Daily Religious Prayers

These form an important part in all religions. In Hinduism, Sandhyavandanam is enjoined thrice a day at morning, noon & evening. In Islam, Namaz is to be conducted five times a day. But barring a few minor changes regarding the time in which they are conducted, the text remains substantially the same.

In William Law's "A Serious Call to a Devout & Holy life", he suggests that one should rise early in the morning & pray preferably in a place set apart for that purpose. This first prayer of the day should be a thanksgiving to God for giving us a fresh day for offering to Him all that one may have, for his service & glory & then proceed to express various divine attributes of God. Singing Psalms (devotional songs) will be a necessary beginning of devotions, which should be done fasting at this time.

The next hour of praying should be at nine in the morning, the subject being the practice of humility, & guard against the sin of pride. Law also mentions that importantly Christianity requires us to live contrary to the world.

Next devotion at twelve noon should have universal love as the subject. As a corollary of this, one should intercede with God for our fellow creatures.

Next devotion should be at three in the afternoon, the subject being resignation to the Will of God in all our actions & designs.

Evening prayer at six should consist of examining our heart & confessing all our sins.

These prayers can be performed mentally, even if one is at work (except the singing of Psalms on rising in the morning.)

The last prayer of the day just before going to bed should be a thanksgiving for the gift of the day & meditate on death, the inevitable, which sleep resembles.

Law concludes that celibacy & voluntary poverty are not necessary to arrive at perfection. But if practiced, will take one to perfection safely & quickly.

Valets in English Literature

Valets were a unique phenomenon in English Upper Class Society in the early part of the 20th century. They were personal attendants to the male nobility, mostly attending to their clothes.

The most famous of them, Jeeves is a valet to Bertie Wooster, immortalised by P. G. Wodehouse in his numerous novels about the duo. Jeeves is a member of the Junior Ganymede Club. (Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter, the biggest planet. In Greek mythology, Ganymede is the loveliest of mortals & selected as the cup bearer of Zeus.) He proves his indispensability by  extricating his master from various scrapes.

Mervyn Bunter, the valet of Lord Wimsey, a creation of Dorothy Sayers, was Wimsey's Batman during the first world war & saved his life there. After the war, he joined Wimsey's service. Bunter's skills include cooking, photography & impeccable dress sense. He is forever acquiring state-of-art photographic equipment, which he uses in his master's service, whenever called for. He also attends auctions & picks up rare first editions in his master's absence, on his instructions.

The most interesting of these is neither a man nor a valet in the conventional sense, but a "pretty paragon of a parlour-maid", Doris Foljambe, who looks after Georgie Pillson, in the Mapp & Lucia novels of E.F.Benson. She looks after not only Georgie, but also his complete household, including a cook. When Georgie's sisters Hermione & Ursula visit him with their pet terrier Tiptree, he is terrified. But not so Foljambe, who has the dreaded Tiptree eating out of her hand, metaphorically speaking. Even after her marriage to Chapman, Lucia's chauffeur, she continues serving Georgie during daytime.

The quaint Lucy Eyelesbarrow

This most unusual character in all fiction appears in Agatha Christie's "4.50 from Paddington." Here the detective Miss Marple suspects that a body is hidden in an old house in a large grounds occupied by the Rutherford family. As she cannot penetrate into the grounds, she recollects Lucy, who nursed her, when she had influenza.

This Lucy has a First in Mathematics from Oxford, but disdains an academic career, as it is poorly paid. She has observed that there is a great demand for efficient domestic help & the affluent are prepared to pay the earth for competent help. She decides to enter the market but only 2 weeks at a place as she wants to meet a variety of people.

On a request from Miss Marple, who subsidises her normal wages from the Rutherford family to make up her exorbitant wages, Lucy enters the family & promptly wins the hearts of everyone with her hard work & efficiency. In her spare time, she snoops around the ground & eventually discovers the body, leaving it to Miss Marple to stage a final showdown & unmask the culprit.

By the end of the novel, she may even marry one of the characters, about whose identity Miss Marple has no doubts but typically doesn't share it with the reader!

Battles & Books

In a statement attributed to Bernard of Chartres by John of Salisbury in 1159, it was postulated that the modern man was just a "dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants", due to which he could see farther than them. Jonathan Swift took this idea & propounded a satire called "The Battle of the Books." Here the Ancients (giants) were Virgil, Cicero, Homer & Aristotle. Later writers were considered the Moderns. Even in those days, Swift was "politically correct" in concealing the result of the battle, by saying that the last pages of the report were missing!

If the foregoing is the battle 'of' books", the following deals with the battles 'in' books! Interestingly, Napoleon is involved in the wars described in both books.

The first is Tolstoy's "War & Peace" where the battle of Borodino is analysed in excruciating detail. Though Napoleon won it & proceeded to take Moscow, it was a pyrrhic victory as the French were defeated by the "scorched earth" policy of General Kutuzov & the harsh Russian winter. Tolstoy views Napoleon with critical Russian eyes, downplaying his military genius.

Napoleon gets a more favourable treatment in the second book considered, which is the Frenchman Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." A whole chapter is dedicated to Waterloo, because the baddie Thenardier is robbing corpses after the battle. Here also Napoleon was defeated but by a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington, in spite of having more artillery. As the result cannot be whitewashed, the patriotic Hugo presents individual acts of bravery by the French.

Thomas Paine & Swami Vivekananda

Thomas Paine, in his "The Age of Reason" (1794) propounded his scepticism of all Semitic religions because they were based on heresy, which one cannot be compelled to believe. He also questioned the revelations mentioned in the Bible (& Quran) for the same reason. Moses & his Ten Commandments, not to speak of Mohammad receiving the text of the Quran from a Divine source, are open to reasonable doubt.

Swami Vivekananda (being the son of an advocate) was one of the first Hindu religious leaders who counselled that nothing should be accepted without proof or evidence. He was the sceptic par excellence, who relentlessly questioned his own guru about his beliefs & even checked for himself whether his guru was practising what he preached & whether he had seen God as he claimed. In this he was the heir of the Upanishadic seers, for whom reason was paramount. Even later Swamiji reiterated that the same methodology used in proving scientific truths should be used in religion also for it to be valid.

But whereas Thomas Paine did not believe in miracles, Swami Vivekananda, who had studied Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, & also wrote his own Raja Yoga, accepted that under certain conditions, natural laws could be suspended.

Notable British Composers

In Vikram Seth's "An Equal Music" about an English String Quartet, the second violinist, Michael Holme recalls his German teacher deriding British Composers: "Oh you English! Finzi! Delius! It would be better to remain in a land without music than to have music like that." It was rather unfair of him not to mention better known British Composers who produced noteworthy music.

Edward Elgar was a distinctive voice with his two symphonies, violin concerto, cello concerto & the ever popular "Enigma Variations." The Roman Catholic Elgar had, as Ernest Newman said "a personal element that derives its brilliant & eloquent energy from a constantly renewed inner struggle."

Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Pastoral Symphony" was quite unlike any other symphony that had appeared before. The composer himself described it as "almost entirely quiet & contemplative." His earlier "London" Symphony however was self impressive with Westminster chimes, a 'Lavender' cry & jingle of hansom bells.

Arnold Bax was a self proclaimed "brazen romantic." For him, like Mendelssohn, everything came too easily. His seven symphonies contain music of haunting beauty, expressing his pantheism & mysticism. His music was inspired by Gaelic legends & Celtic renaissance.

Though Benjamin Britten composed no symphonies, his love of children manifested itself in the ever popular "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." "Four Sea interludes from 'Peter Grimes' also proved attractive.

Intolerance in history

D. W. Griffith's trendsetting film "Intolerance" deals with its subject in Babylonian, Judean, French & American Societies.

However, in history it has reared its ugly head right from the time of Socrates who was poisoned for teaching logical thinking.

A sidelight is that his wife, Xanthippe, has acquired a reputation as a shrew. But Christine De Pizan, the first female French professional writer, notes in her "The Book of the City of Ladies" that Xanthippe was much younger than Socrates & loved him very much. When he was about to drink the poison, she, writes Christine, rushed in & dashed the cup from his hands. Then she was removed & he drank another cup. But she, according to Christine, grieved for him all her life.

Even Aspasia, who was his contemporary, & a thinker in her own right, had no option but to be a courtesan to mingle with men intellectually on equal terms. The first person in Western society who envisaged  God as an emblem of Love, Jesus Christ, was also crucified between two common thieves, as per democratic wish as the judge, Pontius Pilate, washed his hands of the decision.

It is ironic that the religious organisation set up to preach Christ's doctrines, threatened Galileo with torture & made him retract his perfectly sound scientific theory, not to speak of the Spanish Inquisition. The divinely inspired Joan of Arc, who saved a corrupt France from the English invaders, was disowned by the King whose country  she saved & was burnt at the stake by the Church for daring to bypass it's authority in dealing with the Divine. Similarly, Saint Bernadette was persecuted for most of her life for daring to access the Divine directly.

The third & final part of "The Book of the City of Ladies" mentioned above gives a list of saintly ladies who became victims of intolerance & were martyred.

Fortunately, the Eastern religions, Hinduism, Buddhism & Jainism were relatively free of intolerance like those mentioned above. Probably because the beliefs like "The Chosen People"(of the Jews), "Jesus is the only way"(Christians), & "There is no God but Allah" (Muslims) of the Semitic religions are replaced by "Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavantu" of Hinduism. The later Indian reformist Saints like Shirdi Sai Baba, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda  & Sri Satya Sai Baba reiterated that all religions are true.

Unfortunately, vestiges of religious  intolerance are still present in the west as evinced by "The Grand Inquisitor" chapter of Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" where Christ is told to go away by The Grand Inquisitor. Worse, in Richard Bach's "Illusions", Donald Shimoda, a Messiah, is shot dead in modern USA, for preaching a form of Advaita.

Idolatry, Snobbery & Religion

When human beings first evolved, they were ignorant of the laws of nature & imagined an omnipotent being controlling their lives. They made anthropomorphic idols of this being & began to worship, triggering the start of primitive religions. Later as their understanding of nature increased, this type of belief began to erode.

But simultaneously, for a harmonious society, the need of a hierarchy among the members arose, leading to a concept of a ruler. Some of the attributes of the earlier  idol were transferred to the ruler & his descendants, with the beginning of Snobbery. This may be observed in the non-human creation also as "the pecking order."

Though in modern times, most states adopt democracy, doing away with monarchy, the early habit of primitive man of creating idols to worship continues in the sycophantic glorification of political leaders & idolisation of film stars & sportspersons much beyond their values as essentially entertainers.

Even though most states institute honours to reward achievers, this also contributes to Snobbery by consigning others to a lower social position.

The antidote to these was stated by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was also a stoic philosopher as "Both Fame & Famous (persons) are ephemeral."

However, the futilities of idolising & snobbishness are laid bare in the Upanishads themselves. Eliminating selfishness & egoism was the first attribute of a human being, putting paid to artificial hierarchies. In the early days of Christianity also humbleness was extolled & singularity frowned upon. But as the organisation of the Church developed, these noble concepts were pushed back.

To sound the final note, Swami Vivekananda said "Religion does not consist in building temples or churches or attending public worship, but in self-realisation."

Cosette, Oshin & Roton: Persecuted Sisterhood

In Victor Hugo's classic "Les Miserables", Cosette appears as the daughter of Fantine, who is forced to leave her with the "Thenardier couple, to whom Cosette was useful in two ways; as a way of extorting money from her mother & as a household drudge in her own person." When the protagonist, Jean Valjean comes across her, horrified by the way she was worked, he buys her off & looks after her as his own daughter.

In "Oshin", a very popular Japanese TV serial & film (2013), Oshin is a seven year old girl in a very poor family, who cannot even feed her & send her out to work in return for a little rice. She undergoes unbelievable hardships which she bears stoically, but runs away when unjustly accused of theft. Kokone Hamada, who plays the title role is in the same class as the immortal Shirley Temple as a child actress.

Rabindranath Tagore's short story "The Postmaster" (filmed by Satyajit Ray), deals with a post office in a remote village, where no postmaster can bring his family. So there is a little orphan girl Roton (Bengali pronounciation) who cooks & washes for him. When the present postmaster arrives, he learns that his predecessor would even beat this little girl. He however treats her kindly, asks her to be clean & neat & even teaches her to read & write. But he falls ill & is nursed by Roton. But he leaves feeling the weather doesn't suit him. Roton is devastated to lose the only person who was kind to her & refuses his tip.

So whether it is France, Japan or India, the earlier prevalence of child labour was traumatic to the poor children.

Same Title, two different films

Claude Lelouch's famous French film "Un homme et une femme" (A Man & A Woman") (1966) deals with the love of a widower & a widow, who meet accidentally at their children's boarding school. With typical Gallic flair, romantic love develops between the two. Though initially, the woman is inhibited by the lingering memories of her departed husband, later she overcomes it. The film, photographed by the director himself in a melange of colour, black/white & sepia toned shots was also enhanced by the lush musical score of Francis Lai.

Tapan Sinha's "Admi aur Aurat" (1982), (Man & Woman) commissioned by Indian TV was as different from Lelouch's film as chalk is from cheese. The man is a happy-go-lucky type, not caring much for anybody. When travelling by foot, accidentally, he comes across a lone, pregnant woman. He is compelled by circumstances to take care of her & escort her to a maternity hospital with great effort.  After the birth of the baby, the man, a Hindu, realises that the woman is a Muslim.  The film highlights the point that a community did not think it necessary to proclaim their religion by their clothes in those halcyon days, when humanity took precedence over religion. As it was sponsored by Doordarshan & the director was given a free hand, the film was liked by everyone from Satyajit Ray to the common man.

Complex ways of Indian Classical musicians

In Karnatic music there is a strange practice. S. Y. Krishnaswamy writing in "The Hindu" states that the male accompanists, whether on the mridnagam or violin, measure their status by refusing to accompany lady vocalists. Even those who accompanied the lady during their earlier years, graduate into "refusal" status in course of time!

In Hindustani music, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan narrates an incident where he wanted to record with both Pandit Samta Prasad & Pandit Kishan Maharaj. Before the recording, Kishan Maharaj asked Amjad Ali as to who will sit on the right & who will sit on the left? According to tradition, if there are two tablists, the senior one sits on the right. Here Samta Prasad was older than Kishan Maharaj, who even used to call the former "Uncle." In spite of knowing this, Kishan Maharaj asked this question. Amjad Ali writes that as he felt that this was not a pleasant start, he called off the recording.

Ustad Vilayat Khan states that Dover Lane (famous music festival) organisers asked him once to play a duet with Nikhil Banerjee. Here it must be noted that Vilayat Khan states that once Nikhil Banerjee offered him "Guru Dakshina", an offering to a teacher. So instead of saying no, he asked the organisers to bring a written statement from Nikhil that he was prepared. When they brought it, he was very angry & told them not to break the relation between Nikhil & himself & sent them away!

As a glorious exception to the above mentality, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan had no  qualms about playing duets with his erstwhile disciple Nikhil Banerjee. Ali Akbar has also the distinction of playing duets with all the three greatest sitarists of his times, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan & Pandit Nikhil Banerjee.

India's indirect contribution to Western Science

In England the law of primogeniture (all property to the eldest heir) prevailed, so the younger sons were left to fend for themselves. England being a small island, colonialism became inevitable to extradite  the surplus population. Also as Stendhal's classic novel's title "The Red & the Black", itself says, the choice of professions for the middle class was restricted to the army (& navy) & the Church. But the silver lining was that the affluent educated remaining at home had enough leisure to think constructively & a lucky few came up with epoch-making inventions like James Watt's steam engine, William Harvey's circulation of blood, Joseph Lister's sterilisation (antiseptic) to reduce deaths during surgery & many others.

Added to this wealth being concentrated in few hands, wealth also poured in from the colonies, sent by the extradited surplus population of younger sons. Adam Smith, the Scottish economist writes in his seminal work "The Wealth of Nations" that the conduct of the servants of the erstwhile East India Company in India became a subject of parliamentary enquiry. So as a result, in 1773 new regulations were formed, not withstanding which their depredations over a vast accession of the most fertile & richest areas of India continued.

So this pre-eminence in path-breaking scientific inventions, occurring during the period of colonisation, gave a flying start to the British prosperity, mainly fuelled by the wealth transported from India, which replaced North America (which declared itself as independent in 1783) as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire. So India may be viewed as the (unwilling?) venture capitalist to British enterprise.

Kew Gardens & Lal Bagh: an Umbilical Link

The Kew Gardens in London is the best known botanical garden in the world. It is also a research centre & produces world class books. One such publication is "Botanicum" which gives a bird's eye view of the complete world of plants. Text written by Prof. Kathy Willis, of Kew Gardens, illustrated by Katie Scott by pen & ink & coloured digitally, & edited by yet another Katie Haworth, the unbelievably large volume is a veritable feast for the eyes.

Lal Bagh of Bengaluru, the founding of which is ascribed to Tipu Sultan, a passionate lover of gardens. Such was his passion that he sent his ambassadors to France, (a friendly country to him to oppose the British) to bring back rare plants. Though they did, he was not satisfied with the results & had the unfortunate ambassadors executed.

Lal Bagh was modernised during the British rule, all the earliest directors being trained at Kew Gardens. The comprehensive history & evolution of Lalbagh is presented for the first time in the book "Bangalore's Lal Bagh" by Suresh Jayaram, who underlines the contribution of the Kew trained horticulturists in the evolution of the present day Lalbagh. The book, replete with rare maps & diagrams, also gives the history of the various landmarks in Lal Bagh. This volume, though scholarly in content, contains many evocative photos & Rumale's celebrated paintings, to make it reader-friendly. Mention must be made of the layout of the pages & overall design of the book, which are of international standard.

Christine de Pizan & Sanchi Honnamma

Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) was the first French female writer who earned her living by her pen. The earlier writers like Hildegard of Bingen were nuns who had no need to earn their living. Deeply pained by the misogyny of her times, she wrote "The Book of the City of Ladies" where she refuted the allegations of the misogynists point by point & listed the woman achievers both past & present.

Sanchi Honnamma, who lived in a King's court in the seventeenth century in Karnataka, was one of the first poetesses in Kannada, the earlier one like Akka Mahadevi in twelfth century being basically a renunciate like Hildegard above. Honnamma was also hurt by the misogynists of her time & composed a famous poem which roughly translates as below:

"Was it not a woman who bore you?

Was it not a woman who brought you up?

Then why do you denigrate women

You blind men?"

It has to be noted that Christine, "far from inciting her contemporaries to resist the limitations placed on them by society, recommends traditional virtues to them: tolerance & humility to wives, modesty & obedience to virgins, & courage & dignity to widows." (Rosalind Brown Grant).

Similarly in "Hadibadeya Dharma", Honnamma preaches exactly the same virtues as mentioned above by Christine. So both Christine & Honnamma can be viewed as spiritual sisters seperated by space & time.