Rest in Peace

My maid Kanta, for the third time in the last two months, asked for leave. I was surprised, because she is a live-in , with all comforts provided and basically, she is one of the rare types, who does not take leave without reason. So I asked her the reason. She sobbed and said “Amma, you know that girl died (referring to her granddaughter).  Wretched girl, she died without enjoying anything.  My son was to fix her marriage and now this has happened. The dead are gone but we have to perform the monthly obsequies and feed our relations. Otherwise, the poor girl’s soul will not rest in peace”. ‘Amma”, she continued. “ I need a small loan; my son is not able to bear the monthly expenses. let me do my bit and don’t worry, I’ll pay it back”. She  would keep her word and so I gave her the money. A little later, the entire brood (she lived in our outhouse) dressed in their Sunday best, marched out amidst gaiety and laughter to perform the “Obsequies”. Mind you, this was the third occasion and there would be quite a few more till my servant and her son decided to leave the dead in peace.

That set me thinking. Kanta, my servant and her son had not been on speaking terms though they lived in the same city. He never visited her  nor did she ever speak about him. There had been some misunderstanding; she had asked him some money which he had refused and that had brought about an abrupt end to their relationship.His marriage had also been a matter of disapproval. “ What  kind of a son is this, who doesn’t look after his mother,” she would say in tones of disgust. Personally I did not think he was too bad because he  had made an offer of money which the wily woman had declined, saying it was too little. “Let him be”, she would say .” I do not want charity. A mother deserves some respect. It is as if I do not have a son”.   Yet now, she was now performing monthly obsequies for a grand-daughter, whom she had not even seen for many years.

There had been some genuine grief on the occasion,for the girl was grown up and died suddenly of a mysterious illness. Grief at the sudden loss of a family member accompanied by rituals for the departed  was in order. But the subsequent monthly obsequies consisting mainly of feasting was a farce and I tried to reason with her. “ After all, the poor girl is dead and gone. How does your ritualistic feasting help her?” ‘ Blasphemy, Amma”, she recoiled, as if struck. If we fail to observe these obsequies, the girl’s spirit will be wandering restlessly, in search of food”. And  she went on with a touch of pride, “My son wants only me to cook the Feast. As Grandmother, it is my traditional honour which nobody can deprive me of. Not only that,our “ Close relatives” will have to be fed or else we will be socially ostracised as not having done our duty properly”.

I let go.  I was totally baffled.  It seemed that the  untimely death of the girl  under tragic circumstances had thrown up a lot of latent issues on human relationships and philosophy. Mother and son were going at it hammer and tongs till the girl’s death. Now however,  a truce had been reached ( God knows for how long ) and Kanta was proud to cook the feast for the Dead. A very simple philosophy emerged-  the dead depart, leaving their near and  dear  to carry on life as usual and not grieve. Kanta was  being very practical about the whole thing- grief had now given place to  Family Honour. It was now all right to feed and clothe well- all part of preserving the Family Honour.

One day, Kanta showed me a saree. “ Amma, my son presented this saree to me for cooking the Feast every month for the past one year”. “However”, she paused. “ He could have at least given me a silk saree for all my efforts”.

I knew then that for Kanta at least, life was back to usual.

Cubbon Park and its Message

Calm before the Storm

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Yesterday, I went to Cubbon Park after a very long time and admired  the fiery yellow shrubbed trees and the old Kutcheri building. I gulped in the fresh air, the greenery, the large tracts of brown ground covered with dry, shedding leaves, the cobbled walkways; in short the vast, vast expanse of virgin green cover that is Cubbon Park. I was thankful that I lived in Bangalore with its salubrious climate  and could still go for a walk in Cubbon Park, fortunately untouched by our politicians and the stifling infrastructural growth that has otherwise choked Bangalore. Cubbon Park is the lung of Bangalore, and like Wordsworth, a feeling of tranquillity descended on me when I was there! Though the Metro work  with its constant clanging and clogging pollutants is going on only a short distance away, still, Cubbon Park has somehow managed to retain its classic grandeur and majesty, right in the heart of a metropolis still in its infrastructural throes.

So that is the garden city of Bangalore, with a royal tradition handed down by the Maharajahs of Mysore, foremost among them being the great Jayachamrajendra Wodeyar, himself a great music composer and a patron of the fine arts. The IT industry has flourished in Bangalore, pumping in the lucre, increasing consumerism, the “cool” culture and the hanging out culture and correspondingly  decreased social values.  Recent Happenings in Bangalore  have become a Tamasha and we Bangaloreans have become a laughing stock. What else can we say of the Karnataka Ministers porno scam and  more recently the  lawyer-police fracas, which led to a total breakdown of law and order. What led to all this beating up,lathi-charging etc. etc. mayhem is still not clear. However one thing plainly emerges- the custodians and counsellors of Law and Order have behaved most disgracefully-like goondas as they are called in Hindi Filmi language. After all, what provocation can be of so serious nature that a rampage of this sort has occurred. Does not this violate all norms of decent behaviour specially from the watchdogs of justice and upright behaviour? Public property has been damaged, senior police officers, even a judge has sustained injuries; all this vandalism by the “ Protectors of the public” seriously calls for some introspection and analysis of certain basic issues-social values have totally disappeared and viciousness  and savagery is making its way into public eye.  A legislator can watch porno in the midst of  Assembly proceedings and can airily explain it away by saying that he was watching to decide whether it was permissible content! His comrades in arms were also watching it for the same reason! Hear, hear! If lawyers and journalists beat up each other and the police look the other way, what about you and me. We may even be bumped off as punishment  and nobody will even open their mouths.

Lastly, what is our government machinery doing amidst all this mayhem? Like Gandhiji’s monkeys, it chooses not to see, hear and speak on anything. After all what else can a lame-duck government, which is in constant fear of being dismissed do?  One thing emerges very clearly- nothing augurs well for the land of Kengal Hanumanthiah and Ramakrishna Hegde and its people? 

                                                                Sham of a Suvarna Karnataka!

Activism of a doggy kind

 The recent move of a dog owner to register a case against a vet  with the Karnataka Veterinary Council on grounds of negligent treatment of his dog resulting in its death is maybe not inappropriate. It is indeed sad that accountability in the veterinary profession is almost non-existent. Maybe this is a sweeping generalization. However incidents of careless,inexperienced treatment of pet dogs specially in Bangalore seem to be on the rise. This has resulted in many avoidable accidents, why even fatalities causing great mental and physical trauma to both the dog and the owner. I speak from personal experience as well as that of pet loving friends. While we do hear of private vets being good and treating even stray dogs for free, the overall scenario is scary! Like Beauty parlours for men and women, plush pet spas and pet stores  seem to have mushroomed in Bangalore where your dog can get the works. Pet care industry has grown by leaps and bounds because the number of affluent pet owners has increased and the there is a greater share in the pie.  While there are pet lovers, owning rare breeds, who will go to any length to avail facilities to pamper their “Cute little puppy”, we are here talking of basic diagnosis and treatment of our very own Spaniels, Pomeranian and Labradors. It seems that there are about 161  registered vets in Bangalore- a reasonable number to tend to Bangalore’s pet dog population but  the issue is whether they have the requisite qualifications, experience and above all the attitude to do their job right.  

A few years ago, my eleven year old Labrador Betsy went suddenly off food and was diagnosed as having kidney failure, a potentially life-threatening condition for an old dog. The vet, to whom I had regularly taken Betsy could have told us the bare truth that she had little chance of survival and perhaps helped to ease her end. Instead he said that a hysterectomy would help and made the poor girl undergo so much of physical and mental trauma, all to make a quick buck at an opportunity. Betsy’ condition deteriorated so much  and repeated calls to our vet met with rude replies at the other end. At one point, he even told me that we could bring a totally sick dog, who could not even stand to his clinic because he was busy. Finally she had to be handed over to CUPA to be put to sleep.Talk of heartlessness! the incident caused us great anguish- after all our beloved pet could have gone without needless suffering.

Recently a pug belonging to a friend was again treated for an eye infection in a Bangalore private clinic. Surgery was performed but the dog went blind in one eye with the infection spreading to the other eye. The friend went into a panic, looking up all vets in the area where he could take the dog to for emergency treatment. I do not have the details, but the latest report is that the dog is recovering.

Now to top it all, comes this very recent incident of an otherwise healthy dog undergoing a surgery and dying on the operating table. Speculation is rife about the actual cause of death but the owner has done well to take his case to the Karnataka Veterinary Council, which in turn has asked the concerned vets to give an explanation within ten days. Whether anything will come out of this is doubtful but it will definitely be an eye-opener to the scores of people in the profession. Hopefully some safeguards should be put in place.  Remember dogs may be dumb but they speak volumes with their eyes and expression. They are our dearest and most undemanding friends. Dog lovers who have been through all this will appreciate my point.