Budha Hoga Tera Baap

 I have discovered a distinct similarity between the Odias and the Americans. In Odisha many refer to their bosses and fathers (often father-in-laws) as a BUDHA, meaning the Old man. For the boss and father-in-law the address is mostly critical and rarely affectionate. For father it is mostly the other way round. A few Americans I have come across address their father as "My Old Man". Never heard them using the same term about father-in-law or boss. 

I was reminded of this when a friend of mine once told me "You know, my dad was drafted to fight in Nam (Nam stands for for Vietnam. The draft was in the USA before 1970s when all able bodied young Americans had to serve in military. Many including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump dodged the draft). Not sure if in other states of India other than Odisha Dad or Boss is referred to as BUDHA.

In America it is not unusual to address some one as my good ole friend. When I extend the same courtesy to my Indian friends many are not amused. Though they don't express on my face their facial expression tells me "BUDDHA HOGA TERA BAAP" (May your father be old). 

I can sense this message telepathically communicated to me in the form of an invisible slap on my wrist or perhaps on my face. Back in good ole days I used to call ladies and gentlemen from my parent's generation as MAUSI (aunties) and MAUSA (uncles). They never used to mind. But it is another story these days (mostly in America). Persons of Indian origin much older than my parents are preferred to be addressed as BHAINA (BHAIYA) or BHAUJA (BHABI). Mausa or Mausi reminds them of someone with gray hair, bald head with a toothless smile, thanks to lack of tobacco chewing and better dental care these days.

Any deviation would be frowned upon with a terse response AMAKU KANA BUDHA KARIDELA (in Odia) or HAME KYA BUDHA BANAADIYA (in Hindi) both contorting "How dare you made us old ?" There is absolutely nothing wrong in feeling young and energetic. 60 is the new 40. But being addressed as Uncle or Aunty does not necessarily make one any younger than being addressed as brother or sister-in-law. It's just their fake vanity and inferiority complex speaking. 

Age is a matter of mind, not body or the way someone get addressed by. Anyway, I politely asked them how they would prefer to be addressed. They invariably respond to be addressed as Bhai or Bhauja, thankfully not bro and sis-in-law. The reverse has never happened. No one ever since requested me to be addressed as a Mausa or Mausi in America.

I think this culture is slowly permeated back home and "Mausa/Mausi" calls could soon become extinct as our Royal Bengal tiger. Often such addressing depends upon a person' s attire and lingo of communication. A gentleman wearing a LUNGI or DHOTI (loincloth wrapped around waist, an attire conducive to the Indian clime), speaking the vernacular language is addressed as Mausa.

Wearing trousers or shorts elevates him to the status of an Uncle. A lady in Saree is Mausi but becomes an Aunty in Scott. I would care less if someone calls me a Mausa or Uncle. It hardly impacts my age or ego. As the last nail is hit on the coffin of the popular "Mausa and Mausa", let that coffin be mine. I would love to be remembered as the last Mausa who once roamed free in this world.

It is quite normal for a person to age. Time flies, waiting for none. It is also normal for a woman to hide her age. There is a saying "Never ask a man his salary and woman her age". But this tendency to hide one's age has slowly percolated to the male territory. There was this guy who was 29 in 1999. He was still unmarried in 2005. I asked him why haven't you married yet. He said "I am only 29". I replied "Well, you were 29 in 1999 and still 29 in 2005.  Time has taken a vacation in your case".

Remembered another Odia Dhaga (adage) about "Sugar Daddies" - the older husbands of much younger wives.

LANDA MUNDA KU SORISA TELA, 

BUDHA GHAITA KARUCHI GELA.

Mustard oil atop Bald Head

Old hubby is Kissing Ahead.

The Myth of Approval Rating

 The current Afghanistan situation hasn't impacted Joe Biden's approval ratings a whole lot. As per realclearpolitics website poll of polls, it stands at a healthy 47%. That's not too bad. Joe Biden is in politics since 1972, before most of his critics were born or were running around in diapers. 

He knows these approval ratings are transactional. His reelection is a good 3 years away and the closest elections - the midterm Congressional elections in more than a year away. Joe Biden knows very well that. BUDHA (The old man) hasn't lost his hair and grown gray hairs for nothing. Biden is in politics for 50 years now. With the experience of being a 8 term Senator and a 2 term Vice President he has taken a decision which his predecessors Obama and Trump talked about but never dared to implement - withdraw from Afghanistan. 

Trump, the darling of many in India (not sure why BJP supporters are big fans of Trump, who on the other gives a shit about BJP or its supporters) not only promised to withdraw from Afghanistan if reelected, he set a date of May 1, 2021. If Trump was reelected and withdrew from Afghanistan its Right wing devotees in USA as well as India would be heaving paens of praise upon him. Talk of hypocrisy !

I was not surprised at Joe Biden's 47% approval rating at this juncture. All politics are local. Americans who are more concerned about their domestic matters, generally give their President a passe in their international faux pases they make. That explains why George Bush Jr. got reelected in 2004 in spite of his Iraq fiasco. Obama's bungled Benghazi incident a few months before the election in 2013 didn't help Mitt Romney defeat him. Reason - luckily for both Bush in 2004 and Obama in 2012 the economy was doing good enough for Americans not to worry about what was happenings in Iraq or Libya.

This I am saying based on my observations by virtue of living in the United States for quarter of a century - by following its politics from up close rather than sitting in Bhubaneswar or Bangalore, armed with access to Google and Wikipedia. Economy matters a lot to the Americans. That's why George Bush Sr lost to Bill Clinton in 1992 in spite of being a Iraq War in 1991. As President Bush presided over a recession ridden economy going into his reelection, Bill Clinton's slogan "It's Economy stupid" got the better of him.

So, writing off Joe Biden at this juncture is both premature, preposterous and at best fallacious. To borrow Bill Clinton's slogan in America "it's economy stupid". Biden has set up his domestic agenda by passing his ambitious $3.9 trillion Infrastructure Bill - more than the annual GDP of every other country in the world except China, Japan and Germany. He will be tested by his economic performance and management of Covid crisis down the road (which will get much better in 2022  as number of people vaccinated grows, investments in infrastructure will create jobs). 

So, my dear friends. Not so fast. As Modi will not be punished in May 2024 for his mishandling of Covid crisis in May 2021, don't expect American voters to punish Biden in November 2024 for his Afghanistan withdrawl in August 2021. A week is a long time in politics, 2024 is eons away.

Social media as game changer

 Love it or hate it, social media is a great leveler. Gone are those days when highly placed Civil Servants use to manhandle folks in public and get away with impunity. Nowadays such a person will think hundred times before enacting misuse of power act in public - lest some one records it on smartphone and takes it to the next level by making it viral. Beware, now anyone with a smartphone on hand is a citizen reporter.

During my REC (Now in NIT) days one fine morning there was some skirmishes between students in front of our hostel. A professor nicknamed DADA (for his habit of bullying students and staff alike) suddenly barged into the hostel to take the situation into control. He was greeted with a volley of expletives by the students, provoking him by alleging him of having not so healthy relationship with his mother and sisters. It was akin to showing a red flag to the Bull. The loud mouthed professor got mad and went around the hostel corridor, returning the compliments by immensely praising the mothers and sisters of the boarders.

Fast forward to present. A student could have easily recorded the professor's act and put it live for Facebook viewers. That would have been sufficient to turn our DADA into a KHUDI (Feminine Dada) irreversibly from that day, defanging him forever. Now a professor will think a dozen times before doing such utterance in public.

What's the difference between a defunct clock and a clock which runs 5 minutes late ? The defunct Clock shows the correct time twice a day. But the clock which runs 5 minutes late never shows the correct time. Similar analogy can be made between Social media versus the mainstream media. Social media at least gives correct news sometimes. The mainstream media, most of which has become lapdog of vested interests rarely do their job. 

Now let's forward our clock a bit further. This incident from the late 1990s was narrated to me by a relation of mine from Civil Services posted at that time in the township of Barhampur, Odisha. After a late meeting with his colleagues he was returning home, following the car of a Senior Police Offical. 

Suddenly he saw some commotions ahead and went out of his car to quench his curiosity. A few feet ahead he saw the police officer forcing a couple of students in front of Khallikote College to do sit ups holding their ears in unison (A humiliating punishment commonly practiced in India). Their fault - they were drinking beer sitting on a culvert in front of the College, not unusual for students. This was not palatable to the police officer who was hellbent on showing off his power. A military personnel (there is a Naval base close by) standing by who objected to this blatant misuse of power was scolded by our law enforcer. 

The Police Official, now retired was seen recently giving a long lecture on a local TV Channel - how the government officials should serve people in a polite manner, shouldn't take law into their own hands etc etc. No wonder Our Babus are world's champion hypocrites. If hypocrisy was an event in the Olympics our Babus will win Gold medal hands down.

Fast forward to today. Unless drunk with power or otherwise, the same police officer in the same situation will think multiple times before punishing the students. Because some passerby may record the event and make it viral on social media. Next day Arnab Goswami will do a thorough verbal rape of the police officer on his program, summoning him to answer to the nation. He may not have to answer on Arnab's show, but the policeman definitely will have some answering to do to his superiors.

Social media is the real game changer, a double edged sword. Love it or hate it, better learn to live with it - for it is real and going to stick around. It may not have stopped all nuisance makers go scott free, certainly has acted as a huge deterrent.

India's performance in Tokyo Olympics

 The year was 1984. In the general election following Indira Gandhi's tragic assassination, Congress made a bumper harvest, came to power winning around 425 seats. BJP was reduced to only two MPs, far below the rest of the major opposition parties.

The two members of BJP in Lok Sabha were mocked at as HUM DO, HUMARE DO (We two, ours two), taking a cue from the famous Family Planning Campaign of that era. By 2019, BJP increased its tally to 300 plus leaving Congress gasping for Silver medal way behind.

The same innuendo was reserved for our performance in the Olympics games. HUM DO, HUMARE DO - as we won 2 medals on average in the Olympics, sometime increasing the number a bit, sometime back to square one again. This year we made substantial improvements in our medal tally though not at BJPsque scale. We won a gold medal after 12 years while Americans and Chinese win golds in Olympics on daily basis. 

Million analysis have been done about India's performance attributing the causes for our failure - from apathetic Politicians and Officials who are considered part of the problem rather than solution (the usual disclaimers apply), to our poor genes and diet.

The myth about the genes is as vague as the myth during my childhood days - that there is no Business in the blood of Odias, who are destined to fail as businessmen and entrepreneurs. I was never aware of any Business Blood Group, nor checked the blood group of my numerous Odia friends who are now successful businessmen.

But our millieu never encouraged to excel in Sports.Summing up this attitude is what I heard in Odia mumerous times  during my childhood - "CHHATARA MANE KHELANTI, SUNA PILA MANE PATHA PADHANTI. KHELA RU KANA MILIBA. PATHA PADHI OFFICER HELE LOKE MUNDIA MARIBE" - Only girl chasing vagabonds indulge in Sports. Golden kids focus on studies. What is there in sports and games ? If you succeed in academics and become an officer, hundreds will bow before you". A clearly feudal mindset, where sportpersons are demeaned.

A song from Odia hit movie JAJABARA (Vagabond) aptly describes this mindset.

GURU NKARA ACCHI MATARA GADI, GURUKARA ACHHI KOTHA BADI. CHAKARA BAKARA DHADI KI DHADI, HUKUMA CHHUTE GHADIKI GHADI.

Our boss has a fleet of motor vehicles, Our boss has bunch land and buildings, Servants in drove line up in front for him, Orders are given to them time to time.

Being an Officer brings you servants, orderlies, lands, buildings etc. Being a Sportsperson fetches none of the above.

This is not just limited to Odisha. In  North India there is a saying,

KHELOGE KUDOGE TO HOGE KHARAB, PADHOGE LIKHOGE BANOGE NAWAAB. 

Roughly translated it means,

Sports & games make you a commoner,
Excel in academics, become an emperor.

It speaks volumes about where our priorities lie. Those blamed for our debacles aren't any aliens from another planet, they come from the same milieu. No system will succeed without the participation and cooperation of the common men and women (Our women left their indelible mark in this game. They won medals, our women's hockey team and Golfer Aditi Ashok came tantalizingly close to winning a medal by ending in 4th position). 

In the world of competitive sports, at the highest level where class and quality matters, it needs a lot more skill and steely nerve to make the difference, not age or background. It needs a lot of commitment, dedication, consistency. A 14 year old from our Northern neighbor China won a Gold medal. Many swimming medal winners are in their teens. Once out of curiosity I visited the website of the Swimming Federation of India. Their achievements section is blank, with a picture of Michael Phelps on its web page. That pretty much tells we swim aimlessly like CHATARA (Vagabond).

When we won a gold in 2008, thanks to  shooter Arvind Bindra, I thought a new era has dawned,  when more Golds will follow in the following Olympics. No golds came in 2012 and 2016, but finally during the final days of 2020 Olympics. Like the proverbial monkey climbing a bamboo pole, we climb 2 feet up and then 3 feet down. The saga continues till date.

It would be heartbreaking for me not to have the high expectations, especially when the China and Britain have already done so in last few years. We sure can, provided, as we studied in Intermediate Physics - our immense potential energy is converted to kinetic energy extended to the Sports arena.

Better late than never. If tiny Ecuador can win 2 Gold medals we can do better (Not sure the fugitive Baba Nityananda who has found his abode in Equador is claiming credit for Equator's success).If we sow the seeds now and rightly nurture the plant, it will bear fruit in due time. It won't happen overnight, its a long term project which will take decades to yield some tangible results. Hope our monkey keeps on climbing the bamboo pole, and keep climbing and climbing, as slipping is not an option.

Happy Birthday Pandit Nilakantha Das

 He along with his legendary friends UTKALA MANI (The Pearl of Odisha) Gopabandhu Das, Godabarisha Mishra, Krupasindhu Mishra and Acharya Harihara formed the famous PANCHA SAKHA "Five Friends" who were freedom fighters, patriots, social reformers, educationists and philanthropists - way ahead of their time.

Pandit Nilakantha Das was was born this day, August 5 in the year 1884 in a village named Sri Ramachandrapur, not far from the temple town of Puri. He was his parent's only male child who followed his seven sisters. 

His grandfather was a Tahsildar who died young at the age of 28, leaving his father in penury. It was the practice those days to pay the tax to government from borrowed money in order to meet the deadline and collect it later. Unfortunately his grandpa died before the collection, so his property was confiscated and auctioned away.

Pandit Nilakantha Das's father lived lot longer to see his son carving his niche in life. The young boy did not belied his dad's hope, being an outstanding student from childhood. Nilakantha Das's father at the age of 72 had a bad bout of cold and cough, and believed he wont survive anymore during a time seeing 50th birthday was considered a luxury. Certain of dying, he took opium to relieve his pain and making his death painless. But he continued to live until 89, a rare longevity those days.

Those days it was common for men to get married during their early teens and girls before reaching puberty. Still in school, an educated Nilakantha Das was very much sought after by prospective groom hunters. His father was approached by one such gentleman with a NAGADA (instant payment) cash offer of Rs.4,000 in advance, a hefty anount those days, with additional assurance of the bride's father bearing any addition cost involving higher studies by the prospective son-in-law.

The young Nilakantha reacted by reciting the following couplet in Sanskrit :

UTTAMMAM SWA ARJITA BITTAM,

MADHYAMAM PITRU ARJITA.

ADHAMAM BHATRU BITTAM,

STHEEE BITTAM MAHAMADHYAM.

Roughly transliterated....

"Excellent is money earned on your own,

 Okay is the money received from father.

 Bad is living on Brother's earning,

 Worst is to live on wife's money"

His father got the message and did not proceed further on the proposal.

The Das triumvirate of Nilakantha, Gopabandhu and UTKALA GAURABA (The pride of Odisha) Madhusudan were instrumental in the creation of the State of Odisha, a dream realized after a lot of struggle. Madhu babu was the more educated and the dilligent one of the trio who used to address the public in a mode equivalent to today's Power point presentations - sharp and articulate, but lacking a storyteller's ability to arouse passion in the audience. Though a patriot and foused on his mission, being seen as an elitist from a ZAMINDARI (Feudal lord) background and not being a prolific public speaker he could barely connect with the commoners, unable to arouse interest and enthusiasm among the masses whose support he needed the most.

That hiatus was bridged by the "Dases" duo Utkalamani Gopabandhu and Pandit Nilakanta who were young, charismatic with epic sense of humor - who could connect better with the commoners with their amazing oratory skills & convincing capability. With their down to earth background closer to the milieu they could feel the pulse of the masses and the masses could feel it in their tone. The duo successfully carried Madhu Babu's message to them.

Together they complemented each other, forming a formidable proposition and propelling their cause towards their common goal of a unique, separate state of Odisha, now appealing to the public from far flung places like Barhampur, Sambalpur who were now motivated enough to join the movement. Finally an independent Odisha saw its birth on 1st April, 1936.

After independence Pandit Nilakantha Das dabbled in electoral politics, elected to legislature couple of times and later became the Speaker of the Assembly. Yes he could not succeed a whole lot in the murky world of politics - because he was a Statesman, not a politician. He passed away on November 5, 1967. Happy Birthday to the Odia legend, one of our many forgotten heroes.

Panama City - Day II

 Last week Jeff Bezos lost $13.5 billion as Amazon share price plunges. I lost a few thousands of the meager amount of stocks and 401K Portfolio I hold. He travels to space for his vacation. Down to earth, I visit Florida beach designed for commoners.

It is always darkest before dawn. The crimson Sun peeked from the distance South-Eastern horizon showering strings of rays on the sea. Early morning is the best time to watch the beach where it is barely populated with beach goers. A tightly holding couple drove an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) close to the beach, scaring a sea gull who dove into the water to get its first morning catch. The waves were low and the floating green algae were clearly visible, bumping into each other.

In my "Jagannth's Own Country", in my home state back in India we are endowed with lot of natural beaches, less commercialized rolling waves and golden white  sands. Once in a meeting of government officials, an Odia officer boasted before his counterparts from Goa, "Our beaches are better than your beaches. Your beaches are flat" - with our Odia bro pronouncing "Beach" as "B**ch" in his thick Odia accent. The Goa delegates were not amused.

We took an Airboat tour in a brackish marsh. What's the difference between a swamp and a marsh ? A swamp is stillwater. However in marsh the water is connected to tide and gets replenished. The captain of the boat craftly tore his way through the narrow marshy corridor of swallow water like a surgeon using scissors. 

There were thin, elongated greenish saw grass and grayish needle grass all around, tiny crabs hanging on their roots. Crab is a common feature of brackish water - Chilka lake in Odisha being famous to harbor some of the tastiest varieties of crabs. However we failed to see any snakes and  the much sought after alligators.

The sea was close enough to the hotel to pick its complimentary Wi-Fi. In the late afternoon it was pretty windy on the beach. You can fart loudly there without bothering about bothering anybody. Fart is meaningless in front of sea breeze,  Gone with the wind. The fun of walking barefoot on the soft, white sand is incomparable. The beach was immaculately clean with the soothing warm sand felt like nature's foot massager. Missed the JHAAL MUDHI (Super spicy puffed rice) sold on the Puri sea beach. 

Late into night we took another strol on the semi dark beach as rolling waves fell on our feet. A number of night owls inspecting the beach using their cell phone flashlights appeared like fireflies from a distance. The sea water was still felt warm late into the night, but the breeze cooler. More later....