Popular perception on water doesn't hold much water, as it hinges around the technology of overcoming current scarcity for sustaining future supplies. With traditional wisdom around water on the verge of extinction, the discourse around water is somewhat of an aberration from its science. No wonder, questions from the audience that pop up during live television programs not only reflect gross ignorance but portray a skewed understanding on water as well. Like 'water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink', information on water is plenty but clear understanding is broadly missing. Is increasing water scarcity cause for growing water ignorance?
Water Drops is a compilation of some 160 radio broadcasts of 90 seconds each on all aspects of water, from its history to its hydrology and from its science to its politics. The weekly broadcast on a New York FM channel had commenced in early 2006 and lasted till 2008. Since then these essays have repeatedly been broadcast from an unknown number of radio stations and are available online too. Now in print, Water Drops has everything you ever wanted to know about water and water issues. It is Peter Black’s four decades of professional research and teaching experience captured in 90-seconds capsules, each offering cure for water ignorance.
You may like 'hot shower' but speaking on it meaningfully and that too for little over a minute can make you feel hot. One can perhaps write a volume on 'water balance' but making a diverse audience get a balanced sense of it could be daunting. And, think of 'black ice' to let your listeners get a sense of something we rarely encounter. This and much more, each of these radio broadcasts celebrates water and its wonder. Informative and even entertaining, Water Drops is an encyclopedic look at water in its various manifestations. As an activist, as a teacher and as an administrator, there come moments when one struggles to make a coherent sense of the issue for an audience. It is for such crucial moments that one may need Water Drops. It is a celebration of water, the elixir of all life.
Water Drops: Celebrating the Wonder of Water
by Peter E. Black
State University of New York Press, Albany
187 pages, $19.95
Nothing in this part of the world could be as magical as the mighty Brahmaputra, the father of all rivers in the sub-continent, an amazing labyrinth of treacherous cross-currents, whirlpools and ever shifting sandbanks. Flowing along it are lives, lifestyles and livelihoods of myriad cultures belonging to diverse religions and tribes entrenched within the ever-changing meanders of the river. The river not only gives life but it takes it away too. But no one blames the river. It is their destiny!
Tipped as the ‘last great Asian adventure', Mark Shand's journey on boat sweeping eighteen hundred miles through three countries could only act as a frontrunner to those (like this reviewer) planning to undertake a portion of the journey in the floodplains, from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh to Guwahati in Assam. But it belies promise as the author invests better part of the otherwise interesting narrative in search of a 'river dog', and less about the river he had set out to explore.
Since the Chinese didn’t permit him to travel through the Tsangpo in Tibet, what would have been an exhilarating travel through the international border could not be accomplished. Nonetheless, the author provides edge-of-the-seat excitement in his search for one of those five hundred specially tagged logs that were thrown upstream of the river in Tibet during late nineteenth century to establish once and for all whether the Tsangpo flowed into the Brahmaputra after it disappears into the mountain gorges.
Though informative and entertaining, Shand's travel through the mighty river in India doesn't offer adequate tips to those who may wish to traverse this enormous water course on boat. Yet, it is perceptive travel writing that is loaded with eccentric excitement. Without doubt, the river is unique as it embraces the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam and nurtures hundreds of tribal beliefs along its treacherous course. At another level, it offers an amazing treatise on local, sub-regional, regional and global implications of the somewhat contentious flow of the river on communities, institutions, states and beyond. Having been on the footsteps of Mark Shand, though partially, one can safely suggest that if current trans-boundary imbroglio on harnessing its waters is any indication, there is nothing less than a status of ‘global heritage’ that can sustain its flow for future boat journeys of this kind....Link
River Dog: A Journey Down The Brahmaputra
by Mark Shand
Abacus, UK
338 pages, $16.95
For him the concept of time has not been the tick-tick of a wrist watch but the approaching moment that is about to pass. And he seemingly hasn’t allowed any moment to ‘pass’ without living a lifetime in ‘it’. No wonder, the poet in him stays relevant and contemporary even after five decades of penning down his first song – the unforgettable ‘mera gora ang lai le’.
Gulzar alias Sampooran Singh Kalra is a poet or shair first and lyricist later. He entered the world of cinema reluctantly and walked away by choice. As much a part of it as he is not, his poetry resonates beyond the fleeting moments on the celluloid because he writes to release his inner energy and to share his experience of life. Much of what he writes, therefore, has earthy smell that one can easily relate to.
Conducted over twenty five skype sessions lasting for almost an hour each, Nasreen Munni Kabir has pioneered a rather successful concept in book writing that is not only convenient but cost-effective too. But credit must go to Gulzar for being clear, concise and reflective in his response. There is never a dull moment, the conversation is as much engaging as revealing. His poetry may have an element of mystery but not when it comes to opening his mind.
Had his life not turned to be what it is, Gulzar may have been sitting in some small shop in a small town selling fabrics - ‘I get a sort of sinking feeling in my heart’. But he chose not to tread on his parental business and followed his destiny instead. Yet, fabric remains an integral part of his life. He calls his daughter ‘Bosky’ – one of the finest fabrics that is both sober and elegant. And if this wasn’t enough, his home in Mumbai is named ‘Boskyana’.
The conversation is an interesting mixture of poetry and prose. Gulzar is elegant with both, the writer and editor in him work in unison to produce amazing nuggets of wisdom. ‘I strongly believe writers must be aware of what is happening in the world and have a strong sense of values, believing in some kind of ideology is essential’. For Gulzar ‘writing’ has been no less than a euphemism for ‘being’, something which he has pursued with unfailing commitment and unfading passion.
Kabir brings out the best in Gulzar by asking simple but well-researched questions. The narrative is racy but enriching, as the conversation traverses through his early childhood and a rather long journey as an accomplished poet. The conversation is free-flowing with loads of interesting anecdotes about Gulzar’s interaction with some of the finest exponents of poetry and music. The nature and quality of conversation makes it an absorbing reading.
One gets a glimpse into the poet’s mind but there is lot more that one would like to know. As for me, I would have liked to ask Gulzar the reason for him having given one-word title to most of the films he made, be it Parichay, Mausam, Kitaab or Angoor....Link
In the company of a poet: Gulzar
by Nasreen Munni Kabir
Rainlight/Rupa, New Delhi
206 pages, Rs 380
