Donating body is noble but...?

    And:

 palampurbeats's  Ist Anniversary:  musings 

There was a death in our neighbourhood on 3rd of November. Well, what is so unusual about it, you might ask.  Sad, but this is an inescapable fact of worldly existence, you would add. But there is one thing noteworthy in the present case.  This neighbour of ours (who served the postal department with distinction), Shri Surinder Bhardwaj - a gentle, amiable, soft-spoken, kind-hearted but clear-headed soul – standing up and above our customs, conventions and रीति-रिवाज़  which at times stifle our rational approach to life and world, had opted to donate his body to a hospital (Medical College, Tanda) for medical research. To ensure that his family members suffer no hassles in the execution of his wish, he had painstakingly and meticulously completed all the tiresome formalities and the necessary paper-work well in time. But after his death, when it came to actually handing over the body, his son Sandeep and  other kin had a shock awaiting them. The doctor-in-charge at Tanda hospital came up with a new pre-condition to be fulfilled before the body could be accepted: a certificate of death from no other than an MBBS doctor. Taken aback, Sandeep argued with the doctor that all the necessary formalities have already been carefully taken care of and no such pre-condition exists. Still, if indeed it is so, they could procure a certificate from any RMP. But no. The good doctor was adamant and unrelenting. Flabbergasted, Sandeep then talked to a senior doctor-friend at the local Government hospital and told him about the impasse, seeking his help and advice. He agreed and opined that there was no such pre-condition and that the body should be gratefully accepted by the hospital in question. But the stalemate continued. Then, out of sheer exasperation, the grieving son lost his cool. He told the stubborn, insensitive doctor: “Look here. It was my father’s dear wish that we are dutifully trying to carry out. And you are unnecessarily creating difficulties instead of being helpful…without the slightest care or empathy for the shocked state of mind we are in. If you can be so callous and unwilling then I will have  no option but to arrange for the funeral instead. But before that I will call the press and expose your insensitive and non-cooperative attitude in the matter…” and so on. That said, the wheel turned the other way at once. Realising that this kind of adamant attitude by the hospital against a noble act by someone when exposed, would at once go viral and show the hospital and the doctor in poor light, the doctor’s stiffness and obstinacy all melted at once. All due help was then extended to the family and the body was at last accepted.

We all know there is a crying need of dead bodies in all hospitals. Most of the bodies that the hospitals are able to procure with difficulty are unclaimed ones and not in a very good physical state for medical practicals and research. Any good hospital should therefore feel immensely grateful and lucky and in fact go out of the way to have a body being willingly offered at its doorstep, and facilitate the whole process instead of creating hurdles. Further, the maze of procedural formalities which deter potential do-gooders from such kind acts should be simplified and the hospital administration should play a pro-active role in smoothening the process. In the present case even the refrigeration facility which was locally available wasn’t extended and the kin of the deceased were asked to arrange ice themselves in order to keep the body in the right state for its proper use.

 How many of us, trapped in our orthodoxy, rituals and customs, have the nobility, greatness and generosity of mind to rise above the self, above the sentiments of the family, above rigid, insular mindsets and volunteer to donate the body for the cause of science? Very, very few. Therefore the rare few in our midst whose hearts throb with idealism and social spirit need to be saluted and worshipped. Shri Surinder Bhardwaj was one such exalted soul deserving of all praise and applause.

And in contrast, the attitude and behaviour of the doctor in question is a matter of shame. It also speaks of the sickening bureaucratic tangles, convoluted procedures and tedious paperwork that kill initiative, prevent people from doing some social good, promote mediocrity/incompetency, fuel corruption and hinder our path to progress and prosperity.

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Musings on palampurbeats's Ist Anniversary    

* When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, joy: Rumi

* I would like to live/ Like a river flows. Carried by the surprise/ Of its own unfolding: John O' Donohue   

     

Dear friends,

Well, this is the 52^nd post; in other words, palampurbeats’s first-anniversary post. This year-long journey has been quite an exciting one; very satisfying too. It gave me a window of opportunity to vent out my steam and write without fear and inhibitions on any topic under the sky that seized my fancy: politics;  social issues; Palampur’s woes and worries, it’s steady loss of ‘green’ and pristine beauty; translations of some poems that I loved; nature and its wonders that make life worth living…birds in particular; a leaf or two from my own personal life and some inland travels; tears and sorrow on the deaths of some beloved and respected ones; and not the least, on the never-to-die theme of LOVE which makes our hearts tick...and at times stop! I also took the liberty to dip my pen in my ‘poetic inkwell’ so to say, and dish out some verses both in English and Hindi...not without some trepidation whether it would agree with the refined taste-buds of my reader-friends or not. Well,  I don't know for sure whether you liked it or not: the stuff I churned out week after week, every Saturday, except one miss and (on a Sunday, on one occasion). But for me posting these weekly blogs - as well as the introductory lines (on Facebook and WhatsApp) in verse - I have enjoyed and loved every bit...especially taking pot shots at this tribe of power-hungry, unscrupulous politicians masquerading as “public servants” (noble exceptions notwithstanding) who have made such a terrible mess of our great country, as also our charming hill state.

My readership hasn’t been huge but steady and growing, and, believe me, incredibly global. After my own country, my posts have had readers in the USA, Canada, several countries in Europe, South East Asia, the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Taiwan and  South Korea. What more can one expect as a response to a very modest and humble endeavour? Further, there are friends who have been commenting regularly on my posts, some on the blog site, most others on WhatsApp and Facebook. I have been profoundly overwhelmed and am beholden to them for their abiding support. That has been the most essential fuel, the tonic I required to keep the little flame of writing, burning bright. I have been fully conscious of my limited writing abilities, though. Neither I wrote, nor envisaged penning anything great or earth-shaking. But it is true that what I wrote has been straight from my heart and without prejudice or bias. Still, if willy-nilly, I have hurt anybody’s feelings in any way, my unqualified apologies!

Now, at this juncture, I am in a dilemma: Should I carry on? Or should I now navigate some fresh new waters?..Why not sit all alone beside some gurgling Himalayan stream wrapped in my own thoughts and string  garlands  using words as beads?...Should I reappear now in some new avatar, or call it quits? 
I hate monotony and stagnation, and adore change. Life, for me, is a river. It must flow on, taking the rough and smooth, the rise and fall, the soft sands of happiness or the rough boulders and rocks of sorrow and sadness  in its stride. I don’t know what course my life’s river will take next: through some sun-lit beach of bliss, or a turbulent, choppy run! Be that as it may, I am, for now, taking a  break. Till then keep your fingers crossed and once again thanks for having been with me!

My thousand million hugs and kisses to you all!  Oh, boy!  I loved you all so much...

And (though preachy, but) my last word:
 'Be like  a river. Be open. Flow.' (Julie Connor).
 Embrace the whole world. It is  beautiful and...all yours. Only, you should have eyes without blinkers, a warm loving heart, a spirit with wings and without knots, and wide open arms!
Adieu! नमस्कार। ख़ुदा हाफिज़। 

   

                       

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"We mean happiness for you":Myna

                         

Hi! 
I am Myna, speaking from the courtyard of this rather silly, unworldly, but your friendly blogger-cum-lover of a man: Subhash.
Yes, chirpy, garrulous Myna. सारिका (ever-flowing), पीतनेत्रा (yellow-eyed), पीतपादा (yellow-footed) and कलह-प्रिया (feud-loving) are my other Hindi/Sanskrit names. To be honest, I can't figure out the logic of naming me सारिका. And as regards my other name कलह-प्रिया, well I simply detest it  even though some of you may find in it an apt description of me!

Slim and trim, I am dressed in soft, smooth, brown plumage. A small bare yellow patch around each of my eyes is my beauty spot. Besides, to flaunt, I have a white mirror, one on each wing, which I show best when I fly.  My shapely golden beak and toes are my pride, and proud peacock’s envy. The story (with a moral) goes that I stole them from the peacock in a dancing match! Be that as it may, don’t I look a sexy damsel?

 Like my puny, timid friend sparrow, I love man’s company, his courtyard and his surroundings. I often get into a running feud with a sparrow or my own kind over a grain or a morsel but still we all get on well together.  A farmer ploughing the field exerts a magic pull on me. Whether I am alone or in a group, it is such fun prancing around, dancing and hopping about to catch a little worm. Wow! How much we mynas adore those succulent tidbits being dug up by the moving plough! So yummy! The grazing cattle too attract us. We love this little sport with them: side-walking, or simply hanging around waiting and watching, and then making a short ground-to-air sortie to catch mid-air, a disturbed  green grasshopper leapfrogging from grass.

Like sparrows we are wary of that big brother: crow. In fact we are hardly friends with him. Boy, so meddlesome and such a nasty thief is he. Always on the lookout, perched high above on a roof or a tree branch to steal our bread crumb, rice or whatever, we resent his presence and his bossy, arm-twisting ways.

Yes, I chirp and twitter too much. And when we mynas are in assembly our collective chatter may even split the heavens above… A feminine trait we perhaps share with the squabbling middle-aged ladies in your neighbourhood. Well that’s what and how we are. Just can’t help chattering. But leaving that aside, we are your friends getting you rid of pest, paper and rubbish… as much as we can. In fact, you may not believe, our fame as pest-eaters and farmer’s friends transcends the Asian shores.

Know you about my cousin the Hill Myna ( see the pic below)? Isn’t, of all mynas, this one the cutest of all with those lovely orange patches and wattles? And the way these beauties imitate the words you teach, even dear parrot is no match when it comes to tongue-twisting. But I pity this cousin of mine… the poor thing.  You cage so many of them as pets for your pleasure. To hear them speak your pet words like ‘राम’ and ‘गंगाराम’. You sell them in the market indiscriminately. It has been going on for so long that now their numbers have declined. We mynas are therefore now a protected species.

Your folklore and mythology is replete with legends and stories about us. We symbolise true love. Let the world turn more prurient and adulterous with changing values, and by the invasion of internet. But we have and will remain devoutly monogamous always. Parrot is my mythological lover. Hence the popular Hindi song “तोता मैना की कहानी...", and so many others. And I feel so delighted when I hear young lovers petting their sweethearts and swearing their love with endearments like “तू मेरी मैना”, “मैं तोता और तू मैना” … and so on. (But truly speaking, and true to biological laws, it is my own kind I do always make love with.) 

Another thing: "one for sorrow", "two for joy"…so goes your popular legend. But that’s not true. Whether you chance to see one myna or many, we always mean joy and happiness for you. But do you too feel the same for us?  I am not so sure. At least my cousin hill myna certainly doesn’t think so. As for us, populationwise, we are not so worse off unlike our friends, the sparrows. But with changing land use, senseless urbanisation and worsening ecology, we may be the next to come under your axe of development, who knows?

Here’s hoping all will be well and good sense will prevail and we will all live happily together…as has so wisely and beautifully been said in your Sanskrit hymn: “सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः..." 
Bye; take care.

                                                                       
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                  Are we misogynists?

           

Are we a nation of misogynists? Every time I read news of a woman assaulted, a woman raped, a woman abused, a poor, famished domestic help subjected to harrowing torture by the मालकिन of the house (a case of same gender violence), acid thrown on some, a wife abused and smacked by her husband and in-laws and so on…this question haunts me. (This is not to say though that cases exactly opposite in nature where poor, trusting husbands are taken for a ride and are at the receiving end do not exist!) Leave aside Haryana’s notorious khap panchayats and honour killings in some of our northern states. This malignant virus of misogyny has spread even in our prestigious institutes of higher learning: Our well-known and esteemed Banaras Hindu University (BHU), for example. What a sorry spectacle it presented in the recent past. While the country was gearing up for the Durga ( a female diety, you must note) puja festivities, the BHU had turned into an ugly battle ground. Unable to bear it any more, the girl students had come out in the open to protest against unceasing acts of harassment, eve-teasing, abuse and what not by the male students. Most shocking was the sickening response of the administration and provocative, insensitive statements by the person of the eminence of a Vice-Chancellor of BHU. The police were no help to the hapless women students either. With misogyny running full and fast in their veins, they, as reports suggest, beat up and thrashed the protesters thereby adding fuel to the fire. Not just the famous BHU, most universities in our conservative north are known for gender discrimination, moral policing and the male predatory behaviour in all its ugly manifestations. There are hostel curfews, dress codes, no 'Wifi' facility, no library access after certain hours and so on. Indian daughters can’t dream even and aspire for an exciting new careers suited to their talent and aspirations because it is the exclusive preserve of ‘man’. There are several constraints: it is the elderly male in the family who will decide what career to choose; or the brother suffering from the same syndrome will put his foot down. Then there are fears of harassment, discrimination and exploitation and many other prickly thorns all along the road to making it to the top in our male-obsessed, male-dominant centres of learning.

                                             

    

Having said all this I must however hurry to say that we in Himachal are comparatively lucky. No doubt, the infamous, blood-chilling ‘गुड़िया murder case’ has been a blot on our peaceful state. Incidents of rape, domestic violence, wife-bullying and beating, and other kinds of torture and discrimination do happen and make us hold our heads in shame. In fact I am a sad witness to such  a case right near my own neighbourhood. But by and large, careerwise, the women students do enjoy relative freedom in opting ones of their own choosing. Most of our colleges and universities have an air of equality, mutual camaraderie and bonhomie. They have the freedom to dress as they like, mingle freely, rub shoulders with male students and participate in all events and activities with equal gusto and zeal. At a private university where I lecture a few days a week mainly for my love for teaching (with the additional benefit of students' youthful exuberance that rubs on me!), my heart leaps with joy to find this very kind of a happy, healthy ambience prevailing at the campus. Perhaps that’s the reason that on the educational front  at least, our Himachal is way ahead of some of our neighbouring states writhing under the vice-like grasp of obscurantists, religious zealots, bigots and the illiterate, obstinate, hookah-smoking, turbaned khap men refusing to shed their supermale egos  wrapped in thick folds of medieval, stone-age mind sets.

                                                    

   

                                                               

Well, I don’t want to sound too preachy with a long boring lecture on ‘misogyny in India’.  I only deeply desire my country to let its daughters breathe the free air, move with pride and dignity, dream their dreams and become equal participants in our country’s march towards progress and prosperity. When women in our rich past – recall the bold, vibrant and free-spirited women characters in our great epic the Mahabharat – could bask in the sunshine of equality and freedom, why not our  21^st century भारतीय नारी ??

                                                     

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