when you meet him you are reminded of the characters so evocatively sketched by enid blyton in the books you so hungrily read in the early years when the written word first began to weave its magic on you. enid blyton whose name i could have sworn was gnid blyton, or perhaps even charles dickens about whose name i was less confused. authors who created memorable characters who throbbed with character and personality and flesh and blood and idiosyncrasy - way more attractive than the cardboard chocolate talk dark and handsome types of the mills and boons novels :-) and never boring - not a millimeter, not a second, not a bit!
a sun burnt white skin, crinkly eyes, that pixie like face ever ready to break out into a smile, that ready wit and the unfathomable gigabytes of interesting facts and wisdom that he so adroitly hides away beneath his gentle exterior. till you ask him a question! it begins gently, unassumingly, usually prefaced by a "you see". "you see..." and then the ocean opens up its depths and the most amazing insights and stories flow. the perspective always fresh and unexpected, the stories personal and original, the wit buoyant and easy, and beneath it all, a message deep as the ocean that released it. no matter what the question is - it is always rewarding to seek him out and say "arunji, what do you think of...". there is this brief pause while the universe accesses its hard drives, and then the flow begins - "you see..." :-)
his parents named him oscar and he says he came to ettimadai from sweden more than a decade ago "to spend a few months". just as i had gone to berkeley to finish my phd and be back in "a few months" (ok, i had predicted three years to be precise :-) how thoroughly wonderfully wrong we both were! its been such a long "few months" that oscar has long been forgotten and the world has gained instead the very lovable, and more indian than most of us, "e m arunji" christened e m for his passionate devotion to the message and possibilities of effective microorganisms ("e m"). he is the "e m ambassador" at large for the amrita institutions and shobhana and i always wait for the times when he is in the ettimadai campus. for then it is time to share meals with arunji and say "arunji, what do you think of...." and then sit back and wait for "you see..." :-) he is also visiting faculty at large for our courses in asb. invite him for any class and he brings that fresh ocean with him. students from my "innovation" class last year will know what i am talking about - arunji was just the most enthusiastic (and possibly well informed) student in class. "arunji, how do you know so much?!" "you see..." you probe a bit and you slowly begin to discover that arunji has seen more and done more in this lifetime than most do in several. he's climbed trees in cuba, practiced agriculture and the "revolution" in latin america and africa, studied in the US (cornell university, university) and worked in europe, developed many skills and practiced multiple professions, and the ocean still carries him, just that its the indian ocean now :-)
i am afraid i am not really doing arunji justice. maybe its tough for anyone to do him justice :-) you see (:-) it is tough to describe the "you see", you have to experience it! tough to describe it, and even tougher to capture it! the wit and the wisdom flow a mile a minute. for the past many months shobhana and have been like "wow! must immediately write this down!" but this is ghajini's memory i bear, with more sieves than sticky spots and by the time i reach home, too much has flown through the cracks, including the wisecracks :-) perhaps that is the way it is meant to be. a font of ever fresh knowledge, only to be experienced live and fresh!
still i was not known as "little bull" in my childhood for nothing! i don't give up easy and here i go again trying to share that delightful, unforgettable "arunji experience". these snippets are from half an hour we spent with him today, sharing some lovely mess food and "you see..."
"arunji, would you like to have some curd?" "no, you see i am going easy on milk products these days. as you get older it gets tougher to digest milk" "but why arunji, why?!" "you see, cow milk was designed for babies, baby cows to be precise." "you mean arunji cow milk was not designed for adult human consumption?" "you see that's like saying that human milk was designed for adult animal consumption" "oh!" "you see there are many cultures which lack the enzymes necessary to break down and digest the milk, and milk can almost be toxic for them..."
then we stepped out after lunch and noticed that large ditches that had been dug up in many places. large trenches with some cables running thru them. "arunji, what is this?" "oh you see i think its the information technology department laying out the optic network. the campus brain is meeting the campus drain and soon we are going to have brain drain on campus!"
a little while later, inspired by the trees on campus - "you see trees are wonderful to live on. there was even this european nobleman who set his home on the trees in his forest. in fact when napoleon was to pass through his territory on his way to hungary he made special arrangements (to climb the trees i presume) so that he could meet with this nobleman!" "oh!"
as we proceeded further, remarking on the fact that many have been enlightened under trees. "you see, the trees are verily water pumps, they have this upward energy, magnetic fields that naturally aid the upward flow of prana..."
these words don't really convey the ease and the beauty of the flow, but they do give a glimpse and they are the best i can recollect :-) once you start paying attention you realize that there is much wisdom that is being transmitted here, so effortlessly being delivered through that electric wit and humor. and without the slightest hint of artifice. shobhana and i have often remarked about arunji's sponteniety, how he comes closest to the definition of "nisarga" or natural that we have known. shobhana loves inviting arunji home to share food with for there is just no one who enjoys and unhesitantly appreciates her food as arunji ("uttamam!") "the best cafe in town," as he is fond of describing her kitchen. and i have never forgotten the abandon with which arunji suddenly got up and danced to "guantanamera" one night during dinner. such joy in that dance! made him lead my innovation thru a group dance to the same song :-)
once again i am not suggesting that arunji does not have his doubts, or does not go thru his ups and downs, or is always on top of the world. but he does dance to a different beat ("you see, i once got a speeding ticket in sweden for going too fast on my bicycle!") and its been an utter joy and privilege to have heard some of that music too :-) thank you arunji!
and the poem for this week? you see, that is where the whole story began. many moons ago, alka had emailed me this lovely lovely poem
My Ancestral Home
by Louis Jenkins
We came to a beautiful little farm. From photos
I'd seen I knew this was the place. The house
and barn were painted in the traditional Falu
red, trimmed with white. It was nearly mid-
summer, the trees and grass, lush green, when
we arrived the family was gathered at a table
on the lawn for coffee and fresh strawberries.
Introductions were made all around, Grandpa
Sven, Lars-Olaf and Marie, Eric and Gudren,
Cousin Inge and her two children… It made me
think of a Carl Larsson painting. But, of course,
it was all modern, the Swedes are very up-to-
date, Lars-Olaf was an engineer for Volvo, and
they all spoke perfect English, except for
Grandpa, and there was a great deal of laughter
over my attempts at Swedish. We stayed for a
long time laughing and talking, It was late in
the day, but the sun was still high. I felt a won-
derful kinship. It seemed to me that I had
known these people all my life, they even
looked like family back in the States. But as it
turned out, we had come to the wrong farm.
Lars-Olaf said, "I think I know your people, they
live about three miles from here. If you like I
could give them a call." I said that no, it wasn't
necessary, this was close enough.
"My Ancestral Home" by Louis Jenkins, from European Shoes. © Will O' the Wisp Books, 2008.
what a beautiful poem! "so, arunji, are all swedes like this? how did you like the poem" "well, you see, this poem was probably written in summer!" "in summer? why do you say so, arunji" "you see, it is true that we swedes are gentle people and in summer when the sun is shining and the flowers and fruits are in blossom, life can feel like this. but give a few months of the winter cold and those long dark days..." "oh!"
well the sun is smiling bright this five pm, the breeze blows cool, the birds are still chirping, and somewhere on this campus arunji is tending to matters e m. in moments like this it does seem that things are alright with this world, all is in fact quite well. i know that "this too shall pass" but may this be a long long spell! here's to a wonderful week :-)
much love,
d&s |
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