341, 342

 Health has taken a turn for the worse. But did some work. It was slow plodding and a larger part of what I had to do was not done. I am nervous about tomorrow. Not really nervous but there is a lot to do. Anyway I will worry about that tomorrow or rather, later today.

Here are a few things that I am grateful for:'

1. Papa is well. He came to visit and I made him hot chocolate with water in the microwave. It sounds simple but there is a way to do it so that you don't get lumps. 

2. Both my induction cookers are shot. That is a painful thing but I am really trying to list it as something I am grateful for to develop the quality of equanimity.

3. I saw a play called 'Kavan' in Aram Nagar. I booked the tickets because I really wanted to get out and get some cultural experience. Prithvi is always such a task to book tickets for during the weekend. And the town, Rang Sharda, etc. is a huge pain as well. I took a chance at the Rangshila theatre. First of all, I am supremely grateful for a theatre in Aram Nagar, Versova. It's a nice, open location. The play was by students but it was really well done. It is an Ambedkarite operatic satire on how caste operates in Hinduism and in cities. The Director's note in the pamphlet talked about an interesting genesis for the play - we abolished untouchability but kept the caste hierarchy in the Constitution. This dichotomy may have led to the deep imprinting of caste even deeper. The music and the performances were really, really good. And the production design was beautiful - it was a small area for the play enactment. Behind the actors, there was a cloth projector that had a pastiche print. As the actors moved the story along, there would be interesting graffiti and other images on the cloth background. I loved those silhouettes of Dr. Ambedkar. (For reasons I will not get into now, I have been questioning my discomfort with Buddhism and Christianity.) Dr. Ambedkar was a towering personality...and that kind of intellect is of mythical proportions now. I think a lot of his followers will also know the brilliance with which he has incorporated tenets of Vedanta in the Constitution. (Vedanta is not the same as Vedas. Vedas are scriptures, hymns, rituals, etc. But Vedanta is the pinnacle of all this - the philosophical tenet distilled from all Upanishads - that is the exploration of 'Self' and its relationship to 'Brahman' and its linkage between the two. The arrival of all of this exploration is that there is no difference between the world outside and the Self within. ('Self' with a capital 'S', not a small 's'. There is a huge study involved in even exploring this distinction. So that's it on this point.) Anyway, suffice to say that I am grateful that I went to the play and discovered RangShila. (This is an aside - the play had a scene where two priests hit the main character, Bejool. Because it was a play, the character was getting beaten within touching distance. It made so much of an impact that a bunch of us winced. It got me thinking about how desensitized screen portrayal of violence actually makes us. We can stomach a lot more - and that's why video games and movies, gruesome animes, etc. are so horrible.)

4. Papa got grapes. Those were really nice.

5. There was cool water for me to bathe in. At least the AC in one room was working.

What I learned today:

1. Was having terrible bodyache. But closed my eyes and imagined a jade roller moving up and down my spine vividly. Felt a lot better.