Pioneering Children's Novels

"The Legend of Lucy Whipple" (1849) is written by Karen Cushman. In this, the mother, after losing her husband, moves to the west, to make her living by providing a boarding house to the miners, with her children. But her eldest, Lucy is reluctant & is fond of books & reading. But she reluctantly goes along & helps her mother. When her mother decides to remarry an itinerant preacher & missionary & decides to move to Sandwich Islands, Lucy decides to stay back & start a library to educate the miners' children, continuing the work of Benjamin Franklin who started circulating libraries in USA in 1731.

"The Little House in the Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932). In this novel, set in the 1870's in Wisconsin, Laura & her family, consisting of her parents & two sisters,  settled in the wilderness, where they had to be completely self-sufficient. Bears & wolves were always prowling around & Laura learned to handle guns while still very young. They lived by hunting & limited agriculture. The arrival of a hired mechanical horse-operated thresher was an event. How the family cheerfully thrived under these harsh conditions is described in detail in the book. It was followed by numerous sequels.

The Seven Stages of Spiritual Progress according to Sri Ramakrishna & St.Teresa of Avila

In "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", it is stated that on October 28, 1882, Sri Ramakrishna said that the Vedas speak of seven planes where the mind dwells. When the mind is immersed in  worldliness, it dwells in the three lower planes, the navel, the organ of generation & the organ of evacuation. The fourth plane is the heart. Here one has the first glimpse of spiritual consciousness. One sees light all around. The fifth plane is at the throat. The person only likes to hear & talk about God. The sixth plane is at the forehead. The aspirant sees the form of God day & night. The seventh plane is at the top of the head. When the mind rises there, the person goes into Samadhi (spiritual trance) & directly perceives God.

St.Teresa of Avila, the 16th Century Spanish mystic wrote "The Interior Castle" which comprises of seven "mansions". Each representing a stage of spiritual progress.

The first "mansion's" door is accessed through prayer. Only souls in a state of grace (who can free themselves from sin) can access it. The second mansion is attained by souls, who although they may fall into sin, are closer to God & can hear his call better. The third mansion is attained by souls, who do not retreat & are seperated from the world in all humility. The fourth mansion is inhabited by those who pray of stillness & love much. The fifth mansion's is occupied by souls incipient in union with God. The sixth mansion deepens the union but with very hard labours. The seventh (last) mansion celebrates the spiritual marriage with God & the soul becomes one with God.

Pandit Ravi Shankar's Legacy - A New Look

There is a tendency to regard Panditji's music as only a reflection of his music guru, Ustad Allauddin Khan's influence. Actually Panditji was a performing musician much before he met his guru. There is a Vinyl LP originally recorded during his visit (as part of a dance troupe led by his eldest brother, the legendary dancer & choreographer Uday Shankar) to the USA in 1937 called "Indian Music Ragas & Dances". In this record Panditji plays Esraj (a Sarangi-like instrument.)

As Ravi Shankar was also a dancer, there is more emphasis on the tala element even in his mature work as a Sitarist, compared to his "gurubhais" in the same gharana Ali Akbar Khan & Nikhil Banerjee. His pioneering efforts to present Carnatic ragas in Hindustani garb also stemmed from the above mentioned record, where ragas Simhendra Madhyamam & Hamsadhwani are presented.

Panditji's pioneering missionary zeal to popularize Hindustani music world wide may also have been inspired by his brother Uday Shankar's similar zeal to universalise Indian dance abroad. So both his brother & guru helped turn him into the global icon he became later.

Positivity of Pangloss & Pollyanna

In Voltaire's satire "Candide", he satirises the Leibnizian philosophy of "All things happen for the best in this best of all possible worlds", using Dr. Pangloss, the tutor of Candide, as the mouthpiece. Even after all possible misfortunes happen to them, Pangloss stubbornly repeats his dictum, but Candide adds pragmatically, "But let us cultivate our garden."

In Eleanor Porter's "Pollyanna", the eponymous character, is a little orphan girl who comes to live with her aunt. Her late pastor father, beset with poverty, found about 800 "Rejoicing texts" in the Bible, & taught his daughter to look for the silver lining of every cloud. Pollyanna goes about teaching this "Glad Game" to all in the town. But when she herself is nearly paralysed after an accident, she nearly loses faith but is saved by a medical breakthrough, restoring her belief in her "Glad Game."

Music Appreciation

Aaron Copland, the American Composer, in his book "What to listen for in music" divides music appreciation into three planes. 

1.⁠ ⁠The Sensuous plane. Here one listens to the sheer pleasure of the sound itself. A kind of brainless but attractive state of mind is engendered by the mere sound of the music.

2.⁠ ⁠The Expressive plane. All music has an expressive power which, unfortunately (in the case of instrumental music) cannot be put into words. For example each of the 48  fugue themes in Bach's "The Well Tempered Clavichord" mirrors a different world of feeling.

3.⁠ ⁠The Musical plane. Here, in addition to the above two, music exists in terms of its own notes & their manipulation. The musically aware listener should hear the melodies, rhythms, harmonies & the tone colours. He should be aware of musical forms & be able to follow the lines of the composer's thought.

If this is the case of Western Classical Music, Carnatic music, being based largely on Kritis, offer a convenient verbal peg to hang one's appreciation, even in the case of instrumental renditions.

Hindustani, especially instrumental music, has attained an universal appeal, because of its pure, abstract form. But here also, ability to recognise the ragas is a prime requisite in appreciating it.

Many "connoisseurs" have never got beyond the first "Sensuous Plane" mentioned above as evinced by nodding their heads & exclaiming "Wah, wah!" Ustad Vilayat Khan, once asked why he didn't announce the name of the raga he would play, scathingly replied "If they can't recognise the raga,  they are not fit to attend my concert!"