thesocratespot: AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: C...

thesocratespot: AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: C...: AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: CXXI : Evolution of Angst : It was a grey rainy day, Annie's father was sick but was at his home work desk doing his usual routine of scanning through every single page of a dozen odd newspapers of all hues and languages - included the very bigotic, rightist, to Capitalist or Marxian Economics, partisan, political, non political and such including some Global news editions of NYT & The Telegraph ( London edition ) or the Le Monde etc., Annie often used to wonder how  in the hell did the man manage to read so many news dailies in such detail and yet find time to prepare for his lectures and seminars as well as read or write on many other subjects and it is that image of a patriarch perched on a pedestal - far beyond her reach - that kind of revolted her, She wanted to be better than him, bigger than him.

Annie was giving a lecture on Nationalism, extracting excerpts from various thinkers each contradicting the other on the idea - from Diogenes to Taoists to Godwin and Rabindranath Tagore - the energy and passion with which She expounded on the subject seemed to transport her and the audience onto a zone all her own almost as if she lived the idea of anarchy and she beleived that everyone listening to her lecture shared her passion on the subject.

Annie pretty much had the audience entranced, even the most convinced Nationalist in the audience would have found a resonance in her argument on Anarchy being a better state of social existence than Nationalism.

Soon after her lecture a few eager students and media personnel chased her as she was rushing out and begged her to spare some time for their questions and Annie very reluctantly agreed - Annie was always apprehensive to talk to anonymous people, people whose views of society, religion, politics, authority or law were not clear - but somehow the people chasing her managed to corner her and she agreed to a Q & A

Journalist 1 : Hi Annie, thnaks for that wonderful talk on Anarchy, will you consider that just as a lecture or is that and idea you believe in ?
Student 1 : Ma'm that was a great lecture, but please tell me are you an Anarchist ?
Journalsit 2 : What do you think will be the fall out of a soceity devoid of a Nation ? Of an identity ? How can alien humans belonging to different geographic, social, racial, religious thinking accept and agree to welcome another human of contrasting ideas into his / her home ? If you have a home will you allow me who does not agree with your thought to live in your house ?

The questions were rapid, Annie was hearing them out with calm & patience - She was a rebel and an intellectual / social vagabond ( with four broken marriages across four continents ) and so for her it was not a problem handling chaos.

She first allowed all the Media people and the Students to throw all that they wanted to ask her and then decided that it was best that She addressed all the questions thrown at her through one common answer and so she replied -

So what according to you is a Nation ? And what do you think is the purpose it serves ? according to me a Nation is a cannibal and it can devour it's own patriots creating a frenzy around its own importance, the idea of a Nation can be usurped, hijacked and or condemned depending on its state of being, so according to me true Nationalism is a myth, most of what we believe as Nationalism are ideas that we are made to believe, none of it is really our own idea.

So saying she left .                                       

AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: CXXI : Evolution of Angst

AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: CXXI : Evolution of Angst

It was a grey rainy day, Annie's father was sick but was dozing on his old easy chair, to his left side one could see his tobacco pipe carefully placed to simmer on its own,  the pipe continued to blow slow, crystal white rolls of smoke and the smell of fresh tobacco spread a subtle falvour in the living room. It was a bright room, shaded with thick pale white Curtains - Jesudasan loved Pale White - with under curtains of very light chocolate brown, the room looked a musuem than a living space, filled with art, show pieces but very subtly placed , Jesudasan hated cluttered space, even his book shelf was carefully hidden behind wooden walls, that could be rotated, such that they were never super imposing their presence in the room - Jesudasan was a man of subtle emotions, never really interested towards anything that needed glamour and show off, even if he had all the credentials to live lavish and loud - as one of the most reverrred Professors of Sotuh Asian & Australasian Literature, he was often paid ransoms just to be present in some literary festivals, all the same at home he preferred space and space and space - so his living room was so large it could easily have been a house in itself.

But despite his high level of commitment to maintain peace, Jesudasan today was not as calm as the scene in his living room portrayed. It was a Sunday, he had just returned from Church, the Pastor had taken extra efforts to meet him and brief him about a new development concerning Annie, his daughter.

Annie was a casual member of the Church Choir, often receded to the back - to the last of the chorus row - purely because she was vivacious, naughty and energetic and was capable of getting easily distracted and since the Church preferred more sober singers to lead the group, Annie was carefully hidden from being in the lead group. But, one day it just happened that there was this singer from France who had come visting the church, he was a physically challenged, wheel chair bound musician, a victim of Cerebral Palcy but a man who had enough talent to charm the world with his voice, musical sense and humour, he was good looking too - waist up - his name was Harry Benedine.

Harry Benedine was born healthy but was declared a Cerebral Palcy Child at the age of two - when he started missing his milestones of walking , talking or moving his arms, fingers, legs etc - in fact even his neck wouldn't settle in one place, it always hung on one side with his tongue hanging out.

But Thanks to the determination of his Parents - who were poor hawkers selling Groceries in a middle class suburb in Paris - and with the help of some very dedicated Medical Scholars, Harry Benedine started gaining normalcy , he started moving with support, his neck settled, his tongue stopped hanging out and he started singing songs of Jesus with so much passion, he soon became a sought after child to lead Church Choirs initially within Paris, later around Africa and Asia.

 Harry soon became a Church musician with a charm and charisma of his own - he was bound to his wheel chair , was still having trouble to walk, talk ( without a slur ) or dance - but when he took to the choir he was a changed man.

Young Annie, had a legion of youths and teens chasing her for her attention, She could easily point a finger at a boy and he would hardly have words to say no to her , such was her energy and charm.

Annie, fell in love with Harry on the day they sang together.

Mr & Mrs Jesudasan were delighted. 

          

 

     

AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: CXX : Evolution of Angst

AAUW : The Grey Side of Retrospection : Chapter: CXX : Evolution of Angst 

Daniel was crouched on the back seat of a sedan, the cab was rolling good, but the silence around - except for the whirring tyres zipping through the asphalt - was distracting. The driver seemed pretty intent and focussed, so much that Daniel enquired if he was sleeping while driving. The driver obviously retorted in a not too friendly tone that he was doing fine and allowed the silence to engulf the drive again. 

Daniel , was sleepy, it was around 3AM and he was headed to the airport - he hardly remembered the City he was running away from nor the City he was headed to, all he knew was that his boarding pass had all the info required and that was it - as the car went about burning the rubber, Daniel's half open eyes observed the scarred, ragged rocks on both sides of the highway , they looked like mounds of burnt volcanic ashes whose ghostly looks were enhanced to resemble Dante's graphical visualisation of the walls of hell , swamped by fine Steel blue Street Lights lit by big, powerful LED bulbs on both sides of what was obviously a part of a jurassic rock plateau - red clay, short hardened shrubs, sparsely populated trees managed to further heighten the sense of environmental starvation.

But the highway looked nice and straight and beautiful - the bright white painted lane markers being the glamour quotient.

Daniel's mind drifted back to the day when Annie fell on his shoulders while still in her teens saying she was pregnant and she did not want an abortion but her Parents were upset and were counselling her to get rid of the womb.

Daniel was hardly interested in who or how or when Annie got into the trench all he wanted was to make sure Annie could get the space to do what she felt like doing. It was a sunny day that day, but Thankfully they were seated under a shade of a large coalition of tropical Tamarind trees in close proximity to Mango Trees and short but healthy Coconut palms - the scene around was very idyllic but for Annie and Danny the situation was far from Idyllic.               

Daniel looked into Annie's eyes and asked, So ? What do you want do ?

Annie replied

Please marry me. 

thesocratespot: Thesocratespot: Etymology: Origin of Dissidence : ...

thesocratespot: Thesocratespot: Etymology: Origin of Dissidence : ...: Thesocratespot: Etymology: Origin of Dissidence : Birth of a Rebel: AAUW : Chapter: CIX : Annie's Teen Bump :  It was one hot tropica...

Thesocratespot: Etymology: Origin of Dissidence : Birth of a Rebel: AAUW : Chapter: CIX : Annie's Teen Bump

Thesocratespot: Etymology: Origin of Dissidence : Birth of a Rebel: AAUW : Chapter: CIX : Annie's Teen Bump : 

It was one hot tropical summer. The entire deccan plateau was sizzling under severe heat waves, however for the people - living around the regions between Southern Maharashtra and Central Telengana - it was pretty much life as usual they were used to the extreme levels of solar radiation just like the people in the Tundras are used to severe winters , it's at times amazing to observe as an outsider as to how local communities adapt to local weather conditions, it's almost as if the severe winters of the North Pole is just about the same as the severe tropical Summer.

Temparatures, at times could touch 45 degrees Celsius and yet people went about their life. In the sub continent, life around the regions near the sea was worse, the humidity and atmospheric pressure churns, along with the changes in Ocean tides, could easily dehydrate an immigrant to death.

Around the regions that encompassed the tropical Ocean, just stepping out of your shower meant more sweat than an entire day of running in a marathon organised in a milder climate - such was the extreme sense of alienation for people not used to the tropical weather.

Daniel had carefully chosen one his favourite locations within his University campus - a place right under the Dept. of Arts , History and Literature that was surrounded by large, humungous trees, trees so ancient and ageing and big they gave an impression of a world long erased from earth the shade and the sound of birds above were capable of transporting any human mind to nostalgia and music.

Danny would often choose his vantage point to simply sit and watch people move, walk, talk, laugh or rush to attend a lecture ( like their life depended on it ) - while he was more interested to play softly on his harmonica or just strum and tune his guitar strings as he watched the life around, for Daniel music was his world, for the world Daniel was an enigma.

It was one such day he noticed Annie, walking towards him and she clearly had a bump, her tummy was bulging and it did not look like good news.

They were just 17 , they had just entered the University campus.

Danny was not sure who Annie was dating. 

Annie rushed to his arms and said I need help Danny.                                  

Thesocratespot: Exodus I Exile I Spirituality & Fascism : AAUW : Chapter: CVII : Yuval Noah Harari & Umberto Eco

 Annie , Dmitry , Manthiram & Uma were in queit conversation over breakfast, it was drizzling and a bit chilly, they were just outside the Kaziranga forest overlooking the mighty Brahmaputra, which was in full flow just a few metres from where they were seated. They had been invited by the Edwalk team to a resort in Assam where the Edwalk team had also invited the Israeli historian Yuval Smari and the Italian philosopher Umberto Eco for a chat on Philosophy, Politics and the changing idea of liberty with Annie and Dmitry.

Edwalk was basically an organisation that stood for free specch and progressive thought.

Annie & Dmitry on their own had already created a name for themselves on Edwalk.

Yuval was a young Professor of Philosophy & History at the Hebrew University, Tel Aviv.

Umberto Eco was already a legend in the world of Philosophy, the Edwalk team that had arranged for the meeting could be proud of pulling off a coup of sorts to have braught the four together in one place.

Annie was aloof , wasn't ready to talk, in fact was really in a mood to talk , they had just been introduced and they were a bit embarrased by the fact that the meeting wasn't something they had planned and they also knew each suffered their own idiosynchrosises and no one was ready to step on others toes.

Everyone's ego horns were up like mobile towers on a anonymous hill.

Finally , it was Umberto who broke the ice - he ordered wine and all the others ordered their own poison, Annie ordered a Long Island .

Somehow the desired conversation wasn't taking place , the Edwalk team almost thought it might end up into a disaster.