Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Me & Kolkata
Elsewhere I have commented ‘ I am no more a Kolkatan’.
But thinking about it I believe that is not true.
Today if I am asked, ‘ what are your favourite things?’
Definitely my answer will be;
- Sitting for hours over coffee at Coffee House. This is one place till date I don’t feel awkward sitting with majority of the occupants half of my age; There may be a couple of lovers sitting in the next table engrossed in their own world oblivious of their surrounding, or a kurta clad poet trying to make his poems read, or a young would be philosopher giving a new dimension of the ways of life, or an old professor surrounded by his/her admirers eating every word spoken.
It is more than 30 years I started patronizing this place. Last time I took my son with me to show the place. He was truly surprised. The most fascinating factor for him was the cacophony atmosphere. Being a true Hyderabadi, he was truly at sea there.
- Travel by a local train and a tram – the uncomfortable, almost impossible journey makes me remind of my roots. The 40 minutes journey form Sealdah to Barrackpore or back sometime seems like hell. But I really enjoy, sometime I am bemused by the loud talking of fellow passengers (25 years in Hyderabad made me a soft spoken man). I am often bemused by the kind of arguments goes on in the daily passenger. Each and everyone have some expert (?) comment to make on any subject be it about USA or Timbaktu, be it politics or vulgarity in cinema. I must narrate stories of my train journey some other time.
Tram journey is a necessity, as my poor body no more agreeable to take a bus journey. This is the only city where I make it compulsory to take public transport at least for once in one trip.
- Rummaging through the bookstalls of College Street. You can get book on any subject here. I have not seen a bigger book market anywhere else. After a couple of hours, I normally become overloaded with the books purchased; most of which will never be opened, it is only the pleasure of purchase.
- A Chinese dinner at Park Street or Tangra – the most authentic Chinese cuisine you can get in India.
-Moving around the halls of ‘Academy of Fine Arts’, always some exhibition of known or unknown artists are there to go through. I am planning to start investing in paintings in my forthcoming trip.
- if it is winter; Book fair at Maidan; here also I must tell stories of my experience in another episode.
But thinking about it I believe that is not true.
Today if I am asked, ‘ what are your favourite things?’
Definitely my answer will be;
- Sitting for hours over coffee at Coffee House. This is one place till date I don’t feel awkward sitting with majority of the occupants half of my age; There may be a couple of lovers sitting in the next table engrossed in their own world oblivious of their surrounding, or a kurta clad poet trying to make his poems read, or a young would be philosopher giving a new dimension of the ways of life, or an old professor surrounded by his/her admirers eating every word spoken.
It is more than 30 years I started patronizing this place. Last time I took my son with me to show the place. He was truly surprised. The most fascinating factor for him was the cacophony atmosphere. Being a true Hyderabadi, he was truly at sea there.
- Travel by a local train and a tram – the uncomfortable, almost impossible journey makes me remind of my roots. The 40 minutes journey form Sealdah to Barrackpore or back sometime seems like hell. But I really enjoy, sometime I am bemused by the loud talking of fellow passengers (25 years in Hyderabad made me a soft spoken man). I am often bemused by the kind of arguments goes on in the daily passenger. Each and everyone have some expert (?) comment to make on any subject be it about USA or Timbaktu, be it politics or vulgarity in cinema. I must narrate stories of my train journey some other time.
Tram journey is a necessity, as my poor body no more agreeable to take a bus journey. This is the only city where I make it compulsory to take public transport at least for once in one trip.
- Rummaging through the bookstalls of College Street. You can get book on any subject here. I have not seen a bigger book market anywhere else. After a couple of hours, I normally become overloaded with the books purchased; most of which will never be opened, it is only the pleasure of purchase.
- A Chinese dinner at Park Street or Tangra – the most authentic Chinese cuisine you can get in India.
-Moving around the halls of ‘Academy of Fine Arts’, always some exhibition of known or unknown artists are there to go through. I am planning to start investing in paintings in my forthcoming trip.
- if it is winter; Book fair at Maidan; here also I must tell stories of my experience in another episode.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Kolkata ODI
Till date I was refraining myself from commenting on cricket affairs due to mainly two reasons:
Being a Bengali my comments will be construed as a biased one.
Secondly I was really sick with the nauseating happenings of Indian cricket.
But now after the Kolkata ODI, I am forced to make these following comments.
There are several issues arises after Kolkata ODI:
Behavior of Kolkata crowd
Secondly behavior of Greg Chappel
La affair’ Ganguly
Firstly let’s look at the behavior of Kolkata crowd:
I am really surprised by the kind of reaction from people all over India on the crowd behavior. I am surprised because, whoever read or followed the news one or two days prior to the match, must have been aware that there was expectation of crowd violence in Kolkata. There was unprecedented security cover for the match. So I will call it only naiveté on the part of the people who are dismayed by the crowd behavior. Rather I personally was worried about far worse situation and I must congratulate the administration and the public in general for a so subdued hostile response.
I call it subdued hostile response as one should keep in mind that the Kolkatan truly feel that Sourav Ganguly is ill-treated by the BCCI and specially by the Coach. There is lot of anger among the people against them, and there is full sympathy from the administration also on this aspect. One should remember that Kolkatan call Sourav as ‘Banglar Gorav – pride of Bengal’. He is an icon of Bengal. And when the people genuinely feel that their Hero is being ill treated, what kind of crowd behavior one should expect? For my friends of Mahrashtra I would like them to think, if the same kind of treatment were meted out to Sachin Tendulkar, what would have been the crowd behavior in ‘amchi mumbai’?
Regarding Booing of players, again I am surprised. It reminds me of same Rahul Dravid, who on scoring half a century in last world cup showed his bat towards the commentary box in response to the constant booing they were receiving from all and sundry. The greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev or Azharuddin were also meted out with similar kind of treatment in their career. I have personally witnessed booing of Tiger Pataudi way back in 1970s. It is a part of the game for all great cricketers.
Second part is behaviour of Greg Chappel:
His showing a finger reminds me of similar gesture very recently by Gorge W. Bush. That shows the culture of the person. I will not comment on that, but I will definitely like to draw attention on the clash between Chappel and Ganguly.
From the very beginning there could not have been any bonhomie between the two. Let me point out the reasons:
It is the aggressive attitude against Australians, which made Ganguly what he is today, the most aggressive captain India ever produced. It is Ganguly’s India that the Australian juggernaut could not roll over. The Australian media cannot stop hating Ganguly. I don’t think there can be any Australian who will not hate Ganguly.
The basic approach of both of them is of opposite poles. Ganguly believes in building relationship, in faith on his players, in nurturing them. Let’s not forget it is he, who has never given consideration to regionalism, he has nurtured and supported Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Virendra Sehwag etc. He always believes in giving his players opportunities. Whereas in Greg Chappel’s language it’s only hire and fire. Chappel will never understand Ganguly’s philosophy of having faith on players. His Australian mind will not work that way.
Chappel knows very well that he will never get his freedom as long as Ganguly is at the helm of the team. He had to see the ouster of Ganguly. Two strong personalities with opposite views cannot work together. We don’t know ultimately who will be proved right.
We, Indians always like tothink with our heart rather than with our head. Logic is the last point in our thinking process. Presently as the Indian team is winning we are hailing Chappel nobody really trying to find out the reasons. But nobody even bothered to think whether we need a coach who wants usurp the role of the captain.
And thirdly ‘La affaire’Ganguly’
I personally believe he is getting a raw deal. He is being crucified by all and
Sundry. Partly he himself has to be blamed for this situation. For long he has benefited by his proximity with Dalmiya. Now he is targeted by all the Dalmiya baiters. He has become the sacrificial lamb in this whole murky board affair. I am really sick seeing Raj Singh Dungarpur on TV time and again commenting on Sourav Ganguly.
For the people who are shouting about his batting performances, I have a few statistics to look into. As a matter of fact I have, I have collected lots of statistics on the subject, which I shall produce in future, but let’s look at these figures for the time being;
Look at the following score in the ODI in 2005, can you name the cricketer?
4,2,6,123,1,9,93,67,2,11,19,39,2,2,2
Well it is of Sachin Tendulkar’s.
Now this is scorecard of another great player in 2004, guess who?
35, 90,32,23,3,12,79,26,13,26,20,0,37,16,1,81,5,17,4,1,17,10,53,9,70
note only 5 times more than 50 out of 25
Well it is Virendra Sehwag’s
Now this is another of 1996.
3,4,3,11,22,7,13,39,90,46,25,20,62,6,0,21,56,31,60
Only 4 times more than 50
Could not guess? It is Rahul Dravid’s
What I want to point out that all these players had some bad and some good times. But never there were such a hue and cry about them. Only in case of Sourav Ganguly we cannot tolerate any bad time. And the saddest part is, this is the person, who took over at a time when the great Sachin ran away from the responsibility. He not only took over but also made it Team India.
We really don’t know how to respect our heroes.
Being a Bengali my comments will be construed as a biased one.
Secondly I was really sick with the nauseating happenings of Indian cricket.
But now after the Kolkata ODI, I am forced to make these following comments.
There are several issues arises after Kolkata ODI:
Behavior of Kolkata crowd
Secondly behavior of Greg Chappel
La affair’ Ganguly
Firstly let’s look at the behavior of Kolkata crowd:
I am really surprised by the kind of reaction from people all over India on the crowd behavior. I am surprised because, whoever read or followed the news one or two days prior to the match, must have been aware that there was expectation of crowd violence in Kolkata. There was unprecedented security cover for the match. So I will call it only naiveté on the part of the people who are dismayed by the crowd behavior. Rather I personally was worried about far worse situation and I must congratulate the administration and the public in general for a so subdued hostile response.
I call it subdued hostile response as one should keep in mind that the Kolkatan truly feel that Sourav Ganguly is ill-treated by the BCCI and specially by the Coach. There is lot of anger among the people against them, and there is full sympathy from the administration also on this aspect. One should remember that Kolkatan call Sourav as ‘Banglar Gorav – pride of Bengal’. He is an icon of Bengal. And when the people genuinely feel that their Hero is being ill treated, what kind of crowd behavior one should expect? For my friends of Mahrashtra I would like them to think, if the same kind of treatment were meted out to Sachin Tendulkar, what would have been the crowd behavior in ‘amchi mumbai’?
Regarding Booing of players, again I am surprised. It reminds me of same Rahul Dravid, who on scoring half a century in last world cup showed his bat towards the commentary box in response to the constant booing they were receiving from all and sundry. The greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev or Azharuddin were also meted out with similar kind of treatment in their career. I have personally witnessed booing of Tiger Pataudi way back in 1970s. It is a part of the game for all great cricketers.
Second part is behaviour of Greg Chappel:
His showing a finger reminds me of similar gesture very recently by Gorge W. Bush. That shows the culture of the person. I will not comment on that, but I will definitely like to draw attention on the clash between Chappel and Ganguly.
From the very beginning there could not have been any bonhomie between the two. Let me point out the reasons:
It is the aggressive attitude against Australians, which made Ganguly what he is today, the most aggressive captain India ever produced. It is Ganguly’s India that the Australian juggernaut could not roll over. The Australian media cannot stop hating Ganguly. I don’t think there can be any Australian who will not hate Ganguly.
The basic approach of both of them is of opposite poles. Ganguly believes in building relationship, in faith on his players, in nurturing them. Let’s not forget it is he, who has never given consideration to regionalism, he has nurtured and supported Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Virendra Sehwag etc. He always believes in giving his players opportunities. Whereas in Greg Chappel’s language it’s only hire and fire. Chappel will never understand Ganguly’s philosophy of having faith on players. His Australian mind will not work that way.
Chappel knows very well that he will never get his freedom as long as Ganguly is at the helm of the team. He had to see the ouster of Ganguly. Two strong personalities with opposite views cannot work together. We don’t know ultimately who will be proved right.
We, Indians always like tothink with our heart rather than with our head. Logic is the last point in our thinking process. Presently as the Indian team is winning we are hailing Chappel nobody really trying to find out the reasons. But nobody even bothered to think whether we need a coach who wants usurp the role of the captain.
And thirdly ‘La affaire’Ganguly’
I personally believe he is getting a raw deal. He is being crucified by all and
Sundry. Partly he himself has to be blamed for this situation. For long he has benefited by his proximity with Dalmiya. Now he is targeted by all the Dalmiya baiters. He has become the sacrificial lamb in this whole murky board affair. I am really sick seeing Raj Singh Dungarpur on TV time and again commenting on Sourav Ganguly.
For the people who are shouting about his batting performances, I have a few statistics to look into. As a matter of fact I have, I have collected lots of statistics on the subject, which I shall produce in future, but let’s look at these figures for the time being;
Look at the following score in the ODI in 2005, can you name the cricketer?
4,2,6,123,1,9,93,67,2,11,19,39,2,2,2
Well it is of Sachin Tendulkar’s.
Now this is scorecard of another great player in 2004, guess who?
35, 90,32,23,3,12,79,26,13,26,20,0,37,16,1,81,5,17,4,1,17,10,53,9,70
note only 5 times more than 50 out of 25
Well it is Virendra Sehwag’s
Now this is another of 1996.
3,4,3,11,22,7,13,39,90,46,25,20,62,6,0,21,56,31,60
Only 4 times more than 50
Could not guess? It is Rahul Dravid’s
What I want to point out that all these players had some bad and some good times. But never there were such a hue and cry about them. Only in case of Sourav Ganguly we cannot tolerate any bad time. And the saddest part is, this is the person, who took over at a time when the great Sachin ran away from the responsibility. He not only took over but also made it Team India.
We really don’t know how to respect our heroes.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
lionbikash: If I want to take solace in poetry-
If I want to take solace in poetry-
Going through a set of old bengalee poems of mine I liked this one and set out to translate it immediately.
If I want to take solace in poetry-
is it a way of looking away
from the reality of life?
Or a way of finding
a new meaning of life?
If I want to enjoy
the round white face of moon
on a bluish white canvas of sky-
on a full moon night,
the small pieces of white clouds
floating around
as if caressing the face.
Or if I want to feel the
cold morning breeze of early autumn
on my face.
Or I want to get
the wet feeling
of dew-soaked
green carpet of grass
under my naked feet.
If I want to get intoxicated
by the smell of Shefali flower
or simply lie down
and listen to the singing of birds
see their yellow or pink beaks,
green, yellow, blue, red
or rainbow coloured feather
with my closed eyes
Is it asking too much from life?
If I want to take solace in poetry-
is it a way of looking away
from the reality of life?
Or a way of finding
a new meaning of life?
If I want to enjoy
the round white face of moon
on a bluish white canvas of sky-
on a full moon night,
the small pieces of white clouds
floating around
as if caressing the face.
Or if I want to feel the
cold morning breeze of early autumn
on my face.
Or I want to get
the wet feeling
of dew-soaked
green carpet of grass
under my naked feet.
If I want to get intoxicated
by the smell of Shefali flower
or simply lie down
and listen to the singing of birds
see their yellow or pink beaks,
green, yellow, blue, red
or rainbow coloured feather
with my closed eyes
Is it asking too much from life?
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Pilgrimage to Sabarimalai
Every year lakhs of devotees throng the hills of Sabarimalai to have darshan of Lord Ayappa. But the darshan of Ayaappa is not an easy task. For darshan of Ayaappa one has to take deeksha. Deeksha period runs for minimum 41 days and upto 61 days. It is a rigorous penance for the devotees.
During the deeksha period the devotee has to wear a garland of tulsi or rose wood. He has to wear only black clothes. His days start at 5 A.M,. After morning bath he has to do special Ayaappa puja. He has to eat only once a day that also self cooked. He has to observe celibacy. Every evening after bath again he has to do special puja. He has to sleep on mat on floor. He cannot shave. During deeksha period the devotee is called by swamy or Ayappa by everyone including his family members.
After completing the rigorous deeksha only one is allowed to have darshan of Lord agape.
The journey to Sabarimalai is not an easy task. His journey starts normally from an Ayaapa temple, near his residence, where after performing puja he will be given a specially made cloth bag called Irumudi. It is called Irumudi because it has two portions. One portion contains rice for his own consumption during the journey and other portion contain rice, a coconut filled with Ghee, incense sticks, honey, and some other puja materials, which he has to carry for the lord. He has to carry Irumudi on his head till he reaches Sabarimalai and has his darshan of the lord..
He has to reach Kottayam, the nearest railhead from where he has to take taxi or bus to Erumeli, which is some 23 kms from Kottayam. For convenience purpose especially those from other states start their motor journey from Kochi, the second largest city of Kerala.
Traditionally the trekking to Sabarimalai temple should start from Erumeli. Here the devotee takes a dip in river pampa and first visits the Babar swamy mosque. Babar swamy was an associate of Ayappa. From there he has to visit the Ayappa temple at Erumeli. Now a days devotees avoid the long trekking route and instead go to Pampa by motor from where the trekking begins. But till date the first timers i.e. who is going to the temple for the first time (called Kannya Swami) take this long tour which called pedda patha.
All the devotees throng Pampa and after a dip in the river Pampa starts trekking to Sabarimalai which is 6.5 kms from Pampa. The temple entry is through a staircase of 18 steps called Padennimittti Padi, which is very auspicious for the devotees. The devotees who have taken deeksha and who carries Irumudi are only allowed through these steps. For general visitors there is a back side step.
The devotees break the coconut, which they have carried in their irumudi and take out the ghee. They conduct ‘Neyi abhishekham’ of Ayaappa i.e. Abhishekham with Ghee thus concluding their deeksha.
During the deeksha period the devotee has to wear a garland of tulsi or rose wood. He has to wear only black clothes. His days start at 5 A.M,. After morning bath he has to do special Ayaappa puja. He has to eat only once a day that also self cooked. He has to observe celibacy. Every evening after bath again he has to do special puja. He has to sleep on mat on floor. He cannot shave. During deeksha period the devotee is called by swamy or Ayappa by everyone including his family members.
After completing the rigorous deeksha only one is allowed to have darshan of Lord agape.
The journey to Sabarimalai is not an easy task. His journey starts normally from an Ayaapa temple, near his residence, where after performing puja he will be given a specially made cloth bag called Irumudi. It is called Irumudi because it has two portions. One portion contains rice for his own consumption during the journey and other portion contain rice, a coconut filled with Ghee, incense sticks, honey, and some other puja materials, which he has to carry for the lord. He has to carry Irumudi on his head till he reaches Sabarimalai and has his darshan of the lord..
He has to reach Kottayam, the nearest railhead from where he has to take taxi or bus to Erumeli, which is some 23 kms from Kottayam. For convenience purpose especially those from other states start their motor journey from Kochi, the second largest city of Kerala.
Traditionally the trekking to Sabarimalai temple should start from Erumeli. Here the devotee takes a dip in river pampa and first visits the Babar swamy mosque. Babar swamy was an associate of Ayappa. From there he has to visit the Ayappa temple at Erumeli. Now a days devotees avoid the long trekking route and instead go to Pampa by motor from where the trekking begins. But till date the first timers i.e. who is going to the temple for the first time (called Kannya Swami) take this long tour which called pedda patha.
All the devotees throng Pampa and after a dip in the river Pampa starts trekking to Sabarimalai which is 6.5 kms from Pampa. The temple entry is through a staircase of 18 steps called Padennimittti Padi, which is very auspicious for the devotees. The devotees who have taken deeksha and who carries Irumudi are only allowed through these steps. For general visitors there is a back side step.
The devotees break the coconut, which they have carried in their irumudi and take out the ghee. They conduct ‘Neyi abhishekham’ of Ayaappa i.e. Abhishekham with Ghee thus concluding their deeksha.
Swamiye Saranam Ayappa
The air of Hyderabad started reverberating with the cry ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayappa’. During November-December and upto 14th January, anywhere you go, you cannot miss an Ayaappa devotee, barefooted, adorned in black dress and sandal, Bibhuti and kumkum tilak on his forehead
Let me tell about Lord Ayappa and his devotees;
The abode of Lord Ayaappa is Sabarimalai, situated in Kerala on the Neeleemalai Hills. In Kerala he is called Lord Sastha.
The puranik story goes something like this; after the churning of sea by the Gods and demons, Goddess Lakshmi came out with the pot of nectar. To deprive the demons from eating nectar, which would have made them immortal, Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini, beautiful woman, to attract the demons, which she did. But she also attracted Lord Shiva. And from their union Lord Sastha was born. That’s why he is also called the (Harihara atmaja) son of Hari (VISHNU) and Hara (SHIVA).
Kerala tradition tells: King of Pandalam, while hunting in the forest of Sabarimalai, found a beautiful child. Being childless, he adopted the child. But soon the queen gave birth to a son. The queen wanted her own son to be made King instead of the adopted son Ayaappa. She feigned of sickness and conspired with the Royal Vaidya, who declared that only Tiger’s milk could cure the Queen. The queen sent Ayaappa to the forest to fetch tiger’s milk for her, expecting him to be killed by the tigers. But Lord Ayaappa went to the forest and came back with the whole lot of tigers from the forest. By seeing the sight of Lord Ayaappa mounted on Tiger and marching back with a horde of tigers, the king and queen realized his divine nature. Ayaappa left the Kingdom and made Sabarimali his abode.
Sabarimalai is also associated with the puranik character Sabari, who in her pursuit of marrying Ayaappa, made her abode at Sabaripeetham. It seems Lord Ayaappa promised her that the year when no new devotee would come to him, he will marry her. That’s why all fisrt timers have to carry a arrow along with him, which he keeps at Sarangutti, near Sabripeetham as a prove of his arrival.
On Makar Shankranti Day i.e. 14th of January, at dusk, a light called Makara Vilaku (Jyoti) appears from the mountains. To witness this divine light, lakhs of devotees from all the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh throng Sabarimalai. It seems it is the second largest congregation of devotees in a particulars place in a single day only second to Mecca.
The visit to Ayappa temple is strictly barred for women, only small children before their puberty and elder women after they reach menopause are allowed. There are lot of hue and cry by feminists and rationalists but till date the temple administration is strictly maintaining this tradition. No women are allowed beyond Pampa.
I shall tell about the Deeksha and pilgrimage to Sabarimalai in my next post.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Pinky
After the show we had our dinner of Hdyerabadi Biryani at Shadab Hotel. We had to return early, as we had to see off Pinky who was leaving for her new home in USA.
The story of Pinky also is worth narrating. Pinky’s official name is Kulsum Razvi, sorry after marriage her surname has definitely changed. Anyway, Pinky’s mother Sakina was a colleague of my sister-in-law. Sakina being a workingwoman, used to keep Pinky with my in laws, and subsequently she became part of the family. Rather, at the time of my marriage, she was a permanent member of the family and was pet of my wife. She calls my in-laws mamma and papa. After my marriage she became my pet also. And she is the reason we did not go for a second child as we considered her as our own daughter. As she used to stay with us her attitude became like us, Hindu. She was closer to us than her biological parents.
But things started changing by the time she reached 10. Her parents started getting worried and I could feel the tension building up to get her back to their fold. Subsequently slowly she went away from us. But close relations are maintained between the two families for the common factor i.e. Pinky. My in-laws consider her as their third daughter. And today she is the closest to them than their own daughters.
Five years back she got married To Feroze, who is a resident of USA. Due to Visa problem it took five years for her to join her husband. Today she left for USA. We all went to see her off. At the time of her departure she started crying to tell me ‘ Bikash uncle please look after mamma and Papa (my in-laws)’. I could not give her any answer as my mouth was chocked with emotions. The human relations can tear away any religious barrier that is what she has proved today.
The story of Pinky also is worth narrating. Pinky’s official name is Kulsum Razvi, sorry after marriage her surname has definitely changed. Anyway, Pinky’s mother Sakina was a colleague of my sister-in-law. Sakina being a workingwoman, used to keep Pinky with my in laws, and subsequently she became part of the family. Rather, at the time of my marriage, she was a permanent member of the family and was pet of my wife. She calls my in-laws mamma and papa. After my marriage she became my pet also. And she is the reason we did not go for a second child as we considered her as our own daughter. As she used to stay with us her attitude became like us, Hindu. She was closer to us than her biological parents.
But things started changing by the time she reached 10. Her parents started getting worried and I could feel the tension building up to get her back to their fold. Subsequently slowly she went away from us. But close relations are maintained between the two families for the common factor i.e. Pinky. My in-laws consider her as their third daughter. And today she is the closest to them than their own daughters.
Five years back she got married To Feroze, who is a resident of USA. Due to Visa problem it took five years for her to join her husband. Today she left for USA. We all went to see her off. At the time of her departure she started crying to tell me ‘ Bikash uncle please look after mamma and Papa (my in-laws)’. I could not give her any answer as my mouth was chocked with emotions. The human relations can tear away any religious barrier that is what she has proved today.
Begum Jaan
Today I had the opportunity to visit Chowmahalla palace. We got an invitation from ITC Kakatiya Sheraton Hotels to watch a drama ‘ Begum Jaan’ staged by Adir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation, written by Javed Siddiqui and directed by Nadira Zaheer Babbar.
This was a special occasion for me for two reasons:
This is the first time I got an opportunity to see Chowmhalla Palace from inside. The palace is presently inhabited by the descendents of the erstwhile Nizam and only opened recently for special invitees for special occasions.
In Hyderabad, we rarely get opportunity to watch classic drama, which I genuinely miss from my life at Kolkata, where I was a theatre buff.
ITC Kakatiya Sheraton Hotels have tied up with the Chowmahalla Palace owners for using the palace for organizing classic events. This was there first promotional event. Chowmahalla palace is situated near Charminar of Old city of Hyderabad. We really enjoyed the whole experience. There could not have been a better place to stage this drama. The aura of the ambience of the palace, which was lit up for the occasion as a backdrop for the drama was really wonderful.
The drama revolves around the character Begum Jaan, a renowned singer of yesteryears, her grand daughter Zahira and an opportunist journalist Sanjay Pande. The story is something like this; Journalist Sanjay Pande comes to Begum Jaan as a tenant, but his actual motive is to get the secrets of Begum Jaan to wirte a book on her. In his pursuit of getting the secrets he uses the grand daughter, who eventually falls in love with him. But the old woman is clever enough to recognize the ploy. And ultimately Zahira, the grand daughter realizes the real intention of Sanjay Pande and through him out from her life.
It is drama with lots of emotions interspersed with humour. We thoroughly enjoyed the drama and acting of actress Nadira Babbar (famous theatre personality in India) and her daughter Juhi Babbar.
It also gave me some thought for introspection; Urdu literature is such a rich and enjoyable literature, but now days the same is being neglected as we normally consider it associated with Pakistan and Islam.
This was a special occasion for me for two reasons:
This is the first time I got an opportunity to see Chowmhalla Palace from inside. The palace is presently inhabited by the descendents of the erstwhile Nizam and only opened recently for special invitees for special occasions.
In Hyderabad, we rarely get opportunity to watch classic drama, which I genuinely miss from my life at Kolkata, where I was a theatre buff.
ITC Kakatiya Sheraton Hotels have tied up with the Chowmahalla Palace owners for using the palace for organizing classic events. This was there first promotional event. Chowmahalla palace is situated near Charminar of Old city of Hyderabad. We really enjoyed the whole experience. There could not have been a better place to stage this drama. The aura of the ambience of the palace, which was lit up for the occasion as a backdrop for the drama was really wonderful.
The drama revolves around the character Begum Jaan, a renowned singer of yesteryears, her grand daughter Zahira and an opportunist journalist Sanjay Pande. The story is something like this; Journalist Sanjay Pande comes to Begum Jaan as a tenant, but his actual motive is to get the secrets of Begum Jaan to wirte a book on her. In his pursuit of getting the secrets he uses the grand daughter, who eventually falls in love with him. But the old woman is clever enough to recognize the ploy. And ultimately Zahira, the grand daughter realizes the real intention of Sanjay Pande and through him out from her life.
It is drama with lots of emotions interspersed with humour. We thoroughly enjoyed the drama and acting of actress Nadira Babbar (famous theatre personality in India) and her daughter Juhi Babbar.
It also gave me some thought for introspection; Urdu literature is such a rich and enjoyable literature, but now days the same is being neglected as we normally consider it associated with Pakistan and Islam.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Chenegella Shusheela, the brave girl
Chenegella Shusheela, a 15-year girl of a village of Andhra Pradesh is named for the Bapu Gayadhani national bravery award by Govt. of India. She will be receiving the award for ending her own child marriage. She was married to one Narsimhulu on April 2003 at the age of 13. June 12, 2005 was a very important day for her, when she told the Panchayat of her decision of terminating her marriage.
Since then she was subjected to all kinds of taunts and harassment by all the villagers including her own parents. But the brave girl stood on her ground. She wants to become a doctor in life.
Shusheela will be awarded by the president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. She wants to ask the President to put an end to the evil practice of child marriage.
Let’s all give this brave girl standing ovation and wish her dream come true. Bravery is not only in fighting your enemy outside, bravery also lies in fighting the enemies within, i.e. social evils, poverty. I wish that more and more girls follow her path and raise their voices, which only will give us, Indians, prosperity and freedom.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Why I am a Lion
I was named as weak person by a friend. I find it necessary to fend my reputation.
First of all let me describe as I see myself. I call myself lionbikash. The prefix lion is not only a decoration; actually a member of a lions club is called Lion so and so. But I like to emulate the characteristics of lion.
Now what are they? Look at a snap of any lion whether in a jungle or in a zoo. How gracious they look.
Lion is the king of the jungle.
Lion only kills his prey when he is hungry. Otherwise he will never hurt any animal.
Lions never eat food fetched or killed by others; they have the self-respect to earn their own food.
Lions will never attack a weak person.
Lions are rarely angry
Lion is the protector of all the animals of his kingdom.
They know their strength
Lions never show off their strength.
They always give a picture of solidity, not unduly worried about the happenings around.
Rarely Lions will be in a group, they stand alone.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Philanthropic activities
Regarding the philanthropic activities of Hindus in comparison to Christians my friend Sonali said the Hindu society is changing.
Well, I am not so sure.
I don’t know the exact statistics, but the amount of money is spent on Diwali crackers or Ganapati festival, Durga Puja, could have changed the Hindu society beyond recognition, if it was used for the upliftment of the downtrodden. For most of the Hindus, philanthropic activities means, organizing a bhandara (poor feeding) for one day on some occasion or building/refurbishing a temple. Nobody has any idea of contributing for something permanent to uplift the conditions of fellow unfortunate brethern.
I know more about this because I am called Shahi fakir by my friends and acquaintances. Now and then I will be knocking the doors of my friends for some kind of fund raising.
For ROSHNI-50 program, by which we are conducting eye check up camp in Govt. Schools and distributing free spectacles to the poor students, till date I received only one donor, whereas the requirements are only approx. Rs.3000/- per school. Atready we have completed 38 schools benefiting more than 12,000 students.
On Diwali I requested all the Lions clubs of my region to go to some orphanage or old age home to spend some time, to distribute sweets, to burn some crackers with the inmates. I did not get a single response.
Now I am really worried about my next program. I want to make one mobile unit for eye check up, where all the arrangements/ equipments for eye check up will be available to conduct camps in rural areas. Last year we conducted a camp at a village some 150 kms from Hyderabad. We could identify and distribute spectacle to more than 100 elderly persons. Till date I cannot forget the smile of gratitude on the faces of the beneficiaries after getting their eyesight restored.
I wanted to dedicate the vehicle on 26th January, on my Region Meet. But, by the response I am getting, I am becoming apprehensive.
Well, I am not so sure.
I don’t know the exact statistics, but the amount of money is spent on Diwali crackers or Ganapati festival, Durga Puja, could have changed the Hindu society beyond recognition, if it was used for the upliftment of the downtrodden. For most of the Hindus, philanthropic activities means, organizing a bhandara (poor feeding) for one day on some occasion or building/refurbishing a temple. Nobody has any idea of contributing for something permanent to uplift the conditions of fellow unfortunate brethern.
I know more about this because I am called Shahi fakir by my friends and acquaintances. Now and then I will be knocking the doors of my friends for some kind of fund raising.
For ROSHNI-50 program, by which we are conducting eye check up camp in Govt. Schools and distributing free spectacles to the poor students, till date I received only one donor, whereas the requirements are only approx. Rs.3000/- per school. Atready we have completed 38 schools benefiting more than 12,000 students.
On Diwali I requested all the Lions clubs of my region to go to some orphanage or old age home to spend some time, to distribute sweets, to burn some crackers with the inmates. I did not get a single response.
Now I am really worried about my next program. I want to make one mobile unit for eye check up, where all the arrangements/ equipments for eye check up will be available to conduct camps in rural areas. Last year we conducted a camp at a village some 150 kms from Hyderabad. We could identify and distribute spectacle to more than 100 elderly persons. Till date I cannot forget the smile of gratitude on the faces of the beneficiaries after getting their eyesight restored.
I wanted to dedicate the vehicle on 26th January, on my Region Meet. But, by the response I am getting, I am becoming apprehensive.
Religion conversion
Yesterday we were discussing about religion conversion. A few questions arises:
Why do people get converted to Christianity or Islam from Hinduism?
What is the impact of these conversions on the society?
Why do we create such hue and cry?
To find answers, I tend to look into my own experience:
I used to know one girl, I forgot her name, whose family were converted to Christianity from Hinduism. She was working as a receptionist in one of my dealer’s office at Nagpur. I used to visit their office almost once a month. I used to have conversation with her about her religious belief, her family background etc.
She was from a poor family. The family consisted of parents and three daughters. It seems, before conversion, her father, a mason by profession, was a habitual drunkard. Her mother was a permanently sick person. Whole family used to fall sick very often. They were subjected to taunt and humiliation from their relatives and society as a whole. The father used to beat the wife and children regularly. (This is the story till today of quite a no. of Muslim families around the slums of Hyderabad, with two differences; no. of children not less than five, almost all the children, irrespective of their gender, start earning by the time they are 10 or 12) Not able to sustain the torture, the mother left the house along with the children to her sister’s place at Gondia, a town in Maharashtra/ Chhattisgarh border (mostly populated by tribals and have a good population of Christians.) There they came in contact with a father (priest) and got converted to Christianity. Subsequently her father also joined them and he also was converted to Christianity.
After conversion, the father stopped drinking and started looking after his family, the mother also got cured. The children progressed in their studies. This girl, the second one, started working, contributing to the welfare of the family. Their newfound religious kins were very helpful and respectful to them. All her relatives were against their conversion and used to take every opportunity to harass them. But they were happy. She gave credit of their happiness to Christianity.
I think that time she was hardly 18 or 19, not much educated, may be only SSC passed. I used to listen to her stories and think; what could I tell this poor girl about great Hindu tradition or philosophy.
Today thinking about them, I don’t know whom to blame. Or I am not at all sure that there is anybody to be blamed. Here, if some people believe that by adopting Christianity or for that matter any other faith, (there are quite a lot of white Christians adopting Hinduism) they are benefited, what is the harm in that?
I can see the eyebrows are rising, nostrils are flaring. But why can’t we accept the simple facts of life without making an issue?
Why do people get converted to Christianity or Islam from Hinduism?
What is the impact of these conversions on the society?
Why do we create such hue and cry?
To find answers, I tend to look into my own experience:
I used to know one girl, I forgot her name, whose family were converted to Christianity from Hinduism. She was working as a receptionist in one of my dealer’s office at Nagpur. I used to visit their office almost once a month. I used to have conversation with her about her religious belief, her family background etc.
She was from a poor family. The family consisted of parents and three daughters. It seems, before conversion, her father, a mason by profession, was a habitual drunkard. Her mother was a permanently sick person. Whole family used to fall sick very often. They were subjected to taunt and humiliation from their relatives and society as a whole. The father used to beat the wife and children regularly. (This is the story till today of quite a no. of Muslim families around the slums of Hyderabad, with two differences; no. of children not less than five, almost all the children, irrespective of their gender, start earning by the time they are 10 or 12) Not able to sustain the torture, the mother left the house along with the children to her sister’s place at Gondia, a town in Maharashtra/ Chhattisgarh border (mostly populated by tribals and have a good population of Christians.) There they came in contact with a father (priest) and got converted to Christianity. Subsequently her father also joined them and he also was converted to Christianity.
After conversion, the father stopped drinking and started looking after his family, the mother also got cured. The children progressed in their studies. This girl, the second one, started working, contributing to the welfare of the family. Their newfound religious kins were very helpful and respectful to them. All her relatives were against their conversion and used to take every opportunity to harass them. But they were happy. She gave credit of their happiness to Christianity.
I think that time she was hardly 18 or 19, not much educated, may be only SSC passed. I used to listen to her stories and think; what could I tell this poor girl about great Hindu tradition or philosophy.
Today thinking about them, I don’t know whom to blame. Or I am not at all sure that there is anybody to be blamed. Here, if some people believe that by adopting Christianity or for that matter any other faith, (there are quite a lot of white Christians adopting Hinduism) they are benefited, what is the harm in that?
I can see the eyebrows are rising, nostrils are flaring. But why can’t we accept the simple facts of life without making an issue?
Thursday, November 17, 2005
'Developed minds create visions and differences disappear'
Following are some excerpts of the transcripts of question answer President APJ Abdul Kalam had with students on 14th November in a live chat at rediffmail.com. I feel the answers given by the President need to be followed by not only by the students but by their parents also.
Saman,Sara and Ali (All Saints and Sherwood college,Nainital, 14 yrs): Why don't people live peacefully?Can't you do something about it?Pass laws impose rules to make this World worth living.People fighting over mandir masjid,when God created mankind he knew best.He would not have created muslims hindus togather.Please comment.
President APJ Abdul Kalam: Under-developed minds normally create differences. Developed minds create visions and differences disappear
Jigna vyas (Saint John Highschool, Ahmedabad, 16 yrs): I MET once NARENDRA MODI AND NOW I ASK YOU SIR WHAT WE SHOULD DO FOR NOT TO BE NEGATIVE EMOTIONALLY ?
President APJ Abdul Kalam: Righteousness in the heart brings the beauty in the character. Beauty in the character brings harmony in thinking, harmony results in conflict free home and society.
President APJ Abdul Kalam: I believe, corruption in the society can be eliminated in two ways. 1. We elect right representatives to legislatures and parliament. 2. Corruption free society starts from a righteous home. In my view corruption can be eliminated only by three people namely mother, father and elementary school teacher. As children you can also point out if anything is done wrong in your home. There will definitely be a change because of the love and affection of the child.
naina gautam (St'Thomas College, dehradun, 12 yrs): Sir i would like to ask whom do you admire the most in this world? What are the secrets of your success? Were you a naughty child during your school days? I will hope you will answer my simple questions please answer them!!!
President APJ Abdul Kalam: Of course my parents. I always remember my teacher who gave me the vision for my life while teaching how the birds fly. Since I studied during 1940s, naturally if you are naughty you will be canned. I have experienced that.
Somehow every time I hear our President, my respect for him increases many fold. How clear the ideas, devoid of any bitterness or criticism. It seems he has studied Upanishad, which I believe may be the source of his poise.
GOD created man to
God created the donkey and said to him. "You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."The donkey answered: "I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20 years"God granted his wish. ............................................................................................
God created the dog and said to him: "You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.You will be a dog. " The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years. " God granted his wish.............................................................................................
God created the monkey and said to him: "You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live 20 years. " The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years." God granted his wish.............................................................................................
Finally God created man and said to him: "You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years." Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused." God granted man's wish............................................................................................
And since then, man lives 20 years as a man,marries and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back. Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is'nt it?
God created the dog and said to him: "You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.You will be a dog. " The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years. " God granted his wish.............................................................................................
God created the monkey and said to him: "You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live 20 years. " The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years." God granted his wish.............................................................................................
Finally God created man and said to him: "You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years." Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused." God granted man's wish............................................................................................
And since then, man lives 20 years as a man,marries and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back. Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is'nt it?
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Friend
Yesterday I had a long discussion with Sonali on definition of a friend. Since then I am not able to remove the subject from my mind.
Friendship and relationship are two important characteristics of human being. How do we describe a friend?
For me “A friend is someone with whom I can share my views, on whose shoulder I can cry. I will share my joy with everyone but my sorrow with a friend”. The friendship should be free from any expectation and any burden. Does this description look like too clinical devoid of any emotions?
I am not sure about the friendship we see in movies; ‘ye dosti hum nehi todenge’. Permanent friendship, friends give up their life for each other. How true are they? I feel that the dynamism of human character makes it rather difficult, if not impossible to make permanent friendship. Let me illustrate:
From childhood we make friendship with different people at different stages of our life. Today I find that I don’t relate to most of my childhood friends. Whenever we meet we cannot go beyond ‘hello, how are you, how many children, what are they doing etc. etc.’ maximum of 5 minutes’ conversation. And once they were my closest friends!
The friendship formed during our teens are more mature because by this time our life has taken certain direction i.e. we have just came out of one relationship i.e. relationship with our parents, we have opened our eyes, the mind is ready to form new relationship. So the friendship formed during this period are more lasting ones.
Once we are out of our teens, then again there is a restriction in bonding friendship. Now our steps are measured, we are more career concerned, hence we start choosing our friends by their status and all kinds of materialistic factors.
Practically forming of friendship is something like this:
You meet a person, like him/her, find some common interest, interact with each other, realise a deeper understanding - bond is formed,
Start taking interest in your friends liking and disliking, in his/her sorrow and happiness, in his/her well-being and prosperity - the bond gets deeper.
That’s why the saying goes that the friendship matures with age like wine. The more time we give to the friendship the stronger it becomes.
But one important factor in this bonding is, respect for each other. We should respect the likings and disliking of our friend. Most of the friendships fail when this understanding is missed.
I would talk about relationship another time but as friendship also is a relationship, we must abide by the cardinal rules of relationship: leave space for each other, leave space for individual growth, leave space for individual's aspirations, let’s allow the friend to live his/her own life, let’s not judge our friend with our principles and prejudices, let’s not force our way of life on him/her, let’s not suffocate him/her with the bondage of friendship.
Friendship and relationship are two important characteristics of human being. How do we describe a friend?
For me “A friend is someone with whom I can share my views, on whose shoulder I can cry. I will share my joy with everyone but my sorrow with a friend”. The friendship should be free from any expectation and any burden. Does this description look like too clinical devoid of any emotions?
I am not sure about the friendship we see in movies; ‘ye dosti hum nehi todenge’. Permanent friendship, friends give up their life for each other. How true are they? I feel that the dynamism of human character makes it rather difficult, if not impossible to make permanent friendship. Let me illustrate:
From childhood we make friendship with different people at different stages of our life. Today I find that I don’t relate to most of my childhood friends. Whenever we meet we cannot go beyond ‘hello, how are you, how many children, what are they doing etc. etc.’ maximum of 5 minutes’ conversation. And once they were my closest friends!
The friendship formed during our teens are more mature because by this time our life has taken certain direction i.e. we have just came out of one relationship i.e. relationship with our parents, we have opened our eyes, the mind is ready to form new relationship. So the friendship formed during this period are more lasting ones.
Once we are out of our teens, then again there is a restriction in bonding friendship. Now our steps are measured, we are more career concerned, hence we start choosing our friends by their status and all kinds of materialistic factors.
Practically forming of friendship is something like this:
You meet a person, like him/her, find some common interest, interact with each other, realise a deeper understanding - bond is formed,
Start taking interest in your friends liking and disliking, in his/her sorrow and happiness, in his/her well-being and prosperity - the bond gets deeper.
That’s why the saying goes that the friendship matures with age like wine. The more time we give to the friendship the stronger it becomes.
But one important factor in this bonding is, respect for each other. We should respect the likings and disliking of our friend. Most of the friendships fail when this understanding is missed.
I would talk about relationship another time but as friendship also is a relationship, we must abide by the cardinal rules of relationship: leave space for each other, leave space for individual growth, leave space for individual's aspirations, let’s allow the friend to live his/her own life, let’s not judge our friend with our principles and prejudices, let’s not force our way of life on him/her, let’s not suffocate him/her with the bondage of friendship.
Karthika Purnima
Tomorrow is Kartik Purnima. It may not be as famous as Dussera, Deepavali but whole India celebrates Kartika Purnima. I find a special significance in the celebration of Kartik Purnima; most of the celebrations are in form of Mela (Fair) and two of them are biggest animal fair 1) Pushkar 2) Sonepur. May be because, traditionally by this period harvesting is over so the farmers have time and money for celebrations.
I am fascinated about the fairs of India; all round the year some place or other will be having some fair. The village fairs are really worth visiting. There are really riots of color.
But in this blog let me talk about some important festivities of Kartik Purnima.
For Sikhs it is one of the most important festivals. Guru Nanak’s Birthday is celebrated on this day. At Amritsar, the Golden Temple is lit up. All over the country Sikhs celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanthi, Guru Punima.
I am fascinated about the fairs of India; all round the year some place or other will be having some fair. The village fairs are really worth visiting. There are really riots of color.
But in this blog let me talk about some important festivities of Kartik Purnima.
For Sikhs it is one of the most important festivals. Guru Nanak’s Birthday is celebrated on this day. At Amritsar, the Golden Temple is lit up. All over the country Sikhs celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanthi, Guru Punima.
The most famous fair of Kartik Purnima must be the Pushkar camel fair. Pushkar is situated near Ajmer in Rajasthan. The only temple of Lord Brahma in this world is situated there. Due to promotion by tourism department and heavy inrush of foreigners the fair has lost it’s rustic charm. But when I visited the fair some 15 years ago it used to be a village affair. Villagers from all over Rajasthan used to bring their camels for trading. They used to camp there for a few days. Now a days the fair has become controversial with stories of cultural clash between the foreign tourists and locals.
Next is the Sonepur cattle fair of Bihar. It is said to be the world’s largest cattle fair. This fair has retained it rustic charm till date, may be like Laloo Prasad.
In Gujarat they celebrate at Shamlaji Melo, which is on the Ahmedabad-Delhi Road. The fair is very popular among all caste and communities including the tribals
For north Indians it is at Brajghat, Tigree and garh Muktheswar. The banks of river Ganges are thronged by lakhs of devotees for taking bath in ‘Gangamaiya’ Fairs spring up almost every place throughout the flow of the river.
In south India they celebrate as Karthigai Deepam, This is also called chhota Deepavali. They light small lamps and float them on water bodies. Actually whole of Karthika month is very important for Telugus, Tamils and Kannadigas. I am not sure about Malayalees. In this month Telugu people will conduct ‘Bana bhojanam’. Traditionally they will go outside and cook under a tamarind tree.
There is a similarity between Bengalese and Tamils. Bengalese celebrate with Kartik Puja – i.e. Worshipping Lord kartikeya, where as the Tamils worship Lord Muruga, as Lord Kartikeya is know in Tamilnadu. I am sure that other parts of India must be celebrating Karthik Purnima in some form or other, which I am yet to visit.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Modi wanted Hindus to retaliate
‘Modi wanted Hindus to retaliate’ – This is the front page headline of The Times of India dt. 12-11-05. As a matter of fact, I wanted to keep this blog out of dirty politics but somehow I am not able to resist airing my views on the subject.
“In an affidavit filed before the Nanavati-Shah commission, additional director general of Police R. B. Sreekumar has claimed that Hindus were to be allowed to vent their anger against Muslims and the former should not be arrested for it.” The CM said “Kaumi hullado ma tame (police) barabari karo chho. Tame bey Hindu ne pakdo chho to tame bey Musalmano ne pan pakdo chho, havey em nahin chaaley. Hinduono gusso uttara do -meaning - In riots, police tries to act fairly and arrests two Hindus and two Muslims, but this won’t do, allow the Hindus to vent their anger”
How nauseating!As this is a sworn affidavit filed by an Additional Director of Police, I feel there must be some truth in the statement. This is the state of affair in Independent India! And we call ourselves civilized!
“In an affidavit filed before the Nanavati-Shah commission, additional director general of Police R. B. Sreekumar has claimed that Hindus were to be allowed to vent their anger against Muslims and the former should not be arrested for it.” The CM said “Kaumi hullado ma tame (police) barabari karo chho. Tame bey Hindu ne pakdo chho to tame bey Musalmano ne pan pakdo chho, havey em nahin chaaley. Hinduono gusso uttara do -meaning - In riots, police tries to act fairly and arrests two Hindus and two Muslims, but this won’t do, allow the Hindus to vent their anger”
How nauseating!As this is a sworn affidavit filed by an Additional Director of Police, I feel there must be some truth in the statement. This is the state of affair in Independent India! And we call ourselves civilized!
A busy weekend
It was one more hectic weekend for me. And the full day is spent on Lionism. Morning we had District Cabinet Meeting. Personally it was a very satisfying meeting for me. Firstly; I received the International President’s Appreciation Certificate, which is a rare gesture. Normally awards and rewards are given at the end of the year, but this award was given for my performance for the last four months. It is a fact that I do social service activities for personal satisfaction, but getting recognition for the same is icing on the cake. Secondly for the upcoming All India Lions Meet, both of my proposals were accepted by the district cabinet, which was also a great achievement. Everyone was really surprised, as normally this Governor does not heed to any suggestions.
Then the review committee meeting of All India Lions Meet, and lastly RC/ZC meeting. Now the All India Lions Meet is really getting momentum. The meeting really motivated the RCs and ZCs. All the ZCs have committed at least 30 registrations per zone. The meeting really generated the hype we planned for.
So it is almost certain that for next 50 odd days (till 7th January) I will be fully busy for this event only.
That is going to create two serious problems.
My Region conference, which is slated for 26th January. How do I give time for organizing that program? This should be more important for me as this is going to be my show. I must really give some serious thought about that.
Professionally my partners are after me to take some bold decisions. The real estate scenario is really booming in Hyderabad. They want to expand the business and to go public, which is not a child’s play. I must organize myself and give some serious thought on this matter also.
All these activities are really affecting my personal life. Today I received a call from my brother. He has taken my parents to Vellore for check up. Mother may require a surgery. May be they are expecting me to go there. If I take a morning flight to Chennai and from there a cab, then also it is going to be a 2 days affair as they are not going to leave me same day. Let me wait for the report of initial check-up, which is slated for 16th. I think after that only I will take a decision. It has been always my principle to be with parents always, as they are more interested in physical presence rather than any other support.
Then the review committee meeting of All India Lions Meet, and lastly RC/ZC meeting. Now the All India Lions Meet is really getting momentum. The meeting really motivated the RCs and ZCs. All the ZCs have committed at least 30 registrations per zone. The meeting really generated the hype we planned for.
So it is almost certain that for next 50 odd days (till 7th January) I will be fully busy for this event only.
That is going to create two serious problems.
My Region conference, which is slated for 26th January. How do I give time for organizing that program? This should be more important for me as this is going to be my show. I must really give some serious thought about that.
Professionally my partners are after me to take some bold decisions. The real estate scenario is really booming in Hyderabad. They want to expand the business and to go public, which is not a child’s play. I must organize myself and give some serious thought on this matter also.
All these activities are really affecting my personal life. Today I received a call from my brother. He has taken my parents to Vellore for check up. Mother may require a surgery. May be they are expecting me to go there. If I take a morning flight to Chennai and from there a cab, then also it is going to be a 2 days affair as they are not going to leave me same day. Let me wait for the report of initial check-up, which is slated for 16th. I think after that only I will take a decision. It has been always my principle to be with parents always, as they are more interested in physical presence rather than any other support.
Radha Krsihna
Yesterday I was talking about love of Radha and Krishna. The love story of Radha and Krishna has specific meanings. Here we find numerous occasions depicting the unflinching love of Radha, her desperation, her longings, however, there were no instances of Srikrishna’s longing for her. Rather, after Vrindavan chapter there is no mention of Radha in his life. Why is it so? The story of Srikrishna is chronicled by his followers only, then why should they do that in such a manner?
As a matter of fact I am fascinated about the character of Shri krishna. Firstly the colour; why is he black? Secondly he is in love with Radha, who is fair in colour.
Most fascinating is, here is a God figure who urges his disciple Arjuna to fight, in Bhagavad Gita. Jesus Christ asks his disciples to forgive. Most of the other God figures of any other religion urges for forgiveness. In my knowledge he is the only one who asks for fighting.
Secondly he is the latest of the Avatars of Lord Vishnu, but it is Lord Rama who is much more venerated by the followers, not Lord Krishna. In Sri Krishna Avatar, Lord Vishnu is not in action, his role is of advisor. Whereas Lord Rama is the embodiment of virtues, Lord Krishna does not have any qualm in taking doubtful recourses in achieving his goals. There are plenty of occasions in Mahabharata, where Lord Krishna has taken dubious paths. At the time of killing of Jayadhrata, he created artificial dusk with his chakra. During killing of Acharya Drona he urges Dharmaputra Yudhistira to tell lies about death of Dronacharya’s son.
The character is really fascinating.
As a matter of fact I am fascinated about the character of Shri krishna. Firstly the colour; why is he black? Secondly he is in love with Radha, who is fair in colour.
Most fascinating is, here is a God figure who urges his disciple Arjuna to fight, in Bhagavad Gita. Jesus Christ asks his disciples to forgive. Most of the other God figures of any other religion urges for forgiveness. In my knowledge he is the only one who asks for fighting.
Secondly he is the latest of the Avatars of Lord Vishnu, but it is Lord Rama who is much more venerated by the followers, not Lord Krishna. In Sri Krishna Avatar, Lord Vishnu is not in action, his role is of advisor. Whereas Lord Rama is the embodiment of virtues, Lord Krishna does not have any qualm in taking doubtful recourses in achieving his goals. There are plenty of occasions in Mahabharata, where Lord Krishna has taken dubious paths. At the time of killing of Jayadhrata, he created artificial dusk with his chakra. During killing of Acharya Drona he urges Dharmaputra Yudhistira to tell lies about death of Dronacharya’s son.
The character is really fascinating.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
True Love
‘You know you are in love when you see the world in her eyes and her eyes everywhere in the world’
How does one describe love?
Let’s look at mythology;
The eternal saga of love between Radha and Krishna. How do we define love of Radha and Krishna? Was not it an extra marital affair? Was it an ideal one?
How do we consider the love story as the ideal one. Krishna’s love to Radha seems to be only his youthful dalliance at Vrindavan. After he leaves Vrindavan Radha is no more there in his life. He married Rukmini and Satyabhama. Radha simply vanishes from his life. Then how can be the ideal love story?
But the same is not so with Radha. Radha is deeply immersed in love with Krishna. Her whole world, her existence is around krishna. So great was Radha's love for Krishna that even today her name is uttered whenever Krishna is referred to, and Krishna worship is thought to be incomplete without the deification of Radha. Whatever it might have been, I think the Radha Krishna love story may be the most fascinating of all love affairs. We have numerous stories of Radha Krishna in all the Indian languages, in paintings, in murals, in statues.
How does one describe love?
Let’s look at mythology;
The eternal saga of love between Radha and Krishna. How do we define love of Radha and Krishna? Was not it an extra marital affair? Was it an ideal one?
How do we consider the love story as the ideal one. Krishna’s love to Radha seems to be only his youthful dalliance at Vrindavan. After he leaves Vrindavan Radha is no more there in his life. He married Rukmini and Satyabhama. Radha simply vanishes from his life. Then how can be the ideal love story?
But the same is not so with Radha. Radha is deeply immersed in love with Krishna. Her whole world, her existence is around krishna. So great was Radha's love for Krishna that even today her name is uttered whenever Krishna is referred to, and Krishna worship is thought to be incomplete without the deification of Radha. Whatever it might have been, I think the Radha Krishna love story may be the most fascinating of all love affairs. We have numerous stories of Radha Krishna in all the Indian languages, in paintings, in murals, in statues.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Life is becoming real busy
All India Lions Meet is really making my life miserable. This is the first time I am involved in organizing such a big event. It is a challenging job. I never understood the enormity of the task. Organizing an official event in professional level is a different matter than organizing an event for an organization like Lions Clubs. You just can’t introduce professionalism in a democratic system. The committee is meeting everyday but progress is slow. Almost a full one-hour meeting goes only to take a decision on formation of a flimsy committee. Today I was given a list of 48 lions to be motivated. A glance on the list brought shivers in my spine. I am more than sure that half of the names are useless. If I can motivate this motley group of people I can definitely claim for an entry in book of world records. Not only that, I need to bring some more names to make the tally to 75. I tried to put up my suggestions which only generated paternal acceptance – baccha try karke dekho kuchh hota hai keya.
The progress in my All India Lions Meet – update is also not something to boast about. Today I could only finish the layout part, whereas it was targeted to be sent for printing. But I liked the layout, and the Governor also was impressed. But till now I could only fill up two pages. I need to make another two pages by tomorrow.
Again this is going to be consecutive 3rd Sunday I will be fully busy in my Lions clubs activities. Morning we have the cabinet meeting, followed by review meeting on All India Lions Meet and then again followed by RC/ZC meeting. So there goes my one more weekend.
Next two days are not going to be any easy. I have to prepare presentations to be made in the meetings. Till now my zone chairpersons are not motivated. I need to work a lot to motivate them before Sunday.
Last night I attended my home club meeting, as usual a noisy one. But we could agree to build a bus shelter before the Dist. Governor’s official visit, which falls on 25th of this month. Today Lion Shakeela Reddy also called. We need to meet the Municipal commissioner and the Director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences regarding construction of Foot over bridge.
Today myself and R. V. Raju went to see a new site for our next project. But the location was not so attractive. This is one more area crying for my attention, we need to start our next project soon. This time we should do a project near hitek city, where the real estate value is really appreciating.
The progress in my All India Lions Meet – update is also not something to boast about. Today I could only finish the layout part, whereas it was targeted to be sent for printing. But I liked the layout, and the Governor also was impressed. But till now I could only fill up two pages. I need to make another two pages by tomorrow.
Again this is going to be consecutive 3rd Sunday I will be fully busy in my Lions clubs activities. Morning we have the cabinet meeting, followed by review meeting on All India Lions Meet and then again followed by RC/ZC meeting. So there goes my one more weekend.
Next two days are not going to be any easy. I have to prepare presentations to be made in the meetings. Till now my zone chairpersons are not motivated. I need to work a lot to motivate them before Sunday.
Last night I attended my home club meeting, as usual a noisy one. But we could agree to build a bus shelter before the Dist. Governor’s official visit, which falls on 25th of this month. Today Lion Shakeela Reddy also called. We need to meet the Municipal commissioner and the Director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences regarding construction of Foot over bridge.
Today myself and R. V. Raju went to see a new site for our next project. But the location was not so attractive. This is one more area crying for my attention, we need to start our next project soon. This time we should do a project near hitek city, where the real estate value is really appreciating.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
The paradise on earth
The cabin crew announced the approaching of Port Blair airport. I tried to take a peek down from the window. Oh God! I think this is what called love at first sight. I could only see a combination of different sheds of blue and green. The green isles with dots of thatched roofs floating across a vast expanse of emerald blue water. Are there so many shades of blue? As the plane started lowering itself, I could see different shades of blue & white water, how it varies from; white at beach to light blue, dark blue and blue and blue.
When we decided early September, the mid rainy season for my holiday to Andaman & Nicober Islands on Bay of Bengal, I was told this is not the best time for a trip to this part of the world. However I, sick of maddening crowd of peak season, wanting a quite romance with nature, packed my baggage and took the early morning flight from Chennai.
The Andaman & Nicobar are a group of picturesque Islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited, a total of 572 islands, islets and rocks lying in the South Eastern Part of the Bay of Bengal. They lie along an arc in long and narrow broken chain, approximately North-South over a distance nearly 800 kms.
Distance by sea (in kms)
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1190
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1255
Between Port Blair to Visakhapatnam1200
Distance by Air
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1303
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1330
TIME magazine on its November 22nd, 2004 adjudged its’ beaches as some of the finest beaches around the world.
Day 1
The arrival at airport and subsequent transfer to the hotel may be termed a routine one except one got a feeling of leisurely life around here. Being Sunday, a journey to Govt. tourist office was of no help. We let the day go by just walking around Aberdeen bazaar, water sport complex and sitting at the restaurant of Hotel Fortune Bay Island, which gives a panoramic view of the sea front. A lazy swimming at the saline water swimming pool of the hotel helped my appetite to have a real feast of dinner at the restaurant.
Day 2
Port Blair is the capital of the union territory of Andaman & Nicober Islands. I have come here to have a leisurely trip, but I need to know the place, its history, ethnicity, and demography.
The Andaman & Nicober Islands comprise of 572 islands, so it will only be proper to visit a few islands. To begin with I decided Ross Island, which is a 20 minutes ferry journey from Port Blair. Ross Island, the erstwhile capital of Port Blair during the British regime, is a tiny island standing as guard to Port Blair harbor.
On 10th March 1858 Dr. James Pattison Walker arrived in Port Blair aboard the East India Company’s steam frigate ‘Senuramis’. This island remained under British occupation till 1942. During WW II, from 1942 to 1945, the island was under Japanese occupation. The allies reoccupied the island in 1945 and later abandoned it.
During British occupation, this island was the seat of power of the British Empire. It was developed into self-equipped township with all facilities required for a civilized colony. Dr. Walker, Chairman of the Andaman Committee, established the infamous and the dreaded Penal Settlement with 200 convicts. The Britishers even persuaded the aborigines to come and live in some huts at Ross Island and even established an Andaman Home for them in 1863. Later on the services of these Andamanese were used to catch the escaping convicts from Ross Island.
Presently I was walking amidst the ruins of old buildings like Ballroom, Chief Commissioner’s House, Govt. House, Church, Hospital, Bakery, Press, Swimming Pool and Troop Barracks, all in dilapidated condition, reminiscent of the old British regime. I felt the pimple gooses growing all over my body, thinking about the bygone era when the path I am treading on were reverberating by the boots of the imperial power. One gets a sense of smallness of human power in these surroundings.
Navy has established a museum on the Island Known as ‘Smritika’ depicting the history of the Island.
Port Blair is associated with the infamous cellular jail. It is just natural that my next destination is Cellular Jail.
‘Cellular Jail, located at Port Blair, stood mute witness to the tortures meted out to the freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this Jail. The Jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘cellular’ because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged, puce-colored building with central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and presently three out of the seven prongs are intact. The Jail, now a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people, has been declared a National Memorial.
The penal settlement established in Andamans by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857 was the beginning of the agonising story of freedom fighters in the massive and awful jails at Viper Island followed by the Cellular Jail. The patriots who raised their voice against the British Raj were sent to this Jail, where many perished. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose hoisted the tri-colour flag to proclaim Independence on 30th December 1943 at a place near this Jail.
This three-storeyed prison, constructed by Britishers in 1906, is a pilgrimage destination for freedom fighters. This colossal edifice has mutely witnessed the most treacherous of inhumane atrocities borne by the convicts, who were mostly freedom fighters. Now dedicated to the nation as a National Memorial.”
The above quoted descriptions are from official website of A&N Islands.
The walk through the corridors of this (in) famous building is experience of its own. It seems the history stand still here. My eyes were looking for as if prisoners will come out from any of its numerous cells. There is a Museum, an Art gallery, and a Photo gallery reminding us the history of the bygone era.
I could not miss the Son-et-Lumiere – light and sound show shown daily inside the jail compound at 6.00 PM (Hindi) and 7.15 PM (English)., The saga of the heroic freedom struggle is brought alive in a moving commentary. It was the Hindi show I have chosen. At the end a heavy heart was coming out of the gate and was I feeling lucky, as it is said that rarely any of its inmates were coming out alive.
To uplift the sagging spirit, we decided to treat ourselves with marine food in one of the few restaurants, and what a treat it was? When I asked for speciality item of marine food, the waiter brought a plate of raw lobster, crab and a few other species of marine samples for me to choose from, to be served cooked, as per my choice. We went for the crab curry. It was a wonderful evening.
Day 3
The Fortune Bay Hotel, where we were staying, has a beautiful restaurant overlooking the seafront. One can spend hour together by just sitting there watching the parade of various kinds of water vehicles; the single fisherman on a small dingy boat busy in fishing here and there, big steamer with it’s load of passenger and cargo passing through, small motorboats hired by tourists whirl past you. One thing caught my eye; launch carrying passengers to a nearby beach. It seems that is the North Bay, where tourists are heading for a little snorkeling to coral reefs. Why am I sitting here? Here I come North Bay.
A small drive from water sports complex brought us to (coral Island) North Bay. Glass bottomed boats are available to have glimpses of coral reefs. I joined a group of geeks in snorkeling and had my first journey to a new world, coral reefs. It’s a different world. There were riots of colors and shapes of corals and fishes. I never knew I had so much energy to spend hours together exploring the depth of the sea.
There is a lighthouse nearby. We dragged our tired bodies to the top of the lighthouse. I pity those lesser human beings who stayed back due to fatigue. They really missed a lifetime opportunity to have a bird’s eye view of the islands surrounding.
Back to hotel for a hearty lunch of what else? marine food. Today I took an oath; I will forget all red and white meat during my stay here. For me only prawn, lobsters, fish and crab.
We went for a leisurely evening at covyn’s cave – a small beach with coconut trees, a few sea bathers and us lazing around.
Day 4
It was decided to have a leisurely day of panoramic city tour of Port Blair covering Chatham Saw Mill, Mini Zoo, Forest Museum, Samudrika (Naval Marine Museum), Anthropological Museum, Sagarika, Andaman Water Sports Complex, Marina Park, Gandhi Park, and Aberdeen bazaar.
Day 5, 6. 7. 8
I have been always a creature of land only. My only interaction with sea are the beaches of different places on earth. Most of them were attractive. But I never had the opportunity to have a long journey through sea. I missed a rare opportunity at Melaka, Malayasia. Anyway this time I had to take a journey to Havelock Island. As expected I was not the only one running up and down the deck and cabin all through the journey, there were quite a lot mad tourists on the board.
At Havelock Island the only thing one can do is laze around the beaches and go for scuba diving and snorkeling. The beachfront hotel is having only one background music that is of unending waves. The notes of this music changes not with the band of a bandmaster but with the passing of time. It has different note at morning and goes on changing as time passes. We had a few days’ of unforgettable hospitality during our stay. Unfortunately the sea was not so kind during this season and hence my desire of maiden venture of scuba diving remained unfulfilled. Some of the diving points:
Mak Point mostly hard corals and their inhabitants are found. Usually good visibility, dugongs have been spotted here
Aqarium is a fringing reef with lots of fish traffic. Usually good visibility, mostly hard corrals.
Barracuda City, Tons of fish, sometime turtles, mostly hard and some soft corals. Rather suitable for experienced divers.
Turtle Bay is an easy pleasant dive site not exceeding 14 meters. Rays are found in the sand and with luck turtles.
Seduction Point A huge rock with different kind of aquatic life. Napoleans can be seen. The shallow part is full with stag horn corals and its inhabitants.
Lighthouse is a huge dive site, suitable for any kind of dives. Huge variety of soft and hard corals. Perfect for night dives.
The Wall is a huge dive submerged rock. The wall drops down to a maximum of 55 meters and is full with life. Huge forests of soft corals plus schools of fish circling you, makes it always a memorable dive.
Pilot Reef near to Havelock is a huge block of pristine hard corals. At the bottom (max 24 meters) ‘canyons’ are stretching out. Leopard and White Tip Sharks have been sighted.
Minerva ledge at Havelock is even bigger block of hard corals. Tons of fish even bigger blocks of hard corals. Tons of fish, usually good visibility and the possibility of seeing sharks makes it one of the top dive sites.
We were so engrossed in our sea bathing, swimming, lazing around the beaches, walking down the white sandy beaches, and jungle walk here and there, that we could not notice how these 4 days had gone by. But all good things end and we have to get back.
Day 9
The return journey to Port Blair, as it happens normally are a subdued one. Only occasion, when I was thrilled, was at the Neil Island jetty, where our steamer stopped enroute. The name of the Neil Island must have been derived of some Mr. Neil, but it would have not been improper if it could be called Neel (Blue in Hindi) Island. Here I found the blue waters are entirely different. My heart was aching to stay back there for a day, but time did not permit.
Back to Port Blair. The last evening we spent for shopping of handicraft souvenirs etc.
When we decided early September, the mid rainy season for my holiday to Andaman & Nicober Islands on Bay of Bengal, I was told this is not the best time for a trip to this part of the world. However I, sick of maddening crowd of peak season, wanting a quite romance with nature, packed my baggage and took the early morning flight from Chennai.
The Andaman & Nicobar are a group of picturesque Islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited, a total of 572 islands, islets and rocks lying in the South Eastern Part of the Bay of Bengal. They lie along an arc in long and narrow broken chain, approximately North-South over a distance nearly 800 kms.
Distance by sea (in kms)
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1190
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1255
Between Port Blair to Visakhapatnam1200
Distance by Air
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1303
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1330
TIME magazine on its November 22nd, 2004 adjudged its’ beaches as some of the finest beaches around the world.
Day 1
The arrival at airport and subsequent transfer to the hotel may be termed a routine one except one got a feeling of leisurely life around here. Being Sunday, a journey to Govt. tourist office was of no help. We let the day go by just walking around Aberdeen bazaar, water sport complex and sitting at the restaurant of Hotel Fortune Bay Island, which gives a panoramic view of the sea front. A lazy swimming at the saline water swimming pool of the hotel helped my appetite to have a real feast of dinner at the restaurant.
Day 2
Port Blair is the capital of the union territory of Andaman & Nicober Islands. I have come here to have a leisurely trip, but I need to know the place, its history, ethnicity, and demography.
The Andaman & Nicober Islands comprise of 572 islands, so it will only be proper to visit a few islands. To begin with I decided Ross Island, which is a 20 minutes ferry journey from Port Blair. Ross Island, the erstwhile capital of Port Blair during the British regime, is a tiny island standing as guard to Port Blair harbor.
On 10th March 1858 Dr. James Pattison Walker arrived in Port Blair aboard the East India Company’s steam frigate ‘Senuramis’. This island remained under British occupation till 1942. During WW II, from 1942 to 1945, the island was under Japanese occupation. The allies reoccupied the island in 1945 and later abandoned it.
During British occupation, this island was the seat of power of the British Empire. It was developed into self-equipped township with all facilities required for a civilized colony. Dr. Walker, Chairman of the Andaman Committee, established the infamous and the dreaded Penal Settlement with 200 convicts. The Britishers even persuaded the aborigines to come and live in some huts at Ross Island and even established an Andaman Home for them in 1863. Later on the services of these Andamanese were used to catch the escaping convicts from Ross Island.
Presently I was walking amidst the ruins of old buildings like Ballroom, Chief Commissioner’s House, Govt. House, Church, Hospital, Bakery, Press, Swimming Pool and Troop Barracks, all in dilapidated condition, reminiscent of the old British regime. I felt the pimple gooses growing all over my body, thinking about the bygone era when the path I am treading on were reverberating by the boots of the imperial power. One gets a sense of smallness of human power in these surroundings.
Navy has established a museum on the Island Known as ‘Smritika’ depicting the history of the Island.
Port Blair is associated with the infamous cellular jail. It is just natural that my next destination is Cellular Jail.
‘Cellular Jail, located at Port Blair, stood mute witness to the tortures meted out to the freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this Jail. The Jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘cellular’ because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged, puce-colored building with central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and presently three out of the seven prongs are intact. The Jail, now a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people, has been declared a National Memorial.
The penal settlement established in Andamans by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857 was the beginning of the agonising story of freedom fighters in the massive and awful jails at Viper Island followed by the Cellular Jail. The patriots who raised their voice against the British Raj were sent to this Jail, where many perished. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose hoisted the tri-colour flag to proclaim Independence on 30th December 1943 at a place near this Jail.
This three-storeyed prison, constructed by Britishers in 1906, is a pilgrimage destination for freedom fighters. This colossal edifice has mutely witnessed the most treacherous of inhumane atrocities borne by the convicts, who were mostly freedom fighters. Now dedicated to the nation as a National Memorial.”
The above quoted descriptions are from official website of A&N Islands.
The walk through the corridors of this (in) famous building is experience of its own. It seems the history stand still here. My eyes were looking for as if prisoners will come out from any of its numerous cells. There is a Museum, an Art gallery, and a Photo gallery reminding us the history of the bygone era.
I could not miss the Son-et-Lumiere – light and sound show shown daily inside the jail compound at 6.00 PM (Hindi) and 7.15 PM (English)., The saga of the heroic freedom struggle is brought alive in a moving commentary. It was the Hindi show I have chosen. At the end a heavy heart was coming out of the gate and was I feeling lucky, as it is said that rarely any of its inmates were coming out alive.
To uplift the sagging spirit, we decided to treat ourselves with marine food in one of the few restaurants, and what a treat it was? When I asked for speciality item of marine food, the waiter brought a plate of raw lobster, crab and a few other species of marine samples for me to choose from, to be served cooked, as per my choice. We went for the crab curry. It was a wonderful evening.
Day 3
The Fortune Bay Hotel, where we were staying, has a beautiful restaurant overlooking the seafront. One can spend hour together by just sitting there watching the parade of various kinds of water vehicles; the single fisherman on a small dingy boat busy in fishing here and there, big steamer with it’s load of passenger and cargo passing through, small motorboats hired by tourists whirl past you. One thing caught my eye; launch carrying passengers to a nearby beach. It seems that is the North Bay, where tourists are heading for a little snorkeling to coral reefs. Why am I sitting here? Here I come North Bay.
A small drive from water sports complex brought us to (coral Island) North Bay. Glass bottomed boats are available to have glimpses of coral reefs. I joined a group of geeks in snorkeling and had my first journey to a new world, coral reefs. It’s a different world. There were riots of colors and shapes of corals and fishes. I never knew I had so much energy to spend hours together exploring the depth of the sea.
There is a lighthouse nearby. We dragged our tired bodies to the top of the lighthouse. I pity those lesser human beings who stayed back due to fatigue. They really missed a lifetime opportunity to have a bird’s eye view of the islands surrounding.
Back to hotel for a hearty lunch of what else? marine food. Today I took an oath; I will forget all red and white meat during my stay here. For me only prawn, lobsters, fish and crab.
We went for a leisurely evening at covyn’s cave – a small beach with coconut trees, a few sea bathers and us lazing around.
Day 4
It was decided to have a leisurely day of panoramic city tour of Port Blair covering Chatham Saw Mill, Mini Zoo, Forest Museum, Samudrika (Naval Marine Museum), Anthropological Museum, Sagarika, Andaman Water Sports Complex, Marina Park, Gandhi Park, and Aberdeen bazaar.
Day 5, 6. 7. 8
I have been always a creature of land only. My only interaction with sea are the beaches of different places on earth. Most of them were attractive. But I never had the opportunity to have a long journey through sea. I missed a rare opportunity at Melaka, Malayasia. Anyway this time I had to take a journey to Havelock Island. As expected I was not the only one running up and down the deck and cabin all through the journey, there were quite a lot mad tourists on the board.
At Havelock Island the only thing one can do is laze around the beaches and go for scuba diving and snorkeling. The beachfront hotel is having only one background music that is of unending waves. The notes of this music changes not with the band of a bandmaster but with the passing of time. It has different note at morning and goes on changing as time passes. We had a few days’ of unforgettable hospitality during our stay. Unfortunately the sea was not so kind during this season and hence my desire of maiden venture of scuba diving remained unfulfilled. Some of the diving points:
Mak Point mostly hard corals and their inhabitants are found. Usually good visibility, dugongs have been spotted here
Aqarium is a fringing reef with lots of fish traffic. Usually good visibility, mostly hard corrals.
Barracuda City, Tons of fish, sometime turtles, mostly hard and some soft corals. Rather suitable for experienced divers.
Turtle Bay is an easy pleasant dive site not exceeding 14 meters. Rays are found in the sand and with luck turtles.
Seduction Point A huge rock with different kind of aquatic life. Napoleans can be seen. The shallow part is full with stag horn corals and its inhabitants.
Lighthouse is a huge dive site, suitable for any kind of dives. Huge variety of soft and hard corals. Perfect for night dives.
The Wall is a huge dive submerged rock. The wall drops down to a maximum of 55 meters and is full with life. Huge forests of soft corals plus schools of fish circling you, makes it always a memorable dive.
Pilot Reef near to Havelock is a huge block of pristine hard corals. At the bottom (max 24 meters) ‘canyons’ are stretching out. Leopard and White Tip Sharks have been sighted.
Minerva ledge at Havelock is even bigger block of hard corals. Tons of fish even bigger blocks of hard corals. Tons of fish, usually good visibility and the possibility of seeing sharks makes it one of the top dive sites.
We were so engrossed in our sea bathing, swimming, lazing around the beaches, walking down the white sandy beaches, and jungle walk here and there, that we could not notice how these 4 days had gone by. But all good things end and we have to get back.
Day 9
The return journey to Port Blair, as it happens normally are a subdued one. Only occasion, when I was thrilled, was at the Neil Island jetty, where our steamer stopped enroute. The name of the Neil Island must have been derived of some Mr. Neil, but it would have not been improper if it could be called Neel (Blue in Hindi) Island. Here I found the blue waters are entirely different. My heart was aching to stay back there for a day, but time did not permit.
Back to Port Blair. The last evening we spent for shopping of handicraft souvenirs etc.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
I need a holiday
Today we were discussing about taking a holiday. It’s a long time we have not gone anywhere. It always had been my weakness. I am a workoholic. I can work almost for 16 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. But at the end of the year I need to get away from everything. I just simply need to wish away the busy life. The last holiday we took was September 2004. We went away to Andaman & Nicober islands. How much I enjoyed that my Reliance mobile service was not covering that place. It was wonderful. I think I will write something about that tour in my next blogg, which will definitely give me some solace.
But somehow this year we are not able to spare anytime. And a look at the calendar only making me gloomy. I am finalizing on 25th December for my Region Meet. And this being the most important event during this calendar year for me, I will be fully busy. Then, All India Lions Meet which falls on 5th to 7th January. Then the marriage of my niece on February, another busy month. March is examination month. April is the month of District Convention. Then we will be in full summer. I hate to go on holiday in summer. It was unanimously decided that the next holiday will be in the Himalayas. It’s ages since we had a holiday in Himalayas. The trek to Kedarnath, it is more than 10 years. How wonderful it was, trekking up all the way to the icy heaven! I think this time we should choose the eastern Himalayas. Somewhere in the northeast. Let me at least think and make the plan, which will definitely take away some of the gloom.
But somehow this year we are not able to spare anytime. And a look at the calendar only making me gloomy. I am finalizing on 25th December for my Region Meet. And this being the most important event during this calendar year for me, I will be fully busy. Then, All India Lions Meet which falls on 5th to 7th January. Then the marriage of my niece on February, another busy month. March is examination month. April is the month of District Convention. Then we will be in full summer. I hate to go on holiday in summer. It was unanimously decided that the next holiday will be in the Himalayas. It’s ages since we had a holiday in Himalayas. The trek to Kedarnath, it is more than 10 years. How wonderful it was, trekking up all the way to the icy heaven! I think this time we should choose the eastern Himalayas. Somewhere in the northeast. Let me at least think and make the plan, which will definitely take away some of the gloom.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Servie to mankind
Last two Sundays I was busy in my lionistic duties. For the uninitiated, as a Region Chairperson of Lions Clubs International, I need to perform some lionistic duties. The hierarchy of Lionism is as follows. At the bottom of the ladder there are individual clubs who are independents in every respect like preparing their year planner, they have their own means of funding, they decide the kind of activities they would like to conduct. But they are affiliated to Lions Clubs International and they need to follow some guidelines of the Lions Clubs international. Four or five clubs form one zone and three or more zones from Region, Six or more Regions form a District, three or more Districts form a Multiple Districts, And all the Multiple Districts together form the Lions Clubs International.
As a Region Chairperson I need to accompany the District Governor on his official visit of any club in my Region. Last Sunday, we had a District Governor’s official visit to Lions Club of Secunderabad Sadhana; this is an all ladies club. All the members are Lady Lions. Lion Shakeela Reddy is the President of the club. During our visit they took us to their permanent project; adopted library. I was surprised to see the well-maintained library. As usual the building is an old one with poor ventilation. But the collection of the books is impressive. And most surprising for me was the locality in which it is located, in the midst of low-income group area.
The president of the club described her future project. They want to construct a foot over bridge near Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences. This hospital is reputed for its excellent medical services with nominal cost. Majority of the patients come form rural areas for surgery and treatment for other major ailments. It stands on a very busy road, and there are frequent cases of accidents occurring while the villagers try to cross the busy road.
In Hyderabad there are no foot over bridge. We were very impressed and encouraged the President to take immediate action on the project.
Today again I had to go for official visit to Lions Club of Secunderabad Gymkhana. It was also one of the very satisfying days for me. We went to inaugurate the Bus shelter constructed by the club in the old city of Hyderabad. We had some interaction with the local corporator. Seeing us all the local poor people came and requested us to take up some service activities, We promised them of conducting an eye check up camp at the slum, where we will provide all the medical help in providing glasses to poor people and to conduct cataract surgery on the patients. They showed us the three Saraswati schools (it was a news for me that Saraswati Schools are run by RSS) where they are planning to conduct eye check up camps as per ROSHNI-50 campaign on 16th of November. In total more than 1600 students will be benefited.Lion Ravi kumar, the President of the club is an NRI. He works in Abu Dhabi. He works in offshore oil rig. Alternate 28 days he stays offshore and in India. I am really happy and impressed by the kind of dedication Lion Ravikumar has for service to the fellow human beings.
As a Region Chairperson I need to accompany the District Governor on his official visit of any club in my Region. Last Sunday, we had a District Governor’s official visit to Lions Club of Secunderabad Sadhana; this is an all ladies club. All the members are Lady Lions. Lion Shakeela Reddy is the President of the club. During our visit they took us to their permanent project; adopted library. I was surprised to see the well-maintained library. As usual the building is an old one with poor ventilation. But the collection of the books is impressive. And most surprising for me was the locality in which it is located, in the midst of low-income group area.
The president of the club described her future project. They want to construct a foot over bridge near Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences. This hospital is reputed for its excellent medical services with nominal cost. Majority of the patients come form rural areas for surgery and treatment for other major ailments. It stands on a very busy road, and there are frequent cases of accidents occurring while the villagers try to cross the busy road.
In Hyderabad there are no foot over bridge. We were very impressed and encouraged the President to take immediate action on the project.
Today again I had to go for official visit to Lions Club of Secunderabad Gymkhana. It was also one of the very satisfying days for me. We went to inaugurate the Bus shelter constructed by the club in the old city of Hyderabad. We had some interaction with the local corporator. Seeing us all the local poor people came and requested us to take up some service activities, We promised them of conducting an eye check up camp at the slum, where we will provide all the medical help in providing glasses to poor people and to conduct cataract surgery on the patients. They showed us the three Saraswati schools (it was a news for me that Saraswati Schools are run by RSS) where they are planning to conduct eye check up camps as per ROSHNI-50 campaign on 16th of November. In total more than 1600 students will be benefited.Lion Ravi kumar, the President of the club is an NRI. He works in Abu Dhabi. He works in offshore oil rig. Alternate 28 days he stays offshore and in India. I am really happy and impressed by the kind of dedication Lion Ravikumar has for service to the fellow human beings.
A special Diwali
This Diwali I wanted to spent some time with inmates of old age home. Due to various reasons the same could not be materialized. But somehow I was getting restless. And by evening decided that we three ( including wife and son) should celebrate our Diwali as planned. Accordingly we went to meet one of our aunts, Mrs. Laxmi, a widow of mid sixties who stays alone. She was really thrilled seeing us. Her only daughter could not visit her due to other commitment. It was a dull diwali for her. But we lit up her house with candles. Immediately she prepared some sweets for us.
We spent an hour and so with her.
From there we went to meet Mrs. & Mr. Rao. Mr. Rao has crossed 80, became forgetful. Mrs. Rao is old enough to suffer all the ailments of old age. Her son and daughter stays somewhere in Tamilnadu. For the old couple there were no Diwali. Mr. Rao has become very frail. Now a day he lives only on daydreaming. He was telling stories about his long dead brother, his niece who stays in USA. Mrs. Rao forced us to eat Sweets. We had some laugh on stories of forgetfulness of Mr. Rao. The old couple was so overjoyed that they were not leaving us.
After spending a couple of hours we really felt that it was a great diwali for us. We brought some joy and happiness to those old people. I am quite sure that they will remember this day for a long time to come. Our visit made this day special for them.
This was a special Diwali for us also.
We spent an hour and so with her.
From there we went to meet Mrs. & Mr. Rao. Mr. Rao has crossed 80, became forgetful. Mrs. Rao is old enough to suffer all the ailments of old age. Her son and daughter stays somewhere in Tamilnadu. For the old couple there were no Diwali. Mr. Rao has become very frail. Now a day he lives only on daydreaming. He was telling stories about his long dead brother, his niece who stays in USA. Mrs. Rao forced us to eat Sweets. We had some laugh on stories of forgetfulness of Mr. Rao. The old couple was so overjoyed that they were not leaving us.
After spending a couple of hours we really felt that it was a great diwali for us. We brought some joy and happiness to those old people. I am quite sure that they will remember this day for a long time to come. Our visit made this day special for them.
This was a special Diwali for us also.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
New course of life
This is part of a speech of Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO;
‘Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.’
Surprisingly this very day, this is the second encounter I had with similar kind of answer to the question eating me out in recent past ‘How long should I continue to work on something I don’t really enjoy doing?’
And it is not a sudden feeling. Maybe I never enjoyed my work, but initially I must have started working because of youthfull josh, then I might have continued to do so due to habit. But since last 4/5 years I was spending more time in my social service activities. These activities were giving me some kind satisfaction, but it created strain in my relationship with my family and my business partners. Day by day I was not sure of the course of action I need to take.
But it is also not so easy to just change your course of life. After some years of your life you become specialized in some subject and virtually you become useless out of your subject.
Today I get a strong feeling that I need to heed my gut feeling and start a new course of life.
‘Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.’
Surprisingly this very day, this is the second encounter I had with similar kind of answer to the question eating me out in recent past ‘How long should I continue to work on something I don’t really enjoy doing?’
And it is not a sudden feeling. Maybe I never enjoyed my work, but initially I must have started working because of youthfull josh, then I might have continued to do so due to habit. But since last 4/5 years I was spending more time in my social service activities. These activities were giving me some kind satisfaction, but it created strain in my relationship with my family and my business partners. Day by day I was not sure of the course of action I need to take.
But it is also not so easy to just change your course of life. After some years of your life you become specialized in some subject and virtually you become useless out of your subject.
Today I get a strong feeling that I need to heed my gut feeling and start a new course of life.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Sottorer Dasok, muktir Dasok - the decade of seventies is the decade of freedom
Sottorer Dasak Muktir Dasak – The decade of seventies is the decade of freedom.
I have grown up in Calcutta during late sixties till mid seventies. I have seen the annihilation of one generation of Bengalee Youths. I have seen the great communist movement of Bengal during that period, which changed the social structure of Bengal. I have seen the great decay in the life of Bengalee middle class Bhadralok. I feel that the history of that period has not been chronicled properly. Today the Bengalee society is still paying for the omission and commissions of that period.
Today when I see the Maoist movement again resurging in various parts of the country, I remember the faces of those youths, bright – the future of any society, which was lost.
I felt there should be an independent history of the affected people. The story of the mothers who lost their sons, the sisters who lost their brothers, brothers who lost their brothers, the youths who lost their childhood, need to be heard so that the next generation of youths will not be put to the same kind of foolishness. The idealistic youths are again getting misguided by the power broker politicians. They should be told the untold story of their predecessors, which only will open their eyes.
I want to make a documentary film on the subject.
I have grown up in Calcutta during late sixties till mid seventies. I have seen the annihilation of one generation of Bengalee Youths. I have seen the great communist movement of Bengal during that period, which changed the social structure of Bengal. I have seen the great decay in the life of Bengalee middle class Bhadralok. I feel that the history of that period has not been chronicled properly. Today the Bengalee society is still paying for the omission and commissions of that period.
Today when I see the Maoist movement again resurging in various parts of the country, I remember the faces of those youths, bright – the future of any society, which was lost.
I felt there should be an independent history of the affected people. The story of the mothers who lost their sons, the sisters who lost their brothers, brothers who lost their brothers, the youths who lost their childhood, need to be heard so that the next generation of youths will not be put to the same kind of foolishness. The idealistic youths are again getting misguided by the power broker politicians. They should be told the untold story of their predecessors, which only will open their eyes.
I want to make a documentary film on the subject.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Man's life span
God created the donkey and said to him. "You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."The donkey answered: "I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20 years"God granted his wish. ............................................................................................
God created the dog and said to him: "You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.You will be a dog. " The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years. " God granted his wish.............................................................................................
God created the monkey and said to him: "You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live 20 years. " The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years." God granted his wish.............................................................................................
Finally God created man and said to him: "You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years." Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused." God granted man's wish............................................................................................
And since then, man lives 20 years as a man,marries and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back. Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is'nt it?
God created the dog and said to him: "You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.You will be a dog. " The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years. " God granted his wish.............................................................................................
God created the monkey and said to him: "You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live 20 years. " The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years." God granted his wish.............................................................................................
Finally God created man and said to him: "You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years." Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused." God granted man's wish............................................................................................
And since then, man lives 20 years as a man,marries and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back. Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is'nt it?
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