Ants In the Pantry

Recently, an announced came about Ants found around the Ice making machine in the Break room of our office. Maintenance had been called to have an exterminator sent out to get rid of the ant menace. We were advised not to leave any food items outside.

 

I remember my growing up days back home, when we peacefully coexisted with all pervasive ants in our house. The bite from red ants were less painful but irritating due to formic acid injected by protruding stout. The tiny black ants won't bite, but cluster amount any chunk of sweet they find, creating a nuisance around.

 

There used to another variety of fiery Red Fire ants, locally known as KAAI, which can be seen making beeline on the branches on the Mango trees. I have seen folks smearing their body with ash and climb the mango trees to escape their painful bites while plucking the fruit. There was another kind of Big Black Ants, locally known as ZANDA, whose bite can be painful. Here, in Southern America, its very common to see Ants forming mounds on lawns, though they rarely invade home. They are eaten by Armadillo, very often seen around during summer, to complete the food chain. My son was once bitten by ants when he accidentally stepped on an Ant mound, severely causing Allergy though out his body. I have bitten may times by these creatures back home, rarely suffered anything besides a red swelling. Our kids don't have the same immunity we got growing up in India.

 

There are a few funny anecdotes related to this tiny, hardworking, harmless creature.A teacher in our school, named G N Dash, was nicknamed so by some creative student as Zanda, which sounded like an abbreviated version of formers name. It could also be due to his dark, lanky figure, very much resembling the Black Ant. In late 1980s, there was this poster of a Hindi movie PAAP KA ANT (End of Sin), being misprinted as PAAPA KA ANTA (Father's Waist), a completely different meaning.

 

The notice was replaced late in the afternoon, indicating that the Ant menace has been taken care of. Ants in the Pantry is far better and bearable than ants in the pants.

Post Bihar Election - Why BJP failed

The Bihar Election results reminded me of my Engineering college days. 50% of students in REC (now NIT) came from the outside states, including Bihar ( it was undivided, Jharkhand was part of it then). A few of my Bihari classmates were great guys nevertheless, but occasionally whisper around my ears ISKA JAAT KAA HAI (what's his caste) ?, curios to know about the caste of us Odias and then trying to connect it to their counter part in Bihar. For example, they linked our KARANA caste to KAYAST in Bihar. The caste Brahmin was self explanatory, though they struggled a lot, whether to align our KHANDAYAT caste to Rajputs or Bhumihars.

As a teenager, who had hardly travelled outside Odisha, I found it rather strange. Soon I noticed, a few of the upper caste folks from Bihar would avoid sitting on the Mess Dining Table with certain guys, whom they perceived as from lower caste or strata of the society. Odias might have tons of lacunae, but such rampant and naked casteism is not one of them. The thought of not sharing a meal with someone never came to our mind. I found their behavior as weird.

It also reminds me of an episode narrated to me by a friend, whose father retired as a senior bureaucrat in Delhi. He was in PMO when Indira Gandhi was at the helm of affairs. During Cabinet meetings, the ministers would break for lunch. Once, Indira Gandhi walked towards Kamalapati Tripathy, a Brahmin and Railway minister from UP and asked him "Tripathy JEE. BABU JAGJIVAN RAM (a minister from Scheduled Caste in her cabinet) KEHTE HAIN KI AAP UNKE SAATH NAHI KHAATE (Mr. Tripathy, Jagjivan Ram complains, you don't eat with him)". Kamalapati replied - MADAM, MEIN AAP KE SAATH BHI NAHI KHAATA, WOH TO CHAMAAR HAI (Madam, I don't even eat with you, he is from a low caste of shoe makers). Indira, though born a Brahmin, lost her caste after her marriage to Feroz Gandhi and was never allowed inside Lord Jaganntah Temple post marriage, because of that.

Down the time travelled road, nothing much seems have changed. Like the story of the monkey on a bamboo pole, if we climb 1 foot of development, we are brought down by couple of feet of casteism and communalism. 

Watching last night's election coverage, I never saw predictions swinging such wildly before. During the first couple of hours, most channels predicted a BJP victory. Many BJP workers even started celebrating with fireworks. A few analysts even jump the gun too, starting discussing why BJP won, until tides started turning. They should be told the saying we have in Odia, NAI NA DEKHUNU LANGALA ( Taking the cloths off or becoming naked, before seeing the river). It stands for, jumping into conclusion too soon, too fast. It exactly was the case last night.

Newspapers These days

One hardly gets any news these days from reading Newspapers. TV and net have replaced them as source of news. The local Newspaper is mostly use by me to do Jumble and Crossword puzzles, a great exercise for the brain. The other thing I look forward to are the sale papers and coupons in them, which come handy in saving a few bucks. The Newspaper is heavily loaded with local news, like how Mr. Joe Fart fared at the local church, with major international events given a pass, unless it involves America or Americans.

 

For the news from India, I mostly rely on social media and links provided gives me an inking of things back home. Whatever once in a blue moon I visited the website of tabloid Times of India, I completely stopped going there since it serialized  lurid sexual escapades of some Indrani Mukherjee, which I care the least. But the fact that it is carried on multiple media outlets, tells me Indrani is the new "Savita Bhabi" of the Indian Middle class.

 

The newspaper reports from my state of Odisha, can be funny and outright entertaining. I find a few newsworthy and wish could drag and drop to my Trash/Recycle Bucket. Can't stop mentioning certain eye catching news I stumble upon, SARAPANCHA KU NISTUKA MADA (The village Sarpanch or head has been thoroughly thrashed), UTAKTA JANATA BHANDA BABAJI RA DAADHI KAATI DELE(irate mob cut the beard of fake Baba) and so on. But not so funny like, SAANA BHAIRA TANGIA CHOTA RE BADA BHAIRA MRUTYU (Younger brother kills the elder one by axe). The one which hurts me a lot is JAUTUKA PAI BADHU NIRYATANA/HATYA (Bride tortured or killed for Dowry). Such news are mostly from coastal Odisha. It makes me wonder if the coastal Odisha folks are champion Dowry takers and harassers, compared to their Western Orissa cousins.

Once I remember reading, BHUBANESWAR RASTARE FERRARI, BENTLY GAADI (Ferrari and Bentlies ply on Bhubaneswar road), proclaiming the arrival of novieu rich in once a sleepy city. What fun is riding a Ferrari in BBSR where the crawling traffic can hardly make you go over 30 kmph(20 mph). If you are intrepid enough to exceed that speed limit, I would tersely remind you of your dependents and the last payment of Life Insurance policy. Yet to many, this is a symbol of Odisha's progress.

The one news I found the ultimate in hypocracy, 500 TANKA LANCHA NEI PEON ARREST (Peon arrested for taking Rs.500  bribe). A classic case of an Oriya saying .. HAATHI GALI JIBA..PIMPUDI JAI PARIBANI.( Elephant can escape but Ant gets caught), meaning is self explanatory. We studied in Math and Physics during our school/college days, that when a number tends to get too small we ignore it considering it as zero. And those who are familiar with corruption in India, a bribary of Rs.500 is so small these days, it better get unnoticed and unreported by media. They should rather focus their energy on catching bigger fishes, which they don't for obvious reasons. Let the poor peon enjoy his share of 500.

FIFA'S contribution to Soccer in America

Here is the saga of the success story of FIFA, successfully promoting soccer in USA. The world's premium soccer body always wanted to create a dent in a nation where Football meant less foot, more hand contact with an elliptical ball. But never to be dissuaded, FIFA came with an action plan and went beyond just lip service to promote it.

In 1974, stars like Pele, Franz Beckenbauer came to USA and played exhibition games. It was followed by establishment of soccer leagues, clinics and fields in school etc. Still the stubborn Americans refused to budge, hardly showing much interest in the game.

In the 1982 World Cup, FIFA extended its team format, from 16 to 24, precisely to give a boost to new teams. Yet, USA failed to qualify against Honduras and El Salvador, two minnows who represented North America in that World Cup. El Salvador, a team which made it from North America at he expense of USA, was defeated 10-0 in that tournament by Hungary. It showed that FIFA's effort was stillborn, rather than at infancy. USA again failed to qualify for 1986 World Cup, remembered as Maradona's World Cup. 

Yet, it did not stop FIFA from awarding USA the privilege to host the World Cup in 1994. Granting a nation the status of hosting a major tournament, is a giant and pragmatic step in promoting a sports in that country. The dividends paid soon. USA managed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Rome, over the more fancied Mexico from North America quota.

Then came 1994 World Cup, where America being the host nation did not have to go through the rigors for qualification. It took advantage of its home advantage to reacg the elimination round, where it was expectedly defeated by Hagi's Romania. Though more Americans followed the news of the their Football star O J Simpson's trial than World Cup soccer on their soil, granting the nation the status of hosting it, proved a master stroke by FIFA. The dividends paid well and Soccer took its roots in America.

The moral of this non-fictional story is, with due diligence, persistent planning and effort can pay on the long run. FIFA's promotional effort was some real stuff, not just plain lip service, something to be emulated by other Sporting bodies in the world. No one expects America to win a FIFA World Cup anytime soon, but it has carved its niche, credit to FIFA. It's another matter that USA is a formidable force on the women's version of it, winning the just concluded Women's soccer world cup.

Possible Scenario from Post Bihar elections

Here is my assessment of the possible Scenario from the Post Bihar elections. If BJP loses Bihar or performs below par, it would be mostly because of the following two reasons.

 

Firstly, it's failure to project a viable Chief Ministerial candidate. Not sure why didn't they project Susil Modi as the CM. Some say, they did that in Delhi and failed. But Susil Modi is a veteran with a clean image, unlike Kiran Bedi he is not considered as an outsider, a suave politician and could have been a viable alternative to Nitish. Not to mention, BJP won last Lok Sabha elections by projecting Modi as their PM candidate (Both Narendra and Sushil  Modi are no Bedi ).

 

Secondly, RSS chief speaking the right thing about Reservation at the wrong time. Bihar, especially its rural areas, is polarized along caste lines. BJP's opponent has been quoting the statement of RSS's chief time and again during the campaign. BJP, though disassociated themselves from Mohan Bhagat's statement, would be wishing their associates to keep their mouth shut, and rightly so.

 

Looking at the bigger picture post elections, a BJP's loss could put a spanner on the nascent developmental activities initiated by the center. If the development is a bamboo pole, it will be the same old story of the monkey climbing 2 feet up and 1 feet down. Forget about the Opposition, the like Shiv Sena and Satrughna Sinha will come out with sheath open to grab their pound of flesh. A word of caution to the supporters of BJP and those wished country's development post UPA - Be afraid, be very afraid.

My grandmother's tryst with the outer world

Halloween always reminds me of my grandmother's tryst with the outer world. She used to narrate us this story from her childhood which till date fascinates me.

 

When she was young, she was seriously ill. Her parents quit on her, when they saw her eyes closed and her body became cold. She remembered floating above her body, watching her parents crying. She saw some of her dead relatives. That included her sister who was close to her and succumbed a year earlier to Small Pox. She told my grandma, not to worry about the neither world, as she got familiar company.

 

Then a big burly guy came, yelling" What she is doing here ? She needs to go back, her time hasn't come yet." Soon she opened her eyes, to see her crying parents relax and wipe off tears from their eyes. She miraculously recovered from that point and lived well into her 90s. She never ever suffered any major ailment after this and led a very smooth life, living until the age of 95. Till he died, she took care of herself and passed away peacefully in her sleep, a blessed death for any human.

 

In modern day Clinical terms, it is called NDE (Near Death Experience). I would think, this was a short term Post Death Experience. Whatever it may be, my grandma forever insisted on this event, took RAANA (sweared on the lives of her near and dear ones) of speaking the truth. I do have reasons to trust her, as ladies from that generation took their RAANA seriously, especially when it comes to their kids and grand kids.

Dino Zoff and Imran Khan

When Italy won the World Cup Soccer in 1982, Dino Zoff, their skipper was 40 years old. He was the oldest person to captain a World Cup winning team.

Exactly 10 years later in 1992, Pakistan won the World Cup Cricket, captained by Imran Khan, who was also 40 year old.

Both Italy and Pakistan were upset winners, defeated more fancied sides on their way towards winning the Cup. Italy defeated the much favored Brazil. Pakistan defeated New Zealand. Both Brazil and New Zealand were having a fantastic run, until they met unexpected Waterloo in the hands of Italy and Pakistan respectively.

Finally, Paolo Rossi of Italy and Inzamam-Ul-Haq of Pakistan were not among the better known players before the tournament. Paolo Rossi's hat trick sealed the fate of Brazil, the star filled team which was having a fantastic run until they met Italy in elimination round. Inzamam's 32 ball 60, sealed the unstoppable Kiwi's dream in the semifinals.