Trip to Chicago 2026 - I

After days of drab weather, it was nice to see Sun come out of fleece clouds on a cool, crispy early Fall Chicago morning like a "Nayee Naveli Dulhan" (newly married coy bride) peeping through her "Ghunghat" (veil). There was a feeling of coolness in the air compared to the warm tinge for someone visiting from Georgia is used to. The upper Midwest Prairie flora is so different from that of Georgia. The vegetation is a mix of sparsely populated deciduous and coniferous trees over sprawling grasslands, with some trees turning slightly yellowish or brown in preparation for turning reddish before shedding themselves during late Fall.

I visit Chicago once every few years. The city hasn't changed much, but the milieu has. The Aurora - Naperville area I am staying now has become more crowded with more Desis around compared to before. More Indian grocery shops and restaurants have come up. When you stop by a red traffic light here you see a Desi on left, a Desi on right. (DESI is a term attributed to the NRI or Indian origin community here in America mostly amongst themselves often in a deregatory way. Mainstream Americans are mostly unaware of the term. Though I have this uncanny ability to laugh at myself, during my inititial days I was uncomfortable being called a Desi, a term generally used to denote a pariah dog back home in Odisha).

Most Odias in Chicagoland area live in this twin township of Aurora-Naperville, including my friends and relatives. If you throw a stone blindly into a crowd you may hear a response "KIERE SALA" (Who is this wife's brother. Sala's is literal meaning is wife's brother but in Indian lingo it's not very complimentary as it denotes sister's seducer). I walked into "Mall of India", an Indian Walmart of sort, where you can get all kinds Indian food, vegetables, fishes, goat meat. A conglomerate of Indian eateries where you can snack on Somosas and Pakodas washed down with Mango Lassi or Thumbs Up.

Typical of many Indian stores, they don't accept credit card as mode of payment if you aren't buying anything worth more than $10. Some offer 5% discount if you pay cash. I saw that in Mall of India stores and found it bit odd. What I didn't find odd was a man I saw surreptitiously scratching his private part in public at a corner of the Mall grimacing with orgasmic pleasure moans of big sighs "Aah, Ooh" laced relief from the itch down there. When our eyes met he pretended to adjust his belts with a "Not I" look on his face. We Desis leave our mark in civic sense everywhere we go. Not sure why we love to strew toilet papers on floors of public toilets of Desi owned stores, restaurants and malls.

Went to savor some South Indian food at "A2B Indian Veg Restaurant" in Warrenville, IL. On a Saturday evening it was very jam packed. The cacophonic inside filled with bombardment of mostly south Indian lingo reminded me of the Ravi Talkies fish market near our house back in Bhubaneswar. The food was good, but outside felt much better under a full moonlit night sky spraying sprinkling golden rays, accompanied by a soothing breeze from Lake Michigan providing a much needed tranquility from inside. More later...

Suicide in IIT Mumbai

 IITs, the premier Technical Institutions are back in news again, this time due to yet another suicide by a student in IIT, Mumbai. 173 IIT students died by suicide in 20 years, 70% in last 10 years. And this disease isn't limited to the IITs alone. 

NITs, the second most premier Technical Institute in India (I am a proud alumni of NIT, Rourkela) isn't immune to this epidemic. The cream of the cream of our time used to clear a fair and highly competitive exam to earn a seat in these coveted  Technical institutes. Today also I believe it's still the same. Few months ago, a 19-year-old B.Tech student, Diksha Dubey, who hailed from Bihar, allegedly died by suicide on Thursday in the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana. Such incidents are happening too often for comfort and raising concerns about student mental health.

Regardless of being from a premier institute or not, it is so sad to see men and women at such young age ending their lives. It needs to be noted that suicides have grown up exponentially in educational institutes these days. Part of is this reason sited by professors from IIT Madras to a friend of mine who lives in the United States and regularly visits his Alma mater whenever he makes a trip to India (America is filled with folks from IITs and NITs. It is said if you blindly throw a stone chances are it will hit someone passed from IIT or NIT). As confided by his professors to him, these days many mediocre students are churned out of innumerable coaching institutes manage to clear the entrance test. Once in, when left on their own they can't cope up with the aggressive curriculum and choose to end their lives unable to face the failure and an over expectant milieu, including their parents.

Every person has right to live. It hurts utmost when someone commits suicide. And it hurts more, if that person happens to be young. Like every man and woman of their age, they too have a dream, but unwisely decide to procrastinate their unfulfilled dream by killing themselves. 

When a person decides to end his or her life ? It's not just because of the frustration with life, it's more due to their lack of care or concern for rest of the world, which includes their near and dear ones. If I ever feel suicidal for some reason, I may resist that thought for a moment, if I think of my family, if not me. Apparently they don't care about their loved ones and decide to end their life at the spurt of the moment, never ever getting any second chance to regret over it.

Suicides in college campuses aren't so uncommon. Surging teenage hormone gone wild can create havoc in heart and mind, which can be due to failure in academics, romance or bullying by others. It reminds me of the iconic movie 3 IDIOTS where a student kills himself due to his frustration at his project being pooh poohed by the Principal of the College. The student Rancho played by the actor Aamir Khan complains about the mental stress the students undergo, leading to such avoidable tragedies. As the Principal gets defensive and refuses to take the blame, Aamir Khan replies - "I am rather blaming the entire system, not you Sir".

Aamir Khan speaks some hard truth in that movie. Students carry a lot of burden and expectations from their demanding parents and a cut throat competitive society. The simple equation Ambition - Achievement = Frustration holds good. Often they snap, as the lid of the pressure cooker comes off burning the face.

The greatest tragedy is silence of the silent majority, which is conspicuously deafening who mostly turn a blind eye to competition and peer pressure which are to be blamed. Can't resist repeating my often mentioned joke. A person once went to an astrologer, who after seeing his chart said " You will go bankrupt after two years". "What will happen after that ?" asked the person who was now somewhat concerned. The astrologer responded "You will get used to it". So the silent majority has got used to the chaotic system with a CHALTA HAI (let the status quo prevail) attitude. Don't be surprised if you hear news of more such suicides more frequently. The focus has unfortunately shifted to casteism instead of addressing the root cause, until the next suicide happens, not a matter of if but when.

Xi Boycotting BRIC dinner

So much brouhaha was being made about the Chinese President leaving early the BRIC summit held in New Delhi by skipping the dinner. Many say it is a snob to the host India. Some say Xi skipped the meeting as it was a all vegetarian platter (I find this silly, as if he wanted Xi could have stayed back as a diplomatic gesture and consuming a glass of soda or water).

But does it matter as far as the bigger picture goes ? Chinese follow a very calculated, pragmatic foreign policy, laser focused on their long term goals. It seems once the main diplomatic meetings were done, deals were made and photos taken, from China's point of view there was no point in wasting time any further by staying back for a meal of "Dhokla and Fafda". Also it could be sending a subtle message to the host that we aren't equals and our priorities are different. Once we are done with exactly what we need, there is no point in sticking around. In the war torn world with global economy shaking and teetering with uncertainty, Xi Xinping probably had more pressing engagements like his grooming himself for his more important trip to the United States.

Since India's independence in 1947, China never saw India as its equal. The Chinese Premier Zhou En Lai once asked Nehru how comes a few thousand Englishmen could hold on to a nation of 400 million people so long ! It was an innuendo laced in snide towards India. Still India's first Prime Minister Nehru went overboard with his Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (India and China are brothers) with his "Panchsheel Neeti" five points principle of peaceful co-existance. China reciprocated by showing its true color, launching a surprise attack on an unprepared India in October, 1962 handing us an embarrassing loss.

The writer Khushwant Singh was once visiting Hong Kong, close to the heels of the humiliating defeat suffered by India at the hands of the Chinese on the aftermath of their surprise attack on our Eastern front. As the ebulient Sardar on a journalism mission was walking down the street, a fellow Sikh greeted him - "SARDARJEE. DESH SE AYE HO (you have come from our country) ? TUMNE TO NAAK BHADDA DITTA (you cut our nose - shaming us)". "CHINIYAAN NE TO TUMHARI BH**ND MAARLI (the Chinese have screwed your bottom). KUKKAD KHAANDE JOGE HO (You are only good at eating chicken - poking fun at the Punjabis penchant for eating chicken. The pun was, you are good for nothing, chicken eating guys who have forgotten fighting).

The Sardar of Hong Kong went on further - "I used to boast before my Chinese wife about the great martial tradition of Sikhs. Now she is poking fun at me". Point taken, the Chinese beat us left and right in that war, catching us unware, following the age old military adage, "surprise is the main element of war".

History repeats itself. Fast forward to the year 2020 as they have managed to capture 60 square kilometers as reported on the media. No surprise here. The inscrutable Chinese known strategize well in advance caught us off guard again. We have been caught off guard by the Pakistanis in 1999 too, but unlike the Pakistanis,  the Chinese are too tough a customer to deal with. The bottom line - the Chinese screwed our bottom once again.

Ronald Reagan famously said - "Trust, but verify". In case of the inscrutable Chinese we should go an extra yard - "Don't trust and verify 100 times before you do". The Chinese are very shrewd and plan long term. We must forever be on guard, as we don't know what card they are playing next. Dragon may not breathe for now, but hold your breath until after BRICS meet is over when the Dragon will bully again.

China, which is internally insecure is still wary and jealous of Japan and South Korea's economic success in its neighborhood. Though India is its only nuclear rival in its neighborhood it not so much bothered about it.  China knows well that nuclear weapons are used as deterrent. Otherwise America would have won Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran wars hands down.

A Chinese spokesman said recently went on media proudly proclaiming - "China will never attack the first time, but will never allow to be attacked the second time. His statement needs to be taken seriously as the inscrutable, no nonsense Chinese are known to talk less and if at all they talk they express in a few, measured sentences. Vajpayee famously said that you can choose your friends, you can't chose your neighbors. He was so right...

Jesse Owens - An American icon

 Today is the birthday of Jesse Owens, the American sports legend who carved his niche in history by being the first man to win 4 Gold Medals in an Athletics event in the Olympics Games - a record which stayed unbroken for a long time to come until another American Carl Lewis broke it in 1984. He is also remembered for another reason, for driving a nail on German German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's coffin of a misplaced belief of Aryan supremacy theory at the height of Nazi propaganda.

Ninty summers ago the 1936 Olympics, world's greatest sporting event was eventful for few reasons. First, it was held in Berlin under Hitler's Germany, being overshadowed by the blatant use of the Sporting events for Nazi party's theory of German supremacy. Second, it was also the first Olympics to be televised. Third, it also showcased the talent of Jesse Owens, the famous black athlete from the United States who seized the limelight, overcoming myriads of obstacles in insecurity and a pressure cooker atmosphere to win 4 golds.

Jesse Owens was an American icon, a symbol of its athletes power in the Sporting arena. Growing up in an era of racism in America, he battled poverty with a wonderful rags to riches successful life story. Hailing from a poor family in the post recession America, no one ever imagined him winning accolades in the land of "Hail Hitler", bringing a dent in the dictator's theory of Aryan supremacy.

Jesse's talent was spotted during his tenure in the Ohio State University, where he created record in the 100 meter sprint event. Soon he was a shoo in for the American Olympics team, selected for the mega event across the Atlantic.
The preparation for Berlin Olympics started on a controversial note, with America almost boycotting the event due to the host's overtly anti-Semitic biased policies. Germany was desperate to see American athletes at home, for without the USA participatation the Olympics would be akin to a German Bratwurst sausage without salt and Sauerkraut without sugar. After a lot of lobbying by Hitler's Man Friday Goebbels the US Olympics Committee narrowly voted to send their team to Germany.

On arrival at the Olympic village in that eventful summer of 1936, Jesse Owens was appalled at the disgusting sight of anti Semitic graffitis all over the Olympic village proclaiming - "Dogs and Jews are not allowed". The fitting finale came in the form of 100 meters event, still a prized event in the Olympics which every one looks forward to. Jesse Owens was pitted against the local favorite Lutz Lung of Germany - the symbol of Hitler's Aryan racial supremacy.

Jesse not only won that race, he went on to win 200 meters, led 4x100 meter relay to add another American gold, followed by one more the long jump event, yet again defeating Lutz Lung in the later event. (Jesse and Lutz became friends and continued communicating with letters in an age sans email and Whatsapp, until Lung died fighting for Germany in North Africa during World War II).

Hitler was in the stadium, watching Jesse sprint his way to a stupendous win. Here is where historians differ in their accounts about what followed. The Fuehrer supposedly left the stadium in disgust as his myth of Aryan supremacy was shattered. But per Jesse Owens knowldege, Hitler acknowledged his victory by waving at him from the visible podium of the stadium.

On the other hand after coming back to America during a felicitation dinner for the US Olympics team in New York, Jesse Owens along with other black athletes had to use the service elevator, whereas their white counterparts took the normal elevator. The humiliation didn't end there. It was customary for the Olympics medal winners to be invited to the White House. But the 4 Gold medal winner Jesse Owens's name was conspicuously missing from the names of the invitees. Roosevelt didn't want to be in news hosting, baking bread with Jesse in White House, his picture of shaking hands with a black man getting published on the front page of the newspapers in an election year.

What happened to Jesse Owens after that ? He continued earning money as appearance fee, running against race horses for the pleasure of spectators, until he became too old to do so. Yet his record of 4 fabulous Olympics Golds was a record which stood for almost half a century, never broken during his lifetime, only to be emulated by his compatriot Carl Lewis in Los Angeles Olympics of 1984, four years after Jesse's death in 1980. Happy Birthday Jesse Owens. You will remain a Sporting legend and will forever be remembered.

Anniversary of 9/11

Today is the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, when a prominent chapter was added to the American and World history on this day on September 11, 2001. How time flies ! A child born on that day is no more a teenager and is already eligible to legally drink alcohol.

Feels just like yesterday when on a cool, crispy early Fall morning commute to my work at Toyota Motors Manufacturering in Kentucky where I was working as an IT Consultant, the news of terrorist attack on the World Trade center came as a bolt from the blue. That very day is forever etched in my memory. Most at my workplace were stunned, but stayed calm and composed. Many were frantically trying to locate Afghanistan on the world map and I remember helping a few in finding the beleaguered nation which made the cardinal mistake of harboring Osama-Bin-Laden, the man behind the terror attack.

There was no hysteria or public display of outcry, but it was not business as usual and anxiety on the faces of my coworkers was quite palpable. I had the habit of filling gas in my car at a local Shell gas station which used to give 5% discount on Tuesdays and unfortunately that September 11 fell on a Tuesday. On my way back home I encountered a long line at the gas station. There was hardly any car on the road. People were mostly indoor, glued to the Television.

The aim of terrorists is to create terror and they really succeeded that day in scaring the hell out of Americans who were attacked on their Mainland for the first time in history (technically the first major attack on US soil took place after the strike on Pearl Harbor by Japan on 7th of December 1941. It was in Hawaii, America' 50th State thousands miles away from mainland).

Contrast that to the indomitable spirit amongst Indians. Mumbai and many other cities in India have gone through several terror attacks. But within hours the life comes to normal. It's not about the number of people being killed, those many are killed in road accidents every day. The main goal of the terrorists is to create terror in the hearts and minds of the people. In that aspect they fail miserably in India, though it has more to do with the need for ROZI ROTI (daily bread) than any great gallantry against odds or fighting spirit. Yet they still deserve the credit of defying the odds and getting back to normal life quicker than anywhere in the world.

A quarter of a century down the road, hardly anything has changed. Though, touch wood, America has been able to prevent any major terror attack on its soil, war and terrorism across the globe still thrive. No nation on earth is fully immune to the disease which is spreading its tentacles far and wide like cancer, nor they're entirely blame free for letting this menace prevail due to their short sighted political goals.

Some one is a good terrorist as long as he is an useful idiot to serve one's own business, but becomes a bad terrorist if it hurts the state which sponsors them for creating terror in another country. Someone's terrorist is another one's Freedom Fighter. If not curbed, on long term terrorism is going to do irreparable damage to the mankind unless everyone gets together to root out this evil. Remember, if you keep snakes in your backyard thinking that it will only bite only your neighbors then you are living in fool's paradise. One day that snake is going to bite you. The lessons learned from 9/11 should never be forgotten.

Bagha Jatin

Today is the death Anniversary of Bagha Jatin, or Jatindranath Mukherjee, an Indian freedom fighter who fought against the British and died young at the age of 36.

Born in Nadia district of Bengal, he was only 5 year old when his father died, followed by his mother at 9. He was brought up by his elder sister. Since teenage days he dabbled in fighting for freedom against the occupying British who ruled India with an iron hand. But Jatin possesed an iron hand using which he killed a tiger as he was scouring the forests to go underground and use as launch pad for his anti-government activities. He used a small knife to kill the tiger but was grievously injured in the process. It took him days to recover from the poison of the tiger's claws and teeth which caused him deep, gruesome wounds. After this incident he was christened by locals as "Bagha" (the tiger killer) Jatin. 

Soon Bagha Jatin would shift his revolutionary activities to Balasore, a small town in Odisha near Bengal border. He, along with his close friends Chittapriya, Manoranjan and few more formed a merry band whose fiery spirit led to several skirmishes with the British using arms and ammunition. In order to run their organization they needed money and hence looted the rich Zamindars (feudal lords) of the time, most of whom sided with British. After looting, Bagha Jatin's gang would leave a note saying that they are taking the loot to fight for freedom and will return the money with interest after independence. 

Unfortunately they couldn't keep their promise. During the First World War, Bagha and his associates established contact with Germany who was seen as enemy's enemy being a friend as they were fighting the war with British. The Germans were ready to assist Bagha Jatin's gang with arms and ammunitions. But the mission failed due to couple of reasons. First of all, the English ruled India with the support of the majority of Indians and many of whom were eager to please and cooperate with their occupiers for a price or privilege. Secondly, British had created a strong network of spies and informants and like a ripe fart could smell any mutiny or revolutionary activities from miles. 

Based on the information they received the British Military Police closed in on Bagha Jatin and his gang inside the deep forests surrounding Budhabalanga River near Balasore, Odisha. Though thorougly outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered, Bagha and his associates fought bravely for few hours before being captured or gunned down one by one.

Bagha Jatin was seriously injured in the ensuing gun fight. He was taken to a local hospital and treated by a British doctor. When he regained his sense he refused to be treated by an Englishman and threw away his bandages. He continued to bleed and battle for his life until he died from gunshot wounds on this day September 10, 1915, exactly 111 years ago. Long live martyr Bagha Jatin. My tribute to one our many unsung heroes.

Janmastami and Godmen

 We just passed JANMASTAMI, Birthday of Sri Krishna, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu. It reminded me of this Baba, a charlatan in the guise of a saint who once lived in Bhubaneswar. He proclaimed himself as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, his 11th Avatar. On this auspicious day it was rumored that the Baba turned himself into BAL GOPAL (Baby Krishna). His women devotees cuddles him and took turns in feeding him milk. Preaching others about avoiding fatty food but himself not so averse towards it, the Baba was said to have a preferences for full fat milk over semi fat ones.

Well, he imbibed so much milk that he could not digest and so also the local populace couldn't digest his escapades. One fine morning his ASHRAM (abode) was stoned and Baba fled away. Don't know what happened to this self proclaimed 11th incarnation of Vishnu. He was rumored to have resurfaced elsewhere.

In Punjab the controversial Baba Ram Rahim Singh was in news not long ago. The Baba had been convicted of rape charges and his followers had taken to street, taking the tri-state of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi into hostage for a few days as violence reigned. He had patronage of all political parties including BJP. Now we have examples of fake Babas from East (Odisha) and North (Punjab), South (Tamil Nadu) in the form of Nityananda Swami and West (Gujarat) in Asharam Bapu complete the pan-India affliction of the Baba franchise.

I am not against Godmen. They and their followers have every right to their belief and peaceful assembly to preach and sooth the tired souls as long as they stay within the framework of law. But some are known to take law for granted and into their own hands. They also indulge in obnoxious activities, often involving women and children. The myths surrounding them eventually get shattered, replaced with controversies and free fall from grace.

What's the secret potion that enables these Babas to sustain, survive and elude the authorities of any misdeed ? Many of those nefarious Gurus have equally unscrupulous folks as disciples which includes but not limited to politician, bureaucrats and businessmen. The Baba often acts as a conduit, a wheeler and dealer for those in power, a backroom boy who knows their secrets and use them an insurance for future.

The vast majority of the disciples of these Babas aren't illiterate, poor folks as we would think, they are rather from the middle class and upper strata of our society. Many, especially women suffering from insecurities and bored with their bland daily drudgery of suburban, small city life become the SHISYAS (Female devotees) of these charlatans to get some kick and adventure as an scape ftom their mundane lives. But familiarity breeds contempt. The disillusionment kicks in for some at some point when they discover how uncouth and fake these Babas are. Their Guru's misdeeds events gets exposed with time as the ocean floor gets exposed after the fall of high tide.

But these folks are in minority, for come what may, still a vast number of brainwashed BHAKTs (disciples) chose to virulently defend their Babas. This doesn't come as a surprise to me. When I posted earlier about the milk loving Baba of Odisha, a friend of mine who incidentally had studied in IIT apparently got pisses off and started trolling me. If this was the reaction from a highly educated guy (studying in IITs, a premier Technical Institution is arguably considered the highest form of education in India).

Karma is a bitch ! Gladly, law and their own Karma eventually catches them. I hope they rot in jail, excelling in CHAKKI PEESING..PEESING.. PEESING (A Hindi allegory describing jail time).