Mental Excursions

Scamistan C alling- Press 1 to Panic! It must have been just a couple of minutes of me floating in slumberland when I was cruelly woken up by the phone ringing. Now who on earth ever rings me up, that too in the afternoon? As I picked up the device, the voice on the other end said, in an obviously urgent tone, “ Didiji, RA ko police ka phone aa raha hai, le jayenge nahin to paise jama karao .’ (RA is getting a call from the police that they would pick him up or else he should deposit the money.) My sleep vanished, I screamed, “ Use kaho koyi paisa nahin dena, yeh fraud call hai” (Tell him not to deposit any money, it is a fraud call.) and hung up to call RA. He picked up, his voice a mere tremor. He mumbled something for a few seconds and I repeated my instructions. I could hear his kids and wife crying in the background. His reply, “ Nahin didiji, hum aapke pass aa rahe hain dus minute mein . (No sister, I am coming to you in 10 mins.) There goes my jinxed afternoon nap, I th...

Perhaps What Divides Us Is Only an Optical Illusion! Four pictures, eight interpretations, maybe more. Look closely, tilt your head if you must. What you spot first, and what you miss entirely, might just say something about how  you  see the world. What do you see in these pictures? They say psychologists can glean insights into a person’s mind based on how they interpret an optical illusion. I’m no psychologist, and wouldn’t dare trespass into their territory . But I do believe this: t wo people might not see the same thing the same way, one image can hold a thousand interpretations. And just a gentle warning—this post may run a little long. There is much I want to say, but never quite enough space or time to say it all. Prepping for the event! In my last blog post on Bada Mangal in Lucknow, the city of Lakshman, and the story behind how the tradition started, I mentioned Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s wife getting the Aliganj Hanuman temple constructed. A reader had com...

The holy taste of May Tuesdays in Lucknow  Bada Mangal, when the streets become temples, where kindness is served warm, and devotion flows with every bowl.” Do you think being in the sticky, sweltering heat of Lucknow in May-June sounds like a tragic miscalculation? Ordinarily, yes. But if you happen to find yourself here on a Tuesday in the Hindu month of Jyeshtha, you’ve stumbled into a heartwarming loophole in summer’s tyranny. No, this is certainly not a weather miracle, and Tuesdays aren’t any cooler. But what you get is a sight as rare as a breeze in the noon sun: crowds standing patiently (mostly otherwise though) in front of small shamiyanas, the flat tents, for a free-meal and buttermilk or sherbet (flavoured, non-dairy, sweet drink). T he generosity is not like a flash sale; the whole affair goes on for hours. That is the celebration of Bada/Budhwa Mangal (Big/Old Tuesday), a festival unique to Lucknow and celebrated on the Tuesdays falling in this month. This y...