Topic Karna explodes on my feed again 😊.

After these years of talking on the topic, I realised the issue of Karna simping is not about awareness of the Mahabharata but of Attachment.

Attachment to one's own mediocrity and entitlement to faulty personalities. ++ The question boils down to "What to take from Vyasa Mahabharata and how to interpret it."

Is it analysing isolated events and keeping Karna Arjuna scoreboards? Sure, I have done that. But the other side also takes out some remote incident like Arjuna losing to robbers at 90+
++

Have been closely following this amazing attempt by @deepakmrd27 @MyMBJourney @MySutradhar to unravel the Karna myth in the last weekend.

Things that I observed from the other side : Shock, denial, defence

Only a miniscule of them engaged textually.
One of the retorts was++ ++ about Rajaji's heavily abridged version being the more authentic source than any of the unabridged recensions themselves!

I remember being under a similar attack when I had first published the quantitative study results of Kurukshetra war, two years ago. Twitter opposition++

There is a Chaatu padyam by Srinatha Kavi which translates like :

"It is appropriate when the Lord of Sri marries 16000 women but why does a beggar need two wives? Paramesha, be content with Parvati and let Ganga go."

Needless to say if such a poem were to be composed today++

https://twitter.com/SaamaanyaJ/status/1676788944933978112

++ the hordes of aesthetically barren self proclaimed guardians of civilization would descend upon it with all sorts of virtual abuse.

But it is also worth pondering that the poem was by Srinatha Kavi Saarvabhouma who wrote exalted works like Haravilasam, Kashikhandam whose++

When we criticize a cinematic adaptation based on Veda-Itihasa-Purana corpus, I can think of six dimensions to examine.

1) Characterization
2) Visual Aesthetics
3) Event sequence
4) Writing
5) Delivery
6) Music Let us take examples

Mayaabazaar
Characterisation: The film scores high in getting the characters right on. (Except Revati who was compromised to suit the storyline) .

Krishna's omniscience.
Abhimanyu's thoughtless but endearing courage
Ghatotkacha 's towering personality.

Remember that tweet about metro life not enabling savings for freshers?

It had me thinking

Had a series of chats with freshers and young working professionals around (< 5 years of work ex).

Here are the list of avoidable expenses they incur (in my view) ++ 1) Petrol/Auto/Uber - The urge to take out the vehicle or hire a cab/auto even for short walkable distances or destinations covered by public transport.

Make a habit to walk if the distance is any less than 2 KM. It gives a fitter body and happier mind.

Reg Eco system and Hinduism

Sometime back, I invigilated a Hindi examination where a kid was struggling. He showed me a question
"मीरा के अनुसार मन् किस का दर्शन का प्यासा है?"
My jaw dropped at him not knowing the answer. It was evident he sleot through or skipped the class++ ++ But if one needs a curricular Hindi lesson to know about Meerabai, there is something heavily wrong in the system and world around us.

It is another easy way to blame the parents. But the spectrum of knowledge in Hinduism is mind numbingly wide! How is a modern parent even++

Beginning to find these obituaries to ACK a bit annoying.
Yes they had good books at one point of time but regarding them as some custodian institution of Hinduism is a huge disservice to our parents, grandparents, Ramakrishna, Chinmaya missions, etc.

Emotions are our undoing Even I had a good childhood with their issues, especially The Mahabharata.
But we are missing a key fact.

ACK did not popularise civilisational content.

*It earned popularity *because* it published civilisational content.*

It is a business, not an institution++

Rental cant be helped but

* Using Public Transport
* Cooking own food /Eating subsidised lunch at work.
* Choosing to go 'unbranded'
* Aggressive saving/investing

Harsh as it sounds, if one cant do these in 20s, life is going to become unbearable in 30s and a horror in 40s.

https://twitter.com/Sai_swaroopa/status/1652327585945362438

Link your self worth not to the brand of clothing you wear but the bank balance you know you are building.

Inner resilience is the result of what looks like a lifestyle compromise. If you compromise resilience for lifestyle, future is gloomy.

Are we teaching so to our youth?

So I taught my students ChatGPT.
And showed them where it inserts BS skillfully to give an illusion of completion.

Told them the AI is great with structure of communicating. So take that structure and build the content yourselves.

A student said, mam our University is so++ ++cool. The faculty is also so cool. Her point was that instead of banning AI, we are encouraging how to use it and not lose the human quotient.

Later for the assign ment, a student submitted two versions. Mam, this is shat Chatgpt generated. Thrn I worked out my version as++

Namaskarams. Decline in reading habits- This is actually a large scale problem which needs to be dealt by all stakeholders here.
Starting with
1)Parents - One cannot expect your kids to have the reading habit if parents dont have the reading habit themselves. If serious about++

https://twitter.com/anveSaka_/status/1637787103978192897

++inculcating reading habits in your kid. You and your spouse read regularly and discuss the topics on your dinner table. Dont pontificate and turn them off further but let the kids learn by example.

2) School boards - Make reading a credit based course starting from class 6 ++

When the Gods choose to bless you.....

I wasnt much of a temple goer except for ocassions.

Then this Lady and the Gentleman in the pic below decided that they will make me go everyday.

How??

Read on++ Travelling to work place needs me to go from my place to Hebbala and catch the University shuttle there.

I take the public transport till Hebbala. Usually, there is a 20-30 min wait there. The Uni bus is usually cayght in a jam. I cant risk starting late because++

Could not meet many kind folks of Varanasi who messaged me. It was a short and power packed trip. Forgive me this time 🙏🏽.

Hoping that Baba Vishwanath ji calls me there again 🙂🙏🏽.

https://twitter.com/Sai_swaroopa/status/1589182435329478657

Loved bonding with @priyankadeo over motherhood, writing and so many topics that were dear to me!
Hoping to meet you again soon Priyanka 🙂🤗

That question about Sita-Rama separation. I had almost decided to not answer the question reason beingthat my Svaadhyaaya of Ramayana has not reached the stage yet. But this is also an opportunity to consolidate my (limited) understanding of that painful episode.
So here goes+

https://twitter.com/Sai_swaroopa/status/1522411618587447296

Aspersions on Sita Devi'a character are not just raised by a drunk washerman. They are echoed by many nobles in the court, much to Rama's anguish. It is after that painful discussion that Rama decides to leave her in the forest. He endures a lot of pain himself but the point+

When I was newly initiated into Srividya, one of the lifestyle advice given by my guruji was to start and end a conversation with "SriMatrenamah".

When we encapsulate a conversation with the names of our Ishtadevata, we tend to be conscious about what we talk, how we express++ ++and hence, gradually watch ourselves, reduce the negativity in our speech, have a positive effect on ourselves as well as on others (Hopefully).

In many ways, we bear that ambassadorship of the Sampradaya we follow and our being positive and inspiring matters++

Actually @palkisu 's words of caution to girls to hold on to their jobs reminded me of a hillarious anecdote that happened with a friend.

His mother was employed with a PSU (Either BSNL or LIC I forget). He has childhood memories of aunty waking up super early, getting food+ +lunch boxes ready, do pooja and leave by public transport. Come back, juggle chores again.... Typical.

He knew the clothes, books and a lot he enjoyed came from his mother's extra financial push. Like any son he felt grateful and *in his own way* responsible.

This guy grew+

On this #InternationalWomensDay let us bust myths about women. The one myth that touches my raw nerves is - "Women can multitask"

The phrase is used so commonly even by well meaning folks, many times as a compliment.

But folks, there is no such thing called multitasking++ ++What is usually mistaken as multi tasking is actually task switching - where the brain juggles attention between tasks, balancing the critical phases.

It is quite harmless when handling two non critical tasks when one of them is almost involuntary. ++

#Mondaygyanforcreatives
Will try to share about Author and Book marketing today.

Who among us wouldnt like those thousands and millions of sales and some promising advances?

We also know that brandong of that scale costs a lot of money. Yes, it does.

What I shall share+ +today is not a secret to become an overnight bestseller but the stuff needed to make a life as an author.

Whats needed to make an impact on readers from a fundamental perspective?

1. A great cover (assuming you have already written a nice book).

A book cover must convey+

Srimatre NamaH

Attempting a thread on the Hindu fasting on Ekadashi.
I did see a couple of interactions over this topic.

Confession : I am only a couple of Ekadashis old in the fasting zone. Never fasted much before.

So I connect to the skeptic's doubts here. Read on. My knowledge of what I am going to write is taken mostly from my Guru ji's interactions and some other pravachanas.

In Srividya, the fifteen tithis of a fortnight have fifteen tithi nitya devis, each presiding over a tithi.

On Ekadashi, the Devi is Neela pataaka - नीलापताका

Whether one is a supporter of Varna vyavastha or a critic, the reading and understanding of Varna system has to be done along with Ashrama and Purushartha.
Without those two, the comprehension of Varna system is dangerously half baked.

#ReadingRajadharmaparva Most of the online supporters of Varna system are too afraid of Ashrama discussions because it calls for a daunting amount of rigour in practising.

And most critics done even understand the badics if Purusharthas and keep barking "brahminical patriarchy" at every unrelated event

#MondayGyanforCreatives - Author Income

Sharing the bits I know about Author Income that eventually becomes a point of discussion in writer circles.
How much do authors earn?
When can I grow enough to become a Rowling or a Stephen King or an Amish?

Coming to Basics+ Traditionally published newbie authors start at around 8% royalty. That is, sale of a book priced Rs. 300 at full price fetches the author Rs. 24

If your monthly sustenance budget is say Rs. 50,000, you need to sell 2084 copies that month (and at full price) ++

Shamika ji, you are doing a great job narrating Mahabharata to your son.

And it is a common issue with first time listeners.

IMHO, when a kid starts feeling strongly for Karna over the Pandavas, there is something slightly off about our way of narrating. Sorry if I am blunt

https://twitter.com/ShamikaRavi/status/1320767249242705921

Karna, though 'abandoned', enjoyed the love of his foster household.
The Pandavas lost their father and were in a hostile household where they did not know how and when the next murder attempt will be made on them.
It is natural for Kunti to feel more protective for Pandavas.