A ROYAL WELL IN A PRETTY ENGLISH VILLAGE: A GIFT FROM HIS HIGHNESS MAHARAJA OF BENARAS

Yesterday, we went to see a friend who lives in another town. We could have gone there by the motorway; it would have been much faster. But as the weather was so nice, we decided to go by the scenic route taking smaller roads.

We were passing through a pretty village called Stoke Row. Suddenly we saw a small signboard which said "Ishree Bagh" and a few yards further there was another sign "Maharajah's Well".  Intriguing eh!  I reversed my car and parked near the sign.

We walked to the Well which looked very impressive with a grand multicoloured gilded dome. Inscribed on the dome was "his highness maharaja of Benares". 

Under the dome there was a mechanized green pulley system to withdraw water from the deep well. On the top of this device was a statue of a golden elephant!

The information board nearby told an amazing story.

There used be severe scarcity of clean water in this hilly area. In 1860 Maharaja of Benares Ishree Pershad came to know about the plight of the poor villagers and decided to donate money to dig a deep well in this village. It took about a year to dig this 368 feet deep well and it was opened on 24th of May,1864 on Queen Victoria's birthday. Adjacent to it an orchard was designed and named as Ishree Bagh after the Maharaja. There was also a Machchli pokhra and Prabhu Teela named after his adopted son and heir Prabhu Narayan.

Prabhu Teela

Maharaja of Benaras also generously paid for the upkeep of the whole complex over many decades.

Of course, the well is not in use anymore but the well and the Bagh are well maintained by the Heritage fund UK.

Maharaja Ishree Pershad was also a great poet-scholar, he established the Sanskrit College in Benaras. He was also the mentor of Babu Bhartendu Harischandra who is known as father of modern Hindi. (From Wikipedia)

Bibha and I immensely enjoyed this tranquil lovely spot and its unique history. We had a cup of nice coffee and tasty cake at the cafe com Farm shop in the village and continued our journey.

GLOSSARY

Benaras:  now known as Varanasi, a holy city in India.

Bagh:  an orchard 

Ishree Pershad: Ishwari Prashad Narayan Singh 

Machchli pokhra: Fishpond

Teela: a mound

Well-Keeper's Hut and Ishree Bagh

“EK HATH SE TALI NAHIN BAJATI” A HYPOCRITE’S BEST PROVERB

There is a saying in India “ek hath se Tali Nahin bajati". Translated in English it goes something like this" clapping cannot happen with one hand".   It is very similar to the proverb used in UK “it takes two to tango”.    All over the world this proverb is used in some form or other.

 For any given altercation between two individuals or groups, this saying tries to impart responsibility on both of them. It seems quite innocuous and impartial saying but in reality it is a huge Pandora’s box overflowing with innuendos and insinuations.  

For an example, a man returning home from the office gets stabbed on the street and is critically injured. When given this news, some people will use this saying " ek hath se Tali Nahin bajati", thus assigning some blame on the victim.

Most benignly this is used by lazy people who do not wish to work their brains to think rationally or think at all.  They just want to say something sounding cleaver.

 Then there are Humpty-Dumptys who always sit on the fence. Never take a decision for the fear of offending one or the other party. They are cleaver but pusillanimous.

Some dislike the person stabbed will use this  saying much  less benevolently and say it with some emphasis on the words  “one hand”  apportioning  quite a bit of  blame on this poor victim  though still sounding neutral. This is the beginning of the slippery slope of hypocrisy.

On the other hand  if the person you are talking to is a great supporter of the mugger then he/she would repeatedly and loudly say this proverb trying to convince you and whoever is prepared to listen that the victim was if not solely, equally responsible for his misfortune. These people hypocritically project themselves as righteous, knowledgeable and unprejudiced commentators.

Recently President Trump used this while commenting on the shameful and blatantly racist supremacist atrocities in Charlottesville, USA. He denounced the violence and mayhem quite rightly but in the same breath implied that the peaceful antiracist demonstrators were equally to be blamed. What? The woman killed by the car driven in reverse by this thug has contributed to her injuries by being on this road? Lots of people all over the world, many from his own party saw through this conceit. They were very indignant and justly denounced him.

Many a times a lot of unscrupulous leaders get away with it. When the opposite party does something wrong they are blamed wholly and solely but when it is clear as a daylight that their own party or personnel are responsible then they very cunningly invoke this saying that clapping cannot take place....  This is repeated by their followers so often that it becomes an reason to exonerate the culprit.

Some times it is true that both the parties are responsible and the commentator is right but he should have real facts to back up his statement. Using this saying as if it is a universal truth is never justified, at best it is a smokescreen for intellectual laziness, at worst a disgusting hypocrisy.

A NIGHT OF POETRY AND SUNK COST DILEMMA

A NIGHT OF POETRY AND SUNK COST DILEMMA

A friend rang me three months ago to tell me that a Hindi Poetry Evening had been organized in his town hall. The entrance tickets was £15 per person. I bought two tickets, for me and my wife.

On the morning of the show I came to know that Mr. Sondhi, the main poet cum entertainer, in whom I was really interested, was not coming. The weather should have become warmer by the end of April but it was still bitterly cold and wet, thanks to a swathe of freezing air from the North Pole.

Normally we would have taken the tram to go to the town hall because parking around there is scarce and expensive. But in this weather I did not relish the walk on either end of the tram journey.

 “What is the point in going if we would be wet and cold by the time we reach there, and particularly if Mr. Sondhi and his team were not attending” Bibha said. As you know she is my other half.

I said “but we have already paid. Why to waste the tickets? We should take the car. If we go an hour earlier, we could find a parking place”. The idea of losing £30 pounds which I had forked out on the tickets was not very palatable and it would keep niggling me for a few days at least.

My better half prevailed in the end and we cancelled the program. We enjoyed the evening at home in front of the fire with home cooked food and Pinot Noire.

I am constantly amazed and pleased (sometimes irritated) on how Bibha makes intuitive decisions which produce better outcomes.

My thinking was a typical example of what is called 'Sunk Cost Dilemma'. I was prepared to incur further cost in terms of parking fee and waste more time in order to justify the money already spent on the tickets. When one spend money and time on a project, one gets emotionally attached to it usually in direct proportion to the money and the effort invested. Even when it becomes clear that the project is not going to achieve its goal, people and organizations keep on investing more money and time.

The concept of sunk cost is well known and researched subject in business circles. In our day to day life it is equally important.

It explains, why many of us perpetually keep expensive but unfitting dresses in our wardrobes, carry on watching an excruciatingly boring movie and finish a bad tasting meal in a high-priced restaurant.

But hey, who wants to run his/her life like a corporate business!

ARE THE YEARS BECOMING SHORTER AS I GET OLDER?

 The Hour Glass attributed to Giorgione (1477 - 1478)

          20 days have already passed in this New Year. The resolutions made at the stroke of midnight on the Eve are fading if not forgotten completely.

          Looking back, 2015 passed very quickly. I know, in reality it would have taken the same chunk of time as the years before. Mother earth has not suddenly accelerated her ceaseless run around the Sun. But to me, it does seem that the years have started to pass a bit quicker lately. We came in our present house many years ago but the day we moved in does not seem that far away.

          As a child I remember eagerly waiting for Diwali and Holi, when we used to go to our village home and celebrate the festivals with all our cousins. It used to take ages from Holi to Diwali and then Diwali to Holi. But now one New Year eve comes tumbling fast the last one and so are the birthdays of nears and dears.

          Though for my grandchildren, the Christmas Eve when Santa was going to bring their presents, seemed unbearably late. Every day, at least thrice, they kept on asking “is it tonight ?”

          Time certainly seems passing quicker for me, but the same is not true for the grand children. Has getting old anything to do with this speeding up of time?

         Does our biological pacemaker that determines the perception of time slows down with age, maybe due to reduced blood flow or decreased levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain? No such pacemaker has been clearly identified but there is a good probability of its existence.

          Perhaps it is more likely to be a cognitive illusion even though it feels very real.

          Early in our life many experiences were our firsts, like first crush, first kiss, first job, and so on. These new experiences made lasting memories and seemed to have lasted longer than they actually were. Higher numbers of these experiences make these years look longer when one recalls back.  But now as we become more experienced, most events are no more new and do not make lasting impressions. Scarcity of new episodes makes the year seem shorter.

          It may also be that we subconsciously measure time intervals relative to the time we have already lived. For a five year old child, one year is 20 percent of its whole life. For me it is less than 2 percent. No wonder it seems shorter!

          To make this year last longer, I am going to do more new things and have some fresh experiences. Today is youngest I will ever be again!

Hoping the same for you all, I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

LISBON: A TRIP INTO HISTORY

We saw Lisbon for the first time in 2005 when our cruise ship called in the port at the shore of Rio Tejo. It was a very short visit, just for half a day. We only saw a few places along the river bank. The grandeur of Praca do Comercio  and the Belem was very impressive. We spent most of the time there and walked back to the ship.  

We decided to come back again to Lisbon and see it properly. 

We did just that this month. Spent five days in this lovely understated city.  It has all the majesty and splendour but without the commotion and hustle of most of the European capitals. 

I feel that to really see a city one should use its public transport.  It lets you have a peep in to the very soul of the place. You not only see the proscribed touristy places but also get a glimpse of the ordinary, everyday local life and culture. It does need a lot of prior research which has become much easier now due to the internet. I love doing that because it makes the holiday seem much longer. My holiday really begins from the day I start looking up about the city on the web. Besides, it is much cheaper than using the usual commercial holiday and tour providers. 

Lisbon is quite a historical place. It was ruled by the Romans, Visigoths and the Moors and it later colonized Angola, Brazil, Mozambique and Goa, to name a few. All these diverse cultures have left their marks in Lisbon. We saw the narrow pebbled streets of Alfama, weaving through the tiled houses and shops. Moors initially built a castle atop the hill here, reclaimed back after the crusade and now called Castle of São Jorge. We saw the whole Lisbon city from here.

Along the water front one name dominates: Vasco da Gamma. Vasco da Gama Bridge, Vasco da Gama Tower, Vasco da Gama shopping centre and The Jeronimos Monastery where his tomb lies. He discovered the sea route to India in late 15^th century breaking the Arab monopoly on spice trade and heralding the era of European colonization of India.

The other famous name which connects Portugal with India is St Francis Xavier who is described in Encyclopedia Britannica as “the greatest Roman Catholic missionary of modern times, who was instrumental in the establishment of Christianity in India. Though he was Spanish by birth, he came to Lisbon to go to India where he arrived in 1542 on a Portuguese ship. Today there are nearly hundred schools and colleges in India which bear his name.

We visited the Sao Roque Church reputed as being one of the world's most expensive churches. The outside looks rather plane but the chapels inside are dazzling, covered with Brazilian gold leaves and precious stones. There is a chapel here dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. A kind church lady seeing that we were very interested in him, called the security guard to unlock the sacristy where a lot of artifacts associated with St Francis are kept, along with other treasured paintings and objects. This was a real privilege to be allowed in the sacristy.

People in Lisbon are very friendly and even in the souvenir shops the salesmen were very polite. Portuguese wines are really fabulous and the prices are much lower than that in Britain.

This country, which was colonized by others and then colonized others, has now settled back. Though economically not doing well, it seemed more at peace with itself than many other European countries.

All in all, the entire trip was very pleasant and edifying. 

THE BEST GREETING WISH OF ALL TIMES

THE BEST GREETING WISH OF ALL TIMES

1st of January, New Year day. I wanted to wish all my friends and family a happy new year. Just wishing “Happy New Year” looked very simple and inelegant.  I wanted to write something graceful, stylish and poignant. A greeting full of gravitas and conveying sincerity.

I wrote the greeting differently, qualifying my wish with “health and wealth”. I made it sound religious “may God bless you”. I even personified the New Year and pleaded with it, “may the New Year bring success …” Somehow none of them seemed to offer any greater wish than just Happiness.

  

People say that they are sacrificing their happiness for the family, for the religion, for the country or the world. But are they, really? In fact doing that sacrifice makes them feel happy. They would feel miserable if they did otherwise.

 Some people feel happy to amass a lot of wealth. Some find happiness in finding a soul mate. Some find happiness in worshiping God and some find happiness in explaining to people that there is no God. Many of these people will suffer trying to achieve their goals. They might feel that they sacrificed their happiness for their causes but at that time they would have felt a lot more wretched if they would not have tried.

Everything one wishes, or longs for is to achieve just one simple goal: happiness. To be happy is for what every living being is living for. There is no point to live otherwise.

What is the worth of anything,

But for the happiness 'twill bring?

RICHARD OWEN CAMBRIDGE, Learning

To be happy is, I believe, the ultimate wish one can wish for someone.

  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL.