please condole the demise of Amrita Pritam....

Ms. Amrita Pritam is one of my favorite poet and writer....
these lines from ye akshar(these words) from khamoshi se aage (beyond silence) collection....

khamoshi ke ped se maine
ye akshar nahi thode
yeh tho jo ped par se jhade the
meh wahi akshar chunthi rahi...

Shadows of words her autobiography is strongly recommended. I haven't read her earlier autobiography Rasidi ticket published in 1970s (which some say was controversial).
The thing about great poets and writers is that they never die, the words they write lingers for ages guiding us, giving us meanings....
The reason why Ms Pritam is my favourite poet and writer and not was...

This is shocking.....

It’s shocking to see the images in TV of Delhi blasts. To see common people running helter skelter as many lay bleeding and dead. Happening in festive season adds to the tragedy. It is very sad indeed. This is the kind of places any of us common people are in, whether it is Bus or crowded markets. It is very real for me like millions others. Bomb blasts in crowded places also has a severe psychological impact on people. It definitely makes one very very very insecure. Unlike Britain where people were admired for their stoic response we people on the streets of “developing countries” don’t have much options considering the chaos, unpredictability and limited means, we share more with “black” people in New Orleans.
I recollect about 8 years back around same time just before diwali there were Bomb blasts few meters from where I was staying in Karol Bagh (no this was not in the neighborhood of late Mr. Nirmal Verma. I was staying in a different place). We were filling up water at around 6pm and we heard a loud noise and smoke, followed by another after a short time. The blast happened in most crowded of places. The places we frequented, one was a kulfi shop, a girl died there and another was crowded Gaffar market. Many people were injured and maimed. Another tragedy was averted as the bomb was defused in Bikanerwala shop. Some of the guys who had come to delhi for the first time were really very scared and stopped venturing out!!. Actually I too became bit circumspect of things. It was very uncomfortable experience. It really is very saddening. I don’t know what do these people achieve by killing and maiming innocent people. There is no justification for this….

please condole the demise of Nirmal Verma.....

Please condole the death of Mr. Nirmal Verma, one of the greatest Hindi writers. I always enjoyed his writings. His writings I thought had the quality of contemplation sometimes very meditative. He explored the mind of the character, and situations were only incidental in the whole scheme of things. I have read his Hindi as also English translations of his books.
I also had the opportunity to be his neighbor!!. I was staying in a single room top floor that was adjacent to his house in karol bagh, Delhi. Although he sold his house and shifted out (to Bhopal I was told) few months after I moved in. I interacted with him twice, once after a program in IIC, I didn’t see him but we got into the same DTC bus. I found him standing next to me, so got up and offered my seat. He was surprised I thought. Few days later I met him on the street next to where I stayed, I guess he recognized me so I found it necessary to mention that I stay nearby and also that I have read his books. I recollect him uttering a line or two as formality. I saw him quite often on the street from my room that had a window facing the street (I was staying near to a traffic junction). He was a real slow walker so i thought he was contemplating his next story as he walked!!. We common people do have a very romanticed (sometimes mystery ridden) version of writers. During that period i too was scribbling few things, grand failure though, but naive as i was i did for sometime had him as someone i can emulate, a role model. He was too good. Mr. Nirmal Verma was undoubtedly a brilliant writer.
Bye
PS. How is that when the whole world is aware of sad demise of Mr. Verma that Mr. Ram is still groping!!.(Times Of India even carries a write up). Competence?. Yah sure. How long are we going to tolerate you Ram?.

errata...

Please see that i have replaced the word "pedestal" with "pedestrian". English is quite a funny language. The word sounds almost same then in the end takes a absolutely, entirely new turn and meaning!!. In this case opposite. Off course I do have serious reservation on using pedestrian as something “insignificant”. This is elitist. Why a pedestrian is insignificant and some moron in excellent car is significant is beyond me. (Off course now it is established that it takes more than 50 years to create a perfect moron we have a live example). Incidentally most cities are not pedestrian (nor cycle) friendly but yes there are pockets that are so beautiful that walking becomes a pleasant experience. My intention was not to pedestalise Mr. N.Ram (of all the people in the world!!). I have better options he (and his cronies) are nowhere in the list, this is an humble submission!!. I would also like to hilariously submit with all humility: primum vivere, deinde philosophari, to all the "intellectuals" squatting the columns and space in media (for the reason of tradition and right contacts) at the expense of genuine talents. In this context I am reminded of an incident regarding Schopenhauer, one of the greatest philosophers (The World as Will and Idea, 1844). Schopenhauer ate his dinner at a particular restaurant everyday (for nearly 30 years!!). He always had his pet dog to accompany him whom he named Atma(????!!!!). At the beginning of each meal he would place a gold coin upon the table before him and at the end of the meal he would put the coin back into his pocket. Since Schopenhauer had a terrible temper no one dared to ask him the reason for this ceremony. Finally an indignant waiter couldn’t take it no more, so one day had the courage to ask him. Schopenhauer answered that he had vowed to drop the coin into the poor box on the first day that the English officers dining there should talk of anything else than horses, women or dogs!!!!. In the contemporary world too it is remarkably true if these were replaced with: if ever the mainstream media speaks anything other than glamour (cricket can now be counted in this), sensationalized crimes (sleaze) and politicians- strictly in this order. So Schopenhauer can keep his gold coin. This is not to demean some incredible people, but the reality is the world hasn’t changed much; elites discuss and spend their time on same frivolities, as was the case 150 years back. It is therefore elite culture to revel in insignificance, something that has nothing to do even remotely with majority of people.

PS (personal trivia): Referring to pets, I guess dogs are incredible animals. My first encounter with dogs as pets was quite early, in my grandmother’s place they had an excellent dog, they named him Kaiser. Later I came to know Kaiser was nick name of Hitler!!(more precisely title for emperors). So much so for most dangerous man in the world!!!. In animals I guess Elephants are magnificent creatures. Animal Planet and National Geography are excellent channels. On the edge (crocodile Steve and mad mike are amazing) or the guy who chases snakes in different parts of the world. The one on King Cobra (in western ghats) was particularly amazing wherein he touches the hood, once he even got bitten by spitting cobra in Africa. The episodes related to Serringhetti grassland has always been brilliant, recently i saw The Crossing, it was spectacular.