Happy New year 2020

The teen year 2019 paves way for the year 2020 - a leap year, year of the Summer Olympics and Presidential Elections in the United States. While we step into it, we don't know what lies ahead, what's in store for us. As the old man 2019 bends his spine and extends his hand to open the door to welcome the New Year, it is now time for some introspection. 

A la getting rid off old cloths for the new ones, the soul moving from one body to another as famously extolled by Lord Sri Krishna in the BHAGWAT GITA and other Hindu Scriptues, 2020 will be reborn yet again at midnight tonight. The year dawns with the cherubic smile of a newborn, as another number is added to its age in the form of a New Year.

But hardly anything ever changes. Life trudges ahead as the same shit, different day - with different color and texture. Hardly anything cataclysmically different happens, rather more or less the status quo is maintained. I don't make any New year promises to myself, as I don't and can't keep them. I just roll over to the year ahead of me.

We may forget history but we don't forget to repeat it year after year. Similar to this starting stanza of the Kishore Kumar's song :

EK RUT AAE, EK RUT JAAE PHIR,
MOUSAM BADLENA, BADLE NASEEB.

"One season comes and another goes,
Seasons change, not the fateful woes".

This year came and went with a mixed bag of good, bad and ugly for me, with additional baggage of memories rolling into next year. Made new friends, revived old ones and lost a few near and dear ones, once and for all. Yet the year comes with this stark reminder - life goes downhill from here, tasks become uphill and years are numbered before I go over the hill.

To me, almost all the New Year wishes expressed over the years have been pleasant enough to makes them forgettable. Homo Sapien's inherent instinct is to remember the unpleasant ones. I being no exception - remember this one from 1st January,1982. On the first New Year after his marriage to Diana, Prince Charles wished the nosey British Paparazzi, "Have a Nasty New Year".

But I don't have to be nasty. So let me repeat the forgettable wish, as I do not forget to do at the end of every year - HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR ahead and stay blessed.

Trump is likely to win in 2020

Few days are left before we hit the year 2020. It is going to be the year of American Presidential election. One thing I have decided - that I am NOT going to vote for Donald Trump. Period.

Though I don't want him to be reelected, he has a high chance of winning his reelection. A week is a long time in politics. November 2020 is eons away. Lot of things can happen in between - for better or worse. Barring a recession in the American economy, Unfortunately for detractors like me, he is likely to get a second term.  Here is why.

If you look at all Presidential Elections in history since the World War II when the term of an American President was reduced to only two terms - only two Presidents lost their reelection bid. They're Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George Bush Senior in 1992. Both went to their reelection presiding over an economy in Recession and lost.

A bad economy doesn't necessarily mean that Trump will be defeated, unless the Democrats present a better, viable alternative. So far, the Democratic candidates look listless. Joe Biden, the most likely Democrat nominee reminds the Americans of same old, same old establishment guy - an Washington insider. A new face like Obama with a driving message connecting to audience is much needed, but absence.

The American Primaries are starting in January. First in Iowa, followed by New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida. I have a feeling Joe Biden will eventually get the nomination. Hope against all odds he manages to defeat Trump and pushes him into the dustbin of history as the 3rd sitting President in American history since the Second World War not to get a Second term.

Trip to Savannah 2019 - II

America is blessed with gigantic water bodies to sustain the river cruise liners. The rivers are fed by rainfall which is well distributed throughout the year, not just limited to a particular season. It explains why there is no particular "rainy season" in most parts of America. In the relatively dry West, snow clad mountains feed the rivers, making them perennial. US is filled with big lakes of different shapes sizes - starting from tiny ponds to Great Lakes in North, all gargantuan sources of freshwater.

It was a crazy, cold rainy day here in Savannah. Water, water every where - literally pouring down from top in form of rain and the Savannah river brimming in water below the River Cruise liner with the drenched American flag fluttering on the tall flagmast atop the ship.

All were ensconced inside the ship as it was too windy and blustery out there. From the comfort of warm enclosure, peeking through the pounding cold rain we watched the seagulls brave the weather, diving into the river water for a fresh catch. The Seagull catches fish the hard way, under harsh circumstances in the pouring rain and low visibility. It yet vindicates that fishing on your own way gives you better confidence than being an armchair angler.

Americans have even mastered the art of commercializing things which even Science doesn't accept. US is full of hunted hotels, mansions where folks pay a premium to stay. It is said that the Actor Jim Carey once stayed in one such famous Hunted hotels paying heavy price. In the middle of night he was seen running bare bodied with only his shorts on in the hotel lobby. He promptly shifted, never going back to his room again. When asked, he never disclosed the reason for his weird behavior in the middle of the night but vowed never go back to that hotel again.

Same goes with the Ghost tours and Savannah in the state of Georgia is famous for that. A trip to Savannah is incomplete without taking one of the several ghost tours available after dark. Many stay in the Hunted hotels for the sake of experiencing spooky stuff, but we preferred to avoid such hotels. I am afterall a meek Odia without much water stored in his ass (GA**I RE PAANI NAHI, as they say in Odia).

The weather was perfect for a Ghost tour - Cold, Dark and Stormy. We took a guided tour of the most famous Hunted House of Savannah - Andrew Lowe's mansion. Andew Lowe was a rich and influential man who minted money by exporting Cotton when the demand for the cash crop was high at in the initial days of the Industrial Revolution.

But even stinking rich people are not immune to tragedies as one after another struck him at the height of his money and fame. His wife and couple of kids died young. Andrew Lowe was left crestfallen. Many since have witnessed shadowy figures in that mansion, a man in a Butler's dress named Tom. Smell of cigar suddenly wafts inside the hallway with no one seen smoking around. 

A few have smelled a rosy perfume close by as they felt like suddenly brushed aside by some. The perfume was supposedly worn by Mary, the second wife of Andrew Lowe who died young in that house. 

Following the hurricane of 1979, men working around the Mansion heard the painful sobbing of a woman. Their first thought was it was someone taking refuse there, as many mansions were used as temporary shelter homes for the hurricane evacuees. They followed the sobbing sound to one room above the staircase, but found nobody there. However, they found that it was the Anniversary of the death of Mary, who died in that exact room where the crying came from.

As a finale to our Savannah travelogue here are a few Spooky Jokes told by our Ghost tour guide retold here.

Why the Skeleton didn't go to Prom ?Because he had nobody. 

Why the Ghost didn't couldn't get his crush?

Because he had no guts.

What's the cross of a Vampire and a Snowman- Frostbite.

Trip to Savannah 2019 - I

Come Christmas time in America, it's time for some downtime by taking some time off from work to enjoy the holidays, shugg off the jaded nerves recharging your batteries. As human beings we all are entitled to take a break from the daily drudgery and nothing helps better than taking a vacation. Being a busy year for me (each following year it invariably gets busier) a vacation had been long pending to prevent any burnout. 

We decided to spend a few days in the historic city of Savannah, Georgia - a place diametrically opposite of the city of Columbus where we live. Georgia is a big state, area wise it is pretty much close to Odisha, my home state back home. If you fold a map of Georgia by the Piedmont line extending from its North West corner to South East, Columbus on South West and Savannah on North East will probably overlap on each other.

Georgia was one of the first 13 states forming the United States of America. Savannah was a major port city down South, a center of trade where most of the cash crops produce - especially Tea, Rice, Indigo and Cotton were exported. It explains why cold Sweet Tea, (rather than hot tea we are accustomed to in India) is very popular in the South, served in almost every restaurant to help wash down the food.

Savannah was a prosperous city in the 18th and 19th century. But slowly except Cotton the demand for Tea, Rice and Indigo reduced over time as the main customers British started Tea and Indigo plantations in India. And India being their prized colony Great Britain, they got Tea, Indigo and Rice from India at darn cheap price with plenty of cheap labor to exploit. 

The English found a better way of profiteering - plunder your own colony than compete with an independent country. However Savannah still remained the main port as far as exporting Cotton was concerned as England still needed American cotton. Though the Americans drove the British out of their country, the trade between the nation continued. Business and Politics have a strange contradictory relationship. Like married couples they bicker with one another, yet stick together for the sake of mutual gain. 

The city of Savannah has enough history to showcase. The first tour a Trolley ride through its historic streets. We stopped by the oldest house, its first owner was a Pirate in 1735 and still preserved. The tour guide stopped by the bench made famous by Tom Hanks in his iconic movie "Forrest Gump" who sitting on the bench delivered in his thick, Southern accented monologue - "Life is a baax (box) of chaacklates (chocolates). You don't know what yaa going to geyt (get)".

Prohibition started in the year 1908 in Georgia which went dry 12 years before the complete prohibition was imposed in rest of America. It led to flourishing of bootlegging and the rich, port township  of Savannah was its epicenter in South. 

History has vindicated that prohibition has been a failure across the globe. Great Innovators they are, Americans distilled some of the best Bourbon Whiskeys during the prohibition era. (Lot of English words are shortened in American English, e.g. colour is called color, Cocoanut as coconut. But Whisky is called Whiskey in America, a rare instance of a longer version of the word in American English vis a vis British).

On a cold, blustery day saw a couple smooching and fondling each other with youthful enthusiasm ahead of us. They were high on Holiday spirit. The bald beau looked much older than the girl. Remembered a popular Odia DHAGA (Couplet) used in my village about Sugar daddies - the much older husbands of younger wives.

LANDA MUNDA KU SORISA TELA, 

BUDHA GHAITA KARUCHI GELA.

Mustard oil atop Bald Head

Old hubby is Kissing Ahead.

More later...

TU, TUME (Tum) and APANA (Aap)

TU, TUME and APANA, though all carry the same meaning, are three different ways of addressing in Odia. In Hindi its counterpart is TU, TUM, AAP. The choice of words depends on the familiarity and strata in society of the person at the receiving end. Basically all stand of the equivalent English word "You". English language doesn't distinguish a person being addressed as you.

It's common to address one's mother, siblings (if the younger ones is a brother in Brahmin families) and friends (on basis of familiarity), or people of the lowest strata in society with TU. Next comes the next layer of address TUME or TUM (in Hindi) is reserved for the more respectful uncles, spouces, boy-girl friends and people at the next level of stratum.

APANA or AAP is reserved for the best, the elderly folks, teachers and those at highest strata of society. It is a way of courtesy extended to others. I am now reminded of this stanza from a song in the Hindi movie BOBBY, "JAISE Lucknow KI DO NAWABON KI GAADI PEHLE AAP PEHLE AAP KARTE NIKAL JAATE HAIN" - as two vehicles carrying Royals of Lucknow, a place known for etiquette request each other to go first when they get into a Deadlock situation at road intersections when two drivers are stuck, requesting the other one to go first. Such courtesy extended in Lucknow is rarely extended elsewhere, certainly not on the roads of Bhubaneswar.

Sometimes a change in social status, in relationship or otherwise, changes the way of addressing. In most arranged marriages the couples address each other as TUME (TUM). In case of marriages preceded by dating (dating in India may not be exactly the American way of dating) or in the so called love marriages as known in local parlance (in most cases it's less love, more like self arranged marriages based upon convenience), during the pre marital courtship the couples are known to address themselves as TU (if they are classmates of close age). 

Post marriage the inertia of TU Addressing continues like Newton's law of motion, unless an external factor like mother-in-law forces the girl to address her son with the more respectful TUME. It is less common, though not unusual for the husband forced to switch from TU to TUME as the girl yearns for more respect.

In arranged marriage, the bride and groom usually call each other TUME or TUM, though in some cases for the husband to address his wife as TU (our's is still a male dominated society). It's not unusual for such couples to come down addressing with TU, when they fight or get down to the basic instincts, as TU is the base way of addressing.

I have seen the dilemma in addressing when some one's elder sibling gets married. A person, who forever had addressed his elder brother as TU, finds it little odd to address his BHAUJA or BHAVI (brother's wife) as TUM. Eventually he or she adjusts (another ubiquitous word, we adjust a lot in our society).

Once upon a time, Bhubaneswar was filled with Cycle Rickshaws. Everybody from our generation has yelled HE RICKSHAW JIBU (O' Rickshaw will you go). Now it's replaced by HE AUTO JIBA or JIBE KI ? (O' Auto, will you go). A rickshaw puller was rarely called JIBA KI (better respected expression) and Auto driver is rarely called TU or JIBU (least respected expression). Either denizens have become more respectful, or the transformation from a Rickshaw puller to Auto driver has gone has earned them respect. 

In English language it's always you, you and only you. A two liner Odia limerick from our childhood goes as follows.

AGYAN APANA TUME TU,
TUMA MUHARE KUKURA MUTU.

Respected base(you), better (you) and the best(you),
May a dog pee on the face of you.

RIP Bob Willis

I remember Bob Willis for a very unique reason. He is the first international cricketer I saw up close, only the barbed wire of the Hotel Kalinga Ashok lawn separating us - arguably the only livable Hotel in the twin city of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in the early 1980s. A tall lanky guy with an aquiline nose and curly hair is not someone who can be missed. I correctly identified the man, relating him to his pictures I saw on Sportstar, Sportsweek and Sportsworld - the Sports magazines of the time.

It was almost 38 years back, when a power packed English team was touring India. England then had a formidable team, the overwhelming favorites over their hosts. They had an indomitable One Day International record, being the finalist of the prior World Cup, losing only to the mighty West Windies. India had a below average record in the limited overs version of the game.

The year was 1982. A late winter day of that cricket season seems just like yesterday, when the first ever One Day International match at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack was played between India and England in the last week of January. It was one of it's kind. Earlier Cuttack had hosted a few games between the touring international sides and East Zone. But for the first time an One day international match involving team India was going to be played at the picturesque venue.

Enthusiasm was building up in anticipation of the match. There was a huge demand for tickets, with all of them getting sold out in no time. My father somehow managed to grab a couple to the jealously of my friends, giving an ardent cricket fan in me the most cherished opportunity of the time. A few officials were selling their match passes openly in the black market. 

The English team arrived early and were housed in Hotel Kalinga Ashok, barely a mile from my home. Next day morning I heard "TRING TRING" - a friend of mine ringing his bicycle bell in front of our flat (apartment).  It was his usual signal that something important was going on. 

I immediately rushed downstairs. He told me to ride along with him as he got the news that English players were out in the lawn Hotel. I did not think twice, as my heart was pounding fast with unbridled excitement. Now I am going to see in real life the sports celebrities I pictured on the Sports magazines.

We pedaled fast and within 5 minutes reached the spot. I could see Bob Taylor (wicket keeper) and Bob Willis relaxing on the lawn on a cool morning, sipping Tea and chatting. Only a barbed wire separated us by a few feet. Excitement got better of my friend who started shouting in Odia at top of his voice "ARRE DEKH RE, TALOR AU BOTHAM BASICHANTI (Hey, take a look. Taylor and Botham arw sitting together)". I corrected him. It was rather both Bobs, Taylor and Willis. Botham wasn't there.

A few passerby took notice and a crowd started gathering. Both these English players could sense the commotion. They got up and hurried towards their room. Before leaving Bob Taylor made a monkey like gesture and rolled a half eaten apple towards us. We felt so privileged by getting his attention and felt as if we attained salvation. Little we did realize it wasn't a very laudable gesture on Taylor's part. With his blue eyes sparkling at us, the other Bob (Willis) just smiled and left.

This man, tall and lanky Bob Willis along with Beefy (appropriately nicknamed) Botham formed a formidable English pace attack, being the thorn on the flesh of their opponents. Though the more flamboyant Botham hugged the limelight, the gentleman cricketer Bob Willis carved his niche - both on and off the field, later as a Commentator.

I will remember Bob Willis for defending a meagre lead of 130 against the Aussies in Headingley in 1981, with the English snatching an improbable victory by 20 odd runs, with Bob Willis taking 8 wickets for 43. Also for being at the receiving end in 1982 when Sandip Patil hit him for 8 consecutive boundaries and Yashpal Sharma hitting a six off a flick, a fluke shot from the bowling of Willis in 1983 Semi finals.

The gentleman cricketer who died today at the age of 70 will forever remembered for his contribution to cricket by our generation and the generations to come. RIP Bob Willis.