ALTER IDEM

September 15th 2010 was the first time that I had acknowledged Engineers' Day on Facebook - by sharing this piece of neglected history at the head of the Agumbe ghat....  These stones represent a part of civil engineering that is seldom appreciated or acknowledged (surveying) - and, that was my logic behind sharing. Now, Facebook reminds me about it every year!! The distance from this point to Shivamogga is about 90 kilometres (almost equal to the 55 miles, 1 furlong and 122 yards carved on the stone). Hence, I am assuming that the stones have been untouched for nearly two centuries (1839 carved on the stone)..... From 1802 to 1871, the British undertook multiple surveys of conquered territories in India - to gather topographical, botanical, crop, soil, and other such data - to tax us and supposedly to govern us better. These stones look like benchmarks on the roadway connecting the upper regions with the coast. 'RC & co' probably refers to the team that con...

Happy Fifteenth, Alter idem! Once upon a time, a man went to a monastery and spent a few days meditating. Though he felt rejuvenated, he sensed that something was missing. He asked a monk in the monastery about it.  The monk said that inner peace came from accepting everything that happened to oneself. Acceptance instead of resistance was the key to the monk's peaceful demeanour. Enlightened, the man returned home.... Hereby, I am accepting the fact that I am unable to update this space as often as I would like to...  Peace!✌🏾 ✌🏾

Alter Idem turns fourteen today! Last year, I'd said "I will post the  short story  asap".....  and, forgot about it 😞 This won't happen again! Early this year, I was on a short trip to Hampi - the erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is also supposed to be Kishkindha - the kingdom of the Vanaras.  I have no words to describe the unique landscape, the awesomeness of this city in ruins. Here's a picture I took from Matanga Hill, the highest peak in Hampi.  If the stones could speak, it would be interesting to hear the stories hidden in the nooks and crevices! The Vijaya Vittala temple complex in Hampi houses the famous stone chariot found in our 50 rupee note. In addition, this complex has other buildings, stone reliefs... This particular stone relief was very fascinating, because I had not come across any story involving Hanuman and babies (other than Makaradhwaja).  And, thus starte...

Alter Idem is a teenager from this day  😊  Since I am having a hectic schedule today, I will post the short story asap!

 As Alter Idem turns twelve today, one part of me wants to quit this space.... and, another wants to trudge along!!  Well--- the year I forget to write this obligatory birthday post , I will quit... Today's short story is from Zen teachings.  Four friends, on a week's vow of silence, managed to keep it for a couple of days.  And then, on a particularly dark and scary evening, Friend 1 asked a passing servant to light a few lamps. Friend 2 instinctively reminded him about the vow.  Immediately, Friend 3 chided both of them for breaking the vow, while Friend 4 gloated that so far, he had been able to keep the vow --- a story that tells us how important it is to focus our thoughts if we want to achieve our goals.... Now, most of you would have come across this story. What you don't know, of course, is a somewhat similar story I had heard as a child. I will share it --- even though it is an improper one and quite cringy.  Dear reader, please treat the following...

Alter Idem turns 11 today... and that means, story time !   It was a very cold, wintery morning, and, Akbar and Birbal were walking by the river. On a sudden whim, Akbar announced a huge reward to anyone who would spend an entire night standing in the river, neck deep in water.  The biting cold deterred all except an extremely poor man, with a large family (let's call him 'Bechara'). Seeing his best opportunity to change his life forever, Bechara decided to take up the challenge.   After completing the challenge successfully, the winner was taken by the referees to Akbar's court to collect the reward. Jealous acquaintances thwarted the reward by telling Akbar that the lamps from the buildings nearby would have kept Bechara warm. The dejected Bechara rushed to Birbal for help....   The next day, Birbal invited Akbar and the jealous acquaintances for lunch. An hour past lunch time, the invited guests began to get restless about the lunch not being serve...

Unfortunate times, people! So unfortunate that I have started watching TV for some time every day - changing channels every few minutes, actually! The anchor, in heavily anglicized Kannada was raving about the latest Kannada song to go viral....about how people across age groups were uploading their versions of the hero's dance steps on social media. She referred to the song as the Kharaabu song. You know, Sri.U.R.Ananthamurthy had once jokingly remarked that by adding 'u' (as in 'put'), you could convert a word from any other language into a Kannada word! Kharaabu is therefore the Kannada equivalent of the Hindi Kharaab ! I'm not sure if it was intentional, but everything about the rather tuneless song seemed unbelievably Kharaabu - from incomprehensible lyrics to dancing by unkempt looking characters. And the way they were treating the lone female in the sequence was unacceptably Kharaabu ! Reminding myself that it wasn't fair to judge a song ...