Jaya Row on Bhagavad Gita

To say that Bhagavad Gita is a profound scripture would be an understatement. Every time you read it, its verses yield newer meanings. The interesting thing is that one can find what one is looking for in it. For the superficial reader, it is an exciting narrative of an epic war; for the informed one, a philosophy of life. When I learnt about Jaya Row’s series of lectures devoted exclusively to Chapter IX, I rushed to Kamani auditorium on the appointed day filled to the brim with curiosity. How is she going to talk about it for four days when it takes me quarter of an hour to dispose it off?

The organizers, Vedanta Vision, very thoughtfully summed up the chapter under the title ‘The Royal Secret’ in a brochure and followed it up with all the 34 verses in Sanskrit, which I am no good at but sounded extremely melodious when played during the lectures. Fortunately there was an English translation for the uneducated, which right at the beginning promised to declare the ‘most profound secret-knowledge along with wisdom’ but only to one ‘who does not criticise’. Was I destined to be the ignorant one?

Jaya Row is an eloquent speaker who unfolded the ‘royal knowledge’ as one ‘directly realisable, righteous, very easy to practise’. She preferred the original ‘sraddha’ to its poor equivalent in English ‘faith’ since the former has elements of complete devotion and surrender lacking in the latter. Knowledge comes only to one willing to listen with empathy (shravan), think over it deeply (manan) and is willing to imbibe or become what is taught. For those devoid of faith, there is the fearful prospect of return to this mortal world.

Jaya Row changes her demeanour constantly- from a smiling, reassuring one when getting a right response from someone in the audience to a stern school-master like the next moment. ‘Are you understanding or just sitting in an air-conditioned hall?’ Quoting from earlier Chapters of Bhagavad Gita and Upanisads, she explains how the life cycle of an individual is too miniscule in a Kalpa to be much consequence. Therefore, she exhorts, do not worry about nation or the world but save your own self from the destructive influence of an illusory (mayavi) world.

The aim has to be karma or action, which is neither selfish nor even selfless since both lead to desires albeit of a different kind. Discarding ‘vain hopes, futile actions, hollow knowledge’ and ‘delusive nature’, one has to worship the Lord with ‘single-mindedness’. Jaya Row explains how Om formed with sounds a, u and m raises one’s consciousness from the mundane to the divine when chanted with steadfast devotion.

Calling for change in attitude, Jaya Row employs humour to drive home the need to drop negativity in thought and behaviour. ‘You are not upset when a neighbour’s dog barks because you understand it is the prakriti or nature of that creature. ‘Why get upset when your wife barks at you’, she asks tongue in cheek. ‘I am the same in all beings, nobody is hateful or dear to me’, she quotes Verse 29 to emphasize how the Lord and all the worshippers are in one another.

Jaya Row dismisses Verse 32, which clubs those ‘of sinful birth, women, vaisyas and sudras’ as the most misunderstood one claiming women in all scriptures have been portrayed as goddesses. Not very convincing since the tone and tenor of the verse clearly implies that despite being lowly, ‘they also attain the supreme Goal’. It might have been better to accept that perceptions change over time and it is the underlying message in the last verse, which is important. “Fix your mind in Me, be My devotee, sacrifice to Me, prostrate to Me…..you shall come to me.’ Amen!

Letters to Editor (Misc.)

Rai’s views about English (Outlook, Aug 23, 2010) were at best puerile; Das was far more cogent in outlining the new role English has been playing in an India spurred by technology and growth. This is surely not the language taught in fossilised universities and colleges with their archaic curriculum and conceited faculties. The ‘Globish Inglish’ contemptuously referred to by Rai, which evolved in business centres and management institutes as a skill, has fast emerged as the language of communication across different states and even nations. This is borne out by the US administration’s recent move to raise the visa fee manifold for Indian technocrats and software professionals wanting to go there. There is no need to dream of India in English but many of us can surely realise our dreams through it.

J.M. Manchanda, New Delhi

Of Teachers and Registers!

Who hasn’t been tormented by the arduous attendance business at school! Teachers still begin their day by taking the infamous roll call followed by countless ‘yessirs’ or ‘present mams’ reverberating in the classrooms. No one ever protested even when asked to stand outside the class for being a latecomer and monitors walking by with a tell-all smile. Today when members of the same fraternity, albeit at a higher level resist recording their own attendance and become the subject of a deriding edit in a major national daily (HT, Oct. 4), it is time to ponder over the issue.

I remember attending a UGC-sponsored conference on Post-war literature in Chandigarh where a clerk used to walk in to make us record our attendance on a piece of paper. This entitled about a dozen of us to our meagre dearness allowance and measly meals. Though we signed the slip without a murmur, the British professor found the exercise in the middle of the session quite irksome and repeatedly asked if it was really necessary.

No one ever imagined that teachers of a premier university would ever play truant or do less than what was expected of them. In fact to guard against over-burdening them, it was one profession where the maximum, not the minimum, work-load was prescribed. ‘No teachers will be given more than eighteen periods a week’, the rule mentioned. In a similar strain, teachers were not expected to record their presence but were assumed to be present unless on leave. In the same spirit, most teachers remained accessible and went out of the way to turn institutions into centres of excellence. Luckily many still do.

With expansion, attitudes also gradually changed. The standards began to be diluted. I still remember some of my junior colleagues protesting why we need to come every day or apply for leave when one or the other member was spotted only rarely in college and got away with it. The principal did try once in a while to reason with the offenders but were silenced by angry denials. The disease spread over time. One of the jokes doing rounds in staff rooms now is that one should no longer ask about the ‘Off day’ but the ‘working day’.

This is not to justify the contents of the edit. Much of it was false and frivolous. The average salary of a college teacher is less than half of what was quoted. Considering most of them are unable to enter the profession these days till they are in their late twenties or early thirties takes much of sheen off that figure. Most still continue to work for long, past their marriage and parenthood, teaching on ad-hoc or guest basis. In any case, it is not enough to ensure the presence of a teacher, essential though it is, but to create an atmosphere, which encourages him to deliver his best. This is only possible with fair selection followed by periodic assessment and rewards.

Accountability is a good argument. You can’t just go on saying ‘No’ to everything. No internal assessment marks, no admissions, no time tables, no new academic calendar, no exams in November, no semester system at UG level, no biometric system, no revision of courses, no centralised evaluation. In short, no work but all pay! But accountability is a two-way sword. Accountability is surely not limited to teachers signing an attendance register.

Let all of us on the campus, and let us begin at the top, ask ourselves whether we have acted fairly, diligently and delivered our best on the job. Perhaps the answer will not be very flattering!

CWG-Festival of Food in CP

Cocking a snook at the sceptics, crowds thronged Bhai Khadak Singh Marg where a Festival of Foods began on the eve of opening of CWG. People filled up space in front of States’ emporia where creativity unleashed itself in several forms.Bamboo was used generously to build benches, arches and sculptors with lights adding colour to the event. Folk dances on an open stage drew repeated applause from the onlookers while the rest literally queued up to click pictures of a unique wedding procession depicted in roped sculptors with a bride sitting demurely in a palanquin and her groom astride an elephant. Food and crafts from States as far as Manipur and Rajasthan were on offer with seats thrown in imaginatively. There was an air of festivity all around with scoops of ice-cream and Chandni Chowk’s paranthas adding to what was available in the Food Court. The only regret! There weren’t many tourists who have apparently stayed back in the wake of intense negative coverage in our media. To make amends, the media may now onwards focus on the brighter side but the damage cannot be undone.

Meanwhile Delhites have decided to hop on & enjoy themselves to the hilt.

As one drove back on the outer circle, there was another surprise in store. The shack-like shops housing Kake da hotel etc. near Super Bazaar had been redone to become replicas of the famed inner circle.