Vacation Day V in Albuquerque, NM - 2019

Next stop in Albuquerque was the Rattlesnake Museum. The desert region of American Southwest is a natural habitat of varieties of snakes. For the first time I saw the "Tiger" Rattlesnake - one of the most venomous snakes living on planet earth. A single bite of this deadly creature can bring death to an adult human in few minutes. 

From the comfort of barrier separating us, I was bold enough to make an eye contact with the reptile from only few inches. The snake reciprocated my curiosity by doing a KHATEI (a teasing look of dissapproval) waving his forked tongue towards me, taunting me a la Ronald Reagan challenged the ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev - " Sambeet Dash. Tear Down the Wall".

The venomous Cobra is known to raise its fang before biting - giving its victim precious seconds to react. But the Rattlesnake being triangular headed doesn't have a fang, so it springs forward to bite. The snake rattles its tail before it prays on its victim, forewarning it to get evasive. Nature has its own way of providing advance warning. 

On the final night in Albuquerque we decided to try CURRY LEAF - A local Indian restaurant. They served Buffet for dinner, not so common occurring with Indian eateries in US. We were highly impressed with the food and service. Unlike most Indian restaurant food in America which can make you feel pregnant with gas, bloated enough to go higher than the Balloon we just rode, the food was reasonably spice - at the same time palatable to our taste buds.

We have a saying in Odia, "AME ODIA MANE MAGENA MILILE RALA AAU GARAM PICHU HAPUDI PAKEIBU - "We Odias are great at slurping on hot coal tar or black pitch used to make road surface, as long as it's available for free".

Being a true Odia and succor to freebies, I freely helped myself with mouthfuls of items from the buffet. No wonder the freebies doled out to Odias have done wonders, catapulting the current Chief Minister of Odisha to a record 5th term. Leaving Albuquerque. More later...

Vacation Day IV in Albuquerque NM - 2019

Albuquerque in New Mexico is 5,000 feet above sea level - famous for it's hot air balloon rides. In fact, every October the city comes alive with its balloon festival when hundreds of hot air balloons jostle with each other for space as they go up, thousands of tourists flocking in droves from far and wide to watch a beautiful pageant. A trip to Albuquerque is incomplete without taking a Hot Air Balloon ride.

Most Balloon rides are scheduled early in the morning when the air is cool, calm and supportive. Being located in a desert not much heat and dust in the air close to sunrise - a view of the sunrise from the gliding balloon being bonus. We arrived on the dot to catch the Balloon ride at 5.45 AM when the sun was trying to break through the clouds over the Sangria mountains. 

Why Albuquerque is known as the balloon capital of the world ? Because of its unique geographic location, the Wind from the Sandia mountains blows through the city over the Rio Grande river with an updraft and keep on circling back with reversal in the wind direction. It makes the area perfect for balloon rides. America has made the best use of this geographic advantage into commercial venture to attract tourists and contribute to its economy.

The Captain blew hot air through gas lit cylinders into the belly at center of the massive inflated balloon wrapped in American Flag. The hot air balloon technology was invented by Montgolfier brothers in the late 18th century France, impressing the then King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette with their inaugural flight. Not long after the historic flight the King and Queen duo perished in another historic event - the French revolution. Not everything since stood the test of time. The monarchy is gone, yet the hot air balloon technology has survived the sands of time.

The giant ballon slowly ascended into the sky overlooking the Sangria mountains. Sangria in Spanish means Watermelon. Drenched by morning sun on one side and reflection of blue hued clouds on the other, the mountain was looking like a giant, ripe Watermelon at its prime. We could see the river Rio Grande snaking and slithering it's way through the city. 

The perennial Rio Grande river fed by the mountain snow is the lifeline to the desert Southwest before it flows through Texas into the Gulf of Mexico. Its sandy river bed looked crispy golden as my Bird's eye view savored the spectacle of the river meandering through the red, undulating land down below, surrounded by spotted desert vegetation. 

As the city of Albuquerque was taking shower under morning sunlight, its islands of houses with sandy, brown top interspersed in patches of cactus shrubs and stocky trees, crisscrossed by rivulets of roads carrying slowmoving morning commuters. From high up in the air, the flyovers looked like a maze of unknotted black hair strewn around with lices walking over them. 

It was a whole different feeling standing in open air atmosphere at 5,000 feet height, caressed by the cool, thin air. You are not in a pressurized cabin inside an aircraft, but in the lap of atmosphere. It was one hour of pure, unadulterated experience - surrounding by mother nature at top, nature's oxygen pure, crispy and cool with the sun smiling at me, comforting with its warm blanket. 

How contrasting is the warms eye view of the sky from the ground to the bird's eye view from the top. It makes me understand the meaning of the phrase "Down To Earth" as we came down. You are on top of the world, yet in minutes you are back on the ground. So are the vagaries of life. You can't always stay on top. How much and how high you fly you have to come down. More later...

 

Vacation 2019 Day III - Albuquerque NM

It was a long drive from Dallas to Albuquerque, New Mexico on a sunny, windy day. Though hot, the low humidity and breeze kept the heat index down. We drove through highways bisecting large ranches - with cows in droves seen lazily grazing. A lot of Bullshit was all around, very much similar to the blogs I post. It was deja vu for me. Last time I smelt GOBARA (Cowdung) was when I visited my native village.

 

The speed limit of most part of the highways in Texas is 75 miles, maximum I have seen so far in US. We saw myriads of Windmills made up of gigantic white wings looking like bright stars in the horizon under a glaring Texan Sun. I am a huge fan of clean, green energy from renewable sources. Let me air my view that the windy territories as in North Texas are used to supplement an energy hungry world with little or no side effects.

The green cover gradually gave away to thick, shrubby desert vegetation. The soil turned to sandy red as cactus plants adorned the landscape scattered around the table shaped, flat topped hillocks. As we entered the State of New Mexico the gateway over the Interstate - 40 highway separating the states proudly proclaimed - "New Mexico, the land of enchantment". I just realized that I stepped into my 43rd state in America, just 7 more states to go before I can count on visiting all the 50 of United States.

Not long after entering into New Mexico, we discovered a roadside "Dhillon Da Dhaba". It was interesting to find a Punjabi Dhaba (a popular North India eatery) off an American Highway. There were a bunch of Sikhs wearing multi colored turbans enjoying their meal washed down with glass of LASSI (Indian  Milkshake). What's similarities between Sardars (Sikhs) and Potatoes ? They are found everywhere in the world. 

I greeted the Sikh gentleman at the counter, "SAT SRI AKAL SARDAR JI". The man looked impressed and smiled at us - "Let me bring some freshly baked Naan for you guys", he said. We munched on them, scooping hot TADKA (lentil curry) and Chicken Tikka Masala, overlooking the TV playing SARAB SANJHI GURBANI (Hymns in praise of Sikhs Gurus). One after another hymn  continued, with intermittent announcements of 

WAH GURU KA KHALSA, 

WAH GURU KI FATEH, meaning...

If devotion to Guru lies purity,

It will be rewarded with Victory. 

Long used to eating rubbery, frozen Naans from Grocery stores these fresh ones straight from oven tasted like Manna Dew to our hungry stomachs. As we got closer to Albuquerque, the surrounding red hills started  growing taller, their golden-red hue got brighter looking like gigantic chariots on fire. Yet the weather is awhole lot cooler, with 75 (22 °C) for high and 50 (10°C) for low. Spring is in air in Albuquerque, NM. More later...

Vacation 2019 Day I - Mississippi

It's time for a vacation road trip on the first long weekend of the year. The Memorial Day weekend this Monday, 27th is a holiday here in US. Just one day Holiday, but we call it a long weekend. It is never long, passes too fast.

Go West Man - following the motto in the 19th century pioneers we wanted to go on a long drive "Westward Ho" to discover the Wild Wild West. It's not very pleasant to drive Westward looking at the bright and sparkling early summer sun blinding your eyes. 

We drove through up and down cascade of roads among the scenic undulating landscapes, looking at the vast greenery of agricultural lands, pastures where cows and horses grazed under an afternoon son, barbed fences separating them from the highway. Looking through it grass is greener on the other side of fence now made a whole lot of sense to me. Tall pines, Oaks, Mapples, Sweet Gum trees adored both sides of the road like Canopy.

Soon we passed through Highway 80 which connects Montgomery to Selma in Alabama where Dr. Martin Luther King once led a historic walk of Civil Rights movement. Alabama is a pretty big, wide state - traveling East to West took its sweet time in "Sweet Home Alabama". From Highway 80 we jumped into the Interstate 20 which tooks us right into the state of Mississippi where the Visitor Welcome Center proudly greeted us with the banner - "Welcome to Mississippi, Birthplace of America's Music". The blues music grew up in the Mississippi Delta just upriver from New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz.

We did a night halt at another historic town of Vicksburg on the eastern side of the vast Mississippi, arguably the longest river in the world. It was the site of a key Civil War battle fought between the Union soldiers led by their supreme commander Abraham Lincoln and the Southern Confederacy. The place has a museum where the Civil war artifacts are zealously stored. Americans are good at preserving history, every city big or small has museums showcasing the exhibits commemorating various historical events. More later...

Odisha results- Election 2019

In Odisha Naveen Patnaik won again. The man and his myth continues. The phenomenon of NaPa baffled even the seasoned psephologists who called everything else right. The 4th term Chief Minister just registered a well earned victory by getting a record 5th term - with his party BJD winning 107 seats, just 10 seats short of 117 seats it won 5 years ago. That means, a net loss of 2 seat in Assembly per every year since 2014.

Mathematically speaking, at this rate of loss of 2 seats per year it will take another 15 years for BJD to finally relinquish the power in the state. It will take a lot of patience and perseverance on the behalf of any party to replace him.

If one closely follows the results of both Assembly and Parliamentary Elections in Odisha, the opposition struggled in most of their seats, winning by razor thin margin - where as BJD won bulk of its seats by maintaining comfortable lead. It tells, Naveen Patnaik still holds the sway, his well cultivated and nurtured vote bank still intact.

In marketing jargon they say consumer is King, customer is God. Similarly, Naveen is the King and God for his customers - the people of Odisha. Apart from the ubiquitous concoction of disbursement of freebies through populist measures accompanied by his clean image and lack of viable alternatives, nobody has been able to neither dismantle, nor able to decipher his concocted recipe of success. But it works for him, though if Odisha would have been a country by itself it could have turned into another Venezuela by now - sans oil reserves.

Congress ended up in single digit in Odisha, and won a solitary seat in Parliament. For a party which ruled the majority of the 80s and 90s, it was a huge climb down. RIP Congress in Odisha. Though it still has a base, especially in the tribal belt of the state, the national party is on its path if extinction in the state - a poor shadow of what it once used to be.

The current affairs of my home state of Odisha may aptly be described by these few lines lifted from the Odia song LE NABEENA from 1981. (Naveena here depicted the typical down to earth Odia guy, no relationship to Naveen Patnaik who was no where in the political picture of Odisha at that time).

LE NABEENA TIKE PACHHAKU ANA,
HATHE BAADI DHARI THIA BAPUJI NANA,
BAPUJI BUDHA RA AAKHI RE LUHA,
TA RAMA RAIJE AAJI YAMA RA BHAYA

( O' Nabeena, take a peek behind.
Stick in hand Old man Bapuji is standing,
The old man's eyes are filled with tears,
Yama, the God of death has filled
His Dream Land with fear).

The legendary Biju Patnaik wanted to take Odisha to the next level. His son Naveen Patnaik brought himself to the level of Odias. This Election results yet reinforced that Naveena and Odias are made for each other. Having said that, hoping for the best I hope he takes the advantage of his mandate and a healthy relationship with the center to attract investments to Odisha. 

He can still be the harbinger of the changes in a state richly endowed with natural resources and filled with opportunities by arresting the natural outflow of its locals as labourers and security guards to outside states. It doesn't augur well for the self esteem of the state to perpetually run to Center with begging bowl.

The man has the mandate and a pliable Bureaucracy behind him to bring in these much needed changes to take Odisha to the next level. Though has two decades of his tenure has been a saga of missed opportunities, there is still time for catch up. But at this stage your guess of whether he got the vision and zeal to accomplish the goal is as good as mine. Please make 5th time as the charm.Good luck to you.

Modi won the Elections 2019

While driving to work this morning came wafting in the airwaves on the NPR Morning News - "Prime Minister Modi won a second term in India". Something struck me other than the fact that Modi won. Technically we are a Parliamentary Democracy and the BJP led front NDA came out victorious. Modi is going to be the next Prime Minister by virtue of the leader of the just elected Legislators of NDA which is the largest coalition. It will be a formality.

Modi ran the campaign on purely Presidential style. He was the one man army Blitzkrieged through his opponents who were at best Regional satraps. It was Modi versus the rest. People voted for him rather than BJP or any of its allies. It is like Obama or Bush winning a 2nd term. Modi (Indira and Nehru before him) vindicated that since Independence from the British most of the Elections in India were fought Presidential style.

Unlike Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia, like him or not, Modi is a risk taker. Rahul campaigned like a headless chicken while Priyanka chickened out from taking on Modi in Varanasi. Modi set the agenda, dominated the discussion, the airwaves, the all powerful social media while the Opposition dilly dallied without a coherent strategy.

I always thought USA is a divided nation over bipartisanship, but this Election back home in India makes me think we can give Americans a run for money as far as divisive campaign goes. It has been marred by extensive use of words like BHAKT (ascribed to the fanatic, devotional supporters of Modi. Nothing riles them more than being addressed as a Bhakt) and PAPPU attributed to Rahul Gandhi which means a slow witted nincompoop.

The end results which came hours ago after a grueling 7 week campaign were ecstatic for some, loads of frustration for others. Bottom line, whatever spectrum you are in, the people's mandate needs to be respected. For the supporters of the losing parties - please be a graceful loser. Don't crib about EVM manipulation without providing any proof to back your allegation. For the winning party - don't be an abysmal winner by escalating things or taunting your political  opponents, suggesting burnol for them.

Modi and his man Friday Amit Sah made some risky but brilliant strategies. They used the services of the likes of Sadhvi Pragyan to appease and fire up it's right wing base, then distance from her and pretend to drop her like hot potato when she became too hot to handle. She managed a win for herself and many from her party. The strategy was filled with risk but paid dividends at the end.

For the likes of Mamata Banerjee over pampering of the minorities proved detrimental. She should take a cue from her own state of Bengal - how it took her years to defeat the Left front, by one Election at a time. BJP is exactly doing the same, being upswing in Bengal and making some heavy inroads. So, look out for the party. It could do the same to you, what you did to the CPM led Left Front.

For likes of Sharad Pawar, Laloo, Sonia, Yashwsnt Sinha et all it is the end of their dream as they will most likely be dead or invalid by 2024. The likes of Naidu, Maya, Mamata need to hold on to their Prime Ministeral ambition for now. A week is a long time in politics. Five years is eons.

Modi has a long list of tasks cut out for him. Those are difficult but not mission impossible with the mandate he got. Please be a leveller than a divider. Not a single Muslim and Christian friend of mine like you. You need to be inclusive, not divisive. We have a population of 200 million minorities who live in every town, village, city and state - in every nook and corner of our country. We can't throw them into Indian Ocean, rather learn to cohabit with them. Remember - Hyping of Hindutva and nationalism has an expiration date, unless you follow up with governance.

Also don't forget to tell some of your recalcitrant party members not to get high hallucinating about Ravan's private jet supposedly built in 5485 BC. Please rebuild the lost scientific temper to build our own fighter jets, not to be at the mercy of buying them from Americans, Russians with 101 strings attached. No doubt we had a golden past, but let's not dwell on it - Rather focus on the future.

Last but the least, please ensure some solid Bureaucratic reforms. A person who cleared Civil services in 1985 with History and Anthropology as subjects doesn't automatically qualify to lead Industries, Power Plants and Economic governing bodies. We really appreciate you taking on the Lutyens Mafia and their Babu acolytes head on. I would like to see the end of their stranglehold and the all pervasive DALAALi (middle men) culture of Delhi. Please ensure their extinction by 2024, because who knows, this could be your last chance. Good luck.

Russi Mody the Tata Icon

Exactly 5 years ago, the  day one Modi won a resounding victory on 16th May, the death of another legend with the same last (sur) name was relegated to the backburner of the media coverage. Russy Mody, the TATA icon passed away at the age of 97. 

For a man who supposedly ate an 8 egg omelet every morning he led quite a long life no one can complain. He changed the landscape of TISCO, Jamshedpur and enhanced the reputation of TATAs as a professional yet employee friendly company. 

A maverick guy, many a witty remarks are attributed to him. As MD of Air India he once said "I want to be Azad (independent) but they made me a Ghulam (Slave)" referring to the perpetual Civil Aviation minister of the long Congress rule. 

There are many anecdotes attributed to him, including this one. One day the Tata Icon was talking to his young employees, addressing their questions and concerns. One girl approached him - Sir, my husband is posted in Calcutta and I am posted in Jamshedpur. It's like having one leg in Jamshedpur and the other leg in Calcutta. I need a transfer.

The witty Modi replied - "I envy the folks of Kharagpur". RIP, Russy Modi.

Exit polls of National elections in India - 2019

The floodgate of Exit polls of the long drawn Parliamentary Elections in India will open on the evening of 19th May when the 7 week long ordeal finally comes to end. These exit polls are banned by EC (Election Commission) of India during the duration of the Elections. So, no sooner the Election ends at 5 PM on 19th of this month, than the news outlets will try to outsmart each other,  releasing a plethora of exit polls.

But it hasn't stopped the so called leaked Exit polls from the media houses floating on the social media, akin to the smell of a leaked fart wafting in a crowded place - its source unknown. A la the person who farted enjoys its scent, the channel which conducts the exit poll enjoys its own floating on the media, preferring  to remain incognito to save itself from embarrassment.

These exit polls come in different hues and colors. Here is my Exit poll about the Exit polls before they burst out in couple of days.

Hues - given by different pollsters on TV channels depending on their respective political alliances. The pro BJP ones will give an outright win to the saffron party, the pro Congress ones give a tilt to the Grand Old Party of India led UPA.

Color - folks will give color to the exit polls based upon their own jaundiced view. Now what you see on social media is not who is likely to win, rather who they want to see win. There is already war of words between different factions based on their own Exit polls. 

This is the prelude of not so civi, civil war on social media which will commence when the actual results trickle in. Ironically these squables are happening at a time when the leaders of political parties are busy deal making in anticipation of a clear mandate and a hung parliament. Politics make strange bedfellows, but make strangers fight.

Rather than dwelling over these leaked or non leaked exit poll, I have patience to wait about a week more when the actual results come out. So, this is just the trailer. Tighten your belts and brace for some eventful days ahead. It's going to get nasty out there.

Modi and Mamata - A history of political violence in Bengal

BJP's Priyanka Sharma was arrested in Bengal for sharing a meme of its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the social media. The police arrested her and allegedly harassed her for an apparently innocuous post. They wanted her to write an apology for making caricature of the so called Honorable CM (I feel sick of the liberal use of the term Honorable dime a dozen on a wholesale scale).

Making Criticism and Cartoon of political leaders is a hallmark of democracy, unless you live in Putin's Russia or Kim Jung Un's North Korea. Strangely it is happening in Bengal, the land of BHADRALOK (Gentlemen). The Eastern province of India which prides itself as a state of soft spoken, down to earth folks has also a long history of political intolerance and violence.

It can be traced back to the draconian days of Emergency in the early 1970s when Siddhartha Shankar Ray's high handed approach as the CM lead to the exile of Congress party from power for a long time. But the culture of violence didn't end. It was accentuated by the Communists who replaced the highly unpopular Congressies. The long rule (rather misrule) of the CPM lead Left Front was marked by plethora of perpetual violence.

The Communists mastered the art of scientific rigging of Election. By hook or crook their goons won't allow the folks whom they perceived as less likely to vote in their favor. During my stay in Calcutta at the time of one Election they some how sensed I might fall into that category of less inclined to vote for the Left.

Few days before the polling, one fine evening a portly guy with well oiled dark hair slimely combed backwards and well chiselled butterfly moustache approached me. Showing me his phalanx of tobacco stained teeth cajoled me - DADA, APNAKE VOTE DITE HABENA. CHUTTI ACHHE, BAADI CHOLE JAAN (Bro, you don't have to vote. Please take advantage of the Holidays. Go home). Being an outsider and not too brave of a person, I was least interested to defy the local guy who tracked me down as an outsider less likely to vote for the Left Front. So, I thought it prudent to follow his advice cum instructions not to vote in Calcutta and enjoy the day off in Odisha.

Though CMs of CPM, their top politburo members were gentlemen and intellectuals, the Left front goons caused widespread violence, killing or maiming hundreds of people at will. It took decades of street fight by the mercurial Mamata Banerjee to finally drive the Commies out of power in Bengal.

Yet the culture of violence never stopped. The Commie goons switched en mass to TMC led by Mamata Didi (elder sister) who overtly nurtured them for political purposes. Rowdism and her over the top pampering to minorities gave an opening to the Hindu Nationalist party BJP who sensed the public discontent to be recently seen as rising.

Insecure and intolerant of opposition, Mamata a street fighter of reputation has taken the Rising Bull BJP by horn. This has added heat to the already hotly contested election held at the height of hot weather in India. 

Not that BJP doesn't have goons of their own, but they are new and nascent in a state where their adversaries TMC counterparts are a well entrenched formidable force. On top of it, they have the backing of the state administration. The violence has reached its pinnacle as Election Commission has suspended campaigning for the rest of last phase of the election in the state. 

There goes an African proverb - When two Elephants make love or war, it's the grass which suffers. Can't imagine them making love, but Modi and Mamata both street fighters are now at war with Bengal suffering. May sanity prevails and rest of the Election be held in a free and fair manner. But knowing the political history of the state, it's a long shot pipe dream.

The Aftermath of Fani - Tomorrow is another day

GONE WITH THE WIND - Is what comes to my mind after looking at the destruction caused by Cyclone Fani. Ironically the movie ends with Vivien Leigh's last line - After All Tomorrow is another day.

It proved so prophetic in Odisha the day after the Cyclone Fani hit portions of its coast as a disastrous Category 4 storm the likes of which many hadn't seen in their lifetime. Government of Odisha did manage to do a decent job in evacuating a million plus people. It celebrated this event a tard early with some self patting using a pliant media and savant lackeys. 

As the State Government took pride in articles published in The New York Times and praiseworthy report on United Nations just for its evacuation efforts, the stark ground reality was soon to hit them with the same ferocity as the catastrophic storm.

Exactly at that time the government's efforts were found to be tardy and left a lot to desire. The reaction time is the most essential element in any relief and rescue operation. While the government basked in a vainglorious pride for 48 hours, the reality struck them as news started filtering in from not only from the capital Bhubaneswar, also the remote areas and the famous temple town of Puri with stories of widespread damages of unimaginable proportion. 

As lull after the storm set in, the evacuated folks came back to their ruined homes only to find their abodes completely wiped off, trees uprooted and nearly all Coconut trees gone or standing short with their heads chopped off. Their source of livelihood, livestocks of cows, goats, chickens - almost all gone. Our ancestral home in a village near Puri bore the brunt of storm's ferocity. It didn't escape from nature's fury, the front and back portion of the house being completely decimated.

The government by its most parts was found napping, running like a headless chicken - unable to comprehend and still grappling with the gargantuan amount of destruction. It's response was pathetically slow footed, not to mention being inept with accompanied reports of corruption (there has been stories of bribes sought to prioritize restoration of services). Death toll as of now is slowly inching towards 50, as news from the remote areas started to trickle in.

The NGOs and private parties have been doing a commendable job. Full marks to them and the Electricians who are working under a scorching May sun overhead showering 40° Centigrade (104 Fahrenheit) with added humidity making it a dangerous heat index of 115. There has been confirmed reports of Drinking water and food supplies been erratic, leading to chaos and forcing people to resort to attacking and stealing from the relief vans. 

We have a saying in Sanskrit that BUBHUKHITAM KIM NAKAROTI PAPAM (Why a hungry mouth will not commit a crime). In the 1970s an Airliner carrying the Uruguay Rugby team crash landed on the Andes mountains. Without food for many days some players turned into cannibals, did not think twice before eating the flesh of their deceased mates.

In 18th century India the Marathas were getting ready to fight the British Army. But they delayed their attack due to a silly reason i.e. the chief astrologer of the Maratha King advised him to wait for a few more days for the auspicious moment to arrive before launching the assault. The British who didn't consult any astrologer surrounded the Fort of their adversary. The Marathas running short of food had to resort to killing their war horses and eating them. So we can't blame the poor people for attacking and stealing the Relief.

Too much focus on the post Fani destructions by the media - social or otherwise, on Bhubaneswar. The rest impacted areas come a distant second. This didn't come as a surprise. Many MLAs from the rest of Odisha who arrive in the Capital city invariably settle down there. They start neglecting their own constituents, rarely visiting them during their time of tragedies. Bhubaneswar is New York for them. They have no qualms when theiir Big Apple, rather the Apple of their eye needs get an overwhelmingly preferential treatment compared to the lesser humans in remote places.

The day Fani decided to arrive was an auspicious day for marriages. Brahmin marriages are held during the day time in Odisha. As wind speed reached its peak post noon, the bride at a relative's wedding came out of his car. The astounded onlookers saw the powerful gusts from Fani disrobed him as his DHOTI (Loincloth wrapped around waist) came off and flew away. The poor guy in a reflex action bended to wrap around his upper section of clothings to cover himself up to save from embarrassment as others forced him back into his car frantically looking around for Dhoti. The marriage ceremony proceeded without any fanfare with minimal rituals.

For many, Cyclone Fani has set their priorities in correct order. The lack of basic amenites and loss of life & property has put them back to their basics, pushing politics at the height of the national Election Campaign to the back burner. The incumbent party must be relieved that the Cyclone came after the election process was completed in the state. Otherwise, the goodwill of the people for the current government would have swept with Fani - the ruling party being wiped off from the map of coastal Odisha.

We just don't know what's in store for tomorrow. Though some semblance of nmstability has returned to the state Capital Bhubaneswar, lot yet needs to be done in Puri and rest of the impacted areas which may not see electricity restored in weeks, may take months to achieve normalcy. A la the last line of the famous movie "Gone With the Wind" - After All Tomorrow is another day.

Allahabad - The legendary Parliamentary Constituency

As the long, arduous and staggered Elections in India winds down, one of the Constituencies going to polls is Allahabad. Located in East - Central UP, it is an integral part of the Hindi heartland, also known as Cowbelt - located at the sacred Sangam (confluence) of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. India's national language Hindi which is spoken extensively in North and parts of Central India, is known to be spoken in its purest form in and around Allahabad - the cradle of SUDDH (purest form of) Hindi.

The city is associated with many legendary political and nationalist figures - from freedom fighter Chandra Sekhar Azad who shot himself in the City's Alfred Park rather than surrender to the British, to the Prime Ministers of India Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and V P Singh. It is said the road through India's Prime Minister's office runs through UP and Allahabad has always plays a prominent role in determining it.

The constituency was well nurtured by the mercurial UP politician H. N. Bahuguna who had the courage to defy Indira Gandhi while he was the Chief minister of the state. During Emergency Indira wanted Bahuguna to facilitate her mercurial son Sanjay's road show in the state. The wily but a self respecting politician he was, Bahuguna refused to be subservient to the favorite son of Indira and lost his CM's chair.

Bahuguna was replaced as CM by the ever obsequious N D Tiwari who had no shame or qualms about taking Sanjay Gandhi around the state, standing in a bending posture with nodded head and clasped hands behind the Scion of the Gandhi family. Tiwari represented the old school of Congress Sycophancy, whose secret source of survival was doing GHULAMI (slavery) picture perfect to the Nehru - Gandhi clan. The following Hindi couplet was ascribed to him.

"INDIRA KI HOON MAIN PUJARI,
SANJAY KI HOON MAIN ABHARI,
NA MEIN NAR, NAA MEIN NAARI
MAIN HOON N D TIWARI".
Roughly translated into English.
"Worshiper of Indira I am
Indebted to Sanjay I am,
Neither male nor female is my fame
N D Tiwari is my name".

In the year 1984 barely couple of months after Indira Gandhi's assassination India went to polls. Allahabad was in news again - being the constituency where a  high profile fight was taking place between the opposition candidate Bahuguna who represented the establishment and the Superstar Bollywood actor Amitabh, a native from the Sangam city.

Bahuguna who had a strong electoral base in this historic constituency was confident of his victory. He led trade unions in the area and cultivated grassroot connections, so took his victory for granted over his rival whom he termed as a BHAAND (Actor) Mr. Natwarlal parachuted from Bombay with little connection to the city of his origin. 

But things started turning around in favor of the charismatic actor - partly due the star's celebrity attraction, and not to mention a strong sympathy wave for Congress on the aftermath of Indira's tragic death on the hands of her own bodyguards.

Barely a week before the D-day a huge procession of Amitabh Bachchan  was passing in front of Bahuguna's house. It was likes of which Allahabad had never seen before. The old man ordered to shut down the gates of his house, his doors and windows - strictly instructing his family members not to go outside. 

As the procession reached his home, two young girls from his house slipped out to get a DEKKO (Look) at their favorite Superstar in person who was then One Man Bollywood industry. A forlorn Bahuguna who noticed this threw a tantrum by kicking his Sofa - if I can't control my own folks, I am going to lose this. 

The wily politican foresaw it coming. Amitabh comfortably defeated the grand old man of UP politics. It was not in Bahuguna's destiny to fight the next Elections as he died couple of years later.

It was also not in the destiny of the star to complete his term either. As the MP of Allahabad his own stars didn't support him. His falling electoral fortunes was accentuated by the Bofors Scandal due to his closeness to Rajeev Gandhi. It forced him to resign midway in the year 1987. 

Amitabh was replaced by V P Singh whose star was on the rise for as he challenged Rajiv Gandhi, earning him the image of a messiah. V P Singh went on to become the Prime Minister of India - the 3rd person associated with the city to occupy the highest office of the land.

Lot of water has flown since through the Prayag Sangam. Though Allahabad hasn't seen any star studded contest since 1980s, it still is a very important constituency right in the middle of the cowbelt which wraps around and stitches together the vast electoral lands of the Gangetic plains - which is going to determine the next government of India.