homer’s Epics, which is worthy of a D.Litt. no less.

S R Ramaswamy's latest work titled Sāhitya Sānnihitya is an anthology of book reviews and writings on literature.

Saṃskṛti is a reprint of a charming little book on culture with essays by littérateurs including Devudu Narasimha Shastri, A N Murthy Rao, A N Krishna Rao, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, and C K Venkataramayya.

Prekshaa Pratishtana has brought out a lovely introductory video that summarises its vision and objectives. They continue to publish many books every year and maintain an ad-free online journal (www.prekshaa.in) with authentic content on Indian heritage for one and all.

My cousin Arun Prasad continues to do remarkable work with Ambuda, the online digital library for Sanskrit.

The best of Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh's writings in Kannada have been compiled in two volumes with the title Rāga-bhāratī.

Dr. G Sudesh Kumar, a close family friend, recently authored a coffee-table book titled History of Sri Parakala Mutt.

#memoirs #newyear #musings

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shut-up-rabert · 1 year

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I posted 263 times in 2022

That's 263 more posts than 2021!

139 posts created (53%)

124 posts reblogged (47%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@pulihora

@suvarnarekha

@navaratna

@ramayantika

@shanti-ashant-hai

I tagged 256 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#desiblr - 173 posts

#hindublr - 21 posts

#hinduphobia - 10 posts

#hinduism - 8 posts

#kashmir - 7 posts

#jammu and kashmir - 6 posts

#kashmiri hindus - 5 posts

#kashmir genocide - 5 posts

#kanhaiya lal - 5 posts

#pakistan - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 123 characters

#won’t even be surprised if kashmir genocide is represented as “a dark time when young kashmiri girls couldn’t go to school”

My Top Posts in 2022:

Movie concept: students from pan India living together in a hostel but instead we get less represented states like 7 sisters(+sikkim), Odisha, Karnataka, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Goa in lead along with correct representation of states like Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerela, Andhra, Bihar, J&K&Ladakh in the background

46 notes - Posted November 20, 2022

Just read a comic where UK and Canada were referred to as North Punjab and West Punjab and I haven’t been okay since

49 notes - Posted September 21, 2022

Why isn’t mass media more neutral?

Disclaimer: I’m not taking any sides here, nor am I provoking any of you to say it, but this has been on my mind quite a bit and I feel like saying it now: Honestly saying, I’ve always felt like the media favours Palestine over Israel way to much even tho media is supposed to be neutral.

Essays in exams, front pages of newspaper, stars on social media always talk about Palestine but seem to be painting a rather black and white “Palestine good Israel bad” picture but never seem to be willing to dwell deeper into the topic, and when they they go somewhat below the surface it’s always from Palestine’s perispective only, nothing explaining Israel’s side of story as passionately even if at all. Even in India vs Pakistan wars, you’ll find motives and aggressions from both sides easily enough if you looked.

“Stars” like Bela Hadid raise slogans demanding Israel’s dissolve under the ruse of Palestine’s independence and no one bats an eye. The founder of Human rights watch left the organisation saying that it was being biased towards Palestine and has forgotten its original purpose. A lot of funding of these pro palestine news channels comes from Pro Islamic nations organisations, most of the said countries being Palestine supporters.

Palestine is suffering, yes, but it’s not just Israel that’s making it suffer. Hamas has a major role to play too. It kills its own civilians more than Israel does. Palestine has seen some serious bloodshed since Hamas came into power but no one seems to focus on that. There’s little to no discussion about how Palestine is bleeding internally due to hamas, but only the stuff that can be used against Israel.

You’ll hear about how Israel “attacked” Gaza and most of the times it turns out to be some retaliation. We always hear about civilian deaths whose names are never revealed but no one ever wonders what civilians were doing around militant bases. We talk about how palestinians are being thrown out of Israel to show them as big aggressors and it turns out that the land was originally Israel’s territory to begin with.

I’m not being pro-Israel here, And I very well admit that it can have its fair share of violations, such as killing of the one Al-Jazeera reporter , accident or not (look, I fucking hate that platform but that doesn’t mean I condone killing of someone who didn’t do anything) but this is something that has always made me curious. It can’t be as simple as “Israel evil”, can it?

53 notes - Posted August 29, 2022

Hassi to ye sochkar aati h ki mera hone waala abhi kisi aur ke saath jeeney-marne ki kasme kha rha hoga

62 notes - Posted August 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

What you see:

What Desi kids see:

156 notes - Posted November 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #The tags casually reminding me that this was supposed to be a political blog :’)

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mostlysignssomeportents · 11 months

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This day in history

Today (May 20) at 3:15PM, I’ll be at the GAITHERSBURG Book Festival with my novel Red Team Blues; then on Monday (May 22), I’m keynoting Public Knowledge’s Emerging Tech conference in DC.

On Tuesday (May 23), I’ll be in TORONTO for a book launch that’s part of WEPFest, a benefit for the West End Phoenix, onstage with Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics), Ron Diebert (Citizen Lab) and the whistleblower Dr Nancy Olivieri.

#20yrsago William Gibson on the future of media https://web.archive.org/web/20030503081410/www.williamgibsonbooks.com/archive/2003_05_01_archive.asp

#15yrsago We need a privacy bill of rights https://www.wired.com/2008/05/securitymatters-0515/

#15yrsago Steamy tell-all memoir by a Disneyland “Jack Sparrow” https://web.archive.org/web/20080525200648/https://www.lamag.com/featuredarticle.aspx/?id=7016

#15yrsago Oregon to hold hearings on whether its laws are copyrighted https://public.resource.org/oregon/

#15yrsago China’s surveillance state https://web.archive.org/web/20080517165418/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye/print

#10yrsago Unknown mathematician makes historical breakthrough in prime theory https://www.wired.com/2013/05/twin-primes/

#10yrsago What UK education czar Michael Gove doesn’t understand about creativity https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/17/to-encourage-creativity-mr-gove-understand

#10yrsago Accused identity thief nailed by food-porn Instagram photo https://www.techdirt.com/2013/05/20/criminal-nabbed-his-own-food-porn/

#10yrsago Utah wants to tax power consumed by the NSA’s massive, illegal data-processing facility https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=56304956&itype=CMSID

#10yrsago Book review: information security for lawyers https://books.slashdot.org/story/13/05/20/1313205/book-review-locked-down-information-security-for-lawyers

#10yrsago When America issued dogtags to kids to help identify their nuke-blasted corpses https://gizmodo.com/that-time-american-school-kids-were-given-dog-tags-beca-508802138

#10yrsago Whatever happened to crack babies? https://web.archive.org/web/20130904231440/https://www.retroreport.org/crack-babies-a-tale-from-the-drug-wars/

#10yrsago Internet of Things and surveillance https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/05/the_eyes_and_ea.html

#10yrsago Profile of math-inspired 3D printing sculptor Bathsheba Grossman https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/2075-designer-spotlight-bathsheba-grossman-2.html

#5yrsago Explaining marine invertebrate reproductive strategies to the lobster-obsessed Jordan Peterson https://twitter.com/baileys/status/997646354414522368

#5yrsago Supreme Court rules that employers can make signing away your right to sue them in a class a condition of employment https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/21/politics/supreme-court-nlra-arbitration-gorsuch/index.html

#5yrsago New York high school will use CCTV and facial recognition to enforce discipline https://web.archive.org/web/20180521033340/http://uschnews.com/lockport-schools-turn-to-state-of-the-art-technology-to-beef-up-security-the-buffalo-news/

#5yrsago High school students who will not smile in the hallways are sent to mandatory counselling, while bullying is rampant https://www.ldnews.com/story/news/local/2018/05/15/n-lebanon-students-told-smile-while-bullying-gets-ignored/606180002/

#5yrsago The Vatican dunks on the finance industry and its “amoral culture” https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/05/17/180517a.html

#5yrsago Ahead of national elections, India’s authoritarian ruling party loses a key regional battle https://web.archive.org/web/20180520035216/http://www.atimes.com/article/huge-setback-for-modi-as-bjp-fails-floor-test-in-karnataka/

#5yrsago Britain’s hardline prohibitionist drugs minister is married to a weed grower https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/drugs-minister-victoria-atkins-hypocrisy-cannabis-paul-kenward-british-sugar-a8356056.html

#5yrsago App that let parents spy on teens stored thousands of kids’ Apple ID passwords and usernames on an unsecured server https://www.zdnet.com/article/teen-phone-monitoring-app-leaks-thousands-of-users-data/

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

#pluralistic

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mahesh2904 · 11 months

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PLACES TO VISIT DURING THIS SUMMER WITH YOUR FAMILY

Summer is all about in our lives and childrens are getting excited for the summer vacation and as the temperature is rising will to going on vacation to travel the new places will is also rising here we have suggested some place to visit during this summer with your family so you can select the place and and your trip to beat the heat and relax.

If you are planning for summer then which place is better than himalayas for your cool vacation so pen down your location that you can visit.

During travel with your family taking short breaks while you are on a road or on transit booking the hotel for full day don’t make sense for your short stay then hourly rooms brings you the solution on your short stay breaks which you can book via our website and app

Let's start with the places that you can visit during summer

Ladakh

Going north is always a good idea to escape the heat of in-land city Ladakh, which is the northernmost region of India. For those who are looking for thrilling places to visit in India in the summer, Ladakh is perfect for them. With myriads of things to do and places to visit in Ladakh, you can be sure of an ultimate vacation. With the highest of the mountains, mesmerising lakes, spectacular views, and chilly weather, Ladakh is a perfect place to explore.

Nainital

Perched at an elevation of 2000+ metres from the sea level, the glittering city of Nainital is surrounded by seven hills which also known as “sapta-shring” Nainital is the one of the popular place to visit not only that it is more known for its prestigious educational institutions and schools, which have stood since the British era. This place will give you pleasure during your visit.

Know more about Nainital : 8 Amazing Places that can be Visited in Nainital

Manali

You can’t talk of summer holidays in India and not mention Manali! Nestled in between the snow-capped slopes of the Pir Panjal and the Dhauladhar ranges, a summer vacation trip to Manali is rejuvenation at its best. No wonder the towering peaks and verdant terrains of Manali attract adventure travellers with heli-skiing, hiking, mountaineering and river rafting; an absolute boon for those who favour active pursuits.

Know more about Nainital : Manali The Honeymoon Destination

Coorg

Coorg is also one of the famous Hill stations located in Karnataka, India. Want to enjoy the misty Mountains, or green lush carpets all around, or want to enjoy the beauty of nature at its best in Coorg, famous for its coffee plantation, spice estate, also for it Beautiful hills, and for its pleasing Climate. The flora of this place will definitely give you the amazing vibe during your travels.

Goa

Lying on the western coast, Goa is India's smallest state and unlike any other, known for its endless beaches, stellar nightlife, eclectic seafood, world-heritage listed architecture. Spread across just 3,702 km, Goa lies in the Konkan region. It is a far cry from the hippie haven or a beach getaway, and one of the only few destinations that is open 24x7. The laid-backness (susegad) of Goa attracts as many international tourists as it does Indians, or even more so. That you can enjoy

Here are some places that you can visit with your family during the summer and during travel. If you are in need of the short stay then you can book your short stay with hourly rooms web and app.

#hourly hotels #shortstay #tourism #travel #hotel rooms #hourlyrooms #stay #tumblr #hourly hotel #wanderlust

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pooma-today · 1 year

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Trending News

Nov 2022

Bengaluru: Condoms, contraceptives, cigarettes, alcohol found in surprise school bag checks; netizens say 'we used to carry Parle G'

Bengaluru news: Condoms, oral contraceptives, lighters and cigarettes were found in school bags of students of Classes 8, 9 and 10 during surprise checks.

Authored by: TN Viral Desk

Updated Nov 30, 2022 | 10:08 PM IST

➖➖➖➖

Where are we heading to/leading for?

Our grumbs/grumps and reasons with solutions: UN Educationists

¶ Mr. Rajesh T (Kerala): Parenting/School teaching etc of today's kids is not the same as it was when we were kids...Those parents/teachers who aren't able to understand this and adapt to the present age will surely end up being ineffective in child's upbringing...

¶ T. Sujatha (Karnataka): Yeah... I truly agree with you... I like to bring to your notice, an incident which has happened in our school... Two 5th graders brought ₹1000 to school without the knowledge of the parents. When we called the parents to inform them to be cautious...one parent took it in the most positive way thanking the school authorities & the other parent want to simply push the blame on to the school... No way, they seem to be accountable... their main argument is the child spends more time @ school... So, school is responsible for teaching moral values... Parents wash their hands off their responsibilities.

Dr. BALA SUBRAMANIAN (Tamilnadu): 1. Parents giving too much independence

2. Both working so less time to takecare of their children

3. Children with sufficient pocket money, if not few start stealing too, parents won't have time to see which is missing in home.

‼️

Once in my life 20 years before student sold the ring and parents did not notice for long and they asked to return and can buy a chain and found it (and sad to say he drank poison and he was saved)

‼️

4. Nuclear family

5. I can say very directly to mother (mainly who are working, do domestic fight in home, which is the biggest advantage for mainly girls.

6. Children are smarter to make a fight a between father and mother.

7. Children should make a visit and make a chance to attend grandparents house, family function to feel the family suport and importance of values and culture.

8. All should keep mobile and should remove password when they are in a home or parents should be aware their password.

Do No compromise in this, Now if parents give only money and smart phone, more privacy in a flat or apartment, I m sure they are soon to be fuel for hell fire.

9. Hon. Minister Gowsal Kishore cried in parliament, said about his recently married son's demise due to alcoholic and his marriage/Father Is A MP and Mother is a MLA.

Hard to hear this generation parents are seen much in graveyards paying ho mage for their children.

Once again please don't compromise regarding discipline in home or school,

they can fail in the studies and not in life.

¶ T Sujatha: Stork reality sir... Here, no one does introspection...they want to push the blame on others... Bad parenting attitude... Likewise children learn from these ethically wrong parents...don't know where we are heading?

¶ NAMAGIRI: Parents are allowing their wards to go for tuition centre.There these students are getting unwanted relationship with other school.students .Parents feel.proud to send their wards for tuition.School ,they are providing enough coaching classes and sufficient revision tests.Why they need to have extra tuition.When they go to tuition, they are allowed to use cellphones. I visited one students house Whose performance and the attendance is very poor.Parents are not aware of that students tuition centre. They are telling me that he is refusing to tell the address but paying fees correctly. Student is telling that his father if he knew the tuition centre address,everyday he will come and ask his performance. Parents are not having any hold over their children.ஏமாறுபவர்கள் இருக்கும் வரைக்கும் ஏமாற்றுபவர்கள் இருப்பார்கள். If the Parents are ignorant , Students will take advantage. I remember in my experience, Mother who studied only upto 8th std was able to follow her daughter who was a high achiever. Parents should be more vigilant otherwise very friendly with their children to follow them.and correct them.

¶ Pooja Hanji: Once we learnt that my nephew hacked his parents account nd used upto 1.5 lakh rupees for video games. Parents were unaware of it.

They gave him independence to operate t account on small things. Proud of teaching him everything at young age. He can travel alone , he can go for a movie alone, take print outs for their work, access to internet at any time as both are doctors.

The elder son had controlled the younger one threatened him not to disclose anything to anyone.

He had asked a person to open an account in the bank for him without his parents knowledge by paying 2.500 Rs.

I think he is even addicted to watch certain things in YouTube.

He is a hostilite. He doesn't want to come home now. He is insisting that he will study hard and doesn't want to leave the school.

He was caught and been warned by his parents. But he still continued doing so and spent another 50,000 Rs from their account.

He is a brilliant child. He scores really well at exams. But what to do about the behavior. How to correct it?

Children if 8, 9and 10 th standard students are have birthday parties just with their friends outdoors, at clubs etc. They are behaving like grown ups. These kids are considered smart.

Others want to follow the trend , if not they are not excepted by others.

I learned about another incidence where 10th kids are going for wines shops to drink.

The shop owner had moral value and warned the kids and sent them back

The shop owners selling these things must have some moral values not to sell them to children.

And as parents where are we failing to nurture them.

https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/city/top-bengaluru-stories/surprise-school-bag-checks-yield-condoms-cigarettes-in-bengaluru-1166931.html

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coochiequeens · 1 year

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MUMBAI, India — Footage of Iranian women protesting and burning their hijabs has fascinated Indians, in part because they are seeing the opposite scenario play out at home: Muslim women are suing India's government for the right to keep their hijabs on.

Their lawsuit, brought by high schoolers banned from wearing headscarves in classrooms in southern India, has landed at the country's Supreme Court, where this month, judges admitted that even they have been unable to agree on the issue.

It's a reflection of just how sensitive anything related to the hijab is in Hindu-majority India, especially under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lawmakers from his Hindu nationalist party have been accused of inciting violence against India's 200 million Muslims — the country's largest minority.

But Modi's Hindu conservatives are championing female Muslim protesters in Iran.

Accused of anti-Muslim discrimination at home, Hindu nationalists voice support for Iranian women

The Iran protests fit a narrative popular among many in India's Hindu majority: that the hijab is an example of "radical Islam," a tool to control women and a slippery slope toward clerical control.

"Ever since 9/11, the first thing you see with the arrival of radical Islam is the attire," columnist Tavleen Singh said on a recent TV news program. "Every time men decide what women should wear, it is wrong. The hijab... is meant to be a political weapon."

Singh is from a Sikh family. She was an early Modi supporter who later wrote a book about how she became disenchanted with him.

But her views about women's dress resonate with Modi's supporters, who fear Islamist influence in India and point out that Indian authorities are not alone in their efforts to restrict the hijab. Islamic face coverings, though not headscarves, are banned in France too.

"Any attempt to veil women in the name of religion, even if it begins with a headscarf, should be seen as a sign of religious fundamentalism and a future where extensive veiling will be mandated under law," says Swati Goel Sharma, author of a new book titled The Hijab Debate: Subjugation Sold as Freedom.

That's why she opposes it in Indian public school classrooms. "It's like turning the wheels back," she says.

Sharma and her coauthor Sanjeev Newar filed a petition against the Muslim schoolgirls' lawsuit in the high court of Karnataka, a southern Indian state.

Many Hindu nationalists see a contradiction in those who support Iranian women taking off their hijabs while also supporting Indian women who want to keep them on.

"Oppose Hijab in Iran. Support Hijab in India. Hypocrisy of the Liberal Gangsters !" C. T. Ravi, the national general secretary of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, tweeted last month.

Muslim women say it's about choice

But many women on the left and right in India say that misses the point. It's not about the hijab, they say. It's about choice.

"In Iran, the state is interfering in the rights of women — the choice of women — to decide what to wear and what not to wear. And that is exactly the problem faced by the Muslim girls in the schools of Karnataka," says Samar Ali, general secretary of the student union at English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad, in southern India.

Ali, who wears the hijab, alleges hypocrisy in another direction. If you champion Iranian women's choice, she says, you must do the same for the Karnataka girls. Those who don't have "double standards," she says.

"It is evident how biased these people are. Even the media in India, it portrays the protests in Iran as simply anti-hijab," Ali says. "But more than that, it's about the basic right of women to choose."

Both sides decry media coverage of the issue. Those on the right say Western coverage has unfairly celebrated the high school girls in Karnataka. And they accuse Indian Muslim groups of being comparatively silent on the Iran protests.

But everyone seems to agree on one thing: When Bollywood celebrities weigh in, they get way too much coverage.

A top Bollywood actress comments on Iran — and gets pummeled online

On Oct. 7, Indian film star Priyanka Chopra condemned the death in Iranian custody of Mahsa Amini, who'd been arrested by the country's so-called morality police for not wearing the hijab properly. Chopra said she was "in awe" of the Iranian protests that followed.

"The voices that speak after ages of forced silence, will rightfully burst like a volcano! And they will not and MUST not be stemmed," the actor wrote on Instagram.

She was swiftly vilified for it, and was deluged with accusations of hypocrisy.

Nabiya Khan, an Indian Muslim poet who wears the hijab, says Chopra has been conspicuously silent about the persecution of minorities at home.

"We never heard her raising concern against mob lynchings, illegal bulldozing of homes of Muslims, and an alarming increase of hate crimes against Muslims and Dalits in India," she says.

It's not the first time Chopra, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, has faced allegations of hypocrisy.

Two years ago, after she expressed support for Black Lives Matter, observers pointed out that in 2008, she appeared in a series of promotional videos for skin-lightening creams in India called White Beauty. She later said she regretted those ads.

The hijab is used as a political tool against governments

The way Indians view the anti-hijab movement in Iran largely depends on religion and ideology.

"The right wing, they would like to vilify Islam. So it's like 'See, we told you this is oppressive,'" says Debangana Chatterjee, a political scientist at Jain University in Bengaluru. "Then there are liberals on the left wing who say women's choice should be prioritized."

What they're all missing, Chatterjee says, is some history: In both Iran and India, the hijab has been used as a tool of political activism against the government.

Before Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Muslim veils were "a symbol of resistance against the oppressive Shah regime," Chatterjee wrote in a recent essay for the Indian online publication Scroll.in. They were also used by Algerian nationalists against the French, and in 1970s Egypt, she notes. Now they are being used by Karnataka schoolgirls to assert their own agency, Chatterjee says.

"Someone who wears a burqa isn't necessarily backward. The idea of repression doesn't reside in what someone is wearing, but whether they're wearing it by choice or not," she says. "That's what connects India and Iran."

#Hijab #india #women’s rights

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navakarnatakatimes · 2 years

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ಶಾಲೆ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಸಿಹಿ ಸುದ್ದಿ: ಬಿಸಿಯೂಟದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ದೆ, ಜೋಳದ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ

ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು: ಶಾಲೆ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಬಿಸಿಯೂಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನು ಮುಂದೆ ರಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ದೆ, ಜೋಳದ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ ನೀಡಲಾಗುವುದು. ಪ್ರಾದೇಶಿಕ ಆಹಾರ ನೀಡಲು ಸರ್ಕಾರ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದೆ. ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಪೌಷ್ಟಿಕಾಂಶದ ಆಹಾರ ನೀಡುವ ಉದ್ದೇಶದಿಂದ ರಾಗಿಮುದ್ದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಜೋಳದ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ ನೀಡಲು ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಶೀಘ್ರವೇ ಯೋಜನೆ ಆರಂಭವಾಗಲಿದೆ. ಶಾಲಾ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಕ್ಷರತಾ ಇಲಾಖೆ ವತಿಯಿಂದ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಬಿಸಿ ಊಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಗೋಧಿ ಪಾಯಸ, ಅನ್ನ ಸಾಂಬಾರ್ ನೀಡಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇದರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಉತ್ತರ…

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#Children #Karnataka #Latest News #live news #Meals #mudde #rotti #school #ಜೋಳದ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ #ಬಿಸಿಯೂಟ #ರಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ದೆ #ಶಾಲೆ ಮಕ್ಕಳು

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cricketet · 2 years

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Kl Rahul Profile, Cricket Career, Biography, Stats

Kl Rahul Career:

Hailing from a foundation of high scholastic norms, Kl Rahul was conceived and raised in the renowned National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, where his dad is a teacher in the division of Civil Engineering. He completed his tutoring in NITK and developed to foster distinct fascination with cricket. Having gotten going with batting on the grass-less field of the school, Rahul's folks recognized a flash in him and concluded that he should get formal preparation to understand his gifts.

Under-19 Career:

Kl Rahul rose through the positions of Under-19 cricket and broke into the Karnataka five star side and had a fair presentation season in 2010-11. He was avoided with regards to the crew for the succeeding season, yet he returned for the 2012-13 season, where he had a productive run of structure, turning into the most elevated run-getter of the time, impelling himself into conflict for the most noteworthy distinction of all - an India Test cap.

#kl rahul #cricket #icc #ipl2022 #best player #indian team #team india #ind vs sa t20 series #t20i series #t20 world cup #ind vs wi 2nd t20 #ind vs sa t20i

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aravindsays · 1 year

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What makes a train journey more interesting? Is it the evening perks of enjoying the adventurous ride through the rural landscape? Let me take it down the other way..When our thoughts are penned down till the last words of experiencing life around us, every journey offers something new to exploit and understand the “moving worlds” around us. It can be anything; the shining lakes basking in the glorious evening sunlight, children waving their hands to the train that slithers away like a snake, wobbling on the rails before approaching the station; the final destination that awaits us to escape into the comfort zone of meeting our friends and family; it is capable enough of melting anyone’s hearts. Don’t forget to have your earphones in between! It can possibly strike a simple essence of magic to all your journeys with music.

You might be wondering where I am going with this blog, opening with an aesthetic paragraph about these travels. But things should get ironical from now on as I need a contrasting statement to start with. Expectations and realities have a great rivalry within us, thanks to our varying perspectives and personalities. Haven’t you seen siblings fighting together for no reason? The same situation.

College life doesn’t feel good every single time, especially when you have a boring day once or maybe twice in a week. What if it’s a Friday? Yes, you are right. A pre-requisite to the weekend life. Celebrating an off-day from all the work chaos is a man-made blessing. I decided to take leave from my teacher for the wrong reasons to bunk her seminar presentations, after noon. Between attending classes every day in my school days to learning the art of bunking classes in college, I grew up. I felt bad but she was sweet enough to let me go. I stayed in the class for a few minutes, talking to my classmates about the pending works next week and decided to catch a bus to the railway station. It was crowded and it ran like a snail through the streets of Alappuzha. When it reached the railway crossing line, my heart gave a shudder as the train which I am supposed to board, crawled to the station platform. Running like a maniac from the seats, I ran to the station counter to book my tickets. The cashier gave me an unwelcoming face, gave me a quick look and said,”Ini sleeper coachil seat kittilla, ninnu pokendi varum”. As if he was cursing me! Crossed the staircase and coming down to the second platform, I got into the train. Gladly, I found a seat in one of the coaches towards the end.

It was a bit noisy in the coach; with aunties and uncles hailing from different parts of the country. There was a family who were coming back from their Goa trip. The Indian trains has this special feature of having a boggy totally owned by a family. Half of the train boggy will be filled with families or friends coming after a long trip in Goa, Gokarna, parts of Karnataka and even in Mumbai. The speciality lies in treating this boggy as their home; children running around, eating together, playing songs and singing together; it’s a gala time. You find these scenarios bit engaging in our country. We are proud of our railways, after all.

It was a soothing Friday evening; people rushing back to their homes. Some were reading newspapers, some were asleep and others were busy looking into their phones. There was no excitement in these people’s faces. Imagine an entire generation of people bowing their heads down to the mobile, eagerly looking for updates and daily information! No one were talking each other or keeping a glance on others; it was them versus their phones. Even I too had to bow down and play a video game in my mobile for an hour. Except the families! They were busy talking, packing their bags and all set for their next stop.

The train, which ran from Lokmanya Tilak to Trivandrum, was infamous for being late. It has a beautiful name – Nethravathi express. The red-coloured bogies ran with all its might for 1500kms everyday and in contrast to its beautiful name, it always had an exhaustive run towards the end. Before entering to Trivandrum, it shows complete dishonest to its passengers for running late. I sat on the edge of the seat thinking about the evening plans of going out and buying Peri-Peri Chicken for dinner. I was truly in love with its taste that i couldn’t wait it to get it. Thinking of it, my mouth became watery of instant salivation, dripping out of my mouth. But what to do, the train ran even slower than that!

There was a middle-aged man who sat next to me. He worked in a government office and lived in Trivandrum. Along with him there were 4 other people, in total – six. The rest of the people were completely unknown to me and they seemed to be relaxed and dozing off till the next station arrived. There was only one woman with us, who too was taking a quick nap every twenty minutes. She got phone calls in between and took over half of the seat, lying down for a nap. The situation seemed to be pretty boring and I had to engage myself in one way or the other with my mobile phone as it was my only solution to interacting with a machine that feels like a human companion at times. (Thanks to the AI technology)

But there was something to be acknowledged throughout this journey. I popped out my eyes to the window to look over the people outside, busy with their own works. How strange it is – minding their own business and running around the streets for their daily chores. There were no children to be seen outside and it felt blank. Just like that! But who cares..The nature gave us beautiful moments that could be etched in our minds for a moment. The running trees and abandoned water bodies gave a cheerful face, welcoming our voyage with complete enthusiasm. They swayed as we went forwards in the train and it felt cheerful to see them in the backdrop of the evening sun. How come these passengers aren’t noticing it? Or are they tired of all these things that they see everyday? Why don’t they find it to be refreshing as they pass though these same fields? Apart from the phone, questions began to interact to me like an anonymous being, searching for answers.

But the hero of this blog is our Nethravathi Express. It ran will all its might till Kollam railway station like a horse, halting at the right moment and then galloping and picking the right speed for the next station. The middle-aged man started the initial perks of talking to the woman near him and showed the chances of human-to-human interaction for the very first time between strangers. He tried to start small conversations with this lady and they talked for sometime. She ran her eyes through her phone and conversed with him, giving one-word answers in between. Apparently, the train ran forward for its next station in Varkala. People began to become less in numbers in the train and the family who was gearing up to reach their home destination began to pack things.

As i spoke in the beginning of this blog, expectations and realities doesn’t cope up well. Irony began to crawl in and our Nethravathi Express gave a predicted twist of running late. Hero turns villain. Yes guys, we are arriving at the last part and certainly, you need a dramatic twist. This train began to get into my nerves and literally, everyone’s nerves I suppose. It started to behave like Sunil Gavaskar all of a sudden. Imagine a batsman on the field who neither smashes a ball for a boundary nor getting dismissed and plays defence all the time! Do you expect the scorecard to rise or not?

Nethravathi stopped here and there between stations towards Varkala and even further. It felt like the train was blaming and complaining itself for running so long and being courteous to other trains to pass by. I looked around. I was getting uncomfortable of this wait...Look, we are just few kilometres away from Trivandrum. I complained about being late to the woman who sat in the opposite seat...the one who took quick naps and talked to the middle-aged man. She heard me and had the same complaint too. She pledged not to take this train when coming from Ernakulam and gave a deep sigh. We talked about the train as it was the cause for our interaction and IRONICALLY, the same train gave us extra minutes to talk to each other besides waiting in stations. Apart from the phone and the little questions I experienced before, I had this lady with me, talking about herself. Dressed in a blue kurta top and a mother of 2 children, she started talking about my studies and I asked about her job; we got to know each other for a small period of time. Nethravathi’s “late gestures” helped us to crack little jokes about this journey.

It felt refreshing to talk to someone in the train about their life, their work, hobbies, likes and dislikes, dreams and a bit of removing the “stranger” barriers within us. We went through them and I found someone who was interesting to know about. The evening sun was planning to set in the West. It’s orange wilderness spread across the sky, weaving a saffron and blue coloured artistry of hope. I showed it to her and she gave a quick smile to it. I was relieved to find someone who loved to watch the world outside the train. Again the train became much slower..and we talked even more. The only good thing the train has done so far, I guess. She have a flower garden near her home and felt comfortable enough to show me those pictures of beautiful flowers. Along with the aesthetics, the woman had enquiries about competitive exams to talk about and we shared doubts regarding the same. Eventually, the train became a factor in getting us to progress the conversation. We added little laughter to all the good things we shared. I got to know her place in Trivandrum and it was famous for hand looms. It was a new information for me which I got from a human being, not through usual Googling. I said from now on, that place is famous because its her native place too. She threw a beautiful smile on me, as beautiful as her flowers.

Nethravathi Express ran into platform no.2 like an exhausted athlete who fell short of the finishing point and completed the race. It completed its grumbling travel and stood affirm as a winner on the platform. The family were getting ready, busy combing their hair and adding perfumes to their sweaty bodies, making sure that they won’t rot in this high temperature in Trivandrum. And finally, we got off the train and the woman rushed back to the foot bridge to reach the entrance. She looked at me and I guess, our meeting was a comfortable one to make her smile even after she left.

The train that delayed our hopes of arriving at the right time turned out to be of good use when it came to interacting with people. I wonder how many of them got chances to talk about certain things that weren’t readily available on a phone. This sociable environment makes each and every journey a thrilling one; and you have the best views of nature outside your windows. No matter whether Nethravathi was a hero or villain; after all, it happens only on a train ride!

#creative writing #train journey #feelgood #my writing #real life #voyage

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sudhanshu-bhatt · 6 days

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Educational Excellence: Spotlight on India's Top 10 Day Schools

Here is a list of the Top 10 Day Schools in India for Educational Excellence:

The Doon School, Dehradun Established in 1935, The Doon School is one of the oldest and most prestigious boarding schools in India. It is affiliated with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) board and offers a rigorous academic program that prepares students for admission to the world's best universities. The school is known for its beautiful campus, its strong emphasis on extracurricular activities, and its commitment to character development.

Sherwood College, Nainital

Founded in 1896, Sherwood College is a boys' boarding school located in the hill station of Nainital, Uttarakhand. It is affiliated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) board and offers a holistic education that emphasizes academics, sports, and co-curricular activities. The school is known for its picturesque setting, its strong alumni network, and its tradition of excellence.

Miramonte School, Mumbai

Miramonte School is a co-educational day school located in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is affiliated with the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) board and offers a British curriculum that leads to the IGCSE and A-Level qualifications. The school is known for its international outlook, its innovative teaching methods, and its focus on developing well-rounded global citizens.

Ecole Globale, Dehradun

Ecole Globale is a co-educational day school located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board and offers a progressive curriculum that combines the best of Indian and international education practices. The school is known for its focus on innovation, its use of technology in the classroom, and its commitment to preparing students for the 21st century.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Higher Secondary) School, Pondicherry

Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Higher Secondary) School is a co-educational day school located in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu. It is affiliated with the CBSE board and offers a value-based education that emphasizes spiritual development alongside academic achievement. The school is known for its unique educational philosophy, its serene learning environment, and its focus on developing the whole child.

Delhi Public School (R.K. Puram), New Delhi

Delhi Public School (R.K. Puram) is a co-educational day school located in New Delhi. It is affiliated with the CBSE board and is considered to be one of the best schools in India. The school is known for its rigorous academic program, its excellent infrastructure, and its outstanding faculty.

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla

Bishop Cotton School is a boys' boarding school located in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. It is affiliated with the CISCE board and offers a traditional British education. The school is known for its emphasis on discipline, its strong academic program, and its beautiful campus.

St. Xavier's School, Kolkata

St. Xavier's School is a boys' day school located in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is affiliated with the CISCE board and is considered to be one of the most prestigious schools in India. The school is known for its rigorous academic program, its excellent faculty, and its strong alumni network.

National Public School, Bangalore

National Public School is a co-educational day school located in Bangalore, Karnataka. It is affiliated with the CBSE board and is known for its emphasis on sports and extracurricular activities. The school has a strong academic program and a well-qualified faculty.

Maharaja Agrasen Public School, Delhi

Maharaja Agrasen Public School is a co-educational day school located in Delhi. It is affiliated with the CBSE board and is known for its focus on academics and value education. The school has a strong track record of academic achievement and offers a variety of extracurricular activities.

These are just a few of the many excellent day schools in India. When choosing a school for your child, it is important to consider your child's individual needs and learning style. You should also visit the schools you are interested in and speak to the admissions staff to learn more about their programs and philosophy.

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