RIP - J B PATNAIK

He was a politician who started his career in media, at a time when social media was strictly fantasy. Yet the news of his death, which came to me on the social media, reminded me of his administration during my growing up days back home. His death marks end of an era, where media has come a long way, but politics is still as murky as ever.

A controversial three term Chief Minister of Odisha, his administration paved the way to another 4 term (still counting) Chief Minister. A learned person in Sanskrit and Odia, a writer of prominence, his tenure institutionalized corruption and nepotism in a state which still languishes at the bottom of the ladder.

A master political manipulator, having a penchant to cling to power by hook or crook, was unceremoniously removed in 1999 and could never make a comeback. Controversies surrounding him which included practice of black magic,  innuendos of his alleged escapades published in now defunct magazine, arguably did a great damage to his party but could never dent his ability to stick to power. RIP, J B Patnaik.

Annual Physical Checkup

This week, I had my annual physical check up done at my Primary Care Physician's clinic. This is something I have been doing religiously over a decade now, to ensure my organs are well organized and in good shape. Eventually came the moment I dread the most, annal part of the Annual check up, to ensure nothing abnormal happening deep down.

 

The doc smeared his gloved finger with lubricant and rammed it deep inside my bottom, making me grimace, grinning my teeth. I should have taken a selfie at that moment and posted on social media. It could have gone viral with million plus hits. The doctor certified that my a** is first class and polyps-free. Deep down, I felt safe.

 

Soon I came out limping off the clinic, delighted and assured that my a** is safe for now. But I could visualize the doctor thinking about me, what an as***le. I envy those doctors who can annually screw you and get paid handsomely for doing so.

 

Reminds me of my ex-boss from India when I was in UK years ago. One day he had an headache and went to see a doctor. After returning back, our British client asked him "How did your visit go", to which my ex-boss replied " doctor checked my head and found nothing in it". He was not far from the truth.

George Washington and Benjamin Franklin - II

Another person who made immense contribution towards American Freedom was Benjamin Franklin, the genius from Philadelphia who was also a scientist, who famously invented lighting rod which saved many a buildings from getting destroyed. Philadelphia's importance and influence those days was next only to Boston. The were only 13 states called colony, including Georgia in the extreme south. The state of Georgia then was mostly consisted of the North and the Eastern part of the present state. Savannah was a major trading port with rich denizens, interestingly rice being one of their major exports. Atlanta wasn't heard of and Florida was still a Spanish colony. As warmer weather and unexplored fecund soil in South made bountiful harvest, many started settling in. But as they were far from the hinterland, news from outside was slow to percolate in. So whenever someone from outside visited them, they were warmly greeted. It gave birth to the term "Southern Hospitality".

In the meantime Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, called the 13 initial states to form "The United States". Comparing the 13 states as fragmented pieces of a snake, the need to stay together to strike back hard. He also visualized the power of media, so published his " con-jointed snake" concept with illustrations in "Philadelphia Gazette" to drive his point. The smart person him figured out that more than the military, the real strength of their British adversaries was their extraordinary ability to "divide and conquer". They tried their best to play the same amongst their subject, considering a majority of them can trace their origin to their Island. The British had succeeded in their conquest to conquer the globe, supplementing their military skills with "divide and conquer" policy. But they spectacularly failed to do so with the Americans, who would soon became the only power in history to have defeated the British and driven them away from occupation.

After the independence, delegates arrived at the "Independence Hall" where the United States constitution was formed. The 81 year old Benjamin Franklin, ailing but in high spirit, made a colorful appearance and was welcomed with a well deserved standing ovation. It was the fitting finale to the fag end of a genius who was a scientist, scholar  and a politician extraordinaire, being one of the founding fathers who gave the great nation its solid foundation. United States was really blessed to have such leaders at that time to guide them. If they did not remain united, the English would have ruled and taxed them much longer. Only thing they left was the English language and the FPS (foot pound system).

George Washington and Benjamin Franklin - I

It's fascinating reading about American History when I teach Social Studies to my son, preparing him for his test (as examination is known as here) at his school. There is always something to learn from history. Here are a few excerpts in words of my own....

 

America, as we know today, was vastly different in 1700s. But there was something in common between now and then, it was the land of immigrants and rich. By mid 1700, the immigrants were already into their 3rd generation, hardworking and innovative. Plantations made them self sufficient, trading made them rich, duly vindicating the old Sanskrit adage that BANIJYE BASATI LAKSMI, i.e. trading makes one rich. The Cities of Boston and Philadelphia, the two biggest cities of the time were booming, already trading with Europe and Caribbean. The city of New Amsterdam which just got the new name NEW YORK after the British took it over from the Dutch, was still at its infancy.

One other thing was happening in the New World, as America was addressed at the time. The English, Scotts, Irish, Germans, Dutch et all no more identified themselves with their countries of origin. They have stayed on this land long enough to have an identity of their own, starting to call themselves as "AMERICANS". With British, Scott and Irish contributing to nearly half the population, English soon became the language of the Americans and it's still the same.

 

George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, what exemplary characters they were ! When the French built fortification in the Ohio Valley, the British sent a young, talented Colonial general to deal with the situation. His name was George Washington. Though he was defeated by the French, he showed amazing leadership qualities. Later as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (as the US Army was known then) he overcame great obstacles to turn the war in its favor against the formidable British, arguably the most powerful military on the surface of earth at that time.

He was immensely helped by an America innovation, the accurate long barrel gun called "Pennsylvania rifle", made by the German immigrants. It was the one of the first innovation by the American immigrants, certainly not the last. He would literally turn the guns on their adversaries, using his bunch of 15000 ragtag soldiers against a well trained British Army of 50000. It vindicates his exceptional acumen and military strategy. Least the British knew that one day the same general who they sent to fight against the French, would on day turn his gun to them. George Washington, was not an elected, rather a selected President. He left on his own accord after his 2nd term, setting a precedence for his followers. (Most after him were 2 term Presidents until FDR's unprecedented 4th term forced the Americans to pass a law to limit the presidency to 2 terms). Tomorrow...more about Benjamin Franklin

RIP, Richie Benaud

Richie Benaud and Channel 9 from the land Down Under (as Australia is known) bring back rare memories down the lane. Richie's typical Aussie accented punch lines "gid dye (good day) mite (mate) from MCG", "in the air but saif (safe)", what a keich (catch) " still refuses to escape my memory. It was so genuinely Australian, like its Kookaburra to Kangaroos.

My first exposure to live cricket telecast from Australia was on the early morning of 1st March of the year 1985. India was playing with the host, in a crucial match in the Benson & Hedges World Series involving all test playing nations of that time. With blurry eyes minutes after the start, I watched Indian bowlers storming into the Aussies batting up. Before they realized they were reduced to 17 for 4 (oops 4 for 17 as they call it there). Kapil Dev and Jackie (as medium pacer Roger Binny was called by his teammates for his Jackfruit shaped round bottom) were in demolition mode. Australia could never recover from the shaky start and was all out for 160 odd runs. India easily won the game, knocking the home team out from the tournament. Alan Border, then Captain of Australia blamed the defeat on their team getting tired due to playing way too much cricket. The Aussie press howled - if we don't play too much we won't lose too often. 

More than India's victory what stuck me was the excellent quality of coverage and the lucid voice of Richie Benaud (along with Tony Greig who died years ago). For the first time I saw the telecast from each ends of stumps, showing the front view of the batsman facing the ball. The excellent clarity of vision was conspicuous, even on Black and White Konark TV ( a popular local brand of that time). The replays were shown like flipping pages on a glossy magazine. It was magical, as well as titillating moment to the early teen in me to view the summer milieu from the land down under, beamed live to the conservative middle class living room in Bhubaneswar. 

So far, I had mostly seen on the Doordarshan (only TV channel available) the so called slow motion replay. After a boundary, six or wicket would come a banner on TV proudly proclaiming ACTION REPLAY like a trailer announcing the release of a movie. Then would come the hazy replay in slow motion. Often by the time the replay finished one more delivery would have finished. Like a breath of fresh air, the telecast and the voice of Richie was both mesmerizing and a welcome respite from past. It had its share of contribution in bringing the frog in me out of the well. Cricket telecast and Channel 9 have come a long way since, but you will be forever etched in my memory. RIP, Richie Benaud.

Finally, A Nuclear deal with Iran

Finally, the American led negotiators managed to work out a deal in principle with the Iranians (the final deal in it's official form is scheduled for June). It took a great deal of effort by John Kerry, US Secretary of State with the backing of Obama to come this far, in spite of opposition from the Right Wing elements of the Republican party and Netanyahu, who is more acting like the Republican Governor of the unofficial 51st state of United States, called Israel.

I am glad a deal was reached at the end of several stalemates. It's future still remains uncertain in an unsure world, filled with unpredictable parameters. Constructive opposition is the greatest hallmark of a healthy democracy. It's always okay to oppose providing a viable alternative, rather than blindly opposing for the sake of it. I have not seen any concrete proposal from the opponents of this deal, except military strikes on Iran's mainland and imposing further sanctions.

The first option is ruled out at this moment. Unlike Iraq and Syria, the Iranian Nuclear facilities are scattered across thousands of miles, some in heavily populated areas. Air strikes will hardly achieve anything, except raising the nationalism of the Iranians. The Israeli Army simply can't rush tanks into Tehran without the backing of foot solders from America. It will be suicidal for the Americans to do so, specially at this juncture, when their economy surging ahead compared to the stagnating other major economies Europe, Japan and China. The second option is putting more sanctions on Iran. This, along with computer virus attacks to cripple their nuclear installations and killing of some of their nuclear scientists (Israel and USA being blamed for both), has not prevented Iran from getting closer to their goal. So more sanctions will hardly achieve anything new.

The credit of Iran's sustaining nuclear program should go to one man: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who like Robert Oppenheimer of America or Dr. Kalam of India, is the chief architect of their program. This is to the jealousy of their Bette Noire Saudis, who are champion hypocrites and hardly capable of producing quality scientists, nuclear or otherwise. Whatever the opponents of the deal harp about, kudos to Obama who has done his best to make this deal possible, wishing to make this as his notable signature Foreign Policy achievement before he goes out of office.

As John F Kennedy said "We should not negotiate out of fear, but should never fear to negotiate". Reminds me of a scene from B R Chopra's MAHABHRAT which was telecasted in late 1980s. Lord Krishna goes as a peace envoy to the Kauravas, saying SHANTI KA KOI VIKALP NAHI HAI (there is no alternative to peace). He was so correct.

Bidding for Olympics in 2024

PM Modi wants India to bid for the 2024 Olympics. Upon hearing this, I slid into a reverie, day dreaming. A la Martin Luther King, I had a dream, that I am watching the announcement at the headquarters of IOC " The Host for Summer Olympics goes to...NEW DELHI". The whole nation celebrates under firecracker lit night sky. Alas, I was abruptly interrupted, as reality struck in, that it's not going to happen in 2024 or anytime soon. I am destined to die with this unfulfilled dream and haunt everybody as a BRAHMA RAKHYASA ( Per legend in Odisa, if a Brahmin dies with unfulfilled desires , he is cursed to roam as a burly, demonic champion of ghosts, feared as BRAHMA RAKHYASA. He supposedly lives on a huge Banyan tree, bossing over others in the neighborhood).

 

Sorry, PM Modi. It's okay to sell a dream, most politicians do it. But don't sell a mirage. No way we deserve to host it, not as early as 2024. Before you jump into such grandiose ambition, it's time to do some introspection. Do we have the requisite sporting infrastructure, ability to market and convince IOC to tilt the decision in our favor over a bevy of well endowed global suiters ? It seems we have taken the motto set by Baron De Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics ", i.e., Participation is more important than winning medals", a little too seriously. Don't chase a mirage and expect any Bollywood style magic here, for watching too many movies give us an undue expectation of some last minute miracles.

 

The continents of Europe and North America, used to predominantly host this prestigious sporting event not so long ago. But it gonna be third time in 12 years, Olympics will be held outside these continents. It also tells something, the arrival of many nations on the world stage, especially in sports and economic arena. Brazil is going to be the host next year, followed by Japan in 2020, 2nd time in their history. China and South Korea, the other two Asian giants have already passed the test as successful hosts. Some say we have missed the boat. But that would be a gross understatement. We were never a serious contenders by any standard, being far from hosting Olympics anytime soon.

Indian Sports management should take a note that the minnows North Korea manage to win more gold medals than us. It is a nation where the overwhelming majority lives in abject poverty and suffer from acute malnutrition. An average Indian eats better and lives better than an average North Korean. Yet they train better and though hungry, have much more hunger for winning medals. (Their performance on sporting arena is no fluke, shouldn't be pooh-poohed to drugs and threats of being sent to Gulag).

 

On the other hand there is simply no excuse to our performance, or rather lack of it, vindicating we are no sporting nation, in spite of our 1.25 teeming billion. Our sports system needs a complete revamp, before it can yield some concrete results. Here are a few simple suggestions.

 

First of all, kick all the Netas out of our sports bodies. They, along with their crooked cronies, have done enough (harm) for our sports, nothing more is left to do. Sportsmanship is just not their forte, certainly not in this age of competitive and professional sports.

 

Secondly, create world class sports infrastructure and develop sports at the grass root level. China sowed such seeds in 70s and now reaping its benefits. If we sow it today we, we could reap around 2040.

 

Third, look beyond cricket. Popularize soccer, hockey, swimming, track and field and so on. Like crop rotation does wonders to fertility and different mental activities for mind, multiple sports helps us to be more sportive. All these are no rocket science. If we can do a successful Mars mission, why can't we do this?