Other morning sounds
soon filter in.
Sloshing sounds tell me
someone is taking a bath
with a bucket and a mug.
A pressure cooker whistles somewhere.

The traffic is a low hum
in the background.
Mingling, right now, with
the hum of airconditioners
and the whirring of ceiling fans.

The milkman rings the bell to indicate
he has dropped his sachets in the bag
that hangs outside the door.
The flower seller taps the door to convey
she has hung a string of jasmine
on the door knob.

Somewhere, a radio switches on
to devotional music.
Is someone singing along?
Televisions blare news
and religious discourses.

Maids chatter downstairs
as they arrive for work.

In a few hours, the muted traffic hum
will rise to a dull rumble
punctuated by honking cars,
shrill scooters and deep-growling trucks.

The city will have woken up
and like a beast of prey
it will start to make its presence felt.

My schedule  for the last few days has  looked like this:

Day 1:  Attend 1st death anniversary of uncle (it’s a kind of remembrance event which felt like a family get-together).  Meet all relatives, dine on six course feast.

Day 2:  Morning – Death anniversary ceremony of R’s grandma.  More family get-togethers,  six-course meals.  Evening:  Wedding reception of cousin’s cousin.

Day 3:  Morning- Wedding of cousin’s cousin.  Evening – Cousin’s Engagement.

I am not sure what has been planned for Day 4.   I’m sure, though, that someone is naming their new baby/ moving into a new house/celebrating their kids graduating second grade  or whatever it is they throw six-course feasts here for.

These events, though, come with their moments of peril.  Or should I say, pure hilarity.

There was, for instance, this old man who walked up to my mother in law and began a conversation.

“Are there any unmarried daughters in your house?” he asked her.  This, as we all know, is the standard manner of greeting strangers at a wedding or any other social gathering.

“No,” said my mother in law baldly.

He ignored this.  Clearly, she was bluffing.  Perhaps, he thought she was blowing him off.

“It’s not just any match,” he assured her. “I am talking about a very good guy. He works in TCS. “  He paused for effect.  “He is an MBA.  They are very seriously looking for a match for him.”

I was standiing nearby, not paying much attention.  Typical Indian scene, right?  Get three people together and soon they start discussing wedding proposals.

And then my mother in law turned to me and silently mouthed “He is talking about you.”

Oh.  A marriage proposal for me?  This was getting very interesting.

I decided to pay more attention now.  He was going on about how wonderfully good natured the guy was.  But here is what is interesting – “works abroad” never came up.  Once upon a time, you could not say “TCS” without adding “has visited US several times”.  As if what you are really looking for in a husband would be the ability to push mountains of suitcases through customs.

These days, clearly, working abroad is not that desirable ?  Or perhaps not even worth mentioning and taken for granted?

But anyway,  TCS, MBA.. sounds terrific, right?  I think I will call R tonight and ask him what he thinks of the match

Take these people I saw last week at the Everglades :

That little gray thing that he is posing in  front of ? It’s an adult alligator.  Here is a closer look of the other guy posing :

Is this really a good idea?  That alligator may be basking in the sun, seemingly obliviously.  But it is awake, and can (and will, as we have seen) move very quickly if it feels disturbed.  Do these people feel brave because the alligator is tolerating their presence?

A few years ago, at the Grand Canyon, I saw a man climb behind the railings to stand at the rim of the Canyon near the Abyss, where there is a steep drop-off.   Not only was he standing at the rim, but he was cutting a pose that made me fear he would lose his balance at any moment.

I could not help thinking about these incidents when I read about the climber who had a fatal fall into the Mount St. Helens crater a few days ago.  Why, why do people do such things?

This was an experienced climber, and I am sure he would never take unnecessary risks while climbing the mountain.  Given his familiarity with Mt. St. Helens, he would have known the crater rim was unstable.  Yet, in the heat of posing for the picture, he took a tragic risk.

It may be subjective, and vary from person to person, but there is a dividing line between calculated risk and foolhardiness.  As in business, or everything else, it comes down to the risk-reward ratio – you would not take a huge risk for an insignificant reward.  There is definitely a thrill, a challenge in taking risks, whether in climbing a mountain  or walking down a canyon, but there is also a sense of achievement.  What is the big achievement in taking unnecessary risks for a photo?  And even if you wanted a “cool” picture, why not take a trick shot which makes it seem as if you are closer, instead of actually standing on the rim?

The ultimate irony is that after all this, these people will most likely file away the photo in an album and never see it again.

I have two interpretations of this painting:

1.  The artist spilled a  palette full of colors on a canvas. He tried to mop them up as best as he could, and sold the results as a work of art.

2.  The artist is a four year old child playing with colors.

I like #2 best.  What do you think? What do you think this painting is trying to convey?

So I am rather glad that the view from my window looks like this:

Although, to be fair, it also looks like this :

In fact, every part of the scenery that is not actually water seems to have either a crane or a condo on it.  Those tall buildings you see are the condos of South Beach, Miami. This whole area might as well be renamed Condo Central.

But I’m not complaining.  Right now, I  much prefer seeing condos to snow.

The Ares 1-X at its test launch (Pic: NASA)

I was horrified when I first heard the news, and I tried to reason why the Obama administration was doing this.  It’s true  that the Constellation program is way behind schedule and there are lots of problems with the Ares rockets, but you don’t give up on a moon mission just because it’s expensive, or because you’re running a little late.

So is the Obama administration giving up on manned missions altogether?  Do they feel that manned space programs aren’t a good use of scarce funding, and they would rather divert the funds to robotic missions instead ?

If that were so, I can see some rationale in that argument.  But instead (and this is what’s even more puzzling and horrifying) Obama’s budget, while cutting NASA’s budget,  plans to instead spend $6 billion in funding commercial space taxis.  In other words, it wants to subsidize private companies who are planning for-profit space tourism flights for the rich.  I cannot figure this out.  Why?

Is this the direction America’s space program will go then – from research to junkets?  If so, that is very sad indeed.

I am very glad, though, to know that all is not lost.  We will still have humans on the moon in just a decade.   India plans to have a manned mission to the Moon as early as 2020,  around the same time that China too, plans to send its astronauts. The Russians had a 2025 mission planned a few years ago, I’m not sure if it  still exists.  Now that the US is definitely not in the race (at least not for a mission by 2020), we can safely assume the next person on the moon will be from either India or China.

So perhaps what we are seeing is really a passing of the baton from the US to India, China and other countries with ambitions in space.

So bye, bye moon – for now.  We will visit you soon, though.

But then, I’m not sure if the book itself is an accurate depiction of Hinduism or Indian history.   I have blogged in the past about how I found portions of her book unbelievably wrong – like her insistence on calling the Aryans cattle thieves.  In my post, I quote people ranging from the American historian John Fiske to Dr. Gopalan Shastri to show that her statement, and the story she narrates to justify it, come from a wrong reading of the Rig Veda, and an inadequate understanding of the symbolisms involved.  The story is a symbolic one – the Sanskrit word go means both “cow” and “light”;  but Wendy ignores the alternate meaning of  “light” (does not even mention it) and goes on to elaborate on how the Aryans were cattle rustlers and how they had showed the same scornful attitude as American cowboys did to native Indians.

Perhaps it’s difficult for the direct Western mind to understand the deep symbolism involved in so many aspects of Hinduism ?  However, you’d expect that anyone claiming such erudition in Sanskrit should be quite familiar with symbolisms, since all Sanskrit literature is littered with them.

There are other opinions in her book that I find fascinating.  I love her portrayal of Sita as someone who knew her own mind, was equal to stating her opinions to Rama and calling him out when he was wrong.  This Sita is so much better than Deepika Chikhalia’s weepy, fearful version (does anyone even remember Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan anymore?) I don’t want my goddesses to be weepy women, I’d much rather they have strong personalities.

But on the whole,  I have problems believing many sections of her book.  If you give a seven year old child a poem by Shelley or Longfellow, the child can understand each word, but can he/she understand the deeper meaning behind the words?  Wendy’s reading of the Vedas and the Ramayana is perhaps like that seven year old child’s interpretation.

It is also interesting to note her obsession with sensuality and interpreting texts through the lens of sensuality (like her infamous portrayal of Dasaratha as a sex-addict, or her claim that Lakshmana lusted after Sita).  Perhaps she is aiming for controversy to sell her book, but she runs the risk of damaging her credibility.

Oh, and then there is her obsession with dogs and their portrayal in Sanskrit texts, which I can only find amusing and typically Western.

In the final analysis, Wendy Doniger just perpetuates one more Western stereotype about India -as the land of erotica and sensuality.  It’s rather sad that even a supposedly eminent Indologist cannot go beyond stereotypes about India.

I read your blog post on “bloggers and tweeters” with great interest, for I am also one of those people who blog and tweet.   You do both too, I notice, and some may think it is ironic that your own views were in the form of a blog post.  But perhaps you believe that blogging should only be done by journalists?

Let me introduce myself – I am one of those pseudonymous bloggers you mentioned, you know, blogging from the darkness of my room in my ivory tower.

You ask about me  and other anonymous bloggers :

I will wonder: just who do you guys represent? Are you speaking on behalf of viewers and readers? Or are you just another anonymous elite that feels emboldened to pass judgement on the rest of the world from the darkness of your rooms?

Perhaps you don’t understand this, but I speak for just myself and no one else.  I have not been elected by any one to represent them or their views.  What’s more, I am not even a self-appointed representative; I don’t delude myself that I speak for some silent majority of people who may or may not agree with me.  I didn’t even realize I needed to be “emboldened” to blog, is speaking out something that should fill me with fear ?

You defend the media obsession with TRPs by saying:

When bloggers tell you that TV channels are only interested in TRPs, what are they saying?

In effect, they are saying that TV channels are only interested in reaching as many people as possible.

And why is this a bad thing?

and also

Or, look at it another way. If a programme gets high TRPs, then this means that lots of ordinary people have liked it. The ordinary people may be right or wrong to have liked it – I pass no value judgements here – but the fact that they liked it is a reflection on them, not on the TV channel. So, why blame the channel? Why not blame the viewers?

Did I read that right? The light may be dark here, but  Mr. Sanghvi, are you really saying that any programme with high TRPs (or potentially high TRPs) is fit to be broadcast?

If so, here are a few categories of content that will get very high TRPs.  Celebrity gossip sells – I mean rumors, paparazzi pictures, speculation about “famous” people and so on.   Another category that is very popular among some people – porn.  Soft porn, suggestive photos, lingerie clad models – these are very popular in a certain segment.  But you don’t have to take my word for it;  I don’t claim to speak for your audience.

But tell me, Mr. Sanghvi, if your audience research suggests that celebrity gossip and soft-porn will  increase your TRPs, will you include them in your programming?  If adding hard porn and graphic violence will help you tap yet another segment and increase your TRPs even more, will you add them too?  Please tell me, I would be very interested in your answers.

I believe that the news media’s job is to educate and not to titillate, but again, that is just my personal opinion.  You are free to disagree.

You also say:

Such is the arrogance of the blogging elite these days that even when it attacks journos, it is effectively dissing the vast majority of media readership and viewership.

I’m sorry, Mr. Sanghvi, but sitting in my darkened room, I didn’t realize that attacking journos is equal to attacking readers.  I suppose then, by the same logic, attacking politicians is equal to attacking the voters who voted for them?  Maybe you should stop saying anything against any elected representative then – you don’t want to disparage voters, do you?

Perhaps you should darken your room too, Mr. Sanghvi, the light is blinding.

Other opinions on the topic :  Amit Varma, Rohit.

Did the Vikings run the score up Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys?

Cowboy partisans were miffed that Mr. Favre threw a fourth-down touchdown pass to give the Vikings a 34-3 lead with little time left. They considered it unnecessary and obnoxious, and they’re right. Anyone who’s taken a gander at the new, billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium, with its $40 million scoreboard, knows that if there’s one thing that the Cowboys don’t like, it’s something unnecessary and obnoxious.

For the last few months, I have been spending most of my weekends (and some weekdays) glued to NFL.  That doesn’t mean, of course, that I understand all the rules.  Mostly, I use my 7 strategies for watching NFL.

What does understanding all the rules have to do with watching a sport anyway? Ask most desi cricket fans.

Pic: Jason MacArthur

It’s always nice to read a $0 bill, and it’s too bad more companies don’t send me bills like that.  Perhaps every service I have already paid for for online should send me a $0 paper bill?  It would make my day, and certainly the USPS’s – those poor souls drive through snow and rain to deliver mostly junk marketing mails.  Delivering junk bills must count as an improvement.  There is also the advantage of reducing those pesky, CO2 emitting trees that we seem to be infested with.

But there was more to the bill – a last date to pay the $0 by, and even more considerately,  an enclosed envelope for me to send them the $0.

It was when I looked at the envelope that I felt a little disappointment – shouldn’t it have been prepaid ?