26 June 2009
Dear friends...Since nobody has taken up the task of stealing and publishing Bitiya rani's letter this week, I once again take upon myself this onerous task. On the wonderful occasion of completion of the 2nd week at the Academy, I present the second in the series of “Letters from a Daughter to the Father". As always, don't ask me from where I got the letter!
Dear Papa,
You won’t believe me….I talked to one of the numerous flies in our Mess. And the fly talked back to me! I seem to have become a Dr.Dolittly. My friendly fly is “e”, a tamilian fly in the Mess. He has been in our school for quite some time and is very knowledgeable. “E” has so many fundas that he has learnt from our esteemed faculty. He always keeps telling that ‘probaabbly a super cyclone is waiting to primaarilly acktually happen if the system is not reformed in the immediate conceivable future with concerted and co-ordinated effort from all stake holders who could in all probaabbility be an unassuming entity primaarrily intended to involve themselves in the affairs of Koraput while I was traveling with the SP’…. . I often fail to understand such profound language that he has imbibed from the learned. Nevertheless, we had a good conversation. In the future mails, I’ll tell more of the tit bits that he gave…
Our class teacher Ashish sir told us that yet another face would be put on display in the coming days. You know, I’m myself already into 2nd face now. I saw quite a 4th face people also. I heard that 3 faced people would soon be joining our school. How exciting!
This week, the main learning point is that even practical things can be presented as theory. Our teachers can even teach swimming in the classroom within the first 100 days. I heard they’re planning a postal course on swimming with online feedback mechanism. We’re eagerly waiting for this.
Our daily meditation is going on nice. A Ashok and B Ashok Committes look after acoustics and music content respectively while Nila Mohanan Committee keeps watch on the birthdays of the students. During meditations, renowned researchers, Dr.Neeraj and Dr. Saini were seen conducting serious studies on the body weight apportionment on either lobes of the posterior while sitting in meditation. Papa, things are really changing and everything is getting modern. Things have become quite fashionable and a new and strong clamour for 3 piece swimsuits in the school is heard very loud and vocal. Our uncle, the man of few words is in the leadership of what is now referred to as the 3 piece swimsuit-movement. History will remember this movement as 3PSS Movement.
One fine morning, Nila Mohanan Committee introduced Japanese music by one Mr.Katori Kuttakari which sent tremors through the spines of dessert lovers like Sanjay bhayya. He recollected that the dessert katoris have recently become micro sizes. Such conservatives have always discouraged administrative reforms. We expect that micros and mini micros may also make an entry as an innovation.
The other day, we were meditating right under the shade of the memorial for martyrs, an eerie patriotic song was played that really startled me. Most of us felt that we’re being prepared to make the supreme sacrifice. Speaking of martyrs, my friend Ajit Patil denied any links with the latest martyr in Madhya Pradesh. Ajit claims to be quite a straight guy.
Conducting time-motion studies on students is another development by the school administration. For accomplishing this, unlimited motion has been ensured for all students through critical bowel intervention. The time motion studies have now acquired a momentum of its own and no force is able to contain it. This is referred to as attaining critical velocity, making the entire experience pretty loose.
Today we saw an 1850 Bangla movie called “Ration” (kindly pronounce it the Bangla way) which questions basic concepts like time, space, brain etc. It was our classmate Chaitra’s Birthday treat to the class. People who had seen the silent version of the movie 4 times and didn’t understand it had the opportunity to hear the dialogues for the first time.
It was an emotional movie on implementation of NREGA in a forest area. It shows two NREGA workers trying to dig pits by poking locally made swords in the soil. The heroine is the Panchayat President, Kamalakshi Amma. During the course of the movie, it so happens that an ant is killed by one of the workers. Then they sit together and describe various versions of how the ant was killed. There is heavy rainfall and Mallika Sherawat does an item number in the background. They are not able to come to a conclusion and they are thoroughly confused because of the distraction by Mallika in the background. At the climax, the BDO tells them that it was a National Permit Ashok Leyland lorry that ran over the ant. The driver of this truck is then arrested by the local SI and his mustache is shaved off as a mark of respect to the late ant. Without mustache, the NREGA workers are not able to identify the lorry driver and thus the confusion continues as to what is the ultimate truth. Truth has many faces, with and without mustaches.
Whereever the movie was screened, it has always left the viewers with a lot of disturbing questions like… Who will refund my tickets? Did the Gram Sabha select the beneficiary for NREGA? Which blade was used
to shave the driver? Was castrol used in the lorry engine? Were the muster rolls properly kept? Was IAY implemented there? .….so on and so forth.
This is considered as a classic movie and 101 interpretations of the movie have come out. The director is no more and it is speculated that he committed suicide after hearing one of the interpretations in which both the NREGA workers develop a passionate gay relationship which the Panchayat President does not approve of on account of the medieval morality concepts.
On the whole, this week was fine and I’ll mail next week, provided I’m fine till then.
Lots of love,
Bitiya Rani
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