An amazing event

Asatoma sadgamaya
Tamasoma jyotirgamaya
Mryutorma amrutamgamaya

From falsehood to the truth
From darkness to light
From mortality to immortality

Nice words, eh? Well, these lines were played in a musical which I attended today, at the Gurunanak Bhavan, near Shivajinagar. Obviously, this was not the first time I heard these words - they have been a part of my upbringing, and not to mention, were played as the concluding score in the last of the Matrix movies - my second favourite movie trilogy. But today's was the most special situation in which I heard these words. Why? read on...

I am really not so much into plays and stage shows, so when my former roommate asked me to accompany him to a play today (we have a get-together planned every month), I wasn't that keen. Fortunately, like so many other times, I was wrong, and had a great time. The reason was that the performers on the 'stage-show' were kids who had some or the other form of disability, AND more importantly, they overcame it to put up an incredibly well-coordinated show.

The event was conducted by Chrysalis, an organization that works with differently enabled people. (Yeah, I am being politically correct.) A lot of the organizing was done by volunteers from MindTree consulting (I guess). Kids between ages of 5 and 15 (I think) put up such great performances that I felt ashamed of my own two left feet. Not just that...the event challenged some of my own beliefs in some unpredictable ways. For long, I had always assumed that the 'next' generation of people were in general, less socially conscious than my own, and that girls were less likely to be socially aware than guys, and that 'baal kati ladkiyan' - to quote a famous Sharad Yadav phrase - were less into social issues than the others.

Was I proven wrong on all counts today!? For someone who ranted against typecasting people based on how they look, I have been guilty of the same!!!

Thanks, Prad.

What a lady!

No, this is not a post about Sania Mirza, or about the Cofechino twins or even that 'representative of indian women'. This is about a simple lady from Karnataka who has set an example for many others (not only women) to follow. Yes, I am referring to the humble, soft-spoken lady from Dharwad - Sudha Murthy.

Today, there was an interview with her on one of the CNBC channels, and she was her usual self - jovial, humble, soft-spoken but articulate, down-to-earth and extremely intelligent. She mentioned about how she spoke out against discrimination, writing to none less than JRD Tata, protesting against the Tata's no-women policy on the work floor - eventually managing to change it. She spoke about how she supported Narayana Murthy, of how she runs Infosys Foundation, and how her cherished dream is to see that no child in India is deprived of an education because of poverty. Ofcourse, she also reads, writes and teaches. I wanted to get a transcript of the interview, but haven't managed to. I'll update this post if and when I find it.

Funny how in this age of opulence, of extreme exhibitionism, and of crass commercialization, people like Sudha Murthy thrive. For me, she is the ideal middle-class south Indian woman; very intelligent, articulate, well-read, has her priorities right, knows when and what to sacrifice, knows for a fact that money does not buy happiness, is selfless and extremely sensible. Too bad these values are going out of fashion what with Cofechino women becoming the model for girls to emulate and guys to adore. Together, the Murthy's make an amazing advertisement for the new India. Wonder why they aren't publicized in other countries - as the kind of couples running new India.

Anyways, wah Sudhaji, wah.

Saying

Real opportunities are like exceptions. You have to catch them when they are thrown.

- Gops