An evening drenched in Banjuri

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasya  performed here in H C U as a part of  Viraasat, a cultural fest organised by SPIC-MACAY(  Society for the promotion of Indian Culture, Music and Art Among Youth ). He was accompanied by Vijay Ghate on Tabla. The chief component of the performance was the ‘Kalyani’  raga. The artist later obliged to a request from the audience and played a mesmerising ‘Pahadi’ tune. The dual between the flute and tabla also proved to be a real delight as both artists soared to higher levels of competence and skill. The evening  turned surreal with the splendour of music, rejuvenating the soul and soothing the mind.

Undoubtedly a welcome change from the academic routine, it also brought back memories of my Trivandrum days, where I used to spend whole days drifting through venues in the city!

                                         MONKEYS!!

Something very drastic happened yesterday.

Since our hostel mess is yet to start, I usually have lunch at the Students Canteen.Yesterday when I reached the canteen,it was overcrowded, which was only normal. What was not normal( for a newcomer, i guess) was something I saw there: MONKEYS!! Not one, not two, plenty of them. Some were perched up on the trees, some walking fearlessly on the ground, some eating rice from some poor chap's plate ( the guy had gone inside to fetch water or something, not knowing that he'll return to find his plate half empty!)
In short, absolute pandamonium.

Finally the canteen staff had to intervene and they tried to scare them away. Some of the animals even tried charging at them,to my utter disbelief. They were so unbelievably  aggressive!!

                                                Public Meeting

The campus life slowly picks up pace as activities gets started. There was a public meeting yesterday night at the GOPS (a popular eatery and hang out at the campus) organised by SFI. Prof. Hargopal, renowned Political scientist and human rights activist, was the main speaker. He spoke on the topic 'The Changing Nature of Indian State', followed by an interaction with the students.The highlight of the talk for me was his concluding remark " Marxism is a way of thought and not a substitution for thought".

It has started raining here and memories slowly comes calling!!

                              At H C U
Hey friends,

It's been a while.
And here is the reason- got admission at the H C U (Hyderabad Central University) for M A programme ( Pol.Science).
Had to do some running around to get my papers in order. Hence the gap.Still there's a considerably long list of documents  Iam yet to submit here at the university : the T C, Marklist, Provisional....

Well, I have to confess, its worth the effort. This is a humongous, gigantic and mind blowing one - this campus. Its supposed to be not less than 2300 acres, one of the largest in Asia itself. The chief mode of transport is none other than our good old bicycle!! Its really a pleasant sight to see them dominating the road once again, believe me.I have also bought one (the vintage model, with steel bars and all!). Life without a bicycle is almost impossible here. Its 3.5 km from my hostel to the dept.

And the greenery is heartening, to say the least. Actually its not greenery, its wilderness! I have already seen mongooses, monkeys and a peacock.Walking from the hostel to the main campus in the morning is a refreshing experience.

The only disappointment so far has been missing Arundhati Roy's lecture.She was here on 12th, invited by the Uni. to deliver a lecture on Globalisation. I could join only on 14th, a real pity.

Hindi serves the purpose of a link language here. From the University staff to the auto rickshaw driver,  natives communicate in Hindi with outsiders.

Food is adjustable,though I spend much more time in the toilet these days!

So that's it about H C U for the time being. I do plan to develop this in to a column of sorts if time permits, so that I can share 'the H C U Life' with you.

N.B: If Mr.Rubin happens to get the feed of this post by any chance, pls do respond!!

Crowded

These days

I find myself

increasingly in love with 

things which I once abhorred:

like crowds,

yes, crowds.

You see, I have my reasons:

A crowd

is the safest place to be

when you are 

a wounded animal.

It lets you

grunt and growl

and lick the wounds

till you're ready

to hunt again.

Nobody will notice.

A crowd

is where you should be

if you want to play

say, hide and seek.

At times 

you might get lost

that is, lost forever

never able to find 

who you were.

But that's okay

part of the game.

Once in a crowd

you can slough off

all your apprehensions.

Flimsy pretexts of 

love and care

nagging doubts of

right and wrong

won't even dare

to come near you.

Instead, you are blessed 
with courage and skill

of course, to kill.

One can hardly miss

the unfathomable 

benevolence of a crowd.

Always keeps you locked

in its giant embrace

until  you give in

and replenish yourself

to a new birth.

Faceless and soulless. 

But do you know what the sad part is?

All its virtues

have yet not made me

the loyal follower

the obedient soldier

that I would like to be.

Still, at times

I feel

that I need to get 

my voice back

from the labyrinth of

its endless sounds.

But it'll pass, Iam  sure.

For who can resist

and who wants to miss

the might that is 

the bliss that is

the crowd.

ഈ നഗരം


ഈ  നഗരത്തെയിനി
പിരിയാനാകില്ല


നെറുക ചൂഴുന്ന
ഇതിന്‍റെ വെയിലില്‍
ഇണ ചേര്‍ന്നിഴയുന്ന പാതകള്‍
ഫണം വിടര്‍ത്തുമെങ്കിലും  
ഇതിന്‍റെ മൃതസന്ധ്യകളുടെ
ഉലര്‍ന്ന ചുണ്ടുകളില്‍
ഉറയാത്ത കാമം
അറപ്പിക്കുമെങ്കിലും
കുതറുന്തോറും
ഇറുക്കമേറും
ആവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങളാല്‍
ഇതു നീട്ടുമാലിംഗനം.


ഒറ്റ വേഗം
ഒരേ നിറം
മറുവിളിയില്ലാത്ത
ഒരേ നിശബ്ദത


നുരയടങ്ങാത്ത
തീക്കുഴമ്പിന്‍റെ
ലഹരി തീര്‍ക്കും
ഇതിന്‍റെ സൗഹൃദം
യാത്ര പോകുമ്പോള്‍
പതിഞ്ഞ താളത്തില്‍
'തിരിച്ചുവാ'യെന്നു
സ്നേഹഗദ്ഗദം.


ഇതിന്‍റെ പ്രണയം
എന്‍റെ മുറിവുകളില്‍
പഴുത്തുകിടക്കുന്ന 
മദജലം.


ഇതിന്‍റെ ഓര്‍മ
ഞാനുറങ്ങുന്ന
പൂക്കാത്ത മരത്തിന്‍റെ
പൊത്ത്.