Strike days

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:59:27 GMT

What’s with yesterday and today? The front page of the news paper is full of bank, doctors, truck and cabs and Kannada film industry either declaring or withdrawing strike. Is it the water or air this season? I mean, first of all there is no government in the state, governor's rule is imposed. So, who exactly is going to hear these people? May be, I am missing something here. Besides the latter, every strike is going to hit the common man hard and that needs no explanation. No, I am not either for or against strikes. Sometimes, you do have to pull the apathetic government's purse strings to get any attention. And that takes me back to 1999 when VTU students were striking against the university to protest the hike in examination fees.

We were the first batch of students at the newly formed Visveswaraiah Technological University. It was a sunny day in the second semester and we were in the Chem. cycle. The classes were scheduled to start at 9:20 in the morning and go on till post noon. Since, I stayed very close to the college, I'd walk every day. On this particular day, I just got out of the gate to the narrow path way that joined the main road to college when I saw many boys at the entrance of the medical college. They made a human chain and some other boys in front of them were trying to convince students not to go to the college. The human chain held some huge banners of protest. Students on two wheelers and cars were being sent back and only vehicles belonging to the lecturers and professors were allowed. There were some girls sitting on the benches near the medical college gate ensuring that no engineering students got in. It was the same on the engineering college entrance.

This is the first of the only two student union protests I have seen in my life. Unlike the north, politics and education do not mingle much here. I mean, they do up to the fee structure and course content but not to the extent of student leaders and student politics. Infact, we never had a single student body election in college. That was totally discouraged and was in a way good, I'd say. There was really no need for politics in college. There was a violent protest outside of college where I almost got beaten, that - some other time.

You know, I was very studious, I'd carry all books everyday and my attendance has never been less than 95% in any subject through out the course. Well, there are various reasons for that :-P. So, I wanted to attend class come what may. Besides, I did not understand the concept of strikes back then. I remember my high school class teacher, Sr. Mila telling us 'There are different ways of protesting. You do not have to stop work to protest' and she went on to give us this famous shoe factory example in Japan. And this exam fee hike was not really affecting me, you see. Call it secession of the comfortable, if you may.

Since I had already told this protestor that I am an engineering student, I could not get past the human chain or inside the medical college gate. Anyone who knows M S Ramaiah College knows that there is a girl’s hostel right in between the hospital and medical college. And in those days, that directly led to the back gate of the engineering college that opened to the boy’s hostel. So, I took that route. Somehow, these protestors had thought that hostelites would not be interested in attending classes anyways. So that gate was not guarded much.

And I entered my class. To my surprise, there were hardly four students and none from my gang was there. The first class was SOM II by Anil Kumar P (Oh! I liked him so much). He took attendance, gave some brief notes and closed the class in 20 minutes that was to last 50 minutes. The second class was a little lengthier. I don't remember what subject hat was. At 11:00 AM, we had a break and I went out of college to call Shash at home. My whole gang was there chatting away, playing chess and carom. They were surprised to know I managed to attend classes. I asked them to get to college via the boys hostel side. Boy! Was I glad to see Shash that day? There was just another class with lean strength and rest of the classes was suspended.

After that, we went back to Shash's home. As usual, while the gang left on bikes, both of us walked back and had lunch. That was the only time I played chess with Shash and lost. I've never played chess after that :-)

Sweet memories of Sankranti

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:37:40 GMT

Sankranti Habbada Hardhika ShubhashayagaLu (Heartfelt wishes for a happy Sankranti)

Everytime this festival comes, it takes me back many years in time. The time when we used to celebrate Sankranti every year in Nagavara. And if I look back 20 years, I see we celebrated the festival for what it is exactly meant - harvest. Sankranti in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Lohri in Punjab - all festivals celebrated around mid of Jan with a gap of a day or two - all welcoming the new harvest. The last time we celebrated this festival with a harvest of paddy was probably 1986.

The preparation for the festival would start atleast a week in advance. Amma (mom), Ajji (grand mom) and my aunts would set out in different directions to buy the best of jaggery cubes and kopra (dried coconut) from the market. These would be cut into small pieces and mixed with fried yeLLu (sesame seeds) and groundnut seeds. We kids were not allowed to touch this tasty mixture until the pooja was done on the festival day. Dad and Ravi (uncle) were responsible for buying banana and sugarcane. Sugar would be melted in water and mlik and moulded into different shapes to get sakkare acchu.

The day would start very early. If we were at our Anjanadri residence in Malleswaram, we would come to our large ancestral home in Nagavara the previous day. Hair wash with castor oil and shikakai was a must for one and all. The girls would be dressed is zari reshme langa (silk skirt with gold work). The women in the family would toil in the kitchen all morning to prepare the festival specialities like sihi (sweet) and khara (spicy) pongal and hoLige. It was a day of relaxation for the men mostly. After the pooja, everyone in the family exchanged yeLLu-bella (mixture of jaggery and sesame seeds) and said 'yeLLu bella thindu oLLe maathadu' (Have jaggery and sesame seeds and speak good words).

Evenings were extra special. Ajji used to prepare sakkare haara (garlands made from sugar balls) for all her grand children. The kids would be seated on a mat and rained with yelchi haNNu (a small red fruit - very tasty), pieces of sugarcane and loads on money. We were supposed to grab whatever came our way (or out of our way :-). It was so much fun. In an effort to collect maximum, we would bang into each other, get hurt, cry foul and get more goodies. After this, we would go to all the houses in the neighbourhood to distribute the yeLLu-bella, banana, sugarcane and sakkare acchu.

Taken with gratitude from http://www.rudraksha-ratna.com

The best part, however, was kichhu haaisuvudu. At dusk, all the cattle would be gathered in the centre of the village. They (cows, oxen and buffaloes) would be decorated in various hues and fabrics for this annual extravaganza. Various designs would be painted on thier horns and body - some proclaiming national integration and others portraying the spirit of the festival. Fire would be lit across the road and the cattle along with thier owners would jump over the fire while the whole village cheered on. The animals would be scared but thier owners coaxed them to move on and cross the fire. I am not sure of the significance of this ritual but it was held regularly every year. We haven't had cattle in our home since I was born. But thatha (grandpa) would always get special invitation as he was the shanbhog (one of the village heads). It used to be such a huge event that by the time all the cattle crossed the fire, the sun would have completely set.

This does not happen anymore because Nagavara has grown by leaps and bounds and is part of the BengaLuru city. The fields have made way to high rise apartments and the cattle, if any, are tied in their sheds. We still get together, prepare all the delicacies, have a great lunch. But we do not distribute yeLLu-bella with the same fervour. Ajji still insists on raining yelchi haNNu, sugarcane and money on us but we don't fight for it anymore. But the most I miss is attending the kichhu haaisuvudu ritual. We now, sit at home and watch Swami Ayappa's divya jyoti (divine light) on TV.

Under the Rainbow: Sweet Memories

Strike days

Sweet memories of Sankranti