Poetry: Stars

Don’t look up. It is just a dark sky these days. 

It used to be the place the stars dwelled. It is where the first humans, after a hard day’s work, 

found questions at night. And these questions led to stories and legends were born. The stars 

were the protagonist and antagonist. The stars told the seasons, guided the explorers, 

and answered the inquirer. 

 

But I don’t see the stars anymore in my sky. They are lost somewhere among the lights. 

They are replaced by more contemporary stars. They dwell in Page 3 and even they 

have stories. And refer to themselves as legends. They tell release dates, guide the crowds 

and answer the columnists. 

 

Don’t despair. All you need to do is look up and you might see a star.

Flashback Bollywood: Naya Daur

BR Chopra's Naya Daur is well-made movie with riveting storyline. The movie get everything right except the title.

 

Listening to old songs rekindled my interest in old Hindi movies. As an ode to Hindi cinema as well as 

filling my bucket list, I have started the series FlashBack Bollywood where I revisit old Hindi movies. 

The post may contain spoilers. 

 

Will machines replace man? At the cusp of every technological advancement, this question inevitably 

pops up. And any fear, real or perceived, inevitably gets translated into the big-screen.  

Naya Daur is one such movie that explores this theme. But does it do a good job? 

Background

A little of background about the movie - Naya Daur (New Dawn). It is a 1957-hindi movie starring 

Dilip Kumar & Vyjayanthimala and directed by B.R.Chopra. The movie is centred around a village 

during the time when India just won independence. The two primary sources of livelihood in the village 

are factory workers and tongawallas. A harmonious village is thrown into disarray as city-educated 

zamindar’s son returns to the village and plans to replace the labour force with machines - using 

equipment instead of factory workers and buses instead of tongawallas for transportation. 

The protagonist, Dilip Kumar, decides to challenge the zamindar’s son, in a winner take all race 

between his tonga and the bus. If the machine (bus) wins, the villagers will accept the introduction of 

machines. But if man wins (technical tonga), then the bus has to stop plying. 

What the movie gets right

First, the movie is well-crafted with its crisp storytelling, exceptional acting, and captivating music. Even after rewatching it decades after its release, one never feels bored. The inclusion of a love triangle adds spice to the storyline while Johny Walker as reporter provides humour.

Second, the climactic scene is riveting, aided by an engaging background score that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, despite the inevitable outcome.

Third, the film's biggest draw is how it evokes memories of another iconic movie, Lagaan. It's hard not to draw parallels between Lagaan and Naya Daur in almost every scene. Here's a simple comparison chart highlighting the similarities between the two films.

 

 

Theme	Naya Daur	Lagaan
Villager as a protagonist	Yes	Yes
Outsider as a villain	Yes. City-educated zamindar’s son	Yes.  The British
Practice that threatens the  livelihood of villagers	Yes.  Machine replacing local  workers	Yes. New tax laws
Antagonist throws a challenge to the protagonist	Yes	Yes
Protagonist accepts the  challenge despite villagers  protesting	Yes	Yes
Protagonist becomes a  pariah for some time before  villagers support him again	Yes	Yes
The climax of the movie is a  game	Yes A race.	Yes.  A cricket match
Love triangle between  protagonist, his love interest,  and other village guy	Yes	Yes
The other village guy tries to  sabotage the game	Yes	Yes

What the movie gets wrong

The title "Naya Daur" ("New Dawn"). How can a movie be heralded as Naya Daur (New Dawn) when the fight is between man and machine? It harks back to the times of the Luddites, 19th-century English textile workers who opposed and sabotaged new machines due to their fear of losing their livelihoods.

 

Technology is an enabler, not an obstacle, for growth. In fact, the utilization of machines like buses in the village would have actually benefited the villagers, as it would have improved connectivity, with tongawalas providing last-mile transportation. Similarly, the use of machines in factories would have increased the productivity of the workers and, consequently, improved the economic growth of the village. Unfortunately, good ideas do not always win the popularity contest.

Conclusion 

The movie, Naya Daur, rekindles the age old debate of man vs machine and in doing so, brings to the forth the fears that masses need to take adversarial position to the technology. Naya Daur stands the test of time in terms of movie-making but falls back to Purana Daur (Old Times) when it comes to ideas.

 

Book Review: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert Comics, writes about failures and learning an engaging way with many frameworks and hilarious stories. 

 

I don’t like self-help books. I think most of them are overrated - with one concept repeated multiple times. Many should only remain as a blog, let alone a tweet, masquerading as a book.

But when I came across Scott Adams' book, which looked like a self-help, I picked it up. Why?

First, I am a fan of Scott Adams, first through Dilbert comics and later I learned one of the best pieces of advice on developing skills. Second, it is not a self-help book - it's partly a collection of failures. Third, the book is hilarious - filled with incredible stories.

Last, and most importantly, the book is filled with nuggets of valuable information. It is my new favorite self-help book.

In this piece, I try to condense learnings from the book. And I provide my thoughts (using first-person voice) using ideas from the book.

Disclaimer: I might not completely agree with all ideas in their entirety - and many suggestions might not be useful, correct, or applicable.

Chapter 3: Passion is bullshit

When a successful person says, “I am passionate about X,” what they are actually saying is, “I am awesome at X, but I want to retain my humility and not sound like an arrogant ass.”

When a successful person says, “Follow your passion because I followed mine and became successful,” what they are not saying but should be is, “I identified something that I was good at, worked hard, got lucky, had an appetite for risk, and had the desire to succeed.” Among them, luck must have played the biggest role but is least acknowledged.

Success causes passion more than passion causes success.

Sachin Tendulkar got lucky. Despite having incredible talent, if he were born in a non-cricketing country, would he have become a successful cricketer? And would he have said then, cricket is my passion? Unlikely.

Chapter 5: Goals vs Systems (Create systems instead of goals)

The problem with goals is that once you achieve them, you celebrate and feel terrific, but only until you realize you just lost the thing that gave you purpose and direction. It can wear one down as you keep thinking about it - and if you fail, you might start feeling horrible about it.

But a system is more like the process. For example, in the world of dieting, losing 10 kgs is a goal, but eating right is a system. In the world of exercising, running a marathon under 4 hours might be the goal, but exercising daily is a system.

Chapter 9: Deciding versus Wanting (There are no free lunches)

If you want success, figure out a price, then pay it.

In other words, there are no free lunches. If you decide to pursue something, remember there is a cost attached to it. It could be time, opportunity cost, or risks. But try to figure out the price so that you don’t regret it later.

Chapter 11: The Energy Metric (Managing your energy)

There are so many priorities in life. How does one manage them? The key is managing your energy. Here are some useful tips:

• Matching mental state to activity: In the mornings, the brain is more relaxed and creative which makes it easier to do heavy-lifting. In the afternoons, the mind is more stressed, so focus on less creative tasks. There is no set rule. Test it out for yourself.
• Simplifiers vs. optimizers: Some people are simplifiers while others are optimizers. Simplifiers prefer an easy way to accomplish tasks, while knowing the additional effort might have produced a better outcome. Optimizers look for the best solution even if the extra complexity increases the odds of unexpected problems.
• For example, my friend always wants the best deal when spending money, which means he can search for anything between 5-30 minutes to get the best deal. I like simplification. If I don’t find a good deal within 5 minutes, I don’t mind paying extra. I value time over saving (in this instance) more than him.
• While not always ideal, simplification, in the long run, frees up energy to do other things. It frees up personal energy so that you can concentrate on what you need to.

• Sitting position matters: The mind associates sitting posture with an activity. If you use your bed for both work and sleep, you might end up sleeping while working. Feet on the ground can be a cue for concentrated work. A nice chair could be a cue for more relaxed reading. Make your physical environment a sort of user interface for your brain.

• Tidiness: Making things tidy makes one feel enthusiastic and energetic.

• Priorities: First, focus on yourself. If you are not happy and healthy, you are more likely to be a burden to others. Second, focus on economics. If you are not financially secure, you can place a burden on your family (think debts, bad investments). Once you are healthy and financially sound, it's time for family, friends, community, tribe, country, and world. Remember, it is not what you love the most. It is what you should focus on so that the things you love can thrive.

Chapter 12: Managing Your Attitude

Your mind isn't magic. It is a sophisticated computer that you can program. You can rewire your brain to control your attitude by manipulating your thoughts, body, and environment.

• Power of Smiling: Smiling makes you feel better even if your smile is fake. When in a bad mood, the physical act of smiling may trigger the feel-good chemistry in your brain that is associated with happiness. This is two-way causality. Feeling energetic makes you play sports, but playing sports makes you energetic. Putting on exercise clothes makes you want to exercise.
• So, next time, smile at a stranger, and you will be surprised how many people reflexively return the smile. Smiling makes you attractive, which will make people respond to you with more respect and consideration.
• Surround yourself with people who are naturally funny and avoid those who are constantly negative.

• Success Premium: Become good at something, anything, even if it is trivial like the board game Scrabble. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you are better than most people. Recently, I ran a 10k in under 62 minutes and believe less than 1% of the world can do it (if I include 8 billion people). There is no magic to it. The key learning is that it takes many hours to get good at it. Now, use these principles to develop other skills. And it can be a confidence booster when you start learning something new.
  

• Pick the delusions that work: If you want to write a book, one sure way not to write it is if you think no one will read it. However, if you think millions will read the book (although delusional), you will derive greater satisfaction in writing.
  

• Starting a project: If you think about starting a project, irrespective of the outcome, you will learn something. Imagine starting an exciting new project. Over the course, you will learn something new, meet new people. If you accomplish that and nothing more, you're succeeding no matter what happens with your project.

 

Chapter 14: My Pinkie Goes Wild (this is a wild story)

This chapter must be read to be believed. To summarize, Scott Adams would draw for hours on end, and this pressure led to his pinkie finger developing a spasm. It was so bad that when Adams touched pen to paper, the spasm would kick in.

When Adams met the doctor, he learned that this condition is called focal dystonia, and there is no cure for it. After feeling distraught, Adams became optimistic and started thinking, "I will be the first person to beat focal dystonia." Perspective!

Next, he self-diagnosed that the problem was more mental than physical since the pinkie finger on his right hand started to spasm even when he started drawing with his left hand.

He began to rewire his brain. He would put the pen to paper and pull out just before the spasm would kick in. He trained for 2 seconds, then 5 seconds. One day, suddenly, the spasm disappeared. He claims (with no evidence) that he is the first person to beat focal dystonia.

So, he was able to rewire his brain through some training and optimism. How one can do that is a much larger question.

 

Chapter 15: My Speaking Career (Use Smart Friends to Seek Advice)

Scott Adams was asked to give a talk to an organization. He was not interested, but they insisted. Adams called his friend for advice, who worked in this business. His friend suggested charging $5,000. Adams laughed at the suggestion but went ahead. He practiced saying "$5,000" without laughing.

When the organization called, Adams said, "I would like $5,000." He got it, along with a first-class flight ticket and hotel.

Sometimes, you need to seek advice from friends who have knowledge in areas different from your own. And you can always find one of those.

 

Chapter 18: Recognizing Your Talents and Knowing When to Quit

Learn when to leave: This can be difficult since successful people face obstacles. Persistence is useful, but when should one leave? Things that will eventually work out start out well. Things that will never work out start out poorly and stay that way. Small successes can grow into big ones, but failures rarely grow into successes.

Getting a reaction is key. For a TV show, a pilot that elicits 20% of people loving it and 80% hating it is much better than 100% thinking it is just okay. Averages don't mean much for entertainment products. Strong reactions do!

 

Chapter 20: Managing Your Odds for Success (The Most Important Chapter)

The Success Formula: Every Skill You Acquire Doubles Your Odds of Success

Success is generally the product of picking a good system and following it until luck finds you. A simple formula is: 

Good + Good > Excellent

You are better off being good at two complementary skills than being excellent at one (forget outliers). However, some skills are more valuable than others, and the 12th skill will be less valuable than the 11th skill.

For example, Person A is excellent at teaching English. Person B knows good English, is good at public speaking, and is good at making presentations. In such a case, Person B can run an organization. (I understand this is a gross simplification, but I hope you get the idea).

If you think that every skill doubles your odds of success, it can also be a motivator to learn a new, complementary skill.

Take Scott Adams - he combined "meager business skills with bad art skills and fairly ordinary writing talent" to become a famous cartoonist who created Dilbert.

Another benefit of learning as much as you can is that everything you learn becomes a shortcut for understanding something else.

 

Chapter 21: The Math of Success (Second-most Important Chapter)

You can't control luck, but you can improve the odds of success. Some important skills to learn (what Scott Adams suggests):

• Public speaking
• Psychology
• Business writing
• Accounting
• Designing
• Conversation
• Smile, ask questions (until you can find something both of you can relate to or have mutual interest in), avoid complaining and sad topics, and have some entertaining stories ready to go. How does one tell a compelling story?
• Set-up: Keep it brief and give quick context in 1-2 sentences on the background
• Establish a pattern: "Whenever I take my car, I follow the rules" (the listener now knows something might go wrong) 
• Foreshadowing: Leave some clues about where the story is heading, like "I was going to give an exam in Bangalore, which is famous for its traffic." 
• The characters: Give characters a name, their trait 
• Relatability: Pick a story that people can relate to. 
• The Twist: There has to be a plot twist.
• Overcoming shyness
• A simple trick for avoiding shyness involves harnessing the power of acting interested in other people. Some people are thing people, and some are people people. Also, remember every human is a mess on the inside.
• Second language
• Golf
• Proper Grammar
• Persuasion: Use of some words, phrases can have a dramatic effect on people. Here are some below:
• Use because: "May I borrow a hundred dollars because I won't be paid until next week?"
• "Would you mind" gives some sort of reasonable consideration to the other person
• "I have a rule" to stop unwanted persuasion
• "I just want to clarify" for something stupid or evil you hear from someone
• "Is there anything you can do for me?" You are a victim and puts the onus on the other person to solve the problem
• Three types of thank you: "Thank you," "Thank you for the ride," "Thank you for the ride. I wasn't sure how I would get back. You are a life saver."
• Sharing a secret - however small, can create a bond and a fast-track way to cause people to love and trust you.
• Decisiveness: If you can deliver an image of decisiveness
• Technology
• Proper voice technique
  

Chapter 22: Pattern Recognition (Other Simple Rules of Successful People)

 

Seven rules by Stephen Covey

• Be proactive
• Imagine a good outcome
• Set priorities
• Think win-win
• Seek first to understand, then be understood
• Use teamwork
• Keep learning
• Other rules:
• Lack of fear of embarrassment
• Education (the right kind)
• Exercise

Chapter 23: Happiness

 

The happiness formula:

• Eat right, sleep right, exercise
• Imagine an incredible future
• Work towards a flexible schedule
• Do things you can steadily improve at
• Help others (if you have already helped yourself)
• Reduce daily decisions to routine - this is key
• You can create a system - what time to wake up, time to eat (what to eat), exercise, time to work

Chapter 24: Diet

Some simple, no-willpower diet strategies:

• Pay attention to your energy levels after you eat. Find patterns
• Remove unhealthy food from the fridge
• Stock up on convenient healthy food
• Stop eating foods that create addiction: chips, fried food, dessert
• Get enough sleep, as tiredness can create the illusion of hunger
• If you are eating for social reasons, choose the healthiest option
• Learn how to season healthy but bland foods

 

Chapter 25: Fitness

 

Some more useful tips: 

• Exercise at the same time 
• Think about small victories; even if you only wore exercise clothes but didn't exercise, think of it as progress and feel good about it 
• Find a reward system after you exercise

 

Conclusion

The underlying theme of the book is filled with anecdotes about failed enterprises, ideas from Scott Adams, and learning along the way. It also recounts how Scott Adams lost his voice and the story of how he was able to get it back - it is quite a story.

 

 

 

Review: The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag by Jim Corbett

Jim Corbett's The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag is not just a story about the hunter and the prey but also an ode to the people of Gharwali. A engaging, hair-raising thriller written in an accessible manner. 

 

While wandering the streets of Lucknow, I saw a second-hand bookstall. Tired of reading non-fiction, I wanted a ‘light’ read and my eyes fell onto Jim Corbett’s The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. Immediately, I bought the book and started reading. And it was riveting from the start.

Before reading the book, I had never thought leopards as man-eaters - which is true to some extent. As Jim Corbett mentions, “Leopards do not become man-eaters for the same reasons that tigers do…[Leopards] are scavengers to the extent that they will…eat any dead thing they find in the jungle.”

So what explains the proclivity of our main antagonist to become a man-eater in the book? Jim Corbett believes epidemic influenza that swept through the country in 1918 was one of the reasons. The leopard - which found food scarce earlier - got a rich supply and acquired a taste for human flesh. When normal conditions were re-established, the leopard started killing humans. And thus, the man-eater of Rudraprayag was born.

The leopard started its man-eating mission from 1918 until 1926. The official record claimed the leopard killed 125 people. But, Jim Corbett believed the number was higher. Irrespective, the leopard was a source of fear and suffering for the people of Gharwal during those eight years.

Jim Corbett made it his mission to track and kill the man-eater. He employed a variety of methods including setting up a gin trap, baiting with the live goat and even poisoning the bait with cyanide. Yet, the leopard escaped all the traps set by Jim Corbett, either through sheer luck or foresight.

There were instances when Jim Corbett escaped from the leopard - the hunter almost got hunted. Once, Jim Corbett and his two friends were stranded in the jungle at night with the leopard around the corner. Fortunately, they had boxfull of matches and lit each match for every step before reaching the nearest village. Without the light, they would have been sitting ducks.

Written engagingly, Jim Corbett creates the atmosphere of fear that Gharwalis might have endured. The book is filled with anecdotes and facts about the region, people, and animals. It gives insight into Jim Corbett’s meticulous planning as well as his views about the people and India in general.

And Jim Corbett reserves the highest praise for them, “A typical son of Garhwal, of that simple and hardy hill-folk…whose sons only those few who live among them are privileged to know. It is these big-hearted sons of the soil, no matter what their caste or creed, who will one day weld the contending factions into a composite whole, and make of India a great nation.”

No wonder the national park in Uttarakhand was renamed Jim Corbett National Park. The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag is not just a story about the hunter and prey but also an ode to the resilience and fortitude of the local hill folks.

Review: Kohinoor by Dalrymple & Anand

William Dalrymple and Anita Anand's Kohinoor is filled with mysteries, deceits, and murders but the lust and allure for the diamond has still not dwindled. 

“…blinded, slow-poisoned, tortured to death, burned in oil, threatened with drowning, crowned in molten lead, assassinated by their own family and bodyguards, lost their kingdom and died in penury.”

This describes some of the ways the owners of the Kohinoor - the world’s most infamous diamond - suffered. Kohinoor written by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand follows the journey of the Kohinoor diamond. The story begins in fables before exchanging hands between kings at considerable cost before finally settling today, in an anti-climactic fashion, in a locked room in the Tower of London.

The book is divided into two parts: The first part titled, The Jewel in the Throne, follows until Kohinoor rests in the East while part two The Jewel in the Crown follows the journey of Kohinoor into the hands of the British - where it still resides.

The origins of Kohinoor are shrouded in mystery - adding to its allure. Despite references to gemstones and jewels in Indian mythological stories, none matched the description of Kohinoor. Perhaps, the earliest reference to the Kohinoor was mentioned by Portuguese philosopher Garcia da Orto from the Vijayanagara Empire, “Many years ago I heard from a person worthy of credit that he saw on in Vijayanagara the size of a small hen’s egg.” While the description matches, at least the size, it is unprovable that the diamond referred to is Kohinoor.

Kohinoor suddenly appears in the hands of Babur and passed onto Humayun before disappearing again. It transverses to the Deccan to finally reach the hands of an unknown merchant, Mir Jumla - who presents it to Shah Jahan to curry favour. As the fog of mystery around Kohinoor is slowly removed, the murderous journey begins.

In the hands of Shah Jahan, who became one of the greatest connoisseurs of precious stones, installed Kohinoor as one of the eyes of the peacock as part of the Peacock Throne - the most spectacular jewelled object ever made. Since the Mughals had untold wealth, Kohinoor was one of the many precious stones. It played second fiddle to Timur Ruby - considered to be more precious.

It was passed on to Aurangzeb after Shah Jahan’s death. Unlike his father, Aurangzeb was interested in conquests of kingdoms. The Kohinoor was now part of the Mughal treasury - one among many precious stones.

Kohinoor left the Mughal and Indian subcontinent after Aurangzeb’s death. Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid Dynasty in Iran, invaded and looted Delhi in 1739 under inept Mughal ruler Muhammad Shah.

An incident, most likely an apocryphal, on how Nader Shah got the hands of Kohinoor. According to the story, Nader Shah - after successfully conquering Delhi - after discovering that Nader Shah had hidden Kohinoor under his turban offers a turban exchange as a mark of ‘friendship.’ Awestruck by the shine, Nader Shah names it Kohinoor or Mountain of Light. Even if there are doubts regarding the story, the outcome is without a doubt - Kohinoor leaves the Mughals and arrives in Persia, now Iran. 

Nader Shah sitting on the Peacock Throne; Courtesy: Wikipedia

Here onwards, death or immense suffering follows the owners of Kohinoor - also known as the curse of Kohinoor. Nader Shah wears both Kohinoor and the Timur Ruby on his armband. Later, in 1747 he is murdered in his camp. Shah Rukh, the grandson of Nader Shah, is believed to have hidden Kohinoor. Aga Mohammad, the former court eunuch, tortures Shah Rukh and later pours a jug of molten lead onto his head to extract the whereabouts of Kohinoor and other precious stones. It is unknown where Aga Mohammad ever got his hands on Kohinoor. Irrespective, he faces the curse and is eventually assassinated by two of his servants.

The murderous trail stops, albeit temporarily. Kohinoor finds its way into the hands of Ahmad Khan Abdali - Nader Shah’s seniormost Afghan general and founder of the Durrani empire - and begins its residence in Afghanistan for the next 70 years. Kohinoor is passed from one generation to another - from Ahmad Shah to his son, Timur Shah, who passes it to his son, Shah Zaman.

Deceit, perfidy begins. Shah Zaman is deceived and later blinded by his chieftain, Ashiq Shinwari. However, Shah Zaman successfully hid Kohinoor. It was later discovered by a mullah who was using it as a paperweight. Shah Zaman’s brother, Shuja, got hold of Kohinoor and wore it on his arm like an amulet. Later, Shuja is cheated and arrested by his former courtier and present governor of Kashmir, Ata Muhammad Khan. Yet Ata Muhammad is unable to find the whereabouts of Kohinoor.

Ranjit Singh, the first emperor of the Sikh empire, started eying on the Kohinoor. He promised to rescue Shuja in exchange for Kohinoor. In 1813, Ranjit Singh defeats Ata Mohammad and rescues Shuja. However, Shuja refuses to fulfil his part of the bargain. Ranjit Singh puts Shuja in a cage and allegedly tortures his eldest son until Shuja relents. 

Kohinoor rested quietly - at least initially - for the next 36 years with the Sikh empire. Ranjit Singh wore the Kohinoor strapped to his biceps. Once Ranjit Singh, out of curiosity asks Shuja’s wife, Wa’fa Begum, to estimate the value of Kohinoor. She replies: “If a strong man were to throw four stones, one to each of the cardinal points, North, South, East and West, and fifth stone vertically, and if the space between were to be filled with gold and precious stones, they would not equal the value of Kohinoor.” 

Ranjit Singh wearing Kohinoor on his right arm

The death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 sets the domino in motion with Kohinoor exchanging hands closely followed by murders. Everyone wanted the Kohinoor including the pandits of Jagannath Temple, Orissa. During the last days of Ranjit Singh, the Brahmins of Jagannath persuaded Ranjit to donate the Kohinoor to the temple. However, the promise was reneged later - with Ranjit’s questionable mental state as one of the reasons for the denial. Even to this day, pandits of Jagannath Temple claim the rightful heirs of the Kohinoor.

Kharak Singh, the eldest legitimate son of Ranjit, took over the reign of the kingdom and became the newest owner of Kohinoor. His louche behaviour along with his love for drugs, drinks and dancing girls made several enemies. He was slowly poisoned to death. His son, an 18-year-old Nau Nihal became the next king. A charismatic young leader shortly died of an ‘accident’ when a structure collapsed on him. Sher Singh, the half-brother of Kharak Singh, became the next king. On a hunting expedition a year later, in 1843, a gun ‘went off' and killed him. Duleep Singh, a five-year-old son of Ranjit Singh became the next king. With the Kohinoor strapped to his soft little arm, Duleep sat on his mother’s lap while she (Rani Jindan) ruled over the empire.

All this while, the British were eyeing the Kingdom and the Kohinoor. They felt it was the opportune time to wage a war and succeeded in subduing the Sikhs. It later came to be known as the First and the Second Anglo-Sikh War - the latter resulted in a set of conditions by the British including “the gem called the Kohinoor…shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Labor to the Queen of England.” The passage of Kohinoor from Lahore to England was - like its journey so far - eventful. The ship Medea - which was carrying Kohinoor - was struck with storms and a cholera epidemic, almost sunk the ship before making its way to England.

Disappointment and dismemberment follow. Kohinoor is shown in an exhibition of 1851. However, initial excitement to see the famous diamond was replaced by disappointment due to its dim radiance. This highlighted the difference between the East and the West. Most Indians, including the Mughals, liked their gems as close to their natural state and original size. In contrast, the British were more interested in the sparkle and bringing out the ‘fire’ within. The British hired Dutch masters to cut Kohinoor and make it sparkle again. The cut was a disaster and a success. In terms of mass - it was cut more than halved from 190.3 metric carats to 93 metric carats. But it sparkled. 

After the second Anglo-Sikh war, Emperor Duleep Singh was separated from his mother and placed with a British Resident. Later Duleep Singh was exiled to British at the age of fifteen to keep him away from his mother and make him an ‘Anglophile.’ He even converted to Christianity. While Duleep enjoyed a decadent lifestyle in Britain, the loss of Kohinoor must have hurt him.

Duleep Singh, who never saw Kohinoor since the time the British took it away, goes on to make a strange request. He states, “I would give a good deal to hold it again in my own hand…I would like to have it in my power to place it myself in Her Majesty’s hand.” Duleep is shown the Kohihoor, holds it in his hand and looks at it carefully against the sunlight. Despite having strong emotions, Duleep places the Kohinoor into Queen Victoria’s hand. “It is to me, Ma’am, the greatest pleasure thus to have the opportunity, as a loyal subject, of myself tendering to my Sovereign - the Koh-i-Noor.” And thus, Duleep officially gives away the Kohinoor an adult that was snatched from him as a child.

Duleep is severely affected by this event. Kohinoor represented to Duleep — the pain of losing his family, his empire and his culture. Angered and cheated by the British, Duleep started drinking heavily and leading a lavish, unsustainable lifestyle. In 1893, Duleep Singh - who wore Kohinoor around his arm as a young boy - died pennilessly.

As for Kohinoor, it was believed that women could wear it with impunity but not men. It has been placed on the crown and is rarely seen by the public. It now sits at the Jewel House in the Tower of London. 

Kohinoor in front of the cross on the Crown

Review: Stories of the True by Jeyamohan (translated by Priyamvada in English)

Stories of the True follow the lives of people steeped in idealism despite facing immense challenges and ethical dilemmas. 

Franz Kafka’s quote, “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us”, is the best way to describe my feelings after I finished Stories of the True. Written by Jeyamohan in Tamil and translated by Priyamvada in English, it is a collection of twelve short stories - and follows the lives of real people filled with idealism despite being fraught with economic, social or/and ethical challenges. Some stories will make you laugh while others will make your eyes swell up in tears. However, it has two constant feelings: suffering and hope.

One of the standout stories is A Thousand Armchairs - a story about a Nayadi bureaucrat struggling to do the right thing for his tribal mother. Nagam Aiya’s manual of 1906 describes Nayadi as follows: “Nayadis. Since there’s a belief that it’s polluting to even lay eyes on them, they cannot move around during the day…they stay huddled like pigs, inside pits that they dig up…[and]…at night, they get out and hunt. They eat anything…rats, dogs…They cover their genitals with the spathe of the Palmyra tree”

The protagonist suffers. Separated from his mother at a young age, he clears civil services and become a bureaucrat. Despite trying to run away from his past, it follows him like a shadow.

The constant reminder is the armchair - which serves as a powerful and painful motif. After joining as a bureaucrat, the tall throne-like armchair is replaced by a simple wooden chair. It is a reminder that a bureaucrat from the Nayadi caste - a lower one - deserves a lower-grade chair.

However, when his mother sees him sitting on the same wooden chair, she cries, starts beating her chest, and screams, “he will kill you.” What did the armchair mean for the Nayadi? A community pelted with stones simply for stepping out of the drain, sitting on the armchair meant death.

The protagonist suffers immeasurably at home and outside. He is shunned and shamed by everyone while his mother tries to drag him back to the garbage dumps. And written in the first person, the reader suffers - at least I did, albeit temporarily. So did Jeyamohan.

 

Courtesy: www.jeyamohan.in

 

Initially, Jeyamohan wrote the story in the third person. Unhappy with the final product, he rewrote the story in the first person. As he mentions in an interview, “When you write the story in first person, empathy enters the story…Feeling another soul’s pain is fundamental to literature — if that is not possible, literature will suffer.” When the real-life protagonist of A Hundred Armchairs read the story, he wrote a letter to Jeyamohan saying he was sorry the author had to suffer, even if they were only imagined.

The theme of suffering comes from Jeyamohan’s life itself. After losing his parents to suicide six months apart, a twenty-four-year-old Jeyamohan describes his mental state during that time: “I had suffered the harshest of sorrows that a human being can be faced with. Death, ignominy, loss of my home, my land, my people and endless wandering…I set out to kill myself [and] headed towards the railway track.”

Amid despair, Jeyamohan stumbled on hope. The epiphany came in the form of a worm on a leaf: “Here is a being for which every moment of this life is of utmost significance. Death may be right beside it, still, it has its own purpose in this world, a purpose that can be fulfilled by no other…On that day, I resolved that there would be no more sadness in my life.”

Another story from the book, Elephant Doctor, is a hagiography of Dr V. Krishnamurthy (Dr V). He was a pre-eminent conservationist from Tamil Nadu who dedicated his entire life to the elephants. Told from the point of view of a forest ranger, it follows Dr K’s journey to gathering information about the forest and treating wounded animals - especially the elephant. He was a doctor, comrade, friend and admirer of the fantastic beasts. Once Dr K remarked about the elephants, “What a divine being. If there should come a day when there are no more elephants in Tamil Nadu, what’ll our culture amount to? If that should happen, we might as well throw the entire Sangam literature into the fire.” 

 

Dr Krishnamurthy (Elephant Doctor)

  

Elephants face several human-caused injuries - none more innocuous sounding than stepping on a shard of a glass bottle. Within two days, the wound will form pus, maggots will enter it, transport the pus inside - and likely kill the elephant. When one of the elephants visits Dr K with this injury, Dr K treats the wounds and administers the antibiotics.

Dr K died in 2002. Despite holding the record for the highest number of elephant autopsies and the highest number of elephant births supervised, world never recognized his contributions during his lifetime. But he never sought recognition from humans. After treating the injured elephant, the story ends with the herd of elephants forming a semicircle and trumpeting in unison. It was a fitting tribute to the Elephant Doctor.

There are other stories like Aram - The Song of the Righteousness, where a capricious publisher refuses to pay an impoverished author until the publisher’s wife intervenes. Or The Meal Tally, where the restaurant owner generously serves meals to his customers in exchange for voluntary payment.

Despite pain and suffering, it is the ability to think beyond oneself and work for others that makes someone stand out. Each character embodied Aram - in their own way - by holding idealism as their core tenet. It is such stories that renew faith in humanity.