Swami - The Peshwe Era

खूप वर्षांनी एक मराठी पुस्तक वाचायला घेतलं. ते संपवायला किती वेळ लागेल, जुनी मराठी भाषा असल्यामुळे आपल्याला कितपत शब्द माहित असतील, ह्या सगळ्या बद्दल मी साशंक होते. पण हे पुस्तक इतकं रंजक आहे की एकवेळ बसून आरामात ३०-४० पानं वाचून व्हायची. शेवटची ७० पानं सलग वाचावी अशीच आहेत. माधवराव पेशव्यांबद्दलचं 'स्वामी' हे पुस्तक वाचून झाल्यावर, त्याबद्दल चा हा review .

शाळेमध्ये इतिहास हा खरंतर माझा आवडीचा विषय होता. तरी पण मला इतिहासात पेशव्यांबद्दलचं डिटेल मध्ये शिकलेलं अजिबात आठवत नाही. शिवाजी महाराज, भारताची स्वातंत्र चळवळ, world wars, ह्या बदल शिकलो, पण ज्यांनी शिवाजींनंतर पूर्ण भारतावर राज्य केलं त्यांच्या बद्दल शाळेत जास्त शिकवलं गेलं नाही. आत्तापर्यंत कधी ह्या काळाबद्दल स्वतःहून research किंवा अभ्यासाची वेळ आली नाही. आता त्याची त्रुटी भरून काढावीशी वाटत आहे. 

'स्वामी' हे लेखक रणजीत देसाई ह्यांचं, थोरल्या माधवरावांबद्दलचं पुस्तक आहे. आपल्याला थोरले माधवराव हे रमा-माधव ह्या मालिकेतून, picture मधून माहित आहेत. पण त्यांचा कर्तृत्व, त्यांचा स्वभाव, त्यांचे विचार हे जास्त highlight झालेले नाहीत. थोरले माधवराव हे खूप कमी वयात पेशवे बनले. एवढी जबाबदारी लहान वयात येऊनही त्यांनी ती खूप चांगली पेलली, कधी आपल्या ध्येयापासून आणि निष्ठेपासून दूर न जाता, पानिपतच्या युद्धानंतर हरवलेली पेशवाईची शान परत आणली. खूप कमी वयात tuberculosis आजाराने त्रस्त झाले नसते आणि अजून काही वर्ष जगले असते तर नक्कीच भारताचा इतिहास वेगळा असता असं मला वाटतं.

ह्या सगळ्या मध्ये एक जाणवलेली गोष्ट म्हणजे राघोबा दादांची. पेशव्याचे हे काका असले तरी सगळ्यात जास्त पेशव्यांना विरोध आणि अडवाआडवी त्यांनीच केली. माधवरावांचा अर्धा वेळ हा internal fights मधेच गेला. हा वेळ, पैसे, माणसं जर शत्रूवर चालून जायला उपयोगी पडली असती तर चित्र काहीसं वेगळं असतं. तसं बघायला गेला तर अजूनही इतक्या वर्ष नंतर, आपल्याकडे तेच चालू आहे. घराघरामध्ये भांडणं, भारता मध्ये राहून पण देशाच्या विरुद्ध बोलणारे आणि वागणारी लोकं. आपण इतिहासातून काहीच शिकलो नाही असं म्हणायचं. 

हे पुस्तक वाचून मला माहिती तर खूपच मिळाली पण माझी पेशव्यांच्या कारकिर्दीबद्दल अजून वाचायची इच्छा पण वाढली आहे. Lockdown संपला कि एकदा शनिवारवाड्यावर जाऊन पुस्तकात वर्णन केले आहेत ते दिल्ली आणि गणेश दरवाजे बघायचे आहेत. पेशवाईबद्दल अजून बरंच काही वाचायचं आहे. राघोबादादांची बाजू मांडणारे काही असेल तर ते वाचायचं किंवा बघायचं आहे. कारण ह्या पुस्तकातून तर बाकीच्या शत्रूंपेक्षा तेच सगळ्यात  जवळचे आणि मोठे शत्रू आहेत असा दिसून येतं.

पुस्तकात अवघड मराठी शब्द आहेत खरे. पण context मध्ये ते समजून जातात. मी गोधळले ते आजूबाजूंच्या व्यक्तींमुळे. सगळ्यांची नावं लक्षात ठेऊन, त्यांची टोपण नावं लक्षात ठेवणं खूपच अवघड गेलं. नाना, बापू, दादा, राव, अश्याने संबोधन केल्यावर नक्की कोणाबद्दल बोललं जातंय हे कळायला वेळ लागला. बरीच अशी जवळची मंडळी असल्यामुळे अशी अनेक नावे सहजच मध्ये मध्ये येतात. ते समजून घ्यायला थोडा वेळ लागतो. 

ह्या सगळ्या नंतर वाटला तो पुण्याबद्दलचा जाज्वल्य अभिमान, आधी पेक्षा ही जास्त. भारतावर राज्य केलेल्या सत्तेची राजधानी पुण्यात होती आणि त्या वेळेस च्या इमारती, जिथे हे सगळं घडलं, अजूनही आपल्याला बघायला शाबूत आहेत, हि किती अभिमानाची बाब आहे.

Era of Darkness

After Sapiens, I picked up the book 'Era of Darkness' by Shashi Tharoor as my next read. From a historic viewpoint, I was thrown into a complete nationalist standpoint (albeit with extremely well researched content). It was a different end of spectrum for me, from Yuval Noah Harari explaining imperialism, capitalism and what probably made England venture out to far off countries and build empires in Sapiens; to the Era of Darkness; which gave me a stark reality of what the conditions in India during the empire looked like.

According to Shashi Tharoor, the idea for this book came when his speech from a London debate went viral and he received a lot of accolades and compliments for standing up for his country and putting across points related to remuneration for empirical rule. When he got so many compliments and people lauded him for saying what was common knowledge according to him, he realized that the horrors of English regime were not that widely understood and known to everyone. Which is when he came up with the idea of writing this book.

The book is very well researched but if you are looking for a chronological story type reading experience, that is not how it is presented. Instead, he has taken individual occupations (like textile, steel, printing press), different conditions (like famine, labor movement during world war 2), growth and spread of English items like tea and cricket, social and religious structures in pre-British era; and described the impact to all these because of the British rule. He goes on to meticulously point out how it was a deliberate attempt of British to ruin Indian economy so that the British economy could flourish and how India, to the British, was a gold reserve for developing their own country. 

It is very saddening to read the detailed background and aftermath of historical events like Jallianwala Baug massacre, the Kohinoor diamond trading hands, the Partition and the events surrounding it, and many such incidents which we have heard about but probably do not know in too much detail. 

For the Raj apologists, as he calls them, he has provided well explored details on how the supposedly good things that we should be grateful to the British for, were also something completed and used for British convenience and not for the ease of Indian people. One major example of this is the Railways, for which the British rule is given much credit. He knocks off this assumption giving detailed info on how railways were used for British to connect only certain parts of India such that they could ferry off most material easily to the British shores. Tharoor makes compelling arguments for each and every point that is usually credited as a positive outcome of the British rule. At the end of the chapter, you are bound to agree with him.

The most impactful chapter for me was where he described the final years of the freedom struggle and the conditions that led to the Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan divide. He has sincerely pointed out the drawbacks or mistakes that the Indian National Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru did which could have avoided the whole bloodbath later. From a social perspective, he has explained in detail how British were responsible for tearing the social structure and dividing the country into religions and castes, more permanent than they had ever been in pre-British era. It is a sad truth that something that was deliberately initiated more than 200 years back, is still strongly rooted in our society and getting more and more fragmented day by day.

One interesting point in the book which I hadn`t noticed or thought about previously is the difference between French or Portuguese imperialism and British imperialism. He mentions that other regimes wanted to inculcate the local population and make them more or less like themselves. French and Portuguese influence can still be seen in various parts of India like Pondicherry and Goa. The local population was encouraged to talk, eat, live like the rulers. Many rulers married into the local populace too. However, British rulers always maintained a stark divide between them and the local population. According to them, they were the better race and Indians needed to be ruled for their own benefit. Excerpt from the book ``The British had no intention of becoming one with the land. The French rules foreign territories and made them French, assimilating them in a narrative of Frenchness; the Portuguese settled in their colonies and intermarried with the locals; but the British always stayed apart and aloof, a foreign presence, with foreign interests and foreign loyalties``

The book depicts a sad reality and shows the horrific cruelties of the British rule. If you are in a dreamy and happy mood, this is something you should definitely not pick up. But read it to know the history, read it to be proud of your country and finally, read it for the partition chapter which is sure to bring goosebumps. Also, if the name Shashi Tharoor is making you think twice about picking up the book, lest you need to sit with a dictionary on the side, don`t worry. Though he casually uses words like eclectic, consign, apocryphal; you would be able to understand the gist of the sentence without feeling too daunted with the words used. All in all, a very interesting but disheartening read!

Sapiens - A must read

I picked up the book - Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari in mid last year. Being a fiction fan, it was after a long time that I started with a non-fiction book by borrowing it from the office library. I kept on renewing it until December when I had to return it due to the holiday season. Determined to complete it, I then borrowed it from a colleague who had this book in his collection. After almost a year of starting the book, I have finally finished reading it yesterday, thanks to the lockdown that we are all in.

The reasons for taking so much time to read are different and none of them is because the book is drab. Firstly, Sapiens is a non-fiction book, of almost 500 pages, with each page, each paragraph and each line giving so much information that you actually need some time to comprehend and digest the details. After around 10 pages or so, I used to get mentally consumed and took time to recollect everything that I had read within the last half an hour. Secondly, I usually did not feel like picking this book up when I was tired or bored, lest I couldn't give the information justice. Thirdly, I got distracted with other smaller books in between which I was able to complete much faster.

However, keeping all of my personal inefficiencies in completing this book aside, Sapiens as a read is fantastic. It is a must-read and I would say that this book can and should be prescribed as a textbook in schools or colleges. The information provided in this book is mind-boggling and makes you stop, think and introspect at multiple junctures during the read. Sapiens starts off with the advent of humankind, takes us through the important milestones in history like the cognitive, agriculture and scientific revolution and ends up speculating about the future and giving us food for thought.

The pace and flow of the different topics are extremely smooth and effortless. You are reading about the Gilgamesh project in one chapter and before you realize it, the author is talking about how science was funded and how it progressed. The author also explores various theories and possibilities about why history has developed as it has, why did the society become patriarchal, why European nations were able to invade and rule over half the globe whereas other countries did not even try, how different religions come into being, what lead to Christianity and Islam being the most popular religions; topics that are varied across human history. Though he might not have a definitive answer to these questions, the author has explored various possibilities and you can't help but admire the research that must have gone in to get so much information.

There are various facts strewn across the chapters and they are much more interesting than the casual way in which they are mentioned. A very interesting story from the book is as follows - "During the Second World War, BBC News was broadcast to Nazi-occupied Europe. Each news program opened with a live broadcast of Big Ben tolling the hour - the magical sound of freedom. Ingenious German physicists found a way to determine the weather conditions in London based on tiny differences in the tone of the broadcast ding-dongs. This information offered invaluable help to the Luftwaffe. When the British Secret Service discovered this, they replaced the live broadcast with a set recording of the famous clock".

The parts I loved to read were his take on how agriculture has more disadvantages than advantages, how Homo Sapiens came into being by annihilating Neanderthals, how and why Europe ruled over half the world, how capitalism is almost one of the religions these days. He has explained all of these theories very interestingly. The author ends the book with the below line which is very symbolic these days - 'We are more powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with all that power. Worse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever. Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. We are consequently wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the surrounding ecosystem, seeking little more than our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction'. Isn't this a very profound statement in the COVID-19 times?

The only point I found surprising was the fact that though he has written a lot about Christianity, Islam and Buddhism along with details about their origins and spread, he has not mentioned these details about Hinduism, which is the 4th religion by population*. I would have loved to read his interpretation of Hinduism and understand how it fitted into the general scheme of things at the time.

The book has almost 40 pages of references and notes. In the current world of WhatsApp unverified or unresearched information, it is refreshing to read something which we can understand and digest as a well-researched truth.

Sapiens is a book that should be in your personal book collection to be read whenever you feel like.

I can't wait to get my hands on the next two books in this series by the same author - 'Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow' and '21 Lessons for the 21st Century'. 

*References -
List of Religious Populations

Asura - The Ravana Tale

With much excitement and eagerness, I took up the book 'Asura - Tale of the Vanquished' by Anand Neelakantan to read in this quarantine period. The previous book by the same author 'Ajaya' was extremely thrilling and unputdownable; the review of which I have written in my blog too.

Asura is Ramayana from Ravana's point of view - 'Ravanayana' he calls it. The author details out the journey of Ravana from his childhood to his eventual demise in the war between Rama and him. Disclaimer - This blog will have spoilers, so please stop here if you are interested in reading the book.

The book starts off very interestingly, explaining why Ravana is called Dasamukha or ten faced. Ravana was advised to shun all other emotions apart from intellect, but he decides to assimilate all of the ten emotions - anger, pride, jealousy, happiness, sadness, fear, selfishness, passion and intellect to become a complete man. Of all the logical explanations I have heard about Ravana being ten faced, this sounds like the most believable.

A few points which I liked in the book

The storytelling alternates between narration by Ravana and by Bhadra, who is a commoner in Ravana's kingdom. This gives us a viewpoint of the commoners under Ravana's regime and what they were going through, what their thoughts were about the king and the situation, and how their life changed under Ravana's rule.

As he did in Ajaya, the author has tried to provide alternative theories to explain the situations in the Ramayana epic. He has portrayed Ravana as a genuine person with a cause, rather than as an egoistic, ruthless leader who did things things on a whim to satisfy his ego. Though the alternate fiction is not as convincing as in the first book, it is admirable of the author to weave a story with a completely different perspective.

Some of the points do make you think. Why did Laxman behave so ruthlessly with Shoorpanakha and cut off her nose (according to the popular tale, this book has a different version)? Does the fact that Sita was in the Ashokvan and Ravana did not even try to touch her, show that he was a good soul? Was the Agni Pariksha, that Sita had to go through after the war, justified?

Now to the parts where I was a tad bit disappointed

Ravana was a learned man who was a great devotee of Shiva. I would have liked to learn more about why he is still revered by so many in Lanka, how did he get all the knowledge that he supposedly possessed, how was he gifted the sword by Shiva (which only has a fleeting mention in the glossary), his ego and his personality. Instead, Ravana comes across as a confused character behaving more or less on ego and impulse and not like the great mastermind you would expect the king of Asura to be.

While I laud the author in coming up with an alternate fictional version of Ramayana, unlike Ajaya, this version is not as convincing. The fact that Sita is shown to be Ravana's daughter who he had cast away; the reason to kidnap Sita is shown to be that he believes that Ram, her husband, will not treat his daughter right; the fact that he sacrifices his son and his entire kingdom for his long lost daughter who obviously loves her husband too much to appreciate her father doing this for her; these all story lines seem incredulous, unconvincing and far-fetched.

Although the Bhadra character gives us the ground root emotions and thoughts of the commoners, his story seems stretched. His character seems confused too, oscillating between someone who reveres the king and would do anything for him, to the one who realizes that the monarchy does not care for him and his help. The Bhadra story also extends too much, long after Ravana is dead. This probably was important to narrate what happened next with Ram and Sita and to close the epic logically, but the story felt stretched and unnecessary after the great Asura Ravana had fallen.

Overall, though this book was not as gripping as the previous novel by the same author, I am grateful to this book for keeping me company in this isolation period at home.

Dreams

I have a habit of scribbling my random thoughts, as and when I get them, on a piece of paper. Found such a blog I had written on the last page of a book probably 3 years back. Posting it here since the content is still valid.

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A few days back, I heard very disturbing news. My cousin's friend, aged 26, committed suicide by hanging himself to a ceiling fan, My cousin, who had gone to a movie with him just 4 days before the incident, was visibly shaken, There was no suicide note and no apparent reason for the extreme step. A smiling moviegoer was turned to a dangling corpse!

In this day and age, it is so easy to succumb to pressure, collapsed dreams and broken relationships. The rising number of suicides is just a fraction of these people under pressure taking the next step. There is an insightful article regarding the probable cause of the increasing number of suicides in the current generation.

The article mentions the differences in generations starting from our grandfathers' generation. The post-independence middle class had different challenges. All they were concerned about was a good house they can raise their children in and basic facilities for their children. These children, our parents, were educated and dreamt of some luxuries in their life. Remember the first time your family got a car?

Our generation, on the other hand, is already born with ample luxuries. We never had to fight or save to get the things we wanted. We were taught to dream big, of course, you can get an international degree, a high paying job, an Audi for that matter. We dreamt of having an even more luxurious life and took efforts in that direction. However, life and luck don't go according to our whim and will trip you sooner or later. In all this 'aiming for the sky' spirit, we were probably not taught the most important thing - It is okay to dream big; just don't expect all those dreams to come true.

So how can we try and come out of this mirage of 'I deserve it' that we are living in? Here are some things I learned when I was going through a speed-breaker in my life -

1) Be Realistic - Just as we start any business or task with positive enthusiasm, start moving towards your dreams with optimism. However, always have the worst case scenario at the back of your mind. Being aware of where you can fail will prepare you in case things don't go as planned.

2) Don't compare - Your friends, colleagues, relatives your age might have achieved what they wanted. This can be a constant frustrating factor when you compare your life with others and conclude that your life sucks. Remember everyone has their own arc and their own struggle.

3) Get off social media - Just for a few days. Social media has a tendency to highlight just the happy side of any person. Accepting this to be the entire truth can further take you down that big dark hole.

4) Talk to your friends -  It can be just one friend. But tell him/her everything. Sharing your feelings makes your heart lighter. Listening to their advice/similar experiences will help you stay positive.

5) Read similar experiences - For me, I did this on Quora. People who have gone through similar incidents/situations or worse experiences can harden your resolve with 'If he can do it, I can do it too' attitude. Reading about the way other people fought back can give you the energy and spirit to continue down the road.

In any case, it is very important to understand that this isn't a never-ending tunnel. It might seem dark all around right now, but there will be light at the end. Our duration in the tunnel might vary but our attitude is what will help us sail through to the other end.

My handwritten notes which I abruptly found... more to motivate myself than anything else! On a lighter note, I think I should start writing dates on my random scribbles.

AJAYA - Because Truth is Subjective!

"History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napolean once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'"

-Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

I don't know what to believe anything anymore. Truth is subjective and history more so. I have started believing that when history was written, whoever wrote it, put in his/her own interpretations and prejudices which have come to define the history which we now read and assume to be true.

The reason of so many thoughts in my head is the book which I recently completed reading - 'Ajaya - Roll of the Dice'. It is written by Anand Neelakantan and describes the story of Mahabharata through the Kaurava eyes. The author mentions how he has always been intrigued by the anti-hero, Duryodhana in this case, and decided to write this book when he found out that there are some places in Kerala where people still worship Duryodhana as God. The book is fascinating since it raises a lot of questions which have, surprisingly, never crossed our minds might be because we have always been fed the 'Pandavas are good, Kauravas are evil' story with much conviction since our childhood.

'If Duryodhana was evil, why did Bhishma, Dronacharya still support him', 'If the Pandavas were not Pandu's children (since Pandu was known to be impotent), and Pandu was the younger brother of Dhritarashtra, what claim did the Pandavas have to the throne?', 'Was Shishupala's murder by Krishna justified?'

The most fascinating thing in the entire book is how the writer has weaved fiction and mythology together with the same stories that we know by heart; but with an entire different precedent and reasoning to it - What exactly happened at the house of lac, What was the probable reason of Draupadi getting married off to all the five Pandavas, Was destroying the entire Khandiva forest justified?

A few examples below which really got me thinking -

1) Duryodhana was earlier called Suyodhana - 
The Kaurava kids had names of 'Suyodhana', 'Sushasana' and 'Sushala'.
Their names were later coined as 'Duryodhana', 'Dushana' and 'Dushala' by the Pandavas after appending 'Du' at the beginning which means 'bad/evil' after the 'misunderstandings' started of the Kauravas being the evil people in front of the very principled and obedient Pandavas.

2) Draupadi getting married to all Pandavas -
Book Version - Arjuna rightly won Draupadi in her Swayamvar by hitting the rotating fish's eye. She disagreed to marry Karna because of his caste. Later when they reached home, according to the book, Kunti saw that Yudhishtra had taken a liking to Draupadi and looked quite smitten by her. To avoid any arguments between the brothers (since they needed to stay together to take over the throne), Kunti made Draupadi marry all five brothers. Later during the Indraprastha city opening ceremony, Gandhari muses over the possibility of Kunti being so unsure of her upbringing that she thinks a girl can break the bond between brothers.
Popular Version - In the main fable, Arjuna brings Draupadi home and asks his mom to see what he has brought. Kunti, without knowing, from inside the house, says that whatever it is should be shared by all the brothers as she has taught them from childhood. Taking mom's word as an order, it is decided that Draupadi should be shared too.

3) House of Lac -
Book Version - The Pandavas had come to know of the secret plot to burn the lac house built for them by the Kauravas. They knew that if they escaped, the Kauravas would not stop hunting for them. So they needed to show that the entire family had perished in the fire. According to the book, the Pandavas found a beggar and her 5 kids on the street and bought them to the house of lac on the pretense of feeding them food. After a hearty meal, the beggars realized that the food was actually laced with poison. But it was too late. All 6 of them died in the palace. They were to be a cover for the Pandavas so that the Kauravas think that all Pandavas have perished and do not keep hunting for them. However, the beggar kids were younger and smaller as compared to the Pandavas and there was a possibility that the Kauravas wouldn't be fooled by these bodies. To make the identification task difficult, it is said that the same poisoned food was fed to all the soldiers guarding the palace. The palace was lit on fire and the Pandavas escaped. With so many burnt bodies, it was difficult for anyone to identify or confirm and easier to assume that the Pandavas had died in the fire. Yudhishtra had argued about the necessity and righteousness of poisoning the soldier but Kunti, in the book, justifies the poisoning by saying that a soldier's Dharma is to protect his masters. By sacrificing their lives, the soldiers are doing their duty and following their Dharma.
Popular Version - In the popular version of Mahabharata, the Pandavas had procured and placed dead bodies in the palace to remove suspicion about the escape.

4) Destroying the Khandiva forest & Mayasura -
Book Version - The Khandiva forest was home to the under privileged groups who were residing in the forest along with other jungle animals. They were mostly beggars, physically challenged people, basically crowds you wouldn't want to see in an influential city. The forest was given to the Pandavas by Kauravas to appease them from trying for the throne. Krishna convinced Yudhishtra to take up the challenge and build a great city where it was least expected. To start off with their vision, they had to burn the entire forest. When the forest starting burning, the animals tried running away but found soldiers on all sides who pierced them with arrows. When the humans dwelling in the forest realized that their houses were getting destroyed, they pleaded to Krishna and Yudhishtra to save their lives. Krishna saw a potential population who could be used to do all the work to build up the city. He also found Mayasura among st the jungle people who was a great architect and who convinced Krishna to hire him to give shape to Krishna's vision. Mayasura and his people were recruited as workers and worked day and night to build the great city of Indraprastha.
On the day of the city's inauguration, soldiers were ordered to relocated all the people to the other side of the river. This was because, such a bright, shining, prosperous city couldn't be seen having untidy, deformed, dirty beggars roaming it's streets. The entire worker population was uprooted and sent away since their work in the entire scheme of things was done.
Popular Version - Mayasura was a Rakshasa and he fought the Pandavas. Pandava spared his life when he said he will build Indraprastha. The Khandava jungle was a bhog or offering to lord Agni. I had not heard of mention of many workers and other communities in the jungle.

5) Shishupala's Murder - 
Book Version - According to the book, this was a cold blooded murder by Krishna in an assembly of all great kings and no one dared to go against Krishna because of his assumed divinity and because his supporters outnumbered his challengers.
Shishupala was challenging Yudhishtra's decision of inviting Krishna as the Chief Guest on the occasion of Indraprastha city's inauguration. He believed that Krishna had done nothing to warrant this special seat in front of dignitaries like Bhishma and Dronacharya. He bashed Krishna in a strong language and questioned his authority to lead the world and of him doing wrong deeds in the name of Dharma.
Krishna had had enough and killed him with his chakra in front of the entire assembly. A huge battle ruptured but since Krishna had enough supporters on his side, the other party could not do much and had to leave from there.
Popular Version - In the other version of this, Krishna kills off Shishupala since Shishupala had done his share of wrongs and atrocities and he needed to be stopped. (त्याच्या पापाचा घडा भरला होता)

These and a lot such stories make up for a very very interesting read. I wouldn't want to take the book at it's face value though. Like we were taught to revere the Pandavas since childhood, this book tries to make the reader believe that Duryodhana (earlier Suyodhana) was all good and Krishna along with the Pandavas followed Dharma blindly without questioning the motive or correctness of it. However, the book does make you think twice since everything fits so perfectly together even with this tale that the author has spun. If nothing else, it has definitely intrigued me to a point where I now want to complete the second part of the book and then take up the original Mahabharata and see the rationale behind the scenes from the other angle.

For mythology book lovers, this is definitely a must read! :)

Cherry on the cake, I was so enthralled with the book that I wrote to the author my words of appreciation for his masterpiece. And I got a reply back the very next morning! :)

Sandwiches, Burgers and Coffee!

Its been years since I have been active here. There is so much to say and so much going in my mind and I have finally sat down to describe my experiences in the first foreign country I visited.

These are my experiences in Canada. I spent around 2.5 years there and I am grateful, humbled, excited and nostalgic about my experience in the country. I have had so many incidents as a lone first timer in a new country. These experiences come out as fond memories in every discussion I have with friends. Penning them down is like reliving my Canadian days once again...

This post is specifically about the time I worked in the service industry while I was studying and later when I was searching for jobs. Though I hadn't done any such work in India ever, these days were memorable and fun even though they paid the minimum wage set by the province. I believe they have also shaped my customer handling skills since I had to interact with numerous people from different walks of life. Lastly, I know they have made me appreciate the kind of physical effort that goes into these type of jobs and I now look at physical labor with a new found respect.

Subway (Sep 15 - May 16) - I started working in Subway 2 hours everyday from 5 -7 pm as a Cashier/Sandwich artist. This shop was in my university itself  and I started working here mostly to supplement my education with some additional income. Though my shift was of only 2 hours, that time was the busiest time in the day since there would be a lot of students coming in for a sub; probably on their way home. I remember the senior aunties working alongside us telling us that we were making around 200 sandwiches in 2 hours!
Anyway, I started off as a sandwich artist and was explained how many tomatoes to put in, how to smile and ask them what they would like to have today, how to pronounce 'cold cut' in the Canadian accent (Indian accent was a little difficult for them to understand) etc. I became pretty good at the vegetable counter soon. After a few months I was allowed to be on the meat selection side of the counter. I was ecstatic! It felt like a mini promotion and was super exciting since I could now actually understand the different types of meat available; meats which I had never seen/eaten or even heard in my life. Turkey, ham, meat balls, cold cut, BLT, BMT oh the options!
We had three ladies working with us in the eatery who used to manage the kitchen/back shop and made sure that the breads, meat, veggies and sauces don't run out. They also helped us on the counter if there were too many people in the queue. We were a team and it was fun working together. Sensing that I was missing out being with my family during my first Diwali away from home, the Punjabi aunty even gifted me bangles on Diwali day.
Wondering if we ate subways everyday? I wish! We were allowed to take one 6 inch sub home only on Fridays. I made the best chicken teriyaki sub (every time) with loaded veggies. Yes, that was dinner. Sometimes we got cookies and cakes on Friday which were almost close to the end of their shelf life and were glad and happy about the free food.
The best compliment I have ever received was on the university 'UBC Compliments' page where someone wrote that he/she liked my way of greeting customers and making them feel welcome. There is no happiness as getting appreciated!

Waitressing - This was an ad-hoc one event stint that I took up to earn some extra bucks. There was a conference in the university and they wanted people to help out with serving, taking out dishes etc. We started around 3 pm with arranging tables, chairs and the cutlery (in the correct way) in the huge hall. I had never done this before and was obviously nervous. However, in a white shirt and black trousers (as told to us before) and an apron and cap provided by them, I totally looked the part! People started coming around 6 pm. I was in charge of 3 round tables which hosted around 15 people. Serving them food and wine went pretty well. I almost poured the hot coffee post dinner on a gentleman but he moved, I apologized and there was no harm done. He and his wife were university alumni and made polite conversation about my studies and and wished me well in the future. While leaving, he placed a $5 note in my hand as tip and I almost had tears in my eyes. It was my first ever tip and I knew I had totally earned it.
However, my joy was short lived when the following happened. I had collected all the empty wine glasses in a round tray and was taking them inside the kitchen area. The inside area had a door which needed to be pushed to go in. I requested a friend of mine to hold the door open since I had quite a heavy tray in my hands. I have no idea what happened next, but the door slammed shut when I was trying to go in, collided with the tray in my hands and knocked all the finely shaped wine glasses off the tray on the floor in pieces. I was totally embarrassed. My friend and I cleaned up the debris and I apologized profusely to the main organizer. She was sweet enough to let it go saying that first timers do make mistakes. Cheery on the cake was that the wine glass amount wasn't deducted from my pay check as I had expected them to do.
Cleaning up later, putting things in place, it was almost 10 pm till we were done and ready to go home. We had worked continuously from 3 pm to 10 pm without a single moment of rest. Finally when I crawled in my bed around 11, my entire body, especially my back, was hurting. Hats off to the waiters and servers who do this continuous physical activity with a smile on their faces.

A & W Burger Shop (June 16 - Sep 16) - My course had completed and I was looking out for jobs. Job hunt is a tedious process and I needed something to sustain myself in the city. This is when I got the burger shop job after randomly giving out my resumes in Vancouver downtown. I was literally going into every shop and giving out my resume which had 'Subway' as the major experience. I got this interview during one such resume distribution day and was asked to join the next day. I was asked to work in the burger shop kitchen the first day and taught to make burgers. Unfortunately, I sucked in the kitchen. They realized this when they saw me trying to put in a patty in the burger but breaking the patty in half, in the process. Fortunately though, they realized I could be good at the cash counter. So I was transferred to the cashier/counter role. This role expected me to talk to people, take their orders, give them the preparations from the kitchen, clean up tables, wash dishes and clean up the washrooms. At the cash counter, it took me a while to remember the different burgers they offered along with trying to understand what exactly goes in each burger.
Unlike other jobs, this was a full time 8 hour shift. Weekdays I used to work from 8 am to 4 pm and on weekends my shift was from 6 am to 2 pm. I had to catch the first bus and first skytrain to reach my weekend shift on time.
My experiences in this job were unusual. There was some construction going on on the road in front of the shop and at 10:15 am everyday, around 15-20 construction workers used to come to the shop for their daily breakfast. Keeping in mind everyone's almost similar order and giving the correct order to the correct 'same dressed person' was a task. I remember during one particularly busy lunch time, I mistakenly packed 2 burgers instead of 4 on a take away order. The lady came rushing back in 10 minutes, fuming and screaming that we were duping her. My manager and I had to apologize and give her the correct parcel to make peace with her. Another time, another lady who was a regular used to come every Saturday and order the same breakfast with one white and one brown bread. A few weeks later, she used to just wave her hand and I knew what she wanted!
Weekends early mornings were a different experience altogether. Since the shop was open 24/7, we used to get teenagers and party people dropping by for food early morning after probably a night of partying. Most of the time these people were pretty hungover and we had to deal with such crowds tactfully. It wasn't just party people, but the 24 hour shop attracted homeless people too who used to
order something minimal and sit or sleep on the table itself.
Another time, during a slow afternoon, I was sent on the main road with discount coupons to attract customers. I spent around an hour stopping random people on the street handing out the flyers. Most people ignored, some took the coupons and walked away and a few stopped by to understand what we were offering.
At the end of my time here, I knew a lot of people, was proficient with the burgers being served and had enjoyed my time at the eatery. However, I knew this wasn't my calling and had decided to move from Vancouver to Toronto in search of better job opportunities.

Second Cup Coffee Shop (Nov 16 - Jan 16) - I had moved to Toronto to look for some opportunities in my masters related field. However, sitting at home the whole day and applying online was a very frustrating task. So I decided to take up some part time work. After 2-3 days of randomly walking into shops again, I was called to a coffee shop which was around 15 minutes (but 2 buses) away from my house. This is important because it was winter time in Toronto and I used to almost freeze till the time I changed buses and came home.
In the coffee shop, I started off with just 2 hours per day which later increased to a 4 hour shift. My initial responsibility was pouring ready made coffee into cups and managing the cash counter. Screwed up a little again here when I almost burnt a sandwich because I forgot I had kept it for grilling, but compared to my previous screw ups this was a no biggie. As an exclusive privilege, we were allowed to make ourselves a ready made coffee (no latte or other fancy coffees), free of cost, every day after work. I was always thankful to the coffees and apple ciders which kept me and my hands warm during the ride home.
I again got a little promotion here when I was allowed to work on the cappuccino machine. I almost successfully made my first ever latte correctly including the customized order of no-foam, 2% milk, skinny etc. The milk didn't quite reach up to the brim and I quickly poured some more to top it up before giving it to the lady. (Not a very good first time job I guess!). The first time I got a random $5 tip in the coffee shop, I splurged it on buying a customized hazelnut latte from the same place before leaving for the day after my shift. The drink was well earned!
Within a month of joining the coffee shop, I got a job in my field of study and quit from here. But not before I had enjoyed a nice Christmas evening with the Punjabi Indian family who owned this shop and who used to give such a treat every year to their employees.

Thus ended my service industry work. I haven't worked in such an environment again. But as I mentioned before, these experiences have shaped me to be who I am today. I smile at the cleaning ladies at my work place, know the garbage collector lady who comes to my home personally and don't look down on any type of work which is done with dignity. I believe I am a much better human being now!