yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Notes from Laat Bhairav And edited version of this piece appears in the Hindu Sunday Magazine . Thanks are due to the team there.  I am indebted to Ajay Pandey, Rakeshbhai and Shagufta Siddhi for taking out to help with the images. And of course the photographers – Devendra Singh and Beat Niederer.  Image: Devendra Singh Newspaper reports had got me intrigued of the place. They had images of Ramleela being played on one side and prayers being offered at the idgah on the other. Descriptions went like ‘To the east of the platform Ramcharit Manas ’ chaupais were sung while to the west Namaz took place’ and ‘on the one hand azaan took place and on the other Narayan muni went on with his Narayan, Narayan as the Ramleela played’. This is the Laat Bhairav in Banaras. Couple of colleagues I talked with had never been there. Both of them stayed less than 5 kms from the compound! The third colleague I asked conveyed that I could access it from the road that branches towards Sarnat

Towns and books  I have been fortunate to have been based at multiple locations. Couple of these I have enjoyed reading about, couple I have cycled and walked around and a couple I have little idea of.  When I moved to Banaras I was keen to read up. There is, of course, no dearth of written word(s) on the town.  Banaras has over years inspired people (to write) and continues to. Perhaps it touches people and brings out their hiding selves from cocoons. Perhaps it is else.  Getting books too is not difficult.  Few books that I have put time with so far.  Tawaifnama  Keen to read more on Banaras I got this book. The idea was to enjoy yet another facet of Banaras - one which was absolutely fresh for me. The book stood nicely in the cupboard for a few months before I read it.  As I turned pages I dived deep into music, caste, the town, the landscape, their history and how they all connect with each other. And, of course, how we have learnt little from history

Life Beyond Barriers ~ Published ( with minor edits ) at The Hindu here  ~ ~ Thanks are due to the team there ~ If there is one subject or activity or theme that we could pursue at school what do you suggest it be?   This is a question I have faced couple of times, or more, during recent years. And, one that that on each occasions has got me to think on each occasion. Answers to some questions change as we travel on the road to life, read evolve. This is one such question. Today my vote would go to exposure.   What is this exposure? How will it pan out?  The students can walk the villages, towns and cities located in different parts of our country. Visit homes at these places and interact with more and more people. People who live lives different from those of the students. People who wear clothes of colours and shapes different from what the students are familiar with. People who show their love and affection in a different manner.  The students can a

Thanks are due to the team at Raiot. Published at Raiot here .  Adults are not reading books. Children are not reading books. These 2 lines one comes across frequently. These are, on most occasions, followed with gyan encouraging one to read. To read more. Most of this gyan also lays the blame – for fall in reading - entirely or almost entirely on technology. In other words, televisions and mobile phones are the reason for people going away from books and reading. Roald Dahl too famously written, “ So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall ”. Reading has surely come down – irrespective of age. There is little to debate on this. We now see lesser people with books – at their homes or elsewhere, book-stores and magazine-stalls are closing one by one, increasingly books are less and less part of our conversations and so on. However, let us explore the topic further an

A journey with books Nimesh Ved and Anshumalika Rai  Published in Teacher Plus’ July 2020 issue here . Thanks are due to the team at Teacher Plus. We remain indebted to colleagues and friends who are an integral part of the journey. Thanks are due to the teams at PARAG , Tata Trusts , Pratham and Ektara .  We are associated with a school, catering to 300 students, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Together with colleagues we have undertaken an invigorating journey over the past two years. A journey to bring children and books closer to each other. This we share below.  Phase one To begin with, the library was located on the first floor while the classrooms were on the ground floor. Also, most of the time it was behind a closed door; a door with two big locks. If you entered you would come came across a board that said, ‘please be silent’. The library did not have a friendly ambience.  Colleagues associated with the library clearly did not possess the ‘