The Daily (B)Log

The return of the Daily (B) Log-29/10/20 Cats

Posted on by bioscopewalirachna

“One cat just leads to another.” – Ernest Hemingway

‘Tis true. Until May 2017, there were very few cats in my life and those there were of the nodding neighborhood acquaintance type. The odd stray ignoring me as it went it’s feline way.

In June 2017, two kittens were adopted to quell the ceaseless clamour for pets from the offspring.Why cats? Coz they were easier to look after among other reasons.

Thus, Annie and Lyla entered our lives- and we discovered only much later that they were Anthony and Luke and for years , we had exhibited great modern thinking and had gender fluid cats.

The cats themselves though had had enough. While we used to let them out regularly and then bring them back by casting the lures of chicken ,they were clearly done with regular baths and the soft life.

Both of them took off in the summer of 2019 to discover the world and no doubt, sow their wild oats. Luke we never saw again but I firmly believe that Lucy, our dog, channels his cake and baked goods loving soul.

Anthony we meet regularly. He also drops by for rest and recuperation after particularly nasty fights. Is cosseted, fed and then he shakes off the maternal fussing and goes off again. If you ever see me ostensibly talking to a wall or a lane or a gate, it’s Anthony and I catching up around the said spaces-he’s not always visible in the shadows but I firmly and largely am.

These two always had friends visiting and lurking in the kitchen balcony and one of them landed up with her brood. 2 gingers and two tabby-gingers. Utter rascals and constant entertainment.

So two led to five in the balcony and many visiting.

As this lot grew up, they left the nest too and went wandering. One of them, while expecting, decided that our ob-gyn was the best and the food not half bad. So three more….

We are now firmly and I think irrevocably the cat crazy family and the ultimate proof is that we are told cat stories, gifted apparel and such embellished with cats and the blame for every cat-as-trophe in the locality can potentially be laid at our door-we like cats, we feed them, we talk to them on the road-ergo-we must have incited them.

The chap you see in the photo is one of the three. His sister broke her leg so didn’t want to leave them at the risk of being hit and shooed. Thus their mum and they reside in one room. With Lucy regularly chasing the mom amidst hissy-spitty scratchy fireworks. With these three kittens, she just tries to play and it’s all rather sweet-except I am the zookeeper of a circus.

These three have discovered the offsprings soft toys as well as the joys of bags, cartons and anything that rustles. Great fun to watch and tiring to tidy up!

In addition to these, I have met cats at my workplaces, during holidays and clearly am being monitored as part of some sort of Cat Scan network…

Why the cat story today? It’s apparently National Cat Day in USA and seemed like a good idea to celebrate it here too. Yes?

Good meowt then.

The Daily (B)Log-17/10/20- Nine Days of Posturing Piety

Posted on by bioscopewalirachna

The first navratra today, as announced by Kal Nirnay, the celestial set up , innumerable ads and several whatsapp forwards through the day.

At the outset, I am a great admirer of the Devi and this post does not intend to disrespect her.

It might offend some humans though.

Twice every year, a vast majority of people-men and women, don a mien of alarming piety, renounce their sharab and kabab, allegedly as a sign of respect and deep devotion to the Devi-she of 9 avatars,several hands and extreme coolness; nurturer, lover, care-taker, destroyer of evil.

There are musical all nighters as a tribute to her. Fruits, potatoes, sago, buckwheat and other non-grain foodstuffs find their glory. Different states have their own rituals and practices to get into a state about navratri.

Essentially to pay obeisance to A Woman.

And constantly, the earthly incarnation is being subjected to horrors beyond belief.One is getting raped in some part of the country, another is being beaten up. Some don’t even make it past foetus stage and others are buried alive at birth. Another can have acid thrown on her for saying no to unwelcome advances and yet another is groped in a busy street. I am not even getting into the countless ways in which they are repressed, their spirit shackled, their voices drowned out.

The list is endless. And the guy who groped her, could be sporting a red-chunri , bandana style and shouting jai mata di with fervour, but not really making the connection-the girl whose space you violated- is a woman worthy of the respect you are according to the Devi-vanquisher of evil.And you, disgusting eve-teaser, groper, beater-up, rapist are vile vermin who actually does need to be stepped on.

So you know- the true measure of the shakti of your bhakti is in how you treat the women around you. Give on the stupid behaviour, not the food and beverages. The one astride the tiger will be a lot happier if the ones around you are………and well, if not, let’s hope there’s a Chandika around too.

On that militant note- all the ladies out there- WE are ALL goddesses. Nurturing, caring, protecting, educating and slaying beings.

Believe it.Live it.

Jai Mata Di for now.

The Daily (B)Log 14/10/20 Buying Pads and Love Jihad

Posted on by bioscopewalirachna

The news since 2014 has evoked anger, disgust and despair and hope, while not completely lost , is definitely in short supply. No different this morning but the fact that I still react is perhaps my biggest hope for myself -that I am not numb and apathetic to the steady assault on the democracy that is India.

Tanishq, the jewellery brand from The House of Tata’s released a commerical which showed a Hindu-Muslim home celebrating the expectant daughter-in-law’s imminent motherhood. The colours were off-white and gold and as with their messaging, it was meaningful, tastefully done and heartwarming.

Except that a section of scum that go hindu hindu and call themselves humans but are little more than vermin started #boycotttanishq because the advert apparently encouraged and promoted “love-jihad”- a term as ridiculous as these chaps. Actually, these guys are the biggest love-jihadis-forever attacking love and spewing hate.

While this trolling of course bothered me, what made it worse was that Tanishq withdrew the ad and issued a statement:

I was surprised and disappointed at the withdrawal-but then they’re also doing it to secure the lives of their employees. Pea-brains are trigger happy and life has to be valued highest.But a firm standing of their ground would have been such a powerful message……

Indulging in a spot of rhetoric, these are cowards in the virtual space, breathing out the organised venom that has been fed into their amoeba sized brain. While the damage of course is like the rats do—-gnaw gnaw till the edifice crumbles- these rodents need extermination and the reason that it’s not that difficult is because someone who can’t think for themselves, clearly will not be difficult to eliminate. Isn’t it time we started? They’ll plague us to death othewise and all that some of us will continue to stand for-harmony, joy, love, secularism, dialogue.

Doesn’t take away my sadness on this but wanted to share my thoughts here.

And the other thing which has sort of triggered a longish post today- went to a chemist to buy some necessities. Unfortunately forgot to carry a bag so had to perforce take a plastic bag. And was reminded again that sanitary napkins are almost like contraband. They have to be hidden away and it’s a matter of great shame if you’re seen holding a packet. Because , you know menstrual cycles are “unclean”. So special black bags for this and white ones for other stuff.

When will we start normalising the talk around this? And don’t tell me that it is and men have evolved and blah- because firstly-there IS very little education around this except the haw-ji type -even macho hero Akshay Kumar’s Padman has clearly not made much of a dent. Secondly-it’s not about the men alone. A certain onus is on women too and for may years before today, I actually refuse the bag to “hide” the packet and carry it as is, if I don’t have a regular bag I’m anyway carrying. I don’t wave it like a trophy- but I don’t slide in my aanchal and skulk either.

And really, you’d think a chemist would have a better knowledge of body processes and take the first step towards removing taboos around this?Get rid of the damn black bag in the very least?

I think I’ll go speak to a few…..

Otherwise a productive kind of day…….and since more productivity is expected tomorrow as well, will go catch some shut eye.

Bye people.

The Daily (B)Log-2/10/20-Rest

Posted on by bioscopewalirachna

My feet were killing me today. Not much walking around, sleeping late and two liberal applications of camphor-infused mustard oil didn’t help. After hobbling around and wincing at every move I made, took a pain killer.

Why the pain you ask? Getting back into a work regimen and lots of driving-that’s why. Will settle down.

And the camphor in mustard oil is a great relaxant. Mustard oil by itself is wonderful! Multi-faceted as a reliever of pain, cooking medium, provider of flavour and pickler.

A present of focaccia- a bread I love, from a dear friend brought much joy. Was eaten for dinner with a garlicky greek yoghurt and hash browns. Most satisfying.

Today is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and I find that beyond one video I posted on Facebook and the words there, I am unable to say much-because there is so much to say and hear and discuss and act upon and coherent articulation is taking time.Here’s what I posted:

This bhajan was a part of growing up and learning through an emotional, cultural osmosis. It played regularly in school, on TV, in prayer meetings and long before it was understood in so many words, it made sense.
Because the Mahatma liked it.
On his birthday, can we all try for some sanmati please.

Turning in now……

The Daily (B)Log- 1/10/20-Shiuli, Sachin Dev and Sultanpuri

Posted on by bioscopewalirachna

I chose a gentler day for myself today, despite the angst from yesterday remaining firmly in place ,worsening with the claim that the unfortunate 19 year old had infact not been raped at all! I hope karma is closing in on these brutes. She has a way with her, doesn’t she?

The angst is actually always there-hovering like a dementor, ready to suck the life and joy out of us. There is always one issue that not enough people are bothered about and a lot of non-issues that too many people are giving energy too. We have lost a sense of balance-santulan bigad gaya hai.

As all the nonsense gets bandied about, a numbness sets in, doesn’t it? Human cruelty or stupidity is unlikely to end, but some relief, a break from this continuous assault on our intelligence and our ideals is much needed.

The human spirit though needs to persevere through all the negativity to not merely survive, but thrive and achieve what it believes in. With love, kindness and seeking beauty in the small joys of life.

Which is what I found today.

During my morning walk,which took me past several “shiuli” trees. The small, white, orange stemmed flowers lie like a fragrant carpet on the ground in the mornings. Delightful. Also known as harsingar, I’ve always loved these flowers, since I was a teenager and we had a solitary tree in one of our homes. They get trampled over and and in any case wither away very quickly.But that doesn’t stop them from doing this bright, scented display daily……a lesson there.

.

Thereafter, from the radio, which said it was Sachin Dev Burman and Majrooh Sultanpuri’s birthday today. So playing their songs was the thing to do! And such a balm they remain.

SD Burman is of course a childhood memory-my dad used to sing “sun mere bandhu re” at family gatherings. And as I grew up, so many of his songs got added to the soundtrack of life. True melody.

Majrooh sahab , in the vast variety of emotions and expression he brought to life, wrote this :

maiñ akelā hī chalā thā jānib-e-manzil magar

log saath aate ga.e aur kārvāñ bantā gayā

A verse I used to describe a food distribution effort I was part of, during lockdown. The Janta Rasoi was just that- a journey started by two, where so many joined it and and it grew to distribute two lakh meals. https://www.facebook.com/jantarasoi.in will give you an idea of how.

I also started a new innings today. Spent the day soaking in the space I was in-physically and mentally and planning towards building something substantial. More in this later, but a picture of how some human beings add beauty to their lives, in every small way. Whoever drew these, brought a smile to my face for sure!

A Sunset and a Moon-rise added hope to the mix and the spirits took a definite upturn.

Oh- also, the cake from yesterday was well received so have got me a good recipe for eggless cake. Tell if you want, ok? Will bake and send.

On that culinary note, time to turn in and tune out…….good night people.