Happy birthday Dhyan Chand

 Since 2012, National Sports Day is celebrated on August 29 every year to commemorate the birthday of Major Dhyan Chand, the Hockey Legend from India. Born in year 1905, Dhyan Singh was called 'Chand' (moon) because during his youth he practiced hockey under the moonlight as he had a day job in the Indian Army. This name stuck to him as he came to be known as Dhyan (Chand) or moon.

He represented India in many Olympics and won laurels as part of the Gold medal winning India team until Pakistan just partitioned from India broke the monopoly in 1960 Olympics when after decades India lost the Olympics gold medal to Pakistan. A good number of players stayed in Pakistan along with Lahore, the hockey capital of the world at that time. India came back to win the Hockey Gold at Tokyo 1964, but it has been a steady downslide ever since it until India won back to back bronze medals in Olympics in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, harbinger of it being back in the game.

Dhyan Chand's wizardry in Field Hockey was noticed and widely acclaimed so much that his stick was once searched for glue or magnet because when he dribbled past it seemed as if the ball was stuck to his hockey stick like glue as he juggernauted his way towards the opposition's goalpost.

In the famous final of the 1936 Berlin Olympics where Hitler showcased it to advertise Nazi Supremacy, in front of a full crowd and Fuhrer. India rolled over the favorite home team Germany 8 goals to 1. Hitler was watching the game from the podium. He soon sought an audience with Dhyan Chand, a rare gesture by the charismatic German head of state to a foreign athlete. Impressed by Dhyan Chand's impressive stick work, Hitler instantly offered him German Citizenship and a position of Colonel in Deutschland Army. Dhyan Chand politely declined.

Soon India got its independence from Britain. After retiring from military at the age of 51, he worked for development of Hockey amidst heavy paucity of funds. He suffered a lot, but nobody helped him. The man who mesmerized Hitler by leading from the front to smash German team in finals of 1936 Berlin Olympics and smashed the Fuhrer's ego of Aryan Supremacy, died unsung from liver cancer in the general ward of a nondescript Hospital.

Dhyan Chand's son Ashok Kumar represented India in Hockey in 1970s. But he was hardly a replica of his famous father. His biography tells us why a few people dare to take up sports as a career in India. It also explains the reason of the poor show by Indian athletes in Olympics and elsewhere. Happy birthday to the legend. You remind us that we have achievers beyond cricket.

College elections in Odisha

 College elections in Odisha which was stopped from 2018 is going to start from next year. Not sure why it was banned in the first place, and not sure why it was brought back. 

I studied in BJB college in Bhubaneswar for couple of years from 1984 to 1986, where elections were highly farcical with a lot of political undertone. My father who taught Physics there was the Adviser to the College Union. I never participated in any Election - Vilection, nor there was much violence those days to remember and write home about. The aspirants for different positions of student's Union would push their candidature through cards into the hands of the prospective voters - aptly called "Pushing cards". 

The girls standing in clusters around  the SANATAN CHAT stall would get the scented versions of the pushing cards exclusively reserved for them, scent coming out of some cheap perfumes strewn over the card. The less fortunate ones, the boys had to be contented with plain, rugged pushing cards. 

The day of reckoning comes to a climax on the "Why I stand" meeting when the contestants are supposed to go at length explaining their candidature at large on the stage. This meet is invariably more histrionics and of less substance. Whatever of little substance is has gets lost in the cacophony. Post election the promises made by the candidates were rarely kept, yet this annual farce continued year after year as precious days of Academics were ruined. 

The icing on the cake in that meeting used to be the much awaited arrival of the candidates for the position of Dramatic Secretary on the stage. They tried their best to outsmart each other by singing loudly, jumping to the tunes of the latest Bollywood hits and telling bawdy, semi vulgar jokes.  

The more the giggling of the girls in audience more enthusiastic are those on the stage, their presence enticing the hopeful Dramatic Secretaries to swing their hips in a more dramatic ways. Once a candidate tore off his pants on stage while dancing to a Jeetendra - Sridevi number exposing his DORA, a popular underwear of that time.  

He continued to dance until the muffled laughter from girls in the audience with their face covered in palm gave away to cat calls from the boys. It made him realize that something was wrong. After discovering his plight he took out his handkerchief (a must carry for youth of that time), covered his exposed area and ran towards backstage. 

Rowdiness or goondaism was frugal, limited to only verbal threats. Bullets or bombs were strictly fantasy. If someone threatens you then taking the name of so and so from BADAGADA, a village in outskirts of Bhubaneswar was enough to assure your safety. (Though brawny, the residents of the village were known to be naive, slow witted and their heads were rumored to be stuffed with cowdung). 

Apparently things started to get worse and no wonder a incident of bombing was reported not long ago in BJB College. In my opinion these needless elections should have been stopped all together long back. It hardly helps, rather hurts the image of these colleges - with a lot of precious time getting wasted. In REC (Now NIT) Rourkela where I did my Engineering, there was no such Students Union or Elections associated with it. There was only a cultural Secretary from the 3rd year who used to organize cultural and fun fests. There were some Elections for rudimentary positions in the hostels but not elections supported by political party of any kind. In that context not sure what the present government of Odisha is smoking to bring back these totally avoidable College Union Elections. 

The rape of the lady doctor in Calcutta

It is summer of discontentment in India. Close to the heels of bad news from Olympics front regarding an woman wrestler who accussed the Wrestling Federation Chief of rape and molestation, comes another bad news of the ghastly rape and murder of a young lady doctor in the Eastern Indian city of Calcutta. The news is as shocking as the Nirbhaya rape case which incidentally happened winters ago in nation's capital Delhi, followed by the rape and murder of a lady doctor in Hyderabad. Drawing a parallel, a la the Nirbhaya and Hyderabad rape case was fast tracked and perpetrators were swiftly punished, the culprits in this case should be quickly apprehended and rewarded with nothing sort of death penalty.

The debate over Capital Punishment and the state taking law into own hands in a civilized society is probably as old as the civilization itself. I have seen many squabble over the efficacy of death sentence as a deterrent to crime. In this respect the contrast of opinion between males and females is conspicuous. 

Men are certainly anguished by this heinous act of rape and murder, but the outpouring outrage from the women is quite understandable as the fairer sex can relate more to the agony the poor victim would have gone through. It probably explains why more number of males than females question the righteousness of the death penalty, especially in case of rape. Personally I would love to see the rapists hung by their neck till they shiver, quiver and lay still, cold as revenge is best served cold.

Reminds me of this monologue delivered by actor Anupam Kher playing a bad cop in 1991 movie HUM - "YEH KHOON BHI BADI AJEEB SI CHEEZ HAI. APNO KA NIKALTA HAI TO DARD HOTA HAI. LEKIN DOOSRON KE NIKLE TOH MAZAA AATA HAI (Blood is a weird thing. It hurts a lot if it is your own. If it comes from others, watching it is fun). For some idiots on Facebook it sounds fun. Nevertheless, I have already reported few tasteless remarks on the poor girl to Facebook.

Before passing some judgment let's take a pause, contemplate by stepping into the shoes of the victim's family, be it Nirbhaya's (the woman raped in Delhi) or the medico girl in this case. It would be easy for me to preach eye for an eye is wrong, the state has no right to kill an individual, blah blah. But would I be talking at the same breath if I can relate the victim to one of my near and dear one ? Hell no.

In America death penalty is a state subject, most conservative states have it, most liberal states don't. The nation is evenly divided on the issue. Here the family of the victim is allowed to watch the execution of the perpetrator. They perhaps do it for a reason. 

Dastardly act often provokes dastardly response. It may not be humane, but it is human. I have no illusions of being a superhuman. Normally I won't hurt a fly, let alone watch someone die. When I see one of our backyard feral cats get hurt, it hurts me a lot. Yet God forbid, if one day I am invited to such an event, I will unabashedly take the front row, taking the sadistic pleasure of watching the turbulent last moments of the convict.

No wonder in movies nobody sheds a tear when the bad guy falls. Hope one fine morning (not sure why hangings are done in the morning), these rapists will be hung until death from the hangman's noose.

Hang in there. Before I go, I can't but mention this sonnet from the Hollywood Western Classic - "3.10 TO YUMA ", based in 19th Century US. Electric Chair wasn't invented yet. Hanging in Public was the preferred mode of execution in America's Wild Wild West. A hangman taunts the convict before taking him to the gallows :

"They will hang me in the morning,

They will hang me before the dawn.

They will hang me in the morning,

I will never see the Sun".

I can attribute the same sonnet to these convicts. Don't RIP girl, until those who harmed you never see the sun as they walk to be garlanded by the hangman's noose. Hope that day is not too long away.

Songs and scenes make us gay and happy

I keep a decent collection of old vintage Odia songs inside the dashboard of my car. On my way back home after a hectic day at work, those are panacea to a tired soul. By default I am tuned to the NPR news, but whenever I need a break from the glut of media malaise, I switch to music which sounds music to my ears. 

One day I was on my way to lunch with a team member. No sooner I turned the keys, than wafted a song from 1970s, sung by two lady singers Trupti Das and Gita Patnaik. 

TORA MORA KATHA HABA CHUP CHAP,

TORA MORA BAHAGHARA THIK THAK. 

My friend asked me to translate the song into English. I obliged, 

"Let's chit chat whispering emotion;

As our marriage is set on motion." 

He raised his eyebrows and asked "Is this a gay song?". While having a hearty laugh, I responded, "This song depicts two nubile girls who as friends do, were chatting about their marriage been fixed, not that they are getting married to each other. Their coyish whispering indicates their shyness, a trait amongst girls in Indian society. Nothing remotely the lyrics ever suggest that they are gay. 

Now rewind back to the year 2002, when I invited an American friend home for dinner in our apartment in Kentucky. I put on the a music DVD playing Hindi songs and came flashing a scene where Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan, exposing their bare chested chiseled body, torso wrapped just by a towel. They were holding each other's hand, high-fiving and dancing on sea beach, gyrating and wrapping their hands around their waist. 

When I translated the name of the movie MUJHSE SAADI KAROGE as "Will you marry me", his instant response was, "Is this a gay movie?". 

I again burst into laughter, almost erupting whatever I was sipping off my mouth. I explained, in the movie these two guys will eventually propose to their lady friends. That's all it means. And I harbor no fetishes of watching gay movies. Singing and watching movies makes all gay and happy, it's just lies in the way you see it.

The potato war

Amid skyrocketing prices of potatoes in Odisha, my home state back home in India, the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal, a high producing state of the vegetable has regulated its supply to other states to control prices in the local market. Meantime in Odisha, leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik who has good terms with West Bengal Chief Minister, wrote her a letter seeking her intervention to ensure a smooth supply of potatoes to the state from Bengal as it has stopped supply of the tubers to other states.

I have many Bengalis as friends - both inside and outside Odisha. The states of Odisha and Bengal bordering each other among the eastern coromondel coast of Bay of Bengal have a lot of similarities - from the dress they wear, the language they speak, they share common food habits, festivals, culture and traditions. Many call each other's state their home. There is hardly any Odia who has never been to Calcutta, nor any Bengali who has never visited Puri, a favorite holiday destination of Bengalis from all classes. Each year Millions of Bengalis throng the temple town of Puri, enjoying its pretty, pristine sandy sea beach. You can say Bengali is the 2nd language of Puri as the locals speak it in typical Odia accent to communicate with the Bengali tourists. Shops and restaurants all over the town have signs and hoardings written in Bengali. If for some reason Bengalis decide to stop coming to Puri, rest assured the township's economy will collapse like pack of a card within a month.

Odias and Bengalis look very similar. Few years back a PANDA (Priest) in Puri mistook me for Bengali and started chasing me - "OH DADA, ESON ESON (Bro, come with me). I immediately switched to Puri accent, "HAIYE MALIKE, AME PIRA BALI SAHI LOKA" (Boss, I am from the local Bali Sahi, adjacent to the temple) faking the Puri accent, for being originally from that area. The Panda got confused and disappointed for dealing with a local chap, not a vulnerable tourist to be ripped off. Still not giving up he made a last attempt - "HAU, MAHAPURU 10 TA TANKA DIA", "OK, master. Pay me 10 rupee in the name of God". I replied back, "Bhaina (my elder bro). I don't have a single penny in my pocket". As I moved on, I heard our frustrated Panda bad mouthing behind me -"KANGALA KAHASE AYA", "where from this impoverished bankrupt guy has come" ! (We Odias switch to Hindi when we get excited). It was quite a funny experience for me.

Now coming back to potato, in Odia and Bengali we have a term called ALUDOSH (the potato flaw). Pronounced in different accents in Odia and Bengali, they mean the same connotation in both languages. Overall it denotes Idiosyncrasies or unusually irritating attitude, usually lascivious behavior by men towards women, though not just limited to it. That is exactly seems to be happening between the both neighboring states. The Potato politics due to the ALUDOSH from both sides have stung the consumers for whom the vegetable is a staple side item to their primarily rice based diet.

Price of potato has reportedly shot into Rs.50 per kilo. It is making the Odias mad, threatening Bengal for not releasing enough of the tuber to its neighboring states. Bengalis aren't too happy about it. There is an age old saying in Africa "When two elephants make love or war it is the grass which suffers". It is always the hapless consumers who bear the brunt. The brewing potato fight between these neighboring states can be stopped by making them agree to rather brew some potato based Vodka. That can sooth their nerves by sitting together and having a friendly chat imbibing that fiery drinks together.

One solution to this ALUDOSH. Pappu (Naveen) and Didi (Mamata), the most eligible bachelors from the states should tie the marrital knot. In the era of RAJA (kings) and MAHARAJAs (emperors) marital alliances between heads of states often solved age old rivalries. Not much difference these days. Pappu, aka, Naveen is the scion of Biju Dynasty. Mamata is unquestionably the Princes of Bengal. Though with declining health and recently out of job, Naveen has started showing promises of rejenuvated youth. We Odias can take few shots of potato Vodka and dance our way in the "BARAJATRI" (Baraati or groom's procesion) to our neighboring state of Bengal and have fun feasting on our favorite rice and fish meals, enjoying our contested "Rasagola" until this potato mess is resolved.

Behn**od Air India

Air India is back in the news again. Again for wrong reason. About 250 passengers of Air India who were to travel from Copenhagen to Delhi on June 30 were stuck in Denmark for two days. A San Francisco bound Air India flight was inordinately delayed causing chaos and confusion. A harangued passenger from Delhi in front of the camera retorted back - "BEHN**OD HADH KAR DI" (The sister slammers have crossed their limit). 

I have flown Air India couple of times internationally, the last time was quite long ago in September, 2000. That was like almost 24 years when I was flying home from New York. There was nothing great home to write about the flight. The flight started and reached the destination on time. Those days not many international airlines used to provide Indian food, but Air India used to. With drinks you can have "Moong" mixture as CHAKHENA (snacks) instead of some drab, dry peanuts. Frankly I didn't have anything to complain about except dark, stout, short and pot bellied ugly Air Hostesses to oggle at ! 

But one particular incident stood out. My wife and I were checking in at Air India counter in the JFK Airport, New York. In an era when e-tickets were still fanatasy, we were holding on to our quintessential Air India paper ticket, its trademark red cover followed by couple of pages. A portly, chubby, bald headed Indian guy at the counter while weighing our luggages was flirting with a comely female coworker. The girl retorted back - "Did you forget I tied a Rakhee on your hand not long back" ? (Tying Rakhee is an emblem of sisterhood in India, in this context a smart endeavor by the girl to put a full stop to an obnoxious irritant). 

The guy while handing us our boarding pass shied away his frustration - "BEHN**OD BOLTI HAI MEIN ISKI BHAI HOON (Sister slammer saying I am her brother). My wife and I, both heard it loud and clear. As we walked towards the security gate my newly married wife not exposed to typical slang of Delhi asked me innocuously - "What does it mean" ? I said - "It means he is from Delhi". Then gave her the simplest answer - "As Jai Maharastra" is to Mumbai, Oh' Calcutta to Kolkata, "Jai Jagannath" to Odisha, the word Behn**od (sister slammer) fits well to Delhi milieu. 

During one of my earlier trips just before landing at the Delhi Airport came abruptly the voice of an exalted guy sitting close to me exclaiming to his buddy next row, "OI UTTH, BAIN**OD DILLI A GAYEE" (Get up, So and So the sister slammer, Delhi has arrived). More than the pilot, I found the teen's welcome far more enthusiast and the most appropriate way of welcoming to Delhi. 

It was a grand standing Welcome, Punjabi/Delhi style, where a sentence can start with Bain**od (occasionally sounds as Pain**od, interspersed with a few liberal dosages of Bai**od and ends with Bai**od. It is how the self proclaimed Dill walle (Big Hearted) Dilli walle (Delhites) often greet each other. Same goes in the Punjab provinces of both India and Pakistan. When Sunil Gavaskar, a Maharashtrian, was batting in Lahore in 1978 in his first tour to the country, he was puzzled by some Pakistani players frequently uttering "Pain**od" which sounded like "Pant-Shirt" to Sunny bhai until his skipper Bishen Singh Bedi, a man from Punjab clarified to Sunny bhai what it meant, Punjabi style.  

Bai**od" is not such a bad word in Delhi and Punjab. Apart from usual meaning, it can stand for multiple euphemisms, to describe a scene or situation. "Bai**od KYA THAND HAI YAAR" (My friend, it's so cold), Bai**od MEIN GIR JAUNGA Bai**od (I will fall down, spoken after sighting a pretty girl), Bai**od KYA MATCH THA (what a game it was) ! Friends hug each other, Aa GALE LAG JA OI Bai**od (give me a hug, my dear friend, you the sister slammer).  

Air India might have flown a long way since the year 2000. From a colossal loss making entity used as a fiefdom of Netas (politcians) and Babus (Bureaucrats) It is now privatized. It's still the same old wine in New bottle. But BEHN**OD nothing much has changed - from New York's JFK to Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi.

India and Paris Olympics 2024

The Olympics games is held every leap year, only exception being year 2000 which wasn't a leap year and year 2021 when it was held after a year due to Covid Pandemic. In the leap year of 2024 the Olympics has already gotten underway in Paris, France, its opening ceremony starting tomorrow. This summer Olympics is World's biggest sporting events where athletes will compete on land and water to win medals and laurels for their respective countries. 

In this context, India is likely to improve its medal tally from last time. India has been steadily improving its tally since it won a bronze medal in Tennis in 1996 after a long gap of 16 medal less years. Even its arch rival Pakistan managed to win a medal in 1992 Barcelona Olympics where India came blank. 

It is not a coincidence that India's failure to win a single medal between 1964 and 1992 coincided with its poor Hindu rate of economic growth. India did win a Gold in Hockey in 1980 Moscow Olympics when the 4 top most hockey nations of the time, i.e, Pakistan, Australia, Netherlands and West Germany (Germany reunification was yet to happen) boycotted the games. 

However since 1991 when India opened up its economy under a Congress government, India's performance in Olympics started getting better resulting in medals. It won a bronze medal in 1996, followed by another in 2000 in Sydney. Then it won a Silver medal in 2004, the first Silver medal in a game other than hockey. Then in 2008, India's Abhinav Bindra won a Gold in Shooting, again the first of its kind in a game other than Hockey. India has never looked back ever since and has won multiple medals in each Olympics that followed, in events of Wrestling, Boxing, Wright lifting, Hockey and Javelin. With a rising economy, India is ready to bid for 2036 Olympics. 

Though more is expected from a nation of 1.42 billion people, its still a work in progress and more medal is expected to come in this year's edition of Olympics in Paris. India has been doing much better in Archery these days in which it is expected to win at least one medal. Also it is expected to win a few more in other sports as well. Good luck Olympics team India.