Modern Day Activism

How important is it to be an activist? Isn’t minding my own vocation and avocation good enough? Is being an activist a full time responsibility or I can “don” the role as per the state of traffic in the city? Every time I hear the term “RTI activist” or “social activist” my mind repeats a jig of sorts with thoughts. For e.g., if X is referred to by media as an RTI activist, does this mean that he files RTI queries by a bundle? Is filing petitions his profession – if so what is so ennobling about it that it is stated in awed tones? I have filed an RTI petition previously; does this make me an RTI activist?

And before you conclude that I need to exorcised of “activist ghost”, let me tell you why I am fixated with activism. I was always under the assumption that doing good is a private affair, that you don’t need microphones and rooftops to educate a child. But it was not to be –

“You don’t support the girl child?”

“What about the Save Earth Day?”

“Atleast do you have your pink ribbon?”

“The Being Human tshirt……”

“No? How can you be so self centred? Support atleast some good cause.”

But I try to help tutor kids for their exams, I say.

No avail – looks like it is not high profile enough. So here I am; I have now signed petitions – ranging from saving the blue whales to protecting green turtles; fight against corruption to right to education, to the extent that I have even forwarded mails that say forwarding the mail to 10 people will give a kid a pencil in Algiers or some such place. From Facebook to roadside pieces of paper, I am signing petitions that would go to PM, CM, GM and motley such collections of “M”s

So tell me, am I now an activist?

I guess Gandhiji would be so ashamed of the state of activism today that he would have smacked our heads, ahimsa or not. Next time you want to make a difference, stop staring at “Satyameva Jayathe”, clicking on buttons in Facebook, SMSing polls on CNN-IBN etc. Roll up your sleeves and work. Or sit back and relax. Your being an “e-activist” isn’t going to help anyone. And btw, wipe that smug smile off your face – mere discussions on “Satyameva Jayathe” episode over a cup of coffee doesn’t make the country any better than it was, is or will be, and "Live Strong" wristbands could be adding a lot more waste to our dump yards than we realise

A new begining

So it’s another new job; another new promise for exceptional growth, satisfaction and sense of involvement with the organization. I often wonder if the MBA courses aren’t stifling creativity of the HR guys; it’s the same drivel that is bandied by every organization – standardization of even the carrots to attract “talent”.

A job switch is a uniquely frustrating experience, so much so that I guess HR guys make it frustrating on purpose. Why else would you, as a lateral hire, be asked to take the so called “induction and introduction to OUR culture” every time, even when the only difference between what you saw previously and what you are seeing now  is the colour combination (sorry, its supposed to be called as “brand image”) in the slides. I would really like to attend some of the HR professional workshops, if only to check that the slides aren't being handed out to all the HR honchos there. And the icing on the cake is the self-satisfied smile beaming out from the HR guys for every change in the smart art on the slide – you would think that they had a role in the PSLV launch at Sriharikota

 Know what is the biggest barrier to switching jobs – it’s the pain involved, not in the job search or the interview, but in the “orientation”, mandatory trainings etc. And when finally all of the HR stuff is out of the way and you roll up your sleeves for the promised work…… you face the same desert with occasional mirage of work. Making you wonder, did I really change my job?

Direct me to this post when I talk about job switch the next time; I might turn out to be a lifer, sticking on to the current place, one job being no better or worse than the next.

* Disclaimer: This post is not reflective of my current job responsibilities or my feeling about the current job responsibilities.

There, the disclaimer is also done.

Weekend travels - Udupi and Sringeri

Finding myself twiddling thumbs every weekend I stay back in the room, I decided on the spur of the moment that I would go over to Udupi/Sringeri over the weekend. Not just going but going alone… And without even the haziest idea of what to expect there and not even a remote semblance of a plan. Lack of planning to such an extent that I didn't event take a camera. So you know now that you are reading the Travels of him who was out of his mind – you have been warned.. 

For starters, this isn’t a travelogue. I am not here to discuss the merits and demerits of modes of transports, roads, hotels and motley of such banal things. Rather, the narration would be my impressions, at levels ranging physical, intellectual and maybe a bit spiritual; the narrative may seem a part travelogue though, more because it is the style of narration than it being the objective.

Udupi is a very picturesque place bounded by the sea, hills and quite a few meadows. Before going further, a word of compliment for the roads in Karnataka; they are uniformly good in most parts (albeit a bit narrow) and where they are not up to the mark, your frustration is assuaged by the wonderful scenery. 

The highlights of any trip to Udupi would be Krishna, Krishna and Krishna.A small brief on the fable of Udupi (the so call Sthala Purana, you may say) - It is said that Devaki wanted to see Krishna as he was during his boyhood times, frolicking around with his friends and cattle. Krishna acquiesced to his mother’s request and was giving her his darshan as a little boy when Rukmini, in secret, smuggled herself into the room and also had a darshan of Krishna's breathtaking childhood beauty. Enamoured by it, she requested that she be given an idol of his childhood form to worship. Krishna then requested Viswakarma to execute the project and presents his beloved wife Rukmini with the idol.

After the fall of Dwaraka, the idol was lost and over time got covered with so much grime that when the grime covered idol was rediscovered by some sailors, it was mistaken as a piece of rock and used as ballast. Time passed by and the ownership of the ship and the rock was passed over generations. One not so fine day, the ship was caught in a storm and the sailors request Sri Madhavacharya, who happened to be passing by, to help. The Acharya helped subdue the storm and the grateful sailors requested him to name anything from their ship as a token of their gratitude. The Acharya was strangely attracted to this ballast and requested for it. Once the ballast was bereft of the grime, the Lord emerged and thus the idol of Bala Krishna was installed in Udupi.

When I first read this legend, a cynic that I am, I laughed it off. But the beauty of the idol has me a convert. Something sculpted so perfectly has to have a divine origin. The best time to appreciate the idol would be the early morning (by early, I mean atleast before 5:30AM) when the crowds are few and there is no impediment in form of jewels, flowers etc to “beautify” the idol.

An aside here, I believe that sites such as Wiki Travel are only for ABCD or foreigners – the way Wiki Travel raved about an eatery called “Mitra Samaj”, I went out of way to have some of the recommended dishes. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, only that I was disaffected – the gollibaje (a dish talked with breathless excitement in the site) was as soft and tasty as it is anywhere in South India. Maybe I am a boor not to notice subtle variations in taste, but then this is not the first time I am faced with such a conclusion; let me do with this conclusion what I do best, pigeonhole it for future examination.

Meals being served in temple are a common phenomenon in India – you have langars, bhojanashalas and satrams by the dozen. What makes the lunch served at Udupi temple unique is, believe it or not, it is served on the floor. For those of you who didn’t get it still, the food is literally served on the floor, no plate or leaf between the floor and the food. It is a definite experience worth having; the first morsel off the floor and many of my assumptions on culture, sophistication and hygiene were washed away. And the sweet payasam that they served after the food …. words fail those who have eaten it and for those of you who haven’t, don’t try to satisfy yourselves with mere words.

Around 7 kms from the Udupi town is the Malpe beach. The specialty of the place, according to me, is that every km you cover towards Malpe, the smell of fish increases exponentially until you are so overpowered by the smell, you fail to notice it anymore. Just an hour or two there and I now know the subtle differences between the smell of a fresh fish being fried and a dried fish being fried. Just off the shore from Malpe is the St.Mary’s Island. Rest assured, it is no Mediterranean isle and yet it can hold its place even in any such competition for scenic beauty.

Another place that can hold its place and compete with the best spots in the world is a 5-7 km stretch while on the way to Murdeshwar from Udupi. Just imagine a lone stretch of well asphalted road. To the left of the road, hardly few metres away, is the unbounded Arabian Sea, its unceasing waves lapping at the coast. And on the right, again hardly a few metres, is a river trickling along merrily, a few coconut trees swaying to the silent music. And an orange hued sun majestically settling into one of the many hills in the background. Few sights can take your breath away if this doesn’t.

Murdeshwar was my first visit to a temple on a seashore and need I say I was impressed? Not just with the temple but the environs, the people (A met a HUGE group of Muslims on their way into the temple when I was coming out!!!), the pleasing landscaping and even the beach hotel. The usual beach commerce of boating/water scooter is available here also and I hear people shower accolades on both the beauty and fun of Arabian Sea here.

The journey to Sringeri from Udupi needs a book by itself – the sharp turns, the last minute swerves, the impossible speeds despite the Ghat roads – let me just say that I was praying that when (note that the word used here is ‘when’ and not ‘if’) we fall off any precipice, it should be in a place with cell phone signals. I even mentally reviewed the limited knowledge of first aid that I have (That reminds me, one of the aftereffects of this trip is that I have resolved to attend a full-fledged first aid course, hopefully soon).

Sringeri is the place where legend has it that Sri Adi Shankaracharya found a snake protecting a pregnant frog from rain and this inspired him to set up the Sringeri Matt. And about the impressions, it is actually more of the same; you are happy and peaceful, it calms your mind like nothing else, it is very scenic. But this is a repetition of all that I have said till now, so let me just say this – that although experience at Sringeri is similar to the one at Udupi, it is not to be missed. Just like although ras gulla and gulab jamun are both milk sweets, experiencing one cannot substitute experiencing the other.

There it was, two days well spent, and believe it or not, spent with hardly ever uttering a word for hours on end.

I trudged up the hill to see what was there

There was Nothing

I enjoyed the Nothing

Happy, I came back sadly