An Indecisive Indian

I love Lucknow.   But can I deny that it has been one helluva overrated and exaggerated city?   Yes, there are no equivalents of gunjing, tunde kabab, chowk thandai,  avadhi biryani, aminabad kulfi, cock fight, Loretto girls, Modern Novelties, men with sunken chests, kali mirch ka murgh and the Lakhnavi zaban, nazakat and nafasat ......   I also revel in: Daawa zabaan ka Lucknow walo  ke samne, Izhaar  boo-e-mushq   ghazalon  ke   samne   At the same time, would you find in any equivalent city, such pathetic traffic, unmetered autos, non-existent public transport, extremely dirty Railway station ( both inside and outside), non-functioning traffic lights (or when they do function, the mamu at the centre has his own rhythm totally oblivious of the so called signals),  paan  stains in staircase corners and so on.........   For a change, let me quote a Hindi poet, Dinkar:   लो अतीत से उतना ही जितना पोषक है जीर्ण शीर्ण का मोह मृत्यू का द्योतक

Bite and kill, if you can, India, or shut up and hold your peace.   Pick up the newspaper. Watch TV. What’s up?   Not much of a reader of Hindi poetry but these lines are so befitting today.......   क्षमा   शोभती   उस भुजंग को जिसके पास गरल है उसका क्या जो दंतहीन विषरहित विनीत सरल है लो अतीत से उतना ही जितना पोषक है जीर्ण शीर्ण का मोह मृत्यू का द्योतक है   Make your judgement!!

Rediscovering the wheel after inventing it! I said in in the last post that our mind was made.   And how? The wheel is one of the earliest inventions of man.   And isn’t it fascinating that it’s still a work in progress. The ultimate wheel is still to be designed These huge steam locomotive wheels are displayed in our factory.   Namma Wheels and Namma Wheel Makers It started with a rather pedestrian idea. Using abandoned cycle stops of a stillborn “cycle around the factory” experiment, our wheels were displayed.   And we came across some of our staff, who had a very interesting sense of Art.   Wheels after wheels              we are a proud part of this ongoing wheel saga     Amazing ideas from our wheel makers Not trained formally in Visual Arts, but endowed with a great aptitude and more importantly, sensitivity. They would be our precious Art soldiers. Not knowing what was in store, these staff were encouraged   to give shape to thei

Reinventing the wheel   (among wheels within wheels)          An experiment with Art in our industrial purlieus     Why?       Because,   It uplifts, It exhilarates, It enriches, It refines, It binds, It connects, and above all, It raises spirits, and more so if many roll up And who says it is not an engineer’s domain? We are the ultimate creators!!   we conceive, we design, we perspire, we scream, we toil, we cry, we simulate, and, yes, we create!! And so Art must imitate    our     lives   And what a life……. Manufacturing a wheel is like giving birth to a baby. Figuratively, yes, but almost literally. The cope & drag as parents;   their union begets a wheel. Cope nurtured for cleanliness & sprayed …. like a pregnant mother who has to keep her hygiene & imbibe medication. Our workers

It all started with a heated debate among my senior Railway colleagues on the state of Indian Railways, my employer. Everyone had a take, some of them stupid, some downright insipid. Most had a prescription in which they had to do nothing. Why not? Even senior Railway officers use a term called “PTB” or “Powers that be”, when delivering an idle discourse.   I haven't learnt, even at the peril of confronting so many of them, directly and adroitly, as to who these PTBs were. But I have concluded that they actually don’t allude to anyone in particular, they allude to someone who ought to do something to set things right and it’s not them. That sums up our problem. And is the answer blowin’ in the wind? Since what I need to say today is rather brief, grant me indulgence to dabble a bit about Bob Dylan. Dylan is a great but cryptic personality, to my mind, not a great singer but a wonderful lyricist, with shades of enigma. And in our youth, he held tremendous appeal for us.