SUNDAY FEATURE: In the Island of Masks – Majuli

Throughout the world masks have been prevalent in rituals and festivities since antiquity. Hollywood movies and popular English Literature has much familiarized us with masks at the masquerade parties in the West. But not many know that India too has a unique cultural legacy of masks and mask making. This fantastic mask craftsmanship has been preserved and is being passed on from generation to generation on a tranquil riverine island of Majuli on the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Today Majuli has carved a special place for itself amongst culture aficionados across the world, especially for its art of mask making.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-5.png — Beauty of Majuli lies in its remoteness

Inside Majuli

The island of Majuli can be accessed by ferries via Jorhat city. The dock on the island gives it a barren and desolate look but do not fall for this mirage because as you wheel inside, Majuli welcomes you with lush greenery and offers you the colours, tastes, music, art, languages and traditions of Assam and its tribal communities, especially if you visit it during the festive season around Dussehra and Diwali. Inside Majuli, the island is best enjoyed on bicycles and bikes. The rustic thatched bamboo huts in traditional Mishing style on river side or in the fields create picturesque scenes that calm the mind. As you traverse across Majuli, it is worth observing the everyday life of the agrarian folk here. Homestays are quite popular on this island where the local freshly brewed rice beer and authentic delicacies like Porang Apin (rice cooked in tora leaves), Pamnam (fish baked in banana leaves) among others provide a new experience to the palate.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-4.png — Performance at a Satra in Majuli

The island of Majuli is also the seat of neo-Vaishnavite culture of Assam that houses Satras or monasteries that have been established here by Mahapurush Sankardeva in late 15^th century. The fine details on the decorative wood panels on some of the ancient Satras here represent the tribal art, folk culture and also the heritage of Ahom Kingdom. These Satras are now important centres of traditional performing arts. Each Satra has a distinct identity and serves as a sanctorium to a different art form. For instance, the Auniati Satra stores ancient artifacts and is famous for traditional Mishing tribal dances and Paalnaam which is form of congregational prayer.

The Dakhinpat and Garamur Satras stage raas leela and bhaonas which are theater performances that make use of the popular dramatic masks made exclusively in Majuli. The most renowned amongst these is Shamaguri Satra that has brought Majuli to the foreground for its art of mask making with some of its remarkable folk creations also being exhibited in Victoria and Alberta Museum in London.

Use of Indigenous material

Majuli is world renowned for its folk art of mask making

What differentiates these masks from other folk masks across the country is that they are made from indigenous material of the island and not plaster of paris, and without the use of synthetic colours. The techniques used for it are in fact being used since medieval times where special attention is paid to the intricate details and technicality (now there are also new kinds of masks that have movable jaws making dialogue delivery easier). The traditional art of making masks is passed down from father to son or from the guru or teacher at the Satra to the students.

The technique involves making a three dimensional bamboo framework onto which clay dipped pieces of cloth are plastered. After drying it, a mix of clay and cow dung is layered on it for adding details and giving depth to the mask. Jute fibers and water hyacinth are used for beard, mustaches and hair. Once the mask is complete, a kordhoni (bamboo file) is used to burnish the mask. And finally, the zeal and drama is given to the masks through deft painting. The mask makers of Majuli preferably use vegetable dyes and colours derived from hengul (red) and hentul (yellow) stones.

There are three different types of masks that are made. The ‘Mukha bhaona’ covers the face, ‘Lotokoi’ which is bigger in size extends to the chest and ‘Cho Mukha’ is a head and body mask. The masks are made exactly the way luminary Sankardeva described the characters in his ‘Ankitya Natya’ from which bhaonas have emerged. These bamboo masks are very light in weight, making it convenient and comfortable for the performers to put them on. It takes approximately ten to fifteen days to make them.

It is but natural that when you visit this Satra, you have faces of gods, goddesses, demons, fiends, ogres and all kinds of interesting otherworldly characters with raised brows and flared nostrils from Indian mythology and folklore, as attendees either smiling or scoffing at you, spicing your visit to the otherwise peaceful Majuli.

Fact File

Where: Majuli is the first island district of India located in the Brahmputra river that passes through the beautiful and enthralling Assam.

What else to watch: Majuli is a birdwatchers delight. Rare species of migratory birds arrive here in winter.

Best time to travel: The Island is open throughout the year but October-November is the best time to experience the island in its full vibrancy and festivity.

How to reach: It is a 15km drive from the city of Jorhat to Nimati Ghat from where the island of Majuli can be accessed through ferries. If you’re in luck you can catch a glimpse and enjoy the extraordinary scenes during sunrise and sunset (although ferries generally start by 8:00 am and end by 4:00 pm; timing varies according to season).

Where to stay: There are many hotels and homestays in Majuli. The Satras also offer guesthouses to the devotees and tourists alike.

Published in The Tribune on 29.11.2020

NUGGETS of LIFE: Warming up to welcoming the winter

5 health benefits of sun during winter | TheHealthSite.com — Paradoxical it may seem but look at it from another looking glass and it would dawn, that winters have been adding memories to our memory flora since generations.

Robert Frost felt that “An hour of winter day might seem too short, to make it worth life’s while to wake and sport”, while for Matsuo Basho, “When the winter chrysanthemums go, there’s nothing to write about but radishes”. Whether it is the evil queen of frozen Narnia or the terrible icy ordeal of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant – winter has symbolically represented negativity in almost all the literature and movies I have come across. It might be right for the West, but should we be indoctrinating our mind with what is right for them? Are these white winters really so whiny, rigid and bad?

Well, these waves of thought regarding winters were set in motion when on a fine day in December last year, an aunt of mine asked me how I was doing. My spontaneous jolly reply was, “Very well! Enjoying the winter”. My old aunt raised her brows and looked at me rather petrified and affectionately corrected me saying, “Biba sardiya manaai nahi jandia katia jandia ne” (winters are not to be enjoyed but suffered through). Well this time I raised my brows – a little puzzled, a little amazed!

I cannot deny my love and optimism for winters, not that I’m a sadist! Perhaps, my love for this cold season emerges from the realization how warm and welcoming winters are from inside. Paradoxical it may seem but look at it from another looking glass and it would dawn, that winters have been adding memories to our memory flora since generations. Only we have failed to notice!

The happiness of eating oranges under the balmy sun on a winter day or the sense of relief when a hot water bottle is tucked inside the quilt at night – are all little moments that make for a beautiful life, but sadly enough we often neglect it in the larger pursuits of our lives. It is worth noting that one cannot even enjoy the warmth without experiencing the cold.

My happy memories don’t just end with this! The memory flora rather blooms as the chilling winter approaches and I get to relive the vivid pictures of my childhood – of family reunions at our hill estate around bonfires – peanuts, baked potatoes, cakes, the whiff in the air of rums and whiskies! Or the one and only sarso ka saag and makki ki roti back in Punjab! And yet every year there is more to add, because ironically despite the chill – we still decide to save the dates for the wedding of our loved ones in this season.

My winter cautious aunt also got married in winters and so did I. Certainly my winter saga has lot more lovely stories in its fold and as the season approaches, my mind rings Terri Guillemets words: “Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless. “

Published in Hindustan Times on 3.11.2017

OPINION: Are We a Generation of Uneducated Literates?

A generation of uneducated literates who are now in a crisis of confidence

Human education opens the mind. If humankind has ever unanimously agreed on something then it is the power of education (no wonder when White supremacist, Nazi’s or any authoritarian regime wanted to come to power they first hacked and altered the education systems!).

The scenario today is that the world in 21^st century has the most educated population and hence the most comfortable lifestyles that our predecessors could never imagine. Thanks, to the technological revolution and evolution, advanced degrees, deeper understanding of psychology and biotechnology. Over the last 65 years the global literacy rate increased by 4% every 5 years, from 42% in 1960 to 86% in 2015. In spite of this, we have a parallel degradation at a new level in our society. Every day brutal rape cases, sophisticated artificial intelligence attacks, ecological disruption (with fires and floods breaking out too often) clearly point in that direction.

To generalize the entire world population as uneducated literates would not be right. But the deluge of disinformation and the growing instability around the world – be it politics, economics, environment, physical and mental health, makes it imperative to address this turbulence by tracing it back to its root cause which is the human education system.

So, where are we going wrong? How are we a generation of uneducated literates?

Education vs. Literacy

Did you know Osama Bin Laden was a qualified civil engineer? And the famous American murderer Gary Gilmore had an IQ test score of 133? Yes that is true, but the more disturbing truth is that we as a generation fail to distinguish between education and literacy. Literacy is our ability to read and write. On the other hand education encompasses thinking, rationality, wisdom, ethics, sensibility and formation of good character. A degree in any field today is nothing more than the human mental faculties being engineered to read and write in a certain way. However, education is connoted with formal education more often than not. This blurs the line between the two which should have been kept distinct. Therefore, one can graduate as an ‘evil- genius’ but not ‘illiterate-moralist’. It is because the basis for having good grades is literacy and not education in its right sense, or even in accordance with its etymological meaning. And this has precisely become one of the founding reasons for the chaos in the 21^st century world, as A.R. Upadhya puts, all literates are not educated and all illiterates are not uneducated.

Educated Literate or Prejudiced Literate

A literate person without a degree today is considered ‘uneducated’ even if the individual is an ethical, cultured, sophisticated, self reliant, well read and dignified being. While, a doctor who creates a ruckus by breaking traffic rules, a public officer who doesn’t mind a little pee on the roadside, or a professor who has no sense of basic etiquettes is considered ‘educated’. Are they educated literates in any way? Majority are not educated literates but prejudiced literates. Our notion of education has reduced its scope to mere literacy and learnedness, completely doing away with the concept of ethics and morality. It is all about flashing your degrees and universities. In fact, it is worth mentioning here that the glory that an educational institute gains because of the learning or brave achievement of some of the individuals (because of their own independent efforts) is trivialized because of the commercial mandates of these institutes that distribute a slice of that glory to all the lesser ones who have enough money to enter these institutes. This prejudiced behavior is highly problematic now than ever before because the 21^st century educational institutes have produced too many individuals with shallow character and views that are now equipped with advanced knowledge. This approach becomes cradle to terrorism, red tapism and many other organized crimes. We need to redefine not just the education structure but more importantly our behavior and attitude to curb it.

Disoriented Literates

One out of five sex offenders are university graduates amounting to 34.4%, and there are only 6% of them who have no academic background according to a recent survey. Who is really disoriented then – the uneducated or the educated? Education as we have come to use it now cannot be related to sanity. Never before did any generation so easily believe in conspiracy theories and was disillusioned to this extent (despite the fact that 89% of world population is literate now). Even today, a well educated refined army man or magistrate would have a mindset of having a line of daughters before a son pops out. We say women are at power with men but the number of female infanticide cases still has not reduced. What to do with such refinement and education then?

An alternate prism for why we still prefer to be uneducated literates is that it is easy to sit on a mountain than a needle, and morality is like a needle, it pricks you every time you go wrong. Hence our generation found it easier to ignore it. But where has it led us now. Behold the circus of the world then – where peaceful protests are ended with automatic gun fires in Nigeria, where American president Trump tells its citizens to drink disinfectant, when any political disagreement is considered anti national in India, when the royal house of Thailand thinks it is good time to regain authority by crushing democracy, thousands of Muslims are slaughtered in China, massive protests take over Brazil, a feminist artist is imprisoned for six years on trivial charges in Russia – highlighting only a few.

We are certainly a generation of uneducated literates who are in a crisis of confidence now. Good luck!

SUNDAY FEATURE: The Romance of Hand-Knitting!

Knitting is a craft in which sweetness is infused and calm induced

“In the rhythm of the needles, there is music for the soul”

That time of the year when light breeze gently feathers across the skin and the sun cheers everyone with the loveliness of its sunshine. When the earth smells of ripeness and fullness, fruit and bounty; and the air is filled with notes of love and laughter. It is then that many sitting in their cozy nooks pick up the needles to knit comfort and warmth, stitch by stitch, for the approaching winters. Knitting has always been associated with peace, healing and pleasant childhood memories. Hand knitting is a beautiful expression of love involving the use of two or more needles to loop yarn into a series of interconnected loops in order to create a finished garment. It is a craft that has given comfort to many a generation across the globe since ages.

A brief history

Most histories of knitting place its origin somewhere in the Middle East, and from there it spread to Europe by Mediterranean trade routes, and later to the Americas with European colonization. The oldest knitted artifacts are socks from Egypt, dating from 11^th century C.E. While in Europe the earliest known knitted items can be traced to the Spanish Christian Royal families who employed Muslim knitters. Several paintings from Europe portray the Virgin Mary knitting including ‘Our Lady Knitting’ by Tommaso da Modenna. There is also mention of knitting in the plays by Shakespeare that were written between 1590 and 1610. In 17^th and 18^th century hand knitting became an important occupation in Scottish Isles. By mid 19^th century hand knitting declined due to the increasing use of mechanical knitting machines. In India, scholars do not have a fixed time period assigned to the introduction of knitting. There is no ancient word in Sanskrit for knitting. Even in Hindi language, the term for knitting is bunaai which means weaving. Textile expert Toolika Gupta is of the opinion that when knitting was introduced in India, it was instantly called bunaai for lack of better word. Therefore, the word ‘weaving’ or bunaai has been synonymous with knitting in this country.

Present scenario

The popularity of any craft has always swayed along the ongoing fashions of the eras and the changing values of the society. The 1920s saw a rise in demand for sweaters and pull-overs with statement styles being set by the likes of Prince Wales (future Edward VIII) wearing Fair Isle sweater to play golf and Coco Chanel incorporating knitwear in high fashion. It was a much sort after craft during the war years too. Again in 1950s and 1960s knitting gained huge popularity with introduction of more bright colours and styles of yarn. But the point to be noted here is that knitting as a hand craft had already lost its charm by this time. It was in mid 19^th century itself that hand knitting was taken over by knitting industry and survived only as hobby. By late 20^th century it further saw a decline and was rarely taught as a craft in school. With many knitting groups emerging, 21^st century indeed saw a resurgence of this craft amongst Millennials but still fails to pass on the skills of this craft to Gen Z who is more occupied with virtual world errands than the real world charm.

Great gift of knitting

Hand knitting is not merely a creative leisure activity. With increasing number of mental health issues, sense of lack, broken families – knitting is a craft that can provide immense therapeutic results. The truth is that the romance of hand knitting is vanishing when it is needed the most. Hand knitting relaxes the mind, soothing its electric sparks by focusing the thoughts in the moment. It makes you still, helps gather yourself and centers your being. More so, it disciplines the faculties of mind and body, thereby increasing patience and concentration. Pain specialists have found that hand knitting changes brain chemistry, resulting in an increase in ‘feel good’ hormones (i.e. serotonin and dopamine). Interestingly, the craft of hand knitting being a binary wrapping code of knit and purl stitches, serves as one of the best brain exercises to increase I.Q. as well. Studies have also shown that knitting has helped reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The gift of hand knitting certainly lies in its healing nature. It is a craft in which sweetness is infused and calm induced. As is said –

“Sweet contents knit in my soul, in a million happy stitches”

So just do it!

Tools & Material: Knitting needles, yarns, row counter, stitch holder

Basics: Learn how to cast on the needle, i.e. put the yarn on the needle Learn to do a knit stitch and purl stitch Learn to cast off the live stitches And you’re ready to make that scarf for this Christmas!

Advanced stitches: Cable stitch, Plaited stitch, Dip stitch

Stitch patterns: Garter stitch, Basket stitch, Herrington stitch, Fishermen Rib stitch

Published in The Post India on 14.10.2020

NUGGETS of LIFE: Paintbrush of our Life – Our Mind

There is a very popular saying that life is a stage where men and women play their parts and go. But things take a turn when the question of ‘how to play it’ comes. We need to rise and contemplate about these intricacies of life. For this we need to understand our mind, for it is the paintbrush that goes long way painting our lives.

Our mind wobbles, jumps or is at peace sometimes. The way it works and shapes, leads to the way our eyes perceive the world around. And for the world, it sees our character painted by our mind and it becomes our identity. Our character is determined by our actions and the niche of our actions lies in our mind. Mind, character, behavior, lifestyle, success, failure – all come round full circle and mind is the real game player.

In this pacing modern era, each and every person undergoes various situations. In present times, a lay mans observation is that everything touches extremity. Rich is getting richer, poor is getting poorer; success or failure both reach pinnacle; poverty or corruption, everything has reached its height. Increasing cases of depression, diseases, suicide, crime, breach and many more – all indicate that people are not able to balance their actions, their lives and basically their minds! Why was not it to this extent during our grandparents time? There are other factors too that play their part but human mind is certainly the main hidden factor that creates this imbalance.

Every human needs to have a positive mind under any circumstance to unlock the door of content, happiness and a wonderful life! It’s a blatant truth that almost 95 % people have restless minds leading to an unhappy life. Take the example of a glass of water, filled till the middle. What do you perceive? What is your reaction? Either you will say it is ‘half empty’ or ‘half filled’. This experiment is helpful in knowing how happy life you will lead based on your attitude. Ideally, a person with a sunshine approach to life should say at least there is some water in that glass!

Fundamentally a person should know two things about mind – handling and nourishing it. Finding happiness in little things of life is what positiveness is all about. Happiness is the power to reverse our mind from bad to good. Every lock has a key. Discipline of faculties, self control, meditation, going for morning walks, taking a break for a nice family vacation, appreciating the beautiful world around us, talking and sharing our experiences (thus, making ourselves feel lighter and better) – are all ways to tackle and handle our mind, but until and unless we don’t nourish it, the whole process remains incomplete. Vehicles need fuel, electronics need electricity and body needs food. Likewise, our mind needs nourishment. Reading good books, developing a hobby, healthy lifestyle, good company, positive environment, faith and hope – are some of the things we need to do to keep our minds nourished. And every person who is successful in doing this – his life is well accomplished!

We should always consider our mind ‘a gift of nature’ like a tree that has hundreds of branches and yet sprouting many more. And all we need to do is to prune it well, so that it is good enough to create a beautiful happy life.

Published on EzineArticles.com on 2.7.2012

OPINION: Why Farmers Opposition To The New Agricultural Reforms Is Justified

Punjab farmer unions to corner Cong govt — Farmers are unhappy with the new agriculture bills

After the CAA protests, now the centre government is facing yet another major backlash. The new farm ordinances promulgated in June this year, have not gone well with the farming community, especially of Punjab and Haryana. The reforms in the agricultural markets include deregulation of farm foods from the Essential Commodities Act (ECA). Farmers are also allowed to sell their produce to the government regulated market yards (mandis) or Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), as well as to private firms outside this set up. They have also been allowed to enter into farming contracts. The government says that these bills have rid the farmers from the shackles of middleman, increased the profit margins for them, increased their bargaining power and hence a freer trade. However, the farming community refuses to accept these as pro farmer legislations and they have strong arguments to make which should not be overlooked.

The farming community believes that with the coming of private players it will be difficult to hold them accountable for any malpractice or harassment. The eventual phasing out of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will take away the farmers safety net and the farmers already have many issues to tackle with from depleting water levels, rising input costs for farming and debts. Least government involvement in the entire process of crop procurement will snub the small and marginal farmer decreasing their bargaining power instead of increasing it. The parallel mandi system that has been allowed to be carried out along with the entry of agribusiness firms will become redundant over a period of time – handing the baton finally to the big corporations. It is to be pointed out here that although the government claims that it is trying to help the farmers by ridding them of the monopoly of APMCs, the farming community has never been entirely against the APMCs work ecosystem in the first place. Many farmers are hugely dependent on artiya system (government licensed commission agents which gives them credibility with the farmers) for loans and smooth functioning of their daily lives. Even the banks could not provide as healthy an alternative to the farmers. Secondly and more importantly if the government could assure the provision of MSP in the legislation itself, they would not have faced such protests. The problem is not the private player but the lack of legal binding of MSP in the new bill.

Here is a deeper analysis.

Small Threat v/s Big Threat

It cannot be denied that traditionally farmers have faced some problems at the hands of APMCs. However, the farmers have a collective strength as the government is answerable to them locally and nationally, which makes sure that APMCs never overreach themselves. Hence, it is a smaller threat to their progress. On the other hand, with big corporations coming in and no government involvement, the farmers will have no backup. A mutual agreement can only take place or rather hold its place if all the parties involved can exercise their strengths equally. With no strong protective measures from their democratically elected government, the farmers will definitely have a bigger threat from these corporations who have the financial power and the digital behavioral data of millions of people. Till date the American government could not completely round off Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for his mega company’s data malpractices that have impacted daily life and electoral decisions of people around the globe. How will the simple farmers ever round up private players and big corporations in case of any injustice?

One size does not fit all

Punjab and Haryana are states where the agitation against the new reforms is the most severe since they have higher contribution in filling the food security pool of India. Therefore the legislation needs to be flexible in its application. 34 % of wheat and 22% of rice is contributed to the nation by Punjab alone. The Punjab government too collects handsome mandi tax which is also outside the GST. This tax helps create and maintain robust infrastructure like roads connecting rural areas, mandi infrastructures, etc. It is used for the welfare of people and hence should not be done away with. By removing the fee on trade and excluding the mandis from the definition of trade areas the government is clearly incentivizing the traders. Earlier the traders came to a defined and well allocated area for trade with the farmers. Now a marginal farmer is expected to carry around huge quantities of produce directly to various bases of traders. This new provision is unviable for the farmers of Punjab and Haryana. This predicament is not as strongly applicable to other states as they have a weak APMC structure. In Bihar not even 1% of targeted wheat procurement happened at MSP in this past rabi season which ended in April this year. The overall contribution of the state in terms of produce is also lesser than Punjab and Haryana. Therefore, entry of a private player might be a good alternative in this state. Yet, without government back up or intervention no trader or private company will give a decent price for the hard labour of a farmer even in these states. The main point to be taken here is that one size or one approach does not fit all.

Why rush it through?

The APMC structure came to fore legally in 1956 in the face of famine in order to check unlawful trading. The system evolved to accommodate the changed circumstances of farmers over the years. Now when it has become an integral part of many state economies, where is the need to suddenly overturn it without a proper dialogue with the stakeholders? Why ram it through with these bills in the already troubling time of coronavirus pandemic? There was no need to issue an ordinance. Normally these ordinances are issued only as an emergency law. These have to be converted into legislation as soon as the parliament reconvenes. More importantly it needs to be highlighted that any law related to agriculture, agriculture processing and marketing is not even a subject of Union list. It is constitutionally a State subject.

The government is free to introduce reforms for the betterment of its people. Precisely, it is for this very reason the elected representatives have been sent to parliament by the people. But firstly, where is the emergency? To do it behind the façade of a pandemic is not the right way ethically and morally. Secondly, does it hint at something else too? Internationally, a new business climate is trying to emerge from the moribund economy due to the ongoing pandemic. There is a visible monopolistic behavior on the rise, with supersized deals taking place between various corporate giants who have strong access to capital market. The recent deals to boost Jio ecosystem is one such case in point. The accelerated digital transformation for these bigger corporations in turn primarily means enhanced “surveillance capitalism” making the governments across the globe more in sync with such deals since they can become the biggest buyers of this surveillance data, giving a more potential rise to ‘Cambridge Analytica’ like case. In times like this, when a new dangerous world wave is emerging do we really want private players to come in.

Even if it is just hysteria, why risk crushing the Anndatta by passing such ordinances in such a hush which might weaken the economy of states, and who knows…might also become entry point for a new East India company!