Tomato and Egg Syndrome

 The other day I came across the news of protesters throwing eggs at their Chief Minister in Odisha, my home state back home in India. Riots, bottle, chair and stone throwing is a global phenomena. But throwing of eggs and tomatoes are very typical of India, probably extending to other South East Asian nation like our neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh. Why not potatoes and bananas, what's so special about eggs and tomatoes ? What's so special about as they say in Hindi ANDE KA FUNDA (Fundamentals of Eggs) ?

Not sure about the reason, but throwing tomatoes and eggs at the target, especially the rotten varieties is a very popular mode of protest (another one is throwing and garlanding with shoes and sandals, the older, more torn and dirtier the variety of shoe, more humiliating it is). Nevertheless all these items do add some value additions to the turmoil of protests, particularly tomatoes which don't come cheap as they are quite expensive these days.

Bollywood movies freely depict the throwing of eggs, tomato, shoes at unsavory characters. Immediately comes to my mind Amitabh's movie SHARABI where the Superstar forcing a Saree clad Ranjeet to dance on stage showing off his hairy chest and cleavage along with his protruding navel as the audience throws tomatoes at him.

A Congress politician from Odisha and now deceased, Lulu Mohapatra was the champion of Tomato and Egg politics. Protected by his Godfather who was an ex-CM of Odisha his henchmen left no stones unturned while throwing stones and off course volleys of tomatoes and eggs. After his death this trend too a break from Odisha politics until now as that culture is back again.

There are lots of juxtaposition between Egg and tomato other than the nuisance value of being used as missiles and projectiles. Both have high nutritional value. Egg has almost all vitamins except Vitamin C, i.e., it is filled with Vitamins A, B, D and E. Only Vitamin it lacks is Vitamin C. Tomato compensates for the lack of Vitamin C by supplying plenty of it. So being hit by a mix of Egg 🥚 and Tomato 🍅 missiles will provide the stipulated daily dose of Vitamins to the victim.

A la vitamins, Eggs and Tomatoes compliment each other as weapons of protest as well. Not to mention tomato and egg get along well in several dishes like omelets and sandwiches. Tomato as an ingredient enhances taste and flavor of egg curry. It seems egg and tomato, one non-vegetarian and other vegetarian are made for and married to each other, exhibiting cordial conjugal life on dining table and brickbats to be hurled at, a trait commonly shared by married couples.

The tomato and egg brand of politics in India isn't going away anytime soon. But like the legendary unsolved mystery - which one of chicken or egg came first, the query of which one the two, tomoto and egg comes first in the throwing sequence will remain unsolved forever.

Fortune drives the fate

 I finished watching the latest of the Narco series "Narcos Mexico" on Netflix. Set in the 1980s it has captured the life and progress of Mexican drug cartels, especially Miguel Angel Felix from a junior level Police official in the badlands of Sinaloa to a Billionaire Drug trafficker on international fame.

It was the time "El Chapo" the infamous drug lord who is currently in US custody was merely a driver in Miguel Felix's gang. He was called by his big bosses to fetch a pack of cigarettes, make them a drink and occasionally give them a head massage. Slowly El Chapo (meaning Shorty in Spanish) started driving the drug trade and driving the officials nuts on both sides of the US - Mexican border.

Drivers, also referred by better sounding Chauffeurs sitting close to their bosses and listening to their conversations have a history of learning the skills of the game and occasionally acting as henchmen for their masters. An ex-politician from India's state of Karnataka C.K. Jefferson Sharief started as a driver of a better known politician and ended up as a Cabinet Minister in various ministries during Congress time. 

In the 1987 movie SATYAMEVA JAYATE (Only Truth Prevails) the police inspector Vinod Khanna responds when threatened by the driver of a minister for stopping the later's car - MINISTER KA GAADI CHALATE CHALATE KHUD KO MINISTER SAMAJH RAKHA HAI KYA (By driving Minister's car you thought yourself as minister or what) ? That was reel life. But such arrogance of drivers of folks at the helm of affairs aren't something not entirely unheard of. In real life  C.K.Jaffer Sharief went one step further. He actually became a minister. 

Miguel Felixe was the Pablo Escobar of Mexico. In one scene the famous Columbian Escobar of Madeline cartel threatens Felix to feed him to his pet Hippos. Pablo Escobar was to drug trafficking as Pele was to Soccer - the all time great.

El Chapo rose from a mere driver to the driving force behind the famous Sinaloa Cartel - a billionaire drug mafia. Many stalwarts and his competitors in the drug business would perish sooner or later. He had couple of close encounters with death too but was tortunate to survive. At one point he was almost killed when gunmen shot his boss from point blank range and were about to execute El Chapo when he pleaded for his life - "I am just a driver. Leave me alone". "So can you drive our vehicles ?", he got an whimsical order. El Chapo wasn't in a position to decline such once in lifetime, life saving offer. He had luck to live another day until it finally ran out a few years ago landing him in one of America's maximum security prisons where he currently is.

There used to be a popular saying during the days of Mughals who ruled India at  medieval time - "TAKHT YA TAKHTA", meaning "Crown or Coffin". It aptly described the fratricidal wars fought between the brothers for the prized Kingship which knew no Kinship. In the end one ended up with Crown, the rest destined to graves.

Nothing much have changed. In the quest to control the lucrative drug trade many went unsung to their grave, but El Chapo survived by a whisker to earn the crown. Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted Don played the second fiddle to his brother. His brother was shot dead, Dawood got shot but survived. He is a rumored to be a billionaire now but no one remembers his brother. In our own state of Odisha a don Pratap Swain of Barhampur was slain on the street while his counterpart in Cuttack CHHOTA (Lame) Ananta was trampled under a truck. Yet one of their contemporary Dons who rumored to have survived a shoot out went on to become a well to do businessman still at the helm. Another one went on to become a minister.

Such a thing called Destiny ! It can be freaky - cruel and rewarding and destroyimg at same time. History is always partial to the winners, with losers destined to its dustbins. Life ain't fair and lovely. Fortune drives the fate. It is no better elucidated in the "Narcos Mexico" series.

RIP Akhlaque Ahmed

 I don't know him personally. He was my Facebook friend and different from a whole lot of others which I could make out from his no nonsense posts. His posts were moving, factual and fodder for real not fake intellectuals. I like people who can override emotions with logic. He was one such rare person. From his posts I figured out that he was a man of few words but his words carried a lot of punch, leaving no stones unturned.

Akhlaque Ahmed was few of those distinguished gentlemen who are now an endangered species. When trolled, vilified in a vitiated environment in which we live these days, he would never get reactive and ignore. This is something I need to learn as I often get reactive and don't hesitate to call spread a spread. But not reacting can irritate your troller further unless that person is a super BAHIA (Shameless fellow). On occasions Akhlaque Ahmed would respond with his intellectual sarcasm which understandably his detractors could barely understand.

Once while he was being trolled on one of his posts I respected sarcastically to one troller who was espousing India going to war - "I know many who I see here advocating war never stepped on a battlefield. Forget about holding a real gun, I am sure they have never held a toy gun in their life. They are the ones who now want to go to war". I got many "likes" 👍 to my response. Akhlaque bhai sent me a smiley ☺ - "You are getting more likes on my post than I get". I was flattered.

I came to know the other day that he was ailing. Something snapped inside me when I got the news today of him passing away to the other side of the world. It's always sad to see good people leave early. May he Rest in Peace in heaven.

Snake and the credit card

 What's the similarity between a snake and a credit card ? Sounds strange, isn't it ? A few days ago on the Smithsonian Channel I was watching a 15 feet long female King Cobra (Queen Cobra) somewhere in the Nilgiri Hills in South India hunting. King Cobra is one of those rare snake species which eats smaller ones of its own species. The gargantuan Cobra suddenly sprang upon her pray and bit it. Then she withdrew back to watch her pray, the 6 feet long Indian rat snake die an agonizing death in few minutes. The victim didn't have a chance when the bite of King Cobra is capable of injecting venom enough to kill 20 adult human or a full grown elephant.

In another episode somewhere in state of Maharashtra a brown Russell Viper fully camouflaged in dust was silently waiting for its pray - a big size rat. This snake is slothful and has poor eye sight but tremendous sense of movement. As the unsuspecting rat jumps close by the viper slowly crouches back and strikes at an estimated speed of 20 feet per second. Stunned by the strike and the lethal venom taking its effect the rat convulsed for a moment before being still as the Russell Viper non chalantly waits for its meal.

The other day after swiping my card at a local grocery shop, I waited for the transaction to go through - same as the King Cobra and Russell Viper waited injecting venom to in their victim's body. I was pretty sure that the authorization will go through in seconds, same as the serpents waited in confidence for their authorization of venom to go through their victim's bodies. My transaction went through in few seconds, the Cobra and Viper's transactions a few minutes.

Well, the analogy could sound far fetched but working in the credit card industry for a while I could see through it. Again the authorization depends on the balance on my credit card account. If there is no balance theauthorization will not go through. Same with these snakes. If they don't have any venom left their bites would end up as dry bites. As I would watch appalled, my confidence belied in case the transaction failed, the pray could escape the perplexed snake.

A credit card is useless unless I put it inside a chip reader or swipe it. The deadly snake venoms Neurotoxin in King Cobra and Hemotoxin in Russell Viper (it's like choosing between hanging or electric chair as death penalty) are useless unless the serpents insert their fangs, the same way my card is worthless as long as I don't swipe it at the point of sale at the Merchant's. Neurotoxin vs Hemotoxin is same as inserting a Chip card vs card swipe. End results for both are the same.

Post card swipe I get rewards for the purchases I make and snakes get rewarded with a hearty meal after the swipe their fangs into their victim's body. Snakes are needed to keep the balance of nature as credit cards are needed to balance the payments industry. Yet the similarities may not end there. Nature reminds us that we inadvertently replicate it in the real world a whole lot.

End of road for Ravi Sastri ?

 Finally it seems to an inglorious end of innings for Ravi Sastri, the man known to play long innings during his playing days. Known for his grit and patience he has a history of making comebacks when left for good. His exit from an administrative role was as damp squib as when he retired unceremoniously as a player, if I remember correctly after India's maiden tour to South Africa in 1992.

He was a hearthrobe of girls during his peak playing days and known for his cricketing acumen as it was said that he was the best captain India never had. But media and public in India never liked him. Though a great allrounder, unlike Kapil Dev and even Sunny Gavaskar he was never a man of the masses and was perpetually seen as a selfish cricketer, a rock like burden on his shoulders which he couldn't shrug off. On popularity chart many times he would be at the rock bottom. Glad there was no social media those days to be another fly in ointment.

Mountains out of molehill are made out of him. Much has been said about his abilities and disabilities. I am no fan of him, but I admire him coming a long way from entering the international scene as a lanky 19 year old leg spinner in 1981 to end up as an opener and a crucial all rounder of utility value, then on a managerial role post retirement.

When you are a celebrity you are no more a private person. The public believes they own you and you owe them. No one can be a celebrity without the acceptance of commoners but one still has his rights to privacy. But when there is a huge expectation bestowed on you, you are expected to meet that expectation by sacrificing your privacy in a cricket obsessed nation.

Unlike these days when most test matches end in 4 days and draws are quite unheard of unless caused by weather intervention, 1970 to 1980s saw plenty of dull draws. One of which I witnessed when India played Pakistan in Jaipur test of 1987 - the test match is remembered as the venue for Cricket diplomacy initiated by General Zia Ul Haq, the military dictator of Pakistan. The match ended in a tame draw, with Ravi Sastri taking more than an hour to move from 99 to 100. India lost that 5 match series 0-1, with the rest 4 tests in that series ending in draws. Sastri's image as a slow, selfish player who can kill any number of time to reach his personal milestones was cemented. 

Emotions when run high can swing like a pendulum. One day the fans put you on a pedestal, the next day they mercilessly troll you, shower you with shoes - literally happened so to Sastri. In 1985 when he returned as the Champion of Champions from Australia he was so overloaded with garlands that his face was barely visible. A few years later he was blamed for his slow scoring rate on March 1, 1992 when India lost by 1 run in a crucial world cup game in Brisbane against Australia. Though a silly rain related rule cost India victory, public put the blame squarely on the slow batting of Ravi Sastri earlier that innings.

Same day I happened to be in the temple township of Puri, Odisha. His effigy now ironically garlanded with shoes was carried on a donkey on the BADADANDA (Broadway) for a while before the straw made effigy was burnt. I asked one bystander PANDA (priest class folks from Puri) what all the commotion about. In his typical lingo he started showering Rabi Sastri's entire family with choicest of Odia expletives. (Not sure what Sastri's mother and sisters had to with his slow batting).The funniest part was the guy did not even know who the heck Rabi Sastri was. He just got tagged into the melee for the sake of fun and was emulating what his fellow onlookers were doing. 

Though this happened in Puri, you would think Sastri would have been spared in his home town Bombay. It didn't happen. I saw on Times Of India his pictures adorned strings of old, torn footwear (a sign of insult in India) and his effigies were burn all over the metropolis. 

I personally believe public has been a bit too harsh to judge him as he definitely has contributed to many India's victories - as a player and in management role. As expected he has been pilloried on social media. But he had seen enough in his life to get immune to these things by developing a Rhino's thick skin. Wish him a happy retirement life. Public memory is short and this too shall pass.

 

Why Republicans won Virginia

 Republican candidate won the Election for Governor of Virginia by unseating the incumbent Democrat. Though the state of Virginia has turned blue of late, the results didn't come as bolt from the blue to me due to following reasons :

1. Democratic base is not usually excited and charged up to come out and vote during these one off elections. They are known to come out in droves for voting during the Presidential elections. This time it was no exception.

2. The infighting between the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic party is in contrast with the united Republicans. Washington is broken. The inability of Democrats to pass bills is hurting them pretty badly.

3. Increase in gas price and visible inflation didn't help the Democratic incumbent, so also Biden's low approval ratings. Though economy is doing well people feel the pinch of gas price and inflation rather the rate of GDP or job growth.

4. The current Democrat Governor was defensive about certain local schools related issues which was fully capitalized by his Republican opponent to his advantage.

Virginia and of late my state of Georgia are light blue states. So a Republican winning there is no surprise. But what really surprised me was in the deep blue state of New Jersey the Democrat Governor barely winning by a slim margin. Too much taxes and New Jersey's property tax being the highest in the Unites States makes it stifling for the tax paying working class. My friends their who are hard working Democrats aren't happy with the high tax they are paying. Also ralleys in liberal strongholds Seattle, Minneapolis, California to defund the police hasn't gone down well in suburbs. These places may be far away from Virginia and New Jersey but it did reverberate and sabotaged the chances of Democrats in the suburbs. 

Politics is matter of perception. America 🇺🇸 is after all a Center-Right country. Perception of Democrats taking a sharp left turn has caused accident for them in Virginia and New Jersey. Unless they stay center-right it could hurt them pretty bad in the future. They need to be careful and focus being the champion of middle class rather than pander to their extreme Left base. Remember statistically 35% of Americans are Conservatives, 25% are Liberals and 40% are Center of Right. So a message to Democrats - do your Math here. Pandering only to the 25% of your Progressive base won't help you win elections. It's as simple as that.