SHaPE of India

Just finished teaching the second frequency of the course - SHaPE (Social, Historical, and Political Economy) of India. This was for undergrad students and pretty soon, I'd start a variation of the same course for doctoral students. The basic idea emanated from wide-spread ignorance and misinformation about Indian history, polity, and economy. The focus is, although, India and Indian economic development particularly post 1947 and post 1991 reforms, we have discussed things as varied as Yom Kippur, Sun Yat Sen, Lohia, Sikhs, Marathas, Hijarat, Ambedkar, Marx, Daahir, World Wars, Mongols, Incas, Brettonwoods and what not...

It was heartening to see great response from the undergrads as well as from doctoral students. Interestingly, this year, the post-graduate (MBA) students have also demanded the same. I hope for an equally wonderful experience with their class as well. meanwhile, here is some more information on the course - one may use the same for academic and any other non-commercial purposes, with due acknowledgement of course!

Course Modules
Module 1: History - A historical look at the economics, politics, and society of India
Module 2: Economics – A select sectoral and industry level analysis of Indian economy
Module 3: Socio-Political – Analysis of social and political issues from an economic perspective

We started with the very basic argument - as a business management student, why should one study history? That too social or political history! We also spent some time of how to read history and why Indian history is not linear but more complicated than most other civilizations. Then, we took a cursory look at the ancient and medieval era, British era, and the struggle for independence. Thereafter, we talked for most portion of the course about the interaction of economics and politics during 1947 to 1990, including our foreign relations, development experience, and the underlying ideological / philosophical underpinnings of the economic policy framework. Finally, we analyzed reforms in some detail and also took a leap of faith in predicting / posing future scenarios for India - social, political and economic as well.

The analysis perspective has been driven more by approach, philosophy, and impact-assessment; whereas, facts and figures remain a fringe motivator and guide to the discussion. It was expected that by the end of the course, the participants are aware of evolution eras of India’s social, political, and economic structures and are able to provide an informed commentary on relevant topics. The students made life miserable for me by asking reading too much and asking too much... as a result, I had to study even harder. But at the end, I am glad that all of us were left more informed and more curious to understand the SHaPE of India. 

Poetic Geniuses - 6

Find earlier posts on Poetic Geniuses Here and Here.

Circa 1997, I was in class 10th, when I started pursuing Hindi-Urdu poetry actively as an enthusiast. I was lucky to chance upon two books at that time, which made me understand the depths of poetry in great detail.

Second book was "दीवान-ए-ग़ालिब" by Ali Sardar Jaafri, which had meanings of difficult Urdu words as well as contextual explanations, wherever required. That helped me in understanding Urdu and setting the technical details for future years of writing.

The first book, although did not bestow any great technical skill like the second one, was more influential, for it made me fall in love with the sheer joy of Urdu poetry. The book was "ujaale apni yaadon ke" (उजाले अपनी यादों के) by Bashir Badr. Here is quoting some select verses from him... as always, this is just indicative and many great gems may remain hidden. If you want more pearls, take a dive yourself  :)

चाँद ने रात मुझको जगा कर कहा
एक लड़की तुम्हारा पता ले गई

***

मुख़ालिफ़त से मेरी शख़्सियत सँवरती है
मैं दुश्मनों का बड़ा एहतराम करता हूँ

***

वही ताज है वही तख़्त है वही ज़हर है वही जाम है

ये वही ख़ुदा की ज़मीन है ये वही बुतों का निज़ाम है

बड़े शौक़ से मेरा घर जला कोई आँच न तुझपे आयेगी

ये ज़ुबाँ किसी ने ख़रीद ली ये क़लम किसी का ग़ुलाम है

मैं ये मानता हूँ मेरे दिये तेरी आँधियोँ ने बुझा दिये

मगर इक जुगनू हवाओं में अभी रौशनी का इमाम है

***

अजीब शख़्स है नाराज़ होके हंसता है

मैं चाहता हूँ ख़फ़ा हो तो वो ख़फ़ा ही लगे

***

मोहब्बतों में दिखावे की दोस्ती ना मिला

अगर गले नहीं मिलता तो हाथ भी ना मिला

घरों पे नाम थे, नामों के साथ ओहदे थे

बहुत तलाश किया कोई आदमी ना मिला

तमाम रिश्तों को मैं घर पे छोड आया था

फिर इसके बाद मुझे कोई अजनबी ना मिला

बहुत अजीब है ये कुरबतों की दूरी भी

वो मेरे साथ रहा और मुझे कभी ना मिला

खुदा की इतनी बड़ी कायनात में मैंने

बस एक शख्स को मांगा मुझे वही ना मिला

***

मेरी शोहरत सियासत से महफ़ूज़ है

ये तवायफ़ भी इस्मत बचा ले गई

***

वो बड़ा रहीम-ओ-करीम है मुझे ये सिफ़त भी अता करे

तुझे भूलने की दुआ करूँ तो दुआ में मेरी असर न हो

मेरे बाज़ुओं में थकी-थकी, अभी महव-ए-ख़्वाब है चांदनी

न उठे सितारों की पालकी, अभी आहटों का गुज़र न हो

***

आस होगी न आसरा होगा

आने वाले दिनों में क्या होगा

मैं तुझे भूल जाऊँगा इक दिन

वक़्त सब कुछ बदल चुका होगा

***

मुझसे बिछड़ के ख़ुश रहते हो

मेरी तरह तुम भी झूठे हो

तुम तन्हा दुनिया से लड़ोगे

बच्चों सी बातें करते हो

***

दुश्मनों की तरह उस से लड़ते रहे

अपनी चाहत भी कितनी निराली रही

***

मेरे साथ तुम भी दुआ करो यूँ किसी के हक़ में बुरा न हो

कहीं और हो न ये हादसा कोई रास्ते में जुदा न हो

वो फ़रिश्ते आप ही ढूँढिये कहानियों की किताब में

जो बुरा कहें न बुरा सुने कोई शख़्स उन से ख़फ़ा न हो

***

मैं ख़ुद भी एहतियातन, उस गली से कम गुजरता हूँ

कोई मासूम क्यों मेरे लिए, बदनाम हो जाए

उजाले अपनी यादों के हमारे साथ रहने दो

न जाने किस गली में, ज़िंदगी की शाम हो जाए

***

इतनी मिलती है मेरी गज़लों से सूरत तेरी 

लोग तुझ को मेरा महबूब समझते होंगे । 

***

वो ज़ाफ़रानी पुलोवर उसी का हिस्सा है 

कोई जो दूसरा पहने तो दूसरा ही लगे । 

***

लोग टूट जाते हैं एक घर बनाने में 

तुम तरस नहीं खाते बस्तियां जलानें में। 

***

पलकें भी चमक जाती हैं सोते में हमारी, 

आँखों को अभी ख्वाब छुपाने नहीं आते ।

***

सर झुकाओगे तो पत्थर देवता हो जाएगा । 

इतना मत चाहो उसे, वो बेवफ़ा हो जाएगा ।

हम भी दरिया हैं, हमें अपना हुनर मालूम है, 

जिस तरफ़ भी चल पड़ेंगे, रास्ता हो जाएगा । 

कितना सच्चाई से, मुझसे ज़िंदगी ने कह दिया, 

तू नहीं मेरा तो कोई, दूसरा हो जाएगा । 

मैं ख़ुदा का नाम लेकर, पी रहा हूँ दोस्तो, 

ज़हर भी इसमें अगर होगा, दवा हो जाएगा । 

सब उसी के हैं, हवा, ख़ुश्बू, ज़मीनो-आस्माँ, 

मैं जहाँ भी जाऊँगा, उसको पता हो जाएगा ।

रूठ जाना तो मोहब्बत की अलामत है मगर.

क्या खबर थी मुझसे वो इतना खफा हो जायेगा.

***

बैग वो जिसमे मेरे-तुम्हारे कपड़े कुछ रातों सोये थे...

What? I am writing poems for an old, torn, worn-out bag now? Well, you know why this bag was so special? Because it was my mate in all my travels from IIMA to home and from IIMA to IIM Indore and from IIMA to anywhere!! This was a magical bag, where you could fill all you want and then, a little more could be filled. Once I won a bet on that too - this bag, seemingly, had an infinite and ever expanding space inside. 

Anyhow, these are the last picture of my beloved buddy bag of best days... for today, I filled it (partially, as there is infinite space inside, you see) with some stuff and dispatched for Uttarakhand. 

As a final favor, this bag has inspired a nazm too: 

एक एक कर धागे टूट रहे हैं सारे ,

एक एक कर रिश्ते सारे

तोड़ रहा हूं।

एक महीना बीता जब

वो कलम तुम्हारी

दी थी कहीं किसी को

और फिर बिना लिये ही

सरक लिया था, 

कई महीने पहले उससे

गिफ़्ट जो तुमने किये थे

सारे

कुर्ते मैंने

दान दिये थे।

पिछले हफ़्ते तोड़ दिया

जो फ़ोन तुम्हारे संग लिया था,

बैग वो जिसमे मेरे-तुम्हारे

कपड़े कुछ रातों सोये थे,

सोफ़ा जिसपर

हम-तुम दोनों संग बैठे थे

वो दीवान

तुम्हारी ज़ुल्फ़ की

खुशबू वाला

और तुम्हारे हाथों

सँवरी तस्वीरें सब,

कई किताबें

जिन पर दो-दो नाम लिखे थे,

वालेट

जिसमें इक तस्वीर थी

और वो घड़ी

कि जिसका

वक्त तुम्हारा था,

छोड़ दिये हैं,

गुमा रहा हूँ,

तोड़ दिये हैं,

भुला रहा हूँ

मेहनत करनी पड़ती है

जितनी इक रिश्ता

बुनने में,

उतनी ही मैं लगन से उस

रिश्ते के धागे

जला रहा हूँ!

Deep said it first...

Today, I was reading one of my old favorite blogger friend's blog - Inderdeep's. and she has said the following at the end of her latest post:

"Sorry again for being so irregular. I am still writing posts in mind, along with the most appropriate titles. I wish I could share with you some day :-|"

I think I can borrow these lines from her... for I've been doing the same for so long!! In my head, I've written about all the travel I've been doing, all the old friends I've met lately, my IIMA visit after so long, the new friends I got, the issues facing the nation, the economic ideas I've been pondering, the people I love, the people I hate, the new hobbies I got, the fights I took, the birds I clicked, the courses I taught, the poems I wrote, the secrets I know, the life, the universe, and everything.... and yet, Alas! All I've been doing is to sit like a lazy bum and think and think and then, think some more!!

Poetic Geniuses - 5

I don't understand much of English poetry - that feeling of adopted language's non-mother tongue alienation is still there. English, for me, is the language of professional expressions or perhaps, the one for communication. But love, dreams, and poetry still happens in Hindi-Urdu only.

And yet, there are few English poets, whom I have followed and admired. One such name is Nissim Ezekiel. Among many gems from Ezekiel, a friend told me about this one a few days back - Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher by Nissim Ezekiel. Tis funny weird amazing interesting that how we find our lives in someone else's words. I don't know how he knew that I was... and I am (!) all three - Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher!!

To force the pace and never to be still

Is not the way of those who study birds

Or women. The best poets wait for words.

The hunt is not an exercise of will

But patient love relaxing on a hill

To note the movement of a timid wing;

Until the one who knows that she is loved

No longer waits but risks surrendering -

In this the poet finds his moral proved

Who never spoke before his spirit moved.

The slow movement seems, somehow, to say much more.

To watch the rarer birds, you have to go

Along deserted lanes and where the rivers flow

In silence near the source, or by a shore

Remote and thorny like the heart's dark floor.

And there the women slowly turn around,

Not only flesh and bone but myths of light

With darkness at the core, and sense is found

But poets lost in crooked, restless flight,

The deaf can hear, the blind recover sight.

- Nissim Ezekiel

Find previous posts on Poetic Geniuses Here.

Those who love... and lose!

Though they never met, Frasier was a contemporary of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Well, Frasier was a TV show that was aired between 1993 and 2004. The protagonist, Dr. Frasier Crane, is a psychiatrist and so is his younger brother, Niles. The series was a situation comedy but throws some good light on dimensions of psychology at times. However, that is not why I am writing this here today. I'm on the 8th season now and a discussion between the two Crane brothers hit a chord somewhere. Here is the context and the conversation:

Context: Niles has loved and idolized Daphne, the physio and household help of Frasier, for over 7 years. Finally, she gets to know of his love for her and after a lot of slips, they are finally together. However, suddenly, Daphne starts over-eating and gaining pounds. Thereafter, she goes into a therapy, loses extra pounds, and tells Niles about her therapist. Niles jokes about the therapist because she said Daphne might have been afraid of this relationship.

And that is when, the following conversation takes place between Frasier and Niles (quoted from IMDb):

Niles: Help me understand. Why is everyone acting like I've done something wrong? The only thing I am guilty of is loving Daphne, and that's all I've ever done.

Frasier: Yes, and how did you love her? From afar. You were never in love *with* her, you were in love *at* her. Now, you've been given a chance to experience her in a real relationship and yet for some reason, you're resisting it. Rather than see her as she really is, you keep holding on to the memory.

Niles: No, that's not true.

Frasier: Niles, the woman gained sixty pounds! And everyone in the world saw it but you. All you ever saw was a perfect woman in a red dress.

[long pause]

Niles: Okay. If you're right, and that's a big "if", why would I do that?

Frasier: Maybe Daphne's not the only one who's afraid she won't measure up. Maybe you're afraid too. After all, if it turns out she's not perfect, then there's a chance things won't work out. Then not only will you lose Daphne, but you'll have wasted the last seven years of your life chasing an illusion.

Ain't it the same with most of us - we love an idolized image of the one, who lives in a different world - a world of perfection. And when the love culminates into marriage, what happens? The Utopia clashes with the hard reality. The fantasy ends and the reality begins. The loved one is in front of you all the time and they are not perfect any more. The idol is broken. Perhaps that is why more love-marriages fail than the arranged ones - there is no idol to begin with.

Those, who love and win, are lucky. Those, who love and lose, are luckiest.

And the most favorite organ is....

Someone asked a few days back that if you have to rate the organs in your body, which one would be your favorite. That reminded me of some fables, read in childhood and therefore deeply ingrained. Those fables suggested that a human being is human because of his brain but what makes one a real human is the heart. Another tale told that a compassionate heart is more desirable than a genius brain. Well, therefore, I said so - the heart would be dearer than the brain. However, the words kept on playing inside my head... after some thought, I wrote a Facebook status:

"My brain? Yes, that is my second most favorite organ!"

Perhaps, i had read these words somewhere and therefore the neatness in putting it up... nonetheless, the thought process behind the quote was deep. And yet, the word-play made it a queer quip. As it happens on Facebook, the friends started to take a flight of fancy and asking about the most favorite one. I decided to keep silent there but just to show how the world often twists the thoughts... quoting some comments here (I also din't get some of them but then...): 

• And the first favorite organ is ???

• Aah sidharth ji hum dono ki soch first organ ko lekar kitni milti hai

• how romantic sir jee 

• The benefits of being a prof ! You can use your first most favorite organ more than (and almost always, before) using your second most favorite organ 

• His first most favorite organ might not necessarily be his own!

• ... I can't figure whether you cracked a dirty joke or not...

• ahaa haaa ahhhahaaaa

• Oh no, not a joke, never ! I was just exploring the logical assumptions to the Professor's statement.

• Why keep the first organ a secret? The heart? LOL.

• jo hamare paas nahi hota hai vahi hame achcha lagta hai. am i right ?

• Cha gaye guru.....phd aaj puri hui....shabash

• Which is d 1st fav organ sir ?

• people are so curious to know his favorite 'organ' !

• The first most favorite organ still under wraps !!

And now, I am gonna post this post and then post the link to this post as a comment :D