Ankush movie - A reminder of the 1980s

Love is strongest when it's unreasonsble. But it can reasonably be said that love always comes with a reality check. This is best depicted in a scene from the epic movie ANKUSH (Barb) I was watching today. This movie is from the year 1986, catapulted the actor Nana Patekar to fame. In the movie, a boy unemployed in spite of having a Civil Engineering degree, solicits love from a girl in his neighborhood by approaching her with a Rose. 

She rudely rebuffs him, throwing away the flower sideways, "HUN, MAHINA 100 RUPIA KAMAA NAHI SAKTA, CHALA AYA PYAAR KARNE KE LIYE" - "Huh, Can't even earn Rs.100 (Roughly $10 those days) a month, now comes to express his love". Few days away from my Engineering College admission, this scene was profound enough for me not to opt for Civil Branch of Engineering. 

One of the big hits of our teenage days, the movie captures the ethos and pathos of the youth of the time. The milieu was morbid, unemployment was rampant with not much hope and scope for the youth to dream aloud. Bollywood was a vent for the frustration and disillusion of the youth of the day.

Though a serious movie with depiction of few ghastly murders, the movie had its comic moments too. A feminine boy went around the neighborhood swinging his hips while Nana Patekar and friends passed comments to a girl (a term used for teasing girls back home). The boy protests - LAKDIYON KO CHHENE SE TUMHE SHARAM NAHIN AATI ? MEIN SAARE LADKIYON KO APNI MAA SAMAJH TA HOON (Don't you feel ashamed to teasing girls. I consider all girls as my mom).

To this Nana delivers his epic Punchline, "TERA NIYAT TO THIK HAI, LEKIN TERA BAAP KA KYA HOGA - You're fine, but what will happen to your dad". Ankush was a few good movies at a time when Amitabh Bachchan was the one man of an industry which struggled against mediocrity. Ankush was a breather, a breath of fresh air.

Rahul Bose and Banana

Indian actor Rahul Bose ordered couple of Bananas to his room in JW Marriott in Chandigarh, India. He was billed Rs.440 ($6) - almost $3 a piece. The actor went Bananas and twisted it.

No question it is highly priced. But I am not surprised. I have seen Samosas priced at Rs.100 ($1 and 25 cents) inside flights inside India. The same would cost less than 10% of that price in decent  hotels in Bhubaneswar, Rs.5 a piece across the street from our house in the Old Town neighborhood. It costs much more in bigger cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. This is called Capitalism. So, it is not something out of the ordinary in a 5 star hotel. 

The price of an item is not determined by social media economists, rather by supply to demand ratio, factoring in the purchasing power of the consumer. I know middle class folks like me in Odisha who won't mind paying an hefty amount for a Banana depending on place, time and circumstances (STHANA, KALA, PATRA). 

Recently I ate a regular MEETHA PAAN (Sweet Betel) for $2 in Atlanta. The same would cost almost the same in Bhubaneswar. So, what's the fuss about !!! It's another  thing to protest against price gouging - Yet actor Rahul Bose earns enough to pay that amount. He was free to cancel his room service order and step out to get the fruit at much cheaper rate if he was too price conscious. It will take a while for us to get over the hangover of socialism. 

In the context, I am reminded of this Odia song from eminent singer Akshay Mohanty from late 1970s.

HASA TA LAKHE TANKA
CHALI TA ANKA BANKA;

RAGILA NAALI LANKA

RUSILA OOI HUNKA

TA GHARA KU BATA KHARCHA,

ADHEI TANKA.

(Her smile is worthy of Rupees One lakh
Her manner of walk is zig zag;
Her anger is like red chilli
She being upset is akin to  termite hill;
The traveling expense to her home
Is 2 and 1/2 rupees).

These days 2 and half rupees will not take one beyond 10 feet in the cheapest bargain one can get for a rickshaw. A guy has to be exceptionally lucky to find such a girl close by in an age when couple of Bananas cost more than 400 Tanka.

Visit to Zoo Atlanta

Today's Hotlanta weather was an aberration. (Atlanta is also known as Hotlanta for its long hot and humid summer, very typical of Southeastern United States). While entire North and Central US is now sizzling under record heat, with the temperature topping 100°F (38°C) with heat index of 110 (43°C), Atlanta was surprisingly pleasant today, with temperature hovering in Upper 80s (30°C) with the afternoon interspersed with on and off showers, with dark clouds and forked lightening ornamenting the horizon.

July and August being the hottest months in America, such heat waves are  neither unusual nor unheard of at this time of year, though this is nothing in terms of heat and humidity we see back home in India and particularly in Odisha during its summer months. In contrast except the desert Southwest, the summer in USA is milder and the best time for outdoor activities.

Living close to Atlanta for close to two decades we never found time to visit the Atlanta Zoo. There is a saying in Odia - DIPA TALA ANDHARA (the bottom of lamp is always dark). We kept the Atlanta Zoo in dark from our to - visit list. For us it was so near, yet so far. This time we decided to leave no stone unturned and shed some light on Zoo Atlanta by paying it the long due visit. 

The zoo is not huge, does not possess a whole lot of animals to write about. We have seen bigger zoos in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Portland Oregon. But the zoo is professionally maintained, animals well taken care of - with plenty of attractions and activities for the kids. 

The best part - we could see Animals from very close, sometimes too close for comfort. A giant Panda was enjoying its post lunch siesta. A mountain sized Gorilla was scratching his private parts in one hand and munching lettuce using the other in full public view. Blame sultry weather for that. 

Not long ago, I saw a passenger inside the Bhubaneswar Airport surreptitiously scratching his private part in public. When our eyes met he looked flustered, lifted his pants a bit, faked trying to adjust his belt. I didn't pry on him any further, letting him enjoy the small pleasures of life on a muggy morning. One fine morning early June morning of 2017 at a local HAAT (Flea market) in Old town of Bhubaneswar a guy suddenly walks in wearing a LUNGI (loincloth wrapped around waist), vigorously scratching his private parts in public and asked a lady vendor "ALO BAIGANA KETE NEKHA meaning "Hey, how much is the Brinjal (Eggplant ). So why blame the poor simian. A la every human, every Gorilla has his day - unlike humans he doesn't have the guile of hypocrisy.

Orangutans were no less funny. I saw a giant red faced one sitting grumpy faced under a tree like our President Trump. He reminded me of grand old men sitting on elevated, high porch in front of houses in our village exhibiting a forlorn look. A baby Orangutan was hanging around, literally on a canopy of ropes crisscrossing over his head. 

Late afternoon there were thunderclaps in the distance, but what caught our attention were claps emanating from a melee in front of a nearby enclosure. The scene was a peacock dancing with its plumage spread wide with the peahen watching closely. In the Animal kingdom, male of the species are more handsome than the females. Look at the Male Lions and Deers, apart from peafowls.

While walking back to the parking lot after visiting yet another zoo, I came to the conclusion that no country on earth has such a huge variety of wildlife as India. Probably with a few exception like Giraffe and Zebra, almost all tropical species are part of India's fauna. India is the only country which has both Tigers and Lions (Africa though rich in wildlife doesn't have Tigers). The King Cobra, a native of India is the World's largest poisonous snake. The amount of venom released by it in a single bite is gargantuan - potent enough to kill a full grown Bull Elephant and twenty adult humans.

Willam Dalrymple's well researched book "LAST MUGHAL" mentions about one of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zaffer's sons was eaten by crocodile in river Yamuna in the year 1850. It is interesting to know that Crocs roamed as far as Delhi. Around the same time, Lions now restricted to Gir forest of Gujarat and the now extinct Asiatic Cheetah were roaming in large numbers in North and Central India.

The rate we are killing many of these exotic animals, unless some drastic measures are implemented we might see the extinction of some species during our lifetime, only restricted to the zoos. Today's trip to Zoo Atlanta though entertaining, was a stark reminder to this hard truth.

Trump no friend of India or Anyone

President Trump is taking credit for Hafeez Saeed’s latest arrest, tweeting that it was the result of a “ten year search” and that “great pressure has been exerted over the last two years to find him.

This is bullshit. Trump is well aware of this tactical groundwork done by the Pakis in preparation for the upcoming meeting between him and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan. He is placating Pakistan as America needs its help as part of its plans to withdraw from Afghanistan by portraying some kind of stability there.

His action is in contrast to reports on Indian media about growing Indo-US relations and marginalization of Pakistan by the superpower. This is far from the truth, rather Washington is mollycoddling India's western neighbor - so much so that India was not invited to the coveted group of US, Russia, China and Pakistan, obviously due to the latter's insistence on not allowing India play any role in Afghanistan considered as Pakistan's backyard.

I am baffled by the vocal support Trump elicits among my fellow Indians. The so called Bonhomie between Modi and Trump (reportedly on Indian media, US media is cool to it) has remained on paper and photo ups, hardly transpiring on the ground. Neither Indo-US relation has taken any great stride under Trump administration, nor the US President has shown any great love or care about India beyond standard diplomatic rhetorics. So why so much one sided love for Trump, akin to Trump's love for Putin !!!

Trump loses no opportunity to bash India when it comes to outsourcing of IT jobs and restricting H1B Visa. All politics are local. With his reelection campaign commemcing Trump is leaving no stones unturned in blaming other nations including India for taking away jobs from the Americans. This rhetoric is expected to continue till November 2020. With China and Mexico having created dependency on US due to business and geographic utility, India is like GARIBA MAIPI SABURI SHAALI (The poor woman is every one's sister-in-law, simply meaning India is taken for granted by the United States).

Outsourcing is becoming deeply sensitive in the deep heartland of America and is going to be an issue in the 2020 Presidential Elections. It makes sense. Imagine our parents Jobs in Rourkela and Bhubaneswar being outsourced to Uganda or Turkmenistan. Units of Bhubaneswar and Sectors in Rourkela would have witnessed riots - not to forget hardly any dispensation to the ruling party.

Taking all the above into consideration I do not see any dramatic shift in forward gear of Indo - US relations, at least till end of the year 2020. If you look at the bigger picture, Americans are the real practitioners of realpolitik.

They give big speeches on Democracy, but have no qualms about baking bread with all tin pot dictators, from Marcos to Musharraf. Foreign policy is an extension of national interest where self interest, not ideology rules the roost. America will continue its self interest oriented foreign policy for unforeseenable future - the so called Modi, Trump chemistry not withstanding.

The hypocrisy of the Congress party

Yesterday I saw a picture of an apparently forlorn Sonia Gandhi, a nonchalant Rahul standing next to her surrounded by CHAMCHAs (obsequious sidekicks) at a save democracy rally organised by the Congress party. It was protesting against BJP's indulgence in horse trading in Karnataka to break the state government. Congress is hell bent on saving at the last resort - literally so. 

But this act of Congress simply reeks with hypocrisy. I am reminded of this Odia proverb - CHALUNI KAHUCHI CHHUNCHI KU TO GA**IRE GOTE KANA (The sieve accusing the needle of having a hole in its ass). It simply means the kettle calling the pot black.

Yes, BJP led by its henchman Man Friday Amit Shah is in full action to destabilize the Congress - JD (Whatever) Alliance in the Southern State. It will be hypocritical not to see it. This is no Rama Rajya (Utopia). A dozen or so MLAs are not just pissed off with their leaders and have gone into hiding inside a Hotel in Mumbai on their own. I bet a lot of money is changing hands and no prize for guessing who is behind this.

But Congress protesting to save democracy simply reeks of hypocrisy. One fine night, Rahul's great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru dismissed the first democratically elected Communist government in Kerala in 1957. His daughter Indira has least respect for Democratic institutions and was a champion of dismissing the opposition ruled state government at her whim. The Congress party under her perfected the art of AYAA RAAM GAYAA RAAM (Came Johnny, went Johnny) politics where opposition legislators would be bought, cash stuffed suitcases would change hands and governments toppled overnight using a pliable governor acting as a stooge of the Center.

In 1984 a few months before she was assassinated, Indira dismissed the duly elected government of Andhra Pradesh led by actor N T Rama Rao, forcing the later to resort into resort politics. He packed his MLAs to Bangalore, one of the handful of non Congress states in that time when the Grand Old Party of India ruled the roost. Arguably, it was the first instance of resort politics in India. Ironically the same state of Karnataka is now at the center of the ongoing histrionics. 

Karnataka then was ruled Janata government of RK Hegde. Indira lost no time in trying to dislodge the government in Bangalore. Her local henchman Moily offered Rs.2 lakh or $20,000 (this might sound hilarious these days as junior level clerks in certain government positions easily make that much in a month when crores in Rupees, equivalent to millions of dollars are used to buy). An MLA  recorded the conversation and delivered the audio cassette to the media. Indira Gandhi was smart to use her local acolytes to do the dirty jobs, then hands off and make them the fall guy if her best laid plans went wrong.

During my student days in REC (Now NIT) Rourkela, there was a conflict between two batches of students. A professor who used to be an alumni of our institute blamed it on the liquor and BHANG (Cannabis) culture - especially consumed during the Ganesh Puja immersion leading to the skirmishes. He was curtly reminded by my friend that it was their generation who started these unhealthy traditions and it's nothing but hypocrisy to blame it on the incumbent batches who were simply replicating a bad tradition.

Americans invented cars, but Japanese mastered the art of improvisation of the vehicles. BJP led by Amit Shah has not only learnt skill of Congress, but has perfected it to the next level. Sorry Congress - As you sow, so you reap. Your bad Karma is just catching up to you.

Baara Barsara Tapasya Sukhua Poda Re Gala

We have this popular Odia Adage - BAARA BARSA RA TAPASYA SUKHUA PODA RE GALA, transliterated, "Twelve years of deep penance got wasted on Barbecued smoked fish". It means, all the great efforts and perseverance for a long period of time can go wrong by a single stroke of action. 

To elaborate further - in Hinduism it takes no less than 12 years of meditation to attain Salvation. In this phase a person who strives for that goal adheres to a strict regime, living off frugally and eating a vegetarian diet. Yet he can lose all these years of hard work by taking a bite of barbecued smoked fish. 

For titillating foods like fish, meat and poultry are considered anathema to worship to most deities in Hindu religion. They are considered as TAAMASIK or titillating,  something shunned by those in the path towards salvation. A single distraction like falling for a piece of barbecued fish, can break the peace, sweeping off years rewards earned through hard work.

This is best exemplified by India's defeat by New Zealand in the World Cup cricket semifinal match. For more than a month India played spectacular cricket, topping chart of round robin league without a single loss. But in the first Semifinals where it matters, it was knocked out by unfancied Kiwis and out of the World  Cup tournament. The top qualifier team was beaten by the team which struggled to make to the bottom of the semifinal berth. BAARA BARSA RA TAPASYA SUKHUA PODA RE GALA.

Taal Bhang Na Paaye

Have you ever observed that when you are working on something and get into a flow you can get a lot accomplished in lesser time. When that flow is broken due to lack of focus or otherwise, thus hampering the progress, it takes some time before we get back on rolling again.

I have faced this at work on numerous  occasions, when I can get a lot done during early morning or late evening hours rather than the middle of the day when distractions are more. Similarly when I am in a mood of writing a blog, I can be more creative than when I write in bits and pieces. I thrive to keep the flow unless until something more pressing comes my way - against my will or otherwise.

It is akin to driving a vehicle. You can cover a longer distance when you are cruising along without facing any roadblocks. But when encountered by stumbling blocks like speed breakers, we hit the breaks, hardly travel the distance we intend. Multitasking is similar to changing gears, acting as a stumbling block, reducing productivity and efficiency. Once the flow is broken, it takes time to get back to speed.

This is best exemplified by Newton's Law of motion - A body continues in its current state of rest or motion unless, otherwise disturbed by an external element. Same is applicable to the world of sports. It is not unusual for a batsman who on a scoring spree loses his concentration and gets out soon after a break. A bowler who is on a wicket taking spree may not replicate the same when he is taken out of the bowling attack and brought back later. A Pele or Maradona when on a dribbling mode can be unstoppable and of dangerous proposition to any opponent, who often fell victim to professional fouls to break their flow. 

It reminds me of the story of a man who renounced his material world and travelled to The Himalayas to meditate and get salvation. Years passed by and he was barely close to his goal. So he decided to go abort his mission and get back to his family and familiar life as head of the household.

On his way back home tired walking all day he stopped by the palace of a local Vassal late one night to take rest. A night long drunken revelry was going the same night at the Vassal's house. The King was throwning a party. A duo of danseur (He Dancer) and Danseuse (She dancer) were instructed to perform non stop all night to entertain the guests.

Late into the night at the wee hours most of the bacchanalian guests were sleepy. A few awake ones hardly cared about the continuing performance of the dancing duo. Noticing the laxity in the onlookers, the visibly tired lady dancer asked her male counterpart if they can take a break, as the audience was hardly awake and were in a position to judge them. It wasn't very far from dawn, but the male dancer he replied back -

BAHUT GAYI, THODI RAHI

THODI BHI AB JAYE,

NAT KAHE O NATI

TAAL BHANG NA PAAYE.

Roughly transliterated..

Mostly gone, little left

And a little more to go.

The danseur tells the danseuse,

Don't break the flow.

The mendicant got his message. Instead of going back home, he returned back to the Himalayas to continue his endeavor towards attaining salvation. He realized that the flow needs to be maintained in order to attain Salvation. Consistency is the key and patience is rewarded. Slow and steady wins the race - TAAL BHANG NA PAAYE.