Chatting and conversation on a Sunday…a pleasant addition to brunch, hanging with friends and family and just being you.
Prarthana Banikya (photo provided) |
Good Sunday to everyone. Out of all the days of the week, Sundays
evoke a joyful ambiance where we tend to enrich our spirit and drift away from
the past week’s challenges and the incessant running around doing chores,
arranging play dates, shopping and other such life activities. Sundays we chill. We relax. We enrich our spirit. We chat and have good
conversations. With that said, enjoy
reading my chat with esteemed colleague, Prarthana Banikya.
bill berry, jr.:
Ms.
Banikya, finally we get the opportunity to chat even if it will be brief. I appreciate your willingness to share your
thoughts with me and the readership. So,
you pursued and graduated with a major in Sociology and attained a certificate
in poetry. We will get to those
achievements later. Now, you grew up in
the valleys of Assam. I know that
Brahmaputra and Barak are significant part of that area, but I have no idea of
the way of life in those valleys. What
was your childhood like and how did the day to day living regime impact you as
you grew up and before going off to college?
Prarthana
Banikya:
Thank
you very much for taking time out to talk to me. I feel very privileged to be
able to share my thoughts with you and aaduna’s readers!
I
grew up in Guwahati, a quiet town in Assam in which most neighborhoods are scattered
over hills and winding roads or in the plains, in the banks of the Brahmaputra.
One of the first things that will strike you about the town is the Brahmaputra
- it has a dominant presence. Growing up, I associated the river primarily with
ferry rides that we took to visit relatives living in the north banks of the
river. However, during monsoons, I remember weariness setting in because many
neighborhoods used to be impacted by floods and people would use boats to
commute.
Most
of the families I knew had independent livelihoods that did not depend on the
river. During the 1990s, Guwahati was a small town and most families knew one
another or knew of someone who did. I grew up in a joint family of nine people
and two dogs, cats, and a cow. Growing up, we had a set schedule like an hour’s
nap time in the afternoons, playtime for an hour until dusk, and study hour
until movie night. We had a movie night every weekday evening where the entire
family watched a movie together before dinner was served. Weekends, my uncle
often took my cousins and me to one of our favorite parks and sometimes, to a
nearby flyover from where we used to watch and listen to trains go by. I think
this kind of a specific day-to-day regime made us disciplined to do things at a
certain time and in a certain way and to appreciate the little things.
bb:
Movie
night! Sounds like an American
tradition. So, what are some of the
movies and how did those early childhood film impressions affect you as you
grew older? And can you share who the
nine people were…are we talking about a number of siblings or an extended
family? And where are you living now, and if not in the Assam, do you plan to
return to that earlier way of life? I know,
too many questions.
PB:
The
movies? They were mostly Bollywood movies. I must tell you that the 1990s were
a time when the most clichéd lot of Bollywood movies were made. But we didn’t
know that back then. Haha! And even if my family knew, they were such movie
buffs that they didn’t care. The movies were mostly musicals, and typically had
a similar storyline where boy meets girl and their families oppose their
relationship, but the couple holds their ground and they end up happily ever
after. Even though I don’t remember any specific movies, I remember the
soundtracks were catchy and once they got into your head, it was difficult not
to hum them.
The
nine people in my family consisted of my maternal grandparents, my uncle and
aunt and their two children (who were practically like my siblings), our
household help, Jonali, and my mother and I. My parents separated when I was
about three years old and as a child as well as a teenager, my idea of a family
was often what I’ve mentioned above.
Currently,
I live in Bangalore which is known as the IT (information technology) hub of
India and though I like the city and have called it home for the past ten
years, life here is very different from the one I had growing up. I’ve thought
a lot about going back to the older way of life, but I also know it wouldn’t be
an easy choice considering living in a city has made me accustomed to its ways.
It’s like I have my mind in two places! Besides, there are very few places
today that resemble the way of life I had growing up. Even Guwahati is nothing
like what it used to be. Where once stood our home and orchard, now stands an
apartment complex with a large parking lot.
bb:
It seems that your
background…family, residences as a child and then as an adult, and even family
night at the movies (in America, Hollywood and not Bollywood) bear an
interesting resemblance to many Americans. Have you found a profound or
significant American influence on Banglore or India in general? If not, is
there a prevailing foreign influence or is India and your city rooted in its
own cultural mores and thinking. Is
there an Indian national sensibility, and how is that defined?
PB:
I cannot say for certain if life in
the 1990s in India had a strong foreign influence. From where I came, 1990s was
a time when we were fairly disconnected from foreign influence. Once I moved to
a boarding school, that changed and American music and movies had a strong
impact on my growing up years. Our headmaster was an agreeable British man who
emphasized the significance of sports, music, and art. For us, the students,
this translated into long hours of Baseball games, dramatics class, and outdoor
literature lessons.
India in itself is so diverse and
the differences are so deep-rooted and layered that speaking of similarities
across regions and states is often very difficult. Although I do think that the
limited influence of gadgets and technology during the time brought about
several similarities in the way we led our lives across towns and cities of the
world.
bb:
In
terms of the distinctiveness of regions and states, I was wondering how
polarized the political landscape is throughout your country. In the US, we
have the concept of red and blue states that denotes the split between
Republicans and Democrats, and as you may know, the federal government is in
disarray and finding political consensus is extraordinary difficult. How does politics play out in India and are
people in your age range political in terms of activism or supporting one group
over another?
PB:
India
has a plethora of regional parties and a handful of national parties among
which the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress are two of the dominant parties.
The political landscape in the country is extremely polarized and segmented.
I’d read recently that the average age of a Member of the Parliament is
typically over 50. So it’s no surprise that political ruling is usually limited
to the Baby Boomers group. In the last few years, there have been several young
leaders in regional positions of power, however, these are limited in number
and in most of the cases, it’s primarily because of their political legacy. For
most 30-year-olds in the country, interest in politics is limited to vehement
conversations over dinner and that very rarely converts to political
activism.
bb:
And
eventually those folks who rather discuss politics will be of age were more
direct involvement in the intricacies of “politics” becomes a significant
aspect of daily life. Well, we have
chatted about a good range of issues, and I appreciate that you found the time
to chat with me. Thank you for sharing
your thoughts. As our conversation comes
to closure, I wondered what you would impress upon school aged children to give
them a relevant sense of the world, and what skills they will need to
successfully maneuver a suitable path to reach their goal (s?)
PB:
Absolutely. I think that day isn't very far off. I think it's essential for school going children to find where their passion lies and to build foundational skills early in their life. I think that being passionate about things we love (such as art, music drama, dance, or a sport) helps give purpose and motivation to life, especially during trying times. It helps connect with ourselves and establishes our sense of identity.
As for skills, I think
in the next decade(s), human skills are going to be of growing significance and
in a world that's filled with people who are self-absorbed and self-obsessed,
skills such as compassion, empathy, and sensitivity to those around us are what
will set people apart from the crowd. And that's what the world truly needs.
***
Prarthana Banikya is a poet and writer based in India. A graduate in Sociology with a certificate in poetry, Prarthana spent her formative years in the valleys of Assam from where she draws inspiration for most of her writing. She blogs at https://prarthanabanikya.blogspot.in.
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