Life is an illusion

 ಈ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಬರೆಯಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ.  ನನ್ನದೊಂದು ಕನಸು. ನನಗೆ ಅಲ್ಪ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಅತಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಭಾಷೆಯೂ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಅವೆರಡರ ಅರಿವನ್ನು ಒಂದುಗೂಡಿಸಿ ಒಂದು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಕಲಿಕೆಯ ಆಪ್ ಬರೆಯಬೇಕು ಎಂದು.  ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಜ್ಞಾನ ವಿಸ್ತಾರ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು 'ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಭಾರತಿ' ಯವರ ಒಂದು ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಬರೆದು ಉತ್ತೀರ್ಣಳೂ ಆದೆ. ಎರಡನೇ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ - ಪರಿಚಯ ಬರೆಯುವ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಆರಂಭ ಶೂರತನವೂ ಮುಗಿದಿತ್ತು - ನನ್ನ ಗೆಳತಿಯರೂ ಕಳಚಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರು. ಆ ಕಲಿಕೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೇ ನಿಂತಿತು.  ಎರಡನೇ ಮಾರ್ಗ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸೋಣ ಎಂದು ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದೆ -  ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಗೊಂದಲ ಆರಂಭವಾಯಿತು. ವ್ಯಾಕರಣ ಬರೆಯಲೇ? ಶಬ್ದಾರ್ಥವೇ? ಪೂರ್ಣವಾಕ್ಯಗಳೇ? ಕಥೆಗಳೇ? ಏನು ಬರೆಯಲಿ?  ಸುಲಭವಾಗಿ ಲಭಿಸುವ NCERT ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಪಠ್ಯ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಡೌನ್ಲೋಡ್ ಮಾಡಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡೆ. ಡೌನ್ಲೋಡ್ ಆದದ್ದೆಲ್ಲ ಡೈರೆಕ್ಟ್  ಮೆದುಳಿಗೆ ಡೌನ್ಲೋಡ್ ಆಗಬೇಕಿತ್ತು. ಆಗುವದಿಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ. ಇನ್ನೂ ತನಕ ಆ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಬಂದಿಲ್ವಲ್ಲ. (ನನ್ನ ತಿಳುವಳಿಕೆಯ ಪ್ರಕಾರ).  ಬ್ಲಾಗೂ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬಿದ್ದಿತು. ಕೆಲವು ಶ್ಲೋಕಗಳನ್ನು ಅನುವಾದಿಸೋಣ ಎಂದುಕೊಂಡೆ. ಕೆಲವನ್ನು ಅನುವಾದ ಮಾಡಲೂ ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದೆ. ಒಂದೆರಡು ಸರಳ ಶ್ಲೋಕಗಳ ನಂತರ ಉಪನಿಷತ್ತುಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋದೆ. ಅದು ಕಬ್ಬಿಣದ ಕಡಲೆಯಾಯಿತು. ಉಪನಿಶತ್ತುಗಳ ಅನುವಾದ ಮಾಡಲು ನನಗೆ ತತ್ವಜ್ಞಾದ...

“A mother is as happy is her least happy child”. That's what Abby tells some one. And her son Denny is not happy at all. Hasn't been happy for a very very long time. He doesn't have a career. He did not finish his college. He keeps changing jobs. And the worst part is he doesn't share any of his problems with his parents. He doesn’t tell them anything.  He doesn't write to them. He rarely visits them. And he calls once in a blue moon. Neither Abby nor Red Whitshank- her husband, have his phone number.  But her other children - Stem, Jeanie and Amanda are doing quite well in their lives. Stem works with his father in their construction company. So does Jeanie. Jeanie and Amanda are married well. When Abby and Red got old and feeble, and Abby forgets things and wanders off some times, Red is hard of hearing, children are worried. They discuss among themselves and Stem moves in with them. With his wife Nora and children.  Which parent would want to accept the fact that...

The Idiot -by Dostoevsky,  I am still trying to complete the book. May be by this year end? :) What makes these Russian books so great? Is it their impossible to pronounce and very confusing names? (ha ha!).  May not  be just that! In the book, the Idiot - aka prince- aka Mushikin is a simple but very sensitive man with high intelligence and a child like innocence. Which makes strangers to believe that he is an idiot. Well, isn't that a perpetual phenomenon? True today, as it was 200 years ago. True here in India as everywhere else.  In the first part of the book - the prince comes across various actors of some great drama, Natasia popanova, Iglaya, Rogozin and Gania etc. Natasia is a young girl who ends up being mistress of a rich General. Now being tired of her, he wants to marry a 'respectable' woman. Natasia does not let him. So to get rid of her, the general promises three thousand rubles to Gania if he marries her. Gania agrees but resents her for this fact. Fo...

There are really some good Hindi serials in Netflix. Like Patal lok, Leela or even City of Dreams. Though City of dreams loses its charm after first season - my feeling. You can add Scoop to the list.  Scoop is a story of brave, honest journalist. Don't start laughing at the oxymoron yet, such people do exist - at least in fictitious world.  The honest journalist is Jagrati Pathak - yes, she is a woman, a single parent and a mother of a 10 year old.  She tries to unearth the unholy nexus between mafia and Mumbai police. A very brave and wrong step as it proves to be.  She pays for this snooping dearly. She is accused of murdering a fellow journalist Sen with the help of a mafia don chota rajan. She is arrested under MCOCA -organized crime offence - as she could be a part of the mafia. She is arrested along with 11 other people. Because of the gravity of charges, she is denied bail.  Once in jail, she realizes her bravery, her education, intelligence, money - no...

I was watching an interview of Jammu and Kashmir politician Omar Abdullah by Samdish yesterday. Was some what overwhelmed by it.  In general, all the interviews in his youtube channel unfiltered are exceptionally good. He interviews Indian politicians often and occasionally film personalities. He asks really tough questions, with a jovial and smiley face. The interviewee is forced to give honest answers. At least it looks like they are being honest. He has interviewed people like Kanhaiya Kumar of JN, Rahul Gandhi, a young politician from aam admi party   and even a BJP minister. Well, Samdish is an ideal version of how a journalist should be. Sad truth is  ideal versions do not materialize often. And we have to make do with people like Navika and Arnab and always wonder what %, if any of the news we are seeing is true. This particular interview troubled me, because interviewee - Omar Abdullah is  someone who is born with a silver spoon - or I can even say diamond s...

 When you read a story - a short story, you expect an event and the before and the after. There are some emotions, lot of feelings, some dialogues etc. At the end of it, you feel happy/sad/some other emotion  for a while and then you close the book/laptop and go about with your life. Most of these stories are really light reading. But Alice Munro's stories from the book 'Too much Happiness' do not fall into this category. Each story has a depth, character depiction quite complex. Almost as complex as a novella.  In the story 'Face', the narrator has a large purple colored birth mark almost covering half his face. First time his father saw him, he told his wife to not bring the child home. And his father dislikes and abhors him for the ugly face. But his mother loves and adores him. She says that the mark makes his eyes look even more beautiful. She brings him up in a way that he doesn't feel conscious. She home schools him for a few years.  That changes because...