ALTER IDEM

  Alter Idem turns six today!  I started out by sharing a short story. That's why, I mark the birthday of this blog by sharing some short story that I have read - usually, the first one that comes to my mind as I begin to write the 'Birthday Post'......... Last month, I came across an anecdote - A friend wagered Ernest Hemingway to write a short story using six words only...... and, it had to make the readers sad. Of course, EH won the bet - and, here's the short story...                                          For Sale : Baby Shoes. Never Worn. There! For the first time, I have shared an entire short story... as it is!!  I'm sure Ernest Hemingway didn't have to think very hard to come up with this one. He is a master story teller who can convey quite a lot with very little words. Take this story, for example.... Initially, it conveys the enthusiasm of soon-to-be parents. But, then.... what happened??  Did the pregnant mother die?  Was

Check out this half-a-minute video, folks... There's this neatly turned out 6-7 year old boy. His teacher, asks him to tell the two times multiplication table (in Kannada). He gets it right till '2 x 3 = 6'. After that, he recites pure gibberish..... in the right tone!! Does he think he is telling the table correctly? Or, does he think he is hoodwinking his teacher? From the most innocent expression on his face, I think it is the former.... A couple of months ago, this video was widely shared on local Whatsapp groups. Recorded by this boy's teacher and her colleagues, I'm sure the intention was to spread some laughter..... but, somewhere along, for me, this video stops being funny! Could be because around the same time as I saw this video, I had read an article in the newspaper. Apparently, the education minister of Karnataka, during his tours of state-run schools throughout the state, discovered that the knowledge levels of high school students were disapp

Five years ago, as a new blogger, I had told my readers not to miss the chai (tea) here if they happened to be passing by.... Two weeks ago, we were there - after a very long time. For old times' sake, we had had our usual chai & chaTTamboDe ( daal pakoDas ). While writing my earlier post, I was worried about an upcoming temple blocking the view from the tea-cart. My worries had not materialised. Things were more or less the same. This time though, there were lots of fearless monkeys.... While exchanging pleasantries with the affable owner of the tea stall, I asked him about his children. In the past he would always tell us about the daughter who did him proud by topping Tirthahalli taluk  in the Class 10 exams - not a mean achievement for a student studying in a place like Agumbe. Happy as ever to talk about his children's academic achievements, he told us - amidst chasing monkeys- that both his daughters were engineers working for MNCs in Bangalore, while the son

 One thing I like about Indian mythology is that we have very beautiful stories about how rivers, plants, flowers, etc. came to be. The stories are so reassuring that sometimes, I wish science and its complicated theories didn't exist! According to Indian mythology, all plants have been created from the hair of Lord Brahma. I had read this in a book called Brahma's Hair by Maneka Gandhi. The book is a collection of myths and stories from all over the country - of about thirty sacred plants and trees, along with some historic and botanical details.  The book has very few stories from the South. Some flowers and trees that have mythological and religious importance here are missing. Of course, writing an exhaustive book on this subject would be quite a task! Recently, I have been curious about the mythology behind some flowers common to my surroundings. The plant is a parasite and is always found attached to the branches of huge trees.... The flowers bloom once a ye

Some days ago, the National film awards were announced. Quite unexpectedly, Sandalwood- the Kannada film industry- had fared well.... especially, a largely unknown actor called Sanchari Vijay. Vijay won the National award for best actor - for the role of a transgender in a movie called Naanu avanu alla ... avalu (Not a man.... a woman). The best Kannada movie, Harivu (Flow) - about a rural man who brings his ailing son to big city for treatment - has the same Vijay playing the role of the helpless father. Well.... I had never heard of this man! As a Kannadiga, I was doubly interested (a little guilty too!)..... Google, of course, knew something.  And, the newspapers told us what google knew!! Last week, I chanced upon the latter half of an interview with Vijay on a Kannada TV channel - with some clips from both movies. From what I saw, the actor has been outstanding in both the movies....... Of course, the Kannada media has given him due credits.  But, you know, none of the l