Saturday, September 8, 2018

One and a half smart

If you are wondering what that heading means you are clearly half smart. One smart people can immediately guess what it means. And One and a half smart people have already opened google translate and are patting themselves on their back for their advance brains. 

It means 'Dedh Hoshiyar' you snail ! Thats a hindi phrase for someone who does something that he thinks is smart but looks stupid to others. Its close to being a smart ass.Ill give you an example of a dedh hoshiyar.

I work in the Power sector. Back in my last plant(Power plant) there was one particular field operator, who was lazy and irresponsible.He didn't take much interest in his responsibilities which included making rounds of inspection of various pumps and motors under his watch. So one day one of my seniors,lets call him A, decides to test the guy. A takes the operator to a series of pumps called the DM Water Pumps. There were three of them one beside the other. They are usually named in alphabetical order like Pump A, Pump B and so on. Now these pumps were under the watch of that operator. A takes him there, stands in front of the pumps and asks him ''Tell me the names of the pumps. Which is A B and C?'' 

This operator guys thinks for a while and slowly says ''Sir I am not sure about the left and the right but the one in the middle is B'' 

That, my friends is a perfect example of a Dedh Hoshiyar.

 

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

''The God of Small Things'' by Arundhati Roy - Book Review

For every reader, once in a while a book comes along and slaps you in the face. 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy was one such book for me. I had heard so much about the book for a long while now but never picked it up. Last week while I was browsing through the books in my office library I came across it and decided to finally read it.

The God Of Small Things is the story of two twins Rahel and Estha from a small town called Ayemenem in Kerala and how how their lives are changed forever one December day in 1969. As is oft repeated in the book 'things can change in a day' and they do in spectacularly tragic ways. The narrator mentions ''Perhaps it's true that things can change in a day.That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house -- the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture -- must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for.''

It is late May in the little of town of Ayemenem when the book starts off. By early June the monsoon has arrived. This transition from summer to the monsoon is described so vividly that it paints a detailed picture in your mind. These first two paragraphs are a lesson in writing descriptions of the place and weather. It is raining heavily as Rahel arrives at their ancestral home some 25 years after the events of that fateful day in 1969. The rain is pouring down in torrents ''plouging the soil like gun fire''. Rahel wanders around in the house with the memories of her twin brother creating a storm in her mind. The narrative then describes the relationship between the two twins. By the time you reach the third page you know that you are reading something extraordinary. The book takes only three pages to make such an impact.

The story then slowly unfolds and we are introduced to the best character of the whole book, the twins' mother, Ammu. She has become my favorite woman character of all times. Life has hit her hard many times but she remains strong and principled. Her moments with her children are told with such emotion and love that you will be moved to shed a tear or two.Then there is Ammu's brother and his ex-wife Margaret and their daughter Sophie. Margaret and Sophie's visit to Ayemenem is the trigger which causes the upheaval in Ammu and her kids' life.

A mention of this visit is made quite early in the book and not until the last part of the book that one realizes what exactly went wrong on that day that has made Estha not to speak a word ever again and Rahel, to drift aimlessly in life. Roy maintains the suspense so well that not for a second do you feel that that information is taking too long to reveal itself.

There are various themes of love in the book, like the love between siblings,the part where Ammu fixes her brother's tie is one of my favorite ones amongst many. Then there is love between Mother and her children. There are some tender and heart rending moments between them. And finally there is the love between a man and a women. Roy touches upon the subject that the society decides who can be loved and by whom. The narrator mentions that there are ''laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much.''

Roy's writing is extraordinary. Her descriptions evoke multiple feelings. Love,nostalgia, sadness and happiness all combined in equal measure. She uses capital letters now and then in the middle of words. She creates now words like children often do and as puts pretty rhyming sentences. It is a compelling narrative. And to think this is her debut book.

There is so much sadness in this book that you will be spending copious amounts of time just putting the book down and staring at the walls for hours. By the time you finish it it will have drained you. This book will stay with you long after you finish the final page. It is a masterpiece well worth your time.

I have huge respect for Arundhuti Roy now.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

AECS Manuguru Diaries. P1. Dictionary saves the day!

Class 6.Subject Social Studies. Our much loved and feared social studies teacher Patnaik sir was explaining a concept in his usual eccentric way. He had a flair for making complex things easy to understand and to the delight of his students he always made the answers of questions in the textbook very brief and to the point. And he expected the students to be diligent and sincere in learning. His punishments were also very unique. For the boys he made them sit in between two girls. Yeah, that was 'punishment' back then. Sometimes when he was very angry he would give a good whack on our outstretched hands with a scale. So we knew that if he gets angry we were in for a bad time.

As he was teaching, suddenly out of the blue he asks the kid in the first bench the meaning of the word 'Republic'. The kid stands up but does not answer. Sir gets angry. He asks the kid next to him. He too doesn't know. Sir gets angrier. He then asks the kid in the second bench of the same row. He stands up and again no answer. By now steam is blowing from his ears. He asks the next kid. I was seated in the 4th bench and I asked my bench mate if he knew what the answer was because I did not. He replied in the negative. Sweat began to form on my forehead.I counted the number of kids in front of me and calculated when my turn would come up. I was 8th in line. I hoped the sequence would stop somewhere but as I was looking it was refusing to stop.Nobody knew the answer and Sir looked like he would have a fit. I was scared. Suddenly an idea stuck me.I always kept a dictionary in my school bag. I quickly took out my dictionary and started searching for the the word 'Republic'. I looked up once to see what number was going on. It was 6th. I had to hurry. Madly I flipped the pages and got to the 'R' section.Then I found my way to 'Republic'. Internally I screamed yes!! I quickly told the definition to my bench mate. No sooner had I told him his turn came up and he gave the answer. Sir was relieved and said 'good'to him and the witch hunt stopped.Before he turned away, he just swept his gaze over my face. I looked at him poker faced.I just hoped he wouldn't notice the tension or the sweat on my face. I think he didn't or maybe he did and chuckled to himself. Ill never know. The rest of the class heaved a sigh of relief.