Words and their meanings

With the onset of monsoon, the sun and the sea are are doing 'athkheliyaan' together. One side of the house sees dark clouds and the other part shows the bright sun. Children are constantly telling us to look out. In our house, one doesn't have to walk to the window to look out as there are windows everywhere but one definitely has to lift their head and turn the neck in both directions. The gadgets sometimes take over and we miss a few sunsets. This Lockdown makes one want to experience all things and not miss out on even one sunset. To think that living in this house for the last ten years and have taken the spectacular view so much for granted.  Today, just before sunset, the sun was bright and it was raining and huge dark clouds around the sun could not take the brightness away. We used to call this phenomena as a fox/ Siyaar/ Lomdi getting married. As children, this was the most exciting thing. I knew about fox and wolf and not the difference only through the story of Little Red Riding Hood. But as a child, I just never could connect with Three Little Bears, Red Riding Hood etc. I mean none of us had a particular bed or chair. We had our own clothes, towels, bedsheets, blankets and shoes. Pieces of furniture were never a part of it. Food was never yours and mine. Food was for all and we did not fight about crockery, cutlery, utensils, vessels. Gosh, how mundane is that. Our parents raised us with very different value system. So much importance was not given to me, myself, I and individuality. Believe me, we all six children and adults grew up normal and happy without personal space and personal vessels. If your clothes became small, they went to the younger sibling or to a neighbour s child. Charity and conservation was a way of life. It was not something you tom tomed about.  

I am constantly telling myself it is okay, it is just rainy season. But this time, the heart is totally into it. There is time to stop and stare. Looking at the play of the clouds with the sun and the sea. Washed greenery is adding its charisma along the way. The horizon has just moved a few kilometres away into the sea. Reminds me of my friend living at the base of the Western Ghats, asking me if I can now see Madagascar from my terrace. I have just now checked the Map. Wanted to see in the Atlas. I have a huge fascination for Atlas. Now for children s school, they expect you to buy a new Atlas every year as it has New Version printed on its cover. The content is reducing in the Atlas and the maps are not so colourful like before.  Earlier our teachers in Mount Carmel School, used the Atlas actively to make us understand Geography. I wished other subjects used Atlas too. Like which ruler came from where, where did the troops travel, what was the trade route, how did the kingdom spread and to where, how did religions move geographically, how come Indian Lotus motifs are found in various archaeological sites across Europe and Asia, how did Saffron and Vanilla travel world over. Google maps though simpler, do not give the same joy. School had huge rolled maps. When the chapter was taught, we got the map stand in front of the classroom or put the big map on the blackboard  and the teacher explained places with a ruler. Now I visit places, know all the new roads thanks to google maps, but do not know the exact location of the cities. Like I cannot mark them accurately on a map. Earlier, that was a class assignment. School teachers are doing only what the syllabus demands and have no time to do extra work. Most times, the child is opening a physical map only when he has to go abroad for further studies and has to choose a university. Lot of the student counsellors, the ones who help them choose which college to study in and what subjects to take, show a physical map of America to explain to parents n the child. 

In the Wadi across, Corona is not allowing children to splash in the puddles when it rains. The football  matches have stopped though the youngsters still do come out of their houses. Women are quietly going about their household chores and one does hear the occasional fights at mid night. Words have lost their original meanings. 'Positive' has become a negative word. Be 'patient' now has only one connotation.  The only question people ask when they call each other is not "How are you?" but 'How is  your area?'. Without taking the 'C' word, people are talking numbers. Earlier capital C was used only in C-sections. I remember in Jharia, Caesareans  were not the done thing. Most women had normal deliveries. People were scandalised if it was a C section delivery and lot of concerns were raised about it. There were a different sets of dos and don'ts for the new mother and the caretaker. The ladies would whisper in hushed tones that it was a 'seizure' or 'caesar' or 'scissor'. To me, it always sounded like one of those three words. I remember I linked it to 'Julius Caesar' in school , though in ICSE, we did study 'Merchant of Venice' as the classic text in our Board syllabus. Julius Caesar was Juliet Caesar for me. Juliet was a girl's name in a lot of novels. Juliet was also the name of a local Indian brand of ladies undergarments. It was equivalent to Marks and Spencer today.  When I got  pregnant, then, I realised that whole of Dhanbad Jharia and now I see all towns n cities use these three hallowed words.  Kini Miss, at my school library and Samuel Miss, my English teacher made sure, I acquired the love for reading English, reading books in English and reading English books. Again all three have different meanings for me. 

Hindi novels not found in most shops as people have stopped reading in Indian languages. 'Athkheliyaan' is a word which is hardly used in common parlance. If they want a romantic number in Bollywood, they switch the lyrics to Punjabi. The Sardar men seem to have the ultimate in romance with their Punjabi English raps. I do not understand Punjabi much but I keep wondering why they do not use Oriya or any of the Pahadi languages, in Indian film songs. If they use more languages in Hindi film industry, we shall learn more languages. We can then boycott DuoLingo. Though it ain't Chinese.