When an exchange of opinions gets into egoistic territory and becomes almost a battle of wits, it's best to bow and walk away.
Some people are so prone to argument they exhaust you! Some efforts are so exhaustive, they don't really seem worth the result achieved! In a world that makes more demands on us than we have the strength or patience to meet, it would be reasonable to fight for only that which is worth the effort! Why waste time, breath and mental armoury if the end result is not really worth it!
Just as a long distance runner or swimmer is taught to phase out his strength in an intelligent manner so as to have enough breath left for the last lap, similarly, it makes sense to save our efforts for the bigger battles in life rather than to sweat out the small stuff. Many years ago I witnessed the modus operandi of small time thieves in a bus. A couple of women kept me busy pushing and jostling from both sides and as I vent my irritation on them, a third unzipped my bag and escaped with my wallet! The idea was to irritate and distract me with a minor matter while the bigger theft took place! A lesson if ever there was any, to train yourself to close your eyes to minor irritants and keep attuned to the bigger problems!
This is as true of something as mundane as prolonged bargaining with a vegetable vendor as efforts over a flagging relationship that is pointless anyway. What purpose does a long drawn out haranguing with the vegetable vendor serve if you end up exhausted and feeling petty, with just a paltry saving? What is the idea of making an all-out effort to save a relationship that never really gave you anything worthwhile in the first place! You cannot blame a woman who walks out of an abusive marriage that gave her no moments of happiness at all; on the other hand, if she has had more happy times than sad, she would actually want to make an effort to get those back! And any efforts she makes in that direction would be worthwhile. When an exchange of opinions gets into eg! oistic t erritory and becomes almost a battle of wits, it's best to bow and walk away rather than fight to the finish and risk a friendship going sour. In the long run, who cares who won that particular fight? So long as you are sure of what you believe in, there is only so much you can do to convince the rest of the world! And beyond that point, it shouldn't matter. Why waste time and energy?
There is much to be said for the phrase, "Quit while the going is good" And then again, "Don't sweat the small stuff" isn't a bad learning either. There are those around us who are most happy to take control of our lives and dictate our each small move. How does it matter if you stop arguing and fighting against the controlling tactics and just let them believe you are doing as they desire, while clearly following your own path? At some point the message is bound to strike home.
But how about when you are sure what you are fighting for really deserves all you can give it? That's the time to go for it hammer and tong. If you are clear about what you want, you have to get the focus right. And then, give it your all. The only way you can create a goal for yourself and then shift complete focus to it is when you make that a growling need within you, when that need eats away at your insides and doesn't let you rest in peace. It has to be a passion that fast becomes an obsession. You have to be conscious that if you do not get there you will lose your identity somewhere along the way that's the kind of obsession it has to be. You have to think of nothing but how to get your heart's desire and tell yourself there is no option. Once you close the door to other options, you have no choice but to go for the jugular!
Is it worth fighting for?
Can paradise really be won?
If the buzz is to be believed, India have already won the World Cup. Starting from former India greats to current stalwarts - to everybody else in between - the primary hosts are overwhelming favourites in the tournament.
But then, as it usually happens, buzzes tend to sweep everything in their wake, including the bare truth. A sane reality check will show that the team will actually be wrestling against many odds; if nothing, it can very easily drown in the rising euphoria.
The most positive news is that this team will be high on confidence; it had an amazingly satisfying tour in South Africa. True, it may not have won the Test series and may have lost the One-dayers; but till the end, it showed fight. More importantly, it did that without its key players.
Contrast that with its earlier forays: in 2007, the players were on the edge, slowly inching towards disintegration; in 2003, they went straight from a mauling in New Zealand, nicely wrapped in self doubt.
This time, they will know no fear; they believe that no hole is too deep, no crisis too great. More importantly, they have the most robust batting line-up that a modern team can only dream of. Sadly, however, it can well be a chimera; the facade hides too many cracks.
Its top three batters are all injured, or at least, desperately trying to recoup enough to be match-fit. Gambhir confirmed that he is not yet in shape to swing the bat, let alone have a full tilt at it; Tendulkar and Sehwag too are still to reveal their own progress.
That is just one part of the story though: the middle-order too is not exactly flying. Yuvraj is struggling for form while Raina will need more than time to get over the short-ball blues. Only Kohli is in good stead while Yusuf, despite his stunning powerplay, knows that he is not an automatic choice all the time.
The bowling too is equally skewed: the selectors, in a moment of brilliance, packed the side with two offies (three if you count Yusuf;! four if you add Sehwag and five along with Raina) and a not-so-sure leggie. Harbhajan will probably have to bear the cross on his own.
The pace attack too is ginger: Zaheer, no doubt, is the key; as long as he is fit and in rhythm, India can hope to start off well. Nehra too has been inspiring at times but, both, he and Munaf are touch and go customers: you never know when they will have an off day. The fourth arm of the quartet, Praveen, too is recovering from injury.
The good news, however, is that there are still about 20 days to go, before the Men in Blue enter the field; there is enough time to mend all wear-and-tear; and as we know well, most of these players, need just one match or one needle, to get charged up.
The key, therefore, is the run-up to the campaign; the camp is going to be crucial for everything to fall into place. But is the Board even thinking on those lines? Has the team management worked out its plans, its strategies? Or is everybody busy counting the ad-shoots and the accompanying green bucks?
Worse, is the Board busy playing politics in the garden of Eden? As of now, it looks like paradise will not be won as easily as all the former greats and current stalwarts would have us believe.
Indian Property Buyers are Mature, not the Developer Community
In the last two weeks I have answered almost 25-30 user queries on where to buy property. Bulk were looking for affordable property. The Rs 15-25 lakh has been the most popular range. Cities like Mumbai would scorn these aspirations and continue to build for the already haves in the Rs 1 crore and above range. But there is good news too. The peripheries and sometimes the suburbs of big cities have started boasting a lot of affordable options in the Rs 15-35 lakh range. At one time these options were in far-flung areas. How many of us, for instance bought in Dharuheda or Kotputli, thinking that even a few years down the line these would be good housing destinations? Or in Karjat, for that matter. Today however, these options are actually coming up in areas where people will be able to live and work. The Noida Extension area in Delhi NCR is a good example. This is just 7-8 km from the existing metro network, which is true of most areas in the city. It is in close proximity to the Noida expressway, which means that there will be a dwelt in place to pass through to reach this area and not vast tracts of emptiness. Also is in close proximity to commercial hubs which are well-serviced with ready-made rental populace. The same is true of areas such as Ghaziabad and Raj Nagar Extension. Proximity to commercial hubs makes these places seem viable as an investment destination for the small buyers. So what sets the new breed of investors apart? They are realistic. They know their budget is limited and are willing to realistically look at the pros and cons of the property. They are willing to investigate and check out the rationale behind buying that particular property. I would say punting in property markets has actually started giving way to realistic investments. The most important point is they are actually looking at property as a serious investment and not trading in the short term for quick returns. They are looking at a combination of rental returns to help pay off the EMIs and capital value apprecia! tion in the medium to long term to evolve exit strategies. All this holds true for the upper ranges of affordable property. The premium property market has punters as well as serious end users. This cocktail makes this segment of the market heady and unpredictable. Little wonder that a large segment of the established property developers are focussing on the luxury segemnt primarily. I think the developer community needs to mature a lot more to handle the growing expectations of an increasingly mature buyer who seeks logic, investment advice and exit strategies in the property market, as he would do in any other investment asset. Not sure what it takes the develoepr community to grow up similarly!
Remembering Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
He had also led a nationwide social reform movement to support women's rights, build religious and ethnic harmony, abolishing untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Gandhis ideology has inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
"He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven from yarn that he had spun by hand himself. He ate simple vegetarian food, experimented for a time with a diet comprising of fruits, and undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protest," reports Wikipedia.
He was assassinated by a fanatic on January 30, 1948 and his memorial is at Rajghat in New Delhi.
Here's a sentence acrostic 'MK GANDHI' describing him.
M: Man who was fragile in built but strong in will,
K: Knowledge and wisdom,
G: Got India freedom through mass
A: Agitation that was
N: Non-violent and based upon the
D: Doctrine of civil disobedience by making
H: Haughty and mighty British to quit
I: India.
Toddlers gear up for rat race at the age of two
Now-a-days, even before children are born, they are registered in plush nursery schools and parents are enlightened by teachers on how important it is for their wards to be prepared. Nursery no more means an institution down the road, for a few hours every day where all that children learn is to mingle with their peers and enjoy growing up with knowledge being imparted to them in a method which is all fun and no pressure.
Presently, it is all about syllabus, curriculum and coaching and above all the acumen to cope with the pace which doesn't have an avenue for a few songs, a prolonged lunch or a quiet nap. I wish she too could savour the true nature of a nursery school which I was lucky enough to experience, instead of learning the harsh realities of a perpetual rat-race at an age so tender.
Importance of Android and why I dont like iPad
Let me start with a question. What is the difference between a television and a computer?
Its no brainer, you will say. TV is primarily an entertainment device and computer is, well, with its keyboard and mouse, something that helps you work, write mails, surf web and play games. A computer also lets you watch films and listen to music.
Pretty neat, eh? Not really. In the last few years, TVs have changed a lot and, if you have money, nowadays, you can find a TV on which you can stream YouTube videos, watch movies, listen to music, and in some cases, even access email, Facebook, etc. Does that make TV a computer?
The difference between television and a computer is more than just skin-deep. As I see it, TV is a gadget, a product that makes our lives easier, more enjoyable. A computer, on the other hand, is a tool. Just like wheel and printing press. It enables us and frees us and allows us to do wonderful things that go largely beyond our physical limitations.
Some may say its all the same. I beg to differ.
Computers and the web could have very well been just a gadget and services. Fortunately, for once the script did not conform to norms. In the 80s, a number of corporations were interested in computers. Old-world behemoths like IBM, DEC, Sharp and Xerox all had an eye on the market. But all of them had wrong ideas about it. They wanted to sell a gadget and not a tool. I dont know how it happened or why but early adopters refused to buy gadgets. Instead, they started building their own devices.
The do-it-yourself nature of early computers led to a model that computer industry has followed since 1980s. Companies like Intel made hardware, Microsoft and others wrote software but users always took the final call on how their computer was going to look like or perform. This model drove prices down, enabling masses to take advantage of computers. WWW happened for free and there too users reigned supreme. The result: we got a free w! eb, free email, free encryption technology, free image editors, free video editors, free maps, virtual public spaces where you can rail to your hearts content against whatever injustice you perceive, and the freedom to tweak. More importantly, we got an environment that empowered individuals. With a computer and access to web, you could conquer the world.
If the old guard had succeeded, virtual world would have been entirely different. It would have mirrored the real world the world of man-made boundaries where money is the key to open all doors. If technology had progressed differently in 80s, we would have only got smart TVs and not computers.
But that did not happen. We got computers and we got the web.
My next question for how long?
Almost three decades after modern computers went mainstream, once again, there is a great shift in technology. And that shift is called mobile computing. While PC model crumbles, the time is fraught with dangers for users. Sensing its chances, the old guard is striking back. And with it, bringing back the idea of we control what you buy and we dictate how much you pay. In the future, there may not be any free lunches. Not even virtual ones.
iPhone or iPad may be great devices and Steve Jobs a fantastic salesman, but Apples ecosystem is not one that gives me much hope for the future of technology. Jobs may have made Apple a trillion-dollar company but he couldnt have made the WWW. That could have been done only by Tim Berners Lee because it required giving away your best creation for free. iPad is not an enabling device. Its a gadget. Apps dont enable a person the way the web did; they simply sell services.
This is where Android comes in. Due to miniaturization, we have already lost the ability to pick and choose hardware. But because Android is a free to use operating software! and bec ause Google doesnt make any explicit hardware demands, any compatible device can run Android. This gives us some choice. Its not much, but in a world where there may be no choice you can have it in any colour as long as its black even that is welcome.
More than hardware, its the software where Androids true significance lies. The good old days of whacky and crazy technology are over. Computer and web users will probably never have the kind of power they wielded until two years ago but with Android they can continue to keep some degree of freedom. It is tweakable. Its ecosystem allows people to write all kind of apps good, bad or crazy. Even if Google doesnt approve, you can always break free and install apps directly. It allows hackers once the word used to be respectable to tinker with it. It lets people configure their devices.
On many occasions, readers here have called me biased towards Android. But that is not true. I am not biased towards any Android handset. I dont favour a Samsung over an HTC or hate Nokia. I even realize that when it comes to gadgets, Apple makes fantastic products. But yes, I am biased towards the model propagated by Android. If tomorrow Apple drops its closed system shenanigans, I will be in the first row cheering for it. But that is not going to happen. Instead as more and more smartphones and tablets come, Android ones included, more companies are taking a cue from successful Apple model and enforcing their own terms and conditions.
Yet, because Android is open-source, at least in spirit, it gives enough leeway to users, if they are not too dumb, to wrest back the control. For now, most of the Android-powered phones or tablets cant hold a candle to the likes of iPhone and iPad. But its not only about usability or which one is the prettiest looking device. Its about the future of technology and whether we want tools that enable us to create WikiLeaks or gadgets that can make coffee and do dishes.
If Android can survive ! the tech tumult of next couple of years, it will leave the world a better place. At least for those who love technology and not just use it. Thats the real importance of Android.
PS: I am sure now that you will also understand why Apple could not make any headway until late 90s even though Jobs was at the helm for a fair number of years in 80s.
Disclaimer: It concerns all reviews you may see here. What I think of Android or iPhone or Nokia is my personal view. For reviews, I see the usability and importance of a device from users perspective. Each device is reviewed on its merits and not on the basis of some political views. So, dont be surprised to see iPad 2 getting five stars if it merits that. But my point is, I am not buying an iPad until I can help it.
A revolution against 'Made in US' dictators
A revolution is happening in Egypt. Theres no doubt about it. And Hosni Mubaraks tyrannical regime, created, sustained and maintained by the United States with its money and military might, is quivering with fear. But the dictator, who is hiding in his Made in US bunker even as his party office goes up in flames, doesnt seem to be ready to go before firing the last few shots. His police are firing tear gas shells at the people on the streets. His army is loading their guns and getting ready to go out on the roads and crush the people who have risen against the regime known for its brutal repression. The polices teargas shells are Made in America. The army rifles are Made in America. This dictatorship is Made in America.
Speaking to BBC tonight, an Egyptian journalist pointed at the teargas canisters, saying the tyrant is trying to crush the uprising with American weapons. This is the real story of the revolution thats sweeping the Arab world from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, he said. Make no mistake, this is not a rebellion of a bunch of youngsters who met on the Facebook and decided to go out and create some ruckus. This is no gathering of unhappy citizens who were told by the WikiLeaks how corrupt and compromised their government was. This is no movement of Islamist zealots who want to grap power by riding a wave of popular discontent. This is a revolution against the axis of a dictator (Mubarak), his mentor (US) and the mentors rogue agent (Israel). To see it as something else is to miss the real message of this revolution, though it has many hidden messages.
In June 2008, when thousands of protesters came out on the streets of Tehran to challenge the result of the Iranian presidential election, the Americans, led by Barack Obama, started preaching to the Iranians in particular and to the whole in world in general the benefits of democracy. In 2009, during the Afghanistan presidential election, as soon as the voting closed, Obama issued a statement, congratulating the people of Afghanis! tan on t he success of democracy. And in October 2010, when Mubarak rigged the Egyptian election in which his party got 97% seats, Obama and his people kept quiet. And when it became clear that the election was rigged, the only thing Hillary Clinton could say was that we are dismayed.
The Americans failed to read Iran. Protests by the supporters of the opposition candidate, who refused to throw in the towel, were seen by Washington as a sign of an uprising against the Iranian government. They failed to see the truth in Afghanistan as well where Hamid Karzail-led regime rigged the election. And the Americans have failed to see the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Just two days back, as hundreds of Egyptians came out on the streets, shouting slogans against Mubarak, Hillary Clinton issued a statement saying that the Egyptian government is stable. What was she thinking?
And today, when it became clear that Mubarak has been completely rejected by the people of Egypt, Clinton changed her tune again and called for peace. At Davos, former British prime minister Tony Blair, who masquerades as the special envoy on Middle East, told the BBC that we should manage this process of change in Egypt. The western leaders havent got it yet. They are still playing their dirty games. Rabid think tanks in America have already started raising the bogey of Islamist fundamentalists taking over Egypt and Blair, who should be in jail for war crimes, is talking about managing Egypt.
The Middle East revolutions are not about just bread and butter issues. Yes, people have been hungry and jobless but they have also been tired of meddling in their countrys affairs by western powers, particularly the US and UK. This uprising is not just against local dictators, its also a rebellion against Americas imperial games and Israels thuggish policies in the region. But the West hasnt given up yet. They are talking about peaceful change in Egypt. What does that mean? Is there someone in particular they want in Cairos presidential p! alace? I s Mohammad el-Baradei their new puppet for Egypt. After playing Americas game for years as the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, El-Baradei is suddenly trying to become the voice of Egypt. Wasting no time as the crisis began, he landed in Cairo trying to be in the middle of his people.
If El-Baradei is part of a western ploy to hijack the revolution, its a big mistake because more than anything this uprising is about dignity, something the Middle Eastern people have been robbed of by their dictators and their American masters. This is not about only jobs, internet, free speech, food and education. This is also an uprising against dynastic rule. This is also a rebellion against the looting of national resources by a few families. This is also a rejection of a global financial system which is creating inequal societies. As a deep unrest grips the Middle East and people cry for freedom, democracy and dignity, the worlds biggest democracy is keeping quiet. Why? What are we thinking?
Egypt: A revolution for dignity
A revolution is happening in Egypt. Theres no doubt about it. And Hosni Mubaraks tyrannical regime, created, sustained and maintained by the United States with its money and military might, is quivering with fear. But the dictator, who is hiding in his Made in US bunker even as his party office goes up in flames, doesnt seem to be ready to go before firing the last few shots. His police are firing tear gas shells at the people on the streets. His army is loading their guns and getting ready to go out on the roads and crush the people who have risen against the regime known for its brutal repression. The polices teargas shells are Made in America. The army rifles are Made in America. This dictatorship is Made in America.
Speaking to BBC tonight, an Egyptian journalist pointed at the teargas canisters, saying the tyrant is trying to crush the uprising with American weapons. This is the real story of the revolution thats sweeping the Arab world from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, he said. Make no mistake, this is not a rebellion of a bunch of youngsters who met on the Facebook and decided to go out and create some ruckus. This is no gathering of unhappy citizens who were told by the WikiLeaks how corrupt and compromised their government was. This is no movement of Islamist zealots who want to grap power by riding a wave of popular discontent. This is a revolution against the axis of a dictator (Mubarak), his mentor (US) and the mentors rogue agent (Israel). To see it as something else is to miss the real message of this revolution, though it has many hidden messages.
In June 2008, when thousands of protesters came out on the streets of Tehran to challenge the result of the Iranian presidential election, the Americans, led by Barack Obama, started preaching to the Iranians in particular and to the whole in world in general the benefits of democracy. In 2009, during the Afghanistan presidential election, as soon as the voting closed, Obama issued a statement, congratulating the people of Afghanis! tan on t he success of democracy. And in October 2010, when Mubarak rigged the Egyptian election in which his party got 97% seats, Obama and his people kept quiet. And when it became clear that the election was rigged, the only thing Hillary Clinton could say was that we are dismayed.
The Americans failed to read Iran. Protests by the supporters of the opposition candidate, who refused to throw in the towel, were seen by Washington as a sign of an uprising against the Iranian government. They failed to see the truth in Afghanistan as well where Hamid Karzail-led regime rigged the election. And the Americans have failed to see the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Just two days back, as hundreds of Egyptians came out on the streets, shouting slogans against Mubarak, Hillary Clinton issued a statement saying that the Egyptian government is stable. What was she thinking?
And today, when it became clear that Mubarak has been completely rejected by the people of Egypt, Clinton changed her tune again and called for peace. At Davos, former British prime minister Tony Blair, who masquerades as the special envoy on Middle East, told the BBC that we should manage this process of change in Egypt. The western leaders havent got it yet. They are still playing their dirty games. Rabid think tanks in America have already started raising the bogey of Islamist fundamentalists taking over Egypt and Blair, who should be in jail for war crimes, is talking about managing Egypt.
The Middle East revolutions are not about just bread and butter issues. Yes, people have been hungry and jobless but they have also been tired of meddling in their countrys affairs by western powers, particularly the US and UK. This uprising is not just against local dictators, its also a rebellion against Americas imperial games and Israels thuggish policies in the region. But the West hasnt given up yet. They are talking about peaceful change in Egypt. What does that mean? Is there someone in particular they want in Cairos presidential p! alace? I s Mohammad el-Baradei their new puppet for Egypt. After playing Americas game for years as the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, El-Baradei is suddenly trying to become the voice of Egypt. Wasting no time as the crisis began, he landed in Cairo trying to be in the middle of his people.
If El-Baradei is part of a western ploy to hijack the revolution, its a big mistake because more than anything this uprising is about dignity, something the Middle Eastern people have been robbed of by their dictators and their American masters. This is not about only jobs, internet, free speech, food and education. This is also an uprising against dynastic rule. This is also a rebellion against the looting of national resources by a few families. This is also a rejection of a global financial system which is creating inequal societies. As a deep unrest grips the Middle East and people cry for freedom, democracy and dignity, the worlds biggest democracy is keeping quiet. Why? What are we thinking?
Orange and Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins ... Fun bites!!
It's that time of the year again when junior gets back to soccer league. For the kids, it's about playing a series of friendly games pitted against each other, and for the soccer Mums it's about catching up for the one hour that the game goes on for. It's also a time where we screech our lungs out cheering for the young players {now in the 11-12 age group}, while sipping a hot cup of tea or coffee, and sneaking away a few goodies which the frozen parents get for after game snacks!
These little bites make an ideal snack for after the game munching. Winning the game has everone falling into the snack boxes in a euphoric state. Losing the game is a lot tougher for the lads to accept, yet the temptation of colourful treats can't keep them from grabbing a bite ... with a little cajoling of course. The sight of good food and they soon forget the blues. Food is a great healer! It's true; you have to see it to believe it!!
Orange and Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
Makes about 50-60 mini muffins, or about 18 regular sized muffins
2 cups plain flour {maida}
2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup {100gms} unslated butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange {I use a kinnow}
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190deg C.
Grease well or line 2 mini-muffin trays.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Keep aside.
Cream the butter and sugar well on high speed until light and fluffy.
Beat in vanilla essence, orange zest and eggs.
Now beat in flour and milk alternatively till well incorporated.!
Put about a heaped tsp in each mini muffin casing, about full, as it will rise.
You can now add sprinkles on top if you don't want to do a chocolate ganache topping. Else you can just eat them plain too.
Bake at 190deg C for 10-15 mins till golden brown.
Remove from trays immediately and cool on racks.
If desired, ice them with a rosette of buttercream or ganache. Makes about 50-60 mini-muffins, which are ideal for a birthday party.
Eden: Broken and scarred
From robust to rubble; it took mere moments to reduce Eden Garden's image to rubbish. The India vs England match, the only game of the forthcoming World Cup worth watching at this iconic cricket address, was being shipped out, courtesy an order from the ICC. The venue, undergoing massive changes, won't be ready for the February 27 game, an ICC inspection team said in its report. All the goodwill, loads of history and millions of inedible memories suddenly look so vague; so distant.
It is not just a loss of face, but the feeling of a great loss. Is Eden Gardens only good enough for a Zimbabwe-Kenya or a South Africa-Ireland game? Surely not! Kolkata cricket is passing through one of its worst phase. A few days ago, Sourav Ganguly was made to feel unwanted. Now, it is Eden Gardens' turn.
A ray of hope was, of course, thrown into the tale with the BCCI batting for Cricket Association of Bengal. A strongly-worded letter to the ICC might force the world body to give the Eden some more time. But then, even if the CAB manages to put things in place, it will just be a face-saver and would not be able to make up for the damage done. A mega-venue has been reduced to a commoner and before we start pointing fingers at the ICC for acting in haste, shouldn't we just take a look at the rubble-heap that was once the world's most magnificent cricket stadium?
The CAB started in earnest to make the corrections suggested by the ICC for hosting World Cup matches, but due to various reasons, it failed to meet the deadline. Blame it on Bengal's cholche-cholbe attitude or on the many stoppages in the construction work owing to the South Africa-India Test match and the IPL, both held early last year, the fact remains that the CAB got its timings all wrong. It is indeed surprising that an administrator of Jagmohan Dalmiya's experience could not get things in place well before the extended deadline, knowing from the very beginning that there would be hurdles beyond his control.
There are pett! y politi cs within the larger political games in cricket administration and Dalmiya, currently the CAB president, is so well aware of them. Sometimes he has been the initiator of such games and at other times, he has been at the receiving. He knew that there would be obstacles in getting the stadium ready on time, if politics are to be blamed for the current debacle.
In this scenario, why would he, or other CAB officials, take the risk of delaying work by agreeing to host a Test match? Incidentally, Eden Gardens was asked to host the match after a few other centres refused, pleading it would hamper the work for the World Cup.
A look at the Eden Gardens would tell you that the ICC inspection team cannot really be blamed for fearing that work would not be completed on time. Cricket's showpiece cannot happen in a half-complete stadium, with rubbish heap conspicuous in the background on TV screens. If Dalmiya believed the construction work would be completed in time, there should have been a sense of urgency much earlier. Clearly, CAB missed a trick somewhere and even if the ICC reverses its decision, Eden's iconic status has perhaps been scarred for ever.
New terms add zing to English language
The word brain-storming, which is quite often used to appreciate the lecture of some one, is akin to offending some of the listeners with brain disorders, is replaced by thought showering which is much more impressive. The word failure is highly negative and hence, it is replaced by deferred success because it doesnt embarrass those who dont succeed. The word terrorist is replaced by misguided criminals. For riff-raff or scum, the word that sounds better is la racaille. The word woman is replaced by womyn to indicate that it is not a male-dominated society. The word Common Era (CE) replaces the word Year of the Lord (AD) so as to more neutral in dates.
There are some words and phrases that either de-Christianise the Christian Holidays or neuter their genders. For example, God Rest Ye Merry Persons replaces God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Seasoms Greetings replaces Merry Christmas. Out of the mainstream describes the ideology of political opponents. Last but not the least the security staff (especially in the context of Australian culture) is banned using the word mate to address MPs.
Will we have rainbows day after day?
A decade seems a long time. Just depends how you measure it.
Over a decade, friendships mature like fine wine. I know a bunch of guys who passed out of school in the late 1940s and are in the seventh decade of acquaintance. That many from that batch have passed away and theseare the few remaining memories of an entire generation rests lightly on them. Theyre living testimony to the old prescription that laughter is the best medicine. For them, the decades have slipped by but their enthusiasmfor yet another one is admirable.
Over a decade, some husbands and wives become best friends, skirt the seven-year itch successfully and come to the other side knowing each other so well that not only can they complete each others sentences but also seamlessly finish entire paragraphs by just exchanging key words and phrases.
Over a decade, some friends fade away into the background. They move on --- to other cities, other countries, other relationships -- and they feel the desperate need to shed old baggage to make for new. Sometimes, theygo to great lengths to erase the past, little knowing that the past has a way of catching up with the future in strange ways. Little do we know if wehavent made peace with what has gone before, we could be at war with what is to come.
Over a decade, children are born and are delicately poised to take that next giant leap into a whole life. It seems just the other day some of us visited a colleague who become a mother and saw her bundle of pride and joy. Today, a decade later, the little one is ten years old and in the twinkling of an eye, the next ten years will slide by and it wont be long beforestrapping young men will be beating a path to her door. But, now its time to savour the moment.
Over a decade, an acquaintance can become a good friend, someone, with whom, when you meet after a long time, you can continue theconversation as though you had just stepped out to take a brief call.Someone I know has changed the focus of her w! ork and moved from onecity to another, but when we renew email contact every Christmas, its as though the eleven months never happened.
Over a decade, what will be, will be. Que Sera Sera says it better than I ever could. Heres one variation sung by Doris Day in the James Stewart movie The Man Who Knew Too Much directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
When I was just a little girl,
I asked my mother, "What will I be?
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?"
Here's what she said to me:
"Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be."
When I was just a child in school,
I asked my teacher, "What will I try?
Should I paint pictures"
Should I sing songs?"
This was her wise reply:
"Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be."
When I grew up and fell in love.
I asked my sweetheart, "What lies ahead?
Will we have rainbows
Day after day?"
Here's what my sweetheart said:
"Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be."
Now I have Children of my own.
They ask their mother, "What will I be?"
Will I be handsome?
Will I be rich?"
I tell them tenderly:
"Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be.
Que Sera, Sera!"
Spirituality on sale in Varanasi
The ancient, holy city of Banaras (Now Varanasi) has lost its pious atmosphere, you can no more breathe in the purest form of spirituality which the City has been boasting of since centuries in the name of God! The Ghats have nearly vanished, the River Ganga flows with human disgrace. You wouldnt feel like carrying a vessel full of the Holy Water back home for your Grandma! The city once known and worshipped since centuries by the Hindu faith has lost its grace amongst the greed of the Pandits, commercialisation of the oldest temples India has had.
Pay up Rs.1500 and get to attend the Mangla Aarti at 3 am in the morning! Who knew that God will meet us at 3 in the morning with a fee of Rs.1500 to have a glimpse of him? Or how many of us would have wondered that even God needs security guards! That too two at each entrance! Did Shivji tell Nandi and Ganeshji to search each and every pocket of the followers when they arrive in his premises? Who would love to be awfully embarrassed while meeting God!
Who would like to worship God in such an atmosphere?
Rather one will loose all sense of spirituality and faith when he/she would be standing in a half a kilometer long line for about three hours, fidgeting, fighting, balancing the vessel of milk and rose water to offer it to God! And thankfully when you will reach the main idol, the eight security guards shall thunder and scream at the top of their voices to let go off within seconds!
I believe today the best way to reach or worship God at Kashi Vishwanath temple is to become the security guard! And that too, not of the main entrance, but of the main building where the idol of Shivji is kept!
There too, youll have duty hours, so technically, this will give you a chance to be with Shivji, personally without Nandi, Ganeshji, and Parvati ma,for at least eight hours I believe!
W ow! What a treat !
So to quench your religious thirst, theres hardly any easy way to drink.
Those who get a chance to see the wild dance and activities during the Aarti ,will rather be horrified and will feel like running away, telling Shivji, See you later God! Got to go, your Pandits and their successors, are frightening me!
And those who make it to the main temple shall definitely forget the list of prayers they had mugged up in their minds to tell God there and then. People who come from far far away, forget their purpose and prayers in Gods Kingdom!
Crossing all physical barriers to see God, coming on to the main SALE! Today we are expected ethically to pay up at least Rs. 11 whenever we get the vermilion or the sacred thread tied on our wrists!
We never pondered that the Pandits and Pujaris are accountants and shopkeepers and we are taxpayers, who need to pay up while we get all this done! And if you dont follow the so called tradition or custom, you are said to be offending God, its regarded unethical to not to offer the Pandit with some money when you take the Prasad or get the thread tied! There are wealthy people who try and bribe God with lakhs and crores of rupees , and they really believe that their wishes shall be granted. So does the common man think that spend bucks and fill trucks of wishes!
Today religion is being sold at the cost of the faith in religion and moral values!
Your economic status determines the fixing up of a three minute glimpse of God , if you can afford the Pandits!
The disheartening situation and commercialisation of religious and ethical values has created a vacuum in religious oceans! This calls for the immediate and alarming awakening of the religious spirits of the masses as well as constitutional action on the pujaris and the pandits who serve the temple in order to serve their own greed and lust for money in the name of worship and religious activities.
God never wanted himself to be put on SALE. If this atmosphere continues to stay, the human race shall be termed DEAD and DEFICIENT whenever we shall talk about God and Faith!
Who knows, Allah and Shivji are best buddies in Heaven! Who would wonder that Santa rides on Ganeshjis Mouse!
The SALE is man-made, but man is God-made!
In the end, Please do wonder, if God sets into some real Destructive-Action, what shall happen to this so called commercialised religion being run as an industry! Imagine the plight of the Pandits if God plants a bomb in their ponies when they try to bribe him or rob a common man on account of the money he pays up to conduct a religious ceremony. The title to my write-up would change into BOMBED when BRIBED!
Reality television: The truth behind how people react
I reflect on the situation at my home. I am almost always left to my own resources in the sense that my mother is blissfully oblivious to whatever I do, as long as it has no disastrous consequences in the long run. She trusts my discretion completely. But that doesnt mean we havent had our shares of arguments when she had flipped her lid after listening to some of the actors cracking a joke or two about the private parts of their body. She had sat down to watch an episode or two of some of my favourite sitcoms with me and had actually giggled at a couple of clean jokes. But because most of these sitcoms thrive on jokes about sex, sexuality, one night stands, alcoholism and actions undertaken in all their drunken glory, she finds my love for these shows somewhat unpalatable.
To be very honest, I am a sucker for this shows. But never in my life have I felt that the views projected there have in anyway affected my life adversely. I have not turned into a raging alcoholic, not indulged in promiscuous escapades or not even suffered from drug abuse and the likes. On the contrary, I have bonded with many a person over our love for sitcoms and have become good friends with them in the long run. I dont think that I would have made half as much friends as I have now if I had only talked to them about an educational program on mating habits of dolphins and the likes, with due respect to such shows.
Before trashing some shows as un-Indi! an and c orrupting the moral and ethical fabric of the country lets take a sneak peek into what actually makes these shows so wildly popular that we are willing to have shouting matches with our parents but not give up watching them. Lets face it, sitcoms make us laugh. The jokes, the witty one-liners, the goof-ups etc all crack us up like no other. Some people say that through the characters of sitcoms, we all want to live our unrealised American dream-beautiful houses, earning a fat pay packet in dollars whose going conversion rate is still fifty times the value of rupee, driving swanky cars, stuffing our face with all the lip-smacking goodies, hanging out with so-called cool people who speak in fluent English, are free from parental control, have apartments of their own that they share with friends, indulge in nightouts and parties and live in big bad glamorous cities. Some might even put it down to some kind of gora complex that still lingers in many hearts and minds in our country. Whatever be the reason, I dont see the Barneys, the Charlies, the Sheldons etc bidding farewell to Indian television in even a very distant future.
Then there are shows like Bigg Boss, infamous for its wildly explicit contents, conversations laden with expletives with people eventually coming to fist fights, couples going all touchy-feely on screen. You cannot even blame only American television making its way surreptitiously in the Indian market. There are Indian production houses who produce shows considered unacceptable in Indian sensibilities.You have Roadies, Emotional Atyachaar etc where people openly abuse each other by hinting at the promiscuous natures of each others mothers and sisters. The entire nation stays glued to the television and watch with unwavering attention when the camera zooms in on a man and woman canoodling in a corner or when a man is called impotent by the anchor of the show. People download episodes of these shows, discuss them over steami! ng cups of coffee etc. And then people turn around and hold these shows responsible for tarnishing the image of the Indian culture and heritage.
Tell me something, if Bigg Boss Season 4 had triggered off a nationwide debate as to whether the show is posing as a threat to all the moral values that a family and Indian society as a whole stand for, then why did this particular season become a TRP-grabbing one? Why was Dolly Bindras newfound stardom the topic of discussion amongst many instead of publicly denouncing her for her brutish behavior on screen? Why, in spite of the wayward ways of some of the contestants, the shows TRP kept on soaring? Simply because the show had found many takers. What should we conclude from this? That a startling majority of Indian citizens do not actually care whats going on in the television as long as they get their quota of airtime entertainment? That Indians can only whimper and whine about televisions derogatory impact on our culture but not do anything to mobilize the mass against it? If the vast majority of Indians had a problem with the contents of Bigg Boss, they should have simply stopped watching it. But records tell otherwise; they actually enjoyed and speculated at length as to who will get evicted this week. Many people even kept the discussions going in their Facebook walls.
Almost the entire young generation in India has their conversations peppered with the four lettered word. Then why do people have an issue of reality television projecting Indian youths as a rude, violent, voyeuristic lot? The name says reality television; these cuss words, the fist fights-these are what happen in reality. Also the shows will look quite scripted and will lose their essence of reality, which is what they stand for. These days even parents dont bat an eyelid when they sit down to watch the all-new bold and no-holds barred Indian reality television. No amount of parental monitoring c! an check the youth to indulge in these voyeuristic pleasures. Unlimited access to the internet has brought home pornography free of cost. People, irrespective of their age, social standing and culture watch scantily clad women, lecherous men and the Indian youth freely exchanging blows and cuss words on screen. But till now no one has launched a nationwide protest that has actually caused the television producers to stir and take notice of the discomfort the Indian families are exposed to every day, rather night. Apart from moving Bigg Boss to the post 11 pm adult slot, even the information and the broadcasting ministry hasnt done much to assuage the so-called anguish of the television viewers who have complained about the contents of the reality shows. Face it, production houses do their bid to fill the coffers of the state while the intensity of protest from the viewers has been too feeble.
I am not at all speaking in support of the producers of these shows and the channels giving them airtime. But what I honestly feel is that viewers are making a big issue out of it without exactly having a clean slate to begin with themselves. If they feel their children are a young and impressionable lot, then they must do their bid to prevent them from watching these shows. But then again, it is characteristic of young people to do exactly what they arent allowed to. Breaking rules and doing your thing is an essence of youth in most cases. So by merely restraining them you cannot counter the evil effect of reality television. Moderation and self-control are what we need. If a show directly or indirectly glamorizes drug abuse, promiscuous sexual encounters and violence, then the youth must be taught about the consequences of these rather than merely imposing mindless rules on them without caring to give an explanation. There are people who are exposed to all the evils that reality television stands for but have a firm gr! ip on re ality and are not carried away by all things glamorous and harmful.This realization of what is important is the need of the hour. Because reality television with all its harmful effects is here to stay. TRPs will skyrocket, infamous personalities will gain celeb status and viewers, young and old alike will continue to watch it. It is up to you to exercise moderation and self-control and check any form of aggressive behavior inspired by what you see on screen.
Learning foreign language is a great skill in today's world
Many great discoveries and inventions are pursued at all times aiming to enhance the quality of lives of mankind in developed and developing worlds. The initiative for joining as a collaborator on many of these projects become easier once the desired foreign language is learnt properly. Through collaborative projects, technology transfer becomes that much easier and simpler. Also, in collaborative projects, necessary inputs can be made faster through assimilation of like minded scientific brains from different countries.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, no culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive. In this era of globalisation, knowledge of the language of another country helps in strengthening mutual understanding. A language shapes the way we think. Language skills do offer the ability to enter into the mind of other cultures.
It would also be of immense help for job seekers in computer fields if they are taught properly foreign language skills so that computer expertise can be shared in different countries in their own language the value of a computer expert goes manifold if he has a good command on foreign language of other developed/developing country because job listings always seek computer geeks no matter whether it is boom or recession time and this trend will continue for years to come due to change in technology taking place constantly. Some of the chief merits in learning a foreign language are given below:
Developing new perspectives based on a different culture;
Appreciating different value systems;
Developing new learning skills and mental flexibility drawn from efforts for language study;
Making travel more enjoyable;
Interacting with people from another country in their language;
Securing adm! ission i n universities and institutions in other countries;
Reading journals and research papers in different languages in original;
Finding careers such as diplomatic services personnel, interpreters, tourist guides, air hostesses / flight pursers, hotel receptionists, travel managers, translators, public relations officers in multi-national companies, language teachers, advertising professionals, international marketing professionals...many more.
It is time that concerned officials must do everything to encourage students, preferably from a very young age, to study one or more foreign language skills. There should be more and better quality English medium schools including plenty of missionary schools in all those places wherever they are lacking. Efforts should also be made to have wide presence of other foreign language skills of developed developing countries like French, German, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, etc. Many countries also insist on passing a proficiency test in their respective languages before considering for graduate programmes or research.
Money spent on enhancing foreign language skills will surely result in a win-win-win situation for all concerned!
Policy makers are requested to take the above issue seriously.
We Don't Need No Eductaion
I am deeply disturbed by the state of today's education system. This is not trivial . Seldom am I disturbed by such situations. I can't remember the last time I was so disturbed but not remembering things is always an indication of political promise. Many great political figures have no recollection of mistakes, scams or Monica Lewinsky. I think the school system in India is due for a drastic review, overhaul, lookover and many other such words that would potentially be contained in a online Thesaurus that requires paid subscription. This would also include the acting schools that produced Uday Chopra and Tushar Kapoor (who is adapting his name to Tooshar , Tushaar, Tooshaarr and who at some point should just consider changing his name to Hrithik Roshan to make things a lot more easier for everyone) This worry of mine about our school system is also shared by Mr Kapil Sibal , which is to show that it is not only me who has to grapple with these issues after a meeting with the 3 wise men i.e. Johnny Walker, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.
I really feel that the education system spends far too much time teaching people skills and things that are seldom really useful in the practical universe...you can safely ignore this statement if you are one of those bearded , guys spending their lives in labs and afterlives as footnotes in research papers. In fact if you are one of those you can safely ignore this column as well. But if you are one of the average Janardans, whose lives are seldom directly affected by any of the headlines that The Economic times periodically screams in bold letters ( i.e. RBI TO RAISE CRR, OIL POOL DEFICIT SET TO RISE etc) , then please continue reading.
Let's take the example of English. For the major part of our school and college life ( which includes the time spent in the canteens/toilets looking at Debonair issues in rugby huddles) , English was a standard part of our curriculum. This often included reading monumental masterpieces like " The Brothers Karamaz! ov" , "W ar and Peace" which bearded Russian authors seemed to produce with the frequency of a Pakistan cricket betting scandal. A literary masterpiece is defined as a novel which no one in your immediate Facebook community has ever read in person but agrees that the piece of work is classic. By this definition, not only are the Russian literary works classics but so are most of my high school Algebra text books. I have a honest question, if these Russian literary pieces were real masterpieces why are the chinese not mass producing them illegally at a tenth of the price huh ? . We were of course told later that the reason Mr Dostovesky or Tolstoy had written this classic was to question whether there is a purpose to life ? Now if Mr Tolstoy had just taken the care to open a few bottles of vodka, order pizza and discuss the 1983 World cup final with his friends till 3 AM( Tuhin Parikh, Ravi Vig and Rakesh Srikumar) he would have not only found the purpose to life but also sung it aloud from his balcony till the neighbours called the police. To read write 900 pages to ask purpose of life ? Tolstoy would have made a good business consultant but unfortunately still a bad English writer.
We could have gone through our years of English schooling faster than the time it took to say "Anna Karenina" if that would have happened . Can you imagine the time and money we would have saved? Can you imagine the pain we would have been spared? But if saving money and sparing pain were such a priority for our government, they would have banned Uday Chopra movies by amending the constitution. But most politicians find the constitution too difficult to move and hence prefer to move flower pots through the air during parliamentary debates.
Take the case of mathematics. Almost the only important piece of information that we were taught in school that becomes useful in day to day life is the concept of interest on loans. But this too is hopeless as it would involve a person called Ram who borrows 1000 Rs at an ! interest of 6 % and repays it back after 1 year. Firstly, anyone who takes a loan does not need to know mathematics. He needs to know law. Many a house owner has checked his outstanding mortgage after 10 years of eating newsprint and selling body organs only to involuntarily soil their pants ( in case the pants are not yet possessed by the bank), when they see the outstanding loan figure. ( "Let me see darling ....we still owe the bank ....BLAARRRP.... Can you excuse me for a moment darling while I throw up and pass out as well" )
That is because he has failed to notice Clause 32 A " unless in contravention of Clause III C , the bank retains the right to activate clause 43 Xii following which the mortgagee ( hereforth referred to as the miserable sod) cannot , without the explicit written permission of the bank, sell, lease, paint, clean , touch or see the property unless he/she has turned 3 cartwheels after the bank increases the prime rate" All those interest calculations with Ram, Kondiba and their ilk were reduced to a tiny footnote in a 80 page legal document which was written using english not found in any of the classics. I have a suggestion, let's disband school altogether and spend those 10 years ( or 13 in case of Tuhin Parikh and still counting in case of Ravi Vig) mastering the school of hard knocks. After that if not anything , we should be able to get enough survival skills to sit through an Uday Chopra movie.
Lombardian Cuisine @ Italia, New Delhi
I've been to Italia at DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi a few times in the past and have had little reason to be unhappy. My meal of less than a couple of hours past is, I'm happy to say, in line with my past experiences. Italia continues to be one of the better Italian restaurants in the capital.
Chef Somopriyo Basu was nice enough to put together a tasting menu for the two of us. Sandeep Srinivasa, a techie by profession who prowls the streets of Delhi looking for unsuspecting restaurants, was my guest for the evening. Every visit to Italia reminds me of this other Italian restaurant in Delhi, where the food is good, but their average portions are equivalent to portions in Italia's tasting menu! In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have scheduled this visit on the 26th of Jan; lime soda had to pass as the beverage of choice for the evening; Dry Day.
Our meal started with Polenta Frita, pan fried polenta cakes topped with pancetta and mozzarella and Insalata di Barbabietole e Formaggio Caprino, oven roasted beetroot and goat cheese salad with balsamic and aragula. The fried polenta was creamy, mildly crunchy and tasted very good though quite easily overshadowed by the beetroot salad, which was exceedingly delicious! Simple and well executed, the dish was essentially very finely sliced beetroot, layered with rocket leaves, sprinkled with chunks of velvety goat cheese and latticed with balsamic reduction. Both Sandeep and I would have been happier with a smaller amount of the reduction, but there's no denying it; this dish was the high point of our evening.
Minestrone was our soup course; a dish I'm not very fond of and which doesn't lend itself to a great deal of creativity. It was well made ! however.
Pizza con Patate, pollo e gorgonzola arrived next a wafer thin pizza topped with diced, tender potatoes, chicken and fragrant gorgonzola cheese. Both of us agreed the pizza really could have been a little thicker. I enjoyed the subtle flavor and the textures contributed by the potatoes and chicken.
We were then subjected to a platter containing Risotto ala Milanese, Tortellini alla Bolognese and Ravioli de Zucca; the only course we didn't enjoy.
Bliss then visited our table in the form of a platter of Cotoletta alla Milanese, breaded veal escalopes with spaghetti in a classic chunky tomato basil sauce and Gnocchi di Patate served with a mushroom sauce. The veal was just the way both of us like our meat; medium rare and tender. The Gnocchi was very well made too. The people at Italia seem to have a particular affinity for mushrooms, and mushrooms in turn apparently recognize this. Every dish with mushrooms at Italia is blessed with an intense, mushroomy flavor that while not dominating the dish, lends itself to complementing all the different flavors on the platter.
As if that weren't enough, more food followed; Pangasio al forno, baked river sole with mustard potatoes and salsa verde and Malfatti Ricotta e Spinaci. The sole tasted lovely though there was something missing; an element I still haven't been able to identify. Both were definitely worth a try.
Finally, Polenta Pasticciata, polenta lasagna with mustard potatoes and lamb ragu; excellent!
The barrage of food ended on a creamy note; Pannacotta with raspberry sauce.
We spoke with Shalini Prakash, 38 and her daughter Ashima who were seated next to us. Shalini loved the Beetroot Salad and didn't mind the reduction at all. In fact, she liked it very much. Ashima in turn felt her chicken pizza was delicious though a mite too thin while Shalini enjoyed her Mushroom soup. Shalini termed the food and service at Italia, "5 star", which isn't a great surprise consid! ering it 's a part of the Park Hotel in Connaught Place, a fact she was unaware of.
I suggest visiting the festival, which is on till the 6th of February.
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We are the world
Call it a case of Ankle Sam. No. 1 Son fractured his ankle and acquired US citizenship in the same week. While my concern over the former is undiluted, i have mixed emotions over his status change. Yes, he's got what he set his heart on, i suspect ever since he left India for Indiana and J school 13 years ago, but it's sad that he will soon be only a 'PIO', which sounds like a drunk or a shipping line.
Being a Person of Indian Origin is definitely a devaluation from the all-voting-and-vetoing rights of a sau-taka, knowledge-age, emerging superpower, deal-striking, 'please adjust'-ing, encroaching, belching Indian. So i smugly noted that, despite his sharp suit, he looked more like Big Chief Broken Foot as he stood shakily on strapped-up leg to take his oath.
The brief ritual sealed a momentous transition. We will wait to see if his accent has worsened as an immediate outcome of his new identity when he makes his annual visit to what is still home, US citizen or no US citizen. Make no mistake about that, Sonnyboy. It's gratifying that No. 1 d-in-law dins this in as fiercely despite being under the stars and stripes.
There's been a whole grove of reminders about how far the family tree has branched. Barely had the year turned when both my favourite ex-Calcutta cousins arrived, en famille. Khorshed, now Dodge, came from California with her son, Darius and his Chinese-origin girlfriend, Iris. Her sister Freyni came from Sydney with husband Adi, and the bevy of beauties who are their daughters and grand-daughters.
Their Australian sons-in-law and one mop-haired grandson made up the contingent. Since Adi's local family happily joined them to their many destinations across the city, they hired an entire mini-bus to prevent different carloads from getting entangled in different snarls of Mumbai traffic. Nothing works better for bonding than leaving one home and arriving in another, with no commuting time wasted.
Next off the Immigration Desk, was my nephew, Devopriya aka Non! o. He ar rived from Denmark via Kolkata to which his parents have returned after their own cross-country, cross-continent banking careers. Nono was lost in transition in the past 18 months. He had gone with Line, his red-haired Danish wife, from London, where they'd met, to her NGO job in Uganda (to the utter despair of my good Parsi sister who simply couldn't fathom why her Oxford First son should choose to end up in Africa!).
Line returned home with a scholarship to do her Masters at Amsterdam U, but Danish rules allowed Nono in only as a tourist. So he applied for, and effortlessly got, his own high-end fellowships - in Germany and the US, with an enviable assignment in Rwanda to get up close and personal with the gorillas (more maternal dismay: his mother's, not Queen Kong's).
Now he's got his Danish residency - and a job at the Xinhua news agency as a Europe correspondent. He has come home in a different way. Like No. 1 Son, No. 2 Nephew is the latest generation to go into journalism, like my grandfather did almost a century ago.
Over lunch at the aptly global Indigo Deli, i said, "So Nono, you've been quite a wandering academic all of last year." He corrected me, "Actually a wandering journalist." Line quietly chipped in, "Actually, a wondering what to do."
That's really part of the Diaspora deal, isn't it? The anxious ecstasy of what-to-do, what-if-it-doesn't, what-lies-ahead. Whatever. You may stay on as a citizen of Someplace Else, but you never really burn your boats. For, there's always the harbour of home.
* * *
Alec Smart said: "What's the new chart topper we want? 'Black is Back'."
When gods kill us for their sport
It still sends shivers down my spine. As I opened my apartment door early in the morning, I could see the table next to me rattle uncontrolably. It couldn't have been the wind. I froze. Was it then ... ?
My thoughts were drowned in a rush of noise and people scurrying past. I picked up my six-month-old daughter and rushed out of my Vadodara flat.
That was January 26, 2001 -- the day the earth opened up and swallowed almost 12,000 people in seconds. Its 10 years since that fateful morning, and my hairs still stand on end.
Next morning, I was on the road to Bhuj, hitch-hiking on a convoy of cars carrying industrialists reaching relief to Gujarat's Kutch district. There was a firewood-laden truck in front of our car and another behind. It was, literally, a journey to the land of the death. For, there were so many dead bodies that they had run out of wood at the crematoria.
There were so many stories to be told too. Like the old man of Anjar, who sat amidst a crowd that pleaded him to eat. The old man would have nothing of it. "I will eat when my grand daughter is here with me, like I do every day," he said. A whole house had collapsed on the little girl. Her grand father, sitting beside the debris, will perhaps wait till the last day of his life to share his meal with her.
In the same village, parents waited with bated breath as bodies were fished out of debris of a wall -- a huge wall that had collapsed right on a group of 400 children marching to their school on Republic Day. None survived.
The horror was all pervasive. Like the stench that hung thick on Bhuj, Rapar, Anjar, Gandhidham and numerous towns and villages of Kutch.
The tales hung thick too, like a willing suspension of disbelief. Folklores that grannies narrated on winter nights, sprung to life. Very close to the epicentre, in Ludai village in Kutch, lay the two samadhis of sisters Jesal and Toral.
There will be apocaly! pse when the two samadhis come together, people would say. On this day, 10 years ago, they did.
And, it certainly wasn't time for rational thinking. I watched in horror as a lady went past me, pushing a cart and chanting aloud, "Jai Swaminarayan." She was carrying a corpse, perhaps of her husband. Her hairs were unkempt, her sight aimlessly looking ahead, her steps tentative.
Only, the prayer on her lips was firm.
But, for me, even prayers meant little as lines from King Lear rang louder and louder --
'As flies to wanton boys
Are we to the gods.
They kill us for their sport ...'
Madam, I'm Adam
As palindromes go, this is common, popular, simple. As a political phrase, it is widespread and well expressed, with well rehearsed mannerisms and antics. Two centuries of "Her Royal Majesty" still keeps the ex-imperial power dizzy. Brave Scotts, Welsh and English gave their lives or were maimed, but the Victoria Cross was still worth it. They hailed and saw to it that "God saved the Queen". Intellectuals, Nobel laureates, great sportsmen mostly felt more sustainable in their reputation with a conferred knighthood. Royalty conferred with feminity was a hugely successful circumstance, or perhaps, co-incidence.
Independent India had no special affinity with the nomenclature, being in a combative mood to set the Empire aside. With a charming, dreamy, widower Prime Minister, and an aging Mahatma, no one had the time to accommodate the virtues of a feminine power in the ruling structure. What would have been Nehru's affectionate address to Lady Mountbatten should not be any gentleman's speculation. Chances are, the word was less formal than "Madam".
As the nation progressed, political stalwarts fell aside one by one, and genuine and more capable attributes were realized in the women folk. Exactly two decades after the celebration of the Constitution came an illustrious lady - Mrs Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi. What was remarkable was the loyalty she immediately commanded from the rest of the Gandhians and freedom fighters. The Congress broke up into Indira's (Indicate) and Nijalingappa's (Syndicate). It was a more lasting following than the previous "Chand Bibi", "Razia Sultan", "Mary Queen of Scotts" or "Joan of Arc". Within the first five years, she set forth a "Green revolution", "Garibi hatao", "Nationalization of Banks", "Elimination of Privy Purses" and supported Bangladesh as an independent nation. Much to the world's surprise, India tested its first nuclear bomb. Finally, the great run had to halt in the forgettable "Emergency", just when a questionably ambitious son wanted to bri! ng in fo rced methods of population control, abolishment of slums, and dreamt of India's first car for the common man. Indicate turned into "Indigate", though the "gate" additive originated later.
I believe, this was the time the word "Madam" became a permanent part of our vocabulary as well as a psycho-political necessity. It was a great discovery by the Indian politician to nurture, revere, publicly hold in adulation and pass on credit, while secretly attribute failure within knowledgeable circles, to the designated entity "Madam". A single-word terminology was extreme convenience to express loyalty for survival, as well as just the right excuse, secretly expressed, for personal failure. Political systems in this country, thereafter ran comfortably in attribution of ultimate powers and credit to a single entity, but in return claiming larger benefits for professional failures, that could actually have amounted to self-immolation. The system ran well in eliminating political accountability altogether. The "Madam" was the saviour as well as the "scapegoat" one and the same time, as expressed in different circles. The duality of deceit was the enriched agar dish colonized by hordes of less than ordinary Indian politicians.
My first exposure to the huge and inquisitive demand of this coinage was in very early eighties. A senior cousin, who had recently enrolled in the "services" would draw dinner parties, where gleamy-eyed government functionaries, and wannabe politicians would speculatively brim over stories about "Madam". The questionairre was quite typical. It was about whether the person "drank", were the in-laws entertained, was there anyone "close" enough, how "idiopathic" was the temper, and how many times more were the powers of the personal secretary as compared to a chief minister of a state, and what was the soothsayer doing in the PMO? These attributes were then expressively disbelieved, while retaining a quieter, deeper belief. The satisfying smiles, the half nudges to change the to! pic, and the re-appearance of the "gleam" almost certified the earlier assumption.
Madam-hood soon was adopted in most other departments with a female of promise. I an all-boys' Jesuit School, a lone lady teacher with a master's in English literature, who seldom spoke of anyone less from Milton to TS Eliot, was the only one called "madam". Along with came attributes of her being a relentless task master of the subject, who would not spare anyone but her own "pets". Actually she contributed more to the subject in school, than most would in college.
In medical schools, when departments like gynaecology, and paediatrics are headed by lady professors, hospital residency, which is a harassed patch in a doctor's life, often shifts the blame on the "madam" phenomenon.
A few years ago, a senior leader of a party lay in terminal coma after a hemorrhage. It so happened, that a similar case from the same party with a brain hemorrhage had miraculously survived to near normalcy a year ago. These are individual variations. One late night, during the rounds, I was confronted by a political question, "If both were hemorrhages, why is this one worse?" My curt answer was, "The difference is that this is a case of a dissident while the previous one was a loyalist." The politician wasn't amused.
"Madamism" is a phenomenon the politicians of this country stumbled on reluctantly. Later they discovered much merit in it. It was the right canopy to hide servility, upgrade those who were less than upright to master the art of pleasing, often misleading. The mum faces after every government catastrophe, throw revealing gazes in a particular direction. In spite of their high offices, they really are not so uncouth as to commandeer even what are departmental or constitutional powers vested in them. Much virtue seems to be celebrated in such meek behaviour. Answerability, as you all know is not for them to address. You should have known that anyway.
It needs serious debate, this Republic day,! whether this democracy will run on such meek, subdued principles. Incompetence, or inadequacy of functioning should rest with those who occupy such chairs. Raising up arms in despair, passing on blame to organizational labyrinths is not the answer you give to the voter. Equations of convenience of passing round the buck have taken us nowhere, and they may well be run by a coterie of politicians who finally perfected this formula for their own survival.
Time has come, when most processes of governance should be fair and transparent. The "holier than thou" and the desperate "never uglier than now" carry no further appeal to the public. Self-answerability is not yet an outdated virtue. Results and explanations should be available here and now.
Adams should have the grace to face the nation, and embrace answerability. "Madamism" is an old game. It is a stated recluse of the incompetent and the unimaginative, which is now a political habit.
Honesty and integrity is expressed in no other way, but by the display of its inherent strengths!
Adequate changes needed in existing Land Acquisition Act
Drowning in shame
This country continues to be plundered and looted by internal invasions. Neta after neta comes, sees, conquers, loots and then becomes a blip on the radar. Some loot, go and come back again to where they started. Where do they go? They probably go on an extended holiday to their sprawling villa in Goa and they spend time by a turquoise blue private pool sipping pinacoladas. They probably dont even know to swim, but they would most likely ensure that they have a sprawling pool in the house. It looks grand they would think. Our netas may even have a few brunette coaches teaching him how to swim. Our netas who cannot swim would probably stand in knee-deep water and remain in reverie over the wealth that he has amassed by looting your money and mine.
The state of Jharkhand is gearing up for the 34th National Games that is to commence on the 12th of February. The official website proudly declares how deeply the love for sports runs in the state. I am glad that there is this love being encouraged, where new talent is showcased and vistas being opened for those who wish to look beyond cricket. Young girls and boys with a fire in their belly are preparing for the National Games with utmost sincerity. And I hoped that the National Games gets a fair share of publicity and support for the right reasons. My hopes came plummeting after watching Star TVs news footage of the swimming team prepare for the games. The swimmers were lying flat on the ground and performing freestrokes, butterfly strokes and breaststrokes on muddy, uneven land. Each one looked intent and each swimmer looked purposeful. Each stuck to their lane and was at their synchronized best in their attempt at simulated swimming. And these young boys and girls continued their animated actions despite laughing onlookers and prying cameras. If this was a choreographed training meant to hone their skills, I would have not paid much attention to this simulated training. I was aghast to learn instead that this was their only form of training.
The National Games Organizing committee had apparently ignored a request for a practice pool for these swimmers.Some of these swimmers appeared in front of the cameras, ignoring the chortle around them and stated how they were laughed at when they started practising in one of the local school grounds. These swimmers said that they then had to change their practise grounds so that no one could watch them and laugh at them.Looks like their efforts were in vain, as the cameras seemed to have tracked them to their current location and relay their plight to the nation. The swimmers have been practising for years and one swimmer remorsefully stated how their efforts would be wasted if they are not provided with a pool to practice in. Their crestfallen faces would have made any responsible Indian seethe.
Not surprisingly, I did get an uneasy feeling about the National Games when I saw a picture of Suresh Kalmadis appear in the Governance squad. This is one man who should be laughed at and not those hard working swimmers who are trying to live their dream and bring glory to their state. There is little point in sacking Kalamadi now. He has amassed wealth for the next hundred generations of Kalmadis. It makes me sick in the stomach to watch neta after neta wade away from the deep end and ultimately disappear into oblivion. And in this particular case, the state that has allowed its coffers to be looted to the tune of a few thousand crores cannot spare change for a practice pool. Apparently, the Ministry of sports may do something about this situation; long after the national team squad has been made a mockery of. We are probably the only country in this world that treats its national athletes with utter disdain barring those who play cricket and those who get endorsements. After watching the plight of these swimmers, I had no choice, but to drown in a sprawling pool of shame.
Drowning in shame
This coun! try cont inues to be plundered and looted by internal invasions.Neta after neta comes, sees, conquers, loots and then becomes a blip on the radar. Some loot, go and come back again to where they started. Where do they go? They probably go on an extended holiday to their sprawling villa in Goa and they spend time by a turquoise blue private pool sipping pinacoladas. They probably dont even know to swim, but they would most likely ensure that they have a sprawling pool in the house. It looks grand they would think. Our netas may even have a few brunette coaches teaching him how to swim. Our netas who cannot swim would probably stand in knee-deep water and remain in reverie over the wealth that he has amassed by looting your money and mine.
The state of Jharkhand is gearing up for the 34th National Games that is to commence on the 12th of February. The official website proudly declares how deeply the love for sports runs in the state. I am glad that there is this love being encouraged, where new talent is showcased and vistas being opened for those who wish to look beyond cricket. Young girls and boys with a fire in their belly are preparing for the National Games with utmost sincerity. And I hoped that the National Games gets a fair share of publicity and support for the right reasons. My hopes came plummeting after watching Star TVs news footage of the swimming team prepare for the games. The swimmers were lying flat on the ground and performing freestrokes, butterfly strokes and breaststrokes on muddy, uneven land. Each one looked intent and each swimmer looked purposeful. Each stuck to their lane and was at their synchronized best in their attempt at simulated swimming. And these young boys and girls continued their animated actions despite laughing onlookers and prying cameras. If this was a choreographed training meant to hone their skills, I would have no! t paid m uch attention to this simulated training. I was aghast to learn instead that this was their only form of training.
The National Games Organizing committee had apparently ignored a request for a practice pool for these swimmers.Some of these swimmers appeared in front of the cameras, ignoring the chortle around them and stated how they were laughed at when they started practising in one of the local school grounds. These swimmers said that they then had to change their practise grounds so that no one could watch them and laugh at them.Looks like their efforts were in vain, as the cameras seemed to have tracked them to their current location and relay their plight to the nation. The swimmers have been practising for years and one swimmer remorsefully stated how their efforts would be wasted if they are not provided with a pool to practice in. Their crestfallen faces would have made any responsible Indian seethe.
Not surprisingly, I did get an uneasy feeling about the National Games when I saw a picture of Suresh Kalmadis appear in the Governance squad. This is one man who should be laughed at and not those hard working swimmers who are trying to live their dream and bring glory to their state. There is little point in sacking Kalamadi now. He has amassed wealth for the next hundred generations of Kalmadis. It makes me sick in the stomach to watch neta after neta wade away from the deep end and ultimately disappear into oblivion. And in this particular case, the state that has allowed its coffers to be looted to the tune of a few thousand crores cannot spare change for a practice pool. Apparently, the Ministry of sports may do something about this situation; long after the national team squad has been made a mockery of. We are probably the only country in this world that treats its national athletes with utter disdain barring those who play cricket and those who get endorsements. After watching the plight ! of these swimmers, I had no choice, but to drown in a sprawling pool of shame.
