First world war and history

 Exactly 121 years back on June 28, 1914 a young Serbian Gavrilo Princip shot dead Archduke Ferdinand and his wife to trigger the first World War which went on till 1918 with Germany being humiliated, soeimg the seeds for World War II.

It is said that Gavrilo and his group were a rag tag bunch of nationalists who were plotting an act of terror. For some reason the cavalcade of the Archduke and his wife on whom life attempts were made moments earlier took a wrong turn and stopped right in front of the anarchists.

The couple's cavalcade was destined to take a turn to destiny on that fateful day. For Gavrilo it was a God sent opportunity not to be to missed. Couple of his bullets found their mark as the Archduke and his wife slumped lifeless into each others arms. This event had its ripple effect triggering the First World War.

The war went on and one over several years. In the same war, a short, lean German soldier who was poked fun at by his taller, heavily built fellow Germans for his short height and funny moustache was sleeping inside his camp when he had this strange urge to get out. He duly followed his instinct and stepped outside. Moments later a bomb wiped out the rest of the soldiers sleeping inside the camp.

The rest is history as this man was no other than Adolf Hitler who survived the attack that night and another day in order to rewrite history by adding the chapter of World War II to it. One successful assassination started a war and another failed attempt prepared for the second. War can be treacherous & unpredictable. A small act of terror like a bunch of teenagers killing an Archduke can be like a matchstick lighted in a room filled with inflammable gas, leading to a larger and wider conflagration. One war leads to another, another war to another which can end up in a World War. History repeats itself and hope we learn something from history and don't condemn ourselves to repeat it.

Happy birthday PV Narasimha Rao

An episode from the year 1991 might ring a bell. This is how Subramanian Swamy, a man who has been in almost all parties and now-a-days a BJP man turned into a BJP critic, who then was a Commerce Minister in Chandra Sekhar's government, had this conversation with the US Ambassador to India.

This was during a very crucial time in early 1991 when the American led coalition forces were fighting the Iraq War and Indian economy was totally in shambles. The American Ambassador asked Dr. Swamy what India needed in exchange for refueling facility provided on Indian soil to the Gulf bound US planes fighting the Iraq war.

Here is how the conversation was reported. US Ambassador - "What do you want in return" ? Swamy said - "We want $2 billion because we are on verge of bankruptcy". The Ambassador replied, "You want it from the United States" ? Swami responded - "No, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and without any condition attached".

The Ambassador went on, "How can I get you money from IMF" ? Dr. Swami replied, "You Americans have 87 percent voting right in IMF. So, if you want landing rights, then on Monday I want $2 billion". The American played hard - "Today already it is Friday". Said Swami, "In Washington DC it is still Thursday night. I know you have the ability to get it." (And unlike many believe that world leaders get ecstatic by looking at Mahaprabhu's white beard and fake laughter, we know in international matters it is always a give and take relationship. It invariably needs some negotiation and hard bargaining before a deal is settled).

So US gave India $2 billion and they were given the landing rights. We changed our non-alignment policy overnight. 2 billion dollar, even adjusted to inflation is not a gargantuan amount by today's standard, considering India a USD 4 trillion plus economy and $700 billion in its Forex reserve. But it was no laughing matter then, when India's Balance of Payment position was extremely precarious and its coffer was on the verge of depletion. India with few hundred million of USD in its reserves and its gold mortgaged in a London Bank was staring at nightmare scenario of economic catastrophe.

Long rule by the Congress Party and its disastrous, leftist - socialist economy policy followed by years of classic Hindu rate of economic growth took us to the doorstep of impending bankruptcy. Yet it took another Congressman, incidentally not from the Nehru - Gandhi family to fix it. A huge credit for this transformation we are seeing 34 years down the road goes to one man, who almost retired from Politics, but became Prime minister of India by fluke on the aftermath of the tragic, untimely assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. He is the polyglot, erudite ex -Prime Minister of India P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Rao's contributions to India are many. Like all politicians he had his share of failures and shortcomings which is beyond the scope of this post. So, I will touch base with two of his significant achievements during his 5 year tenure as India's Prime Minister. 

First, salvaging the economy from brink of disaster as I mentioned upstream and heralding era of economic liberalization, ending the Licence - Permit Raj and red tapism which for years hung like an albatross on India's neck constraining and contributing to its meager growth.

Two, solving the Punjab Problem which looked beyond solution when he stepped into his office in June, 1991 in the middle of the state burning. Within months of becoming PM, Rao called elections in Punjab and managed to conduct one amidst fireworks of bullets and bombs. As we say in Odia, KANTA KU KANTA KADHE - A nail is needed to take out another nail. The Congress government that followed gave a free hand to the Super Cop KPS Gill whose motto was very simple - Kill a terrorist, earn a promotion. The Punjab police responded spectacularly by reaping bounties on the terrorist heads as bountiful as a successful Ravi crop harvest during the BAISAKHI (a popular festival in Punjab). By end of the year 1993, little more than two years after Rao taking office, terrorism in Punjab was a thing of past.

The man proved his mettle, carved his niche, vindicating that a leader can deliver sans histrionics in public. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to PV Narasimha Rao - Thanks to you, the country will never have to resort to mortgage its gold reserves once again.

50th Anniversary of Emergency

 One fine morning in June 1975, Justice Jagmohan Sinha of Allahabad High Court judged Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's victory over her rival Raj Narain, a political buffoon of the time, as null and void. This unexpected verdict was followed by calls for her resignation. Strikes and violence spread across parts of India as anarchy reigned. Soon she imposed internal emergency on the sultry midnight of June 25, 1975. That was exactly 50 years ago.

At that point, India was independent for less than 30 years. The hangover of being ruled in an undemocratic way was still strong (hasn't changed a whole lot since), so also the obsequiousness towards the ruler hadn't faded yet. It manifested itself by Indira Gandhi behaving herself as if she was the "Empress of India", not a democratically elected leader.

She couldn't be blamed alone, as a pliant media branded her as "The Iron lady". We can see this in the current disposition. The success of Bangladesh war and its subsequent liberation probably went on to her head. It is said that even a senior opposition leader A B Vajpayee of Jan Sangh (the precursor of India's current pro-Hindu ruling party BJP) who later went on to become India's Prime Minister famously idolized Indira Gandhi by describing her as our "Goddess Durga". RSS was soft on her those days.

Indira had become a cult figure by then. With cult status came sycophancy. Deb Kanta Barooah, a Congressman from Assam famously said about her - "India is Indira, Indira is India" (We have similar thinking these days by a few who say India is Modi, Modi is India. If you are against Modi, you are anti-Indian). She was soon surrounded by pliable sycophants who fed her what she liked to hear. Her younger son and groomed political heir Sanjay Gandhi was already behaving as a bully.

All fundamental rights were snatched from the citizens. Those who protested were put in jail. Indira and Sanjay Gandhi expected the opposition and the media to bend. Yet to their surprise barring a very few, most of the contemporary media decided to crawl. (Now history is repeating itself as the Godi or laptop media crawls before Mahaprabhu). One exception during those days was Kishore Kumar, an extremely popular singer at that time. He refused to sing for Sanjay Gandhi and was promptly banned from government controlled All India Radio and TV.

Not everybody opposed emergency. Barring a few incidents in Kerala, the rest of South India stood solidly behind her during the emergency and after (We see some parallels now as our Vishwaguru has the backing of his staunch supporters, mostly in North India). South of the Vindyas she stayed very popular among the masses as AMMA INDIRAMMA (mother Indira). In the Election that followed after emergency was lifted, Indira Gandhi swept the South though she was defeated from rest of India. (It needs to be noted that RSS and Siv Sena admired her for teaching its arch enemy Pakistan a lesson by carving a Bangladesh out of it. Both extended their covert support to her and she reciprocated by occasionally taking the help of RSS and Siv Sena during the Emergency to further her political goals).

Indira shrewdly played soft Hinduva card to her advantage as and when needed. But her son Sanjay had no soft corner for anyone and had no patience for the rule of law. He bulldozed slums of Delhi and rumored to have organized forced castration of Muslims, blaming them for India's population explosion.

But many who still remember those days say that though the freedom of citizens was clipped, the emergency had some positive outcome. People in government offices (biggest employer those days) came to work on time. Public sectors started making profit. Buses, planes and trains were dot on schedule. Though short lived, it was proven that we Indians respect the power of DANDA (rod) more than democracy.

I still believe a benevolent dictatorship with a vision is better than the chaotic democracy we presently have. We can disagree on this, but Jeffersonian model of democracy is a myth, a mirage and certainly doesn't fit to all milieu. Yet we can agree that Emergency was one of the important events in the post Independent India and there is always something to learn from history. 50 years since history is still keep repeating itself.

US attacks Iran

 So finally the President of the United States, Donald Trump who came to power with a promise of not only not starting a war, but to  stop the existing wars in a day, has attacked Iran within 5 months of coming to office. That too, not to fight America's war, but Israel's. Sometime back I wrote that whenever Republicans come to power, they have a history getting involved in avoidable wars, causing a loss to human lives and contributing to America's rising debts leaving Democrats to clean up the mess. The cycle repeats. Only difference, this time the Trump administration went to the war saddled in a cloak of hypocrisy - the promise to stop wars all over the world, unlike the prior Republican administration who were more sanguine about it. 

It won't be be an exaggeration to call Israel the 51st state of the United States. Ever since 1948 when Truman as the President of US was the first world leader to recognize the newly formed state of Israel, the bonding between the two nations has been rock solid, with America providing military and diplomatic support, using its veto power in UN regularly in favor of Israel. That's clearly due to the influence the Jewish lobby in American politics. The Jewish population of America is almost equal to the population of the Jews in Israel, if not more. Not only that, unlike us DESIs (a slang used in US for the folks of Indian origin, often in a deregatory way) who are mostly small time businessmen and software coolies like me, the Jews constitute the backbone of American economy - including and not limited to Rich Businessmen, Wall Street hochos, CEOs of large corporations, Doctors, Lawyers, Media persons,  Congressmen, Senators, Governors etc. More importantly unlike us Desis who are divided in lines of Gujjus, North Indians, South Indians etc, the Jews in the United States are extremely united. The Who's Who of America are jews who are known to bankroll politicians to sustain America's pro-Israel tilt. 

Most Jewish immigrants came to USA  around the World War II, especially from the Mainland European nations of Germany, France, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria etc. No immigrant community has carved their niche in USA as the jews have, probably with the exception of the Irish immigrants. Notable among them are the famous Scientist Albert Einstein who came to America when Hitler started persecuting Jews in Germany. Many worked as scientists in the Manhatten project developing nuclear technology. Jewish immigrants who desperately fled Europe to America in rat infested ships to escape Nazi gas chambers lived in soup kitchen after their arrival in ports. They learned A, B, C, D literally to learn English as they were mostly from Mainland Europe with little or no knowledge of English. They worked as delivery guys, cab drivers etc. One child of a Philadelphia cab driver was Sheldon Adelson who died as a Billionaire Casino Mogul. Another Jewish guy who once delivered newspapers died few years back as the owner of one of the biggest Poultry chain in America. Even the grandfather of Marc Zuckerberg was a Bulgarian jew who emigrated to USA in 1940s. There are many more success stories of jews as entrepreneurs which beyond the scope of this blog. 

Coming back to the current Iran imbroglio, both Israel and America are taking advantage of the existing Sunni and Shia divide in the Middle East. The influential and powerful Sunni Islamic world led by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar etc are conspicuously silent at Shia Iran's battering. Except Russia to certain extent, no world power has come in support of Iran. But that doesn't mean that Iran can't be a nuisance to America and its interests world over. It can choke the oil supply at the Strait of Hermoz in its backyard, shooting up the global oil prize and creating havoc in world economy. 

It is America who time and again meddles in the Middle East and continue to create a mess there. In 1953 it removed the elected Iranian government to replace it with its stooge - the Dictator Shah Reza Pallavi. He created as much public anger to harbinger a Mullah led revolution in 1979 followed by a theocracy. Then it was Saddam Hussain who kept Iran under control by fighting a war with its Persian neighbor with tacit US support until he went against the American interests. Then USA removed Saddam only to release the lease around Iran's neck who stepped in to fill the vacuum left after Saddam's removal to expand its control over Iraq and beyond. Then Iran started extending its tentacles to finance Hamas and Hezbollah who were perennial thorns on Israel's butt. And now we are again in this mess as Israel attacked Iran,, followed by US and don't know how long this war is going to continue. A war is always unpredictable, bringing in nothing but loss of innocent lives, followed by destruction. God only knows how this thing is going to end. So be afraid, be very afraid !!!

Cholera in Odisha

 Latest news from my home state back home is about Cholera - an epidemic thought to have been extinct decades ago is now back as several cases has been detected in Bhadrakh and Jaipur districts. A dreaded diarrhea and dehydration causing disease, Cholera along with Small Pox used to eliminate families in matter of days and thought to be eliminated after the arrival of vaccination is raising its ugly head again.

During my childhood, I often used to spend long Summer vacations in my native village, not far from the temple town of Puri. One commonly used GALI (rebuke) in our village was BAADIPODA. Growing up in Bhubaneswar, I wasn't familiar with this slang, which literally means "Barbecued from Cholera" - a death wish curse to perish from a malignant, dangerous disease of "BADI" or Cholera, dysentry followed by dehydration due to a disease which was a scourge only few decades ago.

It's not Condom, but Cholera which kept India's population under control couple of generations back. Life then was a matter of surviving the next cholera season (small pox was a close second). Both wiped out entire homes, leaving many rudderless in matter of days. Many of my grandparent's siblings and cousins perished from Cholera. So much so that, after cremating one, there will be more dead bodies in pipeline to be picked up along with firewoods. Three of my grandpa's Cousins, 2 of his sisters and a brother, all perished from Cholera within a time frame of 48 hours.

Lack of knowledge and awareness - like soaking rice with water for PAKHALA (A staple Odia diet) from the same pond where folks washed their bottoms post ablution took a toll on hygiene and helped in spreading the disease. But  superstitions galored. During the epidemics, the entire village would shut down after dark. No sooner the twilight sets in, than the villagers liberally filled huge earthen pots outside with PITHA (cakes made from rice and grams), PANAA (a sweetened puree made from yogurt and fruits like Banana and Stone Apples or BEL) for the consumption of BAADI THAKURANI (Cholera Goddess) or Maa SITHALA (Small Pox Goddess).

Job done, the villagers rushed back to home never to dare venture out untill dawn, lest they earn the wrath of the Goddess. Not sure how far the diety was appeased, but the stray dogs of the village had a field day. They put on a lot of weight and seemed healthier and happier than their human counterparts.

Post independence, vaccinations virtually wiped out many communicable diseases. Since the MAHAMAARI or Epidemics like Cholera and Small Pox became curable, we are perpetually fighting a losing battle against the menace of explosive population growth. The term BADIPODA was relegated to the Museum of Slangs. Cancer Poda or AIDS Poda, both incurable diseases are better substitutes.

A dose of Cholera inoculations I received during my childhood was no fun. I have a very faint memory of small pox vaccine which was tattooed on my hand, the scar of which is still visible. But my first vivid memory is getting a shot (called injection in India) of cholera vaccination when I was in primary school. As the D-Day arrived I was scared to death. After getting the shot I mistakenly assumed that the ordeal was over. I was proved wrong. By evening I was running a high temperature and could hardly lift my left arm which was hurting like hell. My grandma gave me LUNA PODA SEKA, gently sponged the vicinity of the tiny orifice on my arm pierced by the needle with heated pad of salt wrapped in a piece of cloth. The pain subsided after couple of days. A piece of paper called Inoculation Certificate is all I got after bearing all the physical & mental agony.

Little I knew that this Certificate will come handy a few months later when I was on a bus to Puri days before the famous RATH YATRA. On the outskirts of the city near Chandanpur, the bus was stopped by a battalion of health officials eagerly waiting with syringe on hand. It was time to give cholera shots. I proudly brandished my inoculation certificate and they spared me.

Those who didn't meekly disembarked and lined up for the shots. A few who tried to flee were immediately chased down by the officials. Some escaped by wading over the paddy fields, melting away behind the coconut groves. Those not so lucky were grabbed by their collars and a DAMPHANA (the Odia term for thick needles used to sew jute sacks) sized needle was stabbed to their bottom with great force. They grimaced and screamed in pain, limping back to bus in full view of passengers peeping through the window. I was watching Wild Wild West enacted on the east coast of India.

Things are much better now and folks are able to overcome the fear of syringe. I think it is wise to take a Cholera booster shot to upgrade the last ones our generation took in the 1970s as it may not be still effective. Never know if your next GUP CHUP (As GOLGAPPA or PANI PURI is called in Odia) session could land you in a hospital. Prevention is better than cure and better safe than sorry.

 

Foreign policy and human relationships

 Many of us have this question in our mind that in spite of Pakistan being the breeding ground of terrorism, why countries still support it and remain neutral whenever India retaliates militarily or diplomatically being a victim of terrorism directed from across the border. At best these nations do perfunctory, statutory condemnation, preferring to call terrorists as gunmen.

I am no foreign policy expert, but here is my 2 cents of common sense, based upon what commoners like me encounter and familiar in our world every day of our life. I remember a scene from iconic Amir Khan starrer movie - "3 IDIOTS". When the comic character Chatur was inadvertently making fun of the college principal by reading from an altered script, the Minister sitting next to him was bursting with laughter. But no sooner the fun was directed at him, than he became serious and went over the stage to kick the poor reciter's butt. In the 1980s there used to be a saying in US State Department about Saddam Hussain who then was friendly towards America - "He is a bastard, but our bastard", until he went out of hand. In our common men's (women's) world, we keep relationships with folks with the full knowledge of the fact that they are bastards, but are our bastards, until one day they kick our butt really hard.

Like good girls get attracted to bad boys, sometime good people are attracted to bad folks. They are kept in good humor as long as they harm others, but not us. We only realize the hard way only when our butt is at the receiving end. Until then, we care less. I am reminded of the proverbial tale - "If you keep snakes in backyard thinking that it will bite only your neighbors, then you live in a fool's paradise. One day it will turn its head at you". Similarly, we in our small real life keep snakes in our backyard for various reasons - personal, social and financial. We care less as long as the snake keeps biting our neighbors fully aware that one day it could strike its ugly fang at us and inject its toxic venom into our veins. By the time we realize, as per this Odia proverb "NEDI GUDA KAHUNI KU BOHI JAITHIBA (The jaggery from the palm would have reached elbow), which simply means it's a case of too late.

We, who live in cities and villages encounter such human conundrum on a regular basis. Now consider the world as a global village. Foreign policy and international relationships is based on hard realpolitik, not emotions where a nation's self interest is primary and preserved at any cost. Like in real life friends turn enemies and enemies turn into friends like drop of a hat. A la sinusoidal waves, changes happen fast and relationships swing to and fro like a pendulum. Stray dogs who always fight but make up and make love during their mating season, repeating every year. We have seen humans repeat the same behavior everywhere and I am sure I am not the only one who noticed this.

Now looking in a holistic way, Pakistan is not only a bastard, it is an important bastard to USA and the other countries which matter in international politics, China, Russia, Middle East, NATO etc for various reasons - strategic and military. That is simply because of Pakistan's very geographic position and it having nuclear weapons. However brilliant our Foreign policy may be, when push comes to shove, like we just saw in the recent 3 days war between India and Pakistan, the rest of the world chose to remain neutral. China, Turkey, Azerbaijan (it hardly matters anyway) sided with Pakistan, overtly or covertly, with China providing real time satellite imagery to Pakistan. For their own selfish reasons those world powers who matter still continue to hyphenate between India - Pakistan. Though we would love to see this change, it is unlike in unforeseen future. Foreign policy is filled with hypocrisy and double standards. It always was and going to stay same way, whether it's foreign relationships or in our daily life.

Raja festival of Odisha - 2025

 The month of June is regarded as the beginning of summer in USA, whereas in Odisha, my home state back home in India it marks the beginning of the end of the blistering, hot summer season. RAJA SANKRANTI is a popular festival during this time of the year - especially in the long, culturally rich coastal Odisha welcoming the monsoon rains which brings down the scorching heat. The festival invariably comes in mid June per the Gregorian calendar and marks the beginning of the summer crop plantation, especially rice. Raja festival isn't native to Western Odisha and frugally celebrated there.

The festival of Raja is also considered as the harbinger of the cooler rainy season, as the South West monsoon rolls over the state from the North East, lashing it with silvery stripes of rain. The nimbus cloud bearing dark sky gets alive with the spectacle of flashes of white lightning as if zillions of flashlights are switched simultaneously in the sky, a la the zigzag lights on circus stage. During daytime the rain is often followed by the sky getting rewarded in the form of a garland of rainbow. These long awaited rains bring much needed relief from the long streak of heat and prickly humidity, healing the parched earth dried from a long, extended Indian summer.

As the silvery monsoon rains ornament the thick humid air, the perfume of PODA PITHA (baked rice cake) pervades the environment. Young and old alike play on DOLI (swings), with men snarling their blackened teeth and girls exposing red pouty lips - post effect from chewing PAAN (betel leaves filled with colored condiments and scented tobacco for those habitual with the stuff). The drenched earth, now softened by the fresh summer rains on parched earth accompanied by petrichor, gets ready for tilling, marking the beginning of the KHARIP crop farming season when water supply gets plenty following the monsoon rains. 

I still cherish the memories of my trips to our ancestral village near Puri for a fun filled lunch of GHEE (clarified butter) laced NADIA KHECHUDI (coconut sprinkes sweet rice), thick sweet DAAL (Lentil soup), an array of Curries and fries, washed down with KHIRI (sweetened skimmed milk). It would invariably be followed by an afternoon session on the RAJA DOLI (swing). Dinner would be PITHA (Rice cakes) and more varieties of PITHA - the icing on the cake would be occasional PODA PITHA made from ripened TAALA, fruit from tall palm trees, as a fitting finale to a day of RAJA MAUJA (fun).

I remember the tall palm tree standing taller than the surrounding Coconut trees behind our house in our village, right behind our home facing a green pond perennially covered with a cessful of watercress in its dark, stenchful barely visible water where locals wash their utensil as well as their buttocks post defecation. During the early monsoon close to the 3 day long Raja festival these large brownish-black color fruits from the palm tree, looking like coconut sized plums with a yellowish orange pulp ripen and fall off from the tree. Many roll into the green swamp. Those who survive make their way to make PODA PITHA of different flavor. I was sad to hear that particular palm tree ruptured from its middle as it couldn't withstand the devastating force from Cyclone Fani a few years back, closing a chapter of the history of my ancestry.

A few summers ago in Odisha, on the morning of RAJA Festival I switched on the TV. A promotional song LEMBU, ATI CHUPUDILE PITA (Excessively squeezed lemon tastes bitter) from an Odia movie scheduled for the RAJA release (same as prominent Bollywood movies go for Diwali Release) was playing on screen as an Odia actress danced to the tune of a song from that movie. 

This was followed by an interview of the actress. It didn't go unnoticed to me that a discussion about an Odia movie, between an Odia anchor and a leading Odia actress getting released on a leading Odia festival, was taking place with a typical accented Odia with almost an equitable spread of 50% Odia, 30% English and 20% Hindi. Speaking in pure Odia is a sign of being a GAUNLIA (from village origin) these days, whereas talking accented Odia sounds so cool. A lot of billboards and commercials on local newspapers take pride in pronouncing RAJO instead of RAJA. 

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 some (certainly not all) natives not only love to speak their own mother tongue with an accent, also chose to write it in another accent, e.g, RAJA as RAJO, MANSA as MANSHO bear testimony of it. Wish you a Happy RAJA (certainly not RAJO) from the bottom of my heart. Have a feel and fill of RAJA MAUJA - bound by the rules of social distancing as Covid may be down but not out as it has started showing its ugly head again.