"Pahoms" of Goldman Sachs

This famous investment banking firm was in the news for its "hardworking" employees (up to 100 hours/week).

In this context, it is instructive to recall Leo Tolstoy's story "How much land does a man need". This story, written & published in 1886, was regarded by James Joyce ("Ulysses") as "the greatest story that the literature of the world knows."

In brief, the story tells about Pahom, a small landholder, whose greed for more land is insatiable. In pursuit of this goal, he begins to acquire more & more land & becomes wealthy. But he is not satisfied & hears about a tribe called "Bashkirs" who sell land for a pittance. On meeting them, he is offered land at one thousand rubles per day. Pahom does not understand & is told that all land he encircles on foot from sunrise to sunset is his for one thousand rubles.

So he marks out his starting point at sunrise in the presence of the Bashkirs & starts briskly. As the day progresses, his greed also keeps pace & he goes beyond the point from which he can return comfortably before sunset. He starts running & in a desperate attempt, reaches the starting point & collapses stone dead. His servant digs a grave & buries Pahom, who after all, needed only six feet of land.

Of course, "hard working" people can hardly have time to read such stories, much less the wisdom to draw life (or death!) lessons from them.

Where are you, my mother?

Where are you, my mother

as a little girl fingers flying 

over musical keyboards,

singing with a soft, sweet voice,

smashing balls across the tennis table,

lobbing shuttles across the net 

in badminton, Saina like,

clearing carroms in one play

reading books by the bushel,

writing endless drafts to perfect

stories, novel & essays galore

learning languages many

passionate about Sitar

in spite of cleaning rice, ruining eyes

with hands worn by vegetables peeled,

parched by work in the house,

wrinkled by age & experience, 

where are you now? 

- R. Ramachandra (2021)

Poppins Trilogy: A Spiritual View

When Walt Disney made "Mary Poppins", combining real actors with animated ones, he created an iconic film, despite the opposition of the author of the book, P.L.Travers. It also catapulted Julie Andrews playing the titular character to super stardom, not to mention the "Best Actress Oscar" in her first film, taking the sting out of not being selected for the film version of "My Fair Lady", despite playing it successfully on stage. The magical nanny, combining strict discipline with a narcissistic vanity, won over not only the children, but a universal audience. She showed how even children considered difficult could be managed.

The 20 years struggle by Disney to make Travers agree was the subject of the second film, "Saving Mr. Banks" The devoted father, calling his favourite daughter"Ginty" lovingly, but an improvident provider, succumbs to drink as a way out of his financial ineptness. His sister-in-law, who arrives at the end of his life (but too late to put right matters) was the inspiration for Mary Poppins, as she says "spit spot" on arrival. The evocation of the idyllic days of "Ginty" P.L.Travers with her adoring father, are the magical moments of this film.

The third film, "Mary Poppins Returns" deals with the personal & financial crisis of Michael Banks, who was a child in the first film. In the first film also, even though his mother was there, she was busy in the suffragette movement. So Mary Poppins was a surrogate mother/deity with magical powers arriving to put things right & leaving after the crisis. In the third film, Michael having lost his wife, is about to lose his job & house, when Mary Poppins returns to help him & his loyal loving sister Jane put back their lives on an even keel. In this film also, Mary Poppins allows Michael, Jane & the children to make most of the decisions concerning their lives, only stepping in when it is critical, like the deity. So Mary Poppins can be considered a God-like figure, who steps in only occasionally in our lives. This is also emphasised by her saying of herself "Practically Perfect." Mention can be made of Emily Blunt being a fitting successor to Julie Andrews.