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Thanks, Ed!
It’s A Dog’s Life
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Monthly Archives: August 2010
Bhaji On The Beach
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As the sun begins to set on the main feast-day of Onam, friends and families meet up on the Fort Cochin shores to talk, sit, stroll and fly kites.
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“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” Anais Nin
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Preparing A Pookkalam
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It is now Onam, Kerala’s biggest festival.
Although primarily a Hindu celebration, Onam has been adopted by all the faiths of Kerala. It is a time when all Keralites try to get home, to be with family.
Presents of clothing are given. My dhoti and kurta collection is now very impressive!
It’s Sunday. Shaji and Dalila, my amazingly kind house-staff, are not supposed to be here today but this evening they arrive with traditional Onam gifts for me. They bring their youngest son, and Sebastian my carpenter from neighbouring Nazareth.
Following the exchange of small gifts, the main purpose of the evening is addressed: preparing a pookkalam.
A design is chalked out on the floor, and filled with flower petals.
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We are ready to welcome the King.
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Happy Onam!
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Empire Lines
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“In the beginning there were two nations. One was a vast, mighty and magnificent empire, brilliantly organised and culturally unified, which dominated a massive swathe of the earth. The other was an underdeveloped, semi-feudal realm, riven by religious factionalism and barely able to feed its illiterate, diseased and stinking masses. The first nation was India. The second was England.”
So begins “Indian Summer: The secret history of the end of an empire”.
This book by Alex Von Tunzelmann, which charts the independence and partition of India, continues as compellingly as it starts.
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It’s gripping reading: I may be gone some time…
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Into The Night
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India is booming.
Despite her many challenges, with an economic growth rate of more than eight per cent and a population of over one billion, there is a palpable sense of dynamism here. Walking down the streets, what strikes me is the sheer force and vibrancy of life. Something I don’t feel in Europe.
There is a mood of optimism, that the balance of power is shifting.
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new.”
But for some here, this change heralds sadness; endings.
I have just finished reading a fascinating account of how societies can wither and die in Edna Fernandes excellent “The Last Jews of Kerala”.
Last weekend, in the New York Times, Mian Ridge wrote a moving article on the passing of Anglo-Indian culture.
The Syrian Christian community, a powerful force in Kerala society for almost 2,000 years, are taking the demographic path to obscurity. The same fate awaits the Parsi population of Mumbai.
These declines and disappearances are nothing new. They must have occurred countless times as civilizations arose then retreated. But for those who see their affluence, influence and identity slowly fade, it is a difficult and painful transition.
Their choice; one that most eventually face: bitterness or quiet acceptance.
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A Tryst With Destiny
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Today is August 15: India’s Independence Day.
Jai Hind!
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And Jai Ho!
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Happy Independence Day.
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Work, Rest And Play: The Practice Of Living
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The practice of living mainly revolves around mundane, repetitive tasks, which seem to lack glamour or heroism. But perhaps it is in these simple acts that the potential for growth and awareness lies.
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“Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.”*
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“We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. One becomes in some area an athlete of God.”*
*Martha Graham
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The Word
Language is perhaps humanity’s greatest achievement and glory. It seems to define us.
Our words provide an amazing capacity to communicate and conceptualise. But their limits are not always clear. We can be lured unknowingly into misunderstanding and meaningless conundrums.
In today’s Guardian newspaper, they publish a beautifully written essay on the significance of words, by Tony Judt.
He wrote with controlled passion, elegance and honesty.
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Under The Midday Sun
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“When the morning’s freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday…” Dag Hammarskjold
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Restitution
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“That which he laboured for, he shall restore..”
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Night Of Wrath
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“..and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”
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Green Peace
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“If your knees aren’t green by the end of the day, you aught to seriously re-examine your life.” Bill Waterson.
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The Passage Of Light
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Pictures taken during my visit to the Kerala Lalithakala Academy Archive. The building was designed by Laurie Baker, a pioneer of low-cost, “environment-friendly” architecture in India.
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Fame
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Less than an hour’s journey from Thrissur is the Kalamandalam, Kerala’s school of performing arts.
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On our tour of the campus, we join up with a party of very English Girl Guides.
It seems a somewhat surreal juxtaposition.
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Temple To The Arts
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During the monsoon rains I visit a temple dedicated to the performing arts.
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