Real Life vs Reel Life

Our reel life heroes, who portray a larger than life of themselves on the screen, rarely replicate a fraction of it on real life. Many make a mockery of themselves by giving misstatements, only to regret or retract later. (It's another matter that a few deliberately do this to boost their faltering career or prospect of their soon to be released movie). Such avoidable statements in the guise of free speech attract controversies, often taking a communal tone. Arguably there is a political overtone, acting as a precursor or launching pad towards a career in politics.

 

Come election season, scores of movie stars (retired Bureaucrats and Military personnel too), make beeline to join political parties. Barring a few exceptions like Sunil Dutt, most of them have failed to leave their mark in politics. Amitabh Bachchan, the better known celebrity from the celluloid world, had a forgettable political career, resigning midway through his term as an MP from Allahabad.

 

Amitabh's self proclaimed rival in 80s and self overrated Satrughan Sinha, hardly did anything noteworthy as a minister in Vajpayee's government. He has since been sidelined (rightly so), sulking and whining to the hilt. Govinda, when a Congress MP, did so well that once he was chased and showered with rotten eggs, tomatoes by his constituents. Swinging hips doesn't necessarily swing voters towards you, but can propel a few vegetables as inswingers.

 

Dharmendra's repeated dialogues from the iconic movie SHOLAY "GAON BALON MEIN AA GAYA HOON" (Villagers, I have arrived) won him a seat, but histrionics apart, he hardly did anything noteworthy for his fellow villagers. His wife Hema Malini, is known more for her autocratic style than service to her electorates. BJP took Victor Banerjee to his fold couple of decades back in order to set a foothold in Bengal, but he hardly made a dent into the party's fortune. Examples are many. 

 

In South, especially in Tamil Nadu and Andhra, there is a viscous line between the movie world and politics, which at times completely vanishes. Actors MGR and NTR had a fair degree of success in politics in their respective states, especially the former, who had a demi God status in Tamil Nadu. Many give the credit to him for initiating the Mid Day Meal Scheme in his state, which was replicated by other, catapulting India's fledgling Literacy rate to a respectable figure. However not all from South leave their mark in their newly adopted profession, many flop like flop movies. Chiranjeevi, the erstwhile Telugu superstar flopped spectacularly in politics, faltered and merged his Telugu Desam party into Congress.

 

It's said that MGR once warned NTR of entering into politics, saying it is easier to be a Superstar, than being a politician. This means something, when coming from a person who was so popular in Tamil Nadu that in 1984, he and his party won hands down, when he was going through Kidney dialysis in far away New York. (The other Superstar from his state, a cult figure called Rajnikanth, has wisely stayed away from politics,  resisting the temptation to plunge into it. Interesting thing to be noted, MGR and Rajnikant, Deities in Tamil Nadu, are originally Tamils by origin. MGR was born a Malayali, Rajnikant a Marathi).

 

There is a lesson to be learnt here, if history throws some indications. Voters these days can't be taken for granted. Our movie stars often fail to realize the difference between the real life and real life. Politics, like any profession, is a performance based business, far cry from the celluloid world, where Superstatdom comes the inertia and benefit of doubt, to sustain your acting career. Perform or Perish, is the call of the day. Politics is not every body's cup of tea, forget Stardom, even Superstatdom can only take you so far.

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

It's Thanksgivings Day in America. Like every year this day I take the opportunity to thank all my friends on Facebook for taking the pain and patience to go through my posts. As far as possible I try to inform you, amuse you and occasionally irritate you. But I love you all. Your comments and likes keep me going. It is always okay to agree to disagree on my views as long as it's not done in an utterly disrespectful way. If I am wrong please free to correct me, but not my free thought.

Ever since I started writing four years back, never in my wildest of dreams I imagined coming this far. A decent number of compliments started trickling in, many from unknowns who admit (some grudgingly) enjoying my writing. One went on further "even if you write junk I still make it a point to read it, don't know why. You have converted Bullshit into a form of Art." I took it as a compliment. People love spicy stuff, be it food or writing. I may give a long speech about the Odia dish SANTULA (a boiled mix veg dish) or DALMA (a dish of boiled Dal and veggies) being healthy. But in reality I cherish a dish of chilli chicken or goat meat curry. 

 

I get my share of brickbats and gauntlets too, for being occasionally blunt and extrovert. By no means I feel flattered. It fills me with a feeling of immense gratitude and I extend my wholehearted thanks to them. Many solicit advise about writing. My answer to them, is there is no magic bullet. It's like any creative skill. If it's inside you, one day it gonna burst out. So just pen your thoughts and let it take its shape.

 

Some even suggested me to chose writing as a career. It is a great creative outlet and escape from daily drudgery in life, accompanied by a sense of pleasure and fulfillment. I don't have an iota of doubt about it, so plan to keep penning my thoughts till I go over the hills. But writing as a profession? I don't think it is a pragmatic path to chose at this stage of my life. There is an immense sense of satisfaction, but frankly no money in this line. No offence to their professions, even the PANA and MADA DOKANIs (betel and liquor shop owners), petty DALAALs (brokers) make more money than a writer these days. It's the reality of the age.

 

My current profession does not pay me a whole lot, but pays my bills, with the additional safety net of some post retirement benefits. A la the electrical Main switch of a house, it keeps the power turned on in my home. Everything else falls in place and would stop once the main Switch is switched off. So at most I will keep it as a hobby, with a book or collection of articles sometime down the road.  

 

To those in USA, HAPPY THANKSGIVING turkey gobble day. To those in Odisha, happy CHHHADAKHAI fish/meat gobble day. Stay safe and enjoy the day with your family and friends.

The Fall of Saddam and Rise of ISIS - III

(THE LAST AND CONCLUDING PART OF The Fall of Saddam and Rise of ISIS)...

 

By 2006, the number of Americans killed rose twice more than the previous year, so also the share price of Haliburton, in which Dick Cheney had a stake in. Worms kept tumbling out of the Iraqi can, the lid of which was kept tightly closed by Saddam. His ouster saw the rise two guys, from different spectrums and bitter enemies, who bitterly hated Americans, to forefront. One was a leader of Shia militia, Moqtada Al Sadr, whose father and two elder brothers were brutally  assassinated by Saddam. The other one was Abu Musaba Al Zarqawi, the head of the nascent Al Qaida in Iraq, predecessor of the current ISIS.

Iraq soon started seeing a classic sectarian warfare between the Shia and Sunni. The Al Sadr led Shia militia created checkpoints, screening the Sunnis, whose bullet ridden, iron drilled bodies would be discovered following days. So much so that, the Sunnis used Shia names, wrapped themselves with black cloths and put music extolling Imam Ali in their vehicles to pretend themselves as Shias.

Abu Musaba Al Zarqawi, the Sunni head of Al Qaida in Iraq, retaliated swiftly, by killing Shias enmass using some spectacular suicide bombings, hitherto unheard of during Saddam's time. He had tremendous leadership quality (once acknowledged by Condoleezza Rice), recruiting Al Qaida operatives in droves and being a constant pain in American ass. Soon USA had a $5 million bounty on him.

Women yet again proved to be the weakest link and nemesis to men, this time in case of Al Zarqawi. He took a young wife. The girl used a courier to fetch her obvious Feminine needs. The Americans managed to get hold of Zarqawi's location by tracking that courier. One day in June, 2006 when the Al Qaida in Iraq boss was having a meeting with his lieutenants, US bombers dropped couple of 500lb bomb on his hideout. His body was fetched out from the rubles and paraded as a trophy by the  Bush administration, desperate to show some success due to the falling support of war at home.

Abu Musaba Al Zarqawi's death was celebrated by the Shias alike, but the damage wad done. USA got him, but not before he successful led the foundation of a monster called ISIS. Almost a decade later, ISIS has expanded its territories and realms of influence. They also have ex-military members of Saddam's BAATH party as Military and intelligent operatives. Bush managed to do the unthinkable, radicalized Saddam's  wining and dining military personnel into a fundamentalists lot, whose tentacles have spread well into Europe and could knock the door steps of United States. Talk about chicken coming home to roost, Middle East is too much of a mess to fiddle with.

The Fall of Saddam and Rise of ISIS - II

(The 2nd part of Fall of Saddam and Rise of ISIS....)

 

Then 9/11 happened. Americans were never attacked on their home soil (Technically mainland, as Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese during World War II was in Hawaai). Americans, who in general, can't distinguish between Albania vs Armenia, Australia vs Austria, Swiss vs Swedish, were frantically trying to locate Afghanistan on the World map. They were shocked to the hilt and obviously angry too. 

 

For George Bush, Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld, it was a God sent opportunity. Americans, who leave no stones unturned in grinding their leaders on domestic matters, are completely  novice about rest of the world. So they mostly trust what their leaders and media tell them on global matters. The Bush administration successfully diverted the anger of the American public towards Saddam Hussain. A sizable number of Americans believed that Saddam was behind 9/11. (It's another matter that Saddam hated fundamentalists and no Iraqi national was involved in World Trade attack).

 

Failing to link Saddam to 9/11, Dubya Bush ordered attack on Iraq under the pretext of weapons of mass destruction. USA had a cakewalk in less than a month, driving Saddam into hiding inside a hole. Americans, known for their Cowboyish "Wham Bam, Thank you ma'am", are great at bombing the hell out of their opponents. But inherently being creatures of comfort, they lack stomach for long term war. The battle was won, but the war just began.

 

Bush's Man Friday in Iraq, Paul Bremmer made the cardinal blunder of disbanding the Iraqi army. Unemployed, but we'll trained military personnel can be of dangerous proposition. The ex Saddam guys, hardened military tacticians, ran a very stubborn and successful guerrilla insurgency against the USA army. It was their land, the were well endowed with its topology. Killing 2 to 3 American soldiers by road side bombing and RPG attacks on daily basis wasn't a big deal for them. Living close to Fort Benning Infantry. I had the opportunity to meet an Iraq returned marine. He described seeing a Humvee tossed a few feet above the ground and blown apart by a road side bomb - "Before you pronounce IED, all would be over".

 

News of kids being killed in Iraq dominated the news headlines in America. Politics and Public opinion is a matter of perception. The fact that America was stuck in a desert quagmire, slowly percolated into the Americans mind, with Bush starting to lose the Public support. His approval rating was lowest in history, comparable to Nixon in the heydays of Watergate scandal.

(Last and Concluding part to follow tomorrow...)

The Fall of Saddam and Rise of ISIS - I

The rise of DAESH (The Arabic Acronym for ISIS) began mostly after the Bush misadventure in Iraq starting in 2003. But let me take you back in time travel, to trace it roots and how by taking out Saddam Hussain was arguably the biggest blunder America made in recent years.

 

Saddam Hussain hated Iran to the core. He once said that the Persians are the worst thing to happen to mankind, itching for an opportunity to attack its eastern neighbor. In 1980, soon after Iran was in turmoil after an Islamic Revolution, Saddam attacked this Shia majority nation on the pretext of border dispute. The Sunni Arab world loved him for that and the Americans who are very good at making money, sensed some business opportunities. They made a good fortune, selling weapons to Iraq during its decade long war with Iran.

 

It's believed, there was a common saying in US State Department, "Saddam Hussain was a bastard, but he is our bastard". There are pictures of Rumsfeld shaking hands with him. (It's another matter US vetoed the UN condemnation, when Israel in broad daylight bombed the nuclear facilities in Baghdad, ironically by the Novel Peace Prize winner Begin, forever  ending Saddam's nuclear dream). America's relations with Iraq was solely based on weapon sales, not robust enough to override their relationship with Israel.

 

Contrary to the expectation of the Arab world, after suffering some initial reverses, Iran fought back spectacularly. They pushed back the Iraqis, recapturing the areas they lost during the initial days of fight. Saddam unilaterally declared victory, ending his Persian misadventure in 1989. But he didn't stay quite for long, soon attacked Kuwait a year later on the pretext of oil field disputes.

 

That was when American and Saudi honeymoon with Saddam ended. US led forces defeated Saddam. America again made a good business of this war, testing its latest weapons and making the Saudis reimburse the cost. The elder Bush was prudent enough to take American boots off ground, after Kuwait was liberated, leaving Saddam to rot in sanctions. This was the year 1991. A year later in 1992, an overconfident Bush was ousted by a Southern Greenhorn named Bill Clinton, yet proving the adage "All Politics are local". The war hero Bush could not convince the Americans who were more convinced by Clinton's Campaign slogan "It's Economy Stupid".

(TO BE CONTINUED...How the Son Bush Contributed in creating ISIS)

Will the French Carnage unite all against ISIS

In the aftermath of the Paris Carnage, an interesting act by its chief architect ISIS went mostly unnoticed, i.e, the beheading of a Chinese man by these fanatics.

 

China has its own share of Islamic extremism in its Xin Xiang province. They torture and humiliate the Muslim majority in that province, by forcing them to eat during the day in Ramzan, chopping off their beard. So ISIS reciprocated by chopping off a Chinese head.

 

So far, hardened Islamic nations Saudi Arabia and Iran never protested the Chinese humiliating their Muslim brethren. (It's another matter their vassal state Pakistan's conspicuous silence was hardly surprising). China won't meddle in something which doesn't impact it directly. It doesn't mind the so called good terrorists from Pakistan keep both of their rival India busy. At the same time it expects it's vassal state Pakistan to control the influx of terrorists to its Xin Xiang province. Now that ISIS has beheaded a Chinese guy, hope they will understand it.

 

Will the French Carnage unite all against ISIS ? I doubt it. US, Russia and China are at crossroads in their middle east policy. US doesn't want to alienate it's Sunni allies, some of whom covertly support ISIS. Being overtly going against it would send a wrong message, of America been seen as anti-Sunni and pro-Shia  (some already see it that way after the Iran Nuclear deal ).

 

Why Russia all of sudden discovered the vices of ISIS ? It wants to divert the attention of its population going throgh -4% of GDG growth due to Western (note America led) sanction and falling oil prices. Any rise in oil price helps Putin, who is now synonymous with Russia. Moreover, he wants to keep his allies, Assad and Iran happy.

 

Such double standard and selective approach towards terrorism won't work and will have only limited success. So keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Hacking and Spam e-mails

George Washington once famously hacked a cherry tree. Never in his wildest of dreams he would have imagined, that hundreds of years down the 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue (the official address White House) where his successor would reside, a different kind of hack takes place. And that would involve a device called Computer, not a tree. And it would involve code generated remotely from thousands of miles away, not an axe.

 

Russian hackers have been accused of successfully hacking into the networks of White House, getting access to Obama's classified schedules. China, Russia and surprisingly North Korea are protagonists of some champion hackers, hired to work for their government. Positions are open, from Entry level Hackers to Director and Vice President (Hacking) in those nations. Anybody interested ?

 

Once my email account got hacked. My friends started getting weird, unsolicited hot mails, containing pictures of hot females from my Hotmail accounts. Some thought, I have changed my profession to free Viagra supply & distributions, plus other obnoxious professions (luckily  no one responded asking me for the famous blue pill). Viagra is not a dirty word, as doctors prescribed the legendary writer Khushwant Singh half a Viagra to prevent him from peeing on his feet. But I was not aspiring to be a "Medical Representative" of the famous blue pill. Anyway, changing my password to a harder one stopped those free offers emanating from my email id.

 

These hackers who target many commoners like me, via spam e-mails, getting smarter day by day. In technical terms its called "phising". Though most get into my spam folder, some still manage to sneak into my inbox. The $200 hour work from home, free Viagra and other kinky offers, can end up soliciting personal information. Some might seem innocuous like soliciting Home address and date of birth. Don't fall for them. From your address and date of birth they can pull your Social Security Number and steal your identity. And stay safe from the hackers, especially in this approaching holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, favorite time of hackers and stealers.

RIP Saeed Jaffrey

You stood your own, carving a niche pitted against the legendary Sanjeev Kumar in SATRANJ KI KHILADI (The Chess Player), a rare Hindi movie produced by another equally talented Satyajit Ray. Anupam Kher, the recipient of the famous "THAPPAD KI GOONJ" (resonance of slap) from Dillip Kumar in KARMA made this phrase a household name and you continued that tradition.

Your THAPPAD KI GOONJ to the swindler, again played by Anupam Kher, who schemes to get his wayward son married to you daughter in DIL (Heart) still resonates with many from my generation. RIP, SAEED JAFFREY. You have become silent, but your shrill will speak volumes, resonating forever for ages to come.

Lessons Learnt from the Paris Carnage

The tragic terror strike in France has left hundreds dead and injured, shocking all across the globe. In life and sports, we always wish, we had a rewind button. One of the debris from the remains left are the lessons learnt. Doing a post mortem of the event, it's time to go above and beyond burning MUMBUTTIs (candle lights), burning some midnight oil to retrospect.

Liberalism does not work against terrorism. Left liberals in Europe, who have already destroyed their economy, are on the verge of destroying their national security. The French, it seems didn't learn their lesson after the Charlie Hebdo attack. Their counterpart on the other side of the Atlantic, America, learnt its lesson. Obama, a Chicago Liberal, had no qualms about taking on Osama and chopping off heads of many snakes by ordering drone attacks. Don't know about tomorrow, 14 years since 9/11, both Republican and Democrat administrations have done a great job in preventing any major attack on their soil (Touch wood).

America is also lucky another way, for its unique Geographic location. It has its share of 12 million illegal immigrants. Thankfully, they are mostly Hispanics, especially from Mexico, who are more concerned about making money than religion. Their misdemeanors are limited to drugs and gang related violence. These illegal immigrants send billions of dollars in remittance to Mexico and other Latin American nations, contributing to their fragile and corrupt economy. The last thing these governments, heavily dependent on their northern Big Brother, will do, is harbor terrorism. Wahabi brand of Islam, perfect breeding ground for terrorism, is thankfully non existence there.

Similar to Europe, or even worst, we have our impractical brand of Left Liberalism in India. They are more concerned about securing Vote Banks, scoring narrow political goals, rather than preserving our national security. Years of Congress and Commie rule have made us complacent. Forget about learning from history, we have becomes champions of repeating same mistake, time and again. Any pragmatic, pre-emptive action will be followed by an equal liberal reaction of Award returns, criticism by Diggy Singh, Mani Aiyar and JNU liberals. So be afraid, be very afraid.

Shakuni, Karna and Innternational Relationship

I was watching a TV serial KARNA, based on the life of the famous mythological character from MAHABHARAT - the powerful, generous but illegitimate son of SURYA (Sun). In a scene, the wily Shakuni, maternal Uncle of the ambitious Prince Duryodhan plots the death of their adversary Pandavas, by burning their inflammable palace.

When Duryodhan is about the divulge the plans to his buddy Karna, Shakuni dissuades him "There is no question of Karna's dedication towards you, my dear nephew Duryodhan. But he is just a pawn, part of the larger game towards your goal of your Kingship. It will be not be necessarily wise to divulge all our plans to him. But, keep your friendship alive, as he is our invaluable asset to take on Arjuna, but disclose stuff to him as and only necessary."

I want to drive an analogy here, especially to those Commies and sympathizers of Soviet Russia who claim that, the then USSR, at the height of Cold War, was a true, indomitable buddy  of India. Russia was supposedly our friend in need, so a friend indeed.

There is no permanent friends and enemies in international relationship, only permanent interest. So my dear commies, India was just a pawn in the larger game supremacy between the two superpowers. India fitted Soviet Union's bill, so it was backing India for its own FAIDA (benefit). Now, Russia is talking about selling arms to our bette noire Pakis, so much of true friendship. Shakuni, the shrewd strategist was way ahead of time. 

Ants In the Pantry

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Post Bihar Election - Why BJP failed

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

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

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

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

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

Newspapers These days

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

FIFA'S contribution to Soccer in America

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

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

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

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

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

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

Possible Scenario from Post Bihar elections

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

 

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

 

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

 

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