Chandrasekhar Azad

 Not sure how many from the current generation remember Chandra Sekhar Azad, or even heard of him. He died this month of February in 1931. Let me take the opportunity to pen a few lines as a tribute to our forgotten hero.

Born in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Chandrasekhar was a born AZAD (free) revolutionary who destested living under the British rule. Once when asked his name, his impromptu answer was Chandrasekhar, followed by Azad. Azad was not his last (sur) name. He coined it to emphasize his penchant for remaining independent as a free man, as free as a bird. 

Chadra Sekhar was a young man with little patience to succumb to the British rule. He, along with his small band of merry men were perennial thorn in the flesh of the local administration. Led by him his gang surreptitiously launched some spectacular guerilla attacks on various British interests.

The French philosopher Russeau said - "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chain. Fate did not side with Chandra Sekhar for long. Betrayed by one of his close associates he was cornered by the police in a park in Allahabad. He fought tooth and nail until he realized that he was wounded and surrounded with a single bullet left in his repertoire. He shot himself with that bullet, preferring to die free (AZAD) rather than in hands of the British. He was only 24 years old.

We see numerous Gandhi Jayanti, Nehru Jayanti, again Gandhi Jayanti of another kind of Gandhi - Indira, Rajeev et all, living men naming stadiums after them. But rarely we see the forgotten heroes a la Chandrasekhar Azad given their due they earned by their indepth patriotism and fierce sense of independence. My salute to Chandrasekhar Azad on his 91st death Anniversary.

RIP Smarajit (Malla) Patnaik

 This year has started on a bad note for me. I am losing way too many friends too soon, too fast. He was my friend from childhood days, my classmate in D. M. School in Bhubaneswar. Popular among us by his nickname "MALLA" (means wrestler in Odia) for his chubby face and rotund figure, he went on to carve his niche in the field of medical science as a renowned Orthopedic doctor, much sough after by Who's Who of Bhubaneswar and beyond.

Though Malla, aka Smarajit Patnaik became a highly sought after Orthopedic doctor in Apollo Hospital, Bhubaneswar, he was always down to earth, forever enthusiastic to lend a helping hand to whoever and whenever solicits him for help. Last year my cousin's wife was struggling for life when the Covid Delta variant was rife in Odisha. When I contacted him he immediately arranged a much coveted Hospital bed for her which was almost difficult to get when the epidemics was at its peak. He was the one who made a difference between her life and death. If she is alive today the credit goes to him. In lieu of his help he asked for only one thing, pray for him as he was slowly getting consumed by the dreaded C - Colon Cancer.

Smarajit's life story is impressive - a case study of focus and determination. He was a decent student but couldn't reach his potential at an early stage. After passing from school when the more meritorious ones went to BJB College he had to settle for the lesser entity Maharshi College. After our +2 Science only half a dozen folks from our batch got selected into NIT (then REC), Rourkela. I happened to be one of them. A bunch of close friends came to bid us adieu at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station where we were waiting to catch Utkal Express on our way to Rourkela.

Smarajit took me to a corner of the platform and asked me - "I want to excel in academics, but just can't just focus. What advice you would suggest ?" I said that I may not be the right guy as I was hardly a focused person. So I outsourced the career councelling session to my close buddies and REC mates Debesh Khattoi and Biswajit Parida who were on the train to Rourkela and academically more focused than me. They left no stones unturned by churning out plenty of Gyaan (advices or Funda in REC lingo) for him to digest.

The very next year Smarajit qualified for the SCB Medical College, graduated from there, did his M.D later. He never looked back, becoming a very popular doctor who could do wonders in Orthopedics. Not only he was a great medico, his communication skills were exemplary. A soft spoken, an impeccably professional doctor and a good man too - all blended in one. Though he had an extremely busy schedule he would always find time to see me whenever I visited India every other year. He never failed to complement me on my blogs and told me once of sharing some of my writings to his son to improve his vocabulary. I was flattered.

A part of me snapped when I heard the news of him passing away. A stubborn and born fighter, he finally lost his battle to the dreaded disease. Sometimes I wonder about the vagaries of life. A doctor who cures patients from incurable diseases, often falls pray to the same. Great bowlers who take wickets of the best of the best batsmen often get out to ordinary bowlers. Astrologers who can predict other's future with immaculate accuracy can barely control their own fate. Burglaries in policemen's home aren't so uncommon.

As I finish writing my obituary, I can feel the blurriness of my eyelids, the view turning hazy due to the moistening of the corner of my eyes. Unknown to me, my reflex action took my glasses off using my fingers, wiping off my tears, tersly reminded of this Hindi song, an ode to my friend whose repertoire of love was never empty.

ZINDAGI SAU BARAS KI SAHI,

ZINDAGI KA BHAROSA NAHI;

CHAAND CHHOOP JAE KAB KYA PATA,

CHANDNI KA BHAROSA NAHI.

Transliterated..

Life is to live for hundred years,

But destiny is unreliable forever ;

Never know when moon goes hiding,

For Moonlight is not worth relying.

UP Elections 2022

 Midterm Assembly elections process is on in 5 states of India. But the apple of  everybody's eye is Uttar Pradesh, better known by its commonly used acronym UP. It is the largest state in India with a population of 250 million which sends 80 Members of Parliament making it politically important for all political parties. The state would be the 4th most populous country in the world by itself, slightly less than the population of United States (I am sure when the next Assembly election is held in the state, it would have surpassed the population of USA). Politically speaking, what UP thinks today India thinks tomorrow.

It's a pretty big state. I remember it used to take me almost 20 hours to cover the entire state when I used to travel to Delhi in the 1990s by train from Bhubaneswar. It would enter UP in Mogalsarai junction where we would snack on KHARBHUJA (cantaloupe chunks) and have dessert with PETHA (a sweet meat made from gourd) in Agra after nearly a day. It was pleasure to watch the view of the vast, green gangetic plains of UP from the train meandering through the fertile flora filled with paddy, sugarcane and myriads of vegetables planted on endless fields on both sides of the railway track.

In that context, it is important to throw some light on the ongoing elections in the state of UP. Opinion polls point to a close contest between BJP and SP. Mayawati's BSP and Congress party being marginal players, especially the later, the grand old national party of the Gandhis is virtually doomed. The results are still uncertain, though BJP seems to have an edge. As complex casteism and communalism is the leitmotif of cowbelt politics, it is a nightmare for any Psephologist worth his salt to correctly predict the outcome. Yet one outcome is certain - Samajwadi Party is going to at least double or even treble its tally from the last election. But the upper castes, especially the Brahmins seem to rally behind the BJP. Though they form only 15% of the electorates, Brahmins are influencial is shaping the outcome, especially in the Eastern UP where the election will be held in its last phase.

Nowhere the Brahmins wield more influence than the Temple city of Varanasi (also referred by its Anglicized name Benarus). It shares a lot of culture and customs with its cousin, the temple township of Puri in Odisha. Folks from both Puri and Varanasi have a passion for KUSTI (Wrestling) and BHANG (cannabis). Apart from being famous for Lord Jagannath and Lord Shiva temples, both contain huge cremation grounds, SWARGADWAR (The Gateway to heaven) of Puri by the sea and huge burning pyres on the MANIKARNIKA GHAAT (bank) of Ganga in Varanasi. And it doesn't end there. It is said that my ancestors, especially those Brahmins from Puri and its vicinity came from Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh.

Reminds me of this funny episode once narrated by a friend, a guy well connected to the family of Kamalapati Tripathy, erstwhile Congress MP and central Cabinet Minister during Indira Gandhi's time, who hailed from an influential Brahmin family from Varanasi.

During a cabinet meeting, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi once asked Kamalapati Tripathy, her Railway Minister - "Tripathy Jee, Babu Jagjivan  Ram (his minister colleauge from CHAMAAR or Cobbler caste) complains that you don't eat your meal sitting next to him." "Madam, I don't even eat sitting next to you, forget about him", came the prompt response from K.P. Tripathy. 

Indira Gandhi, though born Brahmin, lost her Hindu status after her marriage to Feroz Gandhi, for which she was never allowed inside the Puri Jagannath temple. Kamalapati Tripathy, a Brahmin from Benarus wasn't exactly expected to break breads with someone from the Scheduled caste community, not at least in that generation.

It has to be seen how Varanasi, a prestigious seat who flipped its MP to PM of the nation shapes the electoral map of the state in absence of the Modi wave which swept UP in 2017. No one expects such a repeat and I have a hunch the next phase will not only determine the ruler of Lucknow, also shape the politics in 2024.

Though this is an Assembly election where folks vote on local rather than national issues, BJP's campaign solely hinges on Modi and the current CM Yogi's popularity. Modi's campaign is bit subdued which could be deliberate, as he doesn't want any leader to rise in the politically vital state of UP - who can be a potential future power center and threat to him. 

In modern day politics a leader can have more enemies in his or her own party than outside. Modi, a wily politician, who has outfoxed his old, faddist and obscurantist rivals has exactly trodden the same path. He knowns very well, how many from his own party bigwigs dreading competition from regional satraps had always kept him on the sidelines, until the party was left without options.

Also, Modi being the one man campaign army has taken the risk of over exposure. BJP's strategy of taking risk in going for the kill solely with Modi may turn out to be an overkill. But no gain has ever come without risk taking and the PM from Gujarat is known to be a calculating risk taker. Come March, the day of reckoning and counting, we will find it after the votes in UP are counted. 

Maya Miriga - The illusory deer

 The noted Odia movie maker Nirad Mohapatra passed away today 7 years ago. The Award winning Odia movie made by him named MAYA MIRIGA (The Illusory Deer) from the 1980s made by him rings a bell.

I remember watching it one summer afternoon on Doordarshan in 1987, the only TV channel available in India at the time. The story revolves around a boy from a typical Odia middle class family who qualifies for IAS, the most cherished job in Odisha of our generation and the generation before (Odisha being a Feudal state Babus are respected more than entrepreneurs and achievers in art, literature and science).

In the movie the boy's success instantly puts him on a pedestal, catapulting him as the most sought after bachelor. Cars made beehive in front of his middle class home to beat each other in grabbing the coveted son-in-law. The boy ends up marrying a girl from the upper strata of the society.

The newly wed bride from the elite family could not fit to the middle class milieu. She does not like her husband sharing the same razor with his bothers, not unusual in middle class families those days when privacy and individualism hadn't percolated into the millieu. Though the down to earth boy has become a HAKIMA (big officer) he hasn't been able to get rid of some of his old habits which is detested by his wife as unhygienic and non elitist.

A very symbolic movie. A classic depiction of the dilemma in a middle class Odia family due to the sudden change of status in one of it's members. Like a trapeze artist the guy struggles to play a balancing act between his wife and the rest of the family, ending up in pleasing nobody.

Those were the Golden days of Odia cinema. Every other year Odisha used to produce many award winning movies. CHILIKA TEERE (On the banks of Lake Chilka), SEETA RAATI (Winter Night), NEERABA JHADA (Silent Storm not Silent Shit) to name a few. It did not take long for those movies to be shown on National TV as they perform poorly in box office.

I bought couple of newly released DVDs of Odia movies from my last trip to India. They were laced with plenty of Hindi dialogues and copycat scenes from South Indian movies with voluptuous women gyrating their hips, speaks volumes about the state of affairs about the current status of Ollywood movie industry. There was hardly anything originally Odia about them. It was difficult for me to watch them beyond 30 minutes. I threw them into trash, where they rightly belong.

RIP Sri Nirad Mohapatra, you were one of the last of the originals. May your tribe flourish in a state which is fast losing its language and cultural heritage.

The current crisis in Ukrain

 Russia is threatening to attack Ukraine. Rather Putin is threatening to do so, because in communist, autocratic Russia the dictator has his last word. We can say Putin is Russia and Russia is Putin, as dictator ruled states have no checks and balances as you would expect in a democracy.

Now question is why Putin is doing all these ? It could be due to two reasons. First being an ex head of KGB, the ubiquitous secret service of Soviet Union from the Cold War era he harbors grudge against West and NATO, especially the United States for breaking the erstwhile USSR and encroaching into its territory. He wants to bring back the old glory by gobbling up Ukraine and drive his point by preventing it from jumping into NATO's arms.

Secondly, USA the global superpower is perceived being week due its internal squabbling has led Americans being seen as a divided nation losing control over their global grip. Election of a nincompoomp like Trump as its President, the last year's incident of January 6 in the Capitol Hills and Afghanistan withdrawal fiasco hasn't helped America's image.

Western Europe, is seen more as a liability to NATO than asset. Germany, the strongest economy in Europe is weakest amongst the Western Europe nations as far as dealing with Russia goes. It is because its dependency on the later on its natural gas supply to keep Germany warm in winter. 

China in the meantime has cut a deal with Russia but they are shrewd enough not to openly back Russia as a full pronged war is not at China's interest when the Middle Kingdom's economy is not doing so well. Further hike in gas prices will hurt China, an energy hungry country heavily dependent on its oil imports to run its manufacturing engine.

In the meantime a lot of negotiations are being carried out in both foreground and background. Putin and Biden spoke yesterday for an hour. The President of Germany is meeting Putin after visiting the Ukrainian President. The French President Macron is deeply involved in talks with Russia. 

Realpolitik is a different ballgame. It should not be viewed in a simplistic way like a discussion at PANA, CHA DOKAN GULLI KHATTI (Light hearted chats a Gully joints like betel shop or tea stalls). Foreign policy negotiations aren't done openly on media - certainly not on the social media. Lot of deal making is done in the background which we don't know or probably will never know.

Most of world's biggest banks and other financial institutions are in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. International trading including that of crude oil is still carried out in US Dollars. If Putin attacks Ukraine the crippling sanctions which would follow can hurt Russia's fledgling economy pretty bad. Russia ain't China. It doesn't have economic muscles to flex. As Bill Clinton coined his famous campaign slogan - "It's economy stupid", power doesn't come from the barrel of the gun these days, rather from a country's economic might.

Putin may be aggressive, but he isn't suicidal. He has already withdrawn part of Russian military from Ukraine border as a gesture indicating he is open to negotiation. Hope he sees some logic and stops his misadventure. It will be good for him, it will be better for the rest of the world.

Rest in Peace Subhasis (Gora) Dikshit

 Our community has been jolted by this unfortunate incident of the sad and premature demise of Subhasis (Gora) Dikshit. Subhasis, his wife Swaha were great friends of mine and members of our community. This incident is devastating to all of us. Tanujaa and I share our heartfelt condolences.

The news came like a bolt from the blue last night. I knew Subhasis for a long time. He visited our home in the summer of 2015 when his son came to play in a Tennis tournament in Columbus. He was bubbly like a teenager and enjoyed my backyard which was green and full of vegetables that summer.

Complimenting me on my green thump, he picked one of about a dozen cucumbers lying in the ground, taking a sunbath and asked my permission to eat one of them. I replied him - "Eat as many as you want, but let me wash them for you before you eat". Like a kid he said - "Back in those days during our childhood in India do we used to wash our fruits and berries after we plucked them. We put them straight in mouth. It was fun then. Here in US we have turned way too formal". He had a point.

As they say in Hindi "BADI BADI KHUSIYAN HEY CHHOTI CHHOTI BATON MEIN" (Big happiness lies in light hearted talks). Subhasis was a great conversationalist who loved to debate. He spoke from his heart,, in a short sentences to drive his point. I loved his dark sense of humor which and impressed by his wit and sarcasm. He was a moving encyclopedia on myriad subjects. Nevertheless he was a great company I cherished, not to mention my then 10 year old son who loved the several magic tricks Subhasis showed him.

Something snapped inside me upon hearing this shocking news last night. He lived a lively life and was too young to leave. Our hearts go to Swaha and their son Niloy in the torrid time. Rest in Peace in heaven, my friend. Om Shanti.

RIP Lata Mangeskar

 She sang with KL Saigal, she sang with Mohd Rafi, she sang with Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and many many more legendary playback singers long on. She was the scion of Indian music - a gifted singer in all forms for all occasions.

Born in a Maharastrian family, she as well her other sister Asha and Usha (to a lesser extent) took up singing from early childhood. As they grew they met with more and more success. And I grew up with listening to her many songs, almost on daily basis on radio and later on television.

Many urban legends or what we call GULLIS were associated to her as well. Listening to her sweet voice (she was called India's Nightingale) an ultra rich foreigner fell in love with him (A Foreigner technically can be from Nepal or Bangladesh, but in Odisha it alludes to Westerners). He came to India to fully prepared to propose her. After seeing her he changed his mind dissuaded by her plain looks. I believed this tale until I was old enough not to believe it. Lata Mangeskar remained a spinster all her life.

Dilil Kumar once said about Lata about her Urdu accent (many Bollywood songs are rich in Urdu) - "UNKI AWAZ MEIN DAAL AUR CHAWAL KI KHUSBOO AATI HAI (From her voice Urdu smells like Rice and Lentil). This comment by Dilip Kumar was in poor taste. When the Maharastrians took up cudgel against Yusuf Khan (Dillip Kumar was his screen name) and the controversy was painted as an insipid remark by a Muslim actor against a Hindu singer, Dillip Kumar was forced to tender an apology.

Lata Mangeskar sang thousands of song in many languages, but don't think she ever sang in Odia (please correct me if I am wrong). She won a long list of awards including BHARAT RATNA (Jewel of India), India's highest civilian award.

With popularity came controversies too.  There were accusations of her using her influence to scuttle the career of many talented, upcoming singers from her time, e.g. Chandrani Mukherjee, Hemlata, Sushma Shreshta etc to protect the Manjrekar sisters (her sisters Asha and Usha) turf. Not sure if they were true, but she had an insecure childhood for which she was very protective of her family. For that she never married and probably it was her insecurities which led to going an extra yard to prevent any competition to the her and her sisters.

Though Lata-Kishore songs we arguably the biggest hits in the 1970s and 1980s, few years before Kishore Kumar died they had egotistical issues. Kishore Kumar refused to sing with her and even made it clear that he won't come to sing in any stage show where the Mangeskar sisters were invited. Nevertheless Lata Mangeskar produced a SHRADDHANALI (tribute) cassette (no CDs were there) for the legends Saigal, Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore and Hemant Kumar. The voice of India died at the age of 92 today. RIP the Great singer. Om Shanti.

An Ode to Khushwant Singh on his Birthday

 If Khushwant Singh was alive today he would be 107 year old. After a long, prosperous, eventful life he died at the age of 99. The man wrote his Novels and Columns until he was 96 - amazing fit at an age it is a challenge to keep sanity when one can't even think straight. When a young lady journalist asked him how long he will keep writing the ebullient Sardar replied - "No one has yet invented a condom for my pen". 

A brilliant writer, he tried his hands in multiple things - practised Law, worked at Indian High Commissioner Office in London, was a journalist who edited several Newspapers and Magazines, especially the famed Illustrated Weekly of India whose circulation jumped from a paltry 40,000 to a smashing half million in a few years under his leadership.

He always had a penchant to court controversies and cherished them as it helped him sell his books. When he worked in the Indian Embassy in London just after independence, the Sardar had a torrid time with his boss Krishna Menon, whom he described as a Double faced hypocrite and perennial boot licker. His best compliment to his ex boss was - "K. Menon was a bachelor, so also his father".

But not all his remarks were unpalatable, rather filled with wit and sense of humor. He had a home in the Hill Station town of Kasauli. When he was a member of the Rajya Sabha, his colleague the actress Nargis Dutt asked him if he can spare his vacation home to her for a few days. Khushwant Singh replied - "I will, but under one condition. You must say that I slept on Khushwant Singh's bed". Nargis burst into laughter, and as per him her laughter was one of the sweetest sights he had seen in his long life.

Khushwant Singh was known as a straight shooter who left no stone unturned doing character assassination of hypocrites, charlatans and sundry religious zealots. He had a lot of Muslim friends, his best friend was Manzoor Qadir from his lawyer days in Lahore. Per K. Singh just prior to independence the atmosphere in Lahore had turned vicious beyond redemption. A Muslim judge would give his verdict in favor of Muslim and a Hindu-Sikh judge otherwise. The polarization was complete. The fact that a Khushwant Singh had a close Muslim friend was talk of the town.

The call for Pakistan was at its height, so also Jinnah's popularity in the Western part of Punjab. The street in front of his house will have long procession of huge Muslim crowds chanting -

HAMNE LIYA Pakistan,

LADKE LENGE Hindustan.

"We got our Pakistan,

 Will fight and take Hindustan".

There was a strong belief amongst Muslims that one Muslim is equivalent to 10 Hindu-Sikhs. Though fallacious, many Muslims bought this theory. As situation was turning from bad to worse, Khushwant Singh decided to send his family & servant to Delhi and stayed back in Lahore to take care of some unfinished works before joining them.

One evening he was at his home, tired after returning from his trip to Rawalpindi to meet with a client. His friend Manzoor Qadir sudenly barged in, his body still shaking and voice trembling. In one breath he narrated the incident he saw earlier that day. He came back on a train from Rawalpindi which was stopped on the outskirts of Lahore. The Hindus on the train were dragged out, made naked to check their genitals (circumcision was the best way to distinguish between a Hindu and Muslims when they looked alike and spoke the same language) and swiftly butchered. No such check was necessary for Sikhs as their turbans and beards gave them away. All these killings happened right in front of Manzoor Qadir's yes.

Khushwant Singh was destined to live another day as luckily for him he was on an earlier train. He now decided not to delay anymore and drive his Jeep to Amritsar which he knew was safe. So he hugged his friend whose legs were still wobbly from the slaughter he saw earlier that day. Manzoor Qadir accepted the house key from K. Singh, promised to keep it safe until the situation improved. It would never happen and so also the promise by Jinnah that Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan will continue to live as usual. In fact Jinnah had offered K. Singh the position of Chief Justice in Lahore High Court. But destiny had its way.

The road to Amritsar was clear as Khushwant  Singh drove forward. Close to the city of Golden Temple he saw a vehicle coming from the opposite direction which stopped at a distance. K. Singh slowed down, took out his revolver and waited with his chest pounding. He felt relieved to see a few Sikh men jumping out of their vehicle and greeting him with SAT SRI AKAAL. He asked them - "How is the road to Amritsar" ? They replied in unison, "Don't worry. It is absolutely safe. We have cleaned the route off the circumcised children of pigs (alluding to Muslims). He felt instant churning in his stomach.

Khushwant  Singh kept his contacts in Pakistan intact where he visited often to meet his friends from childhood and Lahore days. Known to be friendly towards Pakistan, once he was invited by the Pakistani Consulate in Bombay where Premium Scotch and Kebabs was served. When the Sardar enquired the reason for the celebration, he was told that the party was to commemorate Pakistan's victory over India in 1965 War.

Khushwant Singh said, "May Allah grant you more and more such imaginary victories and may I be invited to such parties where Premium Scotch along with succulent Kebab is served."

The Sardar never failed to laugh at himself, his family and his community by compiling several books on Sardajee jokes. His father was a rich contractor, regarded as the man who built half of New Delhi. He owned multiple cars, a luxury then and wanted some CHANGAA (eye catching) numbers for his car. The naughty Vehicle Registration Office guys gave him a number - "SRI 420". The poor father couldn't understand why people were laughing until he discovered the cause - a SARDAR (Sikh) driving a car with SRI 420 inscribed on number plate.

There are lot of stuff on Khushwant Singh which is beyond the scope of this blog. But the Sardar has carved his niche in the world - from writing some serious stuff (his book "History of Sikhs" is a authentic reference to the history of the community) to his comic columns and raconteurs. Happy birthday to the legend.