I am now trying to figure out how to juggle things together. I need to install discipline in my life. The experiment for the next 15 days will focus on the following practices: 1. Early morning walk to the beach Juhu. Surya namaskaram, meditation and walk 2. No Internet surfing after 9 and till evening. 3. Conscious of food intake. Eat slowly and healthy 4. Enhance levels of concentration 5. Morning bath and be ready by 9.00 am 6. 30 minute talk with wife everday

The cultural organization, Prakriti Journey is fascinating. Have raised a corpus through founder Ranvir Shah, Prakriti focuses on cultural exchanges, documentation of our heritage and providing patronage to Avante Garde art in India. Based in Chennai, the events are set in wonderful urban spaces like Amethyst. Amethyst is a boutique, restaurant heritage bungalow in the heart of Chennai. Chirping of birds is usually the lunch among dense flora. Recently Prakriti organizing a Dhrupad festival at the Musuem Theatre in Egmore in a wonderful venue called Musuem Theatre. A circular colonial theatre with a stunning visual presence. Maintenance of course has the government stamp with stinking loos and rats. It always begs the question of private vs public. I am quite positive in the hands of a private promoter the space would have been flattened for a boring rectangular structure. On the other the government despite shoddy maintenance has kept the building alive. Hong Kong is a classic example where all the Colonial architecture has given way to swanky well maintained buildings. So the lack of development in Kolkatta has allowed the wonderful examples of colonial architecture to thrive and prosper. Even in Bombay, the british legacy is about all the city has for claims of architectural aesthetics. The Construction in the past 50 years has focused on short term profits devoid of aesthetics. The result, an ugly uninspiring city with inspired people

The trip Kerala was heartening. As Shobhana said, Kerala is an excellent entry point for International travelers. Hygiene levels are high and is abundant in diversity. Beaches, Wildlife, Cultural Heritage, Natural beauty is accessible in a short period of time. As we accompanied 6 friends of friends, we stayed in cute little homestays and lodges. Cochin Club fused with British Heritage triggered memories of days spent at the Saturday Club and Tolly Club Kolkatta. I am big on nostalgia and “how was it in the past..

 

The Indian system has largely failed in delivering on education. Imagine someone born in Urban educated middle class family in India with access to an effective education system and someone born in a village in rural India without electricity and parents are also uneducated. Now that to me is inequity as the school systems are poor in rural India, teachers are ineffective, weak healthcare system and then that child is to make something of his life of which he has no control of till he 7 to 10 years old. Contrast that with me: great schools, well fed, secure middle class home and English education. I am on a supersonic jet compared to my peer group from a typical village India.  So it is at these moments I buy the arguments of the left that we in India don't have our fundamentals in order. In order to make people compete, the ground rules need to be comparable. But in India and several other countries that is not so. Isn't it a random chance that I am born in the top 2% of India's population. We need to give back...

Two of the greatest thinkers of 20th century India, Gandhi and Tagore were introduced by Preacher and Englishman CF Andrews. When one reads through the annals of our history during the past two hundred years it is remarkable to not the number of "foreigners" who have contributed to documenting and sharing the strengths of our Civilization and leaders to the world. Nehru, Gandhi and Tagore had friends and were influenced from people all over the world. Gandhi and Tagore were able to synthesize great thinkers from Tolstoy, Emerson, Thoreau into their value system. There must be a reason in the grand design that the political spectrum in India has declined to such a nadir from that height. But there is a dawn emerging..

My life partner after reading my blogs commented on the dreariness. There is something about being spontaneous and funny for me which is a flow. Sometimes in a group things just flow, people laugh and so do I. So I leave it at that. There are some genuinely funny moments that occur which had both my wife and I in splits. As the help in our house from a small town comes out after cleaning the bathroom and says in Hindi with a deadpan expression in a montone voice with a bemused look ." Yeh Sandas bolta hain..".( translated to...the toilet flush is talking)..We told him to tell my mother inlaw that..So as my mother in law is entering another room trying to get some work done..he tells her " Mummy, the toilet flush is speaking.." Ma-in-law couldn't believe what he just uttered..and he repeated it twice..The fact is that our flush makes a strange noise after you flush and it is like a human burp.

The other day we had taken a few friends to the NGMA ( Gallery of Modern art) for an exhibition of Gandhi but the exhibits were createded using Interactive Multimedia technologies and really cool. The user interfaces were brilliant.  I imagine being in the midst of discussion of  two remarkable human beings Gandhi & Tagore. Noted economist Amartya Sen has written an insightful essay on how despite theri deep differences they had enormous respect and regard for each other. Mahatma Gandhi is someone I am discovering today and the challenge is to integrate the essence of his life teaching in my life along with other great influencers

The other day Shobhana and I had accompanied our friends to an awards ceremony hosted by the leading hindi newspaper in a major state of Northern India. The state in which they lead is known for its rich cultural traditons, riot of color, stunning palaces and folk traditions. But the whole event was conducted in English by VJ's in English with affected accents. The show was very professional organised and content was compeletely western, the dances, the music- salsa, western pop songs, english. The younger generation that runs the business is schooled in English medium, Western management principles and is focussing on revenues rather than journalism per se. Which is fine and part of that is to project a "western and modern" image for a Hindi newspaper. Part of that is to get a Modern, Host a.k.a Channel V VJ, in a modern language a.k.a English with modern theme a.k.a Western Dances and Western Music. And guess what I had exactly the same views of modernity in an Indian context 10 years ago!!.

Now the interesting part of the story is that largely Indian media got over its International hangover 7 years ago and went "Indian" in full gusto. Rupert Murdoch,Sony are funding a kind of Indianess that can be termed as regressive in the Soap Operas. Scheming women, melodramatic situations, plots that are out of tune with modernity. These characters are parcel of today's middle class and below India. For the young urban Indian who doesnt empathise with the potrayal of traditonal India as he sees on television ( among other inputs) goes modern and young which is largely defined by Channel V, MTV etc whose potrayal of what young is a predominantly a western Archetype. Interesting these are Indians running the media so one cant claim it is White hegemony. Again the complete picture is not explained but just alluding to the way India is evolving. I speak from personal experience because I pretty much thought the way I have described above till 5 years ago.
 
Now the real opportunity is to show a way that is rational, authentic, Indianess which is not prey to the blind tradition or rootless modernity. This movement should explore all facets of political, social, environmental and artistic expression.