Day VI in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2017

When I took a shower this afternoon I found the water soothingly lukewarm, heated by solar energy. We don't have any solar panels or anything fancy like that. The overhead tank water was warmed by pure and natural sunlight. 

Feels so cool to take bath in this environment friendly environment. No electricity, natural gas or natural gas was needed to warm the water to a lukewarm temperature. No boiler or geyser was operated, water only warmed by unadulterated sunlight. But mention of this earth friendly fact only elicited lukewarm response from most.

Post noon it turned excessively muggy, with heat index feeling not be less than 115 degree (50 degree Centigrade). Then around 5 PM came lightening followed by Thunder which sounded music to my ears. The squals of wind swirled in causing tree branches to swing and sway, instantly sweeping the floor with leaves and twigs. It was the harbinger of KALABAISAKHI or the summer thunderstorms, an integral part of the tropical weather.

I was watching the pouring rains in India after a long time. Intermittent lightening brightened the western sky, relegating Sun to the background. The view of the silvery strings of rain lashing against the grayish dark horizon was awesome. Streaks of lightening, a la the forking tongue of a giant Serpent partitioned the dark sky in the horizon, creating a spectacular view.

It rained good for good 30 minutes, lowering the temperature with a still still, muggy air around. From the balcony of home, I watched the gray Bull of our locality and couple of pariah dogs taking shelter under the mango tree protruding out near our gate. The animals shared the natural canopy, respecting each other's space with mutual trust and respect.

Their bonhomie did not last long. No sooner the rain stopped, than the bull headed Bovine charged at the doggies to shoo them away. One of the dogs stealthily walked towards a bike and lifted its legs to pee on it. 

Suddenly came out the pillion driver from nowhere yelling "Hey Hey, JA JA (Go away), frantically snatching a broken branch on the ground to chase the doggie away. The mongrel fled away fast with its tail tugged well between its legs, its peeing job half finished. The guy wasn't amused by his freshly rain washed bike to be overridden by fresh dog urine.

Couple of Marwari guys in our locality drenched themselves by coming out in open wearing NADA (string) shorts stressed to the hilt by their protruding bellies. I thought they were simply excited, to enjoying their shower under fresh showers. Later I discovered the more profound reason behind their action - the belief that bathing in summer rains cures skin ailments.

The power went poof for little more than an hour. Haven't seen the electricity playing truant so far, today was the exception due to the thunderstorms. Some voltage fluctuations and few minutes of power outages notwithstanding, the electricity is far more cooperating compared to my prior trips. More later....

Day V in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2017

After taking an early morning shower on Monday morning, following my mom's diktat I walked towards SUKHMESWAR MANDIRA, one of several Shaivite (of Lord Shiva) temples scattered around adoring my neighborhood of Old Town.

Before that I drank Tea, Amul Lassi and couple of glasses of PAIDA (young coconut) water. While on my way back, I realised my bladder was about burst as I won't be able to hold on to it much longer. 

As there was still some distance to be covered (distance is a relative term and not just a number when you walk with or without nature's call), I thought it would be prudent to open the valve midway.

Frantically looking for a spot with privacy, I found a suitable peeing spot by roadside. It was a dry spot near a wet wall, heavily stained by betel leave saliva and more heavily stenched by rivulets of urine mixed with red saliva.

Couple of guys joined me on my side, inspecting the site for a location. The guy on my right looked up into the sky while relieving himself. I turned my head to the left and smiled at the other. He reciprocated by smiling back at me, exposing his phalanx of dark, betel stained 32 teeth.

We all shook ourselves off, lifted and tightened our pants and bid each other an unspoken good bye. It is another feeling relieving yourself under open, blue sky. I managed to leave my scent behind, may be back one day to reuse the spot. It is the best way to recycle these wall urinals lurking around the smart city.

No place to wash hands, I knew it will be a few minutes before I reach home to do so - sincerely wishing of not getting an opportunity to shake my hands with someone. Feeling completely light and relieved, I started trudging my way back home.

Soon my wish was to be belied. On my way back, I saw a familiar face rushing towards me - "HAIO KEBE ASILA. KETE DINA ACHHA" (Hey when did you come. How long you will be staying), extending his hands for a warm handshake.

I reluctantly took my hand forward, squinting my nose and hesitantly took his hand for a handshake. The smiling guy on the other side shook his hands enthusiastically for few seconds. 

Post handshake, he rolled his hands over his lip and chins, making me squint and raise my nose further. Hope someone recorded this handshake moment, it could very well get million plus hits on YouTube a la the greatest handshakes in history - Chamberlain with Hitler, Nixon with Chairman Mao, Reagan vs Gorbachev and so on. Glad I didn't meet any more Mr. Fortunates on my way to shake hands with. More later...

Day IV in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2017

Bikes are the most conducive mode of transportation in Bhubaneswar traffic, if you want to get to your desired destination on time. I had a taste of it today while riding on the back of a pillion for a long distance for a long time. 

The motorcycles are apt at and sleek enough to manoeuvre through the crawling traffic. Like a skilled Caesarean surgeon, the guy driving me would screech through the narrow gaps in the labyrinth of mostly three and four wheelers in immaculate accuracy, careful enough to avoid any stray dog trying to barge in (Bhubaneswar has a huge population of stray dogs who at the current rate of growth are expected to overtake its human population in a decade).

If challenged, I can barely drive beyond a mile in this traffic without me hitting someone or someone hitting me. Give me a vehicle and put wager on me - Rs.1000 if I cross 100 meter, Rs.20000 for 200 meter, Rs.100,000 if I cross a kilometer unscathed. It would be a spectacle to watch.

This morning on an Odia News Channel I saw a Congress politician named Debasis Patnaik talking "Kie Kie Paisa Khaichanti Se KHULASA Karantu" (He should disclose those he accuses of taking money. Never heard of about the word KHULASA in Odia lexicon. 

The purist in me isn't convinced that KHULASA is a native word. I found it quite astounding that this word is not uttered by the Chief Minister of the State often criticized for his inability to speak the language, but a pure Odia politician named Debasis Patnaik from the Odisha heartland, bearing a name as Odia as PAKHALA (A popular Odia staple food of rice soaked in water) is or as American as Apple Pie. (I personally know at least a dozen Debasis Patnaiks). 

There is new version of Odia used these days, especially by girls anchoring on the leading Odia TV channels with a typical accented Odia with almost an equitable spread of 49.9% Odia, 30.1% Hindi and 20% English. My observation was soon to be vindicated by a lady anchor taking interview of an aspiring, young female singer. 

She started by introducing the budding singer - "ASANTU SUREELA SANGEET SUNIBA. (Come, let's listen to melodious songs). APANANKA SAMNA RE PES KARUCHU (We are presenting in front of you)." The Interview continued further, "APANA Exception way RE GAANA GANTI, ETE KAM UMAR RE KEHI KEBE Playback singing KARI NAHANTI (you sing in an exceptional voice. No one has done playback singing at such a young age)".

The anchor kept on injecting phrases - "Audience KU APANA HILEI DELE (Appeared to me HILEI is a SANDHI (conjoint) of Hindi HILA and Odia word HALEI, both meaning shaking. It marked an addition of a new page to the SANDHI BICHHEDA chapter of Odia grammar lexicon)." More interjections of "soooo sweet, soooo cute" followed, the anchor going overboard in praising her interviwee.

A person usually speaks with an accent when speaking a language other than his or her mother tongue. Odisha is perhaps the only place on earth, where many love to speak their own mother tongue with an accent.

As if not enough, I have come across a few more terms or phrases of modern Odia, derived from Hindi. A few samples :

CHUTIA BANEILA (Chutia Banaya) -  Made an ass of me.

MAHANGA PADILA  (Mehnga Pada) - Prove costly.

KANA KHECHUDI PAKUCHI  (Kya Khichdi Pakta hai) - What's cooking

LAJABAAB (Speechless)

GUDGUDI HAUCHI (The word Kutukutu in Odia, meaning tickle is wiped out by Gudgudi)

KI GARMEE RE BABA (It's so hot. As if Ki Garam hauchi is a complex Odia sentence to speak).

Either Odia is enriching itself by liberally accepting the influx from other languages, or destined towards oblivion. God bless my mother tongue. More later...

Day III in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2017

A stubborn Jet lag can be a real pain in you know what. My body clock simply refuses to relinquish the US Time Zone. Compared to 2.30 AM, I woke up at 3.30 AM this morning - a small step by me in tortoise speed and a giant step towards getting rid of the jet lag which seems to be too stubborn to relent as I age.

Feels miserable to get up so early in morning, without being able to sleep further. Kishore Kumar's song from Rajesh Khanna's movie AAP KI KASAM - KARWATE BADALTE RAHE SAARI RAAT HUM (turning sides on bed for whole night) never sounded more prophetic. 

Thanks to internet, Facebook and my addiction to blogging, I kept myself busy until the cacophony of GHANTA (brass plate) from a nearby MATH (monastery) sounded like music to me, announcing the arrival of dawn.

A jet lag can be an irritant, a nuisance especially for those plying between India and United States. The long journey can put one's body clock out of whack, which varies from individuals who experience little or no jet lag, to those who have to make a trip to the Doctor's office for medication when their jet lag stubbornly refuses to relent. Eventually most get over it. For me it lasts for 3 to 5 days, now more on the later side. 

Here are a few tips on how to minimize the jet lag. This is hardly scientific, rather based purely upon my personal experience. 

Try not to sleep during the day. Keep yourself busy, sip some caffeine, especially late in the afternoon when your eyelids refuse to stay open. The more you sleep during the afternoon, longer you body takes to adapt the new edition of clock.

Drink plenty of water and go easy on food. Don't splurge on fried foods and alcohol when you still have a jet lag, it can cause havoc to your system. 

Last but the least, time is the best healer. Let your body clock take its own sweet time to adjust. If it's already a week since you have landed and the jet lag stubbornly refuses to go, better see a doctor.

After arrival, the annoying incessant honking and zigzag traffic was a reverse cultural shock to me. It's no more, as I see music and vibrancy in this honking and chaos. 

Reminds me of a joke. A person once went to an astrologer, who after seeing his chart said "You will be begging after two years". "What will happen after 2 years ?" asked the curious and now somewhat concerned person. The astrologer responded "You will get used to it". Now I can proudly proclaim of getting used to the chaotic, snarling traffic. More later...

Day II in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2017

Today I spent my first ever Rs.2000 note (as a currency bill is called in India) and the new Rs.500 ones. The later look pretty sleek and crispy. At IGI Airport in Delhi after breezing through immigration (the paperworks now are dramatically reduced), I proceeded to a "Thomas Cook" counter for money exchanged.

The guy at desk asked me to fill out a form while holding my $100 bill up against the light, eye scanning it from upside down, East, West, North and South. He found a small trace of black ink mark at one corner.

Please give me another $100 note (as a bill is called in India). I asked - "anything wrong with this one ?" Fetched from my local branch from the American hearland I had no reason to suspect the the note with Benjamin Franklin on top was anywhere close to counterfeit. 

"Nothing wrong with it, but we can't take it. Try the next counter" - came the curt reply from the Thomas Cook guy. "May I know why ? You just said this is perfectly legal, yet you can't take it. Doesn't make sense", I asked. "Though perfectly legal tender, we only take shiny, crispy bills which are easily convertible", he replied back.

Tired and jet lagged, in no mood to waster time in arguments, I proceeded to the adjacent counter of Punjab National Bank. The guy checked my $100 bill, did'nt see any issues with it, looked at my Passport and gave me the equivalent currency - without asking for any redundant paperwork for me to write an essay on it.

Credit should be given where credit is due. For a difference, I found a government of India undertaking more efficient and Customer friendly than Thomas Cook - A private corporate which boasts of professionalism.

Weather isn't so bad after my arrival and has been very cooperative so far. Though muggy, it is not inordinately hot. City's weatherman with an interesting last name, Sarat Chandra Pasupalak had predicted early arrival of monsoon. Evenings are nice and breezy, reminding me of my growing up days in Bhubaneswar.

We never felt the heat so much those days. But today after couple of hours outside, I felt something missing. It is the comfort of AC - acronyms of Air Conditioning which was kinda luxury when I grew up in Bhubaneswar. Over dependence on AC makes us feel and complain about the heat. 

As the saying goes in Odia - MANISHA EKA SUBIDHA BADI PRANI (humans are creatures of comfort). Now that I have the comfort of AC, every now and then I look forward to it. Same applies to most from our parent's generation who grew up in villages. After living in Bhubaneswar for decades, I doubt they can spend more than a day in village which don't provide the same comforts of the Capital city.

During the World war II at the time of relentless Nazi Bombing on England the British Royal Air Force fought bravely against the air blitzkrieg of Germany's Luftwaffe. Winston Churchill, the then British PM said this about Royal Air force - "Never in the History of mankind so many were dependent on so few", a tribute to the contribution of the handful of pilots who stubbornly defended the entire English population from the Nazi onslaught. Same can be attributed to AC - never in the history of Bhubaneswar, so many were humans were dependent on a devise. More later....

RIP KPS Gill

They say - If there is a will, there is a way. In 1991, the terrorism in the Indian state of Punjab was looking beyond solution and by mid 1993 it was solved - a sign from the years old night bus services restored in the state.

What happened in between ? After P V Narasimha Rao came to power, he announced elections in Punjab in early 1992, which he was able to conduct despite terrorist violence and low voting. A Congress led government came to power.

The PM Narasimha Rao gave a free hand to Beant Singhr, the newly elected CM of Punjab, who gave a free hand to the Supercop K P S Gill, the then head of Punjab Police. The later have a free hand to the police force, motivating them with "Kill a terrorist and earn a promotion", often literally.

The Punjab Police force followed the Diktats of their head and went on a head hunting spree, harvesting bounties of terrorist heads which would give a run for their RAVI (Winter) crop harvest during the BAISAKHI (the Spring Festival in the State).

The Spring cleansing, followed by further cleansing thw following summer wiped out the majority of the terror elements. The Punjab Police of KPS Gill relentlessly went after the heads of the terror cells - akin to removing the heads of the Serpents which takes out their venom, making their fear mongering torso useless. 

It put a full stop to the ubiquitous terrorism which tortured Punjab for years, breaking its backbone from which it could never recovered. It yet vindicated that strong, able and decisive leadership can fix nagging issues. KPS Gill was a major part of that leadership. 

Unfortunately KPS Gill who turned around the terrorism problem in Punjan failed spectacularly as the head of 

Indian Hockey Federation, an institution known to be both inept and corrupt, was unable to repeat the miracle on the hockey field. It yet debunks the myth that a turn around expert whose forte of expertise is in one field, may not be able to replicate the same on another area or arena.

The Punjab super cop's handling of terrorism need not automatically qualified him to be IHF chief. During his tenure it was rumored that Scotch flowed liberally IHF meetings held in the upper floors of 5 star hotels, where as the ground reality was he failed to resuscitate Indian hockey.

Yet, he will be forever remembered for pulling Punjab out of the killing fields of 80s and early 90s - a well earned credit he fully deserves. RIP KPS Gill.

Day I in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2017

My first night's sleep in Bhubaneswar was broken by sporadic QAWAALIs (group music) from stray dogs. No sooner one side finished with a seqience of wooo..woof..woof, than the other side reciprocated with their version of wooo.. wooo...woof. After a cat nap break, the dogs resumed again.

The jet lag forced my son and I to wake up at 2.30 AM in the morning, preventing us from sleeping any further. Sidhant got busy, Skyping with his friend in US. I caught up with the World Wide Web (www) world, following US's share of the World News and prices of my Shares.

I opened the faucet. The tap farted twice prrt...prrt, before pooping out water. The long arduous wait in darkness paved way to dawn. The eastern sky grew brighter, turning crimson red, slowly the early rays of the morning sun had chased the darkness away. The chirping of birds became louder, so also the sound of GHANTA (sound from round brass plates when hit with a stick) in rhythmic unison of DHAIN DIDHAAIN DHAAIN... DHAIN DIDHAAIN DHAAIN from the nearby MATHA (Monastery).

I went on to the balcony to take a peek outside. Half a dozen mongrels were still napping at a safe distance from a sleeping Brown Bull, careful not to disturb the giant bovine catching up some sleep before the day starts to get hot.

From distance a came the newspaper walla (guy). Swinging his arms, he threw the newspaper past our main gate with immaculate accuracy. A biker went past honking nonstop. It was needless on an empty road, but apparently as he kicks off on his bike, honking sound keeee.. kick kick...keeee.. he gets a kick.

In one of my earlier India trips in winter, one fine morning I saw a guy who just bended over our fence, stealthily plucking flowers from our yard. Oblivious of my presence he looked left, right and let out a loud boom, creating ripples behind his LUNGI (Loincloth). With enough sight and sound, a new day dawns, my first day in my home state in India. GOOD MORNING ODISHA, more later....