Supernatural experience from 1857 Mutiny

Halloween reminds me of a Supernatural incident I read in a book a while back. Normally I don't give a whole lot of credence to these, but I couldn't ignore this in its historical context. One is free to believe it or not, but let me narrate it in my own words.

This was personally experienced by the daughter of Raja Ram Mohan Roy (King reformer of 19th century Bengal), who later became the MAHARANI (Queen) of Cooch Bihar. She encountered it when she was barely 10 years old. The time this incident took place was soon after Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. 

One summer she was doing what her renowned reformist father used to do - travelling around, teaching people to reform themselves from social evils prevalent widely in India those days. One evening their travelling entourage which included the young princess decided to stay overnight in a Bungalow near Kanpur in the present day UP.

After a long tiring day and evening meal the servants put on hammocks inside the long hallway before deciding to call it a day. Earlier that evening the girl had noticed stains of dried blood on the wall close to the floor but did not pay much attention to it. After midnight the princess was suddenly awake after she felt abnormally cold around her, very unusual for a North Indian summer.

She opened her eyes and looked around. Everybody was in deep sleep. She started hearing foot steps moving towards the wall. There was sound of marauding invaders, clanking of swords, followed by muffled cry from women and children begging for mercy. This continued for a while and finally stopped. The room was pitch dark and see did not see a thing. She lay still, was too afraid to close her eyes or call anyone.

Next morning she narrated this experience to folks around her. After some inquiry they found that during the Sepoy Mutiny barely a year ago, a group of English women and children took shelter in that hall in the night when they were trying to escape Kanpur. They were soon discovered and mercilessly butchered. All the sound she heard and the dried blood stains on the wall spoke for itself.

The Super Cyclone of 1999

 Touched by Bay Of Bengal on its Eastern frontier, Odisha, my state back home in India is prone to Cyclones (counterpart of Hurricanes in North America) which come churning their way through Indian Ocean before making landfall anywhere on the vast Eastern Coromondel Coast.

It took my memory back to this day in the month of October, 1999 exactly 24 years ago when arguably the worst cyclone of my lifetime to hit Odisha in the form of Category 5 winds close to 150 miles per hour knocking out trees, houses, killing humans and livestocks in several thousands. 

Caught pants down, the inept and corrupt administration in Odisha was unprepared for such an eventuality. It was completely caught by surprise, like a fox in front of searchlight - completely stunned, stoned and clueless. By the time the hapless authority could recover and gather strength and resources to launch some semblance of relief and rescue operation, the damage was already done in terms of life, property and reputation.

On that day in America, I was travelling on a new Consulting assignment to the state of Arkansas and just arrived at my hotel when my sister called and blasted me in one breath conveying the bad news from home. I rang up my father in Bhubaneswar expecting my call not to go through. It was a pleasant surprised to hear his voice at the other end, as our home phone was back working less than 24 hours after the storm. I was glad my folks were safe and sound, sans couple of fallen Papaya trees in our backyard and lot of coconut branches on ground.

There was no smartphone or Wifi those days. Face and book were two separate words - juxtaposing them into one entity was strictly fantasy. My hotel lobby had a few computers where I promptly logged into internet via now defunct AOL (America Online). There was a handful of Odia websites those days, but they were yet to carry any news of damage. Probably they were not in a position to carry news due to the power outage. Only a few web editions of national  newspapers provided some glimpse of the horrendous loss of life and property.

The picture got clearer after couple of days, as the weather cleared up. National media carried clear pictures of bloated corpses of humans and livestock floating in swamps created by retreating sea water, flies swarming around. Stuck in the debris, there were no dogs, only jackals, crows or vultures left to feed on them. The sight was gross and ghastly, still etched in my memory.

It was rumored that Giridhari Gomango, the Chief Minister of Odisha (equivalent of a Governor in US) at that time ignored the warning about Cyclone based on the advice of his personal Astrologers who sooth-sayed him with confidence not to worry, as the the Cyclone would skip his state. But the Super Cyclone hit the heart of Odisha with full force. Gomango took the brunt of widespread criticism on the aftermath of devastation and was subseqently forced out of his job. 

The powerful and disgruntled Congress leader JB Patnaik, the man Gomango replaced not long ago supposedly played some deliberate politics to accentuate the later's removal. Previously in power for 14 years he activated his widespread contacts and sleeper cells inside the all powerful Bureaucracy calling shots in Odisha to indulge in tardy distribution of relief materials, causing further damage to the reputation of CM Gomango who was unceremoniously removed. 

Since then things have changed a lot over the last two decades. Lessons were learnt from the mistake of 1999. The subsequent administrations have been doing a commendable job in disaster management. In meantime technology has grown leaps and bound. Modern day satellites are able to predict the path of Cyclones days ahead of landfall with accuracy. Time being the essence, prior anticipation and tracking of this behemoth single eyed monster has led to evacuation of public en masse, drastically reducing the casualty. This time prior to Fani hitting the Odisha shore, a million have been evacuated to Cyclone shelters. Though damages to property was extensive but valuable human lives were saved.

What hasn't changed is the corruption in the post cyclone relief distribution which may have gone from bad to worse. As my friend, young man Pravat Pruseth questioned - ୧୯୯୯ ମହାବାତ୍ୟାରେ ଆମେରିକା ସରକାର ପଠେଇ ଥିବା ପାଞ୍ଚ ହଜାର ଟଙ୍କା ମୂଲ୍ଯର ଗୋଟିଏ ଗୋଟିଏ କମ୍ବଳ  ଫାଇଭ ଷ୍ଟାର ହୋଟେଲ ଗୁଡିକରେ ପହଞ୍ଚିଲା କେମିତି ? (How come the blankets sent by the US government during super Cyclone 1999 manage to reach the 5 Star Hotels) ?

There were talks of some of the high quality tarpolenes donated from America to act as shelter cover ended up covering the cars of the BADA BADIA (Big Shots) in Bhubaneswar. The relief somehow manages to reach the greedy, not the needy. Good luck to my folks in Odisha. Take care and Stay safe from Cyclone season 🌀 this season.

Kumar Purnima 2023

 The festival of KUMAR PURNIMA (The Full Moon day of Youth) is celebrated in Odisha on the auspicious day of SHARAT PURNIMA, also known as the "Hunters Moon", i.e. the Full Moon immediately following the DASHAHARA festival. This year Kumar Purnima is celebrated on Saturday October 28, quite close to the Halloween on October 31.

Unlike the more prominent national festivals of DASHAHARA and DIWALI, sandwiched between these two major festivals KUMAR PURNIMA is very specific to the state of Odisha. The occasion is perfect when the prickly heat and slushy ground post the monsoon season gives way to a balmy, salubrious weather under a clear blue sky, culminating in full blown "Hunters moon" smiling on top of the sky, playing hide and seek with floating fleecy white cloud.

The young, nubile Odia girls pray on this day aspiring for a handsome groom, her Knight-in-Shining-Armor dream man to lift her in his strong, loving, caring arms to the distant full moon smiling above the sky. Boys and girls alike attire themselves in their new sets of clothes. Varieties of PITHA (rice based cakes) are cooked at home from the thinner variety called CHAKULI to the baked variety of slightly larger than Golf ball size "ENDURI PITHA", which are no doubt healthy and tasty, but BIRI or lentil component in it produces a lot of gas. My favorite is the rice based MANDA PITHA which is stuffed with grated coconut laced with jaggery.

During our childhood days, we used to have an extended Puja vacation in our village near Puri, with the much awaited Kumar Purnima a fitting finale to the extended Puja holidays. My first memory goes back to 1976, exactly 47 years ago under a sparkling silver moon, we kids would moon around the tall coconut trees, creating clouds of dust in the surrounding, still struggling to digest the sumptuous lunch of NADIA KHECHADI (ghee laced yellow rice with sprinkled grated coconut), Sweet Dal and an array of other delicacies, singing together...

JANHI PHOOLA THO THA,

KAKUDI PHOOLA THO THA.

GUNDUCHI MUSA KAHI JAUCHI CHAULA MUTHE THOI THA.

roughly transliterated...

Ridge Gourd flowers go burst, 

Cucumber flowers go burst.

The Squirrel has spread message,

Keep a handful of Rice for forage.

Today 47 years later, I stand in my backyard, deriving vicarious pleasure of another time looking at the fulll moon rising behind a starry sky through the pine trees - the virtual substitute for the coconut trees back home, as the swaying, chirping little birdies crisscross the crimson sky of the twilight. The plumpy feral cat chases away a squirrel, reminding me of the lanky kitty cat staring at us kids in our village from a safe distance as we went frolicking.

The slowly rising full moon goes hiding behind the pine trees, as the leaves swaying to the wind gusts try to wipe the dirt off its surface like a wiper cleaning a car windshield, giving me a clear view of the rabbit on the moon. An array of  Pelicans pass by cawing PAAON PAAON. The brightly moonlit yellow flowers of JANHI (Ridge Gourd) and KALARA (Bitter Gourd) leaves looked brighter smiling at me, reminding my good old childhood days, the nostalgic memories of a bygone era to cherish forever. HAPPY KUMAR PURNIMA TO ALL.

Turbulent time in America

 Politically it is turbulent time in America as the politics in the country seem to be in a mess these days. Fatigue had set in the House of Representatives as the house Republicans, forget being bipartisan, couldn't even agree among themselves for weeks when America is heading towards a debt defaulting crisis as the holiday season approaches. 

Donald Trump, the prospective Republican nominee for 2024 Presidential Elections and battling multiple court cases has virtually hijacked the GOP (another name for the Republican party). Stretching loyalty over Republican party's core principles, Trump has set the cat amongst the pigeons by supporting one candidate or the other for the position of House Speaker so that he can extend his control to the house Republicans. Finally, the candidate whom Trump perceives as most loyal to him managed to become the Republican speaker of the House.

Democrats aren't looking great. They are no lily white either. Bob Menendez, a Democratic Senator from New Jersey has been caught pants down, literally, as he was soliciting prostitutes. Per a joke shared by Comedian Bill Maher, Mendez had his rendezvous with a prostitute who alleged him for not paying her dues. Mendez justified his action - "I am socially liberal, but fiscally conservative". 

Menendez was found hoarding stashes of cash and gold bars all over his house, a phenomenon common in 3rd world countries. Joe Biden's leadership doesn't look very inspiring as he is managing an economy which looks wobbly. Wall Street might be doing well, but on ground, the Main Street doesn't see anything like that on the ground. For a commoner like me, everything from the intems in grocery stores to restaurants seem more expensive these days with no immediate relief in sight. 

The January 6 insurrection is now almost forgotten with anyone yet to be made fully accountable. 70% Republicans believe the 2020 Election was stolen. These kind of internal bickering between the Democrats and Republicans has resulted in hampering America's image as a global Superpower. China and Russia have started taking US for granted as American is no more perceived as the Global Policeman. Israel has attacked by Hamas as the terrorist organization at a time it pervasives America getting weaker. The middle eastern countries no more take the US leadership for granted. 

I believe in America's resilience. It has came out of the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s when a President was assassinated, followed by phases of bad economy and Watergate scandal. Hope the current downslide is arrested and America gets back to where it belongs.

RIP Bishen Singh Bedi

 He was an integral part of the famous of the spin quadret of India along with Chandra, Prasanna and Ventakragahavan who weaved magic on the field and weaved India's bowling attack for years in the days when India didn't possess a medium pacer of quality until the arrival of Kapil Dev in 1978. Bishen Singh Bedi, India's ex cricketer and Test captain in the 1970s, a prominent bowler, a great asset to India's cricket passed away earlier today at the age of 77.

He was a talented cricketer, aggressive captain and bit controversial too. A Punjabi, popularly known as Bishen Paaji, post retirement Bedi also played number of roles in cricket administration. During the 1990 tour of England when he was the manager of the team, he said - "Every housewife wants to seduce Sachin Tendulkar".

After losing the Test Series in Pakistan in 1978, India's witty Captain Bishen Singh Bedi gave three reasons for India's loss - the Cricketers, the Footballer and the Outsiders. Imran Khan was the Cricketers who played well against their arch rival, Footballer was alluded to Javed Miandad who padded all the deliveries from our spinners whereas the outsiders, apltly named for the Umpires looked the other way. India lost the series 2-0, leading to Bedi's outster as Captain. This was an illi fated tour when the visitors believed their rooms were bugged and from the day one started counting the remaining days to go back to India.

Mike Brearley, the scholarly English cricket captain, an average cricketer but a fantastic cricketing responsible for many English victories, had just one word to describe Bishan Singh Bedi’s bowling - “Beautiful.” Kapil Dev, India's best all arounder under whose leadership India famously won its first ever World Cup defeating the overwhelming favorite West Indies, said that Bedi was the best captain he played under, because unlike Sunil Gavaskar who was defensive both as a cricketer and captain, Bishen Singh Bedi believed that attack is the best method of defense. Bedi took the Captainship from Ajit Wadekar post India's infamous tour to England in 1974 summer when India was not only whitewashed but faced the ignominy of getting all out for a paltry 42 at Lord's, the Mecca of Cricket. He was an able captain who proved his mettle after series after series.

And Bedi was a pragmatic skipper too. During the West Indies tour in 1976 he declared India's innings in the middle when a fiery bowling attack led by Michael Holding and Andy Roberts sent at least couple of Indian batters injured, declared hurt and unable to bat again. It was the era without batters going to bat without the luxury of having a helmet. Bedi promptly declared the innings and surrendered the match. He was far from a coward, but prudent enough not to send the tail enders, his prized spinners to get injured and surrender the series. His decision proved to be wise. The 4 test match series ended in  1-1 draw, a respectable outcome against West Indies in West Indies those days, thanks to Bedi's practical thinking as a captain.

Several anecdotes attributed to him which Bedi had mentioned after the legendary writer Khushwant Singh passed away in 2014. Both Sardars used to meet regularly at the Bombay Gymkhana Club in the 1970s. Khushwant Singh mentioned Bedi as the first Sikh cricket captain in his book "History of Sikhs" and both were good friends. Every time they would meet Khushwant Singh would ask Bedi to tell him one Dirty Punjabi joke and in return the writer will buy India's cricket captain a drink. Bedi obliged under the condition of secrecy. He didn't want the nation to know that the Captain of Indian cricket team, that too a Sardar telling dirty Punjabi jokes.

Cricket, Controversies or Cricketing Controversies apart - Bishen Singh Bedi had carved his niche and left his indelible mark in the history of the game. RIP Bedi. Om Shanti.

My key to embarrassment

 A few years back, one fine afternoon I came out of a local Grocery Store and opened a vehicle's front door using my car key. It was my car, or so I thought. As I was about to get in, I had this weird feeling as if something is missing, something seemed very unfamiliar to me. I saw an open Cigarette pack and a lipstick on the passenger side seat. 

Instantly I realized that I have keyed into the wrong car. A car exactly same as mine - the same model, brand and color which was parked right next to my car. It was similar but not the same car. I could feel my heart pounding as I got out of it, looking around to make sure that no one was noticing in order to save myself from embarrassment.

On my drive back home on my car, I wondered how could I enter into another car using my own car key ? Is this an undetected defect with Honda, a renowned car maker known for its outstanding quality ? Even if it was an old car, I shouldn't have been able to unlock another car using my own keys. Has this happened to anybody in US before ? I apparently turned in my key to embarrassment as these thoughts were doing gymnastics inside by dumb mind.

Thankfully I drove my own car back home. Otherwise, if I drove home with the wrong car and my wife would have found the lipstick on the passenger side - I can't fathom the depth of her fury. I don't smoke. But I could have explained about the Cigarettes. But I couldn't have come with an alibi to explain the lipstic on the passenger side. My explanation - "It's not what it looks like, I can explain it" blah blah would have fallen into deaf ears, making me to look for shelters for the Homeless in my city. "Whew" - I was so relieved that nothing of that sort happened. It was definitely a close call.

I am now reminded of this joke. A man suddenly started wearing earrings. When asked since when he started wearing earrings, his answer was - "Since my wife found it inside my car". Glad I haven't started wearing lipstic.

Happy birthday Dr. Kalam

 Exactly 21 years go, in the month July 2002, K R Narayanan completed an uneventful stint as the President of India. Politically, it was a unique time in the country. The BJP led government was in power at the center by a slim majority supported by regional parties, whereas many politically important states had parties opposed to the ruling coalition of BJP. In the event of an electoral college based contest, the BJP led government at center wasn't confident of getting its candidate elected for the highest office of the land, though a ceremonial one.

Politics was simmering, as every party wanted to have a piece of the Presidential Pie. Though ceremonial, the Presidency of India is a prestigious post which comes a huge Bunglow at heart of Lutyen's Delhi along with myriads of perks at the tax payers expense. Also a President might come in handy if a party doesn't get a majority on its own in the age of coalition politics at that time). Some one came with the name of Dr. Abdul Kalam, a retired scientist and the brain behind India's indigenous missile technology for the coveted post. 

Lo behold, almost all parties fell in line for his candidacy (of course except the Communists who blindly oppose anything or anybody supported by BJP). Dr. Kalam did the unthinkable, where  parties as polarized as Shiv Sena and MIM, Muslim League agreed to support him (one probably have to point gun at their heads to make them agree on something). 

Such was the stature of the man who commands tremendous respect in a nation which is divided across multiple spectrum of politics, caste, creed, religion, language, sex and what not ! A man of unparalleled ethics, non controversial, workaholic and known as the man who forgot to marry (probably it contributed to stay focused in his mission).

People loved him out of respect and sheer trust, based upon his achievement and his unassuming, a down to the earth personality. When you are led down inside the earth in July 2015, you carried the burden of tears and great wishes of more than a billion people. RIP Dr. KALAM - my tribute to the man on his 92nd birthday.

Hamas's attack on Israel - October 2023

 It is the ides of October. This month is known to have its share of turbulence in history - from the famous October revolution in Russia in 1917, to the epic Wall Street crashes in 1929, 1987 and 2008 in the same month. This October, Hamas, Israel's bête noire, launched massive terror attacks in Gaza from land, sea and air, killing hundreds and taking scores of women and children as hostage. Israel's response has been swift. The nation has retaliated forcefully. This imbroglio has put the Middle East into crisis mode once again. And month of October isn't done yet. 

I am reminded of the famous cat eating bird story, one of the episodes from the epic Indian short story collection of "PANCHA TANTRA" (The Five Treatises). A bird was trying to make cat see sense with reasoning, proselytizing it to follow a peaceful, pious path. The cat feigned listening to the story in rapt attention. No sooner it got closer to the bird, than it jumped on it, killed and ate the bird. Moral of the story - Don't try to inculcate empathy, sense and righteousness into those who are unreceptive to such message. It is not only futile, it can backfire big time. No wonder, scores from a music festival in the quest peace, including one pro-peace American academic in Israel was amongst those killed in the Hamas attack. So much to senseless wokeism. 

Terrorists are terrorists - regardless of their religion, caste, creed or color. No matter what, shooting unarmed people in a music festival, taking women and children into captivity is a crime. Period. Also this is a rare but major intelligence failure of Israel's famed secret services Mossad which otherwise has many spectacular successes under its belt. Israel has already started striking back pretty hard. They aren't paper tigers soiled in unrealist belligerence and soaked in fake jingoism. It responses in kind to any attack on its interest without any hesitation. I can foresee Israel doing more harsh things in Gaza as United States has already extended it its blank support to the Jewish state. 

America's support to Israel is nothing new and unwavering. In 1948, when the state of Israel was formed, Harry Truman, then the President of the United States, a Democrat, immediately recognized it risking Arab backlash. Since then US has unequivocally backed Israel. Apart from perfunctory American aids and grants, Israel invariably gets the latest arms, ammunition and equipments from Uncle Sam. Whenever there is a resolution against Israel in Security Council, the nation gets the blanket support from the United States. You may very well say that Israel is the undeclared 51st state of the United States. More jews live in USA than Israel and are known to be traditionally rich and influential. 

United Nations (UN), an useless bloated bureaucracy has urged restraint and peace from both sides. As if Hamas and Israel care a hoot about its appeal ! In June 1981 when the Israeli F-16s bombarded Baghdad to permanently end Saddam Hussain's nuclear ambition, Menachem Begin, Israeli Prime Minister at that time was condemned by the United Nations. US promptly vetoed the resolution. I am now reminded of a cartoon by the eminent cartoonist R.K. Laxman on  newspaper "Times of India" depicting the UN Secretary General admonishing a defiant Menachem Begin, the Israeli Prime Minister - "If you attack again, you will be condemned more severely". 

Meanwhile, India has opted to extend its support to Israel and a Palestinian state, though it has denounced Hamas's action as terror. Whereas China, a country Israel holds in much higher esteem due to its business interests has urged calm. This symbolizes that Foreign policy doesn't run on raw emotions, but rather on pragmatism and harsh realities where protection of self interest based realpolitic rules the roost. This latest crisis shouldn't be viewed in the simplicistic prism of another religion conflict. Middle East is much more complex. 

I have seen a few Right wing supporters in India who never held a gun in their life, volunteering themselves to fight for Israel. Relax folks. It is fine to extend your moral support, but it is a different thing to fight an actual war. Israel can take care of itself and doesn't need any unsolicited, untrained mercenaries. No wonder China, which puts religion into back burner before its national security has urged restraint without taking any sides. Let our government's foreign policy do the whatever is appropriate in the interest of our country. Whatsapp University graduates, fighting wars is not your forte. Please stay away from this.

Happy birthday Akshaya Mohanty

 If alive, the legendary Odia singer Akshaya Mohanty born this day in October, 1934, today he would be 89 year old. Like Kishore Kumar, he was a virtuoso, a multifaceted artistic talent from Odisha. Though better known as a versatile singer, the lyricist in him penned many songs - from serious to romantic, from comic to tragic ones. The music all rounder in him arguably stood him above the rest of the contemporaries from his generation, which included a field of gifted artistic talents from the state of Odisha, the likes of Pranab Patnaik, Chitta Jena, Sikandar Alam, Prafulla Kar.

Khoka Bhai (he went by this alias), started singing in the 1950s and was at his peak during 1970s. During that time he made the cardinal mistake of quitting his cushy government job to fully focus on his musical career. Unfortunately for him, he belonged to a state better known as the graveyard of artistic pursuits.

The milieu those days when government was the main employee provider looked down upon and harbored anathema towards anything but secured SARAKARI (government) job. He could have rubbed Clarified Butter on his moustache (NISARE GHIA MARI) and worked nonchalantly in his government job nonstop till he attained the age of 58, stil would have continued to sing untill his death, completely assured by the safety net of a "Sarkari" pensions. But he took a risk to follow his first love music and like most first loves in life it didn't materialize for him and remained still born, him paying a big price for quitting his government job.

Khoka bhai (his popular nickname) sang many Odia hits. His records sold well. He was hugely popular and immensely admired, yet his going professional in the field of music did not fetch him the remuneration to amply compensate for his ability. By mid 1980s he was not in good economic shape. Everyone admired his songs and music, but going pro didn't provide him a sustainable source of income. He took to alcohol and continued to abuse himself. My brother-in-law who interacted with him extensively during the maestro's trip to Chicago in June, 2001 often found him drunk and staggering around. His reckless alcoholism probably cut short his life and career as he died only a year later in the year 2002 before reaching the age of 70.

After listening to Akshaya Mohanty's title song from movie "JAJABARA", Lata Mangeshkar suggested him to try his luck in Bollywood. But a laid back Akshaya Mohanty would never did that. He visited America multiple times and enthralled the NROs (Non Resident Odias) with his nostalgic songs. My memory goes back to the year 1979 when his trip to America was well covered in the local media. Those days coming to America used to be a big deal. The legendary singer, post returning from his America trip quoted in the popular local Odia daily "SAMAJA" - "even cats and dogs are better off in America than humans here".

India has come a long way since 1979, now a 4 trillion dollar economy chugging ahead. Visiting America is no big deal to get publicized in local newspapers. But those were the days. Soon came out a song composed and recorded by him based on his first hand American experience,

AMERICA RE PREMA HUE
BEECH ROAD UPARE,
AMA CUTTACK RE PREMA HUE
BHAI RASTHA PACHHARE.

Transliterated....

 (Love in America
  is a road side show,
  In Cuttack love happens
  behind Rickshaw).

The young generation in Odisha since have lifted their veil of shyness, enjoying their amorous aventures in middle of parks and pubs - even on BEECH (Middle of) roads as hand pulled Rickshaws have given way to their Autorickshaw cousins.

Saluting the Maestro and wishing him a Happy Birthday, let me end my ode to him with this funny number, which he penned himself,

"PREMIKARA BARIADE BAIDHANKA
AU BICHHUATA BANA,
DEKHIBAKU MANA CHHANA CHHANA
KUNDAAI KUNDAAI GALA PRANA".

Roughly transliterated

"My beloved's home backyard
Has a jungle filled with Poison Ivy,
In the eagerness to watch her stealthily,
I had to scratch myself heavy."

Happy birthday Amitabh

 Today is the Birthday of Amitabh Bachhan, an icon in Hindi movie industry, popularly known as Bollywood (aptly named after Hollywood, the way we love to copycat). There is this dialogue from his movie "KAALIA" - "Hum Jahan Khade Hote Hain, Line Wohi Se Shuru Hoti Hai", meaning, "Wherever I stand the line starts from there". The movie from the year 1982, incidentally the time when Amitabh was the one man Bollywood industry. He was the no. 1 to no. 10 choice of the Bollywood movie viewers, the rest came way behind. So much so that the popular actresses of that time were scared to be his leading ladies, lest they will be eclipsed by the actor standing tall above the rest. 

Amitabh started his career in the year 1969 in a forgettable movie "Saat Hindustani". He struggled for 4 more years and at one point decided to leave acting until back to back hits Zanzeer (1973) and Deewar (1974) put him on a pedestal from which he never looked back. By 1980, he had already established himself as the Superstar of Bollywood. He was considered too tall and lanky to play the lead role as an actor. Those were the days, 6'2" was considered being too tall and Jaya Bhadudi with a diminutive height of 4 '8" survived well (incidentally they got married to each other). 

In late 1960s, days before getting into acting profession once Amitabh visited Mahmood, a comedian and a better known actor of the time along with his close buddy Rajiv Gandhi, the eldest son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Not knowing Rajiv Gandhi, Mahmood told Amitabh - "You are too tall, lanky, devoid of a hero's look. Better try your hands playing the role of a bad guy". Then glancing at Rajiv Gandhi he said - "However, your friend is a handsome dude and got looks fit for being a hero. He may try his luck in Bollywood". Fate had its own way. A decade later in 1979 Amitabh was the undisputed king and Superstar of Bollywood after the stupendous success of his movie  "MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR" where he vanquished Vinod Khanna, his sole challenger at that time.

Prior to his first hit ZANZEER, Amitabh reportedly contemplated quitting movie career (Similar to Kishore Kumar who thought of retiring before the success of his songs from ARADHANA). The rest we know is history, as he established himself as the one man industry. So much so that, in the1980s he got away with mediocre performances in junk movies like MAHAAN, JADUGAR etc churned out one after another by the likes of Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra.

The saga of this talented Mega star (he was above and beyond a Superstar) is beyond the scope of this blog. Some, if not all of his movies impressed me enough to make them watchable even today, especially many of them laced with the golden voice of Kishore Kumar who was the playback singer of many of Bachchan's hit movies (its rumored both fell out with each other in 1984 after SHARABI. Kishore Kumar refused to sing for Amitabh after that when Shabir Kumar, not Kishore became his voice).

The other day I was watching one of his movies - NAMAK HARAM (Untruthful to Salt), a movie in which he acted along with the contemporary Superstar Rajesh Khanna. Though Rajesh Khanna hugged the limelight in that movie, Amitabh showed flashes of brilliance with his trademark angry young man acting using his baritone voice. Needless to say, he showed traits for a promising future. He not only became a superstar, but ended up being the Megastar, a record no one has broken since.

The movie has a strong undertone of Socialism, the fad during those days. Rajesh Khanna asks his friend Amitabh, who plays the role of son of a rich business tycoon, the price of "Chivas Regal", a brand of Scotch they were sharing together. It was Rs. 250 a bottle in 1973, a hefty amount these days - more than a MAZDOOR (worker's) salary. The price of a 60 ml shot of Chivas Regal costs twice as much these days in any decent hotel in India.

As the movie progresses, Amitabh is advised by his father not to trust his friend Rajesh Khanna, because the later is from the middle class. He warns his son - "Your friend belongs to the middle class. Folks from that class, though they vouch on their ideology and principles, can also be very ambitious and hence dangerously treacherous. Perennially looking for opportunity to move up, they can easily drop their pretense of ideology cloaked in hypocrisy to do anything to climb up the social ladder. Hence the middle class folks should never be trusted."

Very apt and prophetic statement. Upper class folks born with silver spoon in their mouth, mostly have a smooth sailing in their life. The barely ambitious lower class look forward their next meal. The middle class always have that feeling, "I would love to be there but I am not yet there, may be some day." 

They day dream about reaching the status of those "haves". Competition is cut throat and jealousy is the highest amongst the middle class. Some of them, are capable of doing anything and everything, by hook or crook for upward mobility. 

The burgeoning middle class in last few decades just strives hard to do that, a desire to get rich overnight at any cost. They are the ones who are pretty much mostly responsible for all corruption and scams we see these days.

The tall ambition of the middle class as described by the actor Om Shiv Puri in this movie is dwarfed the acting Lamboo (Tall) legend who delivered his classic closing monologe in the movie. Don't think I will see anyone close to Amitabh's stature during my lifetime. Happy 81st Birthday to the legend. Hope more to come.

Trip to New Jersey - October 2023

 The drive from New Hampshire to New Jersey wasn't too bad. We hit the New York - New Jersey border at the asjunction of I-87/I-287 around 4 O'clock during peak traffic hour on a Friday afternoon, expecting heavy traffic as I lived in that area for a year during 1999 - 2000 and familiar with it. Though the interstates were packed with vehicles, yet it was still moving at a reasonable pace. Later, I discovered the real reason behind it. Post pandemic, many these days are teleworking, especially on Fridays, having found the pleasure and efficacy of working from home. It explained the lesser than usual traffic on  Friday peak commuting hour. 

There are too many big and small sized states in the North - Eastern USA bordering each other. We drove 250 miles covering 6 states in less than 5 hours - New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. This area is densely populated and congested. On the roads you can see signs for Moose alert, similar to the deer alert we see on the roadways in South. While driving during night time, we saw a bunch of tiny Foxes, trudging behind Mama Fox crossing a local highway and giving us a curious look in their glittering, golden eyes, foxed by our car's headlights staring at them. 

New Jersey was chilly today, at least for someone who is visiting from warm South. In a span of 5 days we have seen a gradual drop of temperature from 84 degrees (28°C) to 39 degrees (3°C). That's typical of Fall when weather can swing like Pendulum. It might be Fall here, for me it was any normal winter day in Columbus, Georgia. Not much sightseeing, rather socializing to do with my old friends, we mostly stayed indoors, keeping ourselves warm and fuzzy. 

New Jersey has a sizable expatriate population, especially the "Desis", a popular slang in America to depicts the Persons of Indian Origin. The gas station we stopped by the fill my tank was filled with Desis. Whenever we stopped our car at a red light stop (we hit quite a lot of those due to heavy traffic here), you look left, you see a Desi in car, you look right, you see another Desi. 

75% of the occupants of the Community where my friend lives in Hackettstown in North-western New Jersey are Desis. So much so that many have planted LAUKI (Bottle Gourd), KAKHARU (Pumpkin) plants in front of their home, rather than in backyards where we normally have our kitchen garden. I asked my friend what makes our Desi Bros and Sisters to have their kitchen gardens in front rather than in their backyard ? He replied - "First of all, the backyards here are relatively smal compared to what you have in Georgia, too small to plant veggies. Only the front yard has some space to spare and some use it to their advantage. Secondly, few get greedy, looking to harvest veggies from both front, backyard and sides of their home, making the optimal use of available space". I asked him - "Doesn't your HOA (Home Owners Association) complain about bottle gourds hanging over Mail boxes ? Though a huge fan of gardening, I don't like the idea of planting Kalara (Bitter gourd) and Lauki (Bitter Gourd) in front of house. It spoils the aesthetic value of the milieu". My friend replied - "The HOA here is spineless". 

Today morning in New Jersey was cloudy, windy and chilly followed by intermittent rains throughout the day. In late afternoon the sun showed up, peeking downwards through the clouds to have a bird's eye view of the mountains, sluttering streams and fall foliage, scattering its luke warn rays to sparkle the yellow leaves. New Jersey is filled with trees, hence know as "Garden State" which is proudly displayed on car tags. The leaves here are still yellow and getting into shades of brown before turning red. The cold mountain air barged through the fall foliage, its rustling though mountains sounded like roar of waves crashing on a sea shore. The howling wind from the northern Appalachian mountain range made the multi color leaves fall on the ground, as if trinkets and color papers fall on the stage marking a popular Miss World event show on TV or Democratic/Republican party convention in a Presidential Election year. We, from South scared of the cold looked at the splendid sight from the balcony well ensconced in the comfort of home. 

I heard many complaints about the inordinately high cost of living in this area, about the exorbitant tax and spend policies of subsequent liberal governments for long time is making these North Eastern states more and more unlivable. Many are considering migrating South to escape from high sales, income and property taxes as well as unaffordable insurance costs. The rising income inequality is conspicuous. Nevertheless, loved the pictures of fall foliage, the pictures of paintings and sculptors of Museum of Fine Arts - overall a picture perfect vacation.

Trip to New England Day II - October 2023

 Beautiful Boston. Today we are Boston Brahmins (The term Boston Brahmin denotes Boston's traditional elite upper caste, we are no way close to them, we are just two poor Brahmins visiting Boston). Today, my wife and I went to visit the Museum of Fine Arts, a major attraction in the historic city of Boston in the United States which was the center of patriot independence movement when the Americans drove their English colonial masters away from their homeland. 

I am a poor artist. Forget art, I am very bad at drawing objects, but it hasn't stopped me from appreciating art. Art and artists always fascinate me. Like art, I tried my hands in writing poetry and failed miserably there too. But I love reading poetry, Keats and Shelley being my two most favorite English poets, Ghalib and Gulzar their favorite Urdu counterparts. Similarly I admire the great artists from Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh to Picasso of Guernica fame and our own Indian counterpart, Raja Ravi Verma. 

During my school days my talented friend Bishnu Rath used to seat next to me during our Exams (a brilliant guy who was my junior in Computer Science in NIT Rourkela, topping his class). In my Biology paper I had to draw the picture of a Frog. How many times I tried to draw the animal, the frog looked more and more like a dog. Bishnu, a brilliant artist who was sitting next to me could sense my discomfiture. When the invigilator went out to get some fresh air on that hot, steamy day, he bent over and drew a quick sketch of a frog on my paper. I just had to connect the dots on the outline and lo behold, a beautiful frog just jumped out of my Exams paper. It was a picture perfect experience. 

My futile attempt to draw didn't end there. In early 1990s we had a pet dog and wanted to put up a signboard in Odia displaying "କୁକୁର ପ୍ରତି ସାବଧାନ" (Beware of Dogs) in front of our house for the benefit of unsuspecting guests. Until we had painted it on a tin platter by a contractor, I thought of putting a temporary placard handwriting on a thick piece of paper. So I wrote "କୁକୁର ପ୍ରତି ସାବଧାନ" in big, bold Odia alphabets and drew a picture of a Doggie. 

No sooner I put the board in front of our gate than our neighbor stopped by and remarked that my sketch of a dog looked more like a "ବାଛୁରୀ" (calf). Then couple of more neighbors remarked the same. We have this Odia DHAGA (proverb) "TINI TUNDA RE CHHELI KUKURA", meaning, "Three mouths can turn a goat into dog". In my case, the remarks of our three neighbors conveted my hand drawing of a dog into a calf. It was the final nail in the coffin of my artistic endeavor. 

But it never stopped me from appreciating art, figures and figurines. I admired all things of beauty as pieces of art. I follow the art masterpieces on social media shared by my artistic friends and can't stop admiring their talents. The forests I saw yesterday in New England filled with red, fiery trees full of hues are nature's greatest piece of art. Writing, which for me has become an habit from hobby is also an art. In this context my visit to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston was quite significant. 

On our drive to Boston we were floored by the fallen leaves sweeping the floor of the road. We passed by topsy turvy mountain roads interspersed with lakes on both sides, stars glittering on crystal clear water on a sunny Fall day. Downtown Boston looked archaic but full of trees and people riding bikes all over the city. We entered into the Museum of Fine Arts an hour past noon. 

The Museum had a wide collection from ancient Egypt, Greek, Mesopotamia, Chinese and Indian Civilization to modern European and American art and culture. The most prominent one was a painting of Picasso. I also saw sculptors of Yakhi, Yakhini, Buddha. Their were several by American Revolution era painter John Singleton Copley who made  portraits of his rich patrons, business tycoons Nathaniel Sparhawk, Isaac Royal and lawyer Edmund Quincy. The hardly smile on their painting, the reason being their bad teeth in an era sans modern dental care. Also the subjects proudly displayed their plumpy and rotund figures as they were considered as healthy sign, a sign of prosperity those days. 

New England is expensive compared to Georgia, starting from the price of gas to everything else except the locally produced Maple syrup which is cheaper than what we get in Georgia. A few locals I talked to have never been to Georgia, some even said that the last time they heard about it when they were in high school. A gentleman exclaimed - "You are far away from home, my friend. I had been once to Atlanta in month of August. The place is too hot and muggy to live there". I replied - "Same here. I will be a frozen Turkey if I live here". Grass is always greener on the other side, same as we say in Odia - "DOORA PAHADA SUNDARA" - the far hills looked beautiful as we are preparing to bid adieu to New England. See you again soon...

Trip to New England Day I - October, 2023

Today I am a Fall guy. Right now I am right on the border of New Hampshire and Vermont to watch the Fall foliage and create memories for future to Fall back on.

Weather here in beautiful New England is simply gorgeous, cool and crispy. Breathing a lung full of pure, mountain air cools down heart and mind. I expected it to be lot cooler, but it rather feels like late October in Georgia - the weather soothingly warm and bright.

When we entered into the state of Vermont, we realized that it became the 43rd state for us to visit in the United States out of a total of 50 states. Only the North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho and Utah remain to see our visit. We are staying right next to the New Hampshire River which separates the states of Vermont and New Hampshire as a natural border, same as the Chattahoochee River separates the states of Georgia and Alabama.

The whole New England area is ablaze in Fall foliage. Last time I saw the spectacular Fall foliage of New England was in October 1997 when I visited Manchester in New Hampshire. Now I am back to New England again, in Vermont, to get drenched in the Fall color, soaking up the warmth of the sunshine on a crispy Fall day. Nothing vindicates John Keat's famous "Thing of beauty is a joy for ever" more than the beauty of Fall foliage in upper New England in full blaze.

Our drive on Vermont's State Highway 9 West on its famous Green Mountain was breathtaking, can't be explained in words, only to be seen in your own eyes. The bright, colorful leaves on faraway blue hills appeared as if the trees were filled with yellow and red butterflies fluttering under cool breeze under a crystal aquamarine sky. I saw a bright red leaf falling and suddenly it started defying gravity, deftly wafting upwards by the cool afternoon breeze, only to.drift further away, melting into the bottomless abyss of the mountain.

The lined up trees ladened in gorgeous fall color reflected on the blue lake water kissing their feet, creating another set of colorful, symmetrical and mysterious parallel universe underwater. The far hills covered in fall foliage seemed like a bunch of tall beauties in blue caps wearing red and yellow lipsticks. A string of long trees looked like tall, pretty girls wearing colorful embroidery of red and yellow weaved together on a Sambalpuri saree. What a enthralling sight it was !!!

Standing on the historic Creamery covered bridge in Brattleboro, Vermont we watched the soothing music of a silvery, gurgling mountain spring spiraling downhill. A canopy of trees filled with color was shedding the spring from both sides, as a loved wraps his strong, protective arms across his beloved. Pretty leaves were falling into the arms of the gurgling mountain spring, somersaulting, dancing and drifting away to someone's arms of in some distant, unknown fairyland, same as a moth falls for the flame, draws into it to knowingly to get burnt. Unwillingly, I was murmuring a stanza from the epic Odia song from the movie "MANA AKASHA" (1974) -

"RE BANA JHARANA,
NAACHI NAACHI JAANA.
E MORA MAINA,
DHARAA DIANA."

Transliterated

O Forest Spring,
Don't go dancing.
O my dear Myena
Always keep escaping.

Watching the mountain spring streaming down I couldn't stop remembering the following Mukesh number from Sanjeev Kumar's movie "ANOKHI RASTA"..

"TAAL MILE NADI KE JAL MEIN,
NADI MILE SAGAR SE .
SAGAR MILE KAUNSI JALME,
KOI JAANENA".

Transliterated,

"Spring falls into river,
River goes into the sea.
To which water the sea merges into,
No one ever sees".

I was wondering too which river the sea mergest into. More later...