Gulab Khan from Afghanistan!

Spring term '73 and I was a first termer at the National Defence Academy. As I was charging towards the mess for breakfast, a 'sarge' on post at the junction prior to the 'central mess' had me stopped to check my turn out. Cursing the guy from deep within(every minute lost meant one toast down, which was blasphemous for a cadet's bottomless tummy) but trying to look as pleasant as I could(giving dirty looks to your senior invited harsher forms of punishment, you see) I went through the ignominy and on completion(after what seemed ages), I'd literally sprinted off into the innards of the mess for the ultimate bliss - wolfing down breakfast.

As I was on to the first toast, I felt a tap on my shoulder and to my utter surprise saw that it was Cadet Gulab Khan(the 6th termer, Afghani cadet of Echo Squadron) who was trying to hand over my handkerchief, that I'd dropped on my earlier flight to the mess. After that incident, Gulab Khan was forever a friendly senior to me, always ready with a smile whenever he met me.

And in the documentary on the NDA called 'A cradle for leadership', shot extensively during those times, Gulab Khan is prominent on the 'bayonet charge' frame. His clean shaven head with a thick moustache, that he sported, showed the right amount of emotions when one's under that sort of final assault. He'd passed out of the Academy in Jun '73.

How did Gulab Khan suddenly come up on this occasion? On the TV screen behind me, the glimpses of elections in Afghanistan currently on, is being beamed and whenever I think of that country, two things come to my mind - Gulab Khan and the Hindi movie 'Dharmatma'starring Feroze Khan and Hema Malini, a hit of those times!

Coming back to Gulab Khan, I believe, he met with his untimely end, somewhere in the rough terrain of Afghanistan just after a couple of years into his commission. RIP Gulab Khan, you're a fine soul!!

Humour in uniform

The ‘Sena Bhavan’, which houses the bulk of the Army Headquarters’ offices and a few of the Naval Headquarters’ offices like mine, is in the process of renovation and it’s still a long way to completion. But gone are the dull grey visage, the hideous and the drab looks that made the massive building stand out like a sore thumb in the vicinity of the monumental, brown sandstone façade of the Rashtrapathy Bhavan and the ornate, but imposing looking North and South Blocks that surround it. The Sena Bhavan’s new colours, which is a combination of brown and brick red, rightfully highlights the Army’s colours and compliments the imposing building that houses the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Headquarters, just across the Rajaji Marg and opposite to it.
Since the present Army Chief is retiring by the end of this month, some bright ‘sycophant’ had decided to dedicate the renovation to him and hence organized the inauguration, this evening around secure time. The frontage has been completed, in a photo finish, though rubble and broken concrete litter many areas, but effectively covered with buntings and festoons, complete with colourful flowerbeds, ornamental shrubs, small and shapely cut trees and a centre patch of china grass – all sprouted overnight (Till now, had only heard of the Army’s proverbial ability to do Godly stuff, but this was to be seen to be believed!). Sadly, the renovation work will continue to happen all through next week, outside the building and inside it and in all probability, stretch to another couple of months and I wonder as to whose great idea this was, to have a hasty inauguration? Hope the ever vigilant media does not highlight this over all their channels and make us look like a bunch of cruds!
And parking was a Herculean task this morning, with us being given clear instructions that our vehicles would not be allowed to be parked within or anywhere in the immediate vicinity of the Sena Bhavan – one had to park and walk a good distance before reaching one’s office and on reaching the entrance, had to go through the routine of frisking for cellphones ( the scan proved negative in my case, as I’d already put mine into the dashboard of my van, thanks to an advance warning from my man Friday! But what nettled me was that almost all the labourers working in the innards of the building not only had their cellphones with them but also could use them unabashedly. Who gives what sort of orders to the poor DSC jawans, I wonder and if this is our concept of security, even God will disown us in our times of need, in utter disgust!!
No wonder the guys in the civvy street call us so, we, indeed, are humour in uniform!!!
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IPL cricket and me

Today is the start of yet another session of IPL cricket or is it tomorrow? It’s colourful, no doubt, but what sustains viewers’ interest in it, is something that defies my comprehension. To my logic, when my country is involved in a game – be it any game, for that matter – I would in all probability be glued on to the television set, rooting for my country and its fortune elates me or misfortune upsets me. But for some reason, I’m unable to back a Nita Ambani team or a Shah Rukh Khan team because there’s no sense or a cause of attachment and hence, the disinterest.

Does the involvement or the interest shown by a sizable section of the society – and I respect their choice of spending their time – show that actually, we’ve nothing better to do to keep ourselves busy? Is it the game or is it the antics on the field like the scantily clad cheerleaders breaking into a jiggle, whenever runs are scored or a wicket is taken or is it the sight of the glamorous film stars at the stands, the chief attraction? I’m yet to get a direct answer for this query of mine, from any of the IPL enthusiasts amongst my friends. However, I must hasten to add that, in the name of this format of the game, there’s a lot of interaction and socializing among the people, at least in Delhi, where visits to others’ homes are strictly reserved for weekends and holidays.

I saw two guys from my office staff making a beeline to the nearby canteen today, to buy an assortment of wafers and snacks along with a variety of soft drinks, as part of the logistics back up to cater for their guests’ taste buds, who were expected to join them at their homes to watch the IPL matches jointly.
Long live cricket! And may the IPL seasons flourish, year after year!! And may more and more people interact with each other and watch the game together in these, otherwise, trying times when people have begun to be suspicious of the other, in a terror stricken atmosphere!!! As for me, I shall give it a miss, in toto, but watch a few snippets on the news channels and continue to follow my usual programmes.

Celebrating parenthood, albeit silently!

On my evening walks, there’s one sight that shall always remain etched in my mind much after I leave Delhi, perhaps to my very end. There’s a seventeen year old boy suffering from Down’s syndrome, who is taken out for his walks under the ever watchful eyes of his father or mother or both. They’re the Baniwals – Col Baniwal is posted in one of the units nearby and they have another son who’s attempting his board exams of class XII right now. The boy in question - I do not know his name and I haven’t had the courage to interact with him or his parents lest I be considered as a guy sympathizing about their plight – is extremely good looking and had his faculties been all right, would have kept the girls in the neighbourhood around him, on their toes, for sure! There’s another army couple who take their daughter out for walks in a similar fashion– another sweet kid with the same problem but compounded with disability of her limbs. Of late, I don’t see her and I presume it’s because of the prevalent cold weather. Since I’m a regular on the circuit, both the kids recognize me and I always wave at them for which I usually get responses, at times, though, prodded by their chaperones. Why has God made them like that, I often wonder and what’s the intensity of the agony their parents are going through? Would the parents, in their heart of hearts, ever wish the speedy ends of their deformed children at a weak moment or even curse their luck?
But one thing about which I’m very sure is that all of them are living heroic and extraordinary lives compared to the normal or even drab life, that I lead. Whenever I see them, I must admit that I celebrate parenthood silently. And I really wish them strength to continue going about their lives as though everything is normal, from the bottom of my heart.

It never pays to be decent..........never!

It has been my experience in life thus far, that, it never pays to be decent. The others always consider you to be weak or timid and therefore, can be taken liberties with. I remember, quite a long time ago, a sailor telling me when I’d just joined the navy and was raring to go, that the sailors categorized their officers into two – the first who were mean, rode roughshod over anyone and everyone who came their way, was foulmouthed who were called the ‘b*******’ and the second who were genuinely nice, empathized with others, were reasonable being nice to one and all, never lost their cool who were termed as the ‘c****’( actually, he’d used their ‘Hindi’ equivalents, which however cannot be used in the circumstances, for obvious reasons!). Paradoxically, it was the former who almost, always got everything they wanted – the fear psychosis in their subordinates, notwithstanding! And the latter, despite their good intentions, missed deadlines, or stopped short of absolute achievement much to the derision of their superiors and got ‘lost out’ in the mad race that life is all about!!
When such bitter experiences befall one in the workplace, where one’s working with strangers or even acquaintances, one shrugs it off as something inevitable and blames the time and space, for being out of sync with one’s luck and moves on. But when similar bitter experiences are courtesy people, whom one considers close and as one’s own, then disillusionment sets in and a seething anger sets in.
Why does it happen? Is it because the others take one for granted, think that one's gullible or dim-witted like a cretin with an incredibly short memory or even a bumbling fool who'd lap up anything that's doled out as an afterthought or an excuse, I wonder? Just beats me and I don't think I shall ever fathom that.
What does one do in the circumstances? Become a b****** and join the crowd - easier said than done as it’s difficult to go against one’s grain. So, then the only other alternative is to continue to be what one is, take the pain in one’s stride and convert it as another experience of life and move on the road of life that’s less travelled!

International Woman's Year - The Indian woman doesn't need a bill to ensure her rights!

Today’s being celebrated as the ‘International Woman’s Day’. The government has tabled the bill for 331/3% reservation of parliament’s seats for women in the Rajya Sabha, today. The resultant commotion and brouhaha, enacted by the bill’s opponents within the haloed interiors showed our democracy at its nadir, yet again. There are too many elderly MPs who should have retired long ago and I was under the impression that they’d overwhelmingly pass the bill, so that they could bring in their wives, daughters and daughters-in-law and continue to wield real power from the sidelines, especially against the backdrop of the surge in youth power! Anyways, that’s not my point of contention at this juncture as I would like to concentrate on the core issue.
Do we really require to celebrate ‘woman power’ on a single day? If yes, do we have the liberty to abuse them for the remaining 364 days? And what are we achieving by tom- tomming the strength of the woman, by wasting reams of newsprint and cluttering the visual media with wasteful discussions for this one singular day? This is because, in this country, the woman has always exhibited that she’s stronger than the man and has proved time and again that she’s central to the growth and enlightenment of the country -female infanticides and bride burning notwithstanding! Be it the woman since the time of the Vedas and the Upanishads or during the medieval periods or even during the British rule or to this day, the Indian woman has always shown a remarkable amount of resilience and have contributed their mite to this country’s evolution.
The politicians might eventually succeed in bringing about a bill, to save their face but the Indian woman does not really require a bill to ensure their rights at par with her male counterpart! And that is the core issue!!

The 55th Filmfare Awards

After a relaxed day and finishing up all the planned jobs, it was time for my evening workout followed by settling down, in front of the television, to watch the Filmfare Awards ceremony. Over the years, the ceremony has become sleeker, with every passing year, with more of substance and elegant packaging. No wonder the star studded evening is one of the most popular events of tinsel town even though there is a plethora of awards functions. My endeavour is not to review the function but to touch upon a few snippets that tugged at my heart.
I think the most poignant moment was when a wheelchair bound Shashi Kapoor was presented with the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award. One of my favourite actors, who was always effervescent in the roles he essayed, he was suave and elegant in the way he carried himself, both off and on the screen. I was reminded of the saying and I quote, “Time erodes gratitude, just as it does beauty” on seeing him in his present condition. My favourite Shashi Kapoor movie is the evergreen, ‘Sharmilee’ in which he'd acted opposite Rakhee, who was in a double role.
The section that paid a tribute to all the film personalities who'd bid adieu to this world during the year 2009 was not only touching but appropriate.
Another poignant moment was when lyricist and music director, Khayyam, received the second 'lifetime achievement' award of the evening, from Asha Bhonsle. He nostalgically remembered his initial days of struggle and spoke movingly of how the late BR Chopra took him under his wings, as his assistant, and gave him his first remuneration of Rs. 125/-.
I was also elated that the movie, that I was backing all the way, ‘Three Idiots’ bagged quite a haul of awards including the ‘best film’s’.
Our Filmfare Awards can definitely match the Oscars, in glitz and substance while retaining the ‘desi’ flavour all through. Cheers!

Television and the craze for reality shows

We Indians have come a long way in television viewing. Since 1982, with the advent of TV sets in the home of every Indian to facilitate viewing of the Asiad and thereafter, the coverage of the papal visit in ‘85, a lot of ground has been covered. Those were the days, when the Doordarshan news channel used to announce the inaugural transmission of their stations all over the country with a remarkable regularity. Starting with the Humlog-Buniyad evenings, graduating with more sophistication through Khandaan-Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi-Prannoy Roy’s ‘The World This Week’-Sidhartha Basu’s ‘Quiz Time’ with his ever smiling hostess during late evenings, plunging into mythology through the Ramayan-Mahabharat Sunday mornings when the whole nation came to a standstill over that one hour, moving onto the ‘saas-bahu’ serials during late nights and finally into the numerous reality shows, television viewing has indeed taken great strides forward, despite the aping of certain formats from popular western programmes. News coverage has also improved with almost hourly coverage of more issues, considered trivial earlier and encompasses larger areas.
However, there are two disturbing trends that I see – one being, an increase in unruly and uncouth behaviour on reality shows, where winning at any cost seems to be the aim and the other, a slew of crass programmes that beats one's imagination! To cite an example, the swayamvar of Rahul Mahajan – now, what credentials does he or his predecessor (with their questionable past) have, to be icons for the young generation, is something that beats me. Quality needs to be maintained with the overall aim of moulding the future generations to understand and imbibe correct behaviour towards betterment of the society and bring up a disciplined nation. Give us good, clean and interesting entertainment please!!

Ishquia

Wonder what the exact meaning of the word is, but we saw a Hindi movie by that name and I really enjoyed seeing it. Set against the beautiful and rugged backdrop of the UP countryside, centred around Gorakhpur, it speaks of an unusual woman – played brilliantly by my favourite, Vidya Balan – who lives life on her own terms and comes up trumps! She watches every activity around her and observes everyone, that comes her way and understands the person correctly. She is fully aware of the fact that she’s beautiful but is superbly adept in the handling of weapons and keeps errant guys at bay, simply by her smouldering looks. There’s a scene in which she’s holding a gun but conveys the message that she cannot be messed with, through a haunting expression in her eyes paradoxically conveying her vulnerability, which I liked best. The whole ambience is rustic and the language spoken throughout the narration is a variation of Hindi, spoken in that part of the country. I must admit that much of the conversation went over my head because of the unfamiliar dialect and a not-so-clear sound system of the auditorium.
To me, it’s always a pleasure to see a strong woman, who underplays herself, but helps her man to overcome difficulties with her careful, analytical thought process and despite all that, she continues to remain feminine and extremely vulnerable! I’m a firm supporter of the age old saying that, a man is nothing without a woman. I’ve had the fortune of being born in a family of strong women – my grandmothers, both paternal and maternal, ran their households, looked after their children’s education and all other activities, but always preferred to remain in the shadows of their husbands’ towering personae, ungrudgingly – who’d so much to offer but never demanding anything for themselves as their needs were incredibly less, nay nothing! My Amma continues on the same mould and I’m proud to be her son!!
Three cheers to womanhood and my humble tribute to the strong women of my life, without whom I wouldn’t be what I’m today.

"Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today"

1. My musings.

Profound words! They were sent to me today, by a friend of mine, which got me thinking as to whether my life, thus far, encompassed this axiom. And I tried to go back in time to establish it and surprisingly found that, indeed it does - I had followed it, in letter and spirit. There are no regrets in life, whatever had been chosen was on my own accord with the inputs that were available at every given point of time. I must admit that there was a time when I used to put the blame for my shortcomings on others, but on further analysis, I realized that it was me who took the call as I always had the freedom to take or drop the advice given to me by my well wishers, and the responsibility for everything that I’ve done, thus far, has been mine and mine alone!!

2. Why do ‘Godmen’ attract people?

Of late, thankfully, there has been an increase in the busting up of the wayward activities of many so called ‘swamijis’ or ‘godmen’. Their backgrounds always follow a familiar pattern – start up as no gooders failing in every thing they take up, then make a disappearance act only to reappear as an individual with ‘godliness’, who take it upon themselves to teach their unfortunate and ignorant brethren the meaninglessness of life. They publicly despise power and pelf, but surreptitiously cultivate both, in that, they’re always surrounded by people who adorn powerful positions in society and never refuse donations towards charity( which is actually diverted in building up their empires where all things, unlawful, take place). What beats me is that educated people get roped in and I always wonder as to how this hoodwinking takes place – I mean, how do they complement each other? Are the educated lot also running away from something they want to forget? The one factor that these unscrupulous godmen exploit is man’s fear of God and the unknown. I’ve seen people, who depend on servants to get menial work done at their homes, willingly doing the same jobs at the ashrams – a euphemism for the godman’s den – without any hangups. From the huge family circle of my father’s, two young men - both brothers, one an IITian and the other an IIM product – left their MNC jobs to become a part of the inner circle of Mata Amrithanandamayi and have been there for the past ten years. Their parents died heartbroken after they lost the battle – they’d gone to court saying that the Amma had seduced their sons and therefore, the court should help retrieve them - against the powerful ‘Amma mafia’.
My take on this is that one does not need an usher to attain one's God. Period!
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Demystifying Buddha

Happened to read a review on Stephen Batchelor’s ‘Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist’ to be published this month in the US. The man who’d renounced worldly pleasures, at a very young age in his quest for the truth, finally died a sad old man quite unsure as to whether his ‘dharma’ was accepted by this world. That he has millions and millions of followers and his teachings have more relevance in today’s world, go to prove that his discovery has sagacity and earnestness.
The author, during his research, went through the Pali Canon – the oldest set of texts of Buddha’s teachings – which provide glimpses into Buddha’s social and political world. Batchelor’s portrait of the Buddha is sad and disturbing.
Buddha’s cousin, Mahanama, took over the reins of his homeland ‘Shakya/ Sakia' after the death of his father. He’d cut of all ties with his home but returned to Kapilavastu after attaining enlightenment and made peace with his family. His cousins Devadatta, Ananda and Aniruddha play important roles in his later life to the extent that Devadatta plots to kill him for the sake of taking over his legacy, but thankfully fails. And since Buddha’s teachings were at loggerheads with the existing beliefs spread by brahmanical thought, that struggle ultimately took his precious life when he was poisoned.
Was always under the impression that jealousy and treachery were essential ingredients that tried to hinder Greek philosophy, at its infancy, in the way their society treated men like Aristotle and Plato, in their prime. But now it's proved beyond doubt that this frame of mind is universal and can we Indians be far behind?
Must read this book.
Tailpiece. It was sad to hear about the tragic air accident, at Hyderabad involving two naval officers. Fate has yet again robbed the lives of two promising young men in their prime. I was reminded of the words of a pilot’s wife, long ago, “Rajeev, I just forcefully blank my mind whenever my husband goes up in the air on sortie and I keep myself busy by doing some work or the other and remain in that condition till he returns and presses the doorbell.” May God give enough strength to their families to tide over these difficult times and Maurya and Nair, a salute from a comrade-at-arms and may you rest in peace.

Reactions, late reactions!

1. Vehicles off roads in Kerala
Today, the ruling left parties and their affiliates in Kerala had given a call for all motorists to stay off the roads to protest against the fuel price hike, introduced by the union government. From what I could gather from the TV grabs, the call has been very ‘successful’. The common man went through untold suffering, in that schedules were upset, connection flights and trains were missed and urgent medical aid to the needy was nowhere in sight. Who benefits and what is achieved from such mindless acts is something that has baffled me, always. And mind you, there’s a ruling of the Kerala High Court that bans all forms of strikes! God save ‘God’s own country’!

2. Shashi Tharoor in trouble again.
Shashi Tharoor seems to have a penchant for shooting off the cuff remarks and landing himself in avoidable trouble. He’s highly photogenic, extremely articulate and eager to do something but the fact is that he’s no run of the mill politician who can resort to glib talking and get away with murder. What baffles me is that he’s too intelligent to be bumbling time and again and so, is there an agenda behind all this? No one, other than the PM, is permitted to announce major shifts in foreign policy and that too, after its endorsement in parliament. So is he the sounding board for the PM to bring about a change in the core thinking of the government or the ruling party? Does he have the backing of Sonia Gandhi and her son? Or is it that he’s too vain to want the spotlight on him, time and again, though I refuse to believe this after my interactions with him, in connection with the PN Panicker foundation’s activities, where I found him to be a jolly good fellow.

3. Indian hockey on an ascendant note?
Very belated though, I was extremely thrilled to see our hockey team thrash Pakistan 4-1 last Friday, in their opening game. The team was tops in all departments of the game that evening and the Pakis didn’t even have a chance to show their mettle. My heartiest congratulations to each and every member of the team though as I script these thoughts of mine, they seem to be doing badly against Australia. Anyways, hope that they do well in the tournament and may God be with them in their endeavours, I shall be watching them at every outing of theirs.

PN Panicker - the legend and my grandfather.

Today is 01 Mar and it is my grandfather’s 101st birthday. Various programmes have been organized at the major cities of Kerala – Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode to commemorate the end of the yearlong centenary celebrations and take stock of a slew of projects, undertaken during the period, by the Foundation named after him. The main programme is at the ‘Kanakakkunnu Palace’ at Thiruvananthapuram, where political leaders, covering the entire spectrum, will deliver the PN Panicker memorial lecture and the house in which he was born and spent his childhood – ‘Puthuvayil House’ in a sleepy hamlet at Neelamperoor, Kottayam – will be dedicated to the nation. The legend that he is – the father of the Kerala Library Movement(started with a loose conglomeration of 47 rural libraries, spread in and around the present day southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and southern part of Alappuzha districts, in 1945 and by the time the movement was celebrating its silver jubilee in 1970, he’d set up a strong and vibrant network of 5,282 libraries spread across the entire state, which had become a powerful tool in providing the social and cultural emancipation of the people) and the architect of Kerala attaining 100% literacy, in 1994(in ’70, on realizing that his libraries were of no use to millions of illiterate malayalees - who had either never gone to school or were school dropouts at a very early stage- he took up the task of educating them through his ‘functional literacy programme’) - his place in Kerala’s history is assured. Be that as it may, I’d like to concentrate my thoughts on PN Panicker, my grandfather(Muthachan, as I call him), a simple man who did not hanker for power or pelf and did not possess a house of his own, till his very end.

I think our relationship started moments before my birth! My mother had a difficult time on the delivery table and the doctor told the Panickers that only one of us would survive, to which my grandfather seemed to have retorted that he was only interested in his daughter surviving the ordeal. And when everything ended well, he took personal interest in everything that I did – from my ‘annaprashna’ to my schooling and beyond- to remove that feeling of guilt, as he opened up to me years later. He used to call me by a pet name, ‘Mone’(pronounced as 'mo' in 'more' and 'ne' in 'nest' and the literal translation meaning ‘a dear son’) and did not bother to remember my actual name, which landed him in very comical situations. I must narrate an incident that happened in school when I was in class IX and even to this day used, by my masters and classmates at Sainik School, to pull my leg. It was just after evening games, when the Tagore house team that I was a member of, was thrashed in the football finals and we’re being talked to by our coach, when somebody came running to say that a gentleman, in a state car(the one with a red number plate and two numerals depicting its serial) had been waiting to meet his son –whose name he didn’t know- for almost an hour and did anybody know as to who that student was. I rushed to the spot to see the familiar figure of my Muthachan in spotless white khadi, much to my pleasant surprise. He was both angry and glad to see me, a decision that he’d taken at the spur of the moment, as he was going on a long tour to Kannur and hence, the visit without any advance information! And after the incident, he used to carry a slip of paper with my name written on it!!

I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interacting with eminent people drawn from all walks of society, even to this day, thanks to being my grandfather’s grandson. He always used to stress on education through interaction with a wide cross section of people – he derived his strength and zest to live, from it.
He was very fond of my grandmother(Ammachi, as I call her) but never showed it. In fact, we’re privy to some intense fights between them, so much so, that after one such incident, she’d left our home in the wee hours of a morning to one of her daughters(in fact, at such times, I’d wholeheartedly support Ammachi and he used to be rather amused by it). Ammachi’s death in Jul ’91 was a jolt for him and as I reckon, he never recovered from that pain till his end on 19 Jun ’95. They were really made for each other. Six months before his end, Muthachan had come to Delhi to attend a felicitation function and stayed with Lekha and me, for a week. Those were some of the happiest days in my life and there were occasions when we’d a one-to-one conversation on a number of things – an education that I could not have got from any institution in the world. Muthachan, may the light of knowledge, that you’ve kindled in Kerala, shine on to eternity. Your slogan, “Read and grow, Think and achieve wisdom” shall always remain an inspiration for generations to come!

"MY GRANDFATHER BESTEST".

Holi - the festival of colours

A riot of colours as I would like to put it, this is one festival that has remained a fascination, an enigma for a malayali like me to this day. It heralds the arrival of spring after a long, harsh winter and nature, herself, proclaims it by generously adorning the trees and plants with colourful flowers and blossoms. There is a vibrant air of expectancy, all around, as people look forward to the beginning of the festival season.
It was in spring ’73 that I was exposed to this festival, for the first time while at Pune, when I was a first termer at the NDA. I must admit that I was exposed to the ‘naughtier’ version of playing initially, that day and my instant reaction was that of revulsion. Earlier, in the days preceding ‘Holi’, I was struck by a few of my seniors strategizing as to how they should play it with the Kapoors(Mr. Kapoor was a civilian contractor supplying the cadets’ uniforms at the academy). On the day of Holi, the Kapoors who were passing by on their scooter, were stopped by the cadets and it was a free-for-all, with the majority of the guys making a beeline for applying colours on the hapless lady- she was indeed pretty- with Mr. Kapoor standing beside helplessly! Subsequent play with colours amongst us cadets, irrespective of seniority, was a great experience. Over the years, I’ve had some wonderful experiences especially on board the ships that I’d commanded, at INS Hamla where I was on a laughing binge thanks to a generous intake of ‘bhang’, at INS Agrani, Coimbatore(it was here that my coursemate, Sampath Kumar, died of a tragic accident on a ‘Holi’ afternoon) and at Haldia with the Banerjees, where I learnt to play it with the elders and cherish those moments even to this day.
Tomorrow, our servant maid, Meena and her family would be the first to play colours with us – I’ve always observed with amusement as to how her children linger on to us that extra minute while applying colours as they don’t get a chance to mess up with their ‘saabji’ or ‘memsaabji’ everyday- followed by a few of my close friends. We shall not step out of the house by any chance. May the festival of colours bring health, wealth and happiness to every home of this great nation.
PS. And the sweet ‘gujiya’ associated with the festival is something that I’m fond of!
Tailpiece.
1. On this occasion, one feels bad for the quake-hit Chilean and Haitian people who’ve suffered a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. It’s a sincere hope that timely help would reach the needy and the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction would take off on a war footing. A tear and a prayer for the thousands of unfortunate people who lost their lives in the catastrophe.
2. Today was ‘Attukal Pongala’ – a ceremony attended by lakhs of women devotees epicentred at the Attukal temple, about three kms from the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city. The devotees, make ‘payasam’ made of rice and jaggery on temporarily collected stones and firewood, that act as makeshift stoves and offer it to the goddess. The event marks the victory of the goddess over a demon king and occurs around the Ides of March, every year. Almost all the ladies from my amma’s family- except for amma as she was looking after achan- had taken part in the event.
3. And the heavy woollens after wash and airdrying have gone back into the cupboards for yet another winter.

A collage of thoughts

1. Budget times and pre fuel hike blues

It’s always an amusing spectacle to see people do crazy things prior to an imminent fuel hike or just around budget time and Delhi seems to have them in huge numbers. Yesterday, the finance minister had presented the general budget in Parliament and there were predictable reactions from various sections of the society. The bit of news that seemed to get instant response was that of the fuel price hike from midnight and petrol bunks, all over the city, were jammed with motorists who wanted to top up their tanks with fuel, at the existing rates. Perfectly understandable from those sections of the society for whom saving every penny of their personal income is important but what baffles me is that, more often than not, the crowd that throng on such occasions are made up from the affluent lot. What is their reason to do such panic buying? Is it the thrill of beating the system, albeit short lived, which propels them to do so?

2. The movie

Saw ‘My name is Khan’ finally, this afternoon and it was a thought provoking movie. What some people have gone through, in the name of security, seems have been both barbaric and gruesome but I’d still commend President Bush for having set up ‘the homeland security’ for the sake of his country. Its effectiveness says it all, in that, there has been no other terrorist attack after 9/11 in the USA! Two important lessons that need to be learnt from it by us, Indians – an effective security system is shorn of emotions and every man, however high he might be on the social ladder, is equal to the common man in front of the law. On a personal level, I felt extremely sad after seeing the movie, exactly like what I’d felt after seeing Om Puri’s debut ‘Ardha Satya’, years ago. I’m a dreamer and would not like my dreams to be interrupted with the harsh truths that are prevalent around me by watching serious movies because, I must shamefacedly admit that I like watching only those that have happy endings!!

My name is Khan revisited

Captain Matloob Aslam Khan and his gracious wife, Afshan are friends that we’ve picked for life, during my rather long stint at the Directorate of Contracts and Cost Management. I’m fond of him for his naiveté and helping attitude and I suppose he reciprocates it too, in that he has often shown his fondness for me unabashedly – like including me and Lekha for his son’s ‘baraat’, that went all the way to Aligarh, for the wedding and Mrs Khan made it a point to sit with Lekha for the entire day while I underwent a surgery recently. These are priceless gestures, among so many others for which, the both of us will remain indebted to them eternally.
Of late, he’s been quite dejected with his brothers(they’re five siblings- two brothers and two sisters, all elder to him) who’re fighting a dirty legal battle, with the connivance of one of the sisters, over ancestral property – around 100 acres of mango orchard in Bulandshahr. They try every dirty trick to pin him down and the sentimental guy that he is, has tears in his eyes as he narrates every such episode. But the Khans have wonderful assets in the form of their children, Minhaj and Safia, who’re in turn lucky to have wonderful spouses in Aiman and Salman. It’s the chilren’s love that keeps Matloob Khan going, as he is badly racked with a host of ailments – a case of lingering hernia despite three surgeries, recurrent bronchial asthma and to top it all, affliction of the Parkinson’s syndrome!
The Khans are on their way to London, by the early morning 0330h British Airways flight, where they’ll spend five days before flying off to Lagos, Nigeria. Minhaj and Aiman have already fetched up at London yesterday, to be at hand, to receive them. But this trip did not seem to be possible till 1600h this evening simply because the British visa was taking its own time to come. It all started about ten days back, when the visa was applied for, after having got their Nigerian one. It’s said that in Delhi, it usually takes almost a month, to get a British visa and the Khans’ should’ve rightfully catered for this time lag. However, tragedy struck in their immediate circle in the death of a course mate’s wife and they were deeply involved in the attendant ceremonies and hence, the delay in submission of their applications. The British High Commission was in no mood to relent even after being told by the Vice Chief – ‘Dabbu’ Dewan and Matloob Khan are coursemates- that he’s a serving naval officer, all because of the fact that the Britishers do not mess up with security and the most important factor was that his name was Khan!
Here’s wishing the Khans an easy security clearance at the airport, bon voyage and a wonderful holiday. They deserve that after a nerve wracking fortnight!!
Tailpiece. Shaizan, Safia’s son is the youngest person on whom I’ve rendered a ‘Conduct Certificate’, when he was three months’ old, as dictated by the application for his passport. Some crazy requirement, this!!! And incidentally, Matloob Khan was the navy's ace hurdler in his prime.

The agony of being a Muslim

Are the muslims, the world over, looked at through tinted glasses? Why is their loyalty towards their countries – be it India or the USA or the UK – looked at in askance? Was this phenomenon existent since times immemorial or has it sprung up ever since the destruction of the twin towers of New York on 9/11? Is India really secular in her acceptance of all religions as equal? I have my own doubts because of a few incidents that I’ve been privy to over a period of time.
I think I was fortunate in having been brought up in a family that was progressive in its thinking and the tone of liberalism, in thought, was set by none other than my grandparents – both paternal and maternal. I remember being taken to Christian homes to celebrate Christmas, Muslim homes during Id and frankly speaking, would always look forward to attending those dos as there was plenty of fun and frolic and the food was immaculate, full of variety and tasted vastly different from what I used to have at my home! And it was as a matter of routine that those uncles and aunts joined us during Vishu and Onam. Furthermore, if I remember correctly, religion was never discussed at home. So much so, my ignorance of Jailani –a year junior to me in school and in the navy- being a muslim till recently, is reason for much mirth amongst my classmates and coursemates! And religion has never been the basis of my friendships as is the case with most of us who have been part of the armed forces’ fraternity.
But this has been changing over the last few years and especially in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots, I was appalled to hear many, amongst the educated lot, who sincerely felt that the muslims have been taught a lesson at last. I’ve also come to this conclusion – hope I’m absolutely wrong on this one- that there’s a sizable part of the population in our country which feels that the muslims should realize that they’re in a minority and therefore, not do anything that might upset the majority despite the provocation. In other words, live as second class citizens!! It is dangerous if in a society, there are sections that are not considered as equals exist, then fury and hatred for each other will fester and snowball into a violent reaction – the example of the ethnic strife of Sri Lanka, in our own backyard, needs no further explanation. A homogenous society cannot have people being treated differently and a truly secular state ensures peaceful coexistence of people from different religions or regions.
Tailpiece.
Having said thus, the undermentioned are some of the remedies that, according to me, if followed in spirit and to the letter, will go a long way towards making a strong and secular India:-
(a) The policy of appeasement of the minorities, by the government and the political parties needs to be stopped forthwith.
(b) Religions must be practiced within one’s own homes or religious places and should never spill into public places in the form of processions or celebrations.
(c) Freedom of expression for all individuals is good but it does not encompass utterances or depiction of aspects that disturb the sensitivities of the others(It’s just like refraining from doing certain things, say like smoking, in front of one’s parents or elders. Period!)

Railway budget over the years and me

Today it was Mamata Banerjee’s yet another railway budget in parliament and predictably, she got bouquets from the ruling benches and brickbats from the opposition benches. The trend has been the same all these years as I began to comprehend the rigmarole, after my childhood years. Barring the slow, incremental improvement over so many decades, there’s nothing spectacular or discernible by way of improved facilities and latest technology at railway stations, smart and comfortable coaches with telecommunication connectivity, complete electrification of the existing routes etc, etc. Rail travel in the USA, UK, Europe and Japan is a pleasure as one understands from people who’ve experienced it and one always wonders as to why ours can’t reach those standards, if not better them. Apologists might say that it’s the best and the largest government owned enterprise in the world and is efficient despite the constraints of funds. Utter balderdash, I would counter because the budget outlay for the coming financial year is over Rs. 20,000 crores, so where is the lack of funds? And one cannot afford to forget that a sizable length of the tracks is crying for modernization which needs to be taken up as a matter of routine along with the woefully outdated signalling and related safety/alarm apparatuses. To my mind, the Indian Railways is chugging along with comparatively less gruesome accidents only because of luck, fresh air and sunshine!
Why do successive Railway ministers pander to their constituencies and their states with an eye on the vote bank and in the process, end up being regional railway ministers? Why do they forget that the income the railways rake in every year from passengers and freight is drawn from all over the country and for that singular reason, all of them are entitled to the benefits of development in an equitable manner? Why should the government be so parochial in its decisions bringing about haphazard development? Sadly, this is why regionalism and extremist thoughts like that of the Maoists germinate.
The only discernible change in rail travel as I perceive from my childhood is, that today’s children need not worry about their dads being left over at a station as he’d got down to get drinking water from the station’s platform!

An officer and a gentleman

Today there was an ugly spat in our office between an officer and a civilian staff member over something very, very innocuous. The officer hails from Haryana and is quite full of himself with the fact that his state produces adequate food material for his entire state but alas, there were too many migrants who’ve come into Delhi, causing shortages and the consequent spiralling of prices of essential goods. The civilian guy, who hails from Uttar Pradesh appears rustic, belies his appearance and is fairly well versed with the political, economic and social conditions of the area. He was touched to the quick and started reeling out statistics to show as to how the migrant labour was indeed being used by the local folk profitably, for their own ends. As the former
started losing his plot, he resorted to the next best alternative by asking the latter to shut up. After the acrimony was over, as a responsible senior I spoke to the junior, the jist of which is reproduced below and I must admit that this is what I’ve followed in my life, all through, and never once have I failed, as I reckon, but the confirmation can only be given by the others who’ve had close interaction with me but here I go:-
(a) As an officer, one is always expected to be an epitome of gentlemanliness, punctilious courtesy and a good human being.
(b) His concern for the others far exceeds the discomfort that he has to go through in ensuring their welfare/safety/genuine requirements.
(c) His words have to be weighed before he utters anything and as far as possible, he must be in full control of his emotions( a place where I still have miles to go!).
(d) He never discusses women or money at the dining table or in any public place.
(e) He never gets into any arguments, discusses controversial subjects like religion and as part of any discussion, if he were to realise that he’s wrong he should be gracious enough to admit it and withdraw.
And finally, I quoted a saying from the walls of Hunter Squadron at the NDA that I’d seen, both while standing in an upright position and while being upside down- as a part of the numerous ragging episodes- and reflected over it many times, which according to me, puts the whole thing so succinctly and in the right perspective,
“If you are a gentleman, nothing else matters
If you are not a gentleman, still nothing matters.”

Caravan - the summer(?) in autumn '72

This evening, I was on my regular walk in the sheltered cantonment area. The brisk walk over a stretch of roughly six kms takes me around 48 minutes to complete but freshens me for the remaining part of the evening besides being able to reflect over the day’s proceedings. Normally, I’m out of the house by a quarter to seven and it’s during this time when I also do a bit of breezy socializing by saying a hello or simply give a friendly wave or even talk to a few fellow walkers, who’ve become familiar, over a period of time and such exchanges always invigorate me.
Of this circuit, there’s a stretch of a kilometer and a half over the Mall road, where music wafts through speakers, fitted on electric poles at regular intervals, for the benefit of the walkers and I enjoy it thoroughly always hoping that I do not have to pick up conversation with anybody to enable savouring the music at hand. This evening, much to my delight it was the song, ‘Arrey ho, ho, ho, ho goriya kahan tera desh re….’ from the evergreen Jeetender, Asha Parekh hit ‘Caravan’ as this is related to a special occasion in my life.
Thirty eight years back, sometime in Sep ’72 after clearing the SSB(Services Selection Board) interview, at Mysore, for the NDA, I was out on liberty for the evening, on cloud nine and absolutely thrilled with life. I was to report to the IAM(Institute of Aviation Medicine) at Bangalore for my medicals and the Chamundi express, on which I’d got my reservation, was available only next morning. I and my schoolmate, Sebastian Thomas – the only two guys to clear from our batch of 28 guys – had then decided to see ‘Caravan’. It was while taking my seat in the auditorium, that I saw three girls being needled by two guys and one of the girls was close to tears. The chivalrous guys that we were quickly took charge and sent the guys packing to another set of seats and we took over as temporary guardians of the girls at hand.
I must admit that the girl who was close to tears, had tugged at my heart –her name was Shantini- and as I’d said earlier in this blog of mine, one of the numerous ‘loves’ that I’d fallen headlong into. And mind you, that affair lasted only during the space of that one evening and I don’t even know whether she reciprocated the sentiments! Incidentally, the song cited above was liked by both of us, as we exchanged notes after the movie, over icecreams at a Dasaprakash outlet!

Billu barber revisited

After a fairly hectic day, was back home by 1700h and as usual, decided to watch the evening movie on the Asianet channel. I was delighted to find that it was ‘Katha Parayumbol’ (literally translated, it means ‘while telling the story’) starring the superstar, Mammooty and a host of other actors, which was a superhit on release.
It has a simple storyline that talks of a friendship from school, where one of them happens to be from a home that’s more economically well off than the other who does not even have the wherewithal to have a square meal a day. After school, they part and while the former is a barber in a village, the latter goes on to become a successful film star and he has fetched up in that very same village, as a member of a film unit, on location shooting. The barber is hesitant to meet his friend, despite coaxing and taunts from every quarter, as he’s unsure as to whether his friend would even recognize him, in his present state of affluence and fame! How he’s proved wrong in his perception is the climax of the film.
I have seen the Tamil remake starring Rajnikant and of course, 'Billu barber' starring Shahrukh Khan, both of which were miserable flops at the box office. Why did that happen? Dispassionately speaking and not because of being a ‘mallu’, I thought both the remakes strayed away from the simple storyline and gave too much of screen space/importance to the movie star by weaving the story around him! Was it to justify the star value of Rajnikant or Shahrukh Khan I wonder, but it definitely did not work with the masses.
Malayalam movies had ventured into ‘parallel/art cinema’ in the seventies, through stalwarts like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and therefore, treated like a holy cow in movie appreciations, the world over and only Bengali films have matched, if not scored over them, in pure class, finesse and quality.
But ‘Katha Parayumbol’ is an out and out commercial film. And that’s what makes me happy. Here’s wishing that there are many more such films from the Malayalam moviemakers in the years to come.

By George!

One of the notable news lines of today was yet another episode of the ugly saga of the ongoing tussle between George Fernandes’ immediate family and his close associates.
Why’ve Leila Kabir, his wife and their son come now to protect George, after so many years of staying away from him? And belated though, why did Jaya Jaitley and his other close associates make him a pathetic spectacle during the last general elections to the Lok Sabha? These questions defy logic but it’s amply clear that both the parties are jostling not for his wealth, as the media makes us believe, but to take control of his political space.
I was his liaison officer for two days, during his visit to Kochi, way back during the latter half of 1998, when he was the defence minister. As a politician, I must confess that he’d never impressed me because his rise in politics was mainly because of his theatrics- he was a vitriolic ‘anti-Indira Gandhi’ man as she had him incarcerated in jail during the ‘emergency’ thanks to his involvement in the infamous ‘Baroda dynamite case’. (As the railways’ trade union leader, he was accused to have masterminded a plot to blow up the main rail track near that city to show Mrs. Gandhi’s government in poor light). But through bits and pieces of my conversations with him, I gleaned that he had tremendous respect for the firebrand socialist of the ‘50s and the ‘60s, Ram Manohar Lohia, whom he claimed to be his guru. And seeing my inquisitiveness, he passed on one of Lohia’s gems to me viz, ‘for any man to be successful in politics, he must respect it like he does his religion but, also, must understand that religion is long term politics.’
During those two days of my association with him, I’d seen him interact with the naval dockyard and Cochin shipyard workers, the senior clergymen of the Christian diocese besides of course, attending the naval functions. He relished the pomp and show of our ceremonials and I wondered, then, as to whether he ever thought that he’d be a minister in his wildest of dreams, twenty years earlier! I must admit that he was not a demanding guy to be liaison officer with and the IAS officer, his PS ensured that he sent me a thank you letter on his return to Delhi. And, in retrospect, I suppose this country shall always remember him for making the Konkan rail a reality and for sacking Adm Vishnu Bhagwat, the naval chief!!
The once fiery and vociferous politician is now in this world without knowing the purpose of his life, thanks to the deadly Alzheimer’s illness and it’s pathetic to see his close relatives and friends trying to take advantage of his helplessness. Sad!

Friends

Yesterday while at office, a colleague of mine told me that he’s quite jealous of me for the fact that I’d so many friends. He must have noticed that people have been calling me every now and then, at times just for making a polite conversation laced with a lot of lighthearted banter. Yes, I am indeed blessed with quite a few of them that spread through a timeframe, beginning from my schooldays. He also stated that I do go out of my way to reach out to people which he just cannot do.
I’m really amused with this observation. To explain about the individual that I’d mentioned above and his predicament, it doesn’t require much of analysis or thinking. What I’d observed of him is that he does connect up with people but only if he had a requirement and he is fully aware of whom to tap depending on the circumstances– at times, he even pleads and cajoles and always gets his way - and achieves what he wants. And then the communication gets non-existent. His deduction is that there’s no necessity in keeping a large circle of friends which is at best infructuous and a time and money waster thanks to the accompanying telephone bills. And therein lies his problem and I did tell him that and he seems to have taken it well.
My take on this is nothing very extraordinary because I believe that friendship is a two way process and there is no profit or loss account that needs to be maintained in a relationship. At times, it’s simple things that contribute to a robust relationship like lending a shoulder to cry on or giving a patient hearing to what the other has to say without sitting in judgment or by just remembering an occasion that has a special place in the other’s life. It can also extend to a larger area of partnership be it on the professional, social, financial or emotional levels but the underlying fact being that such a relationship has to be without letting the other burdened with a sense of obligation (if that were to happen, the person receiving your largesse, however needy he/she might be, will feel small and inferior and over a period of time, feel extremely suffocated in the relationship which ultimately has to snap!)
My grandmother, Mrs PN Panicker, used to tell me and I quote, ‘A good friend is like a mirror, you should be able to see yourself with your warts and the moles through him/her achievable by free and frank communication’ and I don't think that I could have put it any better.

Numero uno in test cricket - Congratulations!

It was yet another day, when I saw the entire set of officers and staff of my directorate either crowding in front of the LCD screen or around the cellphone which was giving a ball-by-ball description of the game, eagerly waiting with bated breath for the result of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa, played at Calcutta’s lovely Eden Garden. The anxiety was especially palpable in the last fifteen overs when there was just one more wicket to fall. Normal work in the office had come to a grinding halt, every ball that went past without earning a wicket was greeted with shaking of heads in utter disgust but the choicest of epithets were reserved for any sort of misfielding and mind you, everyone had some advice or the other to give to Dhoni for wrapping up the game as quickly as possible.
By saying all this, I’m not trying to say that I was different, being much superior to the rest and that, these things did not matter to me. It’s ingrained in me that if I were to closely follow the game, the Indians had a propensity to lose and therefore, always prefer to hear the good news later on. And there’s another angle to my present approach to cricket as a game.
Many years back, while I was at school, I was a member of the school cricket team and had won matches by the sheer strength of my batting and leg spin bowling. It was this halo that I carried with me into the NDA. Sometime, within the first week of my first term, we were assembled at the squadron grounds and our sixth term appointments were eager to know as to what games we had played and excelled in. When my turn came, the moment I’d uttered ‘cricket’, our CSM- Cadet Sergeant Major-Anil Kumar Rai gave me one tight whack on my shins, with a hockey stick, saying that I should never say it again as he was only interested in guys who played troop games like football, hockey and basketball which fetched points for the squadron on the Inter Squadron championships. The acute pain in my shin (though I was given immediate medical attention) with blood trickling from the wound brought instant tears to my eyes- but concealed it to the best of my ability because I did not want those guys to think that they’d cowed me down- but something deep within me, my immense love for cricket snapped that instant. Over the years, I’ve played and organized many cricket matches, but the adrenaline rush all through me that I used to experience during my schooldays, has always been missing!
Anyways, back to the present, congratulations to the Indian cricket team for retaining the number one position in the world, in test cricket!!

To school at 4 - the right step!

I was extremely delighted to see that the government is seriously mulling over raising the school entrance age of children to four, from the existing three, so that a child sits in class one, only on attaining six years of age. The minister for Human Resource Development, had called a meeting of the concerned ministers, drawn from all the states, in Delhi last week where the idea was mooted and my opinion is, that, it’s a step in the right direction (though three states viz. Kerala, UP and West Bengal went unrepresented, playing petty politics as usual, I’m sure that they too would eventually warm up to this well conceived idea).
What we see these days is the sad plight of children being sent to daycares, crèches and pre-schools, literally from their cradles so that their parents can take up jobs to bring in increased income to the family. The results are disastrous for everyone to see – the kids are brought up by untrained people, who are a completely harried lot, as they’re exposed to the tantrums thrown up by the children and hence do not hesitate to use any means to control difficult behavioural patterns and unwittingly in the process, inflict psychological scars on the children. And another sad consequence of this trend is that the kids lose their childlike innocence quite early and they’re made to run the race of life when many of them are woefully unequipped to take on the mad scramble! They become more and more like robots and I cringe when I hear children mouth dialogues/conversational pieces much beyond their age. For the children’s sake, my appeal to all parents would be, ‘please let them be what they are and do not force the pace on them.’Furthermore, to bring about a revolutionary change, education should be a continuously enthralling experience, where the teacher – student dialogue is an ongoing process with the rote system completely shunned and teaching, as a profession, given its pride of place as teachers mould the country’s future.

Indian Advertisements - Are they going regressive?

An advertisement is considered good when the product it’s trying to popularize, is tantalizingly put across, so that the viewer will not rest till he or she has satisfied the urge to use it. Indian advertising has come a long way and today it can boast to be the best in its department, capable of beating the world’s best, in class, substance and genre. But what worries me is, that, of late, there’s an increasing tendency to bank on negativity to highlight the goodness of a product. The most glaring example that comes to my mind is the battle between ‘Complan’ and ‘Horlicks’ – some of the facts being bandied about wouldn’t even stand an honest technical scrutiny! And lesser said about the ad on ‘Fair and Lovely’ cream, the better it would be. It’s simply obnoxious and regressive and there’s no doubt on that score, at least to my mind!! It just goes to reinforce the age old Indian weakness for the white skin, and we’ve no right to blame the likes of the late Michael Jackson or even the hot Hollywood actress, Halle Beri for bleaching their skin. There’s yet another class of advertisements which try to put down age old and time tested practices as granny’s idiosyncrasies – the ones on ‘Chik Satin Shampoo’ and ‘Vivel’ readily come to my mind.
An ideal ad, to my mind, should be positive oriented and catchy enough to urge the viewer to get into the product’s user bandwagon at the earliest.

On the newshour

As is my habit during primetime, I make it a point to surf news channels to find out as to how the media is covering the day’s burning issues and I must admit to my sneaky preference to hear what Pronoy Roy or Arnab Goswami has to tell us. This is over and above what I absorb from the BBC/CNN on international news and the Asianet/Surya channels for the ones that are Kerala specific. I’m of the firm opinion that the media, unwittingly, gives terrorists, unwanted ruffians( Muthalik is the best example in this category along with the Thackerays –both uncle and nephew) and many banned outfits, too much of media space and ample coverage to sell their wares. And what’s most disparaging is, that, these bad men spew so much of venom that can easily sway the minds of misguided youth and drifters as they, in turn, realize (much to our agony later, perhaps) that they too can get wide coverage by virtue of the path of destruction that they choose for themselves!
To cite this evening’s instance, the two news lines that were predominant were the Pune blasts being linked to the ‘Karachi plot’ and the Maoists’ deadly attack on two police camps in the state of West Bengal. In the process a guy called ‘Maki’ was shown spewing the most vitriolic language and threats to India, from somewhere in Pakistan. Similarly, known Maoist sympathizers were covered, giving their opinions and justifying their actions against the state, in another clip. Both the parties, according to me, have achieved the otherwise impossible accomplishment – tell the whole country that they can do and strike at any place of their choosing and our state machinery just can’t do a fig to stop or prevent them!
For once, the media needs to stop going overboard in their coverage of Pakistan, terrorist organizations and outfits of nuisance value like the Ramsene and give more coverage to the many good things that are happening around us everyday and the numerous unsung heroes of our society who carry on their good work despite all odds and difficulty. The media can definitely be more balanced in their coverage of news towards fulfilling their moral responsibility to society.

The madness of terror

It’s almost 24 hours beyond that wretched blast in Pune, last evening. I was elsewhere, when someone broke this news to me and the selfish me immediately rang up all my folks out there just to hear their voices so as to comfort myself that my immediate world still held together. But what about those unlucky ones who might have planned so many things for the morrow, never to be able to see through their wishes fulfilled? Why has life been so unkind to them? As the gory details came on the TV channels, a sense of deep anguish coupled with rage, born out of a sense of impotency and helplessness to do something, has engulfed me. A sense of personal loss is all pervading and I’ve not been able to shake off that feeling.
What sort of people are the terrorists? Do they really understand their religion to be displaying such inhuman behaviour? What happens to them if their own kith and kin were to lose their lives or face grave danger under similar circumstances? No religion in this world propagates elimination of life or property. So why do these people get to do this and spread so much of hatred amongst fellow human beings? From past records and analyses, it’s fairly clear that almost all of those- so- called- terrorists were drifters, easily mouldable through indoctrination to do the extreme act of taking the life of another, never mind losing one’s own life in the process.
Is this, then, the trend of the times? Will all those who’re unable to do well in life, go in droves to achieve ‘fame’ through ignominy? I’d like to believe otherwise, because as I put these thoughts of mine, there’s a musical reality show being telecast on the Asianet channel involving children with their sparkling eyes so full of hope and confidence in their demeanour , which reinforces that famous number, ‘we shall overcome’.

Tailpiece. Being Valentine’s day, my spirits were lifted thanks to a number of cute messages received from many of my young friends, all through the day. And yes, we’ve the responsibility to give them a caring and loving tomorrow.

Valentine's day and me being a party animal

Today, I’ve been invited to a Valentine’s eve dinner. I’m of the firm belief that Valentine’s day is more relevant to the youngsters who take their first step in love, go through heartbreaks only to kiss and make up soon after and exchange vows to be together for the rest of their lives. It’s really a great thing to be in love though my own experience about falling in love was more on a frequency, that, matched the Bombayites getting in and out of BEST buses and more often than not, my feelings were hopelessly one sided, in that the objects of my feelings never reciprocated the same! But I really enjoy seeing people in love and the extent to which the concerned couple can go, to be together is truly amazing – Rajat Gupta, my latest young friend, courtesy the recent Pune-Delhi trip, is a classic example and incidentally, he’s off to Chandigarh to be with his girl for the weekend. I feel that the expression of love cannot be restricted to a single day and it transcends religion, region and even age! It’s the purity of feelings that one has for the other 24x7, 365 days a year, period!!
And I’m no party animal though I’m an invitee to some of them. Basically shy, I’d rather spend my time alone, either watching the TV or settling down with a good book. I wouldn’t like to be vain, thinking that I’m extremely popular thanks to my ready wit and knowledge of things (a Jack of all trades, since I make it a point to read anything and everything that comes my way and I observe people and events- human behaviour really fascinates me – and this definitely gives me an advantage to pick up the thread of conversation, while in a group, without being voluble. But while I tell a joke, I always fluff the punch line!) or that I’m good looking (with my 5’3” frame and buck teeth, I’ve given myself a 4 out of 10 in this department long, long ago and at 54, it really doesn’t matter).Then why do I get the invites? Probably, an inebriated me with all my clumsiness, must be a continuous source of entertainment for the hosts and the guests as they’re kept in splits all through. I must, however, admit that I enjoy every bit of it and I wonder whether the others also do so in equal measure, if not more, to have me around them?

Tailpiece. After having seen the programme ‘Raaz Pichale Janam Ka’, I’ve this feeling that I was a mughal emperor – probably, Akbar – in my previous birth and hence go for a session when the programme goes on air again. But I also I’ve this lingering fear as to what would happen if it were to be established that I was Aurangzeb, instead! People will skin me for all his deeds!!

An aspect of life that fascinates me, always!

It’s a very common thing that happens to me, either when I’m all by myself reflecting over something or even when I’m with others and that too during interaction, my mind (or is it my soul?) wanders out of my body, goes to faraway places that are familiar to me or visit people who mean a lot to me, spends time around there/with them and returns, without causing any disruption to the work that I’ve been doing. I’ve also gleaned from my conversations with others that it’s a phenomenon which has been experienced by every one of them and that too, on a regular basis. It can thus be safely deduced that it’s an aspect of life that every man or woman born on this earth is privy to. What fascinates me is that one’s mind( or the soul) always returns to one’s body without ever losing its way enroute! And the baffling thing is that there are many such movements, involving enormous distances, crisscrossing one another as they take place at the same time.
Conversely, imagine the chaos that would erupt if someone else’s mind (or the soul) were to fetch up into one’s body!! The beauty is that it never happens and that’s yet another law of nature or the cosmic truth.

Obit. The 89 year old gentleman who was admitted the other day into the Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt for a broken femur, passed away late this afternoon. He’d suffered a cardiac arrest in the wee hours of this morning, revived by the doctors and put on life support systems for the whole of the forenoon. I got the impression that he’d lost the will to live, thanks to the hideous atmosphere of the ICU and he was begging his son to have him taken out of that place, yesterday evening. His 79 year old wife, who is back home says that she’s missed his angry howls and taunts for the last few days that he had been here and now she will hear them never again. As I write this, he’s on his way to his final resting place at Moga. May his soul rest in peace and may God give courage to the old lady and the family to bear the loss.

Mixed Reactions

I was thinking of revisiting my innermost questions and doubts on God, but shall leave them for another occasion as two items on this evening’s news menu struck me as ominous yet laudable all the way. It just goes to show how the resilient common man can react to obnoxious people/ trying situations when he gets the right opportunity. Of course, there is a morality factor involved in this as to whether taking the law into one’s own hand is justified at all, because, if everyone were to resort to such a step, it would be chaotic and catastrophic! Anyways, the following are the newslines that gladdened but saddened me too, on rumination.
(a) Muthalik, the Ramsene chief gets a taste of his own medicine. It was exactly a year ago, during Valentine’s day, when Muthalik and his goons played moral policemen and molested five young girls for celebrating the occasion and he’d gone on record to say that the incident was trivial and a befitting lesson for the future. Today, the very same guy was humiliated on the streets of Bangalore when he was surrounded by a group of young men who painted his face with black paint and he definitely wasn’t amused. I was extremely thrilled to see the clip but do fear for the safety of those young men, because Muthalik and his goons will definitely go all out to wreak vengeance on them. May God be with them as I can assure them that the happiest souls would be those five hapless girls who’d to go through ignominy for no fault of theirs! Here’s wishing that their gratitude acts as talisman for the young men from all evils.
(b) Davender Ghai gets the British Law to permit the last rites of his choice. After years of legal battle, this Indian who has been a resident in London for the last 54 years has been permitted to get an open air cremation upon his death, which was considered illegal in that country till this day and he is naturally jubilant. I was glad that the 71 year old gentleman had the grit and stamina to fight a gruelling legal battle but I also have a fundamental question in this regard and that is, when one decides to go and settle down in another place/country shouldn’t one act, do and live by the rules, customs and traditions prevalent there and not hurt their sentiments by insisting on doing things one’s own way? I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Ghai has hurt many of the Britishers, especially the younger generation and who knows, whether this hurt snowballs into hatred towards Indians at a later date? I sincerely hope it doesn’t.

God, you've to take the call on your 'looks'

I’ve always tried to visualize as to how my God looks like? This is because, I take refuge in the concept of God quite often and have a dialogue (actually, a monologue and give expression to my prevalent frame of my mind). The circumstances dictate the God and the gender which I shall try to explain – when my grandfather was on the throes of death, I was appealing to Lord Siva that he should continue to be with us, but when I was taking a test – any exam for that matter- it had to be the Goddess Saraswati for ensuring success and before the commencement of anything- like taking up a new appointment- Lord Ganesh was to be appeased, so that no obstacle came my way during the execution. The list, thus, is endless.

Recently, I’d the opportunity to read Richard Dawkins’ ‘God Delusion’ where the author dispels the theory of God and reaffirms his point of view, that, God is a figment of imagination among the people thanks to the fear of retribution from somebody powerful, much more powerful than him/her, who’s continuously monitoring mankind and meticulously maintaining an account of each individual’s good deeds as well as the sins! This thought has been given credence through lots of myths and stories built around it and continuously reinforced in everyone, by the clergy of every religious group.

Till recently, I was sure that God was a powerful mass of energy guarding the universe and all of us who inhabit it. But inherent in this thought was a dichotomy as to how ‘It’ can discharge emotional functions. And resorting to prayers and visits to holy places for achieving aims desperately sought by one’s mind – highlighted in the first paragraph - knocks the bottom of this theory.

That’s why I’d like to believe that God has many forms as seen in the Hindu concept where He is a family man himself and each God has a definite area of responsibility! And my favourite is Lord Krishna who’s most practical in tackling the aspects of life as articulated beautifully in the ‘Bhagwad Gita’.

A day when nothing seemed to go right

A day when nothing seemed to go right. The geyser had stopped working 20 minutes after being switched on. So, hot water had become something that was available only at a premium. The 'Devraag' had by then gone kaput. To make matters worse, the car pool guys were astonishingly late eventhough I was ready to the dot despite the shortfall of the hot water for my creature comforts. The day seemed to be full of rains and the sky was overcast, beckoning us Delhiites to a very dull day. The traffic was irritable and it took us almost half an hour to reach Sena Bhavan which is just about 7 kms away – so much about Delhi traffic!
I was supposed to be chairing a meeting at the Shipyard House at Safdarjung enclave and can you beat it, there was no vehicle available, to convey me to the venue? Finally, after a lot of permutation and combination, pleading and cajoling, I could manage a vehicle and fetch up at the venue, grinning self consciously from ear to ear, and trying to cover myself with the weakest of alibis for being late. The only saving grace was that, after the discussions, I could allay frayed tempers and arrive at a commonly acceptable decision by the end of the day( why does each and everyone covet only the victory podium?). On return, I was exasperated to find that somebody had walked away with my umbrella and that the Naval pay office had to say something very unreasonable about my forthcoming pay. Soon it was secure time and I’d to then manage another vehicle to find my way home and by the time I did reach there, it was too late to watch the Malayalam news which is a must for me everyday, failing which I find that I’m all at sea and totally helpless.. Disgusted with how the day had worked out for me, I went for my customary brisk walk which was the only saving grace for the day. On return and a telephone call later, I was bewildered and frustrated to find the phone slammed on my face leaving me totally forlorn and sad. Then my friend, Madhu fetched up and the tempo of the evening started picking up. It really has been a long, long day!!
And as I get ready to tuck myself into bed, it’s my sincere wish that tomorrow will be a good day. Insha Allah it 'll be!!!

O God, please look after my parents

I was not expecting to find time to write my blog today. It was because I was on an errand for a good friend of mine. He’d got the news from his home early this morning that his father had fallen down and fractured his femur. The old gentleman is 89 years old and lives in a godforsaken village, Moga of Punjab. He was brought in from there around 2100 hrs, taken straight to the Base Hospital close by and since the orthopedic surgeon is a good friend of mine, has undergone a corrective surgery and should be out of harm’s way. Delhi has been wet throughout this evening thanks to the continuous rains and I only hope that tomorrow’s bright and sunny. Thankfully, the cold has reduced considerably and I’m sure God has taken note of my good deed.
It’s my fond hope that some good Samaritan will look after my aged parents, back home, should they need help.

Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman

It almost looked like a coincidence and that too a pleasant one. Last night, I happened to see the programme called, “Total Recall” on the Times Now channel on Dev Anand and this morning, the “Rangoli” on the National channel which paid a tribute to Waheeda Rehman. I said coincidental because whenever I think or talk of one of them, the other invariably comes into the ambit. Probably, the movie, ‘Guide’ has a role to play in the memory etched deeply in my mind.
Waheeda Rehman, in her heydays, is what I’d term as statuesque beauty. The language that she conveys through her face- especially the eyes- during the song ‘chaudhavi ka chand ho’ is exquisite as though every part of her body understands the soul of the lyrics.
But my personal favourite is her role in the movie ‘Darpan’ with Sunil Dutt in which she looks stunning and ethereal. Even now, her visage is what I understand as ageless beauty and she’s simply graceful.
Dev Anand, on the other hand has a very pleasant countenance and his presence on screen in all his films has a magical and irresistible charm. All his films have one underlying quality in that they’ve excellent music- both haunting and melodious. I mean one can never be bored hearing any of them again and again but my all time favourite is the song ‘Phoolon ke rang se’ from ‘Prem Pujari’. His zest for films and film making continues to be as ardent, if not more, than what one expects in a newcomer.We, Indians, are blessed to have these actors as ours and should be grateful to them for having regaled us for years. Here’s wishing the both of them health and happiness with a fond hope that they will be with us forever.

Do I want to do it all over again?

“Give me some sunshine
Give me some rain
Give me another chance
I wanna’ grow up once again.”

These are the opening lines of one of the numbers from the super hit Hindi movie ‘Three Idiots’ and as I heard them sometime, earlier in the day, the thought struck me as to whether I too felt the same way about my life spent thus far.
Long time back, as a kid, when I used to see my father coming home with a lot of gifts and it used to be celebration time at my grandparents’ home, I wanted to grow up fast, become successful, so that I could be like him.
After that, once I’d joined the Sainik School in VII th Standard and saw my seniors coming back to school, during their hols, I again wished that I grew up fast and brought glory to the school. (On passing out from school, I was more inclined to be a doctor because, to my mind, the profession of medicine was the best, as a doctor brought back mankind from the brink of death and I must confess that movies like ‘Safar’ and ‘Anand’ helped bolster this thought at that impressionable age).
And then, on joining the NDA when I saw my DivOs and other officers of the staff, I wanted to pass out as early as possible to become a worthy officer and achieve laurels. And lo and behold, I became one!
What I’ve done so far in the Navy and also about my achievements, I have no regret but I’d be kidding if I were to say that I was not upset when I wasn’t made a Captain, on the select list!! It’s almost a decade back and time has definitely helped heal the wound!!!
And, if I were to meet God tomorrow who grants me a wish to live my life all over again, would I like to live the same way that I’ve lived thus far? My answer has a rider and that is, “Yes, I’d love to grow up the same way, provided, I get back all those people whom I’ve lost till now, without whose nurturing, I could have never reached this stage of my life and also, let me have the continued presence of all those who mean very much to my existence. Otherwise, it’s a big no.”

On the negotiating table

Today, I and my team were negotiating with an American firm as we’re interested in an equipment of their’s. Negotiations can be long winded- like it was in this case- or absolutely short and sweet. The essence of a successful negotiation, in my view, is that the concerned parties should end up with a win-win feeling. After having been a party to countless negotiations over the last 10 years, it’s my firm conclusion that there’s always an element of theatrics associated with the whole affair – there’s anger, sarcasm, intimidation, dejection, joy, frustration, waffling, back slapping and the works- on the whole, there’s never a dull moment during the entire process!
The vendor’s team consisted of two yanks, one, the CEO himself and the other his technical consultant and two young, smart Indian lads, in their mid thirties, who articulated their points extremely well. From the body language of the yanks, it was pretty clear that they were convinced with our point of view but the Indian lads just wouldn’t budge. It was ironic to see them picking up cudgels against their own countrymen but it was fair and I don’t blame them for standing their ground as they’re just showing their loyalty to the organization that was paying them and doing a good job at that!!
On a personal level, I cannot do this to my country and it was for this singular reason that I’d rejected some tempting offers in the past. Money and good life are not the end all of life. Altogether, an interesting experience and an afternoon well spent.

Oh, those killer roads!

This morning’s Times of India had the depressing news of the deaths of five teens on the roads of Delhi. The incidents were separate events having taken place in different parts of the city and the most gut –wrenching story was that of the accident of a brother and sister run over by a speeding bus. The story of the killer roads is a never ending saga and reeks of callousness, blatant flouting of rules regarding safety procedures to be complied with and a couldn’t-care-less attitude on the part of the law makers as well as the law breakers. A masochistic streak while driving high-definition vehicles are commonly prevalent amongst quite a few misguided youth and with alcohol and drugs, the ‘cocktail’ gets to be deadly and dangerous for others to be on the road along with them!
One must concede that the spate of accidents, as in the days of old, has reduced thanks to the centre- dividers on many roads but much more needs to be done. All buses must have speed governors that would prevent the drivers from crossing speed limits and the drivers educated about driving etiquettes so as to enable them to drive with an attitude of empathy towards fellow motorists.
I remember our big moustached driver, Sasi, from whom I’d the privilege to learn the nuances of driving when I was young. He used to tell me that a person’s upbringing could be gauged by the way he or she drove. To honk at pedestrians was boorishness and a big no-no for him and so was driving at night with the hi-beam on! ‘You must drive fully aware of the other driver’s difficulties and avoid giving him a problem from your side’ was his constant refrain. Sasi was a disarmingly simple man who’d not seen the portals of a school beyond IV standard but was a repository of worldly wisdom.
It’s my fervent wish that our countrymen learned to drive more sensibly and with empathy towards other fellow motorists and for the five lives that had been wasted yesterday, my silent prayers that God give their parents/ guardians the strength to bear the tremendous loss.

My heart bleeds for you, Bombay

1. I was saddened by the posturing of various luminaries and personalities on the continuing war of words on the ‘Mumbai for Mumbaikars’ issue. To take stock of the present impasse, it would be worthwhile to have a quick, chronological rundown of the events to understand as to how a non-issue has become an issue:-
(a) During the IPL auction, Pakistani cricketers were shunned by all team owners and
today’s press makes us believe that, perhaps, Lalit Modi might have had a hand in the
backroom games associated with it.
(b) Shah Rukh Khan speaks out against the unfortunate incident prompting Bal Thackeray
to express his anger and he and his goons decide that the actor’s forthcoming film,
‘My name is Khan’ will not be released in the theatres of Bombay.
(c) Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on a tour of Bihar says that Bombay is for all Indians
and reminds crowds that the very same people who’re rooting for ‘Mumbai for
Mumbaikars’ have forgotten the fact that the NSG commandos deployed in Bombay
during 26/11 were drawn from Bihar and UP and many had laid down their lives in
their fight against the terrorists.
(d) Udhav Thackeray asks Rahul Gandhi to stop his utterances, failing which he’d
not be allowed to enter Bombay. And he further terms Chidambaram as having
spoken like the Home Minister of Pakistan when he’d opined that the entire IPL
auction incident was unfortunate.
2. Bollywood seems to be badly divided on the issue which is the most unfortunate thing.
If they’d rallied together and told the people, from a common platform, that every
Indian has the right to come to Bombay and earn his livelihood, it would definitely
have thwarted the divisive tactics of the Thackeray goons and given them a befitting
reply. Unfortunately, that’s not to be and notwithstanding the fact that huge sums of money is at stake, everyone seems to be doing things for his own benefit.
3. My doubts that I’d like to ask the Bollywood actors are as follows:-
(a) Why can’t you be real life heroes for once?
(b) As men of public adulation, shouldn’t you stand up and expose the wrongdoings
of the politicians as part of your social responsibility?
(c) Or are you also on the Hindu- Muslim divide amongst your own circles?
(d) In times of trouble, why don’t you set aside personal differences and work unitedly towards a common goal.
4. I’ve this sad feeling that many amongst them think like Thackeray and his ilk. May God be with you in these trying times!

Rajni, tusi great ho!

In our constant search for icons – looking for individuals of excellence, worthy of emulation – we miss out on real life heroes and heroines, often, within our immediate surroundings just because they lack the halo of the media hoopla and are downright simple but fiercely committed to their cause. They do stupendous work in helping the needy of the society, often at ridiculous rates of remuneration and shun any sort of publicity as it were the plague. Then, what keeps them motivated and committed to their cause? To my mind, it’s their calling from deep within, a passion born out of compassion for fellow human beings and an attitude to help without caring a damn about their own discomfort or difficulty.
Ms. Rajni Parmar is one such person. A shy, ever smiling girl touching 50 and the wife of a brother officer, she’s a ‘Speech Language Therapist’. Her normal day starts at 7 as she has to visit two schools to help the special children, who look forward to being with her. Their love for her and dependence on her, are indeed touching and deep.
I must confess here to having had a quirk in me, many years back and about how I was able to overcome it by a humbling experience that happened in my life. I used to be quite repulsed by deformity in people so much so that I used to studiously keep away from them – an environment centered around my early years in the Holy Angel’s Convent and the Sainik School, both in Thiruvananthapuram and later, in the NDA kept me sheltered ( it was on the same lines that Shashi Kapoor expressed on sighting the charred face of Zeenat Aman, for the first time, in the movie ‘Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram’). It continued till years later in ’93, when my wife went through the harsh devastation of the debilitating illness, SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythmatosis) and ended up with deformities in her hands that I was able to come out of my quirk. And I’m glad that this change did come about.
And now, coming back to the brood of people like Rajni Parmar, I doff my hat in praise of them -born out of utmost respect to their selfless work- because they must definitely be having the following sterling qualities which make them different from us, ordinary mortals, which are:-
(a) Enormous patience
(b) Genuine love for people and
(c) Empathy.

Rajni, tusi great ho!

Melancholia

As I sit on the keyboard today, my mind is ruffled seeing a musical reality show on the Asianet channel on TV. It was an elimination round and four out of the eight contestants, who were in the danger zone after the ninth stage, have been shown the door. Their parting words tugged at something deep within and my heart really went out to them. May the best one win amongst the remaining ones and I wish that all those who’ve been eliminated will definitely find new avenues opening their way, they’ll work harder and carve a niche for themselves eventually – that’s the law of nature and the cosmic truth!
After my evening walk, I’d to visit the nearby market to fetch some photographs and as I was driving, the song that was playing on the FM was the late Nazia Hassan’s ‘Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagi Mein Aaye’ from the 1982 hit ‘Qurbani’. Nazia Hassan was a strikingly good looking girl, born and brought up in London, and this was her debut number. She’d a promising career but her life was cut short by cancer. A similarly sad ending befell another favourite singer of mine – Karen Carpenter, who’d immortalized the album ‘Carpenters’ with her brother. God definitely played spoilsport on the lives of these two gifted singers. But having said that, I must reiterate that they shall always remain immortal in the minds and hearts of mankind through their hauntingly melodious voice.

Much Ado About Nothing

Bombay is again witness to a slugfest over trivia. The highhandedness of Bal Thackeray
and his goons are very much in evidence in the destruction of posters of Shahrukh Khan’s
forthcoming movie ‘My name is Khan’. They’ve said that they will not allow the screening of the film because the actor had hit out against the boycott of Pakistani players in the recently concluded IPL auction. On a personal level, I too endorse his views on the issue because no country can be humiliated in this manner and especially so when sporting events are involved. While one accepts the fact that Pakistan has tried every trick in its repertoire to discomfort India, we do not have to stoop to their levels. But who gave the right to Thackeray to take law into his hands?

The Maharashtra government is a mute bystander watching the fun. How long can one man take the state to ransom? Doesn’t an individual have the right to freedom of speech as enshrined in the constitution of this country? And can this goon say anything and everything and get away with murder? Some of the articles that he writes in his party mouthpiece ‘Samna’ are explosive and full of venom. Since the time of his arrival(?) in the early sixties, questioning the right of the South Indians coming to work in Bombay, he has never looked back as he’d the patronization of politicians across the spectrum (And the biggest irony was that his chief fund provider then was none other than Vyjayantimala, the actress!).

And having said this, it’s my gut feeling that Shahrukh and Thackeray will eventually patch up – it’s just a matter of time – pat each others’ backs and proclaim that each has great love and respect for the other etc, etc. If that be the outcome, why is this pantomime being played? Who, out of the two, needs more publicity and media space? And as always, we, the gullible public, end up being on the receiving end.

The Moral Dilemma

Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash in the Dock
The media is all abuzz with the general’s impending court martial. The public outrage is understandable as it’s a common perception that the armed forces is the last bastion of honour and rectitude amidst this otherwise corrupt world. The guilt of the general will be ascertained by the court through its proceedings and one needs to be patient for the results before crucifying him. The whole episode has left a bad taste in the mouth, the reason being that it wasn’t handled properly with all the dithering in taking a decision and speculative statements being made by everyone. But I’d like to go something beyond all this superficiality and especially because of the fact that the general and me have had almost the same background in our military upbringing – a Sainik School , NDA product before getting our commission.
‘Service before Self’ is the credo of the NDA. During our period of growing up, this aspect was always drilled into us. However, as a cadet there were plenty of occasions when it was better to opt for ‘the easier wrong than the harder right’ to avoid the ridicule of one’s peers. Many of us went about it with no qualms of conscience as the ends justified the means! I wouldn’t say that I was different but I always took my call from my inner self – like I never considered ragging my juniors just because I’d been subjected to the maximum taunts/abuse during my junior terms( Was the shortest from our course in my squadron and stood out like a sore thumb whenever we’re in a fallin). I’ve had seniors who used to ask me as to why I did not find any excuse from getting away from all the bullshit and then proceed to give me ‘lift’ by taking me under their wings! I’ll never forget my Divisional officer’s words on my being made an appointment and I quote, ‘Rajeev, you’ve done fairly well in your course, you’ve shown an ability to come up trumps and show grace in the most trying times and you’re decent to a fault and we’ve decided to make you an appointment. Now show the others that we’ve been right’ unquote. I’d heard similar words from my Principal and masters when I was made a House Captain, years earlier at school.
And I must admit that I never went out of my way to champion my cause or curry favour with the authorities to get what I wanted. During my IPKF days, after returning from a hard deployment I was asked by the NOIC to write my own citation so that he could forward the same to get me the honours at the impending Republic day which I flatly refused to do. His parting advice was, ‘Rajeev you’ve to change in this dog-eats-dog world’ and took upon himself to do the needful. My NM(Gallantry) was the end result. As I was taught at home, my work had to be good always and recognition and honours would come my way. That has stood me in good stead to this day and I’ve no regrets about the way that my life has shaped up.
I’d like to believe that Gen Avadhesh Prakash’s parents were honourable people, his teachers at school and the instructors at the Academy, who nurtured him, were all honourable people, his wife is honourable and he’d definitely have told his children to do the right things always. If that be so and if all the allegations against him are right, why has he got into this muddle?

Musings on Two International Events

Elections in Sri Lanka
Mahinda Rajapakse has got another mandate to rule that beautiful country.
He, alongwith his brother and Defence Minister, Gottabaya seem to have
carried out human rights violation and used all the dirty tricks to eliminate
the LTTE (incidentally, they too never played by the books) which was talked about in the runup to the elections. But not much heat was generated in analysis. Gen Sarath
Fonseca, the united opposition candidate did not give him that big a fight going by reports. Was he a serious contender at all? I was personally rooting for his victory on two counts:-
(a) He had successfully led his armed forces, which were a disenchanted lot
due to earlier reverses, to victory against the LTTE beating them at their own game.
(b) He had come back after two years of intense medical management from
injuries due to an LTTE suicide attack and hence, was the common man’s hero.

But what seems to have tipped the scales was the strong Sinhalese support for
the incumbent egged on by the influential Buddhist clergy. Whatever said and
done, Sri Lanka’s woes can only be removed by statesmanlike actions by giving
equal status to the Tamilians as the Sinhalese, by bringing about an amendment
to their constitution.

Obama’s Congressional Address.
A sizable number of Indians feel let down by what Obama told his Congress,
especially the aspect on outsourcing of jobs. My question to all such fellow
men is simple, do you really expect a US President to formulate policies to
benefit India? Why do we require American endorsement in all that we do?
I’ve this feeling that this habit of looking over our shoulders for their
support, stems from our weakness for white skin and the exaggerated
qualities that we assume them to possess for assuming global leadership. It’s
a well known fact that in relationships between nations, there’s no permanent
friendship but what remains is permanent interest. And the Americans know
this only too well and anyways, his speech is pure rhetoric to play upto the
gallery against the backdrop of his plummeting popularity ratings. The actual
market forces will work otherwise!


PS.
1. ‘Rann’ and ‘Ishquia’ have opened to rave reviews today. Both, of course,
have nothing new to say and merely endorse things that we already knew. But the
picturisation seem to be the strongest element about both. Will endeavour to see them as and when time permits.

2. The weather in Delhi seems to have changed suddenly. The biting cold has
given way to warmer climes and the thermocot inners/ heavy woolens seem to
be horribly out of place. Even the fog seems to have bade us goodbye!