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A Set of Books

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Ashok Vajpeyi that endearing uncle with: words at his beck and call a twinkle in his eyes a taste for kurtas a prolific literary output Some details of the set: Books in the series: 13 ISBN: ‎ 9789392228674 (Hardcover) Pages: 6,876 (Throughout Black and White Illustrations) Size: 24 cm x 16.5 cm These are books which I: open up at any time of the day, read, reread read aloud to my mother, some of these readings are followed by happy silences, am glad that the library has the entire set They have: taken me closer to poetry, to Hindi - Kedar Nath Singh got me on to reading poetry, learning Hindi - these books with their collection of poems, letters, conversations and more have helped me take the next proverbial step prompted me to take up further journeys – with the dictionary at times and also with the poets / authors mentioned therein via the interviews on the Prasar Bharti archives – Namvar Singh for example took me to Banaras, 1950’s, editing and a lot more upped the a
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Languages: Struggles at a school

Learning Languages Up at The Hindu Thanks to colleagues at the school and to The Hindu.  “What exactly are we struggling with when it comes to teaching languages — is it spellings, pronunciation or sentence construction?” I opened a discussion with colleagues who teach languages at our school. “All of the above” — they were unanimous in their response. A response which was followed with silence. Aged between five and 15, the children at our school speak Bhojpuri at home, learn social science and science in Hindi and aspire to do well in English. The silence was followed with smiles that conveyed the reluctant acceptance of a sub-optimal situation. During the discussion that followed, we focused on ourselves, how we fared, and what else we could do, rather than ruminate on assessments and evaluations of the children’s performance. As we delved deeper, we wondered if as a school, we have a uniform approach to languages? In other words, are our practices and actions pulling the chil
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Ghaat

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घाट पे हम क्या करेंगे तुमने एक दिन पूछा था   आदि केशव का प्राचीन मंदिर उस से उतरती सीढ़ियाँ उन पे सरकती चमकती रेलिंग इस नये पुराने के मिलन पे हम  साथ  बैठेंगे   कभी हम पुराने सूरज - चाँद देखेंगे कभी उनकी नयी परछाई   कभी हम नयी लहरों को सुनेंगे कभी पुराने पानी को छुएँगे   कभी हम नयी ट्रेन को जाते देखेंगे कभी पुराने पुल को खड़े   कभी हम नयी नाव को बनते सुनेंगे कभी नहाते बच्चों की पुरानी हँसी को   कभी हम पुरानी यादों के साथ रहेंगे कभी नयी यादें बनाएँगे   इस नये पुराने के खेल मे घाट  पे  हर रोज़ हम हाथ थामे चुप्पी भी शेयर करेंगे   और कभी कभी चाय की चुस्की लेने चंदन शहीद दरगाह पे भी चल चलेंगे Illustration by children of classes 5th and 6th, April 2024
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Fasting on trains

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Some of us fast on particular days or during select festivals. On similar lines, how if we can fast when we travel by trains? The benefits are manifold. This goes against our DNA, the market forces and a lot else - especially given that for many of us trains are synonymous with munching and snacking. But I will risk sharing my thoughts on the benefits of this. Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, and those rare specimens of males, who take up the tasks of planning, cooking, packing, and in some cases also delivering the food will be saved all the trouble and hassle. Their lives will be easier and their blood-pressures in check. Those traveling by premium trains , that provide food, can sleep in peace without being handed over trays at regular short intervals. Their bodies that will get little exercise, if at all, during the journeys may not need all the food as well. The space used to heat and store the food can be used by the coach attendants to rest; they will be in a better fram
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Touch me not

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  Adi and Anku Learn to stay safe: The body safety guide for preschoolers   Authors: Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul Illustrators: Tuhin Paul, Aishwarya Shah, Siddhanth Verma Age: 3 years and above Price: 295/- Publisher: Menstrupedia Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Pages: 20   Touch me not! Arti Pandey, Anshumalika Rai and Nimesh Ved   Thanks to   Teacher Plus   for publishing and Richa for comments on the draft. The authors are well-known names in puberty education. Their previous books  Menstrupedia  (2014) and  Gulu  (2021) have been well received. These books are a big help to parents and teachers to discuss topics like growing up years and changes in our bodies during these years!   The book   This book talks to an age group that is younger – preschoolers. It focuses on touch, privacy, and safety.  The text is well thought of and sensitively written. Two pages, towards the end, have notes for parents and teachers. Simplicity and bareness are the strengths of the book.
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Hospital : Some conversations

Last fortnight (In a not very good state of mind) Snippets of some conversations,  Glimpses that underscored how at the end of the day we are all humans, Very similar to each other, very different from each other, carrying our contradictions,  At the reception (or the waiting area, around midnight) Another person waiting: यह साले हॉस्पिटल वाले ऐसी खुरसी क्यूँ रखते हैं? मरीज़ के साथ आने वाला बंदा ना तो ठीक से बैठ पाए ना ही ठीक से सो पाए! वो साला खुद ही मरीज़ बन जाए! At the lift (on way for an emergency C T scan) Me to the fellow pushing the stretcher: क्या हुआ? चल क्यूँ नहीं रही? His response: नीचे से कोई खुला छोड़ दिया है दरवाज़ा, बंद करने जाना पड़ेगा. At the operation theatre (after the surgery) Doctor (assisting the surgeon): Do you want to click a photo of the blood that was removed? My response (with folded hands): I just want my mother back fine. At the pharmacy counter Aunty standing next to me: बेटा यह उपर नीचे करते करते तो मेरी हालत खराब हो गयी है, और दवाई लेने आना पड़ा तो मुझ
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With dadi

Sometime last week. Somewhere in the hospital. It was a conversation. I was asleep but it was not a dream. You asked me if I was taking care of mumi in the manner that mumi had cared for you. You wore white, were standing, had that twinkle in your eyes and looked at me for an answer. Yes, I said, after moments of silently looking at you. You agreed. You never argued even when you were around. I said yes but later your question, your tone, got me pondering. Was I doing enough? Was I giving it all that I could? And, like I had expected, you reappeared a few nights later to reconfirm! This time your hand was moving like it used to and you had a smile. What could this be - your love for me? my being answerable to those I love? else? Mumi , being the patient, used to get Marie biscuits with tea in the afternoons. This biscuit seldom fails to remind me of you. You used to get irritated when anyone either gave or asked you to have it - saying it is good for old people. Boodha ho ga tera ba
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Leafy talk

Brooming away Previous post on the topic Most Sunday’s I wake up to the sounds of cleaning, of brooms pushing leaves. A sound that makes my hair stand on end! Men, most of them in the second halves of their lives, brooming away with an energy that they seldom display otherwise. They consider leaves as trash akin to plastic disposables and are happy to burn both plastic and leaves together. For some of them, each day is a Sunday. What does one do? Label this as brahminical and sound woke? Question that rare ‘house-work’ which men take up with rigour and earn the wrath of women? Wish that these men took up some other activity? Meditate? Assume that the activity is meditative for the ‘broomer’ – this is difficult given that, most if not all, ‘broomers’ carry that ‘venting out frustration’ and the ‘do not mess with me’ look! My neighbourhood is not an exception. Once, at the sprawling campus of an NGO I had asked why were leaves being removed? Were they not a part of the ground, grass and
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Two books

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On a recent trip to Kalimpong came across two books at the library at Buddha Pada , These books ~ ~ are short, stark and uncommonly simple, ~ can be read anytime, from any page, ~ very different, yet not so, ~ are as stark on re-reading as they are when first read,  ~ connect to incidents in our lives - as we read, ~ have a common message at the crux - life is simple, we often complicate it, ~ tell us work on ourselves, before we venture to solve the world's problems,  By Duc (pixiduc) from Paris, France. - Thich Nhat Hanh Marche meditative 06, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19478461  The Miracles of Mindfulness :  Thich Nhat Hanh There are 2 ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes. People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water on in thin air, but to walk
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A tryst with trust

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  Taking stock of books (and ourselves) When kids help in taking stock of books Text and images: Anshumalika Rai and Nimesh Ved Published at the Deccan Herald .   What happens when we go with our guts and trust children? A quick look at our school before we jump on to the details. We focus on languages , Hindi and English . The book room is a favoured place; many of the 250 children and 15 teachers can be seen reading here. Children of classes 7 and 8, the senior most children, also join us in taking care of the book room. The idea is to deepen their engagement with books . This year we got a tad ambitious. The annual stock-taking turned into a project: 1 room, 5 days, 1,500 books and 30 children of class 7. As we look back, we realize, that throughout the project it was not the children assisting us, as we had once envisaged, but the other way around - we were assisting the children. This brings smiles to our faces and reminds us of P L Travers’ , “ you should trust the
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Allahabad Again

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Let us begin with the previous post previous post on the town  That was BC - aka Before COVID Since I have been to the town for the book-stores : Vaani and Rajkamal . Here, I also look forward to are the times at Indian Coffee House (nicely located between these two book-stores) and Bushy's .  I, with colleagues, have also made trips to the G B Pant Insitute for its museum ,  This time we began with the library, one of the more stunning libraries for sure - when it comes to buildings, as a  Kader Khan or Sharabi film fan would have said: लाइब्रेरी की बिल्डिंग हो तो ऐसी,  वरना  ना हो  The park with it multiple resources reminded me of Kamati Baug ,  This board was also the first time I read of map being referred to as मानचित्र The park also has its share of quirkiness  Image: Dheeraj It also houses  The Allahabad Museum ,  There has been work done here as well since I last visited, especially the new interactive galleries and the hall at the entrance.  Image: Dheeraj At the Allaha
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Kalimpong Again

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Posts from the previous visit Walking Food Gods and Flowers Eating places The dining hall at  Buddha Pada , a place to sit,  to do nothing , The table outside, took me to evenings in  Saiha . Was fun to sit here for long, to eat, to write, To soak in Kalimpong at Café Kalimpong Coffee places Locally grown – roasted - ground coffee, an ease in the ambience, And, welcoming conversation at the Himali Aroma Cafe . Reading places At Buddha Pada,  Amidst those by Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and others, I came across  Kalimpong: Where the mules quenched their thirst Museums Tharpa Choling Monastery houses a café, a souvenir shop, a library, Besides, of course, the museum. One that reminded me of the museum at Aligarh .  The Lepcha Museum , not far from the Gangjong Handmade Paper Factory   These private museums , a world apart from the large ones, but equally important for preserving our heritage. Reminded yet again - so many manuscripts we have to save, to restore, to digitize. Fun for Se
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