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Got busy!
When the Computer Revolution was knocking on the doors of India, it struck terror in the hearts of clerks in all organizations. They felt that this monster is going to eat up their jobs. Particularly in Government Organizations like Banks, Railways, LIC, Indian Airlines, and even IITs. Quite expectedly Marxist Bengal led the way in opposing the entry of computers tooth and nail. A state once known for its revolutionary zeal became the leader of status quo.
But Rajiv Gandhi and his band of Young Turks went ahead and the rest is history.
Similarly the advent of the internet was disliked and feared by the Old Print Media and even the TV. It was said that the printing industry will cease to exist and all typists and compositors will lose their jobs.
But the number of TV channels rose exponentially and I am told the book printing industry is thriving. More books are printed, bought and perhaps read.
There is something in the hard copy that has a charm and semi-permanency.
It is said that Debendranath Tagore in his youth got disillusioned with life and wanted to end it all by drowning in the Ganga. While walking on his way, a wind blew a piece of paper that got stuck to his chest. He peeled it and read it and found in it the first verse of the Ishopanishad:
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Got busy!
When the Computer Revolution was knocking on the doors of India, it struck terror in the hearts of clerks in all organizations. They felt that this monster is going to eat up their jobs. Particularly in Government Organizations like Banks, Railways, LIC, Indian Airlines, and even IITs. Quite expectedly Marxist Bengal led the way in opposing the entry of computers tooth and nail. A state once known for its revolutionary zeal became the leader of status quo.
But Rajiv Gandhi and his band of Young Turks went ahead and the rest is history.
Similarly the advent of the internet was disliked and feared by the Old Print Media and even the TV. It was said that the printing industry will cease to exist and all typists and compositors will lose their jobs.
But the number of TV channels rose exponentially and I am told the book printing industry is thriving. More books are printed, bought and perhaps read.
There is something in the hard copy that has a charm and semi-permanency.
It is said that Debendranath Tagore in his youth got disillusioned with life and wanted to end it all by drowning in the Ganga. While walking on his way, a wind blew a piece of paper that got stuck to his chest. He peeled it and read it and found in it the first verse of the Ishopanishad:
Isavasyamidam sarvam yatkincha jagatyam jagat
Tena tyaktena bhunjeetha ma gridhah kasyavid dhanam
He turned back and the rest is history. I don't think a floppy or a pen drive would have done the trick.
In a small way I had a similar experience. When I was visiting home on a summer vacation, I happened to browse the English Text of my youngest sister and found the lovely piece, Railway Travel, by Gandhi that ended with another shlok of the same Ishopanishad:
Hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham
Tat tvam Pushan apavrinu satya-dharmaya drishataye
That simulated my interest both in Gandhi's writings (he writes well) and the Upanishads.
Tom Friedman wrote why it is important to take Afghan children of both sexes to school. They bring home books and dump them here and there. Their parents (of both sexes) look at the books, get curious to know what is there in them and perhaps will get to know that there is world other than the one imposed by their fanatic leaders...by and very very by, maybe it will lead to a Flower Power (other than the poppies).
Well, to cut the cackle and bring home the horses, the fifth Ishani booklet is on its way...much delayed by this and that. To pick about 20 blogs from 350 was no joke, but it has been done. In a fortnight or so the copies will be in Ishani's hands.
She and I will be most pleased to tom-tom our stories.
While transferring data to my new phone, all the postal addresses stored in the memory of the old phone have somehow been lost. And I find several regular readers from the US, Canada, Russia, Germany, UK, Chile, France and many more countries, in addition to India.
Ishani would love to gift her new booklet to all the regular (and irregular) readers of our blog.
So, you are kindly invited to please mail me your current postal addresses with PIN (ZIP) and phone number (if possible). You will duly receive a slim booklet. You may have read all the stories in it already, but as I said, a hard copy has a different charm.
Most welcome!
e-mail id: gps1943@yahoo.com
Dear Sir,
ReplyDeleteIt is great to know that fifth Ishani booklet is on its way!
I sincerely apologize for not sending you the list of my five favorites of your blogs after April 2011.
I would like to contradict the comment --- "a hard copy has a different charm"!
Almost two and half years ago, I first saw one of your Ishani booklet (3rd) in Pratik sir's home. Actually Pratik sir was much more eager to show off his foreword, rather than your writings ;-) !! Before that day I was not aware of your blogs. But truly speaking, the booklet didn't attracted me that much. It was few days later when I started reading your blogs online, through either Blogger or Google Reader, I almost became addicted to them and I have to hide my browser's window from my Ph.D. supervisor to avoid scoldings!
As you may very well know that it is much more pleasurable to commit a crime in front of the keeper of the law and still get away with it!
So for me the real charm of your blogs lie in reading them online!
Dear Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteYour hiding of your browser's window from your Ph D supervisor to avoid scoldings reminds me of my school days.
We didn't have Google Reader or Blogger, but we did have, circulated among us secretly, one-rupee Detective Novels (plots stolen from Perry Mason) published in Telugu. The detective's name was Yugandhar and he always rode a red Lambretta.
The pocket books were slim enough to be hidden inside our text books, particularly the fat Social Studies book. And we used to read them while the class was going on. (That is why my grip on the Indian Constitution is rather weak).
Once I was reading one at my home and was caught by my mom. And she snatched it and started reading it and asked me to bring home more. I don't know if she was secretly sharing them with my Father who was our Head Master.
I will send you a hard copy and you can share it with your Ph D Guide...the contents are not exactly hard porn...
gps
Dear Sir,
ReplyDeleteExactly same thing I also used to do during my school days. And those books were also mainly detective novels or thrillers in bengali, written by Satyajit Ray, Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, Premendra Mitra etc. I was more fond of Satyajit Ray's "Feluda" and Saradindu Bandyopadhyay's "Byomkesh Bakshi". I think during your stay in KGP we may also have come across "Feluda" films made by Ray or famous "Byomkesh Bakshi" series in Doordarshan.
Actually I have two Ph D supervisors, one of them is Pratik sir himself and the other one from whom I have to hide my browser window most of the time, is one of your old student! I think one don't have to be a detective to guess who he is!
One of my friend (Abhik Ghosh) has already asked for a hard copy from you, if you have enough copies then I will surely love have one, otherwise I can share Abhik's copy. I will send you my postal address soon.
Dear Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI get 50 copies printed. In the beginning they look inexhaustible and I post one to whoever gives me their postal address. But within a few months they become so scarce that I have to xerox the last copy, bind and make ten more copies. They too get over in a few months.
So it is the early worm that gets the bird ;-)
Do mail me your postal address and I will surely courier you a copy. Give a working phone number too...the DTDC insists on it.
But I guess your anonymity ceases, from me at least. Both your guides always get a copy each of every booklet that I print. Convey my best wishes. They are GREAT physicists.
gps