I took a lane to nostalgia and was browsing through my old blog posts and landed upon this post on Mahabharata and Perspectives. It’s quite amusing to find that the perspective as mentioned earlier has changed, indeed (developed, rather!) into another form. Given the path that I had to travel over the years after the post, it’s no wonder that perspectives change.
Reblogging! And new post in draft. To be posted at the earliest!
Mahabharata is one of my all time favourite ‘experience’. I term it an experience because, quite often when I get to read/hear/watch retellings of the great epic, a thought process occurs, which gives rise to new perspectives, new vistas, new ideas, which are experiences that need to be savoured deeply! I had grown up listening to Mahabharata […]
This post is part of the CHENNAI BLOGGER CLUB’S CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG 2 where some of us will write a post on the colours of VIBGYOR each day starting 1st of May to the 7th of May, 2020.
The colour theme for today’s post is VIOLET.
Violet, the first occurring colour of the visible spectrum, strikes a chord with varied memories and emotions.
…the initial introduction to the colour spectrum, to a muddle headed guy, who wonders, what does it even mean, and looks up to the heavens, to view and actually observe the barely visible rainbow and go ahead in life, to understand that violet is one among the vivid colours, visible and non visible, like the emotions, events and exaggerations that we get to experience in life.
…the short walk to school, on a chill winter morning, along the green avenues of Bangalore, noticing the blooms of ‘December flower’. The bright, delicate, violet coloured flower, popularly known as December flower, probably a variant of the ‘violet’ flower, doesn’t emanate any fragrance, but eludes a mystic beauty.
…the keenness of reading the abridged version of Ramayanam, which well, was meant for kids, and that described Ravana walking majestically, with a royal violet umbrella held over his ten heads. How big, how heavy, how grand the violet umbrella would’ve been?! But that, the ten heads represented his vast knowledge and wisdom, which ultimately was overshadowed by the huge, egotistic, arrogant violet umbrella!
The thoughts about violet can be written on and on, as the case with any colour, for they form an integrated part of our life, of which we observe some, and ignore many.
Spring season is loved by everyone. And more by those, for whom, the springs blows away the harsh and cold winds of winter, literally and metaphorically!
It could be the truth, or psychological effect, or a beautiful imagination, the onset of this period of time (last final weeks and February, and the beginning weeks of March) brings a sudden gush of energy and happiness into me, every year, right from childhood.
Probably it could be, because of the anticipation of completing the annual exams (I’ve never feared exams 😉 ) and enjoying the long summer holidays, the happiness of playing on streets without fear of rains disrupting (actually I loved rain, but the fact that I’d be pulled into home, by grandma, made me detest it slightly) the excitement of family tours, the joy of watching TV without any restrictions, the happiness of relishing pulpy, sweet-tangy mangoes, and the reasons could go on and on, in the days of childhood.
Meanwhile, semester holidays which arrived during spring/summer gave me uninterrupted time to read books, start blogging 🙂 , occasionally go out and play (I stopped playing out, once getting into college, unlike my friends. Not sure if a good or bad thing 😀 ) and few to name, to happen in the later days of my life.
Now spring/summer doesn’t make a difference in the routine or ‘timetable’ of the day. Yet the spirit of spring remains intact and brings in a fresh wave of energy, from nowhere.
Well, on a second thought, if we make and take the best of any situation, and derive happiness from it, everyday of life is spring, with flowers blooming around and butterflies abounding everywhere!
Sharing an all time favourite song of mine..that matches the situation here!
P.S..the title for this post was inspired by one of the chapters in my 6th standard English Literary textbook – Songbird in Spring Time – a short biography on M.S.Subbulakshmi. One of the few chapters from my school textbooks that I can never forget!
Mahabharata is one of my all time favourite ‘experience’. I term it an experience because, quite often when I get to read/hear/watch retellings of the great epic, a thought process occurs, which gives rise to new perspectives, new vistas, new ideas, which are experiences that need to be savoured deeply!
I had grown up listening to Mahabharata stories from my grandma, watching the B.R.Chopra teleseries (the re-telecast actually! i’m not that old 😉 ) – Mahabharat (1988 TV Series), reading the English translation of Mahabharata by Rajaji – Mahabharata and an illustrated modern retelling by Devdutt Pattanaik – Jaya. In an earlier post, I had written about this modern retelling – Perspectives. There are various anecdotes associated with Mahabharata, which also provide varied insights and knowledge on it. Take off the religious angle, and it can beat a story of any genre, hands down!
It is generally said that, if something isn’t mentioned in the Mahabharata, then it doesn’t exist at all! And that’s because there are numerous retellings, abridgements, expansions, addition of ideas, commentaries, exclusion of ideas, folklores, corrosions, misunderstandings, etc on this already grand epic!
There are episodes in this narration that tease the logical part of our mind, and then there are portions that tease our illogical parts. And it is up to us to judge if a character in this epic is good or bad, or neutral, and that depends on how we view the scenario. This is the reason that there are many flows in the Mahabharata. Now this should explain the title – Changing Perspectives.
In my younger days, I preferred the action and grandeur of the narration, to the philosophical arguments. The fighting sequences, the grand palaces were more fascinating than the Bhagavad Gita and the other tenets. But now, I yearn for more of philosophical tenets, the varied perspectives that they provide, the various commentaries that have been written pondering over the realms known and unknown. The action and grandeur just seem normal and do not excite me anymore. This gives another meaning to the title – Changing Perspectives.
Mahabharata was nothing more than a religious story, for me in childhood. Only to realize later, that it is a lesson on how to lead life, and also how not to lead life. Probably I might realize something else, in future. Changing perspectives again!
As I was typing my previous post on women, a sudden thought led to the creation of this post too. I wanted to publish on three of my favourite fictional women from movies. (Please don’t ponder or question on ‘why three’? For some odd reason I love the number three, and making a short list in three’s 😀 ) And here I go…
Shanichari – Rudaali
This movie depicts the life of a Rudaali – profession mourner, played by Dimple Kapadia. I watched this movie on a women’s day, telecast on Doordarshan, few years back. (I still remember, my annual exams were a week apart, and I was going to watch an ‘old and boring’ movie) The movie is a slow moving one, but deeply touching. Shanichari (character portrayed by Dimple) faces a lot of trouble in her life – she loses her husband, falls in debt, her son deserts her, but nothing can dampen her spirit. She wonders throughout the movie, how can someone(referring to the profession mourners) mourn for some unknown and unrelated person, until an incident changes her life. Shanichari from the movie Rudaali is still one of my favourite fictional character.
Madhura – Sringaram
This movie portrays the life of devadasis, set in the pre-independence era. The character Madhura (played by Aditi Rao Hydari) is a bold, young, beautiful, talented devadasi. She loves and craves for a life of freedom, which is denied to her, given her profession and status in the society. All the riches that she possess doesn’t bring any meaning to her life. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she moves away from the clutches of the society, to lead a life that she wishes. The story unfolds as a flashback story heard by Madhura’s daughter, Varshini (also played by Aditi Rao Hydari) Madhura is one character gracefully portrayed, that i’d love watching her again and again.
Elsa – Frozen
Queen Elsa is a bit more popular, that she needs not much of an introduction. She is my favourite Disney character after Mickey Mouse. Elsa didn’t need a charming dude to make her life beautiful, she had to fight evil and demons within herself, there were things she had to Let it Go, she had powers that were amazing but fearsome too, and these make her a queen, and not a princess! And ‘Let it Go’ could be listened to a thousand times, yet bring out the emotions, powerful every time ~ (The song of judgement)
A common thread that connects the story of these women is that, they wanted a life where they could be themselves, not hiding anything of theirs, just because the society didn’t accept or approve of the facts! They never let fate take over, and fought back to lead a life of their own.
With a lazy weekend coming to a glorious end, I was browsing through the pictures in my phone, when I got a spark. I wanted to publish a quick post on some things which I captured on a weekend, over a period of time. And here are they…
This is at the Chennai Trade Center, where many fairs, exhibitions, events take place regularly. A very lively, and productive place too!
This is from the seashore of Mahabalipuram. A place to amaze or laze.
That’s Schmidt Memorial at Elliot’s Beach. A place for a wonderful weekend evening.
The ceiling of Connemara Library. Established over a century ago, this is one of the oldest library here.
Balcony of my home, on a rainy day. What better place than home!
Palavakkam Beach, a lesser known quiet and clean suburb.
Amdavadi – one of my favourite restaurant near home.
At Parthasarathy Temple. I and words would fail to describe the peace I get here.
That’s the sunset at the heart of a metro city. If only the place was real clean – adversities of urbanization
It has been three years since I registered in my blog here, and thanks to WordPress for reminding me of it!
Though I had registered three years back (used Blogspot previously), I’ve been active in WordPress only for the past two years (+ few months) and it has been an amazing journey!
I have met new people, made new friends, read amazing blogs, won great prizes, had great experiences, influenced some through blogging. I never thought I’d come this long when I start to blog initially.
Blogging is one form of letting the world know, of one’s emotions, opinions, thoughts, or anything our mind wants to yet and our hand wants to type. Some are successful in it and now I think I’ve got a taste of it too, all thanks to God, my good teachers and dearest blogging friends.
With a month more to complete 2014, new journeys to make, new vistas to visit, new people to come, life move ahead with lots and lots of hope!
Temples are treasures that our forefathers have left behind. Many sciences, marvels, facts are spoken about these temples, some true and some not. But whatever, the serenity and comfortness that the temples offer is the same one experiences at home, and at times beyond!
One thing I love in temples are the temple tanks. Temple tanks are present in many big temples. These tanks are usually rectangular/square shaped artificial ponds. These ponds serve to harvest rainwater, add beauty to the temple, mesmerize the wanderer, and the list could keep extending.
I wanted to display three of my favourite temple tanks in Chennai and around, and here are they.
Earlier I’d written about one’s personal diary – My Black Diary. Personal Diary is a person, rather than a thing who’ll remain a good and faithful friend for life. Quoting from it, “A friend in need Is a friend Indeed, So they proclaimed, And he remained, In time of need When left to bleed…“
And here’re some Black Diaries, from MatrikaS Paper Products. As said in the website, their products are inspired from the powerful energies (denoted by Matrikas, a Sanskrit term for mother) to aid the process of ideation, innovation and expression.
The Antique Journal was just perfect – 256 thick sheets of papers hard bound, soft finish, clearly printed memoranda and other stuff, classic touch, elegant yet simplistic design, last but not least, two of my favourite elements – a satin page marker and the fresh smell of a new book!
It was a double treat to receive a journal filled with information, pictures and quotes of my favourite personality, and a special thanks to MatrikaS again for this. This journal was as good as the Antique Journal, but i’d be partial to the personality journal, because it contains information on Swami Vivekananda 🙂
The 5 subject notebook brought memories of school and college. It had a cool appeal with abstract designs, and equally good in quality as the other products. A perfect choice for any school/college goer (Okay, there is no hard and fast rule that only a student must be using 5 subject notebook)
Click for a bigger size
And to mention, I loved the logo of this brand too. With seven faces, it represents the Sapta-Matrikas, doing good justice to the brand name.
A quick and final verdict would be…
Quality: Best in class.
Cost: Very much justified and reasonable for the given quality of products.
So why wait? Check out the cool MatrikaS products in Flipkart, pick some and Scribble your heart away!
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