October 2017 Digital Edition by Nirupama Vaidhyanathan

A Seeker at Tiruvannamalai By L. Iyengar

What is the Best Speech You've Heard? By Jaya Padmanabhan

Who Was Enid Blyton? By Alakananda Mookerjee

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The Artist, The Musician, The Mystic october 2017 • vol. 31 , no. 7 • indiacurrents.com

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Uncovering the portrait behind the paintings – meet the Renaissance man, Kartik Trivedi, surrounded by vivid proof of his passion. By Pavani Kaushik

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2 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition |October 2017

Traditions Renewed

once watched a movie which got me thinking about the traditions that I hold dear. I saw Kaadhal, a brilliant Tamil movie, that tackled inter-caste Indian marriages. The story went like this: Rich girl meets poor boy and falls in love. Poor boy resists because he understands the chasm that separates them in terms of class and caste. Rich girl persists, convinces him of a future together and they elope to get married. Rich family finds the young couple in the city and they use deception and kind words to bring the couple back. Soon, they use the full might of their riches to cause serious injuries to the boy and then force the girl to marry another. This story line was not fictional; it was based on a true story. That shook me to the core. In the movie, the “us” versus “them” theme was in display. Rich versus poor, high-caste versus low-caste, divisiveness between human beings was at its worst. Even though it was a hackneyed theme, this movie was different. There was an undercurrent that asked: what are the identities that you hold dear, and how do you promote them? Are there some identities that should merge? The sub-text in the movie got me thinking—do I hold an “us” versus “them” set of attitudes? And, the answer came to me almost immediately—in the way I cooked! For every festival, I took great pride in cooking exactly what I had watched my grandmother and mother do. I did not even change the kind of vegetable that I cooked—it had to be raw banana or yellow pumpkin. The list of what “I” did and what “others” did was long. And I treasured the fact that the meal that my children ate was exactly what I had been fed as a child. But in holding these rigid attitudes, I wondered whether I was missing out on learning new ways of thinking; equally valid ways of cooking and celebrating that I ignored because, in my mind, there was only one way to celebrate. I started to question something that I had always held as sacrosanct. Given the sheer variety of Indian and American cherished food traditions, there was no dearth of recipes to try. I decided to try Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati recipes for festivals, eschewing the tried and tested Tamilian

dishes that I was accustomed to. When I hosted Thanksgiving, I decided to leave out Indian foods altogether. I couldn’t rely on throwing in ingredients with practiced ease. Recipes were consulted and new ingredients found their way into my pantry shelves. The celebrations were just as meaningful. In fact, the festivals that year took on new meaning for me because of the sense of inclusivess I felt. In a very small way, I moved outside the confines of what I held tightly wrapped around my sense of self—my family, my food tradition and in essence, what was comfortable. It is comfortable to invite friends and family members to festival celebrations. There is a sense of camraderie that is precious and familiar. You don’t have to explain yourself, what you have cooked or what you are wearing. That sense of familiarity will disappear if you were to try different recipes, while inviting a neighbor from a different culture into your home. Now, more effort will be needed. But isn’t that effort worth

moving out of our “tribal” mentality? Breaking bread around the table is the best way to bring cultures together from time immemorial. Along with the food, will come the flow of easy conversation— not the formal, transactional conversations held in the workplace. The kinds of conversations that build a sense of shared understanding. As this festival season starts with Diwali, Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, I hope that you will build memories where the unfamiliar becomes familiar and you build human friendships. You will then receive more than you give. In boxing ourselves into just what is familiar or what comes easily, we lose out on what is truly offered—endless possiblities in life and the chance to make and remake traditions. n

Nirupama Vaidhyanathan, Managing Editor

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Traditions Renewed By Nirupama Vaidhyanathan

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LIFESTYLE 18 | INTERVIEW Review of Victoria and Abdul By Geetika Pathania Jain 20| HUMOR Extreme Vetting—Desi Shtyle! By Ashwin Krishnan 28|RELATIONSHIP DIVA The Five Languages of Love By Jasbina Ahluwalia

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By Pavani Kaushik

8 | Feature Who was Enid Blyton? By Alakananda Mookerjee

48 | Travel Girivalam: Unique Experience at Tiruvannamalai By L. Iyengar

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44 | RECIPE Festival Season Recipes By Jagruti Vedamati 45 |PERSPECTIVE Do You Work? By Tamanna Raisinghani 72 | HEALTHY LIFE An Invisible Storm: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome By Geetanjali Arunkumar 76 |DEAR DOCTOR Feel Panic With Natural Disasters By Alzak Amlani

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letters to the editor Set Indian Casteism Right First

This is in response to the editorial (Racism of the Every Day Kind, September 2017). As an American sociologist, I commend Nirupama Vaidhyanathan’s opinion concerning American social life! As we all know American society is a young society as compared to your own homeland India where the caste system has been entrenched including the untouchables and the dalits for thousands of years with no end in sight just as racism is entrenched here! As the Editor noted “Our thoughts should be filled with combating the far more sinister, everyday pernicious racism that exists and flourishes around us.” Human nature will not allow this ideal to come about. Let us hope our afterlife will be much better! Let us clean our act in India first before we start throwing stones here! Swami Raj Roy, President and Founder, Seaside Spiritual Center, Seaside.

What About Caste?

This is in response to the editorial

(Racism of the Every Day Kind, Nirupama Vaidhyanathan, September 2017). I read the editorial which made an excellent argument against the prevlaence of racism in America. I agree with the sentiments expressed in the editorial. The editorial got me thinking however about the prevalence of the caste system in India. The Indian government recognizes castes when it looks at admissions to schools and colleges. Even government jobs are handed out on the basis of caste. Though this is done to correct the wrongs done over hundreds of years in the name of caste, I feel that atleast American laws have wiped out race from preferential treatment. I wonder what Indian-Americans think about the prevalence of caste within their country. Stephanie Miller, email

in a technical job, I find that the need to articulate thoughts and to build a digital presence is paramount to survival in the workplace. Krishnan Ramaswamy, email

Search for Satyajit Ray

I was intrigued to read Robert Hirschfield’s essay (Searchng for Satyajit Ray’s Iconic Room, September 2017). I am a big fan of the director and his movies and his visuals have a place in my heart forever. To think that the author made a trip to India to recreate the memory of those unforgettable visuals was unbelievable. I thank the magazine for bringing this story to light. Kunal Bhatia, email

Digital Leaders Indeed

I read the cover story with great interest. (Digital Leaders, Shumit DasGupta, September 2017) The article carried many useful tips about how to increase digital influence in our professional lives. Even while working

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feature

Who Was Enid Blyton? By Alakananda Mookerjee

aised in and out of India, I don’t remember reading too many Enid Blyton novels—barring those from the Noddy series. I knew, though, they were all the rage among girls—mostly girls. They’d spend hours reading them and like fish in a school, prattle over what they’d read over their lunchboxes. So, I came to Barbara Stoney’s biography of this best-selling 20th century storyteller, Enid Blyton, originally published in 1974—not knowing what to expect. But in the back of my mind, I had an impression of her as a matronly figure in the mold of Agatha Christie’s female detective Jane Marple—single, serene, even stout. The book’s vanilla cover only reinforced that notion. I didn’t think that I’d take to it, but I fell into the narrative quite effortlessly and enjoyed the portrait enough to pick up one of her books today. Diehard fans would remember how long they sat curled up in their beds or by an open window, devouring one slim volume after another. And when they reached the end, they looked forward to the next— and they kept coming serially, too. Over her lifetime, Blyton penned 750 books, at the astonishing rate of 23 a year. Six hundred million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Incredulous detractors refused to believe that a single individual could have this phenomenal output, fueling rumors that she’d employed a stable of ghost writers. Sure enough, achieving this feat of creative derring-do called for boundless literary stamina, one that was her own, though developed during some of the saddest days of her childhood. For her, pen and paper was an escape from an unhappy home environment. A silent spectator to stormy exchanges between her parents, she took comfort in the sweet tales she came up with. 8 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition |October 2017

Enid Blyton (1897-1968)

In Stoney’s rich narrative, there’s a turning point in Blyton’s life, without which the world would likely never have heard of her—Blyton, the writer, that is. Had she not spent a short holiday with her bestie’s family on a farm in Suffolk to take a break from the tedium of the enforced

piano lessons her dad wanted her to take, she’d never have become who she became. While there, she’d join one of the older girls, a teacher, to Sunday school. Much to her delight, she discovered that her pupils were always eager to listen to her. It was during that holiday that she found both her calling as well as her market. In September 1916, she began as a kindergarten teacher at the Ipswich High School. Soon afterwards, she took up a writing gig with Teachers’ World, an educational magazine—where she wrote a wildly popular column, “From My Window.” At 25, she published her maiden book, Child Whispers, a skinny, 24-page picture book of verses that came out in the summer of 1922. She could turn, what would seem to most, a humdrum incident, into, well, an event and channel it into her writings, such as the comings and goings of the animal life into her garden and the blooming of the flowers. Her life was a fountain of material for her work. In fact, the lead character of the winning, 21-volume adventure series, The Famous Five, Georgi-

na—a tomboy who liked to be called George—was based on herself. An editor once told her that his four kids had just formed a secret society, with a password aimed to keep out intruders from their ramshackle headquarters, a shed at the bottom of the garden. Out of this was born the 15 Secret Seven books. There’s little doubt that Blyton had a fecund mind, who wrote at the speed of a reckless Manhattan cab, never seeming to have suffered from writer’s block. A veritable lexical factory, in a day, she tapped out about 10,000 words. That prodigious gift combined with opportunity. She was fortunate to have been born in an age when domestic help liberated her from household chores. She’d tell her cook what meals to prepare for the family—for the simplest of cookery challenged her—and delegate housework to the maids and sit down to work at 8 a.m., after breakfast, if she was home. She’d sit in the balcony, overlooking her lush garden in the summer or indoors, by the fire in the winter, but always with her typewriter on a board, perched on her knees; not on a table. Close at hand was her red silk shawl, a color that provided her intellectual stimulus. Her skill for producing a brand of fiction that had widespread appeal to tots, teens and young adults, everywhere, stems chiefly, from her ability to gauge what they’d like. Example: At “Elfin Cottage,” her starter home, she put a Peter Pan door knocker and expected it to be rapped a certain way: kids, four times; grown-ups, twice; and “the little folk from the woods,” seven. Yes, Blyton connected with kids wonderfully—but only when that contact was filtered through the medium of words. When it came to her own two daughters, she was cold to them. A woman of mercurial temper, she’d fly into a rage should there be the smallest of intrusions into her routine that she couldn’t tolerate. Nearly all of her stories are set in the charming landscape of her own life in the English country. But they didn’t always reflect the reality of her environment. She had the habit of editing out episodes that were unpleasant and ugly. In her Country Letter in The Nature Lover magazine, she

wrote: “My adult cats earn their keep well, for no rat is ever allowed to creep in under the thatched roof, as often happens in old cottages.” In reality, though, her home had been invaded by an army of menacing rats who were carrying off bushels of apples or a sack of vegetables overnight and the noise of their traffic kept the whole household awake. Yet another example of how her words broke from the reality around her. In 1932, she embarked on something she’d always wanted to do: a full-length novel for adults. When her agent returned it, she was crushed. No one in Edwardian England would’ve deemed Blyton a savvy salesperson, but as I see it, judged by the lens of 21st century capitalism, she appears to have possessed a sharp knack for tapping into her readers’ sentiments. Through her columns, she was able to establish a two-way communication with them: she, keeping them updated on what she was

up to and they, telling her what they thought of it by sending her postbags full of letters (which, she, herself replied to.) She was so in touch with her base that she even polled her readers about what she should name her residence. When she bought a red brick house in a pleasant, tree-lined road in Beaconsfield, a London suburb, she asked her young devotees for suggestions. They were thrilled with her request. Recommendations streamed in by the truckload. “Green Hedges” got the top vote. During World War II paper was in short supply. In an effort to stay afloat, publishing houses were cutting back on the volume of their publications. Still, Blyton had no trouble obtaining commissions, for booksellers had long realized that a title by her was sure to fly off the shelves. But the most inventive plan for engaging her talent and what little newsprint was available goes to Brockhampton Press and its managing editor, E.A. Roker, who came up with a clever format: strip book, six inches long; three, wide, made from cuts-off reclaimed from a discontinued magazine. Blyton was to be the writer. By late 1942, Mary Mouse and the Dolls’ House, printed in two colors, selling at a shilling a pop, rolled out. Its Lilliputian size endeared them at once to the little ones. Even today, it’s hard to escape the cuteness of a small wood boy with a nodding head, but a boy with a house of his own and a sleek red and yellow car. So beloved was he that by the mid-1950s, Noddy merchandise was everywhere in department stores: Noddy toothbrushes, Noddy soap, Noddy pencils, Noddy, chocolate, Noddy clothing, Noddy furniture, Noddy cookie jars. The ways in which words envelop young minds fueling the imagination of generations of young children are truly mind boggling. That being said, Blyton presents us with another mind bogglingly strange contradiction: how could someone who could bring so much joy to so many young ‘uns have been an uncaring mother? n Alakananda Mookerjee is a New York-based writer who loves science fiction.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 9

now and then

What is the Best Speech You’ve Ever Heard?

By Jaya Padmanabhan

ecently, a friend asked me what I considered the best Barack Obama speech and it took me an instant or two to respond decisively with “the race speech.” It wasn’t as though I recalled many of the details, but I did remember the timbre of Obama’s voice as he talked about his own life as it related to the history of an America that is continuously in motion. “At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either ‘too black’ or ‘not black enough,’” he said and I remember wondering what, in particular, does blackness mean to a brown person? The questions that the speech raised reassured me and made me feel optimistic, the same feelings that I carried with me to the polls that year. Good speeches articulate unspoken sentiments. They are stirring if delivered with urgency and clarity, but perhaps even more importantly with surprise, distress or elation. Good speeches look a problem square in its face. They take your thoughts and give it coherence and direction. Good speeches are intimate. “… if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart,” said Swami Vivekananda at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In its depth, lucidity and message of acceptance, Vivekanda mediated and moderated my own secular beliefs. His words became an evolutionary lesson for me. With humility and venerable grace, Dr. Martin Luther King addressed America in his “I Have a Dream” speech, imploring his fellow citizens to see him and his kind, those who drenched the earth with their blood, as an equal part of this country. Who can ever forget the desperate eloquence of his message? India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, captured the fidelity of India’s triumphal moment with such beautiful elation and optimism in “A Tryst with Destiny,” as he addressed how “the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” As I write this, I’ve spent a weekend listening to writers and journalists articulating their ideas at the Jaipur Literature Festival held at Boulder, Colorado. As I think back, it was Suki Kim, the Korean American writer and journalist author of Without You, There Is No Us, who clinched the festival for me with her riveting performance. Simply dressed in black jeans, broadly striped knit shirt and a white jacket, Kim occupied her presence on stage with taut intensity. Her piercing dark eyes looked at the audience and it felt as though she was speaking to me. It was not my story she was telling, but in a few short sentences she persuaded me that it was a story I wanted to hear. She spoke of her experience as an ESL teacher in a school for the children of North Korea’s elite. As an undercover journalist, she knew she had only a “5% chance of coming out alive,” but yet she had decided to secretly document and record all that she encountered at the school in the suburbs of Pyongyang, even though she was under constant surveillance. What Kim said and

10 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition |October 2017

showed was revelatory and complex, and I wholly participated in that moment as the entire audience stilled, not wanting to miss a single nuance of her narration. I have, on one memorable occasion, felt that sense of stillness. In 2015, I gave the convocation speech to San Jose State University’s computer science graduates. As I began, I could sense a collective distraction. It had, no doubt, been a long and exhilarating day for the students. But a few minutes into my story, I felt the quiet spread and, all of a sudden, the only thing I heard was my voice echoing in the cavernous hall. I knew I had finally found the pulse of the assemblage and it was beating steadily for me. I imagined Kim realized it too. But she didn’t pay it any mind as she spoke about a system of lies that she, her students, and the North Korean leadership engaged in, almost like a hypnagogic dance, where everyone knew only one small part of the whole truth.

Good speeches articulate unspoken sentiments. They are stirring if delivered with urgency and clarity, but perhaps even more importantly with surprise, distress or elation. Good speeches look a problem square in its face. They take your thoughts and give it coherence and direction. Good speeches are intimate. YouTube is filled with inspirational speeches. One of my favorites is the Oxford Union debate featuring India’s Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor. With rapier wit, Tharoor confronted Britain’s inglorious past, not in a desperately seedy sahib club left behind in some forgotten corner of India, but at Britain’s own hallowed institution. Holding but a tiny scrap of paper in his hand he thundered, “As others have said on the proposition—violence and racism were the reality of the colonial experience. And no wonder that the sun never set on the British Empire because even God couldn’t trust the English in the dark.” That speech validated me and my Indian heritage. It was thrilling theater. The greatest speech of all, for me, though, was the one delivered to me, as I left India for my new home, by my father—a man of little consequence to the world. “Nothing ever comes easily in life, and nothing good or bad is ever constant. Nevertheless, I expect great things,” he said, his voice wobbling. His words live in every word I write. n Jaya Padmanabhan was the editor of India Currents from 2012-16. She is the author of the collection of short stories, Transactions of Belonging.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 11

Artist, Musician, Portrait of a Painter-Pianist By Pavani

e are taught that anything worth doing must be pursued with single minded devotion. Especially that which is considered a talent. If you find within yourself a trait that instills passion, then you must devote your lifetime to honing it in earnest. Until you master it. Or it masters you! But there are some amongst us who manage to pack in several lifetimes in one. It is almost as if they bought a premium package deal, ensuring an entry into every arena of creative expression this world has to offer! They willingly let themselves be consumed by their gifts. And they manage to achieve glory in all of them. History has bestowed upon them the title of “Renaissance” figures, and celebrated their lives over the ages. The act of expression needs nothing more than indulgence from the mind it inhabits. It demands total surrender by wandering, exploring, prodding and unearthing—the many paths that lie within its realm. The fallout of such a surrendering is an intriguing, thrilling, awe-inspiring body of work. A treat of massive proportions. A veritable feast that goes beyond limitations like age, gender, social standing and education. It has a universal reach and a power to alter both the creator and the viewer equally. Kartik Trivedi is one such example of bountiful talent. Those who pursue creative paths are often multifaceted. But very few manage to straddle dual forms of expression with ease. While most artists eventually find one channel to hone their craft and chart their course by it, Mr. Trivedi has found two—visual art and music. The fact that he should be so prolific in both disciplines, makes him a Renaissance man of our times. n

he artist who calls Houston, Texas his home has currently taken up temporary residence in Santa Clara, California while putting together work for his next show. A cursory Internet search resulted in several hits in terms of biographical information, prior interviews, news articles, images of his bright canvasses and YouTube videos of his piano repertoire. Simply glancing through his list of achievements is enough to make anyone sit up and take notice. A string of degrees—five—to be exact, a bevy of awards, a body of work spanning two spheres of creativity, and art which resides in the collections of Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, as well as late Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi to name a few. This is an impressive achievement by any standard. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Eager to learn more but wanting to keep a fresh perspective at the same time, I cautiously refrained from delving deeper. When I called to set up a time for our meeting, I was pleasantly surprised by his approachability and warm demeanor. Here was a man whose accomplishments were exhaustive, and yet he was sincerely thanking CD Cover of PianoRecording 12 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition |October 2017

Kartik Trivedi in studio

, Mystic. ~ Kartik Trivedi. Kaushik me for being interested in his work. His humility was endearing. Greeting me with a firm handshake, he led me into his apartment which doubles as his studio, where the walls were covered with his paintings. More were stacked on the floor, some packed in boxes, new works in progress stood waiting for his brush in varying styles and treatment. There he was in the midst of it all, an almost-octogenarian, surrounded by the vivid proof of his passion. His 79-year old frame bears the slightly-stooping posture of one who has experienced life. He seemed, at first glance, to be weakened of body. Yet his work indicates the strength of his spirit. A testament to all that he has managed to achieve despite the invariable ups and downs of his journey.

Radha Offering Lotus

Malhar - Raga of the Rainy Season

The Vibrant Paintings

The colors grabbed me right away—jewel tones of reds, greens, blues—plucked from the rainbow and dropped onto his images. Scenes showcasing rural settings with beautifully attired people; stylized figures, composed with patterns and motifs that reminded me of the famous tie-dye bandhni fabric of Gujarat. Contrasting compositional elements where broad swatches of flat colors rest beside areas which fairly hum with densely packed details provide a sense of balance. The treatment and application of acrylic colors have strong echoes of the indigenous local art from the region of his origins. They bring to mind the miniatures and murals that grace the halls of havelis from a time long gone.

Elements of music came through almost immediately. In Malhar–Raga of the Rainy season, a woman is seated, eyes downcast and meditative, holding a veena, completely immersed in her music. There are dark thunderclouds gathering in the background, fish swimming in the river, verdant trees and bushes all around, cooing doves at her feet. A celebration of the season and the joyous notes of the raga. Even in the absence of instruments, other scenes have a feel of a rhythmic flow of notes meandering through their midst. It is almost as if you can hear the looping drone of the tanpura, while the symphony of brightly colored melodies plays across the scene. The Krishna series captivates—casting a spell on the viewer, as does the music of his flute on Radha and the gopikas who gaze dreamy-eyed at him. The lovely moon, full and still, provides a pristine counterpoint to the colors and patterns rendered to great effect. There is the inherent drama of the Kalia Nartan painting, where you can almost hear the celebratory, victorious notes of music in the background. The hushed feel of an intimate moment captured in Radha Offering Lotus while Krishna once again serenades with a lilting melody. My eyes were darting about, wanting to record all this and more, before we sat down to the business of uncovering the portrait behind the paintings—the act of discovering the artist. October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 13

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Discovering the Artist

Almost at once he started to talk about the idea of Mother Divine—Shri Mataji, the inspiration behind his reason for working. This element of the divine feminine echoes through nearly all of his work. He regaled me with stories of his mother, Sharda Trivedi—his very first music guru, and of his beginnings in Saurashtra—the south eastern peninsular region of modern Gujarat. There, in Lunsar village, he was born into the household of the school headmaster, LaxmiShankar Trivedi. His formative years were spent in a large joint family with parents, siblings, friends, and the rhythmic sounds of devotional garba songs, full of color, pomp and pageantry. His father was an artist himself and initiated the young Kartik in watercolors. Despite having to take on the responsibility of a large family, he travelled to the nearest big town, Rajkot, where he acquired watercolor paper and paints for young Kartik. Thus began a journey where art, music and the divine were interwoven in varying strands of a fascinating fabric. The Trivedi siblings were encouraged to pursue educational achievements in the areas of their choosing, setting the bar fairly high for a young impressionable boy to attempt to strive towards. And excel he did. If one of the measures of a man is the educational accolades he acquires, Kartik’s academic achievements is certainly impressive. With the encouragement of his father, armed with a B.A. in Economics and Geography, and an M.A. in Economics and Political History from Gujarat University, he made the journey to the land of opportunities, America to pursue his ever burgeoning dreams. The America of 1967 must have been a novel experience for a student with a “foreign” status, to say the least. But to hear it in Kartik’s words, “The sky was my limit!” Having secured a second Master’s degree in Art History at Case-Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, Kartik began to teach. Inspired by his study of the French Impressionists, he once again threw himself into the pursuit of learning and garnered his third Masters degree in Fine Arts from Kent State University, Ohio. This prompted a move to New York city and an artistic departure towards an academic style of painting, portraiture, landscapes and the like. Again—the intrepid wanderer metamorphosed to add another layer to his creative exploration.

Music was stirring his heart strings as only it can. It took wing and flew with him on his journey to America where he began exploring ragas on a grand piano in the student hall of the university.

Music Beckons

Throughout the pursuit of academic and painterly excellence his other passion, music stayed by his side. Like the twin “lub-dub” rhythm of a heart beat, his music inserted its harmonic notes in between the colors of his artist’s palette. He began by studying the flute—bansuri, the sarod and took on vocal music while still at the university in Gujarat. Clearly his early initiation into devotional forms of music had made its mark. He discovered the mystical and multinuanced Hindustani style of raga exploration. It inspired him to visualize Musical Mood notes in colors. Music was stirring his heart strings as only it can. It took wing and flew with him on his journey to America where he began exploring ragas on a grand piano in the student hall of the university. Eventually, and yes, there is a pattern here—it resulted in another degree, the fourth feather in his cap—an M.A. in World Music from San Jose State University in California. His life in the San Francisco Bay Area was replete with creating art, holding one-man shows, teaching Non-Western Classical Music Theory, all the while pursuing the study of his music and composing his first piano album, Basanti. To hear him talk about this period is to visualize a man in the midst of frenetic and continuous activity, borne along by his impulse to create and express everything that he discovers within his being.

Divine Leanings

This move was prompted by events that the artist describes as a very personal, mystical experience. Raised in a spiritual environment from childhood, Kartik sees his life as a mystical journey, traversing several lifetimes. His belief in this statement is unshakable. He is matter-of-fact about stating it as such and sees divinity in all that he undertakes. He shared several experiences that added another facet to my attempt at condensing and understanding the man and his work. His ever-wandering feet took him to Houston, Texas in 1999. He taught as a part time faculty member in community colleges, still working, challenging himself, and creating. Between 2008 and 2010, came a series of personal setbacks, in the form of serious health issues. He maintains that he has managed to endure despite these challenges, only because of his spiritual awakening. In his own words, “Sarve Matru Shakti”—Mother Divine’s Power is All encompassing. This unshakable faith has helped him overcome adversity and ill health. Faith has helped him persevere with his creative process. Faith has meant he is still standing amongst us willing to share and give of himself once again—celebrating his spirit and undaunted pursuit of creative expression.

Artist At Work

Despite the presence of two pacemakers in his heart, he still manages to get in five to six hour work days—spent actively October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 15

creating work. The amount of detail in his paintings translates to anywhere between a week or two of working and tweaking before a piece (20”x20”) is considered completed to his satisfaction. Larger works take even longer naturally. So he often works on several pieces at the same time. Starting with a pencil sketch on a blank canvas, he spends time actualizing the composition visualized in his mind’s eye. When a series is in progress, time is set aside for researching various details about the matter at hand. For example the Krishna series he is currently developing, has involved him painstakingly poring over mythology, history, even watching television programs, before he is able to condense the material and “see” his composition. When he is satisfied with the underlying sketch, he then proceeds to apply acrylic paints in layers, until the even, flat look is achieved. Then begins the process of adding the patterning and details, working on the features and clothing. This is often the part of the creative process that keeps him at his easel the longest. In his artistic journey, he seems to have come full circle in his creativity—having started out with the folk art of his birthplace, to his foray into Impressionistic art and back to a folk “look and feel” of his current practice. He draws inspiration from the work of several noted Indian artists—Jamini Roy, Nandalal Bose, Somalal Shah to cite a few. With Jamini Roy’s work, he especially likes the use of “flatness of space” composition, and the apparent simplicity of color application. This was a feature that jumped off the canvas when I first viewed Mr. Trivedi’s work, the other being the treatment of the eyes. He reminisced about an observation made by a young woman who attended one of his shows featuring this style. She was congratulatory about his colors and subject matter but wanted to know why all the women were portrayed in profile, and why they all appeared sad or melancholic! He took this critique to heart and started including figures facing front and gazing directly at the viewer for the mark of a true artist is to be receptive to critiques and willing to adapt continuously. He is constantly evolving and changing, truly the mark of a great artist. At this point of our meeting these revelations prompted me to ask a question—“Where can we find the essence of Kartik Trivedi— the human being?” He was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Then he looked up to state simply, “Between the colors and the notes—there is a pool that is shifting all the time. That’s where you’ll find Kartik.” His struggle as an artist is to strive to create work that fills people’s lives with joy and beauty. He recalls how during his time of ill health, many of his collectors in Washington. D.C area came together to form a group “Friends of Kartik Trivedi.” They arranged an evening in his honor, where each brought a work created by him, and they spoke about what it meant to have it as part of their homes. This gesture, he says, gave him a new lease on life, and willed him to continue as an artist.

Meaningful Recognition

Amongst the paintings on his walls is a framed letter of appreciation from President Barack Obama. This is one of Kartik’s prized possessions. President Obama thanks him for his gift of a painting titled “Hope: 2009,” and states, “Artistic expression and creative works can resonate with us, challenge us, and teach us important lessons about ourselves and one another.” These words

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“Where can we find the essence of Kartik Trivedi —the human being? He looked up to state, “Between the colors and the notes—there is a pool that is shifting all the time. That’s where you’ll find Kartik.” struck a chord in me. With current events on the world canvas fresh in our minds, they are a reminder, to look “within” instead of “without,” for answers. Ask Kartik Trivedi about his concept of success, and pat comes the reply; “Whenever the soul is happy, and you are filled with joy, that is success.” A simple but fitting response from a present-day Renaissance man. It resonates and rings true amongst the many paths he has traversed. His signature stands out—a Trident (trishool) with a distinctive dot near it. He explained that both the trishool and the dot were symbols of the Mother Divine—Shri Mataji. To me, the Trident encompasses the varied facets of the man who calls himself Kartik Trivedi. The Artist—The Musician—The Mystic. n Pavani Kaushik is a visual artist who loves a great book almost as much as planning her next painting. She received a BFA from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. She has held art shows in London, Bangalore and locally. She is a mother to a rambunctious girl. When she is out trying to find answers to “why,” “what” and “how,” she loves to dabble in all things creative, and keep life interesting for her family.

Oct 29 Sunday: Kartik Trivedi will have an exhibition of his paintings and will also play the piano. Organized by Friends of Kartik Trivedi. 6:00-9:00 p.m. Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 East Remington Drive, Sunnyvale. (408) 816-7948.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 17

interview

Victoria and Abdul: It looks a lot like love By Geetika Pathania Jain VICTORIA AND ABDUL. Director: Stephen Frears. Screenwriter: Lee Hall, based on book by Shrabani Basu. Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith and Michael Gambon. Focus Features, 2017. MPAA Rating: PG-13

here is much to commend in this sumptuous and nuanced portrait of the true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s rule. Her friend is Abdul Karim, a young clerk from India who travels to London in 1887 to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and unexpectedly finds favor with the Queen. The film is based on the book Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu, a London-based writer who was born in Calcutta. Shrabani’s work was based on first-hand archival research of the Queen’s journals and her Hindustani journals as well as some letters which had escaped destruction. I had met Shrabani when she was in the Bay Area promoting her book and she graciously agreed to respond to questions exclusively for India Currents readers. When asked about the surprisingly endearing portrait of a vulnerable side to the formidable Queen Victoria, Srabani responded that she had been researching the history of curries when she stumbled upon this story. “Queen Victoria learnt Urdu from Abdul Karim and ordered that curries be cooked in the royal kitchens every day. Her favourite curries were chicken curry and dal.” The credits for the film reveal one jewel in the crown after another. Director Stephen Frears, whose 1985 My Beautiful Laundrette cemented his South Asian credentials in the minds of film historians, reveals his consummate artistry in the loving care with which the subject matter is treated. But it is Dame Judi Dench as the imperious monarch who steals the show.

A still from Victoria and Abdul

There is much to commend in this sumptuous and nuanced portrait of the true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s rule. Her friend is Abdul Karim, a young clerk from India who travels to London in 1887, and unexpectedly he finds favor with her. In the beginning of the film, we see her approach her royal duties with ennui. There is no sparkle in her eyes. She slurps her soup with no pleasure. Her royal colon, she is told, needs more roughage. Her demeanor appears to convey that she is simply not amused. Enter Abdul Karim, fresh off the boat. “It was quite easy to imagine how Victoria, by then cross and a bit tired, suddenly looked up and saw somebody at last to talk to and somebody at last pleasing to look at. He came to the Golden Jubilee to present her with a coin, but, seeing him, she wasn’t so interested in the coin,” offers Judy Dench on the Queen’s transformation. Ali Fazal, fresh from his role in Fukrey, is playful and decidedly flirtatious as Abdul Karim. In an exclusive interview with India

18 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

Currents, Ali Fazal says of his character: “Abdul Kareem was an opportunist. He was young, he was ambitious. She asks him to serve her. To be her friend. To be by her side. And then, of course, the relationship took another turn and lasted thirteen years.” I quizzed Ali Fazal on the dynamics of his relationship with a powerful older woman. Is this a spiritual meeting of the soul? An autumn-spring romance? Abdul literally kisses Victoria’s feet, both at the beginning and the end of the film, but do these bookends speak of reverence or of servitude? “It’s confusing. I still remember reading the letters. It’s amazing how she would sign off. One of them would say: “From a loving mother to her son, an-

other one would say “The Queen misses her Munshi. Come back, my friend, soon.” And yet another would say: ”Come back. Hold me tight.” And those are very strong words, and very intimate words, for a monarch to use.” Is his character the “good Muslim?” By contrast, Abdul’s compatriot Mohammed, played by Adeel Akhtar, is far more critical and oppositional to the “savages,” the British empire and its rulers. Ali Fazal’s response was that “Mohammed mirrors the mood of the audience, and that of India at the time, which, in 1887, was just coming out of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny” (referred to as the First Indian War of Independence by Indian historians). Certainly, it’s a good thing for Abdul to have the backing of a monarch, but

Dame Judi Dench as Queen Victoria

we see that there are limits even to the power of the all-powerful Queen Victoria. “Most formidable in his opposition to Abdul growing so close to the Queen is her son Bertie, Prince of Wales—who was next in line for the throne and who would become King Edward VII.” A revolt is brewing in the members of her house-

hold and her staff are all atwitter (yes, that was a word before it became Trump’s preferred social media outlet). As Victoria and Abdul humorously explore questions of race, religion, power, and the farce of Empire through the prism of this highly unusual and deeply moving friendship, I found myself in turn intrigued and enchanted. Perhaps, I thought, one day I too will travel to London. I will visit the V and A Museum. V for Victoria. A for Albert. Or was it Abdul? n

EQ: A Geetika Pathania Jain is Culture and Media Critic of India Currents.

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humor

Extreme Vetting-Desi Shtyle!

s an immigrant many moons ago from India, it would not be a stretch to say that it took a while to both understand the firangi (read American) accent and become an active contributor to the same linguistic style. And I falsely believed that I could turn on the “fake accent” during the work-week and lapse into the “desi” accent on weekends and evenings. Until our daughter hit adolescence and started rattling out the myriad mistakes we were making! At the same time, coincidentally, the word “extreme vetting” as phrased by President Trump was heard. I was perplexed and did not know what it meant. But putting two and two together, this is what it might look like. A desi makes his way to the immigration counter at San Francisco International airport. Officer: What is the purpose of your visit? Desi Boy: I work for Patel Consulting Company and I’m here on deputation for three months at a client’s site. Officer (looking up suspiciously): What client are you going to be working for? Desi Boy (unintelligible mumbling): Officer (whips out an ace from under his sleeve): Ok, how do you pronounce Indianapolis? Desi Boy (without hesitation): IndiaanAAhpolice Officer: Rejected! That, my friends, is “extreme vetting”—desi shtyle! After doing some extensive research (in my own head), I think I have found the cause for the plague that is engulfing us desi migrants. Words with two or more dissimilar vowels are the bane of our existence. What is it with these words that completely stumps us desis? ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis) seem to have mastered the art of the same and revel in correcting their parents (yours truly) whenever a faux pas happens! Let’s take the word “coyote.” Unless “coyote” is pronounced like “ka-yoh-tee,” you will be met with a puzzled stare; especially if you venture down the death spiral of calling it “ko-yote” or “kaa-h-yote.” For an even greater challenge try the

By Ashwin Krishnan word “caricature.” #Egad—here’s a word with four vowels and three unique ones to boot. Unless it is pronounced “karike-choor,” you are doomed. It wasn’t like this back in India. If we attempted to pronounce a word half-correctly, the listener would surmise what we meant and life would go on—heck with three vowels in a six-letter word, desis can make all kinds of permutations work, but unfortunately only one of them will resound with an American and until that resonance happens, you might as well be doing handstands and the listener will be nonplussed. Looking back, I studied at Warangal, and one of our favorite coastal destinations was the city of Vijayawada. I never had any trouble getting anyone to understand where we were headed whether we called it Biijoybada (courtesy our Bangla friends) or Veejayvada (our Tamilian brethren— yours truly included). All this sanity disappeared in America, with the rude awakening of what a misplaced ‘v’ and ‘w’ could result in! When asking for a veggie (pronounced Wedgie using a FOB—fresh off the boat accent) sandwich for the first time, I received curious stares until a kind onlooker explained what a “wedgie” meant. Needless to say, I beat a hasty retreat to work on the ‘V’ ‘W’ accent! Are things better today? Maybe—but, I am still living on the ‘VW’ edge. And if you think that desis are particularly afflicted with Monday morning blues you are right. Hey, we must get through five business days of this “extreme vetting” by customers, colleagues and partners. And we must get through it all with nothing more than a bruised ego. Come Saturday and Sunday we can let our hair down (or what is left of it in my case)—exception being any social event where nondesis outnumber the desis; if so the vowel police will be on the lookout and we need to be on our best behavior—I dread those weekends. And for those of us first generation Americans who think they have mastered the vowel minefield, think again! You are a hair’s breadth away from being exposed. Case in point was this past weekend,

20 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

when the question of colleges came up (a rising senior in the house and this topic can dominate discussions) and Dartmouth was being discussed. Any self-respecting desi knows what “dart” and “mouth” is and we can pronounce that in our sleep and Dartmouth should be just juxtaposing the two words. #Wrong as my daughter shouted out. It’s pronounced “Dartmuth”—#Really? Come on—bring me some strong sambar to drown my vowels. Wait—we are in America—we really need to try the Worcestershire sauce. You know that is a trick question, right? How does one pronounce Worcestershire? How about “Woo-s-ter-sher?” If any first generation desis got this one right, please instant message me right now. We all need to put you on a pedestal and learn from you, Madam (or Sir). For the rest of us who tried “Wor-cester-shire” or “Wo-cester-shiiire” you really need some remedial training. And it’s not coming from me for sure. So where do we go from here? Its ok to call out our failings but we need a path forward right? Absolutely. My trick—one day at a time. Never stop learning. Having the constant “vowel police” at home is the best remedy. Use as many multi-vowel words as possible and actively learn when the vowel police sound an alarm. It’s hard, believe me—and sometimes it makes me wonder how anyone ever understands what I say—but it will get better I promise. And never get lulled into complacency just because many weeks of error free multi-vowel words happened. The trap will be sprung and be ready to say mea culpa, learn and move on. But what about the butchering of names—the desi and firangi ones—that is a topic for another day! Until then #KeepVoweling.n An Indian origin ‘desi-implant’ in America over two decades ago, Ashwin has been in the same geographic boundary of Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose for work and life, yet claims (delusional perhaps) to be a renegade, creative thinker and humorist. He has a cybersecurity background, is a Dummies’ book author and is a father and a husband to boot.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 21

desi lens

Creating Beta Clones

By Kalpana Mohan

t the time I got the news about the new indulgences of parents, I was drinking a nice cup of ginger chai which shot up my nose and burned my nasal passages. I’d just learned that many Indian-American parents had begun hiring college counselors the summer after their child finished eighth grade. Several were willing to fork over $25,000 for four years of force-feeding and application-fattening to ready their child for harvest by top colleges. A decade ago, when our high school senior was applying to colleges, an ex-admissions officer took a quick look at my daughter’s application and wrote me the following sorry note. “The truth is, other kids (especially Indians) have the same test scores, the same (often exactly the same) extra-curriculars, and have taken more (I know—it seems unreasonable) AP courses and have done better. That’s just the nature of the pool. The fact is, as is the case for Chinese-Americans (whose parents came through Taiwan) there’s a weird anti-affirmative action going on. When the kids look so similar on paper, it becomes very hard for them to distinguish themselves, and no college wants its class to be homogeneous. The truth is, other than the UCs, she’s composed a list of many of the most selective schools in the country who have thousands of applicants who look just like her.” In the race for the best college, parents like me forgot that what made a child unique and interesting was exactly what made anyone memorable in a roomful of strangers. In real life, that was how most people picked partners—and even handymen. When our attic ladder spat out its spring and nail one morning in June on what was the second hottest day of the year, I called around for service estimates. Most of the men I reached intoned the same mantra: x dollars per hour, y dollars for every additional hour. One handyman said I might need to replace the attic ladder. He sounded like the doctor who, having looked at a broken rib of his patient, brokered the idea for a whole new spine. But one gentleman, Don, a carpenter by trade, engaged in a conversation. He was the only one who asked me thoughtful, pointed questions about the ladder before giving me a quote. Before he hung up, he pressed me to consider him for the job. “Anything with wood

I realized that I’d rarely seen children from my community working in small businesses around town. Was this because those “blue collar” jobs sent a message to our children about what was “acceptable” in a community that equated success to college degrees and corporate careers? 22 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

is my area of specialty, trust me,” he said. The gentleman arrived home at 7 p.m. and my attic ladder was back in operation by 8 p.m. Don sold himself quickly by showing me how he was a fit for the job. He had the personal touch as well because he realized that with the attic open on such a day the house would get very hot. Above all, I heard the passion in his voice for his work. The things that distinguish us were often the skills we’d honed over many years—without regard to the end results. But more poignant than hard work or the acquiring of a skill was the randomness that often skewed our lives. We were products of experiences that changed us in some profound way—a chance encounter, a friend’s sudden observation, a mentor’s wisdom, a day’s hike up by the redwoods or a job opportunity at a local store. When my daughter was a few years into college, her friend asked her why she had never worked an odd job while she was in high school. He had worked at Starbucks as a barista. Working with people from many different backgrounds had exposed him to many who did not have his privileges. He felt their resentment sometimes, because they were putting themselves through college by working. It was also his first time reporting to someone who cut him a check. Along with a sense of responsibility came the most humbling lesson of the real world: The customer was always right (even when he wasn’t). When I heard this story, I was forced to confront my own biases. I realized that I’d rarely seen children from my community working in small businesses around town. Was this because those “blue collar” jobs sent a message to our children about what was “acceptable” in a community that equated success to college degrees and corporate careers? College counseling services were useful in the short term—to improve SAT numbers, and to work on specific skills—but they reinforced a limited definition of success when, in the real world, the road to success had many bylanes leading to it. Instead of finding ways to motivate our children, we jumped onto the college bandwagon—the earlier the better. We tried to get our children to do what all the others were doing, fostering the clone mentality that epitomized our community. By letting a consultant shape our child’s mind in his most formative years, we too became fearmongers, telling our ninth grader that he must pick this and drop that because that would impress a particular college, suggesting that he was an assembly line product to be shaped, packaged and shipped. Unfortunately, outfits that packaged children over a four-year period were not much more than the Classic Car Wash shops located around the Bay Area. The end product was spanking clean. The interior smelt nicer. But everyone knew there had been no engine overhaul. n

Kalpana Mohan writes from California’s Silicon Valley. http://kalpanamohan.com

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 23

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relationship diva

What Are the Five Love Languages? By Jasbina Ahluwalia

veryone wants to feel loved. But how can you know if you’re communicating your love in a way that the other person will truly understand and appreciate? Dr. Gary Chapman is the author of The 5 Love Languages®: The Secret to Love That Lasts. He describes five “love languages” and why they are so important: 1. Physical Touch: This person feels loved when he is touched or cuddled with. He likes getting a back rub, being sexually intimate, or would like his partner to hold him. 2. Words of Affirmation: This person feels most loved when she is complimented or told, “I love you.” She thrives on loving verbal communication with her partner. 3. Quality Time: This person feels most loved when his partner spends time with him. He likes going out to dinner,

or simply sitting on the couch together watching a movie. 4. Acts of Service: This person feels most loved when she is provided for or offered help, especially if she is feeling stressed out. She loves when her spouse runs errands or does chores without her having to ask him or her to do it. Actions speak much louder than words. 5. Gifts: This person feels most loved when he is given tokens of appreciation from his partner. Chapman suggests that while all of us enjoy being showed love in all five love languages, most of us have one or two “primary” languages. It’s important to realize that you and your partner may not have the same primary love language. This could lead to miscommunication between partners. Here’s why: we tend to show our love most often in the same

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way that we like to be shown love by our partner. So, if your primary love language is physical touch, it’s most natural for you to show love by kissing and hugging your partner—even if his or her preferred love language is something else, like gifts. This means that your partner may not recognize your hugs and kisses as a show of love. This can explain why some exasperated partners can listen in shock while their partners say to them, “I feel like you don’t love me anymore.” Learning to speak to your partner in his or her preferred love language more often is key for improving the quality of your relationship. n Jasbina Ahluwalia is the Founder-President of Intersections Match by Jasbina, the only premier dating coaching firm for Indian singles in the US, Canada and the UK. Jasbina@Intersectionsmatch.com

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October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 29

education

“How Can My Child Get Into A Top Tier College?” Advice for Parents Of Highschoolers By Vinnie Gupta

s school buses start rolling down Another student loves music and her the street, we know that the new parents have agreed to her only applyschool year has begun. Whether ing to music colleges. Given the phrase, your child is an 8th grader or a 12th grad“starving musicians,” this decision obvier, making the right decision that serves ously requires a lot of courage from the as the best fit for your child’s dreams is parents and the child. important. She is now building her credentials As a first-generation immigrant, I through composing songs and distributlearned that I didn’t understand the ing them through social media. process of securing admission to Top tier colleges are looking for speIndian-American parents strugAmerican universities. That’s why my gle to help their children with the cial and unique students. However, partner and I established UCEazy, behigh school journey and/or college cause even though we had successful the parenting style of most Indian admissions process. They try and careers as immigrants, we struggled American parents is counter to what apply the same lessons learned from with understanding how to best pretheir own experiences in India. In pare our children for college. While is needed to create a unique student. America, parents cannot be passive navigating the college admission propartners in the high school journey a Supreme Court Justice or dare I say, cess for my own children, I realized of their children. UCEazy will ofthat top tier colleges are looking for special even the President of United States? If you fer its members a series of free parental and unique students. However, the parent- want your child to dream big, you need to educational webinars to provide insight ing style of most Indian-American parents dream big as well. into the American High School journey. is counter to what is needed to create a I encourage you to become an active l Being quirky is good—Allow unique student. participant in your child’s high school your child to think differently. Many of the In this context, uniqueness is defined famous explorers and entrepreneurs are journey; allow us to show you the way. as: I encourage you to take fear away quirky, and that’s okay. Allow them to crel Are they independent thinkers? from your children and you should not be ate their own path as opposed to following l Do they think outside the box? fearful for their future. Dreams come alive the well worn beaten track. It can be said that most Indian-Ameriwhen you are not afraid. l Let them make their own can parents don’t follow this line of thinkAbout UCEazy: The UCEazy misdecisions—You need to learn to let go. ing. They seek compliance from their chilsion is to simplify the college admissions Shift accountability for many decisions to dren, rather than allowing them to make process for first and second generation them. Let them experiment and fail and their own decisions. To create the unique immigrant families by providing easy learn from their failures. child that colleges are looking for, you need access to top-quality admissions experts We founded UCEazy to capitalize on to consider the following: and resources with several affordable pricour life lessons as first generation Indian ing options. UCEazy provides private l Let go of your fear about Americans and to help level the playing counseling, tutors and coaches to prepare the future—we left our country and field for other recent immigrants. This students—from 8th grade through 12th family behind and sacrificed a lot. Our includes counseling programs to ensure grade—and their families as they prepare children will never be without basic needs success in high school where we aim to to take the next step to the college of their like food, clothing or shelter. With this reduce stress for the student and the pardreams. n kind of security, why should the child not ents. Through counseling, we have met dream big? If these kids don’t, then who parents who have successfully supported Please visit www.UCEazy.com to learn more. can? So, allow them to take risks to follow their children as they made unusual career their path and do whatever they want. Take and educational choices. Vinnie Gupta is Co-Founder of UCEazy, their shackles off, let them try. We know One student wanted to pursue a career a company with a mission to help first they will not starve. in creative writing. The parents supported generation immigrant families with college l Expand their horizons—Think her as she established herself in Los Angeadmissions. He has been featured in national beyond the careers that brought you pro- les as a script writer for television shows. media like San Jose Mercury News, USA fessional and material success. Why can’t She ended up writing scripts for many sucToday and Washington Times. your child start the next Google or become cessful shows like Scorpion and New Girl. 30 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

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films

The Fault in The Stars By Aniruddh Chawda

SUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN. Director: K. S. Prasanna. Players: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar. Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Vayu. Hindi with English sub-titles (Eros).

indi movie scripts are galore with stories about first love, parental disapproval, jilted lovers, star-crossed lovers and lovers on the run. There is one interim phase that has stayed silent thus far. Since gay-themed scripts are yet uncommon, the trophy for the love that dare not speak its name needs a new host. In what contends as one of the most awkward matinee courtships ever, Subh Mangal Saavdhan may have just crossed that river. By taking on and punching sexual performance anxiety right where the funny bone unhinges from the libido, this is a delightfully ground-breaking entry buzzing with freshness. For shy Delhi office worker Mudit (Khurrana), gathering courage to ask the outgoing Sugandha (Pednekar) for a date is merely the first trip-wire. First date turns into many dates, which in turn leads to a marriage proposal. Unknowingly breaking barriers, on one late evening extended entwining on the living room sofa followed by fumbling with a condom, Mudit unexpectedly suspects that he may have erectile dysfunction. What of their pending nuptials? What of their friends? Most importantly, how to keep this tit-bit secret from their extended busy-body families who are already busy planning a bus trip for a traditional wedding in Haridwar? While movies anywhere can have sexual content, the norm in Hindi movies is to treat sex topics—and pre-marital sex more precisely—to tease and titillate, often as a test for how far Indian cinema censors will lower invisible censor barriers or how the movie can define a new standard for what can be shown on the

screen. Yes, kissing is still unofficially taboo—though filmmakers saw that ship sail a long time ago. And while men get away with shirtless, micro-briefed, malecleavage revealing or otherwise scantily clad camera time, all female nudity—other than distant bikini shots or hip gyrations during cabaret dance numbers—is forbidden. Sunny Leone’s bare-back rain-barrel nude in Badshaaho (2017) is very much an aberration. This makes Subh Mangal Saavdhan— coined for an auspicious Sanskrit verse uttered at Hindu weddings that lightly jabs the zodiac stalwart planet Mars, the god of all things manly—even more relevant. There is no sexual content. There is, however, frank discussion of sexuality in the confines of an intimate relationship. Here are middle class lives not the least bit unfulfilled because of this distraction. Kudos to director Prasanna in this re-make or his own original Tamil entry Kalayana Samayal Sadham (2013) for lighting up a topic often swept under the rug. Khurrana and Pedekar together are modern counter-parts to what would be Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhadhuri in

34 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

the 1970s. Like in their pairing for Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), both excel at onscreen personas that fit into grounded lives that will not rock the boat and yet are unafraid to stand their ground within social decorum. There is gorgeous tension—even pre-marital sexual tension—played out in between the unfolding wedding sub-rituals. Be it the suggestion that something about cow-urine can “cure” what ails Mudit or the pitfalls of keeping the parents in the dark. Khuranna completes a weird career arc of sorts. In his marvelous debut in Vicki Donor (2012), he buffooned into an urban hunter-gatherer who lands a gig at a sperm bank and rather quickly becomes, you know, the facility’s star donor, crème de la crème—the very stuff of urban legends. If bio-emissions were a contest, his Vicki nailed the jackpot. The brilliant movie and Khuranna both landed deserved accolades. With Subh Mangal Savdhaan, Khuranna veers to the other extreme of the script rainbow into a character with erectile dysfunction. From prolific producer to prolific remedy-seeker. The spermanator suddenly can’t perform and is looking for fault in the stars. Khurrana’s Mudit emerges as an unsung champion for unheralded middle class anxieties. His meek, middle-tier office nerd effectively supplants silent pining not for political freedom or even economic emancipation but for sexual absolution. That, indeed, is uncharted territory. Notch one for progressive topic and script selection.n

EQ: A Globe trekker, aesthete, photographer, ski bum, film buff, and commentator, Aniruddh Chawda writes from Milwaukee.

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dear doctor

Feel Panic With Natural Disasters By Alzak Amlani

The recent hurricanes, floods, droughts and earthquakes have been quite disturbing for me to witness and learn about. I find myself feeling afraid, confused and pretty despondent when I see such large scale calamities. I am grateful that I am safe and my family hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been affected by these disasters and I also feel guilty that I am focused on my petty concerns and wants. Moreover, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how I would cope if something disastrous happened in my town. The future is starting to look more bleak and I am afraid about panicking.

Every week there seems to be some major calamity on the planet this year. Being present to these dire situations is indeed important and is emotionally distressing and even overwhelming at times. When these big events take place, we realize our smallness, ineffectiveness and lack of control in

life. Most of the time we believe that we are in charge and that we will live forever. Actually, we are incredibly vulnerable and things can change at momentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s notice. This is the nature of being within physical bodies. It has always been so. However the ways of our modern society makes us believe otherwise. These events are a wake up call to come into greater alignment with natural laws and to live to promote sustainability. If climate change is driving some of these natural disasters, then we can do something about it over the long run. Some issues are truly beyond our control and all of our ancestors had to deal with these issues too. This is why humans survive and benefit by being in a community. Suffering opens our hearts and we recognize that we deeply need each other. Then, giving and receiving help from each other is not a burden, but actually an integral part of healthy living. Just pursuing

36 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

our individual desires and lives can only offer limited happiness and satisfaction. It often takes a crisis for people to recognize this and to think in larger and more communal terms. To believe that you can deal with these challenges alone leads to panic and depression. To appreciate that life is temporary, a gift and an opportunity helps us bring our deepest selves to help a crisis and strengthen what truly makes us human. n Alzak Amlani, Ph.D., is a counseling psychologist of Indian descent in the Bay Area. 650325-8393. Visit www.wholenesstherapy.com

visa dates Important Note: U.S. travelers seeking visas to India will now need to obtain them through Cox & Kings Global Services Pvt. Ltd. Call 1-866-978-0055, email enquiriesusa@ckgs.com or visit www.in.ckgs.us for more information.

October 2017

his column carries final action dates and other transitional information as taken from the U.S. State Department’s Visa Bulletin. The information below is from the Visa Bulletin for September 2017.

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films

A Month Of Saturdays By Aniruddh Chawda

SIMRAN. Director: Hansal Mehta. Players: Kangana Ranaut, Hiten Kumar, Kishore Shahane, Sohum Shah, Rupinder Nagra, Aneesh Joshi. Music: Sachin-Jigar. Hindi, Gujarati and English with English sub-titles. Theatrical release (T-Series).

raful Patel (Ranaut)—Praf to her friends, please—has a somewhat unconventional outlook when it comes to her job, living arrangement, vacations, spending money and, as we learn, how to settle her debts. Living in Atlanta and on the market for a new house— more about how to pay for that house in a minute—Praful takes up a friend’s (Joshi) offer to visit Las Vegas on a shopping and a gambling junket. What starts out as an opportunistic funfilled extended weekend in Sin City turns into something quite different. In Simran, however, force-fitting the American dream into pretty much absurd, anachronistic choices—while it sounds promising—falls short in the delivery. Simran, coined from the pseudonym that Praful’s alter-ego is christened with after she starts her banking career—robbing banks that is, in the hopes of settling the afore-mentioned debit and fending off Vegas loan sharks—and which, in turn, is borrowed from the name of the obedientdaughter heroine from Dilwale Duhania Le Jayege (1995)—is, of course, the opposite of the namesake that Praful takes on. In an embodiment of the modus for female leads in Hindi movies, especially female leads in love, that Simran was in love but also strictly mindful of not opposing anything her parents said, including not confronting her father’s vehement disapproval of Simran’s boyfriend. Praful’s Simran, on the other hand, is unbending, unruly and fiercely independent— to the point of being reckless—in her willingness to go against the values her parents, especially what her father (Kumar), cherishes. Praful’s Simran lives her life pretty much as if it were a month of Saturdays on the lam—exceedingly carefree, secretive, aloof and steal-from-Peter-

to-pay-Paul. Simran would be a remarkable alternate-grade downward spiraling social-suicide run were it to be unfurled with the same flair as, say, Hollywood’s Thelma and Louise (1990). Director Mehta is no stranger to groundbreaking scripts that exorcize stranger-in-astrange-land demons. His last at-bat was the superb Aligarh (2016) which captured the ostracizing of a single, older gay man after he is exposed for a same-sex tryst. In Simran, however, while there is the mock unshackling of parental and familial controls in Praful’s attempt to escape traditional patriarchy, the execution is oversaturated with scenes of defiance. What is also lacking is a sharp script that gets to the nitty gritty. There is no voicing—spoken or otherwise—of why Praful does what she does. Hoping that her arrest—if she is ever arrested—happens away from the prying eyes of the “Indian community” just about sums up her dilemma and the script’s many booby-traps. Sachin-Jigar’s music, with evocative Vayu and Priya Saraiya lyrics, grows in a nice way. “Single Rehne De,” with Shalmali Kholgade and Divya Kumar has Gujarati-Hindi lyrics linked to a dance beat in an exaltation of perpetual singlehood. There is also “Langdi Hai Thaai” with Jonita Gandhi and Guru Randhawa in juxtaposing Indian roots with western values in a celebratory wedding party song. Arijit Singh and Aditi Singh Sharma’s tandem versions of “Meet” are laid back whispers to retrained, silent love. The highlight of the album is Sunidhi Chauhan’s “Pinjara

38 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

Tod Ke,” a heartfelt, down tempo ode to flying the coop. Chauhan infuses a melancholy note within the harmony. For touches of realism, the dialog between Simran, her parents and friends nicely veers between Gujarati, Hindi and English. The staging in Atlanta and Vegas is also eye-catching and not incongruous—though why someone with a job in room service with a large hotel would be able to afford a $400,000 mortgage is not thoroughly explained other than as a ruse to pile on Simran’s sizable debt. Throw out traditions, avoid a fresh-off-the-boat suitor (Shah), toss out the conventional terms of agreement for repayment for pretty much anything, deliver a kick in the groin to her mean boss (Nagra). Deflect. Deny. Mislead. Never hesitate. Steal. While it is packaged as the perfect desi-American heist story, the contents amount to an unfulfilled date with a broken dream. n

EQ: B

LATA’S

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October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 39

40 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 41

books

Looters, Schemers and A Curse Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond By Anandi Lakshmikanthan The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, Koh-i-Noor: Kindle Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017. $10.99

o this day, millions of visitors throng the Tower of London to see the Koh-i-Noor, the dazzling diamond set in the Maltese cross of the velvet crown of the Queen Mother. The Koh-iNoor, the diamond with a bloody history, has long captured the imagination of many from around the world who are fascinated with its back story; endless questions swirl around its journey from India to Britain. In 1850 the East India Company presented the Koh-i-Noor to Queen Victoria. Since 1947 India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Taliban have claimed ownership of the diamond, but the British government has argued that they legally obtained it. In 1849 Theo Metcalfe of the East India Company wrote a history of the Koh-iNoor filled with anecdotes and myths, which later became its accepted history. In Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond, William Dalrymple and Anita Anand write an authoritative history, debunking this aforementioned accepted history. Dalrymple, a historian educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, has written several books on Indian history and travel, including The Age of Kali, City of Djinns, The Last Mughal, and White Mughals. Anita Anand is a British radio and television journalist educated at King’s college in London; her parents migrated from Lahore to London after the partition of India. Her book, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary is a biography of Sophia Duleep Singh, the daughter of Duleep Singh, from whom the East India Company appropriated the Koh-i-Noor. Part 1, written by Dalrymple, reads like a detective novel; based on its description—the diamond the size of a hen’s egg, weighing 190.3 metric carats—he differ-

The book has enough intrigue, sedition, lust, and gore to appeal to the fans of Game of Thrones. Interspersed among the gory stories are humorous anecdotes about how a mullah, unaware of its value, used the Koh-i-Noor as a paperweight and how a British man once absent-mindedly left it in his waistcoat packet.

entiates the other large diamonds mentioned in various historical texts from the Koh-i-Noor. He argues that the first unambiguous mention of the Koh-i-Noor occurs only in 1739, when Nader Shah took it from India to Persia, contradicting Metcalfe’s mythological origin of the Koh-i-Noor. Disease and death followed those who coveted the Koh-i-Noor; Nader Shah, who blinded his own son with a needle was killed by his relatives; Ahmad Khan, who took it to Afghanistan died of a gangrenous nose eaten by maggots and Agha Muhammad poured molten lead on the head of Shah Rukh. By sifting through texts in Persian, Sanskrit, and various European languages, Dalrymple

42 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

traces the Koh-i-Noor from India to Persia to Afghanistan to India again and writes a sweeping history of India, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, concluding in 1839. The second part written by Anita Anand begins in 1839 with the funeral of Ranjit Singh, who had the Koh-i-Noor “strapped to his biceps,” and covers the diamond’s history till the present. When his five-year-old son Duleep Singh was crowned the King, the East India Company destabilized Lahore by supporting opposing factions in Punjab. In 1849 on “a crimson day,” the ten-year-old Duleep was rushed to the Shish Mahal, “the magnificent mirrored throne room of Lahore.” Surrounded by men speaking a foreign language, the “frightened but dignified” king signed a treaty with the East India Company, surrendering Punjab and the Koh-i-Noor, in return for his protection. Years later when Queen Victoria, plagued by guilt, placed the diamond in his hand, Duleep, who no longer owned the diamond, offered it to her and died penniless in a shabby hotel in Paris in 1893. Anand’s compelling postcolonial counter narrative questions the veracity of the claim of the British government. The book also brings insights into other events that happened in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the fall of the Afghan empire, Dalrymple finds the beginning of the transformation of Afghanistan “from the sophisticated center of learning and the arts, which led some of the Great Mughals to regard it as a far more cultured

Anandi Lakshmikanthan has a B.E from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and a Master of Liberal Arts from Stanford University. She believes that access to education is a human right and helps tutor refugee women and children. She is a co-founder of Sevalaya USA, a non-profit organization.

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place than India, to the fractured war-torn backwater it was to become for so much of its modern history.” Anand describes the Sati ritual at the cremation of Ranjit Singh in a matter-of-fact tone, very effectively evoking horror: “They (wives of Maharaja) sat perfectly still around his corpse, with their eyes tightly closed. Though they did not see the crown prince Kharak Singh carry the torch to the pyre, they would have felt his presence as he drew closer with the flames.” The authors contend that only in the nineteenth century, Hindus began to equate the Koh-i-Noor with the Syamantaka, a gem associated with Lord Krishna, as the deaths of Ranjit Singh’s heirs mirrored the mythological story of greed, theft, and murder. This idea of a cursed gem inspired novels such as Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone and Benjamin Disraeli’s Lothair. Besides appealing to readers of history, the book has enough intrigue, sedition, lust, and gore to appeal to the fans of Game of Thrones. Interspersed among the gory stories are humorous anecdotes about how a mullah, unaware of its value, used the Koh-i-Noor as a paperweight and how a British man once absent-mindedly left it in his waistcoat packet. It is fascinating to read how at different points in time, the Koh-i-Noor was thought of variously as a valuable gem, a symbol of success, a cursed gem, and as a symbol of British domination and colonial loot. Maps showing the path of the diamond and the boundaries of the relevant empires could have been a useful addition to the book. The book raises many questions: When and where was the Koh-i-Noor extracted? Is the Mughal diamond same as the Kohi-Noor? How should the colonizers repay for the looting? How far in history can we go back to claim reparations? Even with all these unanswered questions, this book helps dispel common myths about the diamond that persist even today. n

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recipes

In the Festival Season: Kesar Peda Modak and Gulkand Coconut Ladoo By Jagruti Vedamati

his year’s Ganesh Chaturthi was very special for many reasons. It was special because it was the first one we celebrated after our wedding, hereby beginning a tradition we intend to carry on for years to come. We also made our own idol for the occasion and most importantly, we celebrated the occasion with our friends and neighbors. For my husband, this festival holds a special place in his heart because it was a tradition to invite family and friends for a yearly get-together, and he still cherishes those

memories. So this year we ushered in Lord Ganesh to our abode. Truly, what better occasion than Ganesh Chaturthi, dedicated to the Vignaharta (destroyer of obstacles) to herald this entire season of festivities. Our little adventure while making the idol was an exhilarating experience. With very modest expectations, we started the project by mixing clay and molding shapes. The urge to make it look realistic pushed me to keep at it till I got the result I wanted. It took me close to an hour to get the janwa

Kesar Malai Modaks

prefer, but modaks being Lord Ganesha’s favorite, I shaped them in the form of modaks.

Soft, rich & creamy milky dessert made of fresh cottage cheese and kesar sweetened with condensed milk and reduced milk powder. With a generous helping of slivered almonds, this dessert attains its exquisite aroma from that elusive hint of saffron. Ingredients 15 oz. tin of ricotta cheese (whole milk) 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup milk 1 teaspoon rose water Pinch of saffron Procedure: 1. Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a pan and sauté the ricotta cheese. First it will start to melt and then eventually it will start forming like a dough. This takes around 15 minutes on medium heat. 2. In a separate bowl, mix 1 teaspoon rose water and the pinch of saffron and stir. Then add the sugar and ricotta cheese and heat again adding 1/4 cup milk when it starts to form a ball of dough. Also add kesar/saffron when you add sugar. 3. Stir continuously over medium low heat till it forms like a dough ball. The dough should stick to the spoon altogether. 4. Cool for some time and then when you are able to handle the dough, form the peda. It can be shaped in any form you 44 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

Gulakand Coconut Modak

Plate of modaks

A rich, decadent and traditional offering made of sweetened coconut is taken up a notch with a filling of gulkand or rose jam. The stuffing comes as a sweet surprise to the guest and makes this dessert all the more special. Ingredients: 1 teaspoon ghee 1/2 cup condensed milk 1 tablespoon milk 1 cup desiccated coconut Cardamom powder For stuffing 1 tablespoon gulkand 1 tablespoon sliced and chopped almonds and pistachios. Toasted dessicated coconut-rolling (optional)

(the string around Lord Ganesha’s torso) right! A day to dry and then we painted the idol with bright colors. Now with our homemade Ganesh idol all ready for his big day, it was only fitting to welcome him home with equal pomp and show. So apart from the typical Maharastrian puja delicacies (varan, bhaat, puri, kala chana chi usal, batatya chi bhaji, koshimbir, chutney, ukdiche modak and shrikhand), I wanted to make something special for the occasion and decided to try my hand at making pedas shaped in the form of modaks. n

Procedure 1. Heat ghee in pan and add condensed milk along with one tablespoon milk and boil for two minutes then add desiccated coconut and mix everything well. Stir for a few more minutes till it comes together and let the mixture cool down. Add cardamom powder and keep aside. 2. Then, mix the ingredients for the stuffing and keep ready. 3. Once it is cool enough to handle, make a small ball and fill the stuffing in the center. Roll again for a smooth texture. 4. Finally, roll the ladoos in some toasted dessicated coconut so that there is a crunch and texture on the outside. This step is completely optional and can be excluded if need be. Note: Both sweets stay fresh in the refrigerator for about 1 week. Making these sweets at home was another satisfying experience that made this celebration all the more special. It is a recipe that I cherish because it melded in traditions and happy memories from both of our childhoods. Isn’t this the way where family occasions feel special? A little bit of nostalgia mixed with the right amount of adventure! n Jagruti Vedamati is a post-doctoral student at Stanford University.

reflection

Do You Work? By Tamanna Raisinghani

hen we meet someone for the first time, after exchanging pleasantries, the next question we usually ask is, “So what you do?” The answer usually is—I am a teacher, doctor, student or accountant. We tend to identify ourselves with our professions so much that we talk in terms of what we do. If you are not working—how would you answer? I don’t work, I am a homemaker or I took a break to be a full-time mom. When I hear this, I wonder whether being a full-time parent is actually different from having a job outside the home. Isn’t it just a different choice of work—and a more difficult one—since there is no incentive of a monthly paycheck? On my recent time off from work due to personal reasons I was supposedly on a break doing “nothing,” though there was a long list of things that were part of “nothing.” And while I was doing “nothing,” I wondered (apparently you can’t stop thinking when you do nothing) why are we so hardwired to earn rewards? Probably it gets ingrained within us while growing up. Getting rewarded for academic achievements is a good way of encouraging kids, but our brain is not good at defining boundaries. It develops one habit and this creeps into every area of our lives. And we start working hard towards earning the basic necessities of rest and sleep. Sometimes when I doze off I catch myself asking, “What did you do today to feel this tired? You didn’t even go to work today.” Why can’t we reward ourselves just because we deserve it without feeling guilt? Why is slowing down so underrated? Or are we scared of our own thoughts and that nagging voice which keeps reminding us, “There is work to be done and things to be learned. You are lagging behind while you sleep. There are goals to be achieved.” Then there is another weak voice which rebels and says: “No, I am tired, please go away. I need time to unwind, to look at my kids, to look at the sunshine, rain, clouds, my house, which I see every day but I need to pause to wit-

Why can’t we reward ourselves just because we deserve it? Why do we feel this guilt? Why is slowing down so underrated? Are we afraid of the silence around us? ness everything. Above all I need to look at myself—not just in the mirror but look within me.” This internal conversation reminds me of an incident where one of my friends,who was on a sabbatical from her job, mentioned that she fails to understand why people ask her: “So what’s the plan now?” If I were her, I would answer: “This is the plan—my sabbatical.” Another friend who was looking forward to her break after resigning from her job got so tired of her new schedule that, after a few weeks, she looked forward to going back to work. She couldn’t justify her break even to herself. It takes time for the change to sink in. Sometimes we think we are ready for it but when we dive in, the brain’s synapses refuse to change immediately. And, I am not surprised. After spending years on a tightly organized schedule, that becomes our refuge. The boundary that we have created between “work” and to “not work” doesn’t exist. We realize its non-existence only when we cross that hypothetical line. I am working when I am developing software but I am also working when I am not. So coming back to the question, “Do you work?” Can I say, “Yes I am working. I am working on the knotty business in my head called thoughts and trying to deal with one knot at a time. It’s a very intense form of work. When I am watching television shows, listening to my favorite songs or talking to my friends, I am working on increasing my feel good hormones called serotonin and oxytocin which probably means fewer doctor visits and improved

well-being. When I read a book, I am doing my brain a favor as reading improves memory and reduces anxiety. When I am cooking for my family, I am working towards their well-being by giving them healthy, home-cooked food. When I take a nap, I am working to ward off diseases like Alzheimer’s in later years. When I sit in silence, I am trying to build a connection with my soul which is constantly trying to talk to me. My “nothing” is not empty. In fact for the first time in years my “nothing” is fuller, better, and much more. When we sit and do nothing, only then do we face our demons. When you decide to do nothing, it’s legitimate to feel a little insecure, fearful and lost. All of a sudden you lose the comfort of your daily routine and the security that comes with monthly paychecks. Treading a different path even if it’s only for a short time brings some instability as you might have to prune old ways of thinking. But when you look back you won’t regret the change. It’s just a different type of work. It brings with it the rewards of slowing down. It acquaints you with yourself more. It’s time to trade some old, worn out, repetitive patterns of thinking with a rejuvenated form of thinking. Just like we get rid of old clothes with new purchases, the wardrobe of our mind needs some cleaning. I realized this only when I slowed down. My definition of “work” has crumbled and has undergone a radical change. Speeding is not driving. To enjoy this ride don’t accelerate, just drive. I don’t intend to reach my old age all out of breath and sweaty. There is no such thing as “worklife” balance. Both are the same. All we need is the balance. n Tamanna Raisinghani is a software engineer who lives in Santa Barbara. She believes that every waking moment of our lives can be a little better if we bring more awareness to our actions, habits, thoughts and feelings. She loves pausing and observing as she believe what she learns when she slows down is what keeps her charged when she needs to speed up.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 45

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travel

Girivalam: Unique Experience at Tiruvannamalai By L. Iyengar

sea of humanity, young and old surged through the streets. A trickle had started in the early afternoon and reached its peak as the moon rose and shone in bright and balmy glory. It was an auspicious full-moon (pournami in Tamil) night at Tiruvannamalai, the ancient temple town in Tamil Nadu, which nestles and thrives at the foot of the mountain Arunachala. The general mood was one of gaiety combined with a clear intention of reaching the goal; the goal being circumambulation of sacred Arunachala, or girivalam (In Tamil: “giri”-mountain, “valam”-to circle). This involved a brisk walk of about 14 kilometres, which had to be completed before moonlight faded into dawn. Although the devotees were walking in what looked like remarkably ordered chaos, officials were in evidence to maintain order, and traffic was restricted to the perimeter of the town. It was November 6, 2014. My first visit to Tiruvannamalai was with my mother, about a decade earlier. When I lived in Vellore, a town that is about 80 kilometres away, I was fortunate to renew my relationship with this famous temple town. While earlier visits involved visiting for an afternoon, I gradually took to staying for a few nights, giving myself 48 | INDIA CURRENTS |West Coast Edition |October 2017

A view of Arunachala from Arunchaleswarar temple

more time to enjoy the vibrant spiritual atmosphere and its organic bustle. The main draw of the town is its spiritual ambience and it attracts seekers from all walks of life. It is home to several ashrams, and temples to several gods of the Hindu pantheon abound. The sound of the temple bells in the cool fresh mornings herald the activities of visitors and the life and commerce of the townspeople; this soon leads into the dusty drowsy heat of midday where inactivity prevails. Evenings find the town reenergized with townsfolk returning home, evening aarti and pujas in the temples, visitors congregating in the small restaurants for solitary or group dinners, and the

bustle is extinguished again with an early night. The roads and lanes of the town are lined with large shady trees, and huge stacks of tender coconuts are readily available for the ever-thirsty visitors. One may walk through the town to visit the ancient and extant temple dedicated to the Lord Arunachaleswarar (a manifestation of Shiva) and his consort, Goddess Apitakuchambal. This large perimetered complex was developed by various kings over a thousand years, including kings of the Chola and Sangama dynasties, as well as King Krishna Deva Raya. Its impressive gopurams, intricately carved walls, pillars, passageways, spacious halls, and several smaller shrines which are creat-

It was an auspicious full-moon night at Tiruvannamalai, the ancient temple town in Tamil Nadu, which nestles and thrives at the foot of the mountain Arunachala. The general mood was one of gaiety combined with a clear intention of reaching the goal; the goal being circumambulation of sacred Arunachala, or girivalam. This involved a brisk walk of about fourteen kilometres, which had to be completed before moonlight faded into dawn.

ed in various degrees of ornateness, merit several visits to gain a true appreciation of the effort and artistry invested. They are all sculptured out of the local black rock. The ancient pipal and mango trees and two open-air water tanks seem to have a story of their own to tell, as they have borne witness to several generations of visitors and devotees all of whom probably sought their coolness in the blazing hot sun which bakes the stones underfoot to a sole-scorching temperature. And for some light relief, one may visit the shops along Chengam Road and inspect handicrafts, gems, old coins and silver jewellery from far-flung places such as Kashmir, Nepal, and Afghanistan. A strange fate indeed has brought these denizens of cooler climes to ply their trade in the heat of South India.

he unperturbable presence looming over all these human endeavours is the craggy Arunachala (Tamil: ‘aruna’- red, ‘achala’- immovable). Believed to be the living manifestation of Lord Shiva, Arunachala is a low rocky mountain of about 3000 feet high and has been mentioned in several ancient texts including the Puranas. Tamil literature dates it back to time immemorial, and the very earth and rock of the mountain is considered hallowed. Although parts of the mountain are not accessible, and even considered dangerous, one can obtain beautiful views of the Arunachaleswarar temple and the town below from mountain paths which are marked safe. Large and small caves which have historically housed exalted sages also provide a resting point, and a chance to imbibe the peace in a meditative mien. The peace however may be shattered in an instant by a mischievous monkey troop that spies on you! With each visit to the temple town and its ashrams, I have made the acquaintance of several interesting people from diverse cultures who converge here for various reasons. A few interactions that stand out in my mind are meeting a scientist from Dublin, Ireland with whom I was pleasantly surprised to share common friends, an exuberant and extroverted long-standing devotee from Bangalore, and a comfortably retired couple from Melbourne, Australia. It is with one of these friends that I made my first girivalam, and even though I did not realise it at the time it was to be a unique experience.

taking this path, and I benefited from her Girivalam is believed to confer great confidence. It was a remarkable experience benefit on the devotee. To paraphrase to walk through the rustling groves of anthe realised Master Sri Ramana Maharshi cient forest, and when we came out of the who lived a portion of his life in one of peaceful shade and joined the paved road the caves on Arunachala and never left for the last five kilometers of the girivalam its slopes and foothills for his entire adult which went through the town, we were life, girivalam has great associated benefits completely refreshed. just as fire is indisputably associated with The outer path is the more commonly heat, and these will be realised irrespectraversed route. As mentioned, it is about tive of the beliefs of the person. There are 14 kilometers in length, and largely two routes that one may take to complete girivalam. The inner path traverses the wilderness directly at the base of Arunachala. One walks through woods on narrow earthen paths which are marked with stones painted yellow or red, each demarcating a different path around the mountain. One comes across natural ponds at regular intervals, with ascetics and other monks living near them. Visitors are largely discouraged from taking these inner paths as they are secluded and others have been preyed upon by unsavory elements on occasion. However my companion on that day appeared to know the way and was very particular about Intricate Temple pillars in Arunchaleswarar temple

Rajagopuram-Main East facing entrance of the Arunchaleswarar temple October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 49

follows tree-lined roads that wind through the town of Tiruvnnamalai and surrounding villages, and even includes a part of the highway. Beautiful views of Arunachala can be enjoyed while taking this route as it circumambulates the mountain at a slight distance from the foot unlike the inner path which winds through wooded areas at the very base of Arunachala. There are several small temples and eight lingams which line the route. All but one of the lingams are present on the left of the road. Devotees performing girivalam walk along the left side of the road, and there is a broad paved sidewalk laid down for about half the distance to facilitate safe walking. I have traversed the outer path five times, at times in the early hours of the morning, or venturing out mid-morning to afternoon during the winter months. It has always been a good workout even if the immediate calming effect is elusive at times! I prefer walking alone and being with my

own thoughts, or preferably being in a state without thoughts, resting periodically to take in the views of Arunchala to catch my breath and have a drink of water. The company of the monkeys and dogs in the streets and around the temples does keep one alert, and there is a constant presence of other fellow-walkers, renunciates seeking alms, and the residents of the towns going about their business. Another presence is the heavy traffic on parts of the route, the sounds of which I try to tune out. During pournami, these roads are transformed by the flow of devotees in hundreds, if not thousands, performing girivalam by moonlight, which brings about a unique and tangible spiritual energy. Obviously, traffic has to take a second place to this influx of visitors! Perhaps the belief and acknowledgement of a power greater than one’s own ego and actions comes with life’s experiences, if one does not possess this as an inborn proclivity. That being said, in some cultural environments where spirituality pervades the everyday at a more elemental level, an intuitive knowledge of the existence of a higher principle is accepted as a tangible participant in the exalted and mundane events of a lifetime. n A scientist by training, the author has lived and worked in America and India. She enjoys imbibing diverse cultures and venues, and reads voraciously to vicariously experience those yet to be explored.

Practical travel tips:

Summer months are extremely hot (April to June). Winter months are pleasant and the best time to visit (October to February). Winter months may be wet and rainy. Light cotton clothing which covers entire torso and limbs is suggested to protect from sun and insects, and in keeping with religious sentiments. Pay attention to the Hindu religious and astrological calendar when making reservations and plans.

Closest Airport:

Chennai is the closest international airport (about 120 miles). Second closest international airport is Bangalore which is about 15 miles further than Chennai. Closest domestic airport is Puducherry.

Accommodation Options:

Ashrams which provide accommodation: Sri Ramanasramam on Chengam Road. Very comfortable. Need to book several months in advance, and number of days of stay restricted. Vegetarian food provided for residents only. Voluntary donation. Sri Seshadri Ashram on Chengam Road. Nominal charges, rooms clean. Small restaurant attached. Sri SivaSannidhi. On an inner road close to Ramanasramam. Acceptable rooms, food provided. Longer term stays possible. Regular, three and five star hotels are available around Chengam road and in Tiruvannamalai town.

Restaurant Options:

Sri Seshadri Ashram, Chengam Road. Traditional South Indian vegetarian food. Auro Usha, Chengam Road. Run by Aurobindo ashram, vegetarian food, not restricted to South Indian fare. Food is toned down for an international clientele. Santi Café in an inner road close to Ramanasramam. Limited choices, not restricted to Indian.

Things to Buy:

Handloom clothes, silver jewellery, semi-precious gems, religious items and artifacts. Excellent book shop in Ramanasramam which has interesting books and CDs. Peacocks at Ramansramam 50 | INDIA CURRENTS |West Coast Edition |October 2017

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Kalapeetham Foundation Established in 1990

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626-590-5547 October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 53

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54 | INDIA CURRENTS |West Coast Edition |October 2017

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56 | INDIA CURRENTS |West Coast Edition |October 2017

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Swami Chidananda is visiting from India where he lives a monastic life in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. He rigorously pursues self-study, gives inspiring talks and writes books and blogs. In this series, Swamiji draws insights from the Bhagavad Geeta and Upanishads that bring to us clarity on Self-Knowledge. We can discover Inner Strength through a change in how we see life and its situations. ALL ARE WELCOME | ADMISSION IS FREE Contact: Suma & Venkatesh (408) 263-2961 | Dinesh and Anu (408) 206-7696 | Meera (650) 493-7927

www.fowai.org October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 57

Call for Catering Order

EXPIRES 10/31/17

58 | INDIA CURRENTS |West Coast Edition |October 2017

EXPIRES 10/31/17

dance . music

BharathaKala Kutiram

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Artistic Director:

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offers Bharathanatyam Classes in Berryessa, North San Jose

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October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 59

events OCTOBER

California’s Best Guide to Indian Events Edited by: Mona Shah List your event for FREE!

NOVEMBER issue deadline: Friday, October 20 To list your event in the Calendar, go to www.indiacurrents.com and click on Create Event

Check us out on

special dates Mahatma Gandhi’s B’day Oct. 2 Sharad Purnima

Oct. 5

Karva Chauth

Oct. 8

Dhan Teras

Oct. 17

Diwali

Oct. 19

Govardhana Puja

Oct. 20

Bhai Duj

Oct. 21

Guru Nanak’s B’day

Nov. 4

CULTURAL CALENDER

October

1 Sunday

Carnatic Vocal Concert. Featuring Ananya Ashok (vocal), Vignesh Venkatraman (mridhangam) and Hrishikesh Chary (veena). Followed at 5 p.m. by a performance by Renjith and Vijna, the bharatanatyam duo. Organized by South India Fine Arts. 3:00 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara. http://www.southindiafinearts.org/.

Brimful of Asha, a two-person play, October 18

October

3 Tuesday

Talks on Upanishads by Swami Chidananda. Topic: Salient Features

of Adi Sankara’s Interpretations of Upanishads. 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Oct. 3-Oct.19. (Tues., Wed., and Thurs.,) Universtiy of Silicon Andhra, 1521 California Circle, Milpitas. All are welcome. (408) 263-2961. (408) 206-7696.

Vijaya Dashmi 2017. Organized by

Monali Jain. 6:30 p.m. Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara. monali@monalijainfoundation.org. (408) 219-4899.

October

4 Wednesday

Gandhi Birthday Celebration. Mes60 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

sages by special guest speakers, musical tribute, classical Indian dance, pledge against hate and violence, meditation and candle light vigil for world peace. Special guest speakers invited are Dr Joaquin Arambula, 31st District Assemblymember and Prof. Fred E. Woods, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. 6:00-8:00 p.m. Peace Garden at Fresno State 5241 N Maple Ave. Fresno. (559) 435- 2212 .

October

6 Friday

Cupertino Dandiya Nite. Music by

Dimple Patel and Parul Damani. Organized by Net Effect Media, Inc. 7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Dynasty Banquet, Vallco Shopping Mall, 10123 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino. http://www.neteffectmedia.com/ events/ (408) 573-7307.

events THEATER

Until the Lions: A Supremely Potent Retelling of the Mahabharata

ward–winning choreographer Akram Khan brings the full range of his artistry to bear in his newest work, Until the Lions, based on the ancient epic Mahabharata, using both kathak and modern dance in a tale of transformation and justice exacted by a bride abducted on her wedding day. On the day she’s set to choose her husband, the princess Amba is abducted by Bheeshma and stripped of her honor. With her chances for love and marriage thwarted, Amba rises up and invokes the gods to seek revenge. Rianto, a remarkable dancer personally selected by Akram Khan for the lead role, performs with two female dancers and four musicians to tell the bride’s story in a powerful departure from the normally male-centered ancient epic. n Fri., October 27 and Sat., October 28, 7:30 p.m. Memorial Auditorium, 551 Serra Mall, Stanford. https://live.stanford.edu/calendar/ october-2017/until-lions. $15-$80.

THEATER

Hasmukh Sahab ki Wasiyat - A Mahesh Dattani Play in Hindi

ahesh Dattani’s play is a harsh yet comedic reflection of the patriarchal society. Lined with fine humor and a crisp script, the play is a witty theatrical satire. Thought-provoking and at times introspective it’s been scripted as perfect blend of drama and dark humor. Hasmukh Mehta is anything but “hasmukh.” He is a rich grouchy old autocratic businessman, who doesn’t appreciate independent thinking. He controls his family for every small thing from mobile phones to paranthe. Everyone abides by his code of rules. His wife, his son and also the daughter-in-law, bears with him hoping for a better future. But even after his sudden death, Hasmukh refuses to detach himself from his family and tries to control them with the most heinous will ever made.

All proceeds go to support Adhik Kadam’s Borderless World Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to doing work at the grassroots level within conflict-ridden zones in India. In 1997, founders Bharti Mamani and Adhik Kadam surveyed the district of Kupwara in Kashmir and found that there were close to fifteen thousand orphans in that district alone, most of whom were girl children. Their focus areas are: Health Care, Education, Rehabilitation of orphans and widows, Empowerment of Women, and Empowerment through Employment.n Saturday, Oct 14 at 2 and 6 p.m. Cubberley Theater, 4000 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto. $25-$30. https://service.tugoz. com/?eventid=30119&a=hfwvuol October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 61

events

California’s Best Guide to Indian Events effort to make you believe that all tragedy is just an opportunity for positive thinking. Organized by Primemedia. 7:30 p.m. Trianon Theatre, 72 North 5th Street, San Jose. https://www.pragathi.com/events/ Karthik-Kumars-Blood-Chutney-San-joseCalifornia_1049.wqe.

Book Reading by Murzban F. Shroff. Shroff will read from his lat-

est novel, Waiting for Jonathan Koshy, set in the Beverley Hills of Mumbai. The book is about a large-hearted bon vivant, Jonathan, who takes on every problem on behalf of his family and friends even as he grapples with his own dysfunctional life. The novel was a finalist for the Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize. 3:00-5:00 p.m. Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Avenue, Berkeley. www.asiabookcenter.com/ store/c1/Featured_Products.html.

Indian Ocean, live in concert, October 7

Falguni Pathak Dandiya and Raas Garba Live. Organized by Instant

Karma and Dhoom Production. 8:00 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara. sulekha. com/falguni. (408) 579-9426.

October

7 Saturday

Ghazal Tarang Concert. Celebrat-

ing the auspicious occasion of Kojagiri Pournima. Organized by Saptak Music School and Anupama Chandratreya. 5:00 p.m. Grant Park Community Center, 1575 Holt Avenue, Los Altos. www.mmbayareea. org.

Tenth Annual Nikhil Banerjee Memorial Student Concert. Students

rangoli designs and being captivated by classical and contemporary dance. Starts 12:00 p.m. Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose 180 Woz Way San Jose. www.cdm. org

Kaavad Katha—The Revival of Ancient Rajasthani Folk Art. Bringing

together visual art, live original music, poetry and movement, a storyteller guides us through the theatrical interpretation of a Kaavad. “Maya” is a multi-narrative piece with various mythical characters set in different times and spaces that takes us deep into our associations with our emotions and intellect. 6:00-8:00 p.m., Pear Theatre 1110 La Avenida St. Mountain View. Free, registration required. https://www.tikkl.com/ enacte/c/kaavadkatha

of Partha Chatterjee dedicate the concert to his guru Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. This all-day music festival will highlight student solo performances on sitar, slide guitar, bansuri flute, cello, and vina. 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Santa Teresa Hills Presbyterian Church 5370 Snell Ave San Jose. singer8100@gmail.com

Indian Ocean—Live in Concert.

Diwali Celebration. Making Diya

Karthik Kumars Blood Chutney—-Main Dish Comedy! Side Dish Blood! A stand-up comedy special born

lamp, sampling traditional sweets like burfi and other delicious treats, enjoying folktales, making henna tattoos, creating

Returning to the Bay Area after a 2 year hiatus are Rahul Ram, Amit Killam, Himanshu Joshi, Tuheen Chakravorty and Nikhil Rao. Organized by AID Bay Area. 6:00 p.m. Smithwick Theater Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos. www. aidbayarea.org.

out of difficult personal situations. An

62 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

Dussehra Diwali Dhamaka. Aarti,

Ram Leela, fireworks, Ravan Dhan, cultural programs, food and live DJ. Organized by Association of Indo Americans. 11:00 a.m. Santa Clara Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose. www.aiaevents.org.

FOG Diwali—Festival of Lights.

Fireworks, laser show, food, fashion vendors, cultural programs, Ram Leela, parade, fancy costumes, kids masti corner, a petting zoo, and animal rides. Live DJ. Organized by Ritu Maheshwari. 11:00 a.m. Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Avenue, Pleasanton. (510) 3045619.

3rd Annual Illumi Dance Festival.

A celebration of women’s empowerment. with a dance performance by Ambika Gopalan. Nada Nidhi orchestral member: Priyanka Chary. Organized by Illumi. 4:00 p.m. Cubberley Theater, 4120 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. www.illumi.site

Narika 25th Annual Gala. Narika’s 25th Anniversary Gala is a themed James Bond night. Please be dressed to kill in iconic Bond Fashion for a night of casino, fine dining and dancing. Organized by Narika. 5:00-11:00 p.m. Blackhawk Auto Museum, 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle,

events Danville. (510) 44406068. gala@narika. org, www.narika.org

Aahista Aahista. An evening of ghazals and enchanting melodies, featuring Praveen Chaddha, Ritee Chaddha, Preet Dhillon and Sameer Khera along with popular Bay Area musicians. Organized by Shanamo Entertainment Inc & Grmd Radio Show. 7:00 p.m. India Community Center, 525 Los Coches Street, Milpitas. www.shanamo.com. (510) 798-5440.

SEF Dandia, Santa Clara. Music

by Preetysha and Sameer. Organized by Sankara. 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara. www.giftofvision.org. 1-800-Sankara.

Vibha Disco Dandia 2017. Enter-

tainment for the evening provided by Dimple Patel and Troupe. Organized by Vibha-Help Them Grow. 7:00 p.m. Centerville Junior High School, 37720 Fremont Boulevard, Fremont. (408) 634-2869.

Non Stop Bhangra Diwali Celebration. The NSB crew as we take you on a colorful journey with positive vibes, beautifully dressed people, sweets, snacks, dance performances, live drums, visuals, and live art. Organized by Non Stop Bhangra. 9:00 p.m. Public Works, 161 Erie St., San Francisco. www.nonstopbhangra. com.

October

8 Sunday

Shantecha Karta Chalu Aahe— Marathi Comedy Play. Directed by

Vijay Kenkare, starring Priyadarshan Jadhav, Vishakha Subhedar, Sunil Tawde, Mugdha Karnik and Vijay Kenkare. Organized by Swar Sudha. 3:30 - 6 p.m. Mission City Center for Performing Arts 3250 Monroe St., Santa Clara. www.swarsudha. org. www.sulekha.com/SwarSudha. (408) 461-8390.

Talks on Bhagavad Geeta by Swami Chidananda. Topic: Drinking from the Fountain of Bhagavad Geeta: Meeting with Daily Challenges. 7:30-9 p.m. Oct.8-

California’s Best Guide to Indian Events Oct.14. Unierstiy of Silicon Andhra, 1521 California Circle, Milpitas. All are welcome. (408) 263-2961. (408) 206-7696.

McDonald’s Education Expo. Un-

derstanding the college process, how to get accepted into top universities, guidance on how to secure financial aid and scholarships. Keynote speakers: Sabina Chaudhury and Ishan Puri. Organized by India West. 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. India Community Center, 525 Los Coches Street, Milpatas. www.indiawest.com/collegefair (510) 383-1147.

Taal—Rhythms of India. Instrumental fusion music performances by Stephan Devassy, Naveen Kumar (flute) and Rajesh Vaidhya. Organized by Prime Media. 5:00 p.m. Chabot College Performing Arts Center, 25555 Hesperian Boulevard, Hayward. (408) 883-5959. Sangeet Ankur’s Youth Music Program. For 9-17 year olds. Perform a

Hindustani classical bandish of any raag for 10 minutes. 2:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m., Milpitas Library Auditorium 160 N Main St. Milpitas. pradjoshi@gmail.com

Ranjani and Gayathri Live in Concert. Accompanied by Rajeev Mukundan

(violin) and Delhi Sairam (mridangam). Organized by Sankritilaya. 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center (Elizabeth Hangs Theater), 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara. http://www.sankritilaya.org/.

Berkeley. www.events.berkeley.edu

October

13 Friday

Ramayana. Showcasing young performers—the story follows Prince Rama on his quest to battle the demon king Ravana and rescue Princess Sita from his clutches. Flying monkeys, feisty princesses, monsters and magical birds. An SFShakes and EnActe Arts Co-production. 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Quinlan Community Center 10185 N Stelling Rd. Cupertino. https://www.tikkl. com/enacte/c/ramayana Murzban F. Shroff In Conversation. Author in conversation with Dr.

Debotri Dhar, Founder of The Hummingbird Global Writers’ Circle. ley. 5:30-8:30 p.m. Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera. www.bookpassage. com/events

October

14 Saturday

Atul Purohit Navratri Dandiya and Raas Garba 2017. Organized by

Javanika Entertainments and Jagruti. 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Rd, San Jose. http://www.javanika.com/ events/authentic-traditional-live-garba-withlegend-atul-purohit/

Madurai R Muralidharan’s Silapadhikaram. Presented by Bharati Tamil

Sangam in association with Nrithyollasa Dance Academy. 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Dublin Center for Performing Arts, 8151 Village Pkwy., Dublin.

October

10 Tuesday

Murzban F. Shroff Speaks. Topic: From Diversity to Adversity: A Writer’s Journey Into the Unknown.Hills of Mumbai. Organized by Dept. of South Asian Studies, UC Berkeley. 5:00-7:00 p.m. Institute of South Asian Studies, Stephens Hall, (ISAS Conference Room)UC

Talks by Murzban Shroff, October 7, 10, 13.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 63

events

California’s Best Guide to Indian Events Santa Clara. http://www.southindiafinearts. org/.

Mega Health Fair. Hindu Community

and Cultural Center is organizing a Free Annual Health Fair. There will be doctors with the following specialties available on site offering free health advice: Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Nutritionist, Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Natural Therapy, Dentist, Physical Therapy. Free Blood testing for cholesterol and blood sugar. Free flu shots. 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Livermore Shiva Vishnu Temple, 1232 Arrowhead Ave Livermore. (925) 371-5640. suman1218@ yahoo.com

Hasmukh Sahab Ki Wasiyat—A Play in Hindi. Mahesh Dattani’s play is

a harsh yet comedic reflection of patriarchal society. Lined with fine humor and a crisp script, the play is a witty theatrical satire. Thought-provoking and at times introspective it’s been scripted as perfect blend of drama and dark humor. 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., Cubberley Theater 4000 Middlefield Rd. Palo Alto, CA. https://service.tugoz. com/?eventid=30119&a=hfwvuol

Anuranan—Annual Kathak Recital by Anupama Srivastava and students of InSyncKathak Dance School. Experience the festivities of

the first Diwali ever celebrated, when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile and was welcomed by jubilant crowds celebrating his victory over demon-king Ravana. 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Smith Centre at Ohlone College 43600 Mission Blvd Fremont, CA. (408) 203-2540

October

Brimful of Asha—A Two Person Play. Written by and starring mother and

Diwali events throughout the Bay Area in October

insynckathak@gmail.com http://inSyncKathak.gmail.com

Indian Classical Vocal Concert. On

the occasion of Durga Puja, Shrimati Esha Bandyopadhyay performs as part of her tour. Raga Durga, lyrical compositions describing the multidimensional elements of the Mother Goddess, Agomoni songs. With Indranil Mallick on tabla, plus harmonium accompaniment. 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center 1185 Vicente street San Francisco. (415) 681-2731 sanfrancisco@sivananda. org http://sivanandasf.org/course/7144

October

15 Sunday

son Asha and Ravi Jain. The story follows a first-generation twenty something who wants to connect with his Indian heritagebut not necessarily all of it. How will his family handle the conflict?. Organized by Stanford Live. Ends Oct. 22. 8 p.m. Bing Concert Hall Studio, 365 Lasuen Street, Stanford. https://goo.gl/gL1fvD. (650) 7242464.

October

20 Friday

Meet Vivek Murthy, Former Surgeon General of the United States.

Momentum for Mental Health’s 20th Anniversary, Shining Stars Benefit. Hosts: David Mineta, CEO for Momentum Health, Michael Fox Sr., Momentum Sponsor, and Vandana Kumar, Publisher, India Currents. 6 p.m. Corinthian Ballroom, 196 South Third Street, San Jose. Event registration at www.momentumformentalhealth.org

Darpan 2017. From Keertana to

Coldplay and Kannada Padam to Hindi poetry, enjoy the magnificence of Kathak performed by world renowned Shambhavi Dandekar and students of SISK. Shambhavi’s International School of Kathak presents Darpan 2017, a biennial student recital along with Kathak solo by the Guru. 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Mission City Center for Performing Arts 3250 Monroe St Santa Clara, California. Ticket rates: $50, $ 35, $ 25. Tickets available on http://events. sulekha.com/darpan-2017-kathak-solo-byshambhavi-dandekar_event-in_santa-claraca_319534. (650) 930-0328 shambhavi. dandekar@gmail.com https://www.facebook. com/ShambhaviDandekarSISK/

Carnatic Violin Concert. Featuring

Meet Vivek Murthy, October 20

18 Wednesday

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi G. Vijayalakshmi. Organized by South India Fine Arts. 4:00 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy.,

64 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and G. Vijayalakshmi

Raga And Rhythm—Indian Classical Instrumental Concert. Featur-

ing Partha Chatterjee (sitar) and Abhijit Banerjee (tabla). Organized by Dhwani Academy of Percussion Music. 7:30 p.m. Quinlan Community Center, 10185 N. Stelling Road, Cupertino. http://dhwaniacademy.net.

CrossCurrents. Zakir Hussain in Concert. With Ganesh Rajagopalan,

events

California’s Best Guide to Indian Events and Neyveli Venkatesh (mridangam). Organized by Sankritilaya. 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, Elizabeth Hangs Theater, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara. http://www.sankritilaya.org/.

October

26 Thursday

Arjun Verma in Concert. Organized

by CIIS Public Programs and Performances. 7:00 p.m. California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco. https://www.ciis.edu/.

san (violin), accompanied by Vignesh Venkataraman and Amit Ranganathan (mridangam). 2:15 - 4:45 p.m. and 5- 7 p.m., Organized by SRFine Arts, Community Of Infinite Spirit 1540 Hicks Ave., San Jose. (408) 569-0860. shobanasujit93@ gmail.com www.srfinearts.info

Indians for Collective Action Annual Awards Banquet. Honoring

27 Friday

Sonam Wangchuck, founder of Student Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh and Talat and Kamil Hassan, the driving force behind ICC. 5:00-10:00 p.m. Arrillaga Family Recreation Center 701 Laurel Street Menlo Park. 650-868-6645 akbhushan@aol,com www.icaonline.org

and auction, Indian and American food Sacramento based Hope Abides provides hope and help to these orphans and other destitute children. Organized by Hope Abides. 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. Sacramento Waldorf School, 3750 Bannister Rd., Fair Oaks. https://www.hopeabides.org/fundraisingdinner.php. (916) 690-4289.

Akram Khan’s Until the Lions. Based on the ancient epic Mahabharata, using both kathak and modern dance in a tale of transformation and justice exacted by a bride abducted on her wedding day. Rianto, a remarkable dancer personally selected by Akram Khan for the lead role, performs with two female dancers and four musicians to tell the bride’s story in a powerful departure from the normally male-centered ancient epic. 7:30- 9:00 p.m. Memorial Auditorium, 551 Serra Mall, Stanford. https://goo.gl/PRnQYd 6507242464.

Faculty Recital: Naari Swaram. A soulful, inspirational concert using ragas by female composers, female rasas [emotions], the power of female voices, and the feminine aspect of humankind.Featuring Rita Sahai and her Vasundhara Choir, plus the UC Davis Hindustani Vocal Ensemble. Accompanied by: Sonali Srivastava (tabla), Swasti Pandey (harmonium) and Rachel Unterseher( violin). 7:00-9:00 p.m. UC Davis, Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center Hutchison Dr and Cushing Way Davis, CA. (510) 847-2020 osmjmusic2@ comcast.net http://ritasahai.com

Unnikrishnan Live In Concert with Band and Diwali Dinner Banquet.

October

Honoring Sonam Wangchuck, October 28

Louis Banks, Chris Potter, Sanjay Divecha, Gino Banks and Dave Holland. Organized by SFJazz. 10/20-10/22. SFJazz Center, 201 Franklin Street (At Fell), San Francisco. Tickets: 866-920-5299. www. sfjazz.org

October

21 Saturday

Hope Abides—7th Annual Fundraising Dinner. Dinner, entertainment

Light movie song performance. Organized by Sai Global Mission. 6:00 p.m., India Community Center 525 Los Coches St. Milpitas. www.saiglobalmission.org (408) 601-0237.

October

22 Sunday

Sanjay Subrahmanyan in Concert. Accompanied by S. Varadarajan (violin)

October

28 Saturday

Akram Khan’s Until the Lions. Based

on the ancient epic Mahabharata, using both kathak and modern dance in a tale of transformation and justice exacted by a bride abducted on her wedding day. Rianto, a remarkable dancer personally selected by Akram Khan for the lead role, performs with two female dancers and four musicians to tell the bride’s story in a powerful departure from the normally male-centered ancient epic. Organized by Stanford Live. 7:30 - 9 p.m. Memorial Auditorium Serra Mall, Stanford. https:// goo.gl/PRnQYd (650) 724-2464.

29 Sunday

A Trivedi Art Show. Acclaimed artist

Kartik Trivedi will have an exhibition of his paintings and will also play the piano. Organized by Friends of Kartik Trivedi. 6:00-9:00 p.m. Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 East Remington Drive, Sunnyvale. (408) 816-7948.

Hindustani Music Concert. Devesh

Sanjay Subrahmanyan, October 22

Vashishtha (vocal). accompanied by Ajay Narasimha (violin) and Karthik Gopalratnam (mridangam). Sahana Sriniva-

Rita Sahai, live in concert, October 28

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 65

events

California’s Best Guide to Indian Events Southern California CULTURAL CALENDER

October

Koodiyattam Performance in Tustin, October 28

November

4 Saturday

Vocal Concert Shrimati Alka Deo Marulkar. Accompanied by Sanjay

Deshpande (tabla). Organized by Basant Bahar. 11:00 a.m. Sai Temple Auditorium 1221 California Circle, Milpitas. http:// www.basantbahar.org/.

Carnatic Music Concert. Featuring

Nirmala Rajasekar (veena), VVS Murari (violin), Tanjore Murugaboopathi (mridhangam) and Ganesh (kanjira). Organized by South India Fine Arts. 4:00 p.m. Eagle Theater, Los Altos High School, 201 Almond Avenue, Los Altos. http://www.southindiafinearts.org/.

November

9 Thursday

third I South Asian Film Festival.

Films that speak of the South Asian experience. Organized by third I. Held November 9-12 and 18. www.thirdi.org

November

11 Saturday

Bajabo Tomar Swornabeena—An Evening of Tagore’s Music. The show combines group and duet presentations by the students of Kori O Komol and a dance ballad graced by kathak artiste Labonee Mohanta, violinist maestro Indradeep Ghosh and singer Nandita Yasmin. Samrat Kakkeri will be on tabla. Organized by Kori O Komol. 5:00 p.m. Le Petit Trianon Theatre, 72 N 5th St., San Jose.

1 Sunday

Bhaavaanubhuti. An evening exploring the multiple moods of love created by the mystic composer Kshetragna. San Diego City College’s Saville Theater 1450 C St. San Diego. www.Bhaavaanubhuti.brownpapertickets.com

October

5 Thursday

Los Angeles India Fashion Week.

Promoting Indian fashion in the area with many fashion related events happening throughout Artesia. Organized by Avnee Mithaiwala and Los Angeles India Fashion Week. 1:00 p.m. 18744 Pioneer Blvd., Artesia. (714) 269-6001.

October

8 Sunday

Jwala—A Dance Production by Mythili Prakash. Accompanied by

Aditya Prakash (vocal and music composition), Kasi Aysola (nattuvangam), Rohan Krishnamurthy (mridangam), Shiva Ramamurthi (violin). Organized by Indian Fine Arts Academy. 5:00 p.m. CPMA Auditorium 5050 Conrad Ave. San Diego. https://www.indianfineartsacademy. org/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

October

17 Tuesday

In the Moment: Music for Sarode and Tabla. Featuring David Trasoff (sa-

rode) and Abhijit Banerjee (tabla). 7:30 p.m., University Park Campus USC Brain and Creativity Institute’s Joyce J. Cammilleri Hall (BCI) Los Angeles. david@sarode. com

October

28 Saturday

India Festival 2017. A celebration of India’s vibrant culture through her cuisine, textiles, arts, crafts, music and dance. A walk through two villages—one from Tamil Nadu and the other from Punjab and learn about how diverse the cultures are. Food and fashion booths with workshops where you can learn yoga, various dance forms, meditation, Ayurveda. Organized by India Friends Association. 11:00 - 1:00 p.m. Carpenter Park in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. http://www. indiafriendsassociation.org/india-festival1. html. (805) 407-4533. A Fundraising Event for Organization of Hindu Malayalees Cultural Center. Shakunthalam, a Koodiyattam dance performance followed by Panchaleeswayamvaram a Chakyar Kooth performance by Nepathya (Margi Madhu Chakyar, Indu G and Nepathya troupe with English subtitles. Organized by Organization of Hindu Malayalees. 5:00 p.m. 14451 Franklin Ave., Tustin. www. ohmcalifornia.org

21 Saturday

Antaram—A Multilingual Production Covering Three Indian Classical Dance Styles and Theatre Program. Showcasing stories of three

66 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

powerful women from India, Vasavi performed by Yamini Reddy (kuchupudi), Andal by Krithika Subramanian (bharatnatyam) and Kannagi by Gopika Verma (mohiniyattam). The fourth woman Rambha performed by Ms Suhasini Maniratnam (theatre), emerges as the culmination of feminine aspirations in liberation. Organized by Indian Fine Arts Academy. 7 p.m., UCSD Mandeville Theater 9500 Gilman Dr. La Jolla. www.indianfineartsacademy.org

Om Sri Mathre Namaha

Subramanya Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra continuous Archana. At 10.00 PM Sri Lakshmi Aarati and Sri Jai Jagadeesha Hare Pushpa Aarati for Balaji Ekantha Seva and the Wednesday November 1 at 6 PM temple closes. Pradosham Shiva Sri Rudra Abhisheka Thursday October 5, at 5:30 PM Shiva Abhisheka Aarati And Manthra Pushpa Thursday October 19, Deepawali Festival Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Day 2 Evening At 6.00 PM Sri Pournami Vratha/ Pooja Sri Sathaya Naraya Swamy Temple opens at 9:30 AM. Sri Venkateswara Friday November 3, at 4 PM Sri Bhuwaneswari/ Sri Lalitha Devi Vratha/Pooja Aarati and Manthra Pushpa. All Suprabhatam continued with Sri Shiva Abhisheka continued with Sri Lalitha are welcome to participate with family. Abhisheka Kedara Gowri Vratha Pooja Sri Sahasra Nama Chanting. Aippasi Pournami Lakshmi Kubera Pooja Aarati and Manthra Pushpa. All are welcome to participate with Sri Maha Anna Abhishekam Aarati and Monday October 9, at 5 PM Manthra Pushpa Sri Sankata Hara Chathurthi Sri Lakshmi family continuous Archana. At 10 PM Sri Ganapathi Homa/ Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi Lakshmi Aarati and Jai Jagadeesha Hare At 6 PM Sri Pournami Vratha Sri Sathya Abhisheka Kritika Vratha Sri Valli Deva Sena Aarati for Balaji Ekantha Seva and the Narayana Swamy Pooja/ Vratha Aarati and Sametha Sri Subramanya Abhisheka Aarati temple closes. Manthra Pushpa. All are welcome to and Manthra Pushpa participate with family. Friday October 20, Gujarati New Year Tuesday October 17, at 6 PM Sri Vishu Punya Kalam Pradosham Shiva Sri Friday October 20 to Tuesday October 24, Sunday November 5, Day Light Savings Time Ends Rudra Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Daily at 8 PM Pushpa Sri Skandha Sashti Utsavam Aramabam Sri Tuesday November 7, at 5 PM Valli Deva Sena Sametha Sri Subramanya Sri Sankata Hara Chathurthi Sri Lakshmi Wednesday October 18, Naraka Chathur Sahasra Nama Archana by devotees. Ganapathi Homa/ Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi Dasi Snanam, Deepawali Festival Day 1 Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Temple opens at 9:30 AM. Sri Venkateswara Wednesday October 25, at 6 PM Suprabhatam continued with Sri Shiva Skandha Sashti Soora Samharam Kavadi Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Festival, Sri Valli Deva Sena Sametha Si

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healthy life

An Invisible Storm: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome By Geetanjali Arunkumar

he swish of a pink, wet tongue on my face, “Wake up mommy, it’s all okay,”—I had fainted and I woke up lying on the rug with my furry friend licking my face. I put out my arms to embrace him. He knew that I would soon be on the couch, patiently waiting for the sun to set. I have been living with a chronic, debilitating illness for over two decades. This time a Category 5 hurricane had hit me. All I could do was to wait it out. For a chronically ill person, it is called a ‘“flare” or a “crash.” I write this essay to explain my illness, known as ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I tried writing this a few weeks ago. But it was too arduous then—today I can type while looking at the computer screen, without the letters dancing in front of me. This recent hurricane swept me off my feet with a merciless bout of vertigo, so that I was even unable to lie on my bed peacefully, always feeling as though I was about to fall off. I needed help walking to the restroom and was unable to shower for days on end. On top of all of this my thyroid levels were out of range; I felt internal tremors and my hands and face were visibly shaking. Unable to hold a pen, watch television, or talk on the phone, and feeling dizzy with any sound or stimulation, I felt like I was in a coma-like state. Friends and family members took turns sitting beside me, holding my hand. I will always be grateful to them, but most of all, I will always feel gratitude towards my furry friend who never left my side. My body was unable to retain enough fluids and my blood volume and pressure were so low that I often felt that I was going to faint. For the past year, I have also been going for weekly saline infusions to help blood flow to my brain and to help me balance. If I did stand, I moved from foot to foot, always steadying myself so I would not fall. This time I truly had hit rock bottom—I was feeling scared and hopeless. ME/CFS is so debilitating that it is like being in a flu-like state 365 days a year. The 72 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

fear looming over my head was the possibility of being I have taken the effort to write this bedridden forever, or, maybe for a purpose—to spread awareness living in a wheelchair. To fight this I sat on the couch, for the ME/CFS community. An esresisting my bed until it was timated 84 to 91 percent of people dark. I made sure to never lie down on the couch, lying with ME/CFS have not yet been down meant that I was not diagnosed. putting up a fight! I was in a wheelchair The first email that popped up was one now, scared. I had undergone a battery of calling me to listen to a webinar on how tests. Finally, after meeting with my doc- to change and shift my patterns in difficult tors, knowing that I was being drained of times. I clicked on it and I was listening to my precious energy, I requested them to a webinar. I was shaking and weak, but I speak with my husband. I would rest and took my eyes away from the phone screen try to regain both my energy and spirit. and just listened, staring ahead. Something One day, I was looking out as usual was awakening and the Universe truly was from the couch, when all of a sudden listening. Tears silently rolled down my it hit me like a clap of thunder—to sur- cheeks as I knew this was a synchronous render to the Universe. Surrender doesn’t moment and the patterns were going to mean to give up, but to let go. I opened shift. my arms to the Universe and said, “Please Lying on my bed, wearing headphones, let me surrender to you dear Universe, I I began to listen to special morning and am ready for what is and what will be evening meditations. At first it felt very and I am not fighting against myself or uncomfortable and all I wanted to do was anything anymore.” Nothing happened! to pull off my headphones and scream. But I opened my arms again with more faith then, gradually, with kindness, I relaxed and and sincerity in my voice. Hoping that let in the sounds. It was unbelievable feelthe Universe had heard me, I tentatively ing white light and energy move through lay back on the couch, releasing my fears. my body. I shook the first two days and the I could still hear my uneven breathing tremors increased. Maybe it was the energy and the sound of my heart pounding. I starting up, not knowing which direction knew that all would be okay—there was to take it was bouncing around in my body. no need to fight anymore. On the third and fourth nights of the mediI slept that night. The next morning tation, I woke up with nightmares and I I resumed my place on the couch, staring knew my psyche had started up. I was back out, no thoughts, but I felt different—I on my couch the next morning, but somewas not fearful of lying down on the thing was different. The mind had started couch anymore. Another day went by up and bouts of sadness washed over. Over and there was a light feeling in my heart time I learned to release this and the feeland a voice saying, “You can rise above ing of emptiness was replaced with a warm this, you have done it before and you can feeling of love and internal gratitude. do it again.” From that moment on, I I felt wooshes of gentle but warm gratitold my subconscious, ‘‘I am healthy and tude for the simplest of things, the kiss of phenomenal things await me.” my furry friend, the air that I breathed, the The sun rose again, and again I was warmth and love in the acts of my caring in my meditative pose on the couch. This husband, family and friends. Synchronous time I dared to look at my iPhone screen. opportunities are everywhere but we have

to be aware and look for them. People wonder and have these questions lingering in their minds: Why does she come for social events and laugh, maybe on a good day even dance like at a wedding? Why? My acts lie in the need to want to be normal, to experience what most of you do, to be carefree and enjoy such moments with gratitude. You have to understand that ME/CFS people and their families live in a different light. When returning from that social event full of joy, they can experience the lashing winds of the hurricane all over again. This PEM or Post Exertional Malaise which we feel after an overexerted situation can bring us to a point where we have to stabilise by lying in bed. We do learn to pace ourselves to avoid a flare, but occasionally we go over the threshold which is a low one already. For example, showering in the last few months has been unbearable. It can take a week for me to gather up the energy to take one and even then I cannot hold the hand-shower or tolerate the pin-like feeling of water on my body. However after this ordeal, all an outsider can see is a smiling, well dressed person. As a community, we do not to ask for pity, but for awareness and a more empathic society. I have taken the effort to write this for a purpose—to spread awareness for the ME/CFS community. I would like you to be knowledgeable about this illness. An estimated 84 to 91 percent of people with ME/CFS have not yet been diagnosed. We all go through struggles and untold pressures in this fast paced society. Make a little time for yourself—breathe, realize the beauty of life and what you have been given and always look for opportunities to make it a happier place for yourself. Look within and see your inner self—if you need to shift any patterns, do so and bring your life to a frequency of internal peace, gratitude and joy. I am trying with the help of the Universe! Check out showtimes for the awardwinning movie Unrest which aims to spread awareness about this condition. http://www.cinemasf.com/vogue/ n

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October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 73

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AD INDEX  Astrology 43 Yana’s Psychic Classes: Computers 5 Strategism Classes: Dance 53 Arpana Dance Company 59 Bharathakala Kutiram 55 Indian Dance Center 59 Kalanjali Dances of India 52 Kalyani Shanmugarajah 59 Natyanjali 52 Nrityodaya Kathak Academy 53 Nupur Academy 53 Rangashree 52 Rangoli Dance Company 53 Shakti School of Bharatanatyam 53 Shankara Dance Academy 52 Shivam Arts 52 Sundar Kala Kendra 54 Tarangini School of Kathak 59 Xpressions Classes: Music 53 Geeta Munshi 59 Jeff Whittier 59 Madhuwanti Mirashi 59 Peter Block Construction/Remodelling 2 Best Tile 11 Deco Kitchen Cabinet & Bath 31 Grand Flooring 29 Lucky Kitchen & Bath

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IFC Stanford Live

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35 Alam Accountancy

56 3rd i Films

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14 India West

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56 Indians for Collective

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46 3S International Travel

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70 Diya TV

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the last word

Homage To Catalonia

By Sarita Sarvate

n a Barcelona hotel room, I suffered a nervous breakdown. Almost. Why was I roaming the far reaches of the planet, I wondered, where many Indian women dared not go? Jet lagged and exhausted, I located the bus station and bought myself a ticket, then woke up at 3 a.m. in a bout of panic about my journey into the unknown. On the bus, a Catalan woman took me under her wings. Feeling sheltered, I fell asleep. Yellowing pastures stretched for hours devoid of animals or humans. I began to wonder if the Pyrenees Mountains were just a series of puny hills. Five hours later, when the bus killed its engine and I opened my eyes, I was by a river. Tree-covered cliffs flanked the banks. A line of rafts glided down the rapids. Children frolicked. As I stood on the bridge, inhaling the sweet scent of pine, time stood still for a moment. When a taxi carried me up the mountain to the Center of Art, which was to be my residence for the next month, I thought I was in Hobiton. Little stone houses perched on cliffs. Slate roofs glistened, their chimneys covered with slabs weighed down by rocks. Pathways of piedras or stones climbed precariously toward homes. An isolated hermita—church—perched atop a hilltop accessed only by a rugged trail. Green hills dotted by meadows stretched as far as the eye could see. All I had to do to witness the Parc Natural de l’Alt Pirineu was to step onto my balcony. For the first few days I walked around the village in awe, the melodious music of the Roman fountains accompanying my every step. Ancient aqueducts carried water from the mountains to stone cisterns located all over town, some large enough to bathe and float in, their waters pure and drinkable. At the Center, my routine was simple. I wrote in the morning, made myself lunch, and took a siesta. In the late afternoon, I hiked into the mountain. At eight-thirty, when I descended the stairs to the dining room, I often found myself the only one there. By American standards, it was almost bedtime, but for Catalans, it was too early for dinner. Then followed a leisurely four-course meal accompanied by an animated conversation, which I could have followed had it not been in Catalan. Alas, the Catalans refuse to speak Spanish, the language of the imperialists, labeling it Castellano because other languages like Basque and Gaelic are also spoken in the country. I got the impression that they were speaking nonstop in their tongue just to keep it from dying out. Like the Basques, the Catalans have struggled for independence. At the turn of the last century, the government promised them autonomy. But when the Spanish Civil War fought in the 1930s less than five kilometers from the Center and which destroyed Tirvia ended, dictator Franco betrayed them. Many Catalans point out that Franco’s descendants still rule the country. A referendum on Independence is, in fact, scheduled for October. Americans can’t remember what occurred a decade ago but Catalans remember their history as if it happened yesterday. A pediatrician named Carme took me on a hike near the Spanish-

78 | INDIA CURRENTS | West Coast Edition | October 2017

The most endearing trait the Catalans possessed, I discovered, was the ability to be friendly while maintaining boundaries. Not a soul asked me about my personal life. Cocooned in my writing, I relished not having to explain myself. French border where, every week, traders barter cheeses and other agricultural products. It was through this pass that the Republicans had fled the country at the end of the war, she informed me Ten years later, the flow reversed when Jews came through, fleeing Nazi-occupied France. To get a flavor of that epoch, I read Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell who did a brief stint in the war. I couldn’t help chuckling at the descriptions of the local tendency to wait till mañana, which I observed daily. The Center’s residents, mostly women, turned out to be strong, opinionated, and direct, a welcome departure from America, where passive-aggressive behavior seems to be the norm. There were no games, no one-upmanship, no phobias about someone touching one’s laundry or food. The most endearing trait the Catalans possessed, I discovered, was the ability to be friendly while maintaining boundaries. Not a soul asked me about my personal life. Cocooned in my writing, I relished not having to explain myself. In the middle of August, the hamlet celebrated Fiesta Mayor, the largest festival dedicated to the patron saint of the town. Young lads carried a maypole to the plaza and festooned it with streamers. Days of concerts and festivities continued, culminating in a rock concert that began at midnight ending at 7.30 a.m. the next morning with thirty people still dancing. I attended one such concert, held inside the church where a man alternated between singing to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar and playing the Tibetan cuencas. But for me the height of the fiesta was the paella dinner the village prepared, bringing its knives to chop the onions. Men slaved for hours over shallow copper pots installed atop special propane stoves. “It’s a religious ritual,” my fellow-resident Marina said. “You’ll know it’s done when they add the rice.” The only such experience I’d ever had, I told her, was the Ganesh festival in my hometown of Nagpur. At 10 p.m., when I finally sat down to dinner, I could not help but wonder about the merits of identity politics vis-à-vis the global villager. The former offered a cohesive community, I mused, while the latter offered a world sans boundaries. n Sarita Sarvate (www.saritasarvate.com) has published commentaries for New America Media, KQED FM, San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune, and many nationwide publications.

October 2017 | West Coast Edition | www.indiacurrents.com | 79

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