मराठी पुस्तकच घ्यायचं असं ठरवून मी लायब्ररीत गेले नव्हते. पण का कोणास ठाऊक इंग्लिश पुस्तकांच्या शेल्फ्सवरून नजर नुसती फिरत राहिली. एकही पुस्तक मनात रजिस्टर होईना. पुढल्या वेळी जाईन तेव्हा त्यातलं एखादं पुस्तक आणेन ह्यात शंका नाही. पण त्या दिवशी मात्र एकही घ्यावंसं वाटेना. आपण कधी कुठे कुठलं पुस्तकं वाचावं हेसुध्दा नशिबच ठरवत असावं बहुतेक. कारण कशी कोण जाणे, कधीही अनुवादित पुस्तकांच्या शेल्फाजवळ न फिरकणारी मी तिथे जाऊन पोचले. ह्यातली बहुतेक पुस्तकं मूळ इंग्रजी पुस्तकाची भाषांतरं आहेत. आता जी भाषा आपल्याला नीट वाचता येते, समजते त्यातली पुस्तकं मूळ रूपातच वाचायला हवीत हा माझा आग्रह. म्हणून नुसतीच पहात होते.
तेव्हढ्यात एका पुस्तकाकडे लक्ष गेलं - नाव होतं पर्व. मुखपृष्ठावर राजमुकुट घातलेल्या एका वृध्दाचं, रथ पळवणाऱ्या सारथ्याचं आणि आत बसलेल्या योध्याचं तसंच राजकन्या वाटावी अश्या दिसणार्या स्त्रीचं अशी तीन चित्र. हे पुस्तक अनुवादित भागात कसं असं म्हणत मी हातात घेतलं तेव्हा मूळ लेखक डॉ. एस. एल. भैरप्पा आणि भावानुवाद सौ. उमा कुलकर्णी असे शब्द दिसले. डॉ. भैरप्पा हे कानडीतले नामांकित लेखक आहेत हे मी वाचलं होतं. कशावर असेल हे पुस्तक म्हणून मी उत्सुकतेने चाळायला घेतलं तर शल्य, कुंती, विदुर ह्यांचे उल्लेख आढळले. महाभारत! हा नेहमीच माझा कुतूहलाचा विषय राहिलेला आहे. एखाद दोन परिच्छेद वाचले तर पुस्तकं वेगळंच वाटलं. मला कानडी भाषा येत नाही आणि शिकायचा बेतही नाहीये. मग म्हटलं हा अनुवादच वाचावा. पुस्तक चेकआऊट करायला गेले तर लायब्ररीची अटेंडंट म्हणाली की हा पुस्तकाचा दुसरा भाग आहे. अरे, खरंचं की, हे माझ्या लक्षातच आलं नव्हतं. तिने सांगितल्यावर मुखपृष्ठावर लिहिलेली 'भाग २' ही अक्षरं दिसली. मग तिनेच पहिला भाग शोधून काढला आणि म्हणाली दोन्ही एकदमच घेऊन जा. अरे वा! आंधळा मागतो एक् डोळा आणि देव देतो दोन तश्यातली गत झाली.
रात्री उत्सुकतेने पहिला भाग वाचायला घेतला. हे पुस्तक आपण कसं लिहिलं ह्यावरच्या लेखकाच्या मनोगतात भीष्मांचं वय कुरुक्षेत्रावरच्या लढाईच्या वेळी जवळजवळ १२० होतं हे वाचून मी थक्क झाले. हा विचार मी कधी केलाच नव्हता. तीच गोष्ट गढवालच्या काही खेड्यातून आजही प्रचलित असलेल्या बहुपतीत्त्वाच्या प्रथेबाबत. भारतात पूर्वीही कधी ही प्रथा असेल असं मला कधी वाटलंच नव्हतं. द्रौपदी पाच पांडवांची बायको झाली ते अपघाताने अशीच माझी समजूत होती. आजही काही खेड्यात असं चालतं ही माहिती बहुपत्नीत्त्वदेखील पचनी न पडलेल्या २१ व्या शतकातल्या मला धक्कादायक आहे.
मग पुढे असे धक्के बसतच गेले - ऐशीच्या जवळपास पोचलेला माद्रीचा भाऊ शल्य, शहाऐशी वर्षांची कुंती, किंमत मोजून मुलीचं लग्न करून देणारे गांधार, मद्र ह्यांच्यासारखे देश, ज्याला देवलोक म्हणतात त्यातल्या दुराचारच वाटू शकतील अश्या प्रथा. पांडुराजा स्वत:च्या मुलांचा पिता का होऊ शकला नाही, कर्णाचा आणि पाच पांडवांचा जन्म कसा झाला, द्रौपदी पाच पांडवांची बायको कशी झाली ह्याबद्दल असं काही विलक्षण वाचायला मिळतं की आपण आत्तापर्यंत वाचले होतं किंवा पाहिलं होतं ते महाभारत कुठलं असं वाटावं.एकुणात महाभारतात स्त्री व्यक्तिरेखांची शोकांतिकाच आहे. पण हे पुस्तक वाचताना मला कुंती आणि द्रौपदीचं दु:ख नव्याने कळलं. एक स्त्री म्हणून त्यांनी जे सहन केलं ते कोणाही बाईच्या वाट्याला येऊ नये असंच.
महाभारताची कुठली कथा बरोबर ह्या वादात मला पडायचं नाहीये. पण हे पुस्तक जसंजसं वाचतेय तशीतशी माझी उत्सुकताही वाढते आहे. रामायणापेक्षा महाभारत मला नेहमीच अधिक भावलंय कारण तुमच्याआमच्यासारखी चुका करणारी माणसं ह्यात दिसतात. त्यांच्यात देवत्त्वाचा अंश असूनही. पण ही कादंबरी वाचताना त्यांच्यातलं माणूसपण अधिकाधिक अधोरेखीत् होतंय. सगळचं पटत नाहीये. काही गोष्टी तर धक्कादायक वाटताहेत. तसंही कृष्ण आणि थोड्याफार प्रमाणात कर्ण सोडला तर बाकी कुठलीच व्यक्तिरेखा माझी लाडकी नाही. त्यामुळे त्या व्यक्तिरेखांतले दोष प्रकर्षाने समोर आले तरी फारसं बिघडणार नाहीये. फक्त माझ्या मनातल्या कृष्णप्रतिमेला धक्का पोचेल असं काही वाचायला लागू नये असंच वाटतंय. कारण असं काही वाचूनही माझी भक्ती अभंग राहिल असा विश्वास असला तरी खात्री अजून नाहीये. :-(
पण ह्या निमित्त्ताने शतकानुशतकं लोकांच्या मनावर गारुड टाकणार्या ह्या महाकाव्याच्या अनेक बाजू मला दिसताहेत हेच किती समाधान आहे.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Journey To The Center Of The Earth - by Richard and Nicholas Crane
I had gone to the library with all the intention of bringing home a Stephen King novel. But somehow I couldn't locate any of the books on the bottom shelf where they are usually kept. The attendants were busy with people who had rushed in before the closing hours - the library would be closed the next day. Maybe next time, I said to myself as I set about finding something else to read. Then my eyes fell upon the book which evidently had been returned by someone recently since the attendants hadn't yet found time to return it to its proper place on the shelf. The title was misleading - Journey to the center of the earth. Definitely, this wasn't the journey chronicled by Jules Verne. The title had two names - Richard and Nicholas Crane. Never heard of them before.
Intrigued, I glanced at the back cover. Looked like the authors, who are cousins, have undertaken many journeys to remote places on earth on their bicycles and then written about them. But surely, there is no such thing as the center of the earth - I wondered as I thought of the caves filled with precious stones, raging dinosaurs and cute little blue birds depicted in the Hollywood movie of the same name. Turns out I was right and wrong at the same time. Sure, there is the center of the earth, albeit, rather less romantic. It is somewhere in China. And to reach that the two authors had to journey across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Tibet and finally China. Oh Boy!
The journey began somewhere in Bangladesh and the authors didn't seem to think much of the densely populated country where the people, so the authors describe, are prone to turn aggressive to satiate their curiosity. I didn't look forward to the part where they would travel through India. It's one thing to criticize your own country but when an outsider does it, you are bound to turn defensive. But the Crane brothers, Brits both of them, had only the usual comments to make about the lack of cleanliness in India. And overall, they seemed impressed with the people - who weren't much curious about two foreigners - and the food dished out.
I was mainly interested in their impressions about Nepal - a country I hope to visit one day, and definitely about Tibet. So that part of the book was pretty interesting for me. To be frank, for someone like me who was born and brought up in a metro, the thought of cycling across foreign countries, in inhospitable regions, with the aid of just maps, without carrying any food, and only one set of clothes, is at once exciting and thoroughly frightening. I don't think I have it in me to trust total strangers to that extent. But the Crane brothers seem unfazed by the prospect, more or less throughout the journey. They stay wherever they can find accommodation - be it a tent, a settlement of huts where the residents seem slightly off their center or some cave right in the middle of a desert. They eat whatever is served up in the region they happen to be in - be it "Dahl" in India, Yak butter in Tibet or Stir-fry in China. And they do everything from servicing their bikes to navigating their paths. If anyone deserves to find the center of the earth, it's definitely them.
Now, if you ask me where this so-called 'center of the earth' is, I can only say that it is somewhere in China. All those calculations of latitude and longitude were completely Greek and Latin for me. However, that did not matter even a bit. What was more important for me were the authors' impressions about the cities and villages they traveled through - e.g. Urumqi, Golmud,Taklamakan - places that I am unlikely to visit, ever. It was like going to these places myself. What was equally important was their experience of the fellow human beings who didn't have much in common with these travelers except being human. Today world has become a smaller place and in the process events that underline the mean, base, evil part of the human nature are being beamed across the corners of the earth. It's so comforting to know that, barring a few odd experiences, there still exist people who will feed a tired traveler - even if it means sharing whatever meager food supply they have - without expecting anything in return, who will give them a shelter for night - even if their dwelling happens to be just a single room and who will drop whatever they are doing to make sure that these travelers are on the correct road.
I remember reading somewhere that the only reason the world still exists despite all the meanness, strife, hatred and evil is a handful of people somewhere who still believe in being human, being kind and being helpful. I suspect that there are more than a mere handful of such people because it would be too much of a coincidence if the Crane brothers met them all on their journey.
So finally when the authors did touch the center of the earth I felt like jumping to my feet and shouting 'Yes, they did it'! Because for me, it wasn't only the two of them but a lot many others who, though symbolically, were part of the journey.
Intrigued, I glanced at the back cover. Looked like the authors, who are cousins, have undertaken many journeys to remote places on earth on their bicycles and then written about them. But surely, there is no such thing as the center of the earth - I wondered as I thought of the caves filled with precious stones, raging dinosaurs and cute little blue birds depicted in the Hollywood movie of the same name. Turns out I was right and wrong at the same time. Sure, there is the center of the earth, albeit, rather less romantic. It is somewhere in China. And to reach that the two authors had to journey across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Tibet and finally China. Oh Boy!
The journey began somewhere in Bangladesh and the authors didn't seem to think much of the densely populated country where the people, so the authors describe, are prone to turn aggressive to satiate their curiosity. I didn't look forward to the part where they would travel through India. It's one thing to criticize your own country but when an outsider does it, you are bound to turn defensive. But the Crane brothers, Brits both of them, had only the usual comments to make about the lack of cleanliness in India. And overall, they seemed impressed with the people - who weren't much curious about two foreigners - and the food dished out.
I was mainly interested in their impressions about Nepal - a country I hope to visit one day, and definitely about Tibet. So that part of the book was pretty interesting for me. To be frank, for someone like me who was born and brought up in a metro, the thought of cycling across foreign countries, in inhospitable regions, with the aid of just maps, without carrying any food, and only one set of clothes, is at once exciting and thoroughly frightening. I don't think I have it in me to trust total strangers to that extent. But the Crane brothers seem unfazed by the prospect, more or less throughout the journey. They stay wherever they can find accommodation - be it a tent, a settlement of huts where the residents seem slightly off their center or some cave right in the middle of a desert. They eat whatever is served up in the region they happen to be in - be it "Dahl" in India, Yak butter in Tibet or Stir-fry in China. And they do everything from servicing their bikes to navigating their paths. If anyone deserves to find the center of the earth, it's definitely them.
Now, if you ask me where this so-called 'center of the earth' is, I can only say that it is somewhere in China. All those calculations of latitude and longitude were completely Greek and Latin for me. However, that did not matter even a bit. What was more important for me were the authors' impressions about the cities and villages they traveled through - e.g. Urumqi, Golmud,Taklamakan - places that I am unlikely to visit, ever. It was like going to these places myself. What was equally important was their experience of the fellow human beings who didn't have much in common with these travelers except being human. Today world has become a smaller place and in the process events that underline the mean, base, evil part of the human nature are being beamed across the corners of the earth. It's so comforting to know that, barring a few odd experiences, there still exist people who will feed a tired traveler - even if it means sharing whatever meager food supply they have - without expecting anything in return, who will give them a shelter for night - even if their dwelling happens to be just a single room and who will drop whatever they are doing to make sure that these travelers are on the correct road.
I remember reading somewhere that the only reason the world still exists despite all the meanness, strife, hatred and evil is a handful of people somewhere who still believe in being human, being kind and being helpful. I suspect that there are more than a mere handful of such people because it would be too much of a coincidence if the Crane brothers met them all on their journey.
So finally when the authors did touch the center of the earth I felt like jumping to my feet and shouting 'Yes, they did it'! Because for me, it wasn't only the two of them but a lot many others who, though symbolically, were part of the journey.
Who Let Greg Chappell Out?
So Mr. Chappell thinks that he has figured out the root cause of the the Indian cricket team's lackluster performance, lack of leadership, lack of team spirit etc etc - the Indian culture. He says that the parents make all the decisions for their children in India and so the children don't step forward to assume any responsibilities when the grow up. Wow! What a profound thought! If we were to apply the same yardstick to the Australian teams (that's a plural because it is not confined to their cricket team alone), then their on-field sledging and off-field acrobatics like throwing the washing machine out the window or smashing TV sets should make us wonder about the culture Down Under. No? Or the same rules don't apply to the Aussies? Didn't the British rule you guys too or am I getting my history wrong? Didn't they teach you that cricket is a gentleman's game? Oh, but Mr. Chappell wouldn't have wasted a single minute thinking logically in his haste to say something that will guarantee a lot of publicity.
Well, well, we will be charitable and not link this behavior to the Australian culture, right Mr. Chappell?
Well, well, we will be charitable and not link this behavior to the Australian culture, right Mr. Chappell?
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Everyone seems upset now that India is out of the ODI Tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka because the Lankans defeated the Aussies in yesterday's match. But I am happy because that means that the best teams are in the finals. It will be an understatement to say that our boys played badly almost throughout the series. Things have come to such a pass that if they lose people say that it isn't a surprise because they are on a losing streak anyways. But if they win, as they did against SL in the last match, then there is talk of 'match-fixing'. And it hasn't been even a year since we won the World Cup. What a shame!
So, if the Aussies and Lankans played good cricket, they deserve to be in the finals and our team deserves to pack its bags to take the next flight home - probably for a soul-searching session on what is going wrong with them. Going by their and BCCI's past record, though, it is unlikely to happen.
On the brighter side, now I can watch the final with a bowlful of potato chips. Thank God for small mercies! :-)
So, if the Aussies and Lankans played good cricket, they deserve to be in the finals and our team deserves to pack its bags to take the next flight home - probably for a soul-searching session on what is going wrong with them. Going by their and BCCI's past record, though, it is unlikely to happen.
On the brighter side, now I can watch the final with a bowlful of potato chips. Thank God for small mercies! :-)
Recently while reading an article in the Marathi daily 'Loksatta' I came across mention of two interesting books:
1. Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States - by Trita Parsi
2.Khomeini's Ghost: The Iranian Revolution and the Rise of Militant Islam - by Con Coughlin
Needless to say, both books are now in my "books for a rainy day" list :-)
1. Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States - by Trita Parsi
2.Khomeini's Ghost: The Iranian Revolution and the Rise of Militant Islam - by Con Coughlin
Needless to say, both books are now in my "books for a rainy day" list :-)
Talk The Talk
I have lost count of the number of times I have resolved to learn Spanish. I don't typically make any new year resolutions but learning Spanish is definitely at the top of a very short list that I mentally chalk up, come 1st January. January 2012 was no exception. But sadly, as always, 2 months have gone by and I have made no progress on this front. In fact I had quite forgotten about it when I came across Shekhar Bhatia's "Talk The Talk". I am thinking of giving it a try though the article says that there is a pretty long waiting list. Who knows I might be able to speak reasonable Spanish by the end of this year :-)
Have you read the article on the Outlook Money panel discussion of Indian Insurance industry experts? It was pretty interesting. I felt that they nailed down the problems plaguing the industry pretty well. When the subject of product innovation came up, there was mention of products such as gender specific insurance (I would personally love to have an insurance plan that exclusively caters to women) and Dental Insurance (need of the hour, no doubt about it). Their solution on the problem of inflated hospital bills also seemed bang on the target. But at the end of it all, the million-dollar question still remains unanswered - "Who will bell the cat?" :-(
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