Of Rajas, big and small, and some creepy crawly insects

It is a sad day for the world -- there is so much unsettling that is happening around the world ...

That a dear friend of mine died yesterday seems to be the only grief that seems justified... all the rest seems totally unnecessary and unjustified... perhaps it is the beginning of the end of this world and this civilisation as we know it... the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, the unbelievable tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza, the misery in the aftermath of the earthquake in Venezuela, the madness of the many wars led by the orange-head in the US and back home... images of protesting fasting students and the arrogance and total insensitivity of those in power at the capitals, both big and small, of the country. 

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Accepting charity is fine, doing charity is not, for the likes of me in Germany

Well, the title is a rather tall claim to make on the basis of just a couple of such incidents. But still these incidents happened and so I have to write and tell you about them. The first incident occured at a well known charity shop in town very close to where I live, and the second has to do with a One-World Shop in a nearby village. And the third story I tell here, just to put things in perspective and to show how things could and should really be; it took place in a Gymansium in a little town outside Wuerzburg. Nothing really happened in any of these occasions, but still a lot happened. So here goes...
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Remembering Rabin Goswami Sir

I am not sure why I have not been able to write about Sir in all these days although his death affected me very badly. On hearing the news of his demise on Friday, 26th June, 2026, I first froze, then came acute cramps, on the third day I started to cry and kept crying for the next three days.  It was only on Wednesday when I needed to write a condolence message on behalf of Sishugram that I first forced myself to find words to say what I felt. But even then I wrote about what he meant for all of us, as a senior and very active member of the Trust Board, as the Koka for all our girls at Sishugram, as a teacher, as a writer and editor, as a lover of plants and vegetables, there were so many roles that he played...

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Discovering Umbria

This was a trip to the lesser known but historically rich and naturally beautiful heartland of Italy : Umbria.  Everyone has heard of Tuscany in Italy, but not everyone has heard of Umbria, which is pretty much the region in the very heart of Italy and lying to the east of Tuscany. The big cities of Italy Rome, Florence, Venice,... are elsewhere. But many have heard of places like Assisi (the home of St. Francis) and of Perugia, the capital of Umbria. Umbria has no coast and hence also no beaches. But it has hills, it has valleys and it has history going back a very long time. 

I was in the Umbria region of Italy from the 19th to the 25th May 2026. The main attraction was meeting my dear Italian friend Silvia Barbina who lived in Foligno [also known to be the 'Centre of the World'], and worked in Camerino over the hills. Since my Finnish friend Helena was also in Italy around the same time, she also came over to Foligno, and the three of us had a wonderful time. As we later realised, Foligno was the perfect place to base ourselves to explore the Umbria region. I will tell you why later.

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If you want to know what socialism can do and what real development can mean, go to Odisha

Naveen Patnaik in no longer the Chief Minister of Odisha; why I do not know, because what he has done for the people and the state of Odisha is still very visible for all to see... The few days I spent in Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar and the countryside last week convinced me that he had somehow done a lot and also got it right... 
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Telling signs

When you begin to get subtle hints that your presence (or absence) does not make a difference...

You know, in India a person is measured not by the person he or she is but by what job, what position he or she holds... the Ministers and the Babus have the right of way everywhere, also cricketers and filmstars, I guess.  Of course if you are a university or IIT professor, it is not so bad either... but give it up, and say you are bekar, or that you are self-employed, or that you have retired, ... and slowly you begin to notice the difference. I guess the first time I noticed was when some people at RGU asked me to come and give a talk... I agreed and even started preparing for it. But then one of the organisers asked me for my institutional affiliation and I said I didn't have one anymore. I never heard back from them! I'm not sure when I have actually last spoken (or been invited to speak) at an event that I have not organised myself. Not that I want to speak anywhere but slowly the realisation seeps in.
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