'I am grateful to God for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me...'

The Diary of a Young Girl ✍️

Book Review | Cathlin Esther

In the II MA Class today, Cathlin did her book review on Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.

Over to Cathlin -

The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the rarest glimpses one gets into the horrors of the Holocaust, written from a young girl’s perspective.

I got this book when I was 12 years old, and the book is so special to me, because my grandpa got me this book at a Book Fair. He took this book in his hand, and he said, ‘You should read this!’

That’s how I got to read this book!

Back then, I couldn’t really guess the intensity and the profoundness of the book that I had with me!

These are a series of entries in the form of letters, in which she records all her wishes, dreams, fears and experiences.

She wrote it while in hiding.

She received her very first diary on her 13th birthday, on June 12, 1942. The diary was written for the next two years – from her 13th to 15th year of age!

The Nazis were putting them in concentration camps, and many of the Jews went into hiding amongst book shelves. They couldn’t even feel daylight on them.

Such was the horror of the concentration camps.

Her father survived the camp and later published this as a book!

The Anne Frank you get to see when you start reading the book, is completely transformed into another person altogether by the time you finish reading the book!

In short, in two years, you get to see an entirely different Anne Frank!

Personally, I too maintained a diary during my school days - from my 8th standard to my 11th standard!

In her very first entry, Anne wrote to her diary, naming her Kitty - as if it was a bosom friend - thus - 

“I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

Cathlin concluded her review, by quoting a powerful line from the book –

“I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me”.

An intense book, reviewed in an equally riveting style!

Congratulations Cathlin on your lovely review!

PS: For added inputs on Kitty, you may want to read our past post HERE

"It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water..."

An Evening with Booksters

Today I had the pleasant privilege of visiting a cousin of ours, in Tambaram.

After she gave me my customary ‘default’ magic potion – my cuppa coffee – she and her hubby then proceeded to open up their delightful stack of books arrayed neatly in an equally enthralling book cabinet that’s been designed exclusively for the purpose!

I was really in awe of such a huge collection of books, that Sampath and Anisea were giving me a delightful peek into!

The last past time I had such a lovely darshan of delightful books stacked up so beautifully was at Lakshmi & Abdul’s house in Trichy – and that must have been two years ago, I guess!

Anisea then showed us her favourite Cinderella book that she had won as a prize way back in the year 1992 as a kid in school! Sampath has also preserved his school books – especially the ones he’d won in competitions!

Even while I was dazing and gazing away at these cartload of books, Sampath pulled up one particular book, and asked me, if I had read the book!

When I said, ‘No’, then - with all excitement on him - Sampath proceeded to open up the book, and flipping through the pages his eyes rested on a particular page, and then, pointing to a quote, he said, ‘Rufus, just read this na!’

I took the book in my hands, as gently as he had held it, and reclining regally on the settee, I then proceeded to read the lines!

After reading the lines, I looked up towards Anisea and Sampath, and said,

‘Sampath and Anisea, my eyes are real moist. Words really fail me. Such awesome lines these are. Shall I take a snapshot of it for my status update?’ I asked him.

He said, ‘You may gladly take the book with you, Rufus!’

Felt so happy dear reader!

But wait-o-wait!

Let me give you a glimpse into that particular awe-inspiring quote, dear reader –

Take some time to reflect on it please!

Here goes the snapshot –

Then we had a discussion on how the reading habit has quite dwindled over the years in today’s Gen Z kids!

Sampath said, ‘My grandpa was an avid reader. He used to have a five-foot pile of Reader’s Digest stacked up in his room, which was a real feast for all of us!’

When asked how he got into the habit of reading books, he said, ‘As kids, none of our families – including our cousins’ families – had Television sets in our homes. So eventually we used to retreat into the world of books for hours and hours together. There were days when I had read even 300 pages a day, and felt like I wanted to read even more!’

‘But today’s kids do not have the patience to read books. Even while watching something on YouTube, they pace through the video as quickly as possible, for want of some added patience on them’, he remarked.

He seems to be a great fan of C. S. Lewis, and added that, reading C. S. Lewis requires a lot of patience. It was added delight to see him sport the huge Chronicles of Narnia in his book stack!

By the way, Anisea and Sampath ain’t any way into literature, dear reader!

They are into medicine, and products of Christian Medical College, Vellore!

May your tribe increase, Anisea & Sampath!

'Suddenly he found his queen trapped...'

On True-blue Friendships | Memories

29th August 1994

28 years ago!

HSC Days @ MCC School

Hostel life is a real double delight of sorts, if you are lucky enough to get the right people by your side!

These are the friends who are there for you in your good and in your bad – at your desk – in the classroom, in your cubicle, in the play field, at the swimming pool, in the mess, at the ice-cream parlour, at the music class, and the list goes on and on!

What with those incessant chats, those cute petty pillow fights, and a gentle flicking away of your Tintins, your Tinkles, your Asterixes, your Hardy Boys and your Happy Days and your Satyajit Rays – things you hold so close to your heart!

Well, that’s the definition of friendship, ain’t it?

It’s a truth, then, universally acknowledged as well, that a lovely literary soul, in possession of a lovely literary heart, would always have  a lovely literary friend beside them!

In short… Not a day without good friends in our lives!

Well, I’ve always believed in Caleb Colton’s axiomatic line, “Books, like friends, should be few and good”.

They are the rare few, the special few, with whom you take some sweet privileges!

The ones who don your diary entries almost every other day!

The ones with whom you take some extra liberties!

The ones who partake in your everyday delights – er… um… with coffee being the crowning glory of it all!

This is especially true for a hosteler for whom a close friend doubles up as a sibling as well!

Sunil was one such bosom buddy for me in my hostel years at MCC School during my HSC Days!

One thing I’ve noticed in my past diary entries is that, almost every other day, my friends find mention in some event / incident or the other.

And this particular day was no exception!

But on this day, 29th August 1994 – 28 years ago, coincidentally a Monday again, I went to Sunil’s cubicle and we planned on playing a game of chess.

I had received two letters you see! So picking them up, I read it - as usual - with Sunil, my buddy who is that eager-beaver, active-o-active and super-excited listener to all of my letters!

Since lunch time was calling, we stopped the game mid-way and continued the game post-lunch!

Sunil was quite adept at the game, and he was not one to be easily defeated!

But this time, he was one down! He had lost due to a callous move on his part!

Then Shakti came and it was a Shakti vs Sunil bout now!

I assisted Shakti and he won in the end!

All was well until then!

When...

Sunil, who was kinda sulking from his first taste of defeat at the game, asked if we both could take to the board again!

I nodded!

That nod proved quite costly!

The game went on and on! When…. Suddenly he found his queen trapped beyond redemption!

And with the hobson’s choice on him, he was in a fix!

That’s when I made a move – a mistaken move!

The move he had been waiting for all along!

I had innocuously placed my queen near his pawn, when he carpe-diemed the opportunity, and asked me if I had placed it, and when I nodded my head, albeit nonchalantly at that - 

At one go, he then knocked off my queen. 

When I said, it was not a confirmed move, and i was just pondering over my move, he – already sulking with a defeat on his side – shattered the board and the pieces as well!

For a moment he was filled with such great anger! He then held me by my shirt!

But then, I’ve written a line that I guess, has been my lovely little philosophy for all these years!

And I quote –

‘I didn’t hurt him because he was my friend…’

Well, when we are hurt, it’s always good on our part, not to talk!

For, it’s better not to aggravate a situation by adding salt to injury!

That's one reason why, when hurt, I always withdraw into a ‘silent mode’ for hours - Something that my bosom buddy Wesley also does! 

And get back from ground zero, only when things are back to cool, and limped its way back to normalcy!

My closest friend – Wesley – [who was also ‘Best Friend’ at my wedding, and my bosom friend for more than three decades now] – I can say with all honesty that, we both have never once hurt each other - even once - all these thirty years of our friendship!

Whenever we talk on the phone, or take a walk for our morn and evening’s cuppa, or whenever we go for those blessed music classes, Hindi classes, French classes, Computer classes, we both always used to have a warm, wodehouse-ian humour on top gear on us - all of the time – each delighting in the company of the other by being the best, and giving the best - to the other! 

That’s what friends are for, ain’t it?

Well, let me conclude this blogpost, with a true incident that happened more than two decades ago!

Wesley and myself – we were hostel-mates for many many years!

One fine day in July, in my final year PG, since I was working with The Hindu Newspaper part-time, I had to step out of the hostel, and stay in a Mansion outside Campus, due to some journalistic commitments!

For the first time ever, I came to college on my bicycle, without the company of my bosom friend – Wesley!

For the first time ever, in our college life, my friend Wesley came to classes without my company either!

Everything was fine up until the first hour was up!

In the second hour, Dr. Sobana’s class was going on, when suddenly in the last row, there was a whimper. 

Dr. Sobana noticed the whimper that had slowly crept all over Wesley!

She then stopped her lecture, and asked him, ‘Wesley, why? What’s bothering you?’

Wesley then wiped the tears off his eyes, and said, ‘Nothing, ma’am!’

Sakthivel promptly stepped in, to salvage the situation and started comforting Wesley!

But Wesley was inconsolable!

Then, Dr. Sobana looked towards my direction – to where I was seated - [since the entire department knows full well, how bosom buddies we both are!) and said, 

‘Rufus, take your friend to the Canteen. Get him some coffee!’

Immediately I obliged, and Wesley gladly followed me to the College canteen!

I bought him his favourite tea, and I then asked him what had happened.

For a few minutes, he didn’t say anything!

I was intrigued! What on earth had happened within just a day’s time? - I was hazarding all possible clues and blues on me, when - 

Wesley slowly opened up –

Said he –

‘Rufus, for the first time, I had to walk alone to College today. I missed you so badly da! Why did you leave me?’

A line that literally broke my heart, dear reader!

I stood up from my side of the table, and went up to him, and hugged him tight! 

A hug that made him cheer up for the rest of the day!

Guess what?

Very soon, Wesley also joined me in my mansion outside, along with two other friends who soon followed suit, and with their bag and baggage joined us on our rollicky times in our lovely mansion quite close to College!

Nope! It’s not a Forest of Arden type! But it was by all means - the loveliest of forests with the finest of friends, and the purest! 

Friends – who add spice to your life, and music to your days!

Wait! Let me add on –

At my wedding, my same good ol’ friends were there to sing a special number for their friend – this blogger!

At my first book release - again – a very memorable occasion in my life – my lovely friends were there, yet again, singing a beautiful number for their friend – this blogger!

And yes! When I released my first album two days ago, Wesley was the first to call me up and wish me, and gave a precious comment - straight from the heart - for me – his true-blue friend of decades!

Let me end this post with a lovely quote that I’ve so loved –

There are friends!

There is family!

Then there are friends

That become family!

Dedicated to all of us who believe in the power of a lovely, true-blue friendship for a life beyond life! 

"This book has become my constant companion and my very good friend…"

Bhavya’s Book Review | In Class Today

Well, it was Bhavya’s turn to do her Book Review in class today.

Bhavya takes over - from here on -

Well, when asked to list out their favourite books, most will say, God of Small Things, or Harry Potter, etc.

We also for the most part, go by the dictum that, books are an epitome of knowledge. But these are trite and clichéd sayings, which - though may be true, - I wish to gently put them aside.

I would love to share something with you about our library madam.

She used to give each of us a book and within a week’s time, she would ask us all to write about it and show it to her.

My mom is a librarian as well. So my house is literally always flooded with books all of the time.

Have you all read the book, “Dalit movement and radical left?” she then asked the class.

Following this, she read out a lovely quote on reading in Malayalam which goes thus –

വായിച്ചാൽ വളരും

വായിച്ചില്ലെങ്കിലും വളരും,

വായിച്ചാൽ വിളയും

വായിച്ചില്ലെങ്കിൽ വളയും

I’ve not been a huge fan of those huge books anytime. Balaramas (Children’s Comics) are my types, you see!

We all have the fire within us. We know it only through our difficult times.

I’ve not yet started my book review so far.

Well, this book that I’ve wanted to review, I’ve been carrying with me always. It has some fire in it. But I won’t recommend it for you.

Five months ago, I bought this book. It had everything that I was facing… fear, trauma, disillusionment, etc.

It’s written in a very simple language. The girl in the book gave me a lot of confidence.

If she can come up in life, You too can! It’s just the same thing! As simple as that!

It has sections, sub-sections, It has emotions, fun and all.

The book tells the way she overcame her life’s battles. Struggles, bullying etc in her childhood.

This book has become my constant companion and my very good friend…

Saying thus, she said she wanted to show the book to all of us, and hence, walking down the aisle, she went to the last row to her bench, and took out the book…

And hey presto!

It was her own personal note book!

A book that contained all her woes and blues, her ups and downs, and how she’s managed through it all and come out super-strong!

The whole class gave her a wonderful ovation!

Great Bhavya! You literally won all our hearts! and how…!

"They'll carry digital devices containing their personal and business information..."

My First Ever Seminar!| PG Days 

19th August 2000 | Memories 🥰

Those were the days, when the rise of the machines was clarioned atop all of academia with the tagline, ‘Embrace change’ – or ‘you’re missing something’!

So it was, that I had resolved to go with the flow - brace up in high gear and embrace this change – by resolving to get myself clocked into a good Computer Academy to know first-hand the basics of these ‘sisterly-concerns of the IBM types’ in all their glory and their aura!

PACE was our immediate first resort, as it was located in a very convenient location, adjacent to College.

However, a kind-hearted Computer Science Professor [Dr. Jose], after meeting up with Dad, advised me against shelling out money by the thousands to Computer Academies, as back then, there weren’t good instructors on their rolls!

So PACE was thus dropped off my itinerary for the upcoming months, and Dr. Jose really proved a valuable instructor for me in every way!

Coming now to the most important part of the day’s diary entry - 

As per the sagely advice of our Professors, a few of us – friends – we had decided to attend a Seminar for the first time ever in our lives!

The Seminar was enlightening in many ways! We were given a lot of fresh inputs on the newy world of Computers – of the ensuing Internet Age, and the technocentric world of the near future!

I’m quite reminded of the highly prophetic and oracular sensation of sorts from Bill Gates, titled, Business @ the Speed of Thought that was published in 1999, where he puts forth a proposition that was really-really quite mind-blowing by the standards of 20 years ago!

Here goes Gates -

In the digital age, “connectivity” takes on a broader meaning than simply putting two or more people in touch. The Internet creates a new universal space for information sharing, collaboration, and commerce.

It provides a new medium that takes the immediacy and spontaneity of technologies such as the TV and the phone and combines them with the depth and breadth inherent in paper communications. In addition, the ability to find information and match people with common interests is completely new.

These emerging hardware, software, and communications standards will reshape business and consumer behavior.

Within a decade most people will regularly use PCs at work and at home, they’ll use e-mail routinely, they'll be connected to the Internet, they'll carry digital devices containing their personal and business information.

New consumer devices will emerge that handle almost every kind of data—text, numbers, voice, photos, videos - in digital form. I use the phrases “Web workstyle“ and “Web lifestyle“ to emphasize the impact of employees and consumers taking advantage of these digital connections.

How trueyyy has proved Gates! Ain’t he?

Coming back to 19th August 2000,

After the Seminar, we were offered some good snacks as well!

On this particular day, I had created a new email id for myself on the Email sensation of the times - Yahoo!

Google and their Gmail counterparts, were literally quite unheard of, back then, you see!

To conclude, then, 

Gates – through his Business @ the Speed of Thought - has opened up a lovely ‘window’ to a beautiful pathway that lies ahead for all of humanity! 

Much akin to the valuable, enlightening Seminar that gave us such valuable, refreshing insights and productive inputs on the latest in academia transforming our thoughts and refining our sensibilities for the better! ❤️

‘Arcadian’ Delights - A Report ❤️

Booksters on a Roll! | ‘Arcadian’ Delights 

The Arcadia Book Club was started as an extension of the Department Club, Arcadia, Lady Doak College, Madurai.

Every month the members of the Club choose a book and review it.

Their last past ‘Friday Book Review’ featured this blogger reviewing The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik.  Since Prof. Sharon, the organiser of the event, had apprised me earlier on that, their students are quite well acquainted with the book, I shifted my focus to the concept of focalisation and to the various rewarding readerly-perspectives to the book.

this blogger @ the Arcadian Conclave for Booksters!

Fifty-plus students (and quite a few faculty members) had conclaved on the G-Meet platform for this virtual Book Meet, and there were quite a few intriguing questions from the faculty and students alike.

Prof. Sharon for her part said that, although she hadn’t that great a regard for Shilavati because of her sly manoeuvres, ‘your perspectives on Shilavati have made her quite redeeming to us’, she opined.

Well, on a personal note, almost every other character in the novel has these shades of grey in them! And that’s something that revs up and thereby redeems this novel for the reader!

Coming back to Arcadia Book Club,

There are three meets, one virtual, and two in-person meets.

The Club also has an Instagram page and they are also in the process of developing a blog exclusively for their Club as well!

For the coming month, the Arcadians are planning on reading Ponniyin Selvan since the movie is also coming out soon. They also plan to compare the book with the movie version.

Up Up LDC! Great going, Prof. Sharon & Team!

On an extended note,

Plans are afoot to have a series of collaborative Book Reading Events, where institutions like MCC, American, LDC, Fatima, MTN, Thiagarajar, Stella Maris, WCC, QMC, et al – to name a few – could come together and be a part of this great grand exercise of promoting reading amongst our youngsters!

This could then become a regular feature -like a biannual or an annual book fest!

The Avid Booksters’ Collective (ABC...) we’ve tentatively christened this initiative! 😍

We also hope to have quite a few book releases on such occasions... written by some of the booksters (faculty and students alike).

With inputs from Prof. Sharon, LDC

'Headmaster was holding fort right at the entrance...'

A Diarist’s Take | On Disciplinary Power

23rd August 1994 | HSC Days

@ MCC School, Chetpet, Chennai

This post seeks to elucidate a kutty little bit on how the Foucauldian notion of disciplinary power operates in the realm of academics – at the school level, - of which he [Foucault] seeks to elaborate in much detail in Part III of his book titled, Discipline and Punish.

Foucault prefers to call this panoptic surveillance in schools as ‘moral orthopedics’.

Well, one’s school and college life provide for the student the main ‘socialising mechanism’ – wherein the instructional pedagogies focus more on a system of ‘micro-disciplinarization’.

This micro-disciplinarization happens even through the seating in the classroom, the framing of timetables for the teacher and the students, the morning assembly, the roll call, etc., that help facilitate greater institutional control over them.

At the heart of all disciplinary systems functions a small penal mechanism, observes Foucault!

The school is one such disciplinary system which has a huge array of punishments meted out to ‘deviants’ who do not ‘follow’ the ‘norm’ and as Foucault puts it, ‘for even the slightest departures from correct behaviour’ in the institution!

As I’ve jotted down in my entry of 28 years ago,

When we were on our way to our classes at 7.30 am, we saw our Headmaster holding fort at the main entrance kinda doubling up as a ‘panopticon’ of sorts! 

Then comes on the most gruesome part of ‘disciplining’ –

In the Physics class, Master made Ganesh and Sajjith to wipe the water that they had mistakenly spilt on the floor - by using their schoolbag!

When both of them were hesitant to use their lovely bags for wiping out the water, [and hence proceeded to do it quite reluctantly], Master came up to their place and proceeded to stamp their schoolbag with his foot, with such vehemence and ‘anger’ on him!

Speaks volumes to the grey areas that abound in the use of disciplinary power on pavapetta students – a power that manipulates the body to be rendered both useful and docile to society!

Useful & Docile – sounds oxy’moron’ic by all means, ain’t it?

To conclude, 

Foucault, in his analysis of power, defines ‘discipline’ as ‘the power exercised through surveillance, control, discrimination, spatial regulation and classification’.

I guess then, there arises a strong need, an urgent need and a compelling need to ‘redefine’ the term ‘discipline’ to suit it to the present day context – and thereby rid the term of its pejorative label at a go!