Skip to main content

Three years!

 As Alter Idem turns three today, I have been thinking about how it came to be......
It started out as one of the by-products of my lonely evenings, and continues to be that!

The name of the blog......
I had come across the term Alter Idem (meaning - 'the same, yet different') some years ago. It must have stayed in some corner of my mind. Because, it was one of the first names that came to me when I was thinking of a suitable name for my blog.

And, the picture on the header....
Travel anywhere in the Malnad between 8. a.m. & 10. a.m., and you will run into the cow/ goatherd with his wards. I have often wondered about the cowherd - have thought about how a profession that used to be represented by someone as multi-faceted as Lord Krishna has come to be represented by someone who's generally classified as 'good-for-nothing' !
Of course, they're a nuisance to other road users. But, then, there's something nice, peaceful and reassuring about the entire group as they go on with life at their own pace...... one of my favourite sights from my surroundings!

And, now, as always, the story.....

Once upon a time, the king of a certain land invites applications for the post of a minister. He narrows down the candidates to two. Undecided between the two, he sends them to his spiritual guru to make the final choice. After some hours, the guru, instead of bluntly saying 'you are chosen' , beats around the bush! He sends one candidate back with a sieve and the other, with a winnow. The baffled king seeks help from his cleverest minister. The minister seeks some time. While racking his brains at home, he notices his wife at work... she's cleaning grains & flour using a winnow and a sieve. It suddenly dawns on him - while using the winnow, the good is retained and the waste is discarded. While using the sieve, the good is filtered and the unwanted stuff is retained. He asks the king to appoint the man with the winnow.

You know, I usually share the first story that comes to my mind as I sit down to write the 'anniversary-post'. Strangely, 3 out of the 4 that I have shared belong to my school days!
 I had read this one as an illustrated story in 'Tinkle'.... a magazine for school kids brought out by the Amar Chitra Katha group when I was in my pre-teens.

 

Comments

  1. Happy birthday, Alter Idem!
    Next time I have to narrate a story in one of the boring moral education classes, this is the one I'm going to tell:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Yamini :)
    'Boring moral education classes'?? You know, I think you're lucky to have such 'chillaxing' breaks in between the regular classes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Chillaxing breaks"?! You'll know how mistaken you are if you attend one of them!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congrates for completing 3 years :). And to know about shepherds we need to read 'The Alchemist'. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lakshmish :)
      'The Alchemist' is more like a fable. Quite recently, I read a book called 'Goat Days' (Eng translation of the Malayalam 'AaDu jeevitham') - it is the real life story of an Indian forced to be a shepherd in the Middle East - an unhappy story told well...

      Delete
  5. keep on writing:) Amar Chitra katha brings back many happy memories. My ajja used to buy them for Ravi when he was very small, before he could read, I still remember him looking at the pictures and ajja telling him the stories, we would also listen though we had read them, it was fun to listen to ajja:) All the best.Lakshmi atte

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Thanks for the wishes :)
      The blogging bug bit me after my first ever post
      http://e-chaavadi.blogspot.in/2009/05/hello.html
      Your encouraging words was the beginning :)

      Delete
  6. Congrats, on completing three! Hoping to many more posts :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amar Chitra Katha was my favorite Pictured story book series in elementary classes.. :D And reading the previous comments, I agree with Yamini.. The moral education class is more of a headache than a 'chillaxing' break!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure,you'll agree with me when you get older :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ash gourd & beliefs

Whenever a farmer comes to my doorstep selling vegetables, I buy them. The other day, one of the regulars dropped in. This time, he had only ash gourds. Since my own ash gourd vine was looking good, I had to tell him that I didn't want any. He then expressed a desire to see the vine - to check out the variety, etc... Soon after seeing it, he told me that the vine would produce only one gourd and that I should be offering it to some temple instead of using it! Well! I hadn't heard this one before! Though nobody knew why, every single person advised me against using the ash gourd if it turned out to be the only yield from that vine. And, 'Give it to some temple' was the final line that everyone added! You know, as far as vegetables and beliefs go, the ash gourd is one that has many attached to it... each one of them, meaningless and without logic. My mother believed that a whole ash gourd should not be cut with a knife by people whose parents were alive. Fortunat

Ganesha's water-pot!

You will not find this place on the tourists' list of places to visit in Chikmaglur. However, you'll find it on my list of favourite places in Chikmaglur. Let me take you there..... A half-an-hour's drive from home will take us to the not-so-sleepy town of Koppa. From here, onto  the road to Kesave village.  About 3-4 kms on this road, to the right - a rusty arch and the mud track beyond welcome us. Blink, and we'll miss the place! We are now on private property. This part of the estate is open to all. Because, it is here that the river Braahmi has her origins. The Braahmi is a small tributary of the river Tunga. Infact, she joins the Tunga within 20 kms. from her place of birth. The presence of an idol of the elephant-headed God lends some piety to the place.    Someone has done a neat job -  making it seem like the water is gushing out of a water-pot. This, and the presence of God Ganesh... the place is locally known as 'KamanDala Ganapati'. Lik

Temple Ponds

Temple ponds, or, 'Pushkarni's are such an integral part of ancient temples. I just can't get over the idea as well as the efforts that must have been made to build them.  Often, these ponds are quite polluted. But for the presence of some stagnant water, some of them look like dump yards :(  So, it was a pleasure to come across this clean one at the Janardhana Swami Temple at Yermalu on the Udupi- M'lore highway. Dakshina Kannada & Udupi districts can be called the temple districts of the world- there are so many temples that one would need a lifetime to cover all of them! So, not surprisingly, this was our first visit to this temple. If the M-S wedding didn't take place here, we would have missed this one. The idol here was installed by Saint Madhavacharya- social reformer & philosopher who lived 700 years ago. This pond has obviously been renovated since, but, surely, the origins date back to the 13th century, or, earlier? You know, according to t