Anniversary of 9/11

Today is the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, when a prominent chapter was added to the American and World history on this day on September 11, 2001. How time flies ! A child born on that day is no more a teenager and is already eligible to legally drink alcohol.

Feels just like yesterday when on a cool, crispy early Fall morning commute to my work at Toyota Motors Manufacturering in Kentucky where I was working as an IT Consultant, the news of terrorist attack on the World Trade center came as a bolt from the blue. That very day is forever etched in my memory. Most at my workplace were stunned, but stayed calm and composed. Many were frantically trying to locate Afghanistan on the world map and I remember helping a few in finding the beleaguered nation which made the cardinal mistake of harboring Osama-Bin-Laden, the man behind the terror attack.

There was no hysteria or public display of outcry, but it was not business as usual and anxiety on the faces of my coworkers was quite palpable. I had the habit of filling gas in my car at a local Shell gas station which used to give 5% discount on Tuesdays and unfortunately that September 11 fell on a Tuesday. On my way back home I encountered a long line at the gas station. There was hardly any car on the road. People were mostly indoor, glued to the Television.

The aim of terrorists is to create terror and they really succeeded that day in scaring the hell out of Americans who were attacked on their Mainland for the first time in history (technically the first major attack on US soil took place after the strike on Pearl Harbor by Japan on 7th of December 1941. It was in Hawaii, America' 50th State thousands miles away from mainland).

Contrast that to the indomitable spirit amongst Indians. Mumbai and many other cities in India have gone through several terror attacks. But within hours the life comes to normal. It's not about the number of people being killed, those many are killed in road accidents every day. The main goal of the terrorists is to create terror in the hearts and minds of the people. In that aspect they fail miserably in India, though it has more to do with the need for ROZI ROTI (daily bread) than any great gallantry against odds or fighting spirit. Yet they still deserve the credit of defying the odds and getting back to normal life quicker than anywhere in the world.

A quarter of a century down the road, hardly anything has changed. Though, touch wood, America has been able to prevent any major terror attack on its soil, war and terrorism across the globe still thrive. No nation on earth is fully immune to the disease which is spreading its tentacles far and wide like cancer, nor they're entirely blame free for letting this menace prevail due to their short sighted political goals.

Some one is a good terrorist as long as he is an useful idiot to serve one's own business, but becomes a bad terrorist if it hurts the state which sponsors them for creating terror in another country. Someone's terrorist is another one's Freedom Fighter. If not curbed, on long term terrorism is going to do irreparable damage to the mankind unless everyone gets together to root out this evil. Remember, if you keep snakes in your backyard thinking that it will only bite only your neighbors then you are living in fool's paradise. One day that snake is going to bite you. The lessons learned from 9/11 should never be forgotten.

Bagha Jatin

Today is the death Anniversary of Bagha Jatin, or Jatindranath Mukherjee, an Indian freedom fighter who fought against the British and died young at the age of 36.

Born in Nadia district of Bengal, he was only 5 year old when his father died, followed by his mother at 9. He was brought up by his elder sister. Since teenage days he dabbled in fighting for freedom against the occupying British who ruled India with an iron hand. But Jatin possesed an iron hand using which he killed a tiger as he was scouring the forests to go underground and use as launch pad for his anti-government activities. He used a small knife to kill the tiger but was grievously injured in the process. It took him days to recover from the poison of the tiger's claws and teeth which caused him deep, gruesome wounds. After this incident he was christened by locals as "Bagha" (the tiger killer) Jatin. 

Soon Bagha Jatin would shift his revolutionary activities to Balasore, a small town in Odisha near Bengal border. He, along with his close friends Chittapriya, Manoranjan and few more formed a merry band whose fiery spirit led to several skirmishes with the British using arms and ammunition. In order to run their organization they needed money and hence looted the rich Zamindars (feudal lords) of the time, most of whom sided with British. After looting, Bagha Jatin's gang would leave a note saying that they are taking the loot to fight for freedom and will return the money with interest after independence. 

Unfortunately they couldn't keep their promise. During the First World War, Bagha and his associates established contact with Germany who was seen as enemy's enemy being a friend as they were fighting the war with British. The Germans were ready to assist Bagha Jatin's gang with arms and ammunitions. But the mission failed due to couple of reasons. First of all, the English ruled India with the support of the majority of Indians and many of whom were eager to please and cooperate with their occupiers for a price or privilege. Secondly, British had created a strong network of spies and informants and like a ripe fart could smell any mutiny or revolutionary activities from miles. 

Based on the information they received the British Military Police closed in on Bagha Jatin and his gang inside the deep forests surrounding Budhabalanga River near Balasore, Odisha. Though thorougly outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered, Bagha and his associates fought bravely for few hours before being captured or gunned down one by one.

Bagha Jatin was seriously injured in the ensuing gun fight. He was taken to a local hospital and treated by a British doctor. When he regained his sense he refused to be treated by an Englishman and threw away his bandages. He continued to bleed and battle for his life until he died from gunshot wounds on this day September 10, 1915, exactly 111 years ago. Long live martyr Bagha Jatin. My tribute to one our many unsung heroes.

Janmastami and Godmen

 We just passed JANMASTAMI, Birthday of Sri Krishna, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu. It reminded me of this Baba, a charlatan in the guise of a saint who once lived in Bhubaneswar. He proclaimed himself as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, his 11th Avatar. On this auspicious day it was rumored that the Baba turned himself into BAL GOPAL (Baby Krishna). His women devotees cuddles him and took turns in feeding him milk. Preaching others about avoiding fatty food but himself not so averse towards it, the Baba was said to have a preferences for full fat milk over semi fat ones.

Well, he imbibed so much milk that he could not digest and so also the local populace couldn't digest his escapades. One fine morning his ASHRAM (abode) was stoned and Baba fled away. Don't know what happened to this self proclaimed 11th incarnation of Vishnu. He was rumored to have resurfaced elsewhere.

In Punjab the controversial Baba Ram Rahim Singh was in news not long ago. The Baba had been convicted of rape charges and his followers had taken to street, taking the tri-state of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi into hostage for a few days as violence reigned. He had patronage of all political parties including BJP. Now we have examples of fake Babas from East (Odisha) and North (Punjab), South (Tamil Nadu) in the form of Nityananda Swami and West (Gujarat) in Asharam Bapu complete the pan-India affliction of the Baba franchise.

I am not against Godmen. They and their followers have every right to their belief and peaceful assembly to preach and sooth the tired souls as long as they stay within the framework of law. But some are known to take law for granted and into their own hands. They also indulge in obnoxious activities, often involving women and children. The myths surrounding them eventually get shattered, replaced with controversies and free fall from grace.

What's the secret potion that enables these Babas to sustain, survive and elude the authorities of any misdeed ? Many of those nefarious Gurus have equally unscrupulous folks as disciples which includes but not limited to politician, bureaucrats and businessmen. The Baba often acts as a conduit, a wheeler and dealer for those in power, a backroom boy who knows their secrets and use them an insurance for future.

The vast majority of the disciples of these Babas aren't illiterate, poor folks as we would think, they are rather from the middle class and upper strata of our society. Many, especially women suffering from insecurities and bored with their bland daily drudgery of suburban, small city life become the SHISYAS (Female devotees) of these charlatans to get some kick and adventure as an scape ftom their mundane lives. But familiarity breeds contempt. The disillusionment kicks in for some at some point when they discover how uncouth and fake these Babas are. Their Guru's misdeeds events gets exposed with time as the ocean floor gets exposed after the fall of high tide.

But these folks are in minority, for come what may, still a vast number of brainwashed BHAKTs (disciples) chose to virulently defend their Babas. This doesn't come as a surprise to me. When I posted earlier about the milk loving Baba of Odisha, a friend of mine who incidentally had studied in IIT apparently got pisses off and started trolling me. If this was the reaction from a highly educated guy (studying in IITs, a premier Technical Institution is arguably considered the highest form of education in India).

Karma is a bitch ! Gladly, law and their own Karma eventually catches them. I hope they rot in jail, excelling in CHAKKI PEESING..PEESING.. PEESING (A Hindi allegory describing jail time).

Teacher's Day 2026

Today is TEACHER's Day, all other brands are prohibited (Teachers is a popular brand of Scotch). Joke apart, I salute to all my teachers who have made a huge difference in my life by shaping my knowledge and character. It is not just limited to my teachers in school and college. My parents were my first teachers. Then came friends, relatives, acquaintances as my teachers in various forms at different stages in my life. There is always something to learn from every human being, a prince or a pauper, a beggar or a sorcerer, an animal or an inanimate object. Life is the biggest teacher. 

A good movie can be a good teacher too. In the iconic movie 3 IDIOTs, on the Teacher's Day of September 5, the character Chatur Ramalingam goes on stage to recite a Sanskrit Sloka (hymn) eulogizing the teachers of his college. He rotes the Sloka by memory, without understanding a single word, nor caring about its content, without realizing that the original speech was altered by a playful and witty Rancho (played by Aamir Khan). 

As Chatur on the stage was about to vomit the Sloka he rote from what Rancho wrote, the later told his friends to get ready to hear a sermon about the former's farting prowess. Chatur recites:

UTTAMAM GAD GADATA PADAM,

MADHYAM PADAM TUCHAK TUCHAK;

THUR THURIYA KANISTAM PADAM,

SUR SURIYA PRANA GHATAKAM.

Roughly transliterated...

"Loud farts are majestically thundering;

Medium farts come along stuttering,

Small Farts arrive whisteling & sirening;

The silent ones can be life threatening."

As the crowd goes berserk rupturing with laughter and poor Chatur gets kicked out of the stage. Racho's dark humor taught us another lesson in academics - Knowledge acquired through roting sans understanding may earn you a degree, but will get you nowhere. My father always emphasized on learning through understanding rather than roting.

Decades ago there was this incident, when a sub-collector in Sonepur district of Odisha did this shameful, cowardly act of kicking a hapless school teacher, abusing him as a poor MASTRA (the way the word master is often pronounced in Odia, a term mostly used in derogatory sense for teachers back home). 

I remember a cartoon related to this incident which came out on the local vernacular Newspaper "The Sambada" with the following caption, (rhyming with our famous Sloka "GURU BRAHMA GURU BISHNU... "

GURU DEENA GURU HEENA

GURU SAMANYA MASTARA;

KANDOOKA SAMAN GURU

TASME SRHEE GOITHA MARA

ITI UPA- COLLECTOR

JILLA NAMA SONAPUR.

Transliterating in the same rhyme form to keep the theme intact,

"Teacher is poor, Teacher is mere;

Teacher is just an ordinary Master.

Teacher is akin to a football;

To be kicked for sure.

Courtesy Sub-Collector,

From the district of Sonepur."

I have heard parents asking their children in Odia "KIRE MASTRA AJI KANA PADHEILA" meaning "Hey, what did the master teach you today". The English transliteration may not sound so bad but the way it is delivered in the native language is not a sign of great adulation. It shows the respect they the guardians give to their teachers.

My simple take - A society which does not respect its teachers, can never prosper. Period. Great nations are made by great men. Great men (and women) are shaped by their teachers. HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY to all.

The legend of Sher Shah Suri

 Babur, the founder of Mughal empire convened a meeting of officials of his Kingdom to celebrate a hard fought victory in the battle against the Rajput confederation led by Rana Sanga, which followed his easy victory over Ibrahim Lodhi in the historic first Battle of Panipat. A massive feast was served to the emperor and delegates from various provinces of his Kingdom.

Sitting on top of the elevated throne something caught Babur's eyes. From the high pedestal he could see a young man struggling to eat a big chunk of meat placed in front of him. The man took out his knife, cut the meat into smaller chunks and started eating those pieces using his knife. In those days it was something unusual, considered a daring act in front of the Mughal Emperor, where a certain court etiquette needed to be followed in front of royalty. Babur noticed it and told his close courtiers - "Keep an eye on this man. I have a feeling he will go very far in life".

The Mughal Badshah who didn't live very long after this incident was quite prophetic. Couple of decades later this young man Sher Shah Suri would defeat Babur's son Humayun in two successive battles - Battle of Chausa in 1939 and Battle of Kanauj in 1940. He chased and drove away Humayun who took refuse in Persia. Sher Shah now become the undisputed Emperor of India. He ruled for 5 years from 1940-45 as a successful ruler,  military campaigner and an able administrator.

Sher Shah Suri was not born into royalty. He was the son of a minor Afghan Jagirdar in modern day Bihar. It is said that when Sher Shah's mother was pregnant with him, she had an unusual dream of a crescent 🌙 moon entering her swollen belly which is considered lucky in the Islamic world. She woke up in a state of bliss, recounting this dream to her husband who kept her awake rest of the night, not to let this auspicious dream pass by, overriden by another one.

Born Farid Khan, he become Sher Shah Suri in his youth when he single handedly killed a tiger. Following his father's footstep, Sher Shah spent his early career managing estates for others inside the very Mughal court he would one day erase. The emperor he defeated, Humayun, was the son of Babur, the founder of one of the most formidable dynasties in South Asian history. None of that protected him against the swift tactics of Suri.

Sher Shah rose through the Lodi and then Sur tribal networks in the Bihar region of northern Hindustan during the 1520s and 1530s. By 1538 he had already seized Bengal and was openly challenging Humayun's authority. Humayun marched south to crush him. The two forces met first at Chausa in 1539 CE, where Sher Shah routed the Mughal army and declared himself Sultan of Hindustan on the battlefield.

Humayun regrouped and returned with a larger force. But Sher Shah who was said to possess the ferocity of a tiger and shrewdness of a jackel was waiting for him. A master strategist, at the Battle of Kanauj on May 17, 1540 CE, Sher Shah attacked before the Mughals could organize their crossing of the river Ganga. Humayun's army collapsed. The Scion of Mughal himself barely escaped, reportedly crossing the river on an inflated animal skin by a local boatman. He fled westward into Sindh, then Persia, living as a fugitive while Sher Shah governed in Delhi. Later after Sher Shah's death when Humayun regained Delhi throne he allowed the boatman to sit on his throne for one day as a matter of gratitude.

Another instance of his strategic shrewdness  is documented when Sher Shah was facing a formidable Rajput rival. He figured out that his opponent was better positioned with a larger army, so he immediately made a requisition for reinforcement. In the meantime fearing an attack from the Rajputs not to be outnumbered by them, Sher Shah spread leaflets outside the opponent's camps spreading a fake message that some Rajput Chieftains had switched sides to Suri's camp. It created confusion in the enemy ranks, buying enough time for Sher Shah get his replenishment to defeat the Rajput King.

Within five years of taking power, Sher Shah Suri had completed a road system known as Grand Trunk Road stretching approximately 2500 kilometers from Chittagong in the east to Kabul in the northwest, lined with rest houses, wells, and shade trees every two kilometers. He also minted coins and created a fair taxation and revenue system later cloned by the Mughals. In the year 1545 an accidental gunpowder explosion during the siege of Kalinjar fort killed him. His descendants were incompetent and couldn't sustain his legacy. Had he not died in that freak accident, India might have have seen a different history. But no man ever in India had ever rose so fast from the scratch to became the Emperor and ruled for so little time of 5 years to carve his niche, leaving an indelible mark inked into its history.

Stockholm syndrome

 Exactly 53 years ago, on August 23, 1973 a group of gunmen and women led by Jan Erik Olsson - high on drugs and holding a gun took hostages in a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. The world has seen several hostage dramas before and after this event. But what makes this one uniquely different is the hostages developing an emotional bond with their captors giving birth to a new phrase called  "Stockholm Syndrome".

The whole hostage drama got wide television coverage. The world was glued to TV round the clock. The audience were surprised when one of the girls taken hostage while talking to the authorities over phone started defending her captor. She had already developed a huge crush on her hostage taker who was a charismatic speaker and humored her by telling stories and playing Checkers.

The drama ended on day six when police sprayed gas into the bank, forcing the culprits to surrender, freeing the hostages and ending the crisis. But the "Stockholm syndrome" never ended and stuck around like a chewing gum stuck to your pants, refusing to go. It continues unabated in many places, in various forms where the victims love the perpetrators.

I have seen some of my college mates idolizing those professors who harassed them to no end, going an extra yard to eulogizing them, both before and after their demise. I am a son of a professor and I have ultimate respect for teaching profession. But needless harassing of young minds isn't something to be eulogized. It's Okay to admire the good things about our teachers, but to my surprise I have seen many victims of harassment needlessly going an extra yard out of way harboring "Stockholm syndrome" towards them. The famous writer Khushwant Singh who didn't spare any one including himself once wrote - "A person doesn't become better after death". He never spared anyone in his eulogy, he didn’t even spare himself when he wrote an self eulogy years before he died.

Coming from a feudal society, I heard folks eulogizing Babus (Bureaucrats), often smitten by them and the power they wield. It is not unusual to see victims at the receiving end of the Babus in Odisha saying -"ARRE SEY IAS OFFICER PEE KI BADEILA" (So and So IAS officer got drunk and beat some hapless folks). As if getting drunk and beating innocents by taking law into their own hands and taking advantage of their position is something praiseworthy. I know many who are forever stuck like glue to their marriages with "Stockholm Syndrome" in spite of being in an abusive relationship. Once a girl confided to me about her abusive relationship from a perennially cheating husband. When I questioned her compulsion of clinging to marriage and being stuck to a toxic relationship, her response was reminding me the title of a Hindi song -

"BHALA HAI BURA HAI, JAISE BHI HAI.
MERA PATI MERA DEVTA HAI".

Roughly transliterated,

"Good, Bad or Ugly, Wherever he stands.
After all, he is my husband".

We see lots of examples of the "Stockholm syndrome" in real life. Psychologically many of us tend to sympathize with our perpetrators. Part of it is due to our inferiority complex which makes us appreciate the stronger person bullying us which we aspire to do but can't due to various reasons - it could be lack of courage, the societal pressure etc etc. We get a vicarious pleasure by seeing our wishes replicated by someone else. What happens then is a perfect example of - "if you can't beat them, join them". More than 50 years since we are stuck with the "Stockholm syndrome" forever.

RIP Pranab Patnaik

When Kishore Kumar died the month of October, 1987 an article printed in the popular English newspaper of the day "The Times of India" as a tribute to the eccentric genuius of Bollywood (literally printed on paper as internet or the ubiquitous world wide web was strictly a fantasy then). It ran with the title - "The last of the originals", indicating that after Mukesh who died in 1976 and Mohammed Rafi in 1980, Kishore Kumar was arguably the last of the original male playback singer in Hindi film industry.

Same can be ascribed and attributed to Mr. Pranab Patnaik, the well known Odia singer from our generation who passed away today taking the youthful memories of one generation with him. He was the last of the originals of the Odia music after the greats Akshay Mohanty, Sikandar Alam and Chitta Jena who have passed awsy. A la Kishore Kumar, Akshay Mohanty was a virtuoso, a multifaceted artist, a versatile singer and lyricist who has penned many of his own songs. Sikandar Alam and Chitta Jena were akin to Mohd Rafi, their voices were sweeter than the legendary Pahala Rasagolla, a famous local sweet. In my view Sri Pranab Patnaik was the Mukesh of Odisha. Similar to the legend who was know for his DARD BHARE GAANE (heart touching melancholy songs), you can feel the same from his Odia counterpart's melodious voice straight out of the inner most core of his heart.

Pranab Patnaik sang tons of popular Odia songs, mentioning all is beyond the scope of this blog. For me couple of them stood out - "Seemahina Dariya" from the movie Batighara and "Majhire" from Sesha Shrabana. Both songs were from the 1970s. The 80s saw the decrease in the number of songs from the famous troika of Akshay Mohanty, Chitta Jena and Pranab Patnaik as the listener's choice shifted to cacophonic voices and double meaning bawdy songs with bad lyrics barring few exceptions.

We had a family connection to Pranab Patnaik. He was my father's friend, though a few years older to him. Mr. Patnaik's wife was my father's classmate in Ravensaw College who used to complement my father saying that I can't stop laughing at Purna's jokes. They lived close to Ravi talkies, a stone's throw from BJB Flats where I spent my childhood and early part of my youth. His son Satyakam Patnaik was a year senior to me in school. We used to take the same bus to D.M. School and play badminton together during our childhood day. It was a small world in Bhubaneswar those days when every one knew everybody and can instantly recognize a person from the color and number of the vehicle. Those were the days !

Mr. Pranab Patnaik left for heavenly aboard at the age of 88 with his indelible mark in Odia music. He took the tearful farewell of a generation of music lovers to the afterlife. Mortal man, immortal melodies. May he RIP. Om 🕉 Shanti.