Kusum Choppra

Many of us like to believe that Jharokhas   are a unique feature of the Havelis that   dot   dry, dusty Rajasthan.    They offer the purdah bound ladies private entertainment of the goings on of the outside world,   the streets outside the havelis and the acitivities in the courtyards inside. Plus, the perforated sculpture of the jharokhas   filters the harsh glare of the desert sun, offers shade and therefore cool too. These styles are common to most of the Arab world, again desert. Popularly called Mashrabiya,   those are less of sculpture and more wood and glass lightweight, serving the same purpose: private viewing for purdah bound ladies;   since most are on street homes of the wealthier people, the cool shade is free for both the ladies and the pedestrians on the streets below. The designs of the latticework have smaller openings at the bottom and larger ones higher up to allow for efficient movement of drafts. What of the h...

Ever heard of a woman called Radhakrishna, Radheshyam or Sitaram?   The names sound feminine enough. Why does one only hear of men carrying those names?    Legend has it that they were a " vardaan " to Sita and Radha:   that their names would always precede their men’s because their steadfast loyalty and love placed them above everyone, including Ram and Krishna. Krishna dallied with dozens and married two; a married Radha defied home, family and society, steadfast in her love for her Lord. In banwas, in Lanka, with the agnipariksha and ever after, Sita’s caliber was way above Ram’s raghukul niti against whom question marks still stand for those controversial later days and apparent lust for throne. Despite that, no girls are ever named Sitaram, Radheshyam; only plain Sita, Radha or Krishna.   Boys get the double appellation, even triple with Shivaramakrishna.         The issue here is the usurpation. Why are Men so...

The great clashes that no doubt happened at some ancient times between the proponents of Manu’s Smriti   and those of   Vatsyayan’s Kamasutra   (the two leading treatises on social mores) find   strange echoes in our times. On one hand we have the love-busting, honor killing, anti-valentine, love jihad types.   They move out in large gangs at any breach of what is deemed in those circles as … perhaps violation of their views of social mores?    (who gave them the right to decide for the rest of us?) Any marriage that cuts across gotra or caste or religious lines?   Bears any tinge of a more liberal acceptance of human differences and the right of the individual to personal choices that Hinduism in its vast repertoire offers?   On the other is the liberal attitude that wonders why two people who know and accept each other, cannot live together practicing and respecting the faiths they have followed since birth. It is a fact of lif...

Way into my 60s, my sympathies are with Gen.Next.  India’s become a tough place to live in:  no smiling, laughing, jokes, loving, drinking, no what not. Only Ram naam japna…... India from sadhudom to dogmatist capitalism. Two of our best-adjudged universities facing bigoted media trials. Take heart. It was not always like this. Nor will it remain so.   YOU guys need cool hearts and wits to achieve genuine Achhe Din.    Since Time Immemorial, the child has been the father of Man.   Across the world, huge changes have been rung in by Youth Brigades. Take the caste imbroglio.   Ask the powers-that-be to read the Satyanarayan katha aarti: a Raja outdone by a Bhil woodcutter in faith; a greedy bania coming to woe vs. cowherds’ devotion and more.    Even mythological tales speak of lower castes as better human beings.    Some twenty odd years ago, writing against the deification of the past, I mentioned Mahatma Gandhi’s “bania...

Is it not ironic that with an estimated 400 million hectare meters (MHM) of rain, India’s annual requirement at the turn of the century was a quarter of that at 100 MHM? With a billion plus to cater for today, corresponding demands for agriculture etc. may have gone up, but still nowhere near what is available and allowed to flow off for want of conservation. The saddest part:   This is a monsoon dependent country with a Hoary Experience in saving up to 66% of precipitation, on an “as is where is” basis; the antithesis of the 20 odd % in magnificently humongous dams inherited from an Occidental culture, showing off its power over Nature. That famed 66% happened in pre-British India, testified by Major R H Sankey in 1866 when taking charge in Mysore (remember the administration of   Tipu Sultan?).   He wrote: “…… to such an extent has the principle of storage been followed that it would now require some ingenuity to discover a site …suitable for a new ...