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Showing posts from October, 2013

Everything Else Is Rubble

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The administrative office in front of the main building. In this age of endless information, I sometimes pause and realize something strange. I am drowning in information, but starving for memories. Every day, my mind absorbs hundreds of headlines, messages, videos, opinions, and notifications. Most of them vanish without a trace. Yet when I stop for a moment, memories from forty years ago return with astonishing clarity. Today, for some reason, my thoughts wandered back to my school and its teachers. I remember my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Carol at Little Angels. She was Anglo-Indian, impeccably dressed, and absolutely determined that every letter I wrote should sit neatly within the four lines of my notebook. Not touching the ceiling. Not falling through the floor. Perfectly contained. I don't remember what I had for lunch three days ago. But I remember those four lines. My first-grade teacher, Ms. Alice at BP Indian Public School, was...

Rudram

As you already know, I hail from Malleswaram in Bangalore.  It's the area with the maximum TamBrahm population.  The Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt is very close to my house, and I was always filled with fascination when I entered the temple premises.  The Veda Pathashaala kids have a unique charm about themselves and it's quite interesting how they carry on with their daily lives with a sense of discipline and devotion. As a kid, even as I went to college and work, I had the habit of going to the Mutt at least once a week.  My mother was much more regular than me.  The priest conducting the daily prayers and rituals was an epitome of perfect Vedic intonations.  There is something striking when somebody can recite the hymns with grace and authority.  The rendering, with the constant ebbs and flows, is easy to leave anyone in a state of trance.  It's pure bliss. After a few visits, I knew pretty much everyone in the temple.  I approached the perso...