Imran Khan - the Prime minister of Pakistan

Congrats Imran Khan on becoming the Wazie - E - Azam or the Prime minister of Pakistan. But unlike Cricket, this is a whole different ball game. You are not the man in charge in large here. The real Captain is your Army Chief. You will be a mere player in his hands.

As usual Allah, Army and America, in that order, will always matter in Pakistan. The role of the first two is obvious. But your countrymen who have no love lost for Uncle Sam still love him for one thing - free supply of money in form of Billions of US Dollars.

Though China and Saudi Arabia are your other benefactors, they are not gullible as the Americans are - especially the inscrutable Chinese. You can milk Americans money by fooling them, an art your Army masters have mastered to perfection. It won't be so easy for you to fool the Chinese.

The men in charge of the Middle Kingdom (interestingly the Chinese politburo and its central committee is conspicuously male dominated) are men of balls with much tougher nuts to crack. They can't be easily duped a la the Americans who think, often erroneously that throwing away dollars can always get things done. The Chinese may shower you with favors laced with bombastic accolades like - "China -Pakistan friendship is higher than the mountains and deeper than the oceans", but the great businessmen they are, they will extract their pound of flesh from you.

Unstinting support from them does not come free. If the Chinese will order you to jump, you will ask - "How High", as you are expected to keep India, their only Nuclear rival in Asia at bay at a low cost of outsourcing. So, you can't afford to have a good relationship with your eastern neighbor and need to stay belligerent to them in order to please both your Army and the Chinese masters who will be pulling strings from your behind.

You are known as the ultimate Alpha male, a famous Playboy with alleged affairs ranging from Bollywood's Zeenat Aman to American model Sita White - with whom you fathered an illegitimate girl child (you initially denied but ended up paying child support when an US Court summoned you for Paternity test). You wanted to defeat India in India and England in England, you got it. You fulfilled your desire to win the Cricket World Cup. Your ambition to build a Cancer hospital materialized. Your wanted to be the Prime minister of Pakistan and you are about became one. Wish you all success in a failed state.

Rice - the staple food of Odias

Whenever I am at home in India my mother is never satisfied with the small quantity of rice I eat. She regularly prods me - PETA PUREIKI BHAATA KHAUNU, you are not eating stomach full of rice. She thinks I have developed a bad habit not eating enough rice, a telltale indicator of lack of gastronomic fulfillment.

My lengthy explanation of no need to eat excess rice for satisfaction falls into her deaf year. Can't blame her. Rice has been our staple food for ages and the major source of carbohydrate. Our traditional Odia dishes are centered around rice, washed down blended with DALI (Lentil soup) and TARKARI (curry) which are at best side items. Rice seats at the center like the Sun with other items on memu revolve around it like planets.

So, I negotiate a deal with her to have an extra serving of SAAG (leafy greens) or couple of chunks of potatoes from a curried item in lieu of another mound of rice. But she drops my suggestion like hot potato and places a huge mound of rice on my plate as I frantically waive my hands uttering "No more". 

My vehement protest barely works as that extra chunk of rice always ends up on my plate. In Puri they say, BHATA EMITI BADHA HEI THIBA JE BIRADI DEILE TA GODA BAJIBA - the quantity of rice on your plate should be as challenging for a cat trying to jump over without its legs hitting the top of rice mountain. No wonder you find so many pot bellied folks from in and around Puri.

Rice is cultivated in abundance in Odisha which is enriched with fertile PATU MATI (alluvial soil) replenished by floods every other year. Historically failure of rice crop has led to massive droughts, especially the one called NA ANKA DURBHIKHYA  (Great drought of 19th Century) which claimed millions of lives from starvation as rice was the sole soul food then.

Earlier days people used to consume a lot if rice and its byproducts like CHUDA (Parched rice), MUDHI (Puffed rice), yet burn the carb as they had the habit of doing a lot of physical activities. But the need of eating plentiful of rice has diminished over the years with increased food production and plenty of varieties of veggies and protein available. Coupled with modern sedentary lifestyle where people walk less and bury their heads inside smartphone like ostrich in sand, there is no need for a lot of carbs to consume ending up as ugly, unhealthy flab around your waist.

Potato, the other carb has made inroads into the Odia culinar, but has never made inroads into the Jagannath Temple of Puri, being regarded as a foreign vegetable. The original ALU (potato) of Odisha was DESI ALU (Yam) until it was replaced by BILATI ALU (English Potato), the potato in its present form. So also wheat, another carb in the form of RUTI (Chapattis) - the new kid in the block on the dinner plate in most Odia homes.

It's probably the reason why we see high instances of diabetes and triglycerides in bloodstreams of most Odias. The culprit is our carb inherited genes, accentuated with high intake of rice for generations. We don't need too much carb in a hot, humid climate like ours.  It's high time we change our food habits a bit and let our DHANYA CUTTACKAM (The paddy land of Cuttack) be part of our glorious past.

RIP Sergio Marchionne

Those who don't know him, he joined as the CEO of car manufacturing company Chrysler in 2009 when the Detroit based automobile industry was in a brink of collapse. Sergio Marchionne turned the company around in no time when Crysler was seen as a hopeless cause walking with a one way ticket towards the door of bankruptcy.

What happened next is history. Sergio not just jump started the profits of Crysler, in no time he repaid the Billions of dollars of bailout money to the US Government with interest ahead of schedule.

In 2007, he wrecked a $350,000 Ferrari on a highway in Switzerland. “In the car business, sometimes you crash,” he said. When he got criticism from politicians and unions for slashing jobs and cutting costs, Marchionne argued that moving slowly could be even more risky.

A chain smoking maverick, Marchionne a known workaholic known to send emails and contact his subordinates in the middle of night. He was known as the Big BOSS in capitals, ascribing to his mafia style of "my way or highway" management. Not liked by the puritans for his unorthodox style - he not just got the work done or dealt with mission difficult, he turned around a mission impossible a dream reality. Crysler who saw Detroit was on the verge of a dead city about a decade ago, just earned a profit if $881 million in the last quarter.

Marchionne passed away at the young age of 66 yesterday. RIP the Auto giant - your story should be a management case study and inspiration to those in the business of business.

My observation of the current political scenario in India

My observation of the current political scenario in India based on my personal interaction of folks in different segments of the milieu.

The Upper caste HINDUS - They are the ultra nationalists and vocal supporters of Modi led BJP. If they were the only ones  allowed to vote Modi don't have to campaign.

MUSLIMS and CHRISTIANS - Exacly the opposite of the above. A few used to be okay with Vajpayee's BJP but none -  yes none has ever expressed his or her likeness for Modi led BJP, neither in public nor in private. I believe they are patriots as much as any one else and have their own reasons to feel insecure against rising nationalism (mostly fake). I also saw a lot of sense in the reasons for their antipathy toward the current government at the center. Expect them to vote en masse against the Modi led BJP in the next election.

Non Upper Caste HINDUS - They are not a monolithic groups and BJP has got challenges there. If a large chunk of this section (Hindus constitute at least 80% of India's population) support BJP,  the party is through the next election. But ever suspicious of their upper caste counterparts, if they stitch up together and vote agsinst BJP the parry is asking for serious trouble.

BABUs (Bureaucrats) - Let me start by repeating my often repeated quip from Amitabh's movie HUM (Us) released in 1991. In a scene Anumam Kher who plays a crook cop, delivers a very meaningful monologue - BAGAWAT MEIN TIN KISAM KE ADDMI HOTE HAIN (There are three kinds of people in a mutiny), ATYACHAARI (the tormentor played by Danny), KRANTIKARI (the mutineer, played by Amitabh), AUR UN DONO KA JHAGDE KA FAIDA UTHATE HUE HAMARA JAISE BYAPARI (Taking advantage of their rivalry are our kind of businessmen). 

The Babus perfectly fit to the BYAPARI category. They are the slimiest of all who work with zero accountability (at least politicians are accountable every 5 years). They have allegiance to none but to their political masters who can assure them of a plum posting where money can be minted. As we say in Odia - BARSA JUADA, CHHATA SIADE, they cleverly put their umbrella in the right direction of the rain to stay safe. They have no allegiance and will support any party irrespective of caste, creed, religion or sex as long as it suits their own self interest. A la James Bond 007 who had licence to kill, they have "License to Loot" and will do so for time to come, irrespective of the party in power. 

Facebook reflects human hypocrisy

Social media has its way of inadvertently exposing the various facets of human hypocrisy. A very close observer of humans, nature and human nature, I have encountered many such glaring examples too conspicuous to be ignored.

If a person behaves with you in a certain way in private, but keeps aloof from you on social media, he or she is most likely double crossing you - could be very well stabbing you on your back. Because, that person is afraid he may get exposed if he appears friendly with you on a public forum like social media. It puts him in a tight spot, as on your back he screws you on regular basis in front of the same people, who being observant on social media could end up having wrong impression of him. 

As we say in Odia - BAARA BARSA RA TAPASYA SUKHUA PODA RE JIBA, transliterated "12 years of meditation will be wasted on Barbecued Smoked fish", simply put it means an image succinctly cultivated for long can be ruined by fluke of a mistake. Facebook is like a mirror which carries our virtual image, yet retains the virtues of the object.

Sometime the reverse happens. A friend X wastes no time indulging in the character assassination of another friend Y in a closed Whatsapp forum. But come Y's birthday, Mr. X leaves no stones unturned in wishing his so called bette noire writing a heartfelt birthday essay on Facebook, accompanied with odes, paens of praises, balloons and what not !

It is another case of what I call the classic "Ball licking syndrome". Screw the person behind his back, but lick his balls as he turns around and faces you. A good number of such folks were always there in real life, now they have migrated to the virual world of social media keeping their reality intact.

It reminds me of my erudite cousin works at a very senior level of Civil Services in India. In his long stint of 30 plus years of service in his state cadre he has come across different persons and personalities - from all kinds of low lives to politicians at the highest echelon (it's another matter there is hardly any difference between low lives and higher placed politicians). During a tete a tete when I casually mentioned to him that Napoleon once said the English are a nation of Shopkeepers, he just chuckled and confided to me - "We are a nation of all kinds of Hypocrites". Hypocrites galore - the usual disclaimers apply.

Shushma Swaraj is so right

Shushma Swaraj is so right. The fact that she was shamelessly trolled by her own party folks speaks volumes. The stance she took was right, as she was well within her rights to do so. The officer Vikash Mishra, just another BABU (Bureaucrats) who true his fraternity thinks high of himself went too far by going above and beyond his duty of issuing passport to pass judgement about an inter-community marriage. He forgot his duty by giving sermons to a Hindu-Muslim couple on something which is not any of his business.

But this is UP - a communally sensitive, surcharged, caste ridden volatile state with myriad fissures within its social fabric. What happened on the aftermath of the Passport officer's transfer out of Lucknow is purely political posturing, the symptom of a dreaded incurable disease these days fanning itself to an epidemic propertion. 

BJP thinks this belligerence will bring votes to its kitty. Not so fast. Now let's do some math and pragmatic analysis of the caste and communally polarized UP politics. It should be noted that even at

the zenith of Modi wave during 2014 elections 60% from the state didn't vote for BJP and not all of those 60% are Muslims. There is a sizable chunk of Hindus in UP who still don't vote for BJP as the party is considered as an upper caste party, viewed with suspicion by their lower caste counterparts.

How much the vocal and pugnacious Mishra Jees, Tripathy Jees, Pandey Jees may barge into limelight as protagonists of Hindutva, they are not numerous enough to carry BJP over the electoral fence. (It may be noted, a section of Brahmins still vote for the Congress party). So, when the rest 60 - 70% of voters align together BJP finds in tough and not surprisingly ends on the losing side as vindicated by recent byelections in the state.

It is somehow akin to the British who perfected the art of "Divide and Conquer" by taking advantage of various chasm of the contemporary society. A united front of more than 50% of Indian population could have made it difficult for the English to rule. But the Firangis managed to keep the subject divided to their advantage. If BJP can keep opponents at bay by diving them, a la British they can keep ruling for a prolonged period.

Under these circumstances by giving the bellicose Right wingers a free hand, BJP is clearly playing with fire. These firebrand Hanumans with a slight flame on their tail if let scott free can burn down BJP's own Lanka. The silence of most of the party's top brass is not only not golden, it speaks volumes.

It is quite apparent that BJP has been hijacked by the hardliners who instead of helping the party might hurt it on the long run - backfiring on the party big time. Don't be surprised if BJP's biggest shock comes from the electorally crucial state of UP in 2019.

A Time Elsewhere - II

Most of the books on Indian history based on in depth research are written by Westerners. There are few nptable exceptions - the one about late 19th Century Odisha, "A Time Elsewhere" written by Mr. H. P. Das. Let me recapitulate few more excerpts from it in my own words....

The monsoon failed miserably in the middle of the rainy season in Odisha in the year 1864. In late August instead of rain and drizzle, a common sight in Odisha at that time of the year, unusual hot, dry winds wafted in dust to the desk of the British Collector of Puri. Came September, followed by October - still no sign of rain. Barlow, the British Collector got reports of massive failure of rain fed crop, especially paddy in Puri district and reported it to his boss T.E. Ravenshaw in Cuttack.

He also instructed his Superintendent of Police, Ramakhoy Chatterjee (almost all government officials of Odisha were Bengalis) to be prepared for any law and order situation for the approaching crisis of Tsunami  propertion.

But Barlow's raising the red flag in communicating the impending disaster using Telegrams and in person to his bosses got initial lukewarm response. Ravenshaw after whose name the famed College of Cuttack is named after had just arrived from Calcutta. He was a laid back person who didn't want to stay in Odisha for long. So rather than taking effective measures to fight draught he went on a sight seeing trip of Odisha as winter set in - the best time to tour the state when the weather is salubrious.

Ravenshaw, the Commissioner of Cuttack was no intellectual and a poor administrators. But we Indians in general and Odias in particular are known to reward mediocrity. The famous Ravenshaw college of Cuttack should have been named after the Collector Barlow who foresaw the unprecedented draught, took the right steps and did a commendable job in relief and rehabilitation that followed. His work extended well beyond the jurisdiction of his district Puri, his noble work as an able administrator brought benefit to Cuttack and faraway Balasore district.

Barlow was followed by Armstrong (a road in Puri connecting to the sea beach is named after him) as the Collector of Puri. He was a strict guy with short temper. During his tenure the crime in Puri district and the muggery by dacoits on Jagannath SADAK (Road) connecting Puri to Cuttack and beyond was drastically reduced.

He also enured that the annual RATHA JATRA or Car Festival goes smooth and any mischief monger gets punished. A man snatching earings from a woman from western India was nabbed. One Kanungo of Khurda was caught fondling breast of a woman in the melee and was appropriately rewarded by the police. This happended in July 1873, 145 years ago. Apparently there were Odia CHHATARA TOKAs (Girl chasing vagabonds) who took advantage of large gathering to outrage the modesty of women. History will repeat itself as another Ratha Jatra approaches.