A Social Studies -DIY

Was Mughal Emperor Akbar aware, that a wise minister called Tenali Rama resides in Vijaynagar?  🤔 When Mohd Bin Tuglaq made Daulatabad his capital, where was Aurangazeb?  Did they live in the same era? 

Indian history has been a potboiler events. But if you ask me to set them in chronological order .... off hand, I have no answers. 

So, before my 7 year old takes a plunge into " Social Studies" this year, I decided to brush up mine. The idea was to keep it simple, so I chose the Pen-Paper mode...

Starting from Mohd Ghori to British Rule... 

India's Timeline to Freedom bundled in manuscript fomat on 5 pieces of cardboard, now lies in our closet. The other day, we carefully picked up these rustic pieces, read them together, gave each other a historian look and put it back in place... 

We then navigated to the  other side of Social Studies....🤯🤯🤯

What is difference between a Delta and an Estuary? If Gulf is bigger than a Bay, why does "Bay of Bengal" appear larger (in maps] than of "Gulf of Mexico?" 

Again Pen- Paper mode to keep it easy.            🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞

Starting with simple drawings, moved to complex ones. From Valleys to Volcanos 🌋 , Islands to Archipelagoes our spiralled diary sketches geography.

When I took to blogging, like many bloggers, I too got this cliche advice from random readers that I should write a book.  Something that didn't  entice me..

But here I am Crafting a kids book (for home consumption only😜) .  Drawing/ Writing/ Binding and Presenting to my little audience in a dramatic manner and calling it a Book Launch😇🕮🥳

Jon is retiring..

 A crisp Australian accent, voiced shipping wisdom, something that I barely understood back then........17 years on, Shipping is not new, but a call from country code +61 still feels daunting..

That was Jon! My opening memories to foreign accent, a realization, that knowing English alone doesn't suffice...His Canadian counter part-Eddy, was easier to comprehend. But before I could gear up clinching deals with Eddy, Eddy retired.

Jon, his wife & me @ a wedding in Kolkata.
Nov 2019

My only choice [ nightmare] 😨😨was Jon and to make things challenging Jon moved to Singapore, bringing our timezones closer. Be it +65 and +61, I had to brace up to more Aussie accent now. I heavily relied on skype chats, doubled up with mails.   

But calls still happened, in person meetings followed. We toured the lanes of Mumbai, meeting clients,  Coal conference encourters became regular...

Gradually to me, shipping became familiar, and his accent clearer. We now speak the same vocabulary, react to the same market conditions.  A month from now he retires....

Deoghar Diaries

 It's not a usual thing to attend a music concert at a book fair. To be fair, let me call it a "Pustak Mela"...

Local artiste , Ritu Aditi's , "Damadam Mastkalandar" hit all the right notes that day. She had her band on stage, but for me a spiced up "Litti Chokha" was a perfect partner for that chilling evening . To settle this hype ,came a troupe from Deoghar's neighbour- Kolkata. They performed a skit on Swami Vivekanand's life journey.  All these off beat happenings at a “Pustak Mela”, is what makes my Deoghar Diary special.

Toto Rides (local auto) took me to Tiwari Bazaar, a local market where sweatered vendors sold shawls and shawled vendors sold vegetables.

Deoghar mornings, noon, evenings & night- all spoke the language of Winter Chillness. To beat this cold, on a Sunday morning, I decided to brisk walk.I walked past many "Kothis" ( bungalows). Deoghar's architecture is yet to popularize tall structures. Be it Madhuri Nivas or Rani Kothi, the layout is horizontal and with a high probability that it shelters a Chaubey, Dubey or a Mishra inside.

On Deoghar's map of advancement, lies Deoghar Airport & STPI (Software Technology Park of India) that has our office. Walkable distance from office is Swaagat Dhaba, that took care of my daily lunch by serving Daal- Chaawal, that needs to be pre-ordered to ensure it’s served hot.

My breakfast & dinners had a generous dose of Parathas & Cauliflower servings...May be that was the Cook's favourite but he made it my staple.No complaints because the same cook served hot Masala teas, piping hot tomato soup, Gondh ke laddus & Kheer for dessert.

As I sign out of Deoghar,  holding 96 rewards points from the local V Bazzar mall,  their message says, "visit us again to redeem your points" :)

Popsicle Art

 

Playlist by the Window

Every morning as I open my windows, there is a real-time playlist waiting for me. They play on auto mode, I can't shuffle or skip the order. In the last 10 years, they have been so consistent, that I inadvertently hum with them now...

It starts with ...

🎧Iddi-aaaa-ppam - Puttu-  "Iddiappam"is counted as a healthy breakfast down South. This man wheels in by 7 AM IST. He is popular & punctual . There are homemakers waiting with empty "tiffin" boxes. Once he arrives, many breakfast tables & school lunches get filled. For the unversed, Iddiappam is Idli in noodle form plated like a Dosa.  Puttu is a cylindrical variety from the same family. 

Then comes...

🎧Meeen Ma Meen- Thats "Fish" in tamil. His 1st shout declares he is selling fish. 2nd Shout to describe the varieties he has.  A distant voice from a balcony will enquire about its prices. In response, & in full volume he will broadcast the "pricing" .  All this info is of no use to me. But I have come to an understanding that, some knowledge is door delivered, whether you want it or no.

A thought jump here! 🤔 👀Will AI replace these ☝ people too? 

AI or No AI a lot of services have silently left the job scene. Where is that community who traded Old Clothes for New Utensils?  How often do we spot a milkman delivering milk from his Aluminium can?

Sooner or later, more services will leave the street. But before that happens, a Roll of Honour 🏅to those who have graced my alley..

My playlist by the Window continues ...

🎧Raddhi Paper-waale-  From yelling his voice out,  to holding a loudspeaker, he has had, his share, of technological  progress.He makes 2 rounds each day -once in the morning & again by the noon. He is the only 1 to appear twice on my Playlist. 

🎧Pattu ku Pannam -  A screeching lady behind some blaring speakers. She has often woken up my sleeping kid. Thats my first memory of her. Then curiosity took over. Each time I attempted to check, what she was trying to sell. I only saw an auto passing by.  It took a while to connect the dots. A pre-recorded voice behind those speakers tours with the Auto. They repurchase "Silk" (pattu) for Cash (pannam)

🎧Nei Ma Nei -  A Ghee vendor, selling clarified butter to my tenant. Tenant vacates (business lost😞) she makes me her customer. Sympathy marketing - where you lose 1 customer and win another by creating compassion. She starts on my playlist and ends up at my doorstep. 

Its been a while.......

Its been a while, I visited this place....Its been a while, I filled this page. I seem to have lost "the pen", that rhymes.....I misplaced the poetic ponderings that chime.

Its been a while, I tracked blogging contests....Its been a while, I participated in one. The wall that tucked my work of fiction.....I seem to have lost, signboard to that one!

Musings missing, Travelogues gone.. ....This list was getting annoyingly long. I, decided to get them back one by one.....Find them out or hunt them down.

Planned my search from the remote corners, ...But what lay ahead was a table of colours. From Crayons to Brush Pens in multiples of 10......They come handy every now & then.

Disturbing this table, not a good plan! I looked for other possibilities in hand

A search, above the Apparel desk or beneath the Playthings wall. But they too bullied me with a caveat, saying......We can flood you with things, you dont expect at all!!

Safest, I started from my own Work station. Those organized files, and well clipped papers.......Unfolding secrets of Global Waters .Port Maps drawn, Coastlines marked......A decade & a half back- I was still taking notes. Today, they look naive, some downright silly .....I dont need or read them anymore. 

May be , no point searching in the corners dark......What they hold may not be relevant at all. A good box of memories, there are, for sure!  But why dilute them, by bringing back here?

Its been a while, I write something new.....Its been a while, fresh ideas brew! Its time I revisit this place with fervor.....Its time, I think, to take this idea further....

The story so far....

A dim lit corridor led to a small room. Its entrance held a creaky metallic chair on one end , and a shaky wooden stool on the other. In between them stood a large register holding scribblings of many...

The man on the chair called himself a Librarian, taking the seat on the stool were its readers. A room packed with books -most of them old, some partly torn, some without cover pages. Starting from ground level to lofty heights, books seemed towering on me from all sides. I was about 12 then. While my friends went for Famous Five & Secret Seven, I devoured Tinkle Digest week after week.

Years rolled...face of Library changed. Libraries started giving out fresh, neat books- as good as new ones. Kiosks replaced bulky Entry Registers, dainty cushions replaced creaky chairs...Tinkle Digest took a back seat. 

An inclination to pick Indian Authors took over. Sudha Murthy, Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Devdutt Pattanaik. Reading was taking a scandalous turn. Finishing a book & picking up the next one, became a craze. Craze turned into addiction. Addiction became a race. A race against no one in particular. Indian titles alone couldn't keep pace with it. So global authors chipped in... John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown. Non fiction, self help books joined in... Who Moved my Cheese, 6 Thinking Hats... Blue Ocean strategy, Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.....STOP!

A refreshing pause came by... reading slowed down. Random books kept coming but the habit of reading was undergoing a change. From renting books to buying books & saving them to read another day! Books of interest kept adding up, adding became piling & piling became stocking. For want of space they were re-arranged, then shuffled, subsequently shifted, until one day...went out of sight. 

I always wondered how the Librarian with a creaky chair reached out to the books he stacked at lofty heights. 🤔 Just as I wonder now, on which attic I have placed those books for future read.? Nothing  aids my memory to tell exactly which books are stored in there. If I were to climb up & search them today, the place would resemble the same faintly lit library aisle that I had visited years back.............Originally this post was to find an end here!

Then comes a book, that once again keeps me awake through the nights. Its been a very long wait! Having sleepless night by the book.... Now reading Ponniyin Selvan- Vol 3....