A link to my podcast of short experimental films

Short Experimental Films by V. Shruti Devi 

My quick, brief thoughts on Bangladesh right now

 INDIA, 5th Aug., 2024:

My quick note on BANGLADESH: In the light of the latest developments in Bangladesh: I think the Bangladeshi army, rather than trying to discuss policy specifics, ought to facilitate the putting in place of systemic best practices in a democracy. Of course, India's immediate priorities ought to be the safety of our diplomatic and other communities there, and our border areas and states. One hopes that the army does not go into policy specifics with anyone...let democracy be rung in and prevail (systems for free and fair elections; judicial systems; local-government institutions; freedom of the press; a proper balance of the wings of state) Let the new government then look at policy matters, esp. taking forward women's rights.

My forthcoming book, CANVASSING ART

To read extracts from my forthcoming book of poetry, CANVASSING ART, written to illustrate my amateur paintings, do visit my creative blog: junglessence.blogspot.com

RIP, RAJMATA KAMALA DEVI OF DASPALLA, my maternal grandmother (17th Jan., 1930 - 27th July, 2024)

RIP, RAJMATA KAMALA DEVI OF DASPALLA 27th July, 2024 Dear All, It is with great sadness that I inform you of the demise of my grandmother, my mother's mother, Rajmata Kamala Devi of Daspalla...Ammama to me. Ammama was 94 years old, was ailing for a few months, and was under excellent professional care at her residence in Visakhapatnam with her son and daughter-in-law (my mother's brother, Digvijay, and his wife, Prabha), after having been hospitalized for a while after a fall. One had the opportunity to visit her several times during her illness, both in the ICU, and at home in Vizag over the past few months. Ammama was an iron lady of her times, respected people of all religions and castes equally, loved dogs, the garden, and all the creatures that appeared in her urban green space: squirrels, chameleons, all manner of birds and cats....her pets had been Tibetan Absos (Suzie, Boozy, and for a short while, Bobby), and a labrador, Penny, a descendant of our 1980s' labrador from Delhi. She used to take great care of these canines, even personally removing their ticks with tweezers! In 1977, when my parents and brother left for Delhi after my father, Kishore Deo, got elected to parliament, I was looked after by my grandmother in Vizag for almost a year till it was time for me to catch the year's school term in New Delhi. Ammama took me under her wing, making sure I had a healthy diet, teaching me maths, and ensuring that I literally came first in class in kindergarten at St. Joseph's Convent, Vizag! She introduced me to the concept of saving coins in a piggy-bank (fruit-shaped ones from Tirupati those days), and a shelf was assigned for me to place a little Lord Jaggannath House on, before which I used to recite a secular hymn, Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram. She loved knitting sweaters for her grandchildren, even in the heat and humidity of Vizag, and sent us beautifully hand-written letters to Delhi. Her meticulousness with preserving old memorabilia, papers and letters also extended to her hobbies of collecting coins and stamps, and she occasionally handed out little trinkets to me, mini heirlooms that I treasure to this day. Ammama had been educated at home by governesses and tutors, and for all her Indian looks and ways, spoke immaculate English, akin to that of the British monarch. She loved reading, and the books she enjoyed were to do with the days of the Raaj, and novels such as Thorn Birds, and Gone With The Wind. Ammama's mother was from Orissa. Surya Bagh Palace in Vizag City, Andhra Pradesh, was Ammama's domain. Considering she didn't ever step into the kitchen, her mastery of the theories of cooking, and of recipes was astonishing, and this talent, she honed, by way of instructing and training her staff, many from Daspalla, Orissa, and some from Vizag and Kurupam. In the olden days, some of the junior staff used to be British, and later left for Australia, but always made it a point to visit her on their trips to Vizag to look up the graves of their loved ones. She was a stickler for hygiene, and often chose to peel and cut fresh fruit for everyone while we sat and leafed through glossy magazines in a red first-floor verandah. I used to be fascinated by the fact that she used to peel not just the outer jacket of an orange, but the fine skin of the inner segments as well. After her afternoon nap, you'd hear the jingle of her bangles from a bedroom window that over-looked the verandah. She'd step out onto the terrace every morning and face the eastern sun in prayer. Sometimes, we'd go to the Kali Mandir on the beach road, especially before elections, and sometimes, the crowded Ganesh temple on the roadside in the city. She didn't go out much at all, but there used to be a few shops that she used to go to, accompanied by her family members...and, of course, to the beach. She was always hungry for knowledge, and till her last days, enjoyed being briefed on world affairs; international royalty; sporting and cultural events, and scientific advancements, including in the world of AI and medicine. Over the past ten years, I've had the good fortune of having spent quality time chatting with Ammama in Vizag, even as her eyesight grew dim, her hearing and speech slightly impaired, and after she had to take to a wheelchair. Ammama spoke fluent Oriya, Telugu, and English. She was the younger daughter of the Raja of Chemudu, which was an estate he received from his father, the Rajah of Kurupam. (So Ammama was also my father's aunt, and originally from the Kurupam family). Her husband, my mother's father, Raja Purna Chandra Deo Bhanj of Daspalla (my Aja), was a Member of Parliament in the Third Lok Sabha during the time of Pt. Nehru, during which time Ammama spent a few years in New Delhi. She's also visited us when we were in New Delhi, and some of my friends have met her either in Delhi, or in Andhra. Calcutta was another place that Ammama enjoyed spending time at, and a city that she was familiar with, and I have distant memories of visiting their apartment on Chowringee, and looking out for treats from Flury's. In their later years, neither of my grandparents spent much time in their Raajbaati, the Daspalla Palace, Odisha, and the revival of the buildings there has been driven by my mother's brother. Ammama and Aja had attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second. In Vizag, they were always gracious hosts, and relatives and friends visiting Vizag inevitably called on them, as did the senior-most naval officers, for many years. Ammama, in her youth, took pride in her long tresses, and from her, I learnt of a few natural cosmetics and remedies. The Kunkadi Kaaya tree in her backyard was fascinating- a berry which you soaked to make shampoo. She used to use Kunkadi Kaaya sometimes in her childhood, she used to tell me, and for a pleasant fragrance, they'd lightly run the smoke of Saambraani resin through their hair. I wish I could locate the photograph of her standing on a table to display the length of her hair! During the war, (world war, for fear of Japanese bombings! - one had to explain, to old-timers in Vizag, in comparatively recent times, that the Japs are not enemies anymore), she and her sister had to leave Vizag for some time, and stay in Anakapalli where they had a home. Till today, annual offerings are formally sent to the Nukalamma temple in Anakapalli on her behalf. Ammama was a very logical, kind, practical person who knew no fear. A devout Hindu, she also had Christian images on her dressing table (something glowed green in the dark, maybe with radium, and it was useful because we both had Ogouchi's syndrome, a hereditary condition of the eyes that takes one a fraction of time longer to adjust to the darkness), and she maintained good relations with the nuns at St. Joseph's Vizag. Her tailor, Maula, was a Muslim, a gentle-looking man in parallel pyjamas who used to be summoned to make dresses for me annually out of the fabric that I had gathered in the past year. As years went by, especially after my grandfather's demise in 2006, she gradually began to hand over responsibilities to her daughter-in-law, Prabha, who also happens to be my father's cousin. Ammama sat on her wheelchair, among photographs, occasionally meeting people, celebrating birthdays, and taking pride in a written note of thanks that she'd received from Mother Theresa, which was also framed and placed on a table near her. A saintly person, fit for heaven, no less. Om Shanti...Juhar! My grandparents are survived by three children: my mother, Preeti (the elder daughter), followed by Digvijay, and Uttara. Digvijay's sons are Jaideep and Rajdeep, Uttara's son is Dhruv, and my own brother's name is Shishir, and he has two daughters, her great-grandchildren, Alaiya, and Aisha, who shares her birthday! Rani Kamala Devi of Daspalla was born on 17th January, 1930, and passed away today, 27th July, 2024. The cremation was held today at Visakhapatman. I write this note for social media today from Gururgam, so I only have a few photos to share, all the 'grand' ones are in Andhra. Perhaps I'll upload those once I reach Kurupam. I plan to go to Vizag in a few days, and hope to keep you all posted on further details.

V. Shruti Devi

One comment on aspects of the treatment of Land Records in India's Annual Budget

 Shruti Devi's note on the Annual Budget on Twitter-now-X 

Here's the text of my Twitter post linked above:

23rd July, 2024: This year, I'll allow the super-experts to comment on various aspects of today's Annual General Budget Speech of India's Finmin. Esp. since my (opposition INC) party's manifesto has been oft'-quoted, I hope my party-people will zoom in and comparatively analyze the proposed details. I will, however, deal with ONE OVERARCHING ASPECT OF THIS YEAR'S BUDGET: LAND RECORDS AND TRANSACTIONS: As for me, I am very, very wary of what the intentions of digitizing and regulating land records in the manner being proposed might lead to, and has to be put under a powerful microscope. I personally think that the need of the hour is to reduce black-money movements in land transactions. In my humble opinion: Every time a government fails to address and deal with the actual issues there, it is an opportunity lost to clean up the system and to even create untold quanta of National Wealth. White money transactions in land deals ought to be incentivised, not victimised. My legal formulation in this respect has always been to inspect the reasons for why a government rate is announced for land (if it's seen as a cap, why/why not, and if it's seen as a minimum support price, various contexts and ground situations...plus, how much of subjective opinion-making do you leave to a registering official at a desk, shouldn't the kind of guidelines I'm talking about be set for such field-level officer? I have at least four points/indicators for each of these discussion-points). I have also been of the view that with emerging technology, the concept of micro-management at the sub-policy level is possible, but with corruption-checking and functioning monitoring mechanisms in place. The present government's manifesto needs to wake up and tackle these ground realities. V. Shruti Devi, 23rd July, 2024 INC Advocate, Supreme Court of India

A link to my tweet with ref. to Andhra politics

 V. Shruti Devi's tweet in connection with Andhra Pradesh politics todayt

The Second Edition of my latest book is out! FREE downloads on 25th June, 2024, Pacific Time

 By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

A link to the Second Edition of SPIRIT OF THE CONSTITUTION: Fashions in Law, Politics, Environment, Winter/Spring 1998 by V. Shruti Devi

FREE downloads of the e-book will be available on the 25th of June, 2024, Pacific Time.

The second edition is also scheduled to be made available in hard-bound and paperback versions, do watch this space for the announcements!