ALTER IDEM

Only sixteen, but it seems to me like I started this blog aeons ago!!! Yesterday, I read in the newspaper that Karnataka stood second in the country when it came to deforestation. From 2021-2023, we lost 460 sq km of green cover. We have no right to complain about animals and birds invading our space... My annual ' story share ' is from the Jataka tales - reiterating the fact that we humans have always been insensitive about the creatures who share the planet with us. As long as we get what we want, we do not care/ think about their needs.  The story 👇🏼 On a mango tree beside a river lived a monkey king with his subjects. During the mango season, the monkeys ensured that no fruit fell into the river - they did not want humans to know about the fruit. Humans, they feared, would destroy them and their habitat for the delicious fruit. One day, a mango fell into the river unnoticed by the monkeys. Downstream, it caught the attention of a king who was bathing in the river. He ...

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 ...

Alter Idem turns ten today! In a fit of nostalgia, I browsed through all that I have written since November 13, 2009! For the first couple of years, I have written quite a bit! With 4-7 posts an year, the mid couple of years have been not-so-bad. In the last couple of years though, I haven't written much. One thing I have not yet given up on is the blogiversary post! Keeping with my blogiversary tradition, I will be sharing a short story today. Today's story is from the Zen teachings.  I do not remember where I read this one - a newspaper, perhaps...   Two friends, walking down a path, were discussing their dreams. Friend A narrated that when he woke up, he was swimming in a pool of honey and nectar whereas Friend B was swimming in a pool of slush and filth. It was now Friend B's turn to narrate his dream. He said that he had the same dream as well! But, when he woke up, Friend A was licking his fingers and he, was licking Friend A's fingers! Zen stories alw...

You know, Alter Idem turns 9 today! How time flies! Between the last b'day and this one, I could manage only one post. There seems to be a lack of time for everything!! That's why, without further ado, I'll share the short story for this year.  First time visitors ---- it's a tradition on Alter Idem - to share a short story that I have read and liked, as the birthday post. Click on the label 'B'day' at the end of this post if you want to check out the earlier stories. I'd read this story in one the weekend editions of the Kannada daily, Udayavani. It's a story from the Middle East - author unknown. Once upon a time, the ruler of a certain kingdom wanted to know how best 'peace' could be portrayed in paintings. Several painters of the land submitted their works - of mountains, blue skies, forests and lakes - all serene and beautiful. One painting, however, was a total contrast - dark skies, lightning and heavy showers.... at first g...

Ideally, cherry trees require at least a month of very cold weather conditions for flowering. But, they are hardy enough to settle for less - until, they get used to the weather conditions they are forced to live in, i.e. More than 10 years after the promised 2-3 years, we finally saw some fruits on our cherry tree this year. Thanks to the attractive colour of the fruits, the tree was a sight to behold! But, of course, looks can be deceptive. This cherry has a sour taste and is made up of equal amount of pulp and hard pits. That's why, the monkeys and the birds decided to leave everything to us! For a while, we thought of letting the fruits be - allow them to drop off naturally and enrich the soil. Somehow, that didn't seem okay. It was like doing injustice to our long wait. Since the fruits have a low shelf life, I decided to see if I could preserve it. I'm not a stranger to making jams and preserves. For jams, I follow a standard recipe shared by a grand aunt...

This is my100th post, and today is the eighth birthday of Alter Idem !! That's an average of a post per month......1.04 to be precise!! I have always celebrated Alter Idem 's birthday by sharing a short story that comes to my mind when I begin to write the 'birthday post'. Today's story is from the Ramayana. I thought of it as I was unloading photographs from the phone a few minutes ago. The pic below was taken at Amritapura . The Amriteshwara temple, like other temples built in the Hoysala style, has carvings on the outer walls depicting episodes from our epics and mythology. And, let me tell you, it is such a pleasure to recognise the anecdotes depicted by the sculptor!! Looking for Seeta, Rama and Lakshmana reach Kishkinda and befriend Sugreeva. Sugreeva seeks Rama's help to kill his estranged brother, Vali. In return, he offers to help Rama track Seeta. However, Sugreeva is not sure if Rama could match his brother's strength. To prove ...

It was a visiting Sunday - six years ago at the Poorna Prajna School, Sangameshwarpet. As usual, all the hostelers were waiting for their parents and the goodies they would bring from home. While walking through the tree - lined path, I saw this eight year old boy. His parents had not yet arrived, and he was whiling his time by striking a young tree with a stick. The moment he realised that I was walking towards him, the boy threw the stick and ran away....some basic instinct must have warned him!! Well...... I didn't spoil his day by chasing him and giving him the sermon he deserved! As I removed the stick from the pathway, I realised that the boy had broken it recently from the powder-puff shrub nearby. While putting the stick out of the way, I found that it carried a seed pod. I decided to save it, and then, forgot all about it...... Till about three years ago, the seed pod was lying forgotten in an unused compartment in my handbag.   Even though I knew that seeds do not ...

These are turbulent times - easily, the worst in my over two score years of existence. There is impatience, unrest, vehement pro/ anti news & views - here, there and everywhere! Often, I have wished that I could live far away from all of this - somewhere in a cave under the deepest sea! On second thoughts, I could settle for transforming myself into a child again!  Thoughts that came to me yesterday when I passed by these children on my way elsewhere... Schools in Karnataka were shut yesterday - for Kanaka Jayanti . These kids had spent their morning making a small cart of sorts, using old bicycle tyres and sticks. They were on their way to the periphery of the forest nearby to collect firewood. When I caught them, they were thoroughly enjoying the tough time the calf tied to the yoke was giving them! It was quite obvious that he was in no mood to pull a cart on a  sunny afternoon.  After appreciating their cart and exchanging a few pleasantries, I waved m...

The year between the sixth and the seventh b'day of Alter Idem has simply flown by! I could manage only three posts in between. And, I am yet to score my century!  I have noticed that it is not ONLY me. Most of the blogs that I follow have been going through this inactive, rarely- updated phase. No doubts.... we have been charmed by the likes of Facebook, Whatsapp, etc! Speaking for myself, social media has also reduced the quality time I used to keep aside for reading - something that I'm realising now, when I have to come up with an interesting short story for the birthday post.  Thank goodness, my resolution for the anniversary post is to share a story that has stayed with me long after I have read it! This year, I'll share a lesser known story from the Indian mythology - of how a tree came into existence. I had read this story in a book called 'Brahma's Hair' by Maneka Gandhi. The book is a collection of myths and stories from all over the country -...

Like every year , it was a cold, rainy Independence Day morning here. Like every year, at 8.00 a.m., I heard the drums and the other instruments of at least three school bands. Like every year, it was my cue to take my position by the gate. Like every year, I watched as the school kids and the teachers passed by - braving the rain and the puddles, walking in step, shouting patriotic slogans - the drummers and the trumpeters playing something random and ubiquitous! Like every year, after they were gone, I turned indoors with one picture of the receding parade. Like every year, I stepped into my home feeling an inexplicable cheer - for, THIS, more than the speeches, the messages, the renditions of patriotic songs,... keeps my patriotic spirits high on August 15th!!    

Last June, I had promised a sequel to this post. What I hadn't expected was that I would be back with my update in less than an year!! Starting from where I had stopped....... Last monsoon, this branch, with lots of wild orchid plants had landed near our gate from the tree across the road, and, I had decided to experiment with them.. As planned, I had potted a couple, placed one on a shrub in our garden and had left the remaining on the branch itself. Until February, i.e., for about 8 months, they were looking exactly like how I had transferred/ let them be.  By mid - February, when the weather turned warm, the ones on the branch withered away. I was planning on keeping the branch until the end of the monsoon this year. But, before I could tell him, Chandrappa, my latest gardening help had thrown the branch away....  The ones that I had placed on the Allamanda shrub have developed new roots and are showing signs of flowering. Of course, thanks to my earlier exper...

I'm an unabashed admirer of birds......especially, their nest building skills. Earlier on, I had made an attempt to record the happenings at a bulbul's nest ( Here ). Unfortunately, things hadn't proceeded as expected and the fairy tale ended even before it began.  Since then, whenever I see a pair of birds building a nest in our garden, I pray that things work out smoothly, and leave the birds alone. However, a few days ago, it was a little too difficult for me to ignore. A pair of bulbuls had chosen to build their nest on the Bird's Head Birthwort creeper....almost touching the window of my office-cum-study. Paragon of patience   I tried to be as non-intrusive as possible as I watched all the comings and goings whenever I could. When the comings and goings became less frenzied, I realised that the nest was ready and the eggs had been laid. My vantage point provided me with a rear view of the bird, and I couldn't stop myself from taking this pic!! ...

  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 ...

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...