With neither Love nor Hate: Narrative of Cricket EFLU

Dear Cricket EFLU,

       You have seen four springs since the year you were born. At that time of the youth, you enjoyed great love from all of us and others- students, teachers, officials, non-teaching staff and many other uncategorized peoples. Your members and volunteers were dedicated, passionate, energetic, enthusiastic, honest and real cricket lovers. They tirelessly and selflessly worked to promote and popularize you and the game of cricket among all kinds of people on our campus. The unconditional love for the game encouraged your member-friends to challenge and dismiss all the occasions that permitted dirty politics, rampant discrimination, petty parochialism, linguistic regionalism, selfish favouritism, and monetary corruption. There was a unique harmony that established two successful tournaments- the Inter-departmental cricket tournament and EFLU Premiere League (EPL) which were successfully organized year after year by new volunteers, members and organizers who joined the cricket fraternity on the campus.

             Remember those days when the audience jostled to reserve and occupy their seats on the fringe and border of the ground. They would cheer, shout, scream, dance, comment, and celebrate on every passing moment of the cricket match. You felt proud when you enjoyed both running commentaries- both in English and Hindi- of the matches accompanied by the sound-system, an abundance of trophies, cups, mementos, medals and gifts displayed on the tables, players dressed in motley-coloured jersey on the wicket, university officials inaugurating tournaments, teachers sometimes both playing and watching the matches, and overwhelming crowd enjoying the fair and clean game. The popularity of the game was so high that nobody was interested to know the names of the organizers, to question the sources of funding,  to seek details of expenditure, to suspect the decisions of the umpires, and to challenge the transparency and skills of conducting the tournaments. Perhaps, the ardent passion for the game, the inclusive nature of tournaments and the love and cooperation of the people were driving forces for your volunteers and members. In the heyday, you were democratic organization, because you heard everyone’s voice, called meetings in advance and in open spaces, collected signatures in honest manner, proceeded for funds from the university with the due process and channels, enjoyed the supports of every student regardless of age, gender, class, caste, programme, region and language. You witnessed a history of your golden days.

But now!  

          You are owned by a handful of people who falsely claim to represent all of us. Some of the members and volunteers nourish selfish motives and are driven by intention of personal achievements and gains. They set all the rules, agenda, programmes, and the conspiracy too. Those organizers sit in the close-group meetings to decide everything at the cost of ignoring the participation of the large-scale people who pay their money (as fees) towards the Students’ Welfare Fund from where you draw Rs 50,000 (fifty thousands) per year to conduct the  tournaments. In fact, you are reduced to an imaginary and virtual organization now. You coordinate with the defunct and non-existent Students’ Union of EFLU for funding only, then you erase its trace from your memory. The former sports (who sings on the notice as the present sports secretary) secretly betrays all of us telling that he still enjoys the rightly elected sports secretary. In reality, he currently lives in fool’s paradise and is being used by his shady “mentors.” You are absolutely male-dominated and patriarchal body which has no regard for participation, decision-making and money  of the female students who comprise more than half of our strength on the campus.   

           You know that you are not a recognized student organization like Students’ Union. Hence, you are never entitled to enjoy our favour and fund publicly. Where is your address? Which is your office? Where are the office-bearers? All notices are served under the abstract name of Cricket EFLU.  We fail to locate you and your trusty “comrades” physically. You survive in virtual world, because you function through illusionary Facebook account. Only a few privileged ones who are more equal than us, handle your Facebook account, update notices, write instructions, send greetings, uploads photos and chat online. Since your Facebook wall is locked and you do not call for general body meetings at convenient time and value, we all feel excluded from you.

            In the last tournament, your organizer-volunteers and other members organized a poor show, because they were involved in financial misappropriation of fund (that is always our money) received from the Students’ Welfare Fund of our university. There was a case in which one team was disillusioned by the wrong decisions of the umpire and became victim of the favouritism and finally it left the tournament in between never to return. On many occasions, your volunteers waged verbal wars on the Facebook wall in order to show their individual achievements which exposed their hypocritical and double-standard personality and thinking. You are dubious organization that provides avenues for ego-clash among its selfish, stubborn, haughty and wrong-headed old patriarchs who make sure to eliminate any dissent or rebel voices. Your ‘owners’ block us, demoralize us and abuse us filthily if we try to discuss issues, bring out your flaws, hit their wrongdoings, expose their corruption, and criticise their misjudgements and dark intentions. Thus, you are not a democratic organization, but you are an authoritarian and dictator. Better you should perish and die if you do not belong to us. 

          After a couple of hours, you claim to display the show again in the form of EPL season 4. You again collect funds- both from the university and players and spend on the tournament if it is true. Some questions are inevitable if you can answer us- why do you collect money from student-players if you get funded by the university? Will you publish the expenditure details publicaly to maintain the transparency of the funds? Will you open your Facebook wall to enable us to express our opinions? Will you allow us to participate in decision-making process, because we all contribute some way or other in the making of the tournament and the game as well? There are many more question. But answers?

Wishing you the best! 

Narrative of Indore

         If Bombay is a crowd, then Indore is dust. Dust rules the city. Roads, houses, vehicles, apartments, highways, dhabas, palace façades, hawker's articles, billboards, showrooms, shopping complexes, temples-premises, sarais, railway station, bus stops, and many more places. Your hair, clothes, skins and faces gather layers of dust within hours. Even on the fifth floor of the clean and posh apartment situated on the rim of the city, your laptop shines with settled layers of dust if you leave it for one day or two uncovered. Ironically, the roadside food is popular in Indore. The land of this Malwa region appears to contain weak soil configuration that causes much dust, powder and dirt on the earth and in environment.

The nameplate of the train. The Rajbada is the palace -converted- museum.

           It was a cold December (2013) morning when I reached Indore railway station. It is a traditional and not modernized station. There are still both types of gauges- meter gauge and broad gauge.  It was still dark and fairly nippy outside. From inside the moving green black auto-rickshaw (CNG driven), I saw empty roads, early tea-selling shops (especially opened for the truck-drivers, daily wagers, and temple-goers), under-construction flyovers, necessary street-lighting and hoardings and billboards mostly written in Hindi. Even the residue banners of the  ruling political party (Bhartiya Janta Party) after the recent assembly elections were in Hindi, though their number, size, magnanimity and influence were not impressive. The reason was the popularity of the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan as I was informed by the auto rickshaw driver. He said that the third successive and massive victory of Mr Chauhan was an account of the development in Madhya Pradesh in recent decades and thus, he did not need much election campaigning among people. Many fly-overs and roads were under construction.

The chilly and women labourers on the outskirts of Indore city

           Indore is traditional and conservative city in spirit and culture, but we can see the recent real estate and information technology boom in certain pockets of the city. Speedy blue metro buses like Ahamedabad city ply in the designated lanes on the wide roads, or else traditional modes of transportation are often available. The heart of the city is the vibrant shopping area called Rajwadi (like Sutlan Bazaar of Hyderabad) where the things are available at reasonably cheaper rates. In December, the warm clothes were piled up on  pulling carts along the sides of the narrow streets. Vegetarian dishes dominates the food culture of Indore. My friend travelled almost another part of the city  near the railway station to find out a good non-vegetarian hotel. Of course, there is some religious or spiritual impact of the Jainism on the people and their life, as the commerce, trade, cultural and religious life of Indore is driven by powerful Jain community to a good extent. The proximity to Ujjain city and many Jain temples (Kanch Mandir is famous), the numerous shops of sweets, and pure vegetarian restaurants and hotels can certainly confirm the vibrant presence, influence and hold of the Jain.

A tea-seller at Mandu (historical place), 100 km away from Indore

           Indore is expanding and stretching. The presence of big shopping malls, tall apartments, vast townships, multi-national companies, five-star hotels, higher education institutions,  the kingly palaces, old inns, congested and busy bazaars,  and welcoming people make the city an impeccable blend of tradition and modernity.

Behind the Smoky Screen: The August Narrative

If you are prohibited to enter the precinct of the women's hostels, if you are almost under the round-the-clock surveillance of CCTV cameras, if you are in a chaotically overcrowded (only) mess, if you share your small hostel room with your fellow(s), though you can see many incomplete rooms above your rooms, if you visit the library and discover the new arrival section empty and the journal section welcoming you with desolated wooden book racks, and if you encounter the Nano-car sized, dusty, rugged, and only playground, then you are in the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.

If you wake up in the morning and are undecided about your daily food arrangement, if you compromise to eat substandard and tasteless food in prehistoric looking cafeteria or the oily breakfast of the roadside vendors, if you walk into the Gothic corridors (littered with stinking garbage) during power-cuts, if you find the back entrance locked at 10.30 pm every night, if you pay around Rs 5000 towards mess deposit and discover it shut down, if you want to watch a cricket match and do not find a TV set for entertainment,  then you are the newly-joined certified boarder of the Basheer Men's Hostel of the same university.  

It hardly matters for us even after three weeks are gone since the commencement of the new academic year at the university. No wonder if the new male students struggle for getting food in time in the only mess that runs for us, because the men's hostel mess is waiting for minimum 100 members to join so that it can function. Those students have to hunt for food and attend the classes in time, so that there should not be attendance shortage at the end of the semester. It is all known to us that since last four years, almost every door of the first two floors of the Basheer hostel is knocked to pull up the internet connections, because the top four floors are not internet-equipped. The state of stagnation in terms of sports and games and cultural activities and the warehouse-type gymnasium fail to keep the general health intact. And the old residents feel that 'the paradise is lost.'

NB- While writing this post, there is no intention to demean the reputation of the university and its various institutions, but the whole idea is to foreground the problems we face. We all know that the discipline and the academic regularization are the achievement of our university in the recent past, but here, the purpose is to persuade the university to shake its resigned torpor.        

I am Reading Room

         I am Reading Room (RR).  I'm a small hall on the first floor of the extended part of the Ramesh Mohan Library in the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. Since last four days I am  living in darkness . I am closed, lonely and suffocating. I have lost my friends, visitors, companions, on duty security guards and some dear staff who visit me every day. I am not able to breath fresh air since the closed windows, doors and gates don't allow any movements, a human being or even a bird. Thus, I am leading a gloomy life that is boring and frustrating. Will you give me a new life?

          I am five years old. I was born to accommodate surging young students of the university since the hostels and other buildings were under construction a couple of years ago. To escape the intolerable disturbance created by construction work and to avoid unneccesary confrontation with their room parters, students came to me. I sheltered them and loved their hard work. Then my relationship developed with research scholars, staffs and some dedicated visitors of other institutions as well. I provided them peaceful study environment round the clock. I also served them with newspapers in four languages (almost all that are published from Hyderabad). They were happy, satisfied and appreciative towards me. In return, I received their smile, satisfaction and success and that made me proud of them and me too. 

          Four days ago, a piece of paper declared my closure permanently citing that I was no longer available to anybody since the library has to be expanded and I would be its internal part. According to the order, I would now served as the Wi-Fi technical room so that the internet can be accessed without using wire connection. My  proprietor the librarian says that the vastu of the library will change since he has increased numbers of books and dissertations. Since then nothing happens in me. Now I am broken, helpless and deserted.  

      All my dear students are concerned with my bad health and pain. They are trying to win me back through raising their voice against the decision. They and the active Students' Union -the statuary body- are trying to dissolve the problem through disciplined protests that are their constitutionally right. They have adopted the democratic means- like staging dharnas, shouting slogans, boycotting classes, and marching around the campus to make aware each and every friend of mine. So far there is no single damage of property of the university. All my friends are sensible protesters and they believe in democratic dialogues with the university officials. But there is no solid solution. Only God knows if I will be able to live my life again. 

      So I sincerely appeal you to save my life. We are friends and I don't want to lose our friendship. I believe you also don't. 

    RR 

Voicing the silence

          Within the area of 32-acres of small piece of land, the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad bravely houses 25 buildings that include the Academic Block, the Administrative Block, the Foreign Language buildings, the library, teachers and staff quarters, the V-C Lounges, five hostels and some other buildings. But there are no adequate and appropriate indoor and  outdoor public spaces. Inside the closed, occasionally-sunlit, stuffy, heavy and damp hostel rooms, we are safe, content and comfortable doing all private things- parties, accessing to internet, watching movies, sleeping, and entertaining ourselves and occasional studies. We believe our day begins when the breakfast timing is almost over and we need to rush for the morning class of the day. After the class we hang out with friends and do some extra-curricular activities. Honestly speakings, some of us are sincere students and they don't deter from their duties. In short, we are provided the essential and basic things we need- food, shelter, entertainment and some dose of academic lessons. Our degrees will prove our talent and will certainly bring nice jobs. We should not worry much about some values that a student acquires during his/her studenthood, though we study humanities. These are someone else's job.

              Our friends often miss the comfort, environment, peace, and learning experiences when they pass out of this premier institution. The obvious reason may be the open spaces- in geographical, physical, intellectual, and academic senses. They say they have enjoyed maximum freedom- of expression and intellectual exercise, harmonious environment, friendly attitude of fellow students and teachers as well. Perhaps, that is the key of their success. In fact, their nostalgia that they believe lives inside their heart. But we are advanced and edited version of their personae. So why we should not enjoy equal freedom that our predecessors have? Should we not think with rational mind about the problems we face in our student career?

             Out university seems to be nicely fortified languid house where we live in metonymic fashion, but we are not much alive. Our biological body functions, but our faculty of reasoning has accumulated rusts. We live as  we are told, kept, managed, and instructed. We have stopped questioning the orders and have started following thing without giving the second thoughts. We must be aware that we are now living in the twenty-first century world and we are most informed generation than our forefathers have been. Let's think of some moot questions.

1. Why our library  is not open round the clock  when other central universities like JNU have this facility?

2. Why don't we have a common public space for reading, discussing, gossiping, debating and hanging out 24x7?

3. Our neighbouring university University of Hyderabad has a reading room open 24x7. But why don't we have on?

4. Why don't we have any auditorium?

5. Why we don't have any TV in our common room?

The list of questions is not exhaustive. We can add on it. 

           I strongly believe that we need to speak up for our rights. We deserve to grow. Let's make a call to our mind and think over it. 

           

                

Narrative of Vikramshila University: The Ganga of Knowledge II

From inside the Museum
6 December 2010

1:47 pm

While walking around the exhibits neatly arranged along with the walls, I am mesmerized by the collections that were discovered during the excavation. Each exhibits has its own story to tell. Some of them carry the captions and  the framed descriptions so that visitors should know the rich past of the Vikramshila University. Now I jot down some descriptions:

Vikramshila University caption reads:

As described by Taranath, the eminent Tibetan monk historian of 16^th-17^th century A.D., each student aspiring to take admission in the university had to pass through a severe test examination at the gate guarded by dvar-pandits who were scholars of his distinctions. Persons arriving late after closing of the gate had to take shelter in a dharmashala outside the gate. Different pandits were specialized in various branches of knowledge. Subjects like theology, philosophy, grammar, metaphysics, logic etc. were taught here, but the most important branch of learning was the tantras. Besides, the teachers and students were also engaged in copying and translating the manuscripts. There was a big library for the students. The teaching was both professional and tutorial. Every student was required to choose a monk from the order as his Acharya with whom a cordial father-son relationship was maintained. There were about one thousand students and more than one hundred professors in addition to the Acharyas and superintendents.

On the pattern of Senate or Academic council of modern universities, it was managed by board of eminent professors presided over by the High Priest. Its main functions was to supervise and issue instructions to the teachers. It granted the diploma of Pandit to all distinguished alumni, the diploma being conferred by the reigning king in the annual convocation programme. The board at Vikramshila also governed the affairs of Nalanda University.  

The king endowed the institution with rich grant fixing allowances for the maintenance of priests and students. For the support of resident pupils, there were free board hostels. In additions, there were establishment for temporary residents.

Navagrahas

From the time immemorial, people in India believed in the power of the planets either for good or for the evil. The Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains alike shared in this belief and in all these three religions the planets were defined. Traditionally the nine planets of the solar system namely, the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu-are referred as navagrahas.

Buddhism

In the original form, Buddhism was a socio-religious reform movement against prevailing rituals and corrupt practices. It was simply a code of conduct for leading a simple life free from miseries. Later on people started worshiping Buddha as a god. Initially Buddha was worshipped only in symbolic form like wheel, empty throne, foot prints, stupa, etc. This phase of Buddhism is known as Hinayana wherein a follower aims only at his own nirvana, by his own efforts. Subsequently, it was believed  that a follower  could attain not only nirvana, but Buddhahood also and could also help others to attain nirvana. This phase of Buddhism came to be known as Mahayana. By this time people started worshiping Buddha in human form. As time further progressed it was felt that a common man cares more for material prosperity in this world than for the nirvana preached by the religion. So a new element of eternal bliss (Mahasukh) was added to the concept of nirvana leading to Vajrayana form of Buddhism. For accomplishment of desire, it approaches psychic resource of the man through a combination of mantras, magic, yoga, etc. Vajrayana introduced a large number of gods and goddesses including the Saktis.

Buddhist

The Buddhists believe that the world is composed of five primordial cosmic elements- Samja (name), Vijnana (consciousness), Rupa (form), Sanskara (conformation) and Vedana (separation). These eternal cosmic forces are deified in Vajrayana as the five Dhyani Buddhas namely Amitabh, Akshobhay, Vairochan, Amoghsiddhi and Ratnasambhav respectively. These five Buddhas are the progenitors of the five families of deities constituting the whole of Buddhism pantheon. The queens of Dhyani Buddhas are called Budhha Saktis. The Bodhisattavas are a class of deities deriving their origin from the five Dhyani Buddhas. They not merely seek to win salvation but also aim at becoming a Buddha by passing through transmigrations. The term is applied to him upto the very time he achieved the Buddhahood. The female counterparts of Bodhisattavas are known by the generic names Saktis. Tara is the common name applied to a specific group of comprising a large number of feminine deities in Buddhism. Many Hindu deities were also incorporated into Buddhist pantheon; notable among those are Mahakal, Ganesh and Saraswati.

Tantric Buddhism

Tantric Buddhism is not a development of Buddhism, but an amalgamation of Buddhism with a form of religion called tantricism which affected certain branches both of Hinduism and Buddhism. Known variously as Tantrayana or Vajrayana, it was best flourishing between 7^th to 10^th centuries A.D. and is distinguished by the use of tantras for the benefit of its followers. Tantras are a combination of religion, philosophy, science, mysticism, magic, yoga, etc. and allow its followers to disregard social laws. It also permitted use of wine, flesh and women even by men leading a religious life. The Mantras were supposed to possess great magical powers for protection against all evils. In order to preserve its secret nature, institution of master and pupil was introduced.

Vajrayana

In the Vajrayana phase of Buddhism several Hindu gods were incorporated into its fold. Among them Mahakal is of great significance who is the prototype of Shiva. He is a ferocious god worshipped in tantric rites for the destruction of enemies.He is also regarded as a terrible spirit supposed to eat the culprits raw and drink his blood. He inspires awe in the minds of those who were not respectful to their teachers or scriptures.  

Narrative of Vikramshila University: The Ganga of Knowledge I

6 December 2010

1.13 pm

Before I enter the premises of the ancient Vikramshila University, I leave my bicycle  out near the entrance of the site of the ruins. I read the ticket rates on the counter: for Indians Rs 5, for foreigners Rs 100. Now I am proud to be an Indian as I have saved Rs 95! And foreigners come here like migratory birds-once in a blue moon.

Now I am sitting on an iron bench lying in the premises of Vikramshila Museum. The newly built museum is a part of the site of ancient Vikramshila University ruins that is located in a small village (around 40 km east from the district headquarter) of Bhagalpur district of Bihar, India.  The entire site and the museum are maintained by India’s patron for historical heritage: the Archaeological Survey of India. Though the building that houses the museum is small in size, the lawn which surrounds it, is a beautiful and calm place to relax. The winter sky is almost cloudy. The lawn has grown natural grass and is dotted with the patches of rose bushes and other plants. Those visitors of rural background are less interested in the articles and antiquities kept inside the museum than in taking photographs in the lush green lawn (with family, kids and friends). Besides digital camera and cellphone camera, still camera is also in vogue. They narrate the development and heritage of rural Bihar simultaneously.

From outside of the Museum

1.30 pm

The introductory board of the Vikramshila Museum reads:

The Vikramshila museum established in 2004 displays some selected antiquities unearthed in excavations conducted by Archaeological Survey of India (1972-82) at the nearby site identified to be remains of Vikramshila Mahavihar, the celebrated ancient university founded by Pala king Dharmapala in late 8^th or early 9^th century A.D. which prospered for about four centuries.

The excavation has revealed a large Buddhist monastery with and imposing stupa in its centre and votive stupas in addition to some small shrines of later period including a Tibetan and a Hindu temple. The general plan of the monastery greatly resembles the contemporary Somapura Mahavihar, Paharpur, Bangladesh.

The antiquities from Vikramshila belong to a single cultural period ranging from 8^th to 12^th century A.D. but their features specially noticed in sculptures are testimony of a distinct school of art termed as Pala art or the mediaeval eastern Indian School of art. The Pala sculptures are mostly stele carved in high relief showing fine craftsmanship, delicate carving and intricate ornamentation. In addition a remarkable shine is noticed in some of the sculptures carved out of coarse or fine grained black basalt quarried from the hills of Rajmahal, some sculptures are made in limestone from Pathargatta hills.

Apart from a large number of architectural fragments, many stone sculptures and bronze images of gods and goddesses from Buddhism as well as Hinduism have been found in the excavation. Notable among the Buddhist images are Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Maitreya, Manjusri, Tara etc. while the Brahmanical images include Vishnu, Uma Maheshvar, Mahishasurmardini, Ganesh, Surya, etc.

Other antiquities of Vikramshila include terracotta discs, toy rattles, skin rubber, seals and sealings, beads of stone glass and terracotta, household earthen utensils of different shapes, coins, inscriptions, antimony rods, copper rings, copper and ivory bangles, bronze nose rings, dices of ivory, bone points, antlers, iron arrowheads daggers and shields.