Unnecessary hype for Iran war

Trump and the megalomaniacs in his administration (like John Bolton, the National Security Adviser) are itching for an unnecessary and avoidable war with Iran. The Middle east nation doesn't present a clear and present danger to America. The belligerence on part of United states has .less to do with itself, rather because Israel and the Sunni Saudis want to teach the heretic Shiite Iran a lesson.

The Republican administration headed by neocons are perennial war mongers. Hand in glove with the Arms Industry, the Republicans are always eager to test their weapons by forging some war or other across the globe. They're champions at creating unnecessary wars under different pretext, leading to one after another fiasco. With $19 trillion debt and an economy slowdown, a precursor  to recession breathing down its neck, war is the last thing America needs at this point.

It's time for Trump and its administration to stop hyping on attacking Iran. Apart from raising the global gas price with loss of huge number of humans and resources, such a war is hardly going to attain any tangible gains. There is no smoke of weapon of mass destruction (WMD). Please stop this war hysteria. Based upon recent experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other misadventures one need not be smart to see what's in store next. Better focus on more pressing domestic issues within the borders of the United States than mull over a needless war in Middle East.

The future of cricket lies in Indian Subcontinent

We can see that slowly but steadily Cricket is becoming an Indian subcontinent Sports. Undivided India was the first team from the subcontinent to join the cricket fraternity when it was still a British colony, until Pakistan joined soon after the nation was partitioned out of India in the year 1947.

It took several  years but in the year 1982 Sri Lanka got the test playing nation status. After a decade and half, it won the Cricket World Cup in 1996 carving its niche and announcing its arrival on the scene. Soon Bangladesh joined the coveted club and now is a potent force to reckon with. Latest to join the  bandwagon is Afghanistan which is getting better match by match, potent enough to defeat and giving scary moments to established teams. Now we have 5 out of 9 countries from the Indian Subcontinent present and represented in the ungoing World Cup in India.

My prediction - these 5 countries will dominate the Subcontinent for years to come. It won't be an over exaggeration and no need for one to be a clairvoyant to predict that the future of cricket lies in Indian Subcontinent where close to 2 billion people live - with cricket being the no 1 to 10 in the scale popularity in these countries. Rest of the games come way behind. 

Hockey once dominated by India and Pakistan is in a struggling proposition in those countries. In India it is being played in mid sized cities craving for attention than any genuine interest in the Sports. In Pakistan a country which won a bronze medal in Olympics Hockey as late as year 2004, the sports is as good as dead.

Now back to cricket - what's the comparative status of other test playing nations ? Zimbabwe is currently in its deathbed as their megalomaniac President Mugabe is busy hammering down the final nails on its cricket coffin. Afghanistan beat them to qualify for this edition of World Cup. The decline of the Windies continues irrespective of some odd promising results - like flickers seen in a lamp's flame before it extinguishes. 

South Africa and Australia are not as potent a force as they once use to be. England and New Zealand more or less remain the same, hardly any noteworthy change in their status quo. We can very well conclude that the future of cricket lies in the Indian Subcontinent - the biggest legacy left by the British apart from the English language.

Doctors strike in Bengal

Last January my MAUSA (husband of  mom's sister) was declared dead by doctors of a major private hospital in Bhopal in India. He was then transferred to the morgue. Before he was about to be pushed into the cold storage drawer, the attendants carrying him saw some involuntary movements of his eyelids, legs and arms. They were terrified enough to run away screaming BHOOT BHOOT (Ghost, Ghost). One of them peed on spot, with wet stream rushing down his Khaki pants, as seen by those who rushed to the morgue on hearing the commotion. 

Six months down the road it is middle of June now and Mausa who was declared dead in January is still alive. If this can happen to a person whose son is a top ranking I*S official of Madhya Pradesh cadre, imagine the plight of commoners like you and me. The incident was enough for my Cousin to brand the highly paid doctors who declared his living father dead as Quacks rather than Doctors - more of a curse and shame to their Hippocratic oath.

That doesn't mean that all doctors in India are quacks. There are excellent doctors who are doing a commendable job, often in adverse and demanding circumstances. Yet this is not the only horror story of utter incompetence and irresponsibly about doctors back home. Medical study is not exact science. Mistakes are made. Though to err is human, forgive is can't be Divine in matters of health, life and death as the victims and their near and dear ones vent their frustrations over the doctors. It takes a few bad Apples to hurt the image of the greater majority. You add a spoon of shit to a barrel of wine, no one will imbibe that wine.

With this backdrop comes the Doctors strike in West Bengal. The medicos are protesting as some of them were beaten by public for alleged negligence of duty. But, however bad a doctor may be one has no rights to take law into own hand in a Civil society. They might be wrong, but they were wronged when they were beaten.

All this is happening in a state which prides as the land of BHADRALOKs (gentlemen) where ironically political violence and public taking laws into their own hands is as old as the history of the state being carved out from the greater Bengal post independence. The doctors do have rights to peaceful protest, but in a state where politics and violence goes along with protests, it is rarely peaceful.

Now that the concocted miasma of politics and protest is slowly sliding into a messy territory, no one knows how this is going to end - especially Mamata Didi, the person at the helm of affairs is blaming everything from the Docs to BJP, but not herself. There goes an African proverb - When two Elephants make love or war, it's the grass which suffers. As the people of Bengal suffer - hope the crisis which started with violence ends in a peaceful manner.

India qualifies for Tokyo Olympics winning FIH Cup at Bhubaneswar

In the fever of World Cup cricket many might have missed a Hockey Tournament just held in Bhubaneswar, India. Congratulation Team India on winning the 8 team FIH Cup Hockey and more importantly qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

This event was held at a time in Odisha when pre monsoon ANASARA GULUGULI (muggy days) with its heat and humidity at its peak makes it almost Impossible to feel comfortable in an non climate controlled sporting arena. No wonder it was so bad that  the organising committee was forced to introduce extra breaks between the quarters and adding more minutes to the regular intervals for the 7th-8th position playoff game. One game was advanced to early morning time of 8.15 AM before it becomes dangerously dehydrating of the players.

USA, one of the 8 teams playing in the tournament made it to the Semifinals,  losing narrowly to South Africa 2-1. I was pleasantly surprised that US could even make it to the Semis - even if they made into the last four, I was expecting them to lose by half a dozen goals. Field Hockey as they call it here (the default Hockey is the one played on ice) is as rare as a scantily clad girl seen on a street of Saudi Arabia. In nearly a quarter of century in America, I have never seen someone wielding a Hockey  stick, let alone playing Hockey other than on the surface of ice, nor any hockey stick or ball in any store selling Sporting goods.

Heat and humidity aside, the tournament was held without any issue and again puts Bhubaneswar at the center of global Hockey map. Hope this trend continues and more and more sporting events are held in my hometown back home.

Controversy Regarding bidding of live Telecast Rights of Ratha Jatra

The news from back home is that the live telecast rights of the world famous RATHA JATRA (Car Festival) in Puri is going to be auctioned. That means from the bids made by multiple TV Channels, the highest bidder is going to get the live telecast rights.

Not sure if this is the right thing to do. The word JAGANNATH is coined as the conjoint (SANDHI) of the two words JAGAT (Universe) + NATH (Lord), means He is The Lord of the Universe. Everyone has the right to see Him - not based on any TV Rights, but based on his or her own choice. His sighting shouldn't be restricted on a particularly selected Channel. Lord Jagannath, I believe is above and beyond commercialization.

Everybody doesn't have access to every channel, hence many who don't have access to the particular channel which wins the TV right may miss the occasion. Moreover, this is not a Sporting event or an entertainment Jamboree which a Channel having exclusive TV rights can telecast them. This is a religous occasion held religiously on alluvial basis for centuries with plenty of emotion, devotion and history tied to it. Now it is up for sale. Other than warming up the pockets of authorities it will hardly serve any useful purpose.

Now what ? An IPL style Auction of the cooking rights of MAHAPRASAD (The Great Offering) inside the temple ? Auction of NABA KALEBARA and other religious ceremonies associated with him ? Lord Jagannath seems to be on  sale to the highest bidder. That day is not far off when we are going to see - "Lord Jagannath on Sale at 40% off" !

Back home - Vacation 2019

On our drive back home from Oklahoma, we made a stop inside Arkansas at a Taco Bell (A Mexican Fast Food Chain) for lunch. It turned out, my experience could to be a Taco Hell of an experience for many, especially for the staunch Hindus.

No sooner I took a bite of my order of Chicken Taco, than I could taste and smell something different. It had brownish beef inside. The manager profusely apologized and promptly replaced the mistaken order with my original order of Chicken Tacos. An apparent a case of miscommunication, lost in translation and accent, as in remote places in America those not familiar with Indian accent can have hard time understanding them. 

The default meat in America is Beef, unless otherwise specically mentioned in the order. A good example is the Cheeseburger. Though sounds vegetarian, the burger is melted Cheese covered default meat is beef. Seems for me it's time to take a GANGA JAL (water from River Ganga which washes off the sins committed) shower and shoulder a new PAITA (sacred thread worn across shoulder by Brahmins). 

A la Narsena Naidoo in JATIRA DHAKKA (The jolt from Caste) from our middle school Odia Literature textbook, I lost my caste. Before being ostracized, I need to follow the purification mentioned prescribed in that epic short story - JA PURI JA. GOBAR PANI PEE, TEBE JAI JATI PHERI PAIBU - Go to Puri (sacred temple city of Hindus). Drink Cow dung laced water, then only you can get your caste back.

Next day was Monday, a vegetarian day for me. I stopped by a BURGER KING and grabbed a Veggie Burger. Ordering vegetarian food in Fast food chains in America is akin to eating Potato from Goat meat curry and pretending to be a vegetarian (in strict Indian sense). My veggie burger could very well been grilled next to a beef or a chicken patty, on the same pan, using the same spatula. Yey one has to be prudent to be Roman in Rome - it's virtually impossible to be a strictly vegetarian when you are outside, unless you just stick to fruits and salads (salad dressings can contain egg).
There's a phrase in Odia often used in my village - GHARA MUHA BALADA, which means "Homebound Bullock". The oxen dragging the Bullock cart rush at great speed on their return journey exited at the prospect of getting back home, in anticipation of their long, tiring ordeal getting over soon. We felt the same way. 

One other thing I noticed in my 3,000 miles long journey, though foundation of American infrastructure is pretty strong, it's crumbling and needs to be fixed ASAP (As soon as possible). From no. 1 in the world it has come down to no. 26 in infrastructure - per NPR Radio. 

In this context, President Trump's Infrastructure bill of $2 trillion with the bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans is a welcome step. But that's the good news. Bad news is, they're still bickering over how to pay for it. Republicans want substantial private funding whereas Democrats want the bill to be footed by the government. Hope they unite togother for the sake of United States of America. 

Vacation Day VI in Colorado - 2019

It's time to bid Adieu to Albuquerque, New Mexico and move on to our next stop - Colorado. We travelled north, skirted the city of Santa Fe, travelling further Eastward. The mountain road was topsy turvy, with a gradual ascent all the way towards higher elevation as we entered inside the state of Colorado. 

The dusty,  desert landscape slowly turned into bluish green as the snow capped mountain far away looked like a mass congregation of the white cap wearing Congress disciples of Mahatma Gandhi or a massive Marathi Siv Sena rally in Nasik wearing traditional white caps. The local population looked as white as the snow sparkling above the Sangre De Cristo mountains embracing the town of Alamosa. The long range of sinusoidal peaks looked like wearing a string of pearls made from ornamental snow.

No sooner we entered the outskirts of the city of Alamosa, Colorado than we saw soft snow scattered on ground. It was a cool cold 41 degrees at 3 PM local time. So far during our travel we used AC in our Potel room (so many motels in US are owned by Patel that we can call them Potels). In Colorado we used heating. What a contrast to Georgia which is now sizzling in 90 plus heat. 

One other thing I noticed - the price of regular unleaded gasoline topped $3 per gallon, 50 cents more than Georgia. Today I was a first timer many ways. For the first time I stepped into the State of Colorado - the 44th state I visited in the United States. It was also the first time I stepped on snow on the ground as we are stepping into the month of June. Never experienced snow so late in season.

We visited a Gator Park housing variety of Alligators and its cousin Crocodile. Never thought I will see Alligators in Colorado. They state has varieties of 

of flora and fauna - both native and captive. The icing on the cake was our trip to the Sand Dunes National park. Right on the bottom of snow capped mountain lies miles of mounds of golden, tiny sands carved out of rocks,  drifted by wind over thousands of years forming crescent shaped giant dunes, one layer cascaded over the other.

There were varieties of Cacti and thorny desert shrubs surrounding the narrow trail leading to the dunes, separated by a gurgling fast flowing, but ankle deep stream. Our feet could feel the cold pinch of the snow melted water as we waded though to reach the sand dunes.

We could literally see snow melting from the surrounding mountain top, trickling down and forming mini streams of natural freshwater eventually feeding into the Rio Grande river - the lifeline of the desert southwest.

Puri PANDAs (priests of Jagannath Temple, Puri) would have made full utilization of such pristine sand dunes. The pot bellied Panda is known to take pride in relieving his bowels on sand. SUJI MARKA BALI UPARE KHAJA MARKA JHADA (Delivering Cigar shaped Shit on Flour fine Sands) is the ultimate fantasy of a PANDA from Puri, who after taking a dump is rumored to take a second look at his produce - the bigger the quantity, the greater is his satisfaction. 

We attended an half an hour talk given by an eminent Geologist from  Smithsonian Institute at the Sand Dunes National Park Visitor's Center. It was a learning experience has he presented many trivias. It was interesting to know that Mars in addition to earth is known to possess giant sand dunes. It was quite flattering when he liked my question about atmospheric composition of Mars - A cool 95% of which consists of Carbon Dioxide gas. In the entire Solar system, Titan, the moon of Saturn is the only object apart from earth which contains a substantial amount of Nitrogen gas.

After a long day, it was going to be a long drive of 1500 miles back to Georgia. We planned on doing it @500 miles a day, taking multiple halts as we jump from one state to another before reaching our destination. Somewhere in North-Eastern Texas prior to entering Oklahoma on state Highway 520 East I was stopped by a State Trooper. 

As I pulled over seeing the flashing lights behind me, the Cop greeted me through my passenger side window in a heavy Texan accent - "Good Afternoon Sir, I am sorry but you were speeding in a 45 miles per hour zone". I replied - "My apology. We are coming from Colorado. As the speed limit suddenly changed from 75 to 65, then to 55 and 45, all within a distance of 1 mile, I might be speeding a little bit, being unfamiliar to the area". "I see, you are long way from home" - the Cop said looking at my Georgia Driver's license. He let me go with a warning, without a fine.

My encounter with snakes in this trip didn't end. I saw a yellow snake passing through the road right in front of me. I swerved a bit to let it go. This happened on a State Highway, barely half an hour after I was stopped by the Cop. This trip has been eventful for me. It marks the end of my travelogue until the next one. Till then...