Awards and their joy

 

One of the funniest things I find about myself is that my attitude to life is extremely ambivalent.   I take many issues of life very seriously.  On the other hand, I’m aware of the most profound absurdity that underlies human existence, and this awareness helps me laugh even in the face of disasters.

Right now, I’m laughing at my foot imprisoned in plaster of Paris by the orthopaedist.  While I’d hate to stay put even in heaven for too long, I have learnt to play with the luxury of free time afforded by the present experience.   This blog is part of that playing.

First of all, I must thank three persons with an apology to two of them.  They are: Anjan Roy, Guspazha Chinar, and Umashankar Pandey.  My heart goes out to them for nominating me for the Liebster Award.  Unfortunately, I was not in a position to respond to Anjan and Guspazha because when their nominations came I was on both my feet which carried me from place to place on my regular duties.   I wouldn’t have had the patience to go through the exercises that the nominations demanded.  I tender an unconditional apology to both of them for my reprehensible inefficiency which may be misconstrued as arrogant indifference. 

Now, with whole days and nights at my medically earned disposal, I have decided to put my plastered foot in my mouth and respond to the demands of the latest nomination which comes from a blogger par excellence, Umashankar Pandey.

I’m supposed to start with eleven facts about me.  Since I started this blog with one such fact, I shall now give only ten more.

2.      Books are my best friends (apart from the one woman who tolerates me very patiently).

3.      Let not my icy exterior deceive anyone; there is a lot of fire deep down which can scorch.

4.      I detest with my whole heart any kind of violence perpetrated in the name of gods and religions.

5.      There is a lot of immaturity in me which I would like to project as childlike innocence.

6.      I avoid socialisation whenever I can (lest my projected innocence harm other equally innocent people).

7.      I love my job, teaching, in spite of the government’s and experts’ relentless efforts to stifle the profession.

8.      Writing is my hobby, a pastime.

9.      My dream is to live in a quiet rural area after retirement.

10.  Gadgets, luxury, and other such things don’t fascinate me at all. 

11.  I learnt to laugh at myself very late in life; my life would have been much richer had I learnt it earlier.

I’m now supposed to answer Umashankar’s eleven questions.

1. Top 4 authors, or photographers, you love

Answer: Dostoevsky, Kafka, Kazantzakis, and G B Shaw

2. Top 4 Movies

Answer: Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Karate Kid, and a Malayalam movie whose name is Danny if I’m not mistaken.

3. Top 4 singers/albums

I stopped listening to music long ago.  Even in those days when I used to play music during my leisure, I never had any favourite singers or albums.  I liked country songs and melodious and meaningful Malayalam movie songs.

4. What would you do if you were to be stopped from writing?

Reading and thinking.  [Preaching too, if I’m permitted!]

 

5. Are you in favour of banning books?

Absolutely not.

 

6. Are you in favour of capital punishment?

I can tolerate it in certain exceptional cases.

 

7. Are you in favour of veils for women, as in hijab?

Absolutely not.

 

8. Which is the best translated work (or works) you’ve read?

Kazantzakis’s novels, especially Zorba the Greek

 

9. Moments you cherish.

Too personal... pardon me.

 

10. Moments you’d rather forget.

The whole of 1996 through 2000!

 

11. Is blogging for everyone?

Well, I’m very tolerant.

 

My nominations for the same award:

1.      Cyber Diary – for the wealth of knowledge

2.      Shalu Sharma Guide to India – for the wealth of passionate insight

3.      Its my walls – for the wealth of pictures

4.      Chayachitrakar – for the wealth of exoticism

5.      Chasing Passions -  for the wealth of imagination

6.      My Yatra Diary – for all wealth from far and wide

7.      The Girls who looked for Rainbows – for the wealth of variety

8.      Panchalibolchi – for the wealth of verse

9.      Sane Randomness – for all the gentle prods

10.  Subho’s Jejune Diet – for both width and depth of perspectives

11.  http://joshidaniel.com/ - for the sheer delight of photography

And 11 questions for the nominees:

1.      The holiday destination of your dream?

2.      The most important quality you would expect in your best friend?

3.      What do you like/hate most about your boss?

4.      If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would it be?

5.      The person who influenced you the most so far?

6.      Do you think capitalism will soon give way to a new system?  If yes, can you predict [even in the haziest way] what the new system would be like?

7.      Whose company would you choose if you were to be marooned on an uninhabited island for a week?  [You can choose a person or a thing or an animal]

8.      What would be the first thing you do if you are made the dictator of India for a year?

9.      If the devil appears to you [as he did to Dr Faustus, for example] and grant you a boon (a wish), what would you ask for?

10.  If you were to write an autobiography, what would be its title?

11.  If you were to write an autobiography, who would you dedicate it to?