FREIBURGER ZEITGEISTLITERATURE (Satis Shroff)

1. DIED FOR FREEDOM (Satis Shroff) Many Ukranian men from 18 to 60 Have given up their lives, For Mother Ukraine in the cold winter. When Spring comes, Flowers will spring in their graves. They died for freedom From a tyrannical power, Armed to the teeth. A man who invented lies To invade Ukraine. * * * 2. HUNGER FOR POWER (Satis Shroff) Deeds of courage and resistance, Words of farewell in railway stations, When mother and children were sent away, To safer destinations, While the men stayed, To defend the motherland. Tears rolling down the cheeks Of men, children, siblings. Invaded by a ruthless autocrat A narcissist with dreams of restoring The faded Glory of the Soviets. Will the Cold War be followed By an age of chaos Violence and conflict? A world that cannot distinguish Between destruction and self-destruction? No desire to legitimize the nefarious deeds. Violence develops a momentum of its own. The slaughter, the butchery, Driven by the greed and hunger for power. * * * ...

UKRAINE BLUES: ZARIST AMBITIONS (Satis Shroff) Putin has thrown the gauntlet: how dare anyone, eh? Moscow theatricals in the heart of power in Russia where the main protagonist is the new Zar. Vladimir Putin, plays the role of a military strategist who combines martial arts philosophy with his deep desire to bring the lost glory to his broken Soviet Union through the blatant use of force and a deadly, expanding arsenal of lethal weapons, conventional, as well as, nukes. Today the Ukraine is in danger of being swallowed, tomorrow the other former and smaller Soviet states, and the day after tomorrow perhaps a piece of the European cake? The Bear’s appetite is growing. What we are witnessing in the Ukraine is a scenario back from Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’ in which a Mungo (Russia) has to be cunning, outwit and outmanoeuvre the Cobras (Nato) and Sher Khan (USA). The Mungo made a fast move and left the Western Alliance (Nato) gasping for breath. The Cobras and Sher Khan had only ...

Life writing: What’s in a Name (Satis Shroff) Was doing life-writing with some people when my chance came to tell whether I was satisfied with the way people called my name, I had to admit there were only a few people who’d pronounced my name well. A young French woman did it with so much love and feeling that it still rings in my ears. It is a common name. If you google for my name then you’re bombarded with similar names, especially from Nepal and India. My name comes from Sanskrit and it’s a compound word. The first word is satya (Wahrheit) which means truth. And the second name comes from Ishwara, which means God. So you have before you the God of Truth. Funny, eh? I had a college friend from the ethnic group of Rais and his name was Satya. He was the most decent, nicest and honest person I’ve ever met. I couldn’t imagine him doing harm to even an insect. We had good contacts when I was living in a hostel. We used to go from Thamel to downtown Kathmandu on foot to drink Ma...

MY HEART BLEEDS FOR UKRAINE (Satis Shroff) European leaders look for solutions: Macron speaks with Putin in Moscow, Scholz discusses with Biden. Are Germany and America Marching in the same tact To hold back Russian aggression? The Russian bear snarls and provokes, Van der Leyen threatens with sanctions. Macron’s fervent cry of de-escalation, Goes unheard. The bear means business wants to talk with the eagle To avoid long discussions and delay. The tanks are moved back and forth, In the snowy landscape, Backed by photos from Russia. The Russias have already decided the next move. The tanks are waiting for a signal, The Russian separatists have a free hand, And open fire. If the Ukranian Army ignores This humiliating bombardment of civilians, A sacrifice has been made And a major war averted. Patriotism is in the wrong place here; It is a military and political strategy game of chess. When Ukranians reply with a barrage Of rockets from the Nato, The Russians will have found their excu...

DISCOVERY OF NEPALI (Satis Shroff) Nepali was spoken at home but it was in the English school that I learned Nepali literature when it was introduced as a subject for the Senior Cambridge. We read the short stories of Guru Prasad Mainali, a fisher story ‘ The Price of Fish,’ and other writers Nepalese writers. I learned Nepali as a mother-tongue, spoken in the simple way as in the hills of Nepal. It was the advent of the Gorkhapatra and Radio Nepal, when everyone seemed to be varying a battery-run transistor radio that more Sanskrit words came into usage. The Nepali school curriculum has Sanskrit as a compulsory subject so school children learn it early. It’s the elderly folk in the hills who speak the simple Nepali. Both Nepali and Newari (Nepal Bhasa) which are spoken in Kathmandu and the diaspora in Assam, Darjeeling area and where the Gurkhas and the Nepalese students and workers have settled down. There are other language such as Maithili spoken in the Terai, Thakali, Tibet...

Where, do you hail from? I hail from a geographically landlocked Himalayan country surrounded by blue Shiwaliks and Mahabharat mountains, where the people actually live. Having grown up in the foothills of the Himalayas, I was fascinated and awed by the change in colours of the majestic massifs in the different seasons and times of the day. I’ve witnessed magnificent Himalayan sunsets of the Kanchanzonga with peaks bearing names like: Janu,, Kabru, Dome, Talung, Kanchenzonga, Pandim and Jubonu. I was thrilled to the core by the beauty unfurling in front of me. The Kanchanzonga, my Hausberg, has always been a sacred mountain and on its feet are precious stones, salt, holy scriptures, healing plants and cereals. It is a thousand year belief and tradition that the Himalayas, the Abode of the Gods, should not be sullied by the feet of mortals. The Himalayas are revered and have taught us to be resilient and to bear pain without complaining; to go with the times, to search for solutions...