> From: [email protected] > Subject: assam Digest, Vol 73, Issue 27 > To: [email protected] > Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:00:06 +0530 > > Send assam mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of assam digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: [assam] Beee-Keeping ([email protected]) > 2. Re: [assam] Beee-Keeping (Chan Mahanta) > 3. Philosophy as an Art of Dying - from the NYT (Ram Sarangapani) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:45:28 -0400 (EDT) > From: [email protected] > To: "chan mahanta<cmahanta"@gmail.com > Cc: [email protected], [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Assam] [assam] Beee-Keeping > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed > > Dear Chandan > > Thank you for taking the trouble to write about your experience as a > bee-keeper. I am pleasantly surprised. My late father managed to become > the President of Sivasagar District Bee-Keepers association and I think > he managed to obtain some grant as well from the government. Quite a > few of the villagers started keeping bees but the tempo was lost after > the death of my father. After his retirement my brother Umesh > maintained a few hives but last time I went home, he had only one hive > in good health. > > A couple of years back here in UK bees were not thriving but the > environment seems to have improved since then. There is a sort of > co-operative of bee-keepers at our next village, Sidcup, in the same > borough > but I have not contacted them. I don't simply have the energy now. > > Best regards > > -bhuban > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:35:41 -0500 > From: Chan Mahanta <[email protected]> > To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the > world <[email protected]> > Cc: Friends <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Assam] [assam] Beee-Keeping > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Dear BK: > > I am sure your late father had influenced the beekeeping surge in our area in > the early sities. I won't be surprised if our father had lessons from yours. > > Bees in Europe and North America have been devastated in recent years by the > Varroa Mite. It is a tiny critter, a 'sikora' in Assamese, the size of a > pinhead. > They latch on to bee larvae and emerged adults, sucking their blood out. > Although they don't kill the bee, they get deformed and unable to fly and > forage. When the infestation becomes > widespread, the whole colony collapses. Fortunately there are plant based > chemicals available today, to treat bees against the Varroa mites, in > addition to what is called IPM ( Integrated Pest Management) strategies. In > fact I am treating my hives with Apiguard, a chemical manufactured in > Britain, right now. This can be done only after the honey extraction season > is over and no honey > would be collected for human use during treatment. > > In addition to mites the other major bee maladies are European Foul Brood, > American Foul Brood and Nosema spore infestations, all of which require > antibiotic treatment. > > I too noticed the lost enthusiasm for beekeeping in our village and the > surrounding areas. I suspect, it is a combination of the effort that goes > into it, lack of adequate knowledge, resultant low yields > and perhaps even low price fetched by the harvests. I understand a litre of > honey in Assam these days cost around Rs. 200. That is fairly good for the > villagers, but the buying power of Rs. 200 these days of essential goods not > locally produced, is virtually negligible. Thus the incentive is not there. > > Incidentally, India is the largest exporter of honey to the USA. There is > huge discontent among US beekeepers raging these days, because of Indian > merchants laundering banned Chinese honey > ( due to excessive use of prohibited antibiotics) and dumping in US markets > at low prices, thereby driving down price of American beekeepers' produce. > > s > > > > > > > On Aug 27, 2011, at 9:45 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > > Dear Chandan > > > > Thank you for taking the trouble to write about your experience as a > > bee-keeper. I am pleasantly surprised. My late father managed to become the > > President of Sivasagar District Bee-Keepers association and I think he > > managed to obtain some grant as well from the government. Quite a few of > > the villagers started keeping bees but the tempo was lost after the death > > of my father. After his retirement my brother Umesh maintained a few hives > > but last time I went home, he had only one hive in good health. > > > > A couple of years back here in UK bees were not thriving but the > > environment seems to have improved since then. There is a sort of > > co-operative of bee-keepers at our next village, Sidcup, in the same borough > > but I have not contacted them. I don't simply have the energy now. > > > > Best regards > > > > -bhuban > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > assam mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:02:41 -0500 > From: Ram Sarangapani <[email protected]> > To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the > world <[email protected]> > Subject: [Assam] Philosophy as an Art of Dying - from the NYT > Message-ID: > <CAJj=wt9m4l4czes6vqewd5dcwijv9uyh++jenrjozn0emr0...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > This past June, The New York Times had an interesting column on 'Philosophy > as an Art of Dying'. > > The column goes into the issue of paradoxical situations that arise where > philosophers (and ordinary folks) are sometimes faced with. > Philosophies, principles, politics and religion on one side, and the realism > of certain death (like execution, self-immolation, mob fury, etc) on the > other. How exactly do people approach the finality of death and holding on > to their beliefs > & principles in those final moments.. > > The author gives some great examples from Socrates, and Hypatia, to Sir > Thomas More, the Tudor Statesman. > > India too has her own sets of philosophers, activists and leaders who > are/were willing to lay down their lives for a cause. > > And then, I came upon this interesting piece of news from the Times of India > about Anna Hazare's fasting and his views of death (and philosophy). Here's > a small portion is quoted below: > > "Hours later, Hazare told his supporters: "I told him then that I would > decide by 10pm after listening to my conscience. My conscience asked me why > are you afraid of dying. You had earlier said that you are not afraid of > dying, then why are you scared of dying now." > > "I have decided not to take any medicine. I would ask Dr Trehan and others > not to mistake me in this regard. > > Please do not mistake me for (not taking the medicine)," he > said............" > > What do netters think? > > --Ram > > ______________________ > > Below is the NYT column > > http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/philosophy-as-an-art-of-dying/ > > > June 12, 2011, *5:35 pm* > Philosophy as an Art of Dying By COSTICA > BRADATAN<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/costica-bradatan/> > > The Stone <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-stone/> is a > forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless. > Tags: > > death <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/death/>, death > sentences<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/death-sentences/>, > Hypatia <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/hypatia/>, Jan > Pato?ka<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/jan-patocka/>, > martyrdom <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/martyrdom/>, > Philosophy<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/philosophy/>, > Plato <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/plato/>, > Socrates<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/socrates/>, > Thomas More <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/thomas-more/>, > Tunisia<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/tunisia/> > > It happens rarely, but when it does it causes a commotion of great > proportions; it attracts the attention of all, becomes a popular topic for > discussion and debate in marketplaces and taverns. It drives people to take > sides, quarrel and fight, which for things philosophical is quite > remarkable. It happened to Socrates, Hypatia, Thomas More, Giordano Bruno, > Jan Pato?ka, and a few others. Due to an irrevocable death sentence, > imminent mob execution or torture to death, these philosophers found > themselves in the most paradoxical of situations: lovers of logic and > rational argumentation, silenced by brute force; professional makers of > discourses, banned from using the word; masters of debate and contradiction, > able to argue no more. What was left of these philosophers then? Just their > silence, their sheer physical presence. The only means of expression left to > them, their own bodies ? and dying bodies at that. > > Tell me how you deal with your fear of annihilation, and I will tell you > about your philosophy. > > The situation has its irony. It is an old custom among philosophers of > various stripes and persuasions to display a certain contempt toward the > body. Traditionally, in Western philosophy at least, the body has been with > few exceptions seen as inferior to the mind, spirit or soul ? the realm of > ?the flesh,? the domain of the incomprehensible, of blind instincts and > unclean impulses. And so here are the condemned philosophers: speechless, > with only their dying bodies to express themselves. One may quip that the > body has finally got its chance to take its revenge on the philosophers. > > But how have they arrived there in the first place? It so happens that some > philosophers entertain and profess certain ideas that compel them to lead a > certain way of life. Sometimes, however, their way of life leads them to a > situation where they have to choose between remaining faithful to their > ideas or renouncing them altogether. The former translates into ?dying for > idea,? whereas the latter usually involves not only a denunciation of that > philosopher?s lifestyle, but also, implicitly, an invalidation of the > philosophical views that inspired that way of life. This seems to be the > toughest of choices. In simpler terms, it boils down to the following > dilemma: if you decide to remain faithful to your views, you will be no > more. Your own death will be your last opportunity to put your ideas into > practice. On the other hand, if you choose to ?betray? your ideas (and > perhaps yourself as well), you remain alive, but with no beliefs to live by. > > The situation of the philosopher facing such a choice is what is commonly > called a ?limit-situation.? Yet, this limit does not concern only the > philosopher involved; in an important sense, this is the limit of philosophy > itself, a threshold where philosophy encounters its other (whatever > philosophy *is not*) and, in the process, is put to the test. > > Long before he was faced with such a choice through the good offices of the > Czechoslovakian political police in 1977, Jan Pato?ka may have intuited this > limit when he said that ?philosophy reaches a point where it no longer > suffices to pose questions and answer them, both with extreme energy; where > the philosopher will progress no further unless he manages to make a > decision.?? > [1]<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/philosophy-as-an-art-of-dying/#ftn1>Whatever > that decision may mean in other contexts, the implication of > Pato?ka?s notion for this discussion is unambiguous. There is a point beyond > which philosophy, if it is not to lose face, must turn into something else: > *performance*. It has to pass a test in a foreign land, a territory that?s > not its own. For the ultimate testing of our philosophy takes place not in > the sphere of strictly rational procedures (writing, teaching, lecturing), > but elsewhere: in the fierce confrontation with death of the animal that we > are. The worthiness of one?s philosophy reveals itself, if anywhere, in the > live performance of one?s encounter with one?s own death; that?s how we find > out whether it is of some substance or it is all futility. Tell me how you > deal with your fear of annihilation, and I will tell you about your > philosophy. > > Furthermore, death is such a terrifying event, and the fear of it so > universal, that *to invite *it* *by way of faithfulness to one?s ideas is > something that fascinates and disturbs at the same time. Those who do so > take on an aura of uncanny election, of almost un-human distinction; all > stand in awe in before them. With it also comes a certain form of power. > This is why, for example, one?s self-immolation (meant as political protest) > can have devastating social and political effects, as we saw recently in > Tunisia, when 26-year-old Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire. This is > also why the death of those philosophers who choose to die for an idea comes > soon to be seen as an essential part of their work. In fact their deaths > often become far more important than their lives. Why is Socrates such an > important and influential figure? Mostly because of the manner and > circumstances of his death. He may have never written a book, but he crafted > one of the most famous endings of all time: his own. Any philosophical text > would pale in comparison. Nor have Hypatia?s writings survived; yet, the > exquisite, if passive performance of her death in the early fifth century > has not ceased to fascinate us. A modern scholar, Maria Dzielska, recounts > how, at the instigation of the patriarch Cyril (later sanctified by the > Church), some of the zealous Christians of Alexandria helped her to join the > Socratic tradition of dying: > > [A] mob executed the deed on a day in March 415, in the tenth consulship of > Honorius and the sixth consulship of Theodosius II, during Lent. Hypatia was > returning home? from her customary ride in the city. She was pulled out of > the chariot and dragged to the church Caesarion ? There they tore off her > clothes and killed her with ?broken pits of pottery?? Then they hauled her > body outside the city to a place called Kinaron, to burn it on a pyre of > sticks.[2]<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/philosophy-as-an-art-of-dying/#ftn2> > > One of the accounts of Giordano Bruno?s death is particularly eloquent. A > chronicle of the time (Avviso di Roma, 19 February, 1600) reads: ?On Friday > they burned alive in Campo di Fiore that Dominican brother of Nola, a > persistent heretic; his tongue was immobilized [con la lingua in giova] > because of the terrible things he was saying, unwilling to listen either to > his comforters or to anybody else.? > [3]<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/philosophy-as-an-art-of-dying/#ftn3> > > *Con la lingua in giova!* There is hardly a better illustration of what > ?silencing an opponent? can mean. I don?t really have anything against the > Holy Office, except maybe that sometimes they have a tendency to take things > a bit too literally. > Related More From The > Stone<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-stone/> > > Read previous contributions to this series. > > ?Dying for an idea? in this fashion is, admittedly, a rare occurrence. Thank > goodness, philosophers are not put to death on a regular basis. I hasten to > add, however: as rare as it may be, the situation is *not *hypothetical. > These things have happened, and will happen again. In a certain sense, the > possibility of one?s dying *in relation to* one?s thinking lies at the heart > of the Western definition of philosophy. When Plato?s Socrates states in the > Phaedo* *that philosophy is *melet? thanatou* ? that is to say, an intense > practice of death ? he may mean not just that the object of philosophy > should be to help us better cope with our mortality, but also that the one > who practices philosophy should understand the risks that come with the job. > After all, this definition of philosophy comes from someone condemned to > death for the ideas he expressed, only few hours away from his execution. > The lesson? Perhaps that to be a philosopher means more than just being > ready to ?suffer? death, to accept it passively at some indefinite point in > time; it may also require one to *provoke his own death*, to meet it somehow > mid-way. That?s mastering death. Philosophy has sometimes been understood as > ?an art of living,? and rightly so. But there are good reasons to believe > that philosophy can be an ?art of dying? as well. > ------------------------------ > > ?Dying for an idea? is the stuff of martyrdom ? ?philosophic martyrdom.? For > martyrdom to be possible, however, one?s death, spectacular as it may be, is > not enough. Dying is just half of the job; the other half is weaving a good > narrative of martyrdom and finding an audience for it. A philosopher?s death > would be in vain without the right narrator, as well as the guilty > conscience of a receptive audience. A sense of collective guilt can do > wonders for a narrative of martyrdom about to emerge. I have written > elsewhere <http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online.php?id=479> about the > importance of story-telling and collective memory for the construction of > political martyrdom. Much of the same goes for philosopher-martyrs. In a > certain sense, they cease to be people in flesh and blood and are recast > into literary characters of sorts; their stories, if they are to be > effective, have to follow certain rules, fit into a certain genre, respond > to certain needs. Certainly, there are the historians who always seek to > establish ?the facts.? Yet ? leaving aside that history writing, as Hayden > White showed long time ago, is itself a form of literature ? inconvenient > ?facts? rarely manage to challenge the narratives that dominate popular > consciousness. > > Enlightenment writers, and then the feminist scholarship of the 20th > century, have played a major role in the ?making? of Hypatia the > philosopher-martyr. Countless anti-clerical writers and public intellectuals > have done the same for Bruno, as has V?clav Havel for Pato?ka. Yet, the most > influential martyr-maker is by far Plato. Not only did he make Socrates into > the archetypal philosopher-martyr, he practically invented the genre. In > Plato?s rendering of Socrates? case, we have almost all the ingredients of > any good narrative of martyrdom: a protagonist who, because of his > commitment to a life of virtue and wisdom-seeking, antagonizes his > community; his readiness to die for his philosophy rather than accept the > dictates of a misguided crowd; a hostile political environment marked by > intolerance and narrow-mindedness; a situation of crisis escalating into a > chain of dramatic events; the climax in the form of a public trial and the > confrontation with the frenzied crowd; and finally the heroic, if unjust, > death of the hero, followed by his apotheosis. > > Beyond this, Plato?s writings have apparently shaped the actual behavior of > people facing a choice similar to Socrates?. When Thomas More, for example, > shortly before losing his head, said ?I die the King?s good servant, but > God?s first,? he was making an obvious reference to Socrates? words during > his trial, as rendered in this passage from the Apology: ?Gentlemen, I am > your very grateful and devoted servant, but I owe a greater obedience to God > than to you.? > > These philosophers ? they cannot even die without giving proper scholarly > references! Just as he was saying this More must have had a sudden glimpse > that what he was about to do was not as real as he would have liked it to > be; as though something ?unreal? ? the world of fiction, the books he had > read ? had now crept into his own act of dying. Certainly, dying itself is a > brutally real experience, maybe the most brutal of all. And, yet, I am > afraid More was right: dying for an idea never comes in pure form. It is > always part reality, part fiction (in an undisclosed proportion). Like most > things in life. > > *FOOTNOTES* > > *[1] Cited by Eda Kriseov?. ?V?clav Havel.? Trans. Caleb Crain (New York: St > Martin?s Press, 1993), p. 108.* > > *[2] Dzielska, Maria. ?Hypatia of Alexandria.? Trans. F. Lyra (Cambridge, > MA: Harvard University Press, 1995), p. 93.* > > *[3] Firpo, Luigi. ?Il Processo di Giordano Bruno? (Salermo Editrice: Roma, > 1998), p. 355-6* > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > End of assam Digest, Vol 73, Issue 27 > ************************************* _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
