When I was about 4, my HM Father put me on his lap one night after dinner and told me the story of Dhruva in his tearful voice (dad never grew up):
Apparently, King Uttanapada had two wives (too many): Suneeti, mom of li'l Dhruva, and Suruchi, mom of li'l Uttam. As happens always (recall Dasarath) Uttanapada was partial to his younger wife and her offspring Uttam who she wanted should bypass Dhruva and be anointed Prince of Wales. And her hubby was powerless in front of her.
One day after playtime, Dhruva returned home and found Uttam Kumar seated on his father's right thigh. And Dhruva ran to him and asked to be seated on his left.
And Suruchi shooed him away.
The rest is history: The badly hurt Dhruva does intense penance and gets the Darshan of Lord Narayan himself who cuddles the kid and blesses him that after his death he would turn into the steadfast Pole Star...such was his unshakable devotion to the Lord.
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Our Telugu Teacher in School, who was a master raconteur, told us the story of Abhimanyu Vadha (the treacherous trapping of the young kid of Arjun when he was away). Apparently the coup de graceless was administered by Saindhava (aka Jayadradha, hubby of the sole sister Dussala of the Kauravas).
Next day Arjun vows to kill Saindhava in retaliation by 'taking out' his head with one of his repertoire of arrows. But his friend and chauffeur, Krishna, cautions him that whoever is responsible for landing Saindhava's head will have his head blown to pieces. And suggests that Arjun use his Paashupata Astra which miraculously multiplies itself in a geometric progression after severing its target till it reaches its set goal. And tells Arjun to guide his missile such that the head of Saindhava falls on the lap of Saindhava's father who was doing his evening prayer sitting on a hill nearby closing his eyes.
The rest is evident. The father is surprised at a head falling in his lap and drops it...two birds with one missile.
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Karna who was always envious of Arjun getting the Paashupata Astra from Shivjee wanted to get one better. So, he approaches the original Parashuram (not the Basu) and requests him to take him as his pupil.
But there is a catch: Parashuram (the Brahmin, not Kayastha) was dead against Kshatriyas and teaches only Brahmins (like me). So, Karna poses as if he is a Brahmin and gets the latest version of the missile by hook and crook from Parashuram.
But on the day Karna was to leave, his Guru asks him to let his (Parahsuram's) head rest on Karna's lap and snooze for a while. But he falls fast asleep for an hour. Meanwhile, a dracula-bug lands on Karna's thigh and starts its work.
When Parashuram wakes up and sees the stream of blood gushing and flowing from Karna's lap, he discovers that Karna has cheated him...no Brahmin can ever have such forbearance. So, he curses Karna that the misslie he gave him won't come to his rescue when he most needed it...sigh!
And he gets killed by Arjun unfairly following his chauffeur's instigation.
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And Duryodhan generously offered Draupadi his lap in public...and was assassinated by Bhim by blowing it up...
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Enough of Puranas. Let us come to Victorian London.
About a year back, I got a surprise gift from my friend and book-lover Pratik. It was new to me. Its title is: The Dairy of a Nobody. Published first in 1892, it never went out of print. It charmingly describes the ethos and mores of bourgeoisie Londoners in the Victorian Era.
Winter evenings in London, I am told, are long and gloomy. So, the after-dinner Parties had to invent ways of beguiling time by playing indoor games and gimmicks. One such is called, it seems, Cutlets, a game the author never heard of before.
Let me quote:
"...(Gowing) sat on a chair, and asked Carrie to sit on his lap, an invitation dear Carrie rightly declined.
After some species of wrangling, I sat on Gowing's knees, and Carrie sat on the edge of mine. Lupin sat on the edge of Carrie's lap, then Cummings on Lupin's, and Mrs Cummings on her husband's. We looked very ridiculous, and laughed a good deal.
Gowing then said: 'Are you a believer in the Great Mugal?'
We had to answer all together: 'Yes..oh Yes!' (three times). Gowing said: 'So am I', and suddenly got up. The result of this stupid joke was that we all fell on the ground, and poor Carrie banged her head against the corner of the fender...."
gps: Oh, well, they ruled us alright for 200 years and civilized us...
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Finally, we have our Big B singing a vastly better comic laptop song:
"Jiski bibi chhoti hai..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3l1duDPmg
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News and Views
N: "They (the US) are living beyond their means...They are living like parasites off the global economy"...Putin
And, "Beijing scolded the US for its 'dangerously irresponsible action'..."
V: We are the angels, no? We are going to have a Lokpal (our great pal) soon.
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N: "Stem cells yield sperm in lab"
V: Carrying coal to Newcastle
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N: "India contributes $ 2 billion to the Europe bailout"
V: Hey (Parashu) Ram!
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