ALTER IDEM

Necessity is  the mother of invention. And, getting the desired result from available resources is jugaaD .  I had come across the word jugaaD for the first time when I heard this song by Kailash Kher. Quite a catchy number - especially, the ' karle jugaaD karle, karle koi jugaaD ' bit........ And, it was the first word that came to my mind when I saw this all-weather volleyball/ badminton net at a rubber plantation quite  recently. When I expressed my admiration, the lady with me explained that it was her husband's idea and workmanship.  Well.... a real net is a luxury that a farmer of limited means cannot afford. This net is the result of a cash-strapped grandfather's desire to add a dash of professionalism to the games played by his grand children..... Only a true sports enthusiast can have the determination and patience to carry out such ideas! The entire net is made up of stiff, sturdy nylon cord - the kind that's used to fasten heavy...

Alter Idem turns five today! It means, 'Story-time' .... You know, many a time, when you read a short story, you are not aware of the impact it would have made to the author's career.  I had read the story Sooryana Kudure by Sri.U.R.Anantamurthy about 5-6 years ago. But, it was only when the author passed away three months ago that I came to know - it is rated as one of the best stories in Indian fiction. Sooryana Kudure literally means 'The Sun's Mount'. In some dialects of Kannada, it means 'Grasshopper' (the insect). The story is so true- to-life that you can relate to the characters and the narrative if you have lived in the Malnad  for a considerable period! Here goes.... Anantu is on a visit to his hometown. At the market place, he runs into his school-mate and childhood friend, Venkata - the dunce of their class. Venkata is now an expert masseur - cum- astrologer and he convinces Anantu to be his client, and, thus, guest for the day. Thoug...

I have never been any teacher's pet. Nor, have I had a favourite teacher. But, I think of Mr.PSC on every 'Teachers' Day'. I'll tell you why...... It was a wintry morning in the Bangalore of the early nineties...... For an average Bangalorean like me, it was a Herculean task to get up from the cosy confines of my bed, get ready and travel 8-10 kms. for the Soil Mechanics class at 7.30 a.m.! On that day, to my horror, none of my classmates had made it! The teacher was missing too. Because I had met students from other classes, I knew I hadn't turned up for class on a holiday!! Just as I was thinking of ways to spend a lonely hour, old Mr.PSC walked in. Mr.PSC : What?! Only one student?! Me : (Foolish smiles)   Mr.PSC : How can I take a class for just one student? You can go to the library. And, he turned away.... The next minute, he turned back! Mr.PSC : Wait! You have come for the class. I'll be doing you an injustice if I don't       ...

God looks like how the artist wants him to look.......  And, God knows when his sculptors decided to make him from bricks and cement ! Masonry, plastering, painting,...... lots of people and co-ordination involved in making these brick-and-cement sculptures, you know. I won't call myself a fan - but, usually, I stop to stare at these sculptures. Don't ask me 'Why?', but, I like to check out their facial expressions!  Almost always, the Gods are youthful, good-looking, and have serene/ smiling faces. Quite recently, I came across a sculpture where God looked quite unhappy and bad....... I'm sure, you'll agree with me! Unfortunately, everything that can go wrong in a brick-and-cement sculpture seems to have gone wrong with this one! First of all, it is quite disproportionate.  The half-moon, that one is so used to seeing on Shiva's tresses, is missing. Poor River Ganga looks more like an antler! And, look at that  anklet (on one foot only)! Way abo...

During my early days as a blogger, I had written about Kuppalli . Back then, we were unaware of this place in the vicinity called ChibbalaguDDe . A recent acquaintance told us about it and we decided to check it out on our way elsewhere. ChibbalaguDDe is marked by a Ganapathi temple with the river Tunga flowing behind. There are some reliable signposts to guide one to the place. People who cannot read Kannada can depend on the locals to guide them, I guess. ..... You know, all along the length of the river Tunga, you'll find special spots teeming with the Mahaseer fish and this is one such spot. It is believed that by feeding puffed rice to the Mahaseer fish here, one is cured of a skin ailment known locally as Chibbu ( Tinea versicolour to doctors). That's why/ how the place got the name.....                               ...

This is the profile picture of the neighbourhood stray. Actually, from the amount of time he spends in our yard, you could call him ours! To date, he has not asked for/ stolen from our kitchen and I have never offered him food/drink. But, I have given him a name..... the most unimaginative 'TOM'. As usual, one morning last week, I heard some neighbours yelling 'shoos' and kids hollering out exaggerated 'miaows'.......and, I knew.... Tom would now come to his safest haven - our yard! On a sudden whim, I decided to  keep track of the time he spent here.....  I first found Tom at around 9.30 a.m- comfortably settled under the Allamanda shrubs. Some time later, he was eating  what I call 'Animal-grass'...... You know, dogs and cats eat this particular grass when they have indigestion..... self-medication! Since I have caught Tom eating Animal-grass quite often, I'm inclined to believe that he gets a tummy-ache regularly! A...

 Conducting a research on lizards?          Short on them??  Feel free to drop into my office-cum-study. At any point of time, you'll find at least one on the  wall.  Right now, a little one is playing 'catch-me-if-you-can' with an adult! Actually, the word 'lizard' sounds so unemotional and scientific. I prefer the Hindi chipkali ... it sounds slimy and creepy - and, suits the creature better!  Not that I haven't tried to chase the chipkali s away....I have tried every kind of repellant - from the commercially available stuff to placing peacock feathers at vantage points... and failed. Now, my teenager tells me that her friend has a surefire solution - to write Kaanchi Maharaja all over the walls - mind you, it should be written in Kannada with chalk! After having a good laugh (alone) at this one, I began to wonder.................................................. Maybe, lizards find it hard to mov...

Some months ago, I had introduced you to N . Well... N is someone I run into quite often. Every time, our interaction is restricted to smiles - a benign one from my side, and a shy one from his. This morning, N 's dad dropped in and gave me these chillies - sent by N from the patch that he has been cultivating near his home. I was quite touched, and glad! There are exactly eight chillies.... enough for more than a week! And, anyone who has used chillies can tell - these are 'export-quality'! I must confess here.... even though I have been managing a couple of chilli plants in our kitchen garden, I end up harvesting what remains after the crows and the bulbuls have had their party. I guess, N has whatever it takes to make a good farmer. Maybe, I should encourage him by giving him some of the vegetable seeds that I have .................... and, then, hope and pray that he gives me some of the results!!

This book gave me my first nightmare in recent memory! And, no.... I'm not referring to the 933 pages!! So much has already been written about Shantaram - 'powerful', 'original', 'vivid', 'compassionate', 'impressive', 'publishing phenomenon', 'extraordinarily vivid', 'gigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga', ..... the book is all of these! Many people out there feel that it is one of the better books written about Bombay - the city. Maybe, it is. In fact, people who are familiar with the Bombay of the '80s will be able to tell the facts from the fiction. They'll, perhaps, recognise some of the people in the book..... Shantaram was meant to be my 'monsoon-book'. But, I started reading it sometime in December. After the first 200 pages or so, things became a little hectic and I picked up the book again last week....and, read a major portion on a very lonely day. In the book, t...