Yes,I am a Janeudhari Bamman

Raju Korti
In a country where preaching and sermonizing comes more easily than practicing, the storm over Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi being called as "Janeudhari Hindu" is just another political fodder. His party spokesperson went ballistic, refuting that the young leader entered the Somnath Temple in Gujarat, (where else?) as a non-Hindu. Just the kind of cud we all like to chew in the social media until the next one appears on our plate.
Janeudharis are those who wear the sacred thread after the "Upanayanam", sometime after attaining puberty. Like many I went through this ritual and this what I was told by the priest performing it: The three strands of the sacred thread has symbolic meanings. A bachelor is supposed to wear only one thread, a married man should wear two and if the married man has a child, he must wear three. They symbolize three debts of a man which must never be forgotten: The debt of one's teacher, the debt of one's parents and ancestors and the debt of the scholars.
I have been wearing the Janeu since then but in hindsight, I suppose I would have repaid these debts anyway even if I were not to wear it born as a Hindu/Brahmin. Many of my friends, patently anti-Brahmin, would poke fun at me calling me a "Bamman" and the thread as a symbol of my caste superiority. A lot many friends would needle me saying that non-vegetarian food had become costlier ever since Bammans started eating it (A point well taken). That most of them eventually married off their sons and/or daughters to a "Bamman" is quite another story. I never took offence because I never practiced casteism. but the concept of debt quite appealed to me. Having been indebted to many people for various reasons, it wasn't difficult at all to adapt to the idea.
For long, I have seen people raise the caste bogey based on the discrimination by upper caste -- and there are others apart from Brahmins -- in the past. With the passage of time, Brahmin-bashing became the name of the game. So much so that most Brahmins today fight shy of acknowledging themselves as one. There is, of course, no denying that caste prejudice has happened in the past, but I refuse to accept that it obtains today to the extent it is made out to be. It is just one of the divisive cards that nefarious politicians use to further their selfish ends. The sad truth is even apparently the sane fall for this trick. On the social media circuit, it has expectedly boiled down to a Janeudhari Vs JNUdhari battle.
Those who debate how and whether a mere thread can symbolize or symbolizes a vision, should ask their wives why they wear the Mangalsutra which should then be interpreted as albatross around the neck. And then I know so many who criticize the thread and its concept but wear one themselves. Symbols are just symbols. It is the concept that should matter and I do not see anything objectionable in that unless you want to use it as a spanner to yank out the social screws. Everything else is just noise with ulterior motives.
Being called a Bamman doesn't offend me in the least, but it is high time we found out who are the real casteists. I am sure the statistics will shock you. Yes, I am a Bamman. I may not be proud of being one but I am not ashamed of being one either. Let Brahmin be a taboo word.
Merit has got me thus far, not caste. 

Finally, it is Pakistan

Raju Korti

Toss up between Musharraf or Imran

I have always believed that for all the sadistic and pernicious streak evident in their demeanor and speeches, Pakistani politicians are far more predictable and less chameleonic than their counterparts elsewhere. Two parallel events as recently as yesterday buttress my argument. One, the open support of 26/11 mastermind Hafeez Saeed by former Pakistan dictator Pervez Musharraf and the other a word of praise for Modi from cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. That both are adversaries is not germane at this point.
After presiding over his country's army for years and riding rough shod on all democratic institutions, Musharraf, who has had slew of cases against him, lives a palatial life in Dubai. In one of his many enlightenments in self-exile, Musharraf has admitted that Saeed "is involved in Kashmir" and supports the LeT to "suppress the Indian army in Kashmir".
Ever since he has fled to Dubai, Musharraf has not been able to reconcile to the thought of himself without his military undies. The politician in him has quickly latched on to an apparent scenario where the strident clerics are rapidly gaining ground. Saeed is anticipating a drastic change in the durability of country's parliamentary configuration with Imran Khan likely to queer the pitch. If a coalition government with a radical right is represented in large numbers, India can kiss the chances of rapprochement good bye.
Saeed has sensed his best chance and has approached the United Nations to drop the "Global Terrorist" tag against his name which has understandably rankled the United States because it doesn't want this configuration to go topsy turvy. It is here that Musharraf becomes more than obvious. Having licked enough from the American asses during his rule, he was also instrumental in putting Saeed in a house arrest. A house arrest in Pakistan simply means that terror masterminds can work their devious minds with state hospitality. Musharraf who had been vehemently denying the army's support to "non-State actors" now realizes he and Saeed can leverage each other.
Having announced a grand coalition of 23 parties, Musharraf is desperately angling for another of his crooked stint and with Nawaz Sharif's PML looking at a possible electoral rout, chances are might he might well be in the reckoning but Imran may prove to be a thorn in his flesh. If the Parliamentary representation of radical Islamic parties goes up as dramatically in 2018 as it has been in a recent bye-election, it can only be conjectured what it will do to the Army and the battles it has been fighting. It is possible that these parties may remain divided and their influence might be checkmated by PML but that is subject to Sharif's party managing to retain its toehold. In all this maze, what should be of consequence, particularly to India, is what if Saeed becomes part of the next government.
Now for Imran Khan. The Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader has publicly admitted that he admires Modi as a politician and "in the last three years, he hasn't heard the Indian PM ranting against Pakistan". In the cacophony of political choruses, Imran has chosen to play with the straight bat by saying that "we fought three wars with India and learnt nothing. We still indulge in proxy wars." His contention that resumption of cricket ties with India will serve as some sort of a confidence building measure sounds good in theory but poor in practice. Cricket is just another turf for proxy wars.
This is what I wrote about Imran Khan in my blog in Sept 2016:
A notable characteristic of Khan's persona that I have noticed is the opportunist and turncoat in him which surfaces as and when political circumstances suit him. His electoral plank cleverly tries to strike a balance between religious dogma and liberal economics which is a red herring for the poverty and many-other-things-stricken Pakistan.
And this is what I wrote about Musharraf in April 2013:
For his sheer propensity for the holier than thou, one needs to hand it to former president and general Pervez Musharraf. If you ignored the man's chameleonic character, Musharraf, who fled Pakistan to return after four years of "self imposed exile", has proclaimed with his usual bluster that "I am among those people who think of the country and the citizens." His precise timing to return to his troubled homeland shows just that, albeit in a contradictory manner.
Behind the army demeanor, there lurks a hard-core politician. Aware of the rebuffs that dot his path, he has already met with a few. His nomination papers were rejected for his acts of "reason and corruption", a clause Indian electoral system could well draw from. But howsoever Musharraf wants to propagandize his love for Pakistan, no one is hoodwinked into believing that and the man has landed back on his home soil because he hardly had any option. He is obviously trying to make a virtue of his compulsion.There are a string of cases lined up against him. Having trampled all institutions during his cleverly manipulative regime, he is everybody's burden. Elevating such a man at the helm again is fraught with the consequences Pakistani people may not try to experiment with.
Take it. This is a do-or-die battle for Musharraf. He will be consigned to the dustbin of history if his outfit fails to come to power.Musharraf and Imran have their political compulsions within the framework of their ideologies. However, at the end of the day, it is Pakistan. Musharraf or no Musharraf. Imran or no Imran!  

Manjiri Kelkar, classically yours

Manjiri Kelkar: Pic courtesy Pragati Korti

Raju Korti
History has an uncanny knack of reverting to haunt you. More so, if it relates to music and something as soulful as Indian classical music. A masterpiece performance by vocalist Manjiri Kelkar at a friend's residence yesterday took me on a music odyssey imprinted by a school of music handed down in legacy by Moghubai Kurdikar. But the history first.I was occasioned to meet the maverick exponent of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana Kishoritai Amonkar (Moghubai's daughter) way back in 1982 when she was in Nagpur for a concert. Until then my proclivities lay with the Kirana Gharana -- which had the pedigrees of the maestros like Gangubai Hangal and Pt Bhimsen Joshi -- mainly because of my family roots with them. Kishoritai's rendition that day woke me out of that operatic stupor and widened my horizons to other schools that parallely captured my imagination and soul.Like some of the other classical wizards, Kishoritai wore classicism as a badge and was loathe to giving interviews but dame luck was on my side that evening. She agreed to speak to me. That she did for two long hours, especially presenting a delightful case study of how she got into the skin of modifying the Jaipur Gharana performance by fusing and reconciling it with features of the other Gharanas.
From whatever I recall of that intense interaction, Kishoritai was particularly critical of the belief that schools or Gharanas of music determine or constrain a singer's technique. She styled herself on using her school as a base but built variations around it, relaxing the link between rhythm and note.
Moving out of the rigid posturing like some of her illustrious contemporaries, she was insistent that musical education should be conducted, emphasizing the importance of enabling students to shift beyond repetitive techniques and learn the tools that allow them to improvise on their own. True to the dictum that charity begins at home, she would listen to her own performances to analyse and improve her technique.Thirty five years down the line I could see and hear how strong an edifice that was when Manjiritai  delivered a performance that Kishoritai would have been ecastatic about. Emotion and spirituality punctuated her singing as she took on those classical notes with the same aplomb that I saw Kishoritai did that evening. To me, it was a dialogue with the divine, an intense focused communion with the Lord. It was a sublime act of the same "sadhana" (medium) to attain "sadhya" (destination) that Kishoritai spoke so passionately about.
Two things struck me about Manjiritai's performance. Her commitment to her roots and the "bhaav" (expression) of the composition that delectably and effortlessly meandered through Raag Lalita-Gauri and Nat-Kamod and her congruity with her accompanying artistes. She would take brief pauses to egg them on and appreciate with a smile when they returned her fervour note-to-note. A confident artiste never runs down her accompanying performers through oneupmanship. Aptly, she consummated the concert with a bhajan.

Kishori Amonkar: Pic Raju Korti

She has a tonal quality that treats the audiences with a melodious opulence and it is easy to discern why. Her transition from an able disciple to a Guru in her own right is tempered by being a performing artiste at heart. It was this finesse of equilibrium that Manjiritai straddled brilliantly, reinventing her classical grammar as a learner and performer. Little wonder that she is keen to take this protracted legacy in the same strain that she has fostered in the last 20 years.
That she has retained the soul of her Gharana and tried to innovate outside it is the best tribute she can give to her Guru.Absolutely down to earth, Manjiritai admits to be a nervous starter but the manner in which she raises the crescendo belies that. The applause that she received after every rendering was received with a humble bow of the head and a beatific smile. Clearly, with music as her refuge, she was able to crawl between the notes and the audience's sensitivity, reiterating the fact that classical music was, is, and will always be the mother of all music in India.
Manjiritai has been blessed with an exemplary legacy. Her first Guru Appasaheb Kanetkar received his granding from Bhurji Khansaheb, son of Alladiya Khansaheb.  She is carrying that torch forward and how!