THE LOST FOOT PATH….

 

THE LOST FOOT PATH….

A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians. The foot path near my home from the Sai temple to the traffic square was empty…so my husband and I DECIDED TO HAVE OUR evening WALK ON IT. Things were fine for some time… initially there was some artifacts being sold and the place was lighted…things went on well for some time, it was a lovely stretch to walk in the evening …. T HE PLACE WAS LIGHTED AND IT LOOKED GOOD. Slowly the artifacts grew in numbers people were found haggling with the prices BIG CARS STOPPED on the road to buy these artifacts…

After few days a vendor put up a stove and served fretters, to the people…there was always a crowd and we had to excuse our self to wade through the people lost in their bites of’ghoogni and bara’’aloo chop and Manchurian’. Office returnees either treated themselves to it or packed and carried these fretters home.  

 Then as we walked on we had to cross a vegetable vender (babu) with a parked motor cycle making brisk business. As we maneuvered through this we have to watch our steps, because SOMEBODY RESPONSIBLE had dug up the portion…perhaps to clear some congestion. One day it was disgusting to find a man standing near the gabion and finishing his nature’s call…

 I with my limp and my husband’s steady steps we walked on. Some one very wise person added a   non-veg stall, egg and chicken…what not, standing and frying her wares. With careful step we move on to the watermelon seller…I UNDERSTAND IT IS SUMMER AND PEOPLE WOULD LOVE TO SINK THEIR TEETH INTO A JUICY PIECE OF WATER MELON BUT AT 5 PM? Some are found to carry it home. Thus, ends The FOOT PATH …we have seriously decided to change our route… MB

SURPRISE MAMTA BANERJEE

 

She fell asleep on her desk…and felt a soft touch on her face…Aha! So soothing at times a little prickly…a sudden sound shook her awake, to be greeted by a smiling face …Adwitiya (Gunu), greeted her. She thought of splashing some water on her face before going back to her work. The face that stared back from the mirror was a stranger’s, almost akin to the  image of an Alexandre Dumas character, …moustache, whiskers; beard and side burns…An ear shattering sgream rocked the whole  building. POPLEE!!! That is how she called her daughter...and then the sound of the retreating footsteps. Mm…that was face art and the helpless mama almost implored …’When will the schools reopen? MB  

R.KNARAYAN AND R.K. LAXMAN

 Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman(R.K.Laxman), was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is best known for his creation The Common Man and for his daily cartoon strip, You Said It, in The Times of India, which started in 1951.He touched his birth centenary on 24. October .2021. The first thing any reader of TOI would turn to was his cartoon. How well he left a cryptic message…what a thousand words would have failed to say. So was his sibling, Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami was (R.K. Narayan), an Indian writer known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi . He was famous for making I NDIA accessible to the outside world through his literature. He typically portrays the peculiarities of human. I developed a great fascination towards R.K. Narayan and opted for I NDO anglian fiction because I wished to read on the works of such authors. He was one of the leading Indian fiction writers. Each time the English text book by CBSE was reviewed, they ensured an excerpt from the author was incorporated…I felt happy about it because students were introduced to this prolific writer …while his brother wielded his brush the later R.K.Narayan used his words he created

brave hearts...

 

Like the other years, I looked up the names of Nobel laureate, and I was happy to find the name of Abdulrazak Gurnah, for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee, in the gulf between cultures and continents”.  My special paper during my Post Graduation, being Indo Anglian Fiction and Common Wealth Literature my interest was more. Now, what made me doubly happy was the award being instituted to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited their fight for freedom of expression, stressing that it is vital in promoting peace. At the time of muffled voices and muted opinions this news acted like a soothing balm. Journo must be lauded for their strains and report. In this context, I would like mention about the journalist and the camera man… Odisha's popular television journalist, Arindam Das Friday died when an ODRAF power boat engaged in the rescue of an elephant in Mahanadi river capsized at Mundali barrage …where the camera man escaped, and was luckily saved. The snap-shots taken then, was from the camera that was held aloft in spite of the raging water…This was an example of …duty on to last. The risk taken by them is beyond imagination…while awarding the best in the society, think tanks should think about such brave hearts…MB    

Books and Reading

 

ON BOOKS AND READING…Mine is an old school thought…in this world E-Books and KINDLE, I still prefer the feel of pages …the smell of a new book and enjoy passing my fingers through the row of books stacked in my personal library…People world definitely call my thoughts outdated, but these days I CARE A FIG for others opinion…of course no offense intended. I always remember the words of my Professor don’t possess a book you want to read; you will never read it.’ That was one thing I never listened to. The pleasure of reading a book, finishing it and going over the lines over and over again, has always been a different treat for me…  MB

LANGUAGE…ENGLISH…

 

LANGUAGE…ENGLISH…

Anybody who offers English as a major subject would definitely read Shakespeare’s Plays…comedy and tragedy. Though Shakespeare said… That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet…. from the play Romeo and Juliet. Even now we come across names we read in these plays. Cordelia is King Lear's favorite daughter until she refuses to flatter the old man and gets booted out of the kingdom without a dowry. Soon after, she marries the King of France and raises an army to fight her wicked sisters and win back her father's land. The story is based on a mythological Leir of Britain.While talking about myths…the body of all myths…Myths are stories created to teach people about something important and meaningful. ... While myths are completely made up, legends are based on events that really happened. The Greeks believed in gods and goddesses who, they thought, had control over every part of people's lives. In this context-- Pegasus is a mythical winged divine horse and one of the most recognized creatures in Greek mythology. Usually he is depicted as pure white. Myths about him vary as the Greek myths evolve and reflect progression through successive generations of deities. Then the Pandora ’s Box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's Works and Days. He reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in care of her husband, thus releasing physical and emotional curses upon mankind.

Now we mortals…did we learn anything meaningful?

NEWS

 

The phrase “Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair” (Act 1, Scene 1) is chanted by the three witches at the beginning of the play. It acts as a summary of what is to come in the tale. Shakespeare uses the phrase to show that what is considered good is in fact bad and what is considered bad is actually good. It is a metaphor…TODAY channels ferreting news day in-day out…making a clarion call; vouching their news is REAL, AUTHENTIC, NOT SENSETIONAL, NOT FAKE, ABOVE NOISE, CREDITABLE…finally everything vests on the sensible listeners and readers. It is left to their discretion...while the rest gets drowned in the back ground scores…MB