Readings in history (part I - long)

I am recently on a reading spree on history; some topics I am interested in are pre-history (way-back-when to around 1ooo BC), Indian especially South Indian history and history of languages.

If you share similar interests, here are some fascinating reads:
- The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond follows his popular award winning Guns Germs and Steel. If you haven't read Guns, Germs and Steel, you can give it a miss and go straight to this one. That is because the entire thesis of the former book is condensed conveniently into one chapter of this book - a discussion of why human civilization advanced more rapidly in Europe than say in Africa. Diamond says the key to advancement lies in domestication of animals (cattle, horses) and plants (for agriculture and mass production) and Europe offered some geographical advantages in this regard - an east-west orientation with similar climate/geography over a wide land mass, availability of animals and crops for domestication . I am super-simplifying here, but that I think is the gist.

Diamond's analysis on where the Proto Indo-European (or PIE) language originated is especially interesting. PIE is the hypothetical root of all Indo-Aryan languages including Sanskrit and its Indian derivatives and most of the major European languages (also called Aryan languages). Diamond's conjecture is that PIE originated somewhere in Central/East Europe. Of particular interest is how he arrives at this, read the book for the analysis - some heady stuff.

The chapters talking about the microcultures of Papua New Guinea are another compelling part of the book. Due to the peculiar geography of New Guinea, it sustained many tribes that lived within 10s of miles of each other without ever coming in contact with each other nor with any other developed society until the mid 1900s when European explorers discovered them. These tribes apparently speak wildly different languages with some resembling Chinese while others resemble European languages. The island is a dream "laboratory" for sociologists and anthropologists.

- An Illustrated History of South India by K.A. Nilakanda Sastri (Oxford press): I am half-way through this book. Nilakanda Sastri's book is now more than 60 years old and is considered the definitive compilation of South Indian history. The latest edition is probably the most readable one - I had got an earlier edition which was more dense that I gave up after a couple of chapters. The new paperback is an abridged edition with pictures that is more accessible to mere mortals.

The first part of the book focuses on the political history, i.e. the empires, the kings, the wars they waged and the territories they controlled - the stuff we all learnt growing up in India in History class; those text books were probably based on this book. The later part (which I haven't read yet) is about social & religious history.

Some highlights from the book so far: the dynastic enmity between Pallavas and Chalukyas (6th to 9th centuries AD) is one of the juicier bits of South Indian history. The Tamilnadu State Board history textbooks portrayed the Chalukyas in a somewhat negative light as compared to the beloved Pallavas who were not just great warriors but also great stalvarts of art and architecture (I am pretty sure Kannadigas are taught a somewhat different version). Kalki fed on this in his Sivakamiyin Sabatham which is loosely based on historical events, where he shows Pulakesin II, the Chalukyan king to be an outright villain . The enmity has enough twists and turns complete with sons avenging father's defeats.

Well, the history according to Sastri is almost as dramatic. First, Pulakesin II invades the Pallava kingdom and comes close to Kanchi before he gets stopped 15 miles away. He still annexes a lot of North Pallava territory from Mahendra Pallava. Mahendra's son, Narasimha Pallava exacts revenge by defeating Pulakesin II (Pualakesin dies in this battle) and plundering his capital Vatapi (now called Badami). A couple of generations later, a Chalukyan king returns the favor on Kanchi. And so on.

Other than his mixed results with the Pallavas (which Tamilians and Kannadigas should probably agree on as a draw), Pulakhesin II was a great king in his own right. There is no historical basis for his villainy. He was just as territorially ambitious as the next guy, I mean emperor. Don't forget that he stopped the north Indian emperor Harsha Vardhana dead on his tracks at the banks of Narmada and hence perhaps stopped another round of "Aryanization" from ever happening (now that is a juicy topic for another post). You see, the whole of India has been united under an empire only a couple of times (by my count) in history before the British - Ashoka & Aurangazeb. If Harsha had beaten Pulakhesin, that could have led to one more instance.*

None of this is to take away from the greatness of the Pallavas - you just need to visit Mahabalipuram if you have any doubts.

Enough for now, more later.

- Balaji

* The bit about the significance of Harsha's defeat at Pulakesin's hands is my amateur point, not Sastri's.

Brush with corruption

It has been 2 1/2 years in India and it is time that I had my first brush with corruption, if you ignore a minor funny traffic incident. I had to take two laptops with me to the US for a business trip. On my way out, the customs officer refused to record the fact that I was carrying two because I didn't have a letter from my company to that effect. After I reached the US, I arranged for such a letter to be sent to me and was armed with the said letter when I returned to Hyderabad.
When they scanned my carry-on bags at customs and found the 2 laptops, they duly sent me to a customs officer. I told him about why I couldn't get the export certificate on my way out and I produced the letter from my company. But that doesn't help now, the officer pointed out, I should have had the letter with me on my way out and got the export certificate then. After a few minutes of arguing I gave up and asked him what the duty was. He arrived at a depreciated value and assessed 30% duty on it and arrived at Rs. 7000. I didn't have that much cash on me and I asked him whether I could pay in some other way.
"How much do you have?"
"Rs. 3500"
"Okay, leave that here", pointing to the desk. Only then I realized what was happening, and I put the money on the desk. At that point, he became a little nervous and walked off the desk as if fleeing the crime scene. I was tired and sleepy and left in a huff, *&^?ed with the whole thing, wishing I had had the money and paid the whole sum to the govt instead of the guy. I also realized I didn't have a single rupee on me as I got into the cab to get home.

Kabini Trip

On the Diwali weekend, we decided to give the festivities a miss and visited Kabini, a jungle resort nestled between Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks in Southern Karnataka. It is reachable from Bangalore by road - 220km away.

It is an eco-friendly resort with food and wildlife safari included along with sleeping rooms at Rs. 4000 per head per day - not a bad deal especially considering the excellent safari. Kabini is home to 3 main predators - tiger, leopard and wild dogs. On our first evening safari we saw none of them, but saw lots of deer, a couple of elephants, langur monkeys and a gaur (Indian Bison). As for the early morning safari, my wife and I took turns with one of us watching the kids in the room. The second morning, my wife and my elder daughter struck pay dirt with a sighting of the elusive tiger (it was the first sighting in 3 weeks).

In the US, the only national park that I have been to that had a safari was Denali. Safaris are indeed a good way to experience a national park. Since the guided safari is often the only way to get inside the park, it reduces human impact on the park. Also, you're going with a group of people and you have more eyes on the lookout increasing the chances of sightings. The flip side is of course that you might come away empty, but then the lack of a guarantee is what makes an actual sighting all the more thrilling - I saw it in my daughter's eyes when she came back to narrate the trip.

In India, this is perhaps the only model that might work; it is not exactly democratic since the Rs. 4000 per day rate puts it beyond the reach of most people, but then narrows the visiting population to a manageable number. In any case, (non-religious) tourism in India is something a relatively small percentage of the population seems interested in. Many people gave me blank stares when I told them we had been to Kabini; and this is rated among wildlife enthusiasts as one of the top safaris in the world!

A standard refrain among Indians living in the US is that tourist destinations are not maintained and presented well - a belief I used to share. But Kabinis offer a counterpoint.

Anyway, the big cat continues to be on my list, while my wife and daughter have scratched it off theirs.

A jaunt down south - tree lined boulevards and freeways

No posts for a week as I was in Bangalore for a business trip followed by a trip to Madurai and Kovilpatti to visit our folks. Bangalore was a welcome relief temperature-wise, as Hyderabad had started warming up again after a break in the monsoon early September. The tree lined streets with orderly - if heavy - traffic is a huge contrast from the chaotic roads of Hyderabad.

There are a lot more vehicles on narrower roads, but the roads actually have walkways for pedestrians leaving the entire breadth of the road to be available for motor vehicles. In the ubiquitous traffic lights, auto-drivers switch off the engine and wait patiently as opposed to feverishly jockeying for position to scream out of the gates. And the best part, they stop on red. Oh well, some day in Hyderabad..

From Bangalore to Madurai by air and then the customary 95 km drive to Kovilpatti to see my folks in my in-laws' Hyundai Santro. The big difference this time was that I drove on an (almost) uninterrupted 4-lane freeway that took an hour and 25 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours. They are finally finishing the 4-laning of roads connecting major cities in Tamilnadu. The last 2 years were painful as the roads were in even worse shape during the construction phase - but the end is in sight.
You barely notice Tirumangalam and Virudhunagar as you zoom past them on the bypass. Even if you go through the edge of a city, the neighbourhoods adjoining the now widened roads are virtually unrecognizable including the approach to my own home town. I completely overshot Kovilpatti and had to make a U-turn to get back. Hopefully they will install exit signs soon.

Otherwise, the drive was rather enjoyable and would have been more so only if the Santro had shown a bit more enthusiasm beyond 100kph. I need to work my way up the auto food chain and try this road with my FIL's Ford Fiesta next time.

- R. Balaji

Festival season in Hyderabad (part 1) - Ganesh Chathurthi

It is the festival season in India and Hyderabad has its own unique way of celebrating it. You see, Hyderabad is a melting pot of South Indian, North Indian and Deccani Islamic cultures and it is very much apparent during this season. In the deep south, Vinayakar Chathurthi gets done in a day. In Hyderabad, like I suspect in many parts of the north, it is a fortnight long affair. Thousands of gigantic colorful Ganeshas get made and taken to water bodies in processions and get dunked cermeniously. As if we didn't have enough threats to our water resources already. At this rate, it is only a matter of time before Hussain Sagar will become Ganesh Sagar.

Anyway, this year I decided to set such pontifications aside and get into the spirit of it. The day of the Chathurthi, I went to my neighborhood Ganesha idol outlet and got a tiny beautiful white Ganesha with purple decorative powder for Rs. 50. The road-side "store" was manned (if you could use the word in this case) by a young man no more than 8 who was winding down his business and seemed a little impatient with me and wanted to get home if indeed he had one.

Then I went to the nearby market to get materials for the puja - a rare venture outside my humdrum routine. The flower cart guy insisted on giving me exact change back. I learnt that even a farmers market in India (Raithu bazaar) sells Washington apples at mind-boggling prices while the local produce was far cheaper. My daughter (who I firmly believe has a Pacific Northwest soul inside an Indian body) will have nothing less than Washington apples and thanks to her, Ganesha got Washington Red Delicious that day.

The nimarjan (immersion day) itself happens 10 days later and schools and many businesses close down since the city grinds to a halt in the evening with all the processions underway. This year, the nimarjan day unfortunately coincided with the day the news of YSR's tragic death broke out and I hear was a very muted affair. We stayed home as we were worried about repercussions from the event in the city. Last year, we had driven past Hussain Sagar as the immersions were happening - through truck-mounted cranes organized by the government itself.

So that is the Ganesh Chathurthi story; onto Ramzaan next.

An Arangetram

Last week, we watched a Bharata Natyam Arangetram performance by Ms. Chelna Galada, student of Padmashri Ananda Shankar Jayant, one of India's top performing artists. My daughter has been taking dance lessons with her for the past year and my wife joined recently, thanks to which we got invitations to the event.

This was the 25th disciple of Ananda Shankar getting to do an Arangetram - a feat that requires meeting the "exacting standards" of Ananda - in her 26 year teaching career. The highlight of the event was the varnam that was based on a story from Jain mythology - the fourteen dreams that Queen Trishala had when she was pregnant with Vardhamana Mahaveera.

The program brochure claimed that this was a world premiere of a Bharata Natyam performance narrating a Jain story - there have been narrations from other major world religions before. I have seen an earlier performance by Ananda Shankar and her troupe - Darshanam: An ode to the eye, which was another example of her pushing the boundaries of her art. A Hindu art form narrating stories from other religions is indeed a great example of India's multiculturalism (Prof. Amartya Sen's point in The Argumentative Indian - see my earlier post).

The performance itself was top-notch, to a layman's eye such as mine and to more discerning eyes, as attested to by none other than Chitra Visweswaran (a guest of honour for the function) during the "blessings" ceremony in the middle of the event. I did feel that Chelna danced better in the second half when she perhaps was more relaxed after the big examination (the varnam) was over and the grades were in.

It is great to see this art in its modern mode of operation - being passed from guru to disciple while both are performers. Chitra Visweswaran talked about students today having the added advantage of watching their teachers perform; while the performers of yesteryears learnt from nattuvanars, who were pure teachers.

Right from starting on time, up to the stage design, lighting, the composition and singing by Venu Madhav, this was a professionally organized event and it was free to boot. Looking forward to another one in a month or so.

- R. Balaji

Arguing about the Argumentative Indian

Since my return to India, I have been drawn to authors of Indian origin or books with an Indian setting. Around this time, I also wanted to read more ""improving"" books as P. G. Wodehouse would have put it. One of the first books I tried to read was The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen.

I am still scratching my head about what this book is about. The book starts with a lot of promise talking about the multi-faceted, multi-religious past of India and how argument (as in debate) and dialog is a central theme in Indian culture citing examples from the Upanishads, Buddhist and Jain texts and the Bhagavat Gita (which in some sense can be considered a debate between Arjuna and Lord Krishna).

Then the book starts making an elaborate argument about how India is really much more than a "Hindu country" (for instance, we could have been called a Buddhist country until the 5th century A.D. ) and makes a strong criticism against the BJP's Hindutva movement along the way. I was fine with this sentiment until Prof. Sen repeated this in multiple forms for a few chapters when I got tired of the subject.

Don't get me wrong, I like to think of myself as secular and I look at BJP's strategy to win elections with as much disapproval as other shady tactics used by parties such as caste politics, casting matinee idols as political heroes and plain old thuggery. The book was compiled in 2004 just after the BJP's electoral defeat. Back then, it might have felt like a timely counterpoint to the Hindutva movement, but as I read it now, especially after BJP's recent electoral repeat, it reads like beating a dead horse. You might have read in recent news reports about the internal squabbles of the BJP.

Besides the BJP did seem to govern a little better than how it campaigned. On the broader point, Prof. Sen may be right in saying that the Hindutva is overstating its point. But is he overstating his? Underplaying a substantial (if not the single most dominant) chunk of our heritage seems dangerous. There is something to be said about managing to remain 80% Hindu even after 600 years (or is it 800?) of non-Hindu rule.

Anyway, I stopped reading after the first few chapters; may be one of you can tell me if I should bother with the rest.

One of the chapters I did find interesting and informative was the one on Rabindranath Tagore and his relationship with Gandhiji. This had a few surprises for me; more on that later.

- Balaji R.

World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad

We saw the last 3 days of action at the recently concluded WBF Championships in Hyderabad at Gachibowli stadium. This is the 2nd International sports event Hyderabad has held in the last 2 years; the previous one was the World Military Games in 2007.

We got full tournament passes in the middle of the week for Rs. 2000 a pop after muddling through poor information on where to get tickets.

Sadly, Saina Nehwal, the lone Indian hope lost in the quarterfinals. You may recall she won a major tournament (Indonesian Open) recently, beating World No. 2 Lin Wang of China. Saina, unlike her almost name-sake Sania Mirza (also from Hyderabad), has broken into the Top 10 in her sport. I don't know what they put the water in Hyderabad (or is it that they have water, period) that they keep producing these athletes in ahem a steady stream (steady, I mean by Indian standards).

Anyway, Saina lost to the same Lin Wang this time around. This is the first time I am seeing world-class badminton live and it was quite thrilling. It was good to see that courts are not actually painted in fluorescent green as they appear on DD Sports. You hear the thwack of racquet meeting shuttle and feel the speed and reflexes of the players as they glide, skip and dive across the court. The frenetic pace of men's doubles with feroicous exchanges was a treat. The Chinese may lack the fluid grace of Morten Frost or our own Prakash Padukhone (who I remember watching as a kid in the early 80's). But they dart across the court with a speed that defies belief and leap for their smashes to Jordanesque heights. They also find a way to return almost anything thrown at them.

Saina herself I thought played with a maturity beyond her 20 years; she led the 2nd game 10-2 before succumbing to an overall superior player at this point in time. Was the Indonesian Open a flash in the pan? Time will tell, though I think she has the game and needs to cut down on unforced errors (to say zero which is what I see from the Chinese). Go Saina!

On the final day, there was only one non-Chinese - mixed doubles from Denmark - win. It was weird to see Indian Jawans ceremonially carry the Chinese flag time and again as the winners were medalled.

Security arrangements and the overall conduct of the tournament seemed smooth (it was annoying to see the Brits pull out because of security fears) and it was gratifying to see us pull off an international event in the middle of security and swine flu concerns.

- Balaji R.

Succumbing to the temptation

What better day to join the blogging community - the ultimate modern-day exercise in vanity - than the occasion of one's 40th birthday.

I hope to write a public diary of my life in India as a Newly Returned Indian (actually not that new, about 2 years now); if not actually entertaining, hopefully someone among my friends and relatives (I don't expect anyone else to actually want to read this) who is pondering a return themselves will find this useful.

I also hope to write about pursuits in my interests and hobbies - travel, sports, movies, history, Tamil culture etc, and truly noble causes that I don't plan to do anything about - saving the environment, education among other things.

- Balaji R.