In his book-Flow-Mihaly Ciskszentmihalyi writes- On Reading
The skills involved in reading include not only literacy but also the ability to translate words into images, to empathize with fictional characters, to recognize historical and cultural contexts, to anticipate turns of the plot, to criticize and evaluate the author’s style, and so on. In this broader sense, any capacity to manipulate symbolic information is a ‘skill’ such as the skill of the mathematician to shape quantitative relationships in his head, or the skill of the musician in combining musical notes.
This summer-2017-we went to some places – to get a feel of the smaller towns of Ontario and feel the rhythm of life there. Huntsville – Ontario and the Canoe-Lake at Algonquin brought us closer to the legend of Tom Thomson, who around a hundred years ago, drowned at Algonquin.
READING AND FILING
Click on images to see larger version
Keeping a reading journal adds a new dimension to Reading. Other dimensions are added by trying to ask questions and keeping a file. So, after the children returned from the Trip to Algonquin, I showed them the file in which I have kept the newspaper cuttings on Dr Tay- (Taylor Statten II)…(Side note-in that file, there are also cuttings of 2016 August – 100 th Birth Anniversary of Dom Mintoff-Malta, which I got after a long night discussion at Qawra,Malta on 5th -6th August..as the Maltese remembered their first Prime Minister….keeping a file of such cuttings and notings adds great richness to life)
Paul Theroux, in his book –Dark Star Safari- recalled how he reacted to this remark-
“When I told Africans where I come from, and how slowly I had traveled, they said, “So you must be retired.”
“No,no, no” I said, over-reacting, because I despised the word and equated it with surrender. “I’m traveling,I’m working,” That wasn’t it, either, not business, not pleasure, not work, not retirement, but the process of life, how I chose to pass the time”
Page-209,Dark Star Safari.
AFTER THE CELEBRATIONS
On the occasion of Canada 150, there were many celebrations, fireworks, and retrospectives.
I attended three such occasions- Bradley Museum-50 years, the Missing chapters- talk and exhibition at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, and the Fireworks at Port Credit’s Memorial park.
(see links below)
But there are aspects of Canadian life, which do not go with the celebrations.
In following –Coming of Age- of Studs Terkel, in which he interviewed persons who were above 70 years, to get a feel of what society, life was in 20th century America, I went a bit deeper into the lives of two civic centre assistants now living in British Columbia, who had come to Canada in their 50s, and now almost 20 years down the line are of the same age, which would qualify them to be in the group to be interviewed by Studs Terkel.
SELFISH
As I went with this friend of mine, through his rounds of the library and the adjoining YMCA , where he has a group of persons who have taken membership in the lounge like special area, and he told of his life in East Africa, where he was born and grew up, his family having migrated from Western India, more than a century ago, a flavor of Canadian life , not much talked about came alive.
“If it is about sacrifices and support, my parents too did the same, so why cannot they live with us,” his daughter-in-law, of Gujarati origin, her parents staying in a rented apartment in UK, a brother who is in UK, and barely able to take care of himself, leave aside taking care of his parents, said, setting the tone and tempo of the dynamics in the married life of this septuagenarian’s son, when she first became a member of this family.
“I should not be telling you this, but she even called in the police, when there were conflicts in the initial days of their marriage. Now I keep to the library, gym, and try to keep out of the ways of my son, who also has changed , from the initial days of his marriage, his center of gravity has shifted more towards his wife and child, rather than his parents.”
He sometimes tended to say that his son was selfish, at other times, he remembered the unconditional support and resources he poured into making the lives of both his sons, how they had migrated, the education his sons had received in UK, India and then Canada.
All this shifting, education, settling , giving them the base had taken many years, and resources, and then our friend, had wound up his business, and shifted to Canada for good.
So you have come for good?
This is a remark I hear many Canadian immigrants ask each other, the question underlining the uncertainty and tentativeness of this move, which many professionals who migrate here in their 40s, 50s in search of a “better life” .
Wright Morris , pinpointed the dilemma of the sound byte of instant wisdom (On Whasapp)
“We’re in the world of communication more and more, though we’re in communication less and less.”
READING JOURNAL
I have kept a Reading Journal for many years. This is a habit which enriches life in many interesting ways.
As I intended to stay in Canada for an extended period , I decided to join a Reading Group, a Book club of the Mississauga Library system, in the Courtney Park Library .
As part of that exercise, in next blog, will share some notes from that Reading Journal based on the discussions .
Apart from the books discussed, the members also made interesting remarks about ways of life in Canada. Through this Reading group, we discussed some facets of Canadian Life, like the legend of John Hornby and other interesting discussions
Click on photographs below to see larger versions
EXPLORING ASPECTS OF CANADIAN LIFE-ON OCCASION OF CANADA 150…THE CABIN OF JOHN HORNBY. The Explorer John Hornby became known as the “hermit of the north” for his efforts to live off the land with limited supplies..The Legend of John Hornby came alive while discussing the novel- Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay Source By Hayne at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32926669
EXPLORING FACETS OF CANADIAN LIFE- ON CANADA 150- REMEMBERING DR TAYLOR STATTEN-II…..Suggested further reading: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/child-psychiatrist-dr-taylor-statten-ii-was-an-inspiration-to-young-campers/article31473457/
SOME BOOKS REMEMBERED-2016-2017…some books discussed in Mississauga Library system.
That in the winter , seeing a tree stripped of its leaves, and considering that within a little time the leaves would be renewed and after that the flowers and fruit appear, he received a high view of the Providence and Power of God, which has never since been effaced from his soul.-BROTHER LAWRENCE-1666
READING THINKING PLACES
As it is summer, I go to some of my thinking places and read there
RATTRAY MARSH-PORT CREDIT..A relatively more peaceful place to read
This introduced Port Credit area in different ways for me, as I sought to go into more peaceful areas, where normal picnickers will not venture much.
Anne Lamott said of writing- You can do it the way you used to clear the dinner dishes when you were thirteen, or you can do it as a Japanese person would perform a tea ceremony, with a level of concentration and care in which you can lose yourself, and so in which you can find yourself
The Family Camera-Missing Chapters-at Art Gallery of Mississauga
The above words of Anne Lamott, came to mind, as Art historian and senior curator of ROM- Deepali Dewan, brought to life the stories behind the photographs in the Missing Chapters section of Family Camera Network, which have been put up in the Art Gallery of Mississauga. Her own piece published in ROM Magazine showing her around a year old, with a pet dog, in Delhi in early seventies tells many things about class, structure of society in the India of that period
A sister remembering her lost brother
Maurice-when she sees this photograph, she sees a boy who was misunderstood by students and teachers alike. This is one of the few photographs she has of her brother who tragically passed away in an accident in 2001
The school photograph is something which all of us are familiar with, but this being the photograph of a brother who is no more with her, a sister’s memory of the teenage angst and the way the family migrated from UK to Jamaica to Canada put things into a different perspective.
A Foster parent having to leave their child
What would have become of that foster child who my parents left behind, due to immigration
District 5, Saigon, Vietnam-Mid seventies
After the fall of Saigon, in the mid seventies many Vietnamese destroyed photographs which could have incriminated them
Leaving Saigon and destroying photographs so that their family could not be incriminated, and now after many years, they return and reconstruct the memories of their families and lives. The sculptural installation of the many photographs with details about their lives written on the back side, added an interesting dimension
Vietnamese American Artist Dinh Q found these photographs taken between 1940s and 1980 on returning to Vietnam, and serve as a medium for the artist to understand his place in the complex cultural and political history of Vietnam
1970s-Vietnam-After fall of Saigon
How Memory is constructed
In her introduction -Dr. Deepali Dewan talked about her journey as an Art Historian, how she found a silence on one of the most common forms of photography- the Family Photographs. Dr Dewan has written about history of Photography on India. In 2013 she curated a major exhibition at ROM- Raja Deen Dayal: Artist-Photographer in 19th-century India .
One participant made an interesting comment about how memory is constructed. He knows some persons intimately, who have portrayed a very different picture of their lives on their Facebook-archive.
Prashant Bhatt's notes 