Category: Mamata Pandya

Life as Poetry

~ millennialmatriarchs ~ 1 Comment

For many of us a poem was something you learnt by heart and recited in a monotone before a bunch of relatives when urged by proud parents; or as you grew older, reproduced and analysed in the exam paper. The few of us that survived these stages went on to read and enjoy poetry. In all cases, poetry was always associated with something that came in and out of a book.

Many of us have not connected poetry to a living tradition. Poems were created by all sorts of people, poetry grew out of the experiences of life and living and reflected its rhyme and rhythm. It was a blend of the art and the craft of the potter, the weaver, the cowherd, the sisterhood of women who sewed together to create the most beautiful patterns.

As eloquently described, ‘Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings. Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.’

To celebrate this power of poetry, UNESCO proclaimed 21 March as World Poetry Day. In celebrating this day we recognize the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.

Sharing a poem that reflects this very spirit.

HABIT

Last night when my work was done

And my estranged hands

Were becoming mutually interested

In such forgotten things as pulses,

I looked out of a window

Into the glittering night sky.

And instantly

I began to feather-stitch

A ring around the moon.

Hazel Hall   1921

Hazel Hall was an American poet and seamstress born in 1886. Paralysed at the age of 12, she was confined to a wheelchair. Her days were spent in an upstairs room her family house; she never left this room. To help support her mother and two sisters Hazel took in sewing and occupied herself with embroidering garments. She died in 1924.

–Mamata

 

In Pursuit of Happiness

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March 20 has been celebrated as the International Day of Happiness following its proclamation, in 2013, by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a way to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.

Bhutan gave us the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a new approach to development which measures prosperity through formal principles of gross national happiness (GNH) and the spiritual, physical, social and environmental health of its citizens and natural environment. The Bhutanese government believes that every citizen’s pursuit of happiness is its main goal. This goal is actually enshrined in article 9 of the country’s constitution.

Another country that joined the race for happiness is Venezuela who has reportedly created a Ministry of Supreme Social Happiness in 2013.

In 2016 the UAE announced a National Happiness and Positivity Programme which consists of five pillars: the science of happiness and positivity, mindfulness, leading a happy team, happiness and policies in government work, and measuring happiness. It appointed a Minister of State for Happiness and also a number of Happiness Officers who would be trained at the University of California, Berkeley and the Oxford Mindfulness Centre of the University of Oxford, two of several international partners enlisted by the UAE government to ensure the success of its programme.

Closer to home, Madhya Pradesh is reported to be the first and only state in India to have created a department of happiness to boost the wellbeing of its citizens, and appointed a Minister for Happiness.

Time was, not all that long ago, when happiness was not measured by data and official policies. Happiness was not analysed and planned; it was not pursued under any DIY guidelines or international training programmes.

Rather happiness was what you felt (and not all the time), what you shared with your family and friends—not through ‘events’ and slogans, but over a family meal; exchanged lunch boxes in the school recess; through letters and cards, and other simple joys of life. The same was done when one was feeling sad, or tense or confused. It was a time before emoticons summed up the way we felt.

The 2018 theme for International Day of Happiness is Home. In keeping with the times, sharing an online recipe for making a happy day!

Smile, share, eat healthily, exercise, be grateful, give back, think positively, spend some time with friends and family, spend some time alone, be mindful, dream, listen to music, say thank you and mean it, compete, be charitable, say “all the more” instead of “nonetheless” – you get it. Do what makes you happy. https://happinessday.org/

In the meanwhile–from the global to the local–it had been reported that the minister for Happiness in Madhya Pradesh, whose arrest had been ordered by the court on charges of murder, had gone missing. Last heard of, the police were in hot pursuit of Shri Happiness!

–Mamata

About the Millennial Matriarchs

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The MM collaboration began around 30 years ago (long before they were matriarchs!) and has resulted in several initiatives: educational projects; about 25 publications including school and college textbooks, story books, teachers’ manuals, etc.; exhibitions, films, training programs….

Other interesting shenanigans include editing the Ahmedabad edition of the Children’s Supplement of Indian Express for three years.

The MMs are:

Meena Raghunathan: Scolder-in-chief and mother-in-law to the world at large. Also, an environmental educator for two decades and CSR professional for 15 years. CSR, education, pre-school education, skilling and livelihoods are areas of professional interest. Writing and editing are personal passions.

Mamata Pandya: Scolder of the scolder-in-chief, and partner in drafting andheader 4 crafting words! An educator, writer, editor and avid crossword cracker. Lover, collector and translator of children’s books. In a continual explore, discover, think and share mode.

The blog is a leap of faith for both the Matriarchs, as technology and social media are not their areas of comfort.

But hope to get by with a little help from our friends!

MM

An Ode to Letters

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For the dinosaurs who lived through the age of pen and paper, and those who may read about it in history books!

An Ode to Letters

The last time I wrote a letter? Why, just today!

I need it like therapy, at least once a day.

I do not twitter nor tweet, tho’ the world finds it so neat!

Instagram and Snapchat…What’s that?

I like my words to be spelt as they must, and sentences that don’t rust.

Alas, now I too must type my words and SEND an e-mail

Oh for the days when they were penned, and were snail mail!

I so miss the prelude, the preparation and the process…

Choosing the paper and filling the pen (with an ink called Quink!)

Trying to capture the words as they tumbled and tangled and dangled,

Protestations and lamentations, explanations and vexations.

Reports to parents, and advice to sisters, news to share and opinions to air,

Musings with friends–from mundane to surreal,

Sweet nothings to that someone special!

Drafting and crafting late into the night,

Stashing the sheets in the envelope before first light.

To the post office the following day, to weigh and decide

The stamps to be bought, and pasted on the top right side.

Then drop into the big red box with swish and a wish,

And the delicious anticipation of the letter in return… a month, a week, a fortnight,

Counting the days, awaiting the post, what a splendid way to spend days and nights!

I cannot think of anything better, than the sheer joy of penning a letter!

 

“The palest ink is better than the best memory.” Chinese proverb

—Mamata

 

Nose No-Nos

~ millennialmatriarchs ~ 3 Comments

So now plastic surgeons (that’s what they were called in our days) are being asked to ‘fix’ noses so that they look good on selfies! It’s not enough to use all the technology the digital wonders provide to shape and mould, and shade and light our faces to look oh so picture perfect in every selfie, pelfie, helfie, welfie and ussie (no I did not make those up!)  taken every moment of our waking lives!  According to a 2017 poll, 55 percent of facial plastic surgeons reported seeing patients who wanted surgeries to help them look better in selfies, up from 13 percent in 2016.

Researchers are working out mathematical models to help describe how selfie cameras distort the face. They found that when taken 12 inches away, selfies increase nose sizes by 30 percent in men and 29 percent in women compared to photos taken five feet away, a standard portrait distance. And yet, in the quest for the perfect picture, cosmetic surgery is seen as the perfect answer.

What an unimaginably narcissist society we have become! Time was when noses were a distinguishing feature of one’s face. We were born with them, and we lived with them. Maternal and paternal aunts would argue about whether the new baby had the father’s nose or the mother’s nose. Characters in stories were described by their noses—the handsome hero with the Roman nose, the wicked hook-nosed witch, the cute button-nosed toddler….

When my daughter was born, my paternal aunt told me that I needed to pull her wee little nose every day to give it shape and substance. That was almost 30 years ago. Last week daughter and I took an ussie. And she looked at it and said “Mama, you and I are both growing into Grandfather’s nose!” Like it or not that’s our heritage, and makes us uniquely what we are!

–Mamata

 

 

 

 

 

Why this blog?

~ millennialmatriarchs ~ 11 Comments

To enable two well-past middle-age matriarchs to “tell it like it is” to the rest of the world. The two of them have spent their lives ‘scolding and moulding’—their team members, their children, and any younger person who made the mistake of wandering into their ambit. And all with the (mistaken?) belief that they were making the individuals and the world better for their admonishing!

And now with the children (biological and adopted) having flown the coop, and the teams, and opportunities for young people to be in their ambits shrinking, the matriarchs need avenues to continue their nagging, telling, and general commentaries on the world. And hence the blog. So what if no one ever visits? The matriarchs have done their duty by sending their scoldings out into the ether!

So on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 2018, here is to a voice for women, especially those of vintage years. Women like us need to send their messages out too! The world is not just for the young!

–Meena and Mamata