28 years in the United States

 This month I completed 28 years in the United States. When I first came to US in June, 1996 my interview with the American Client was a whole lot easier. The person interviewing me was from REC (Now NIT) who was living in USA since early 1980s. Without asking me any question he said - "You are from REC. You can do it". That was it. Within a week I was on a flight to US.

Following is a typical telephonic interview (imaginary of course - but most interviews those days were like this).

American Client (AC): Hello.

Indian Programmer (IP): Hello Saar.

AC: What is your name ?

IP: My name is Gummudipoondi Krishnaswami Kathirvelu Rao.

AC: What is your qualification ?

IP: Saar. I have done BE in Electronics Saar and Compooter course from NIIT Saar.

AC: What is full form of COBOL

IP: Common Business Oriented Language Saar.

AC: What is C++

IP: C++ is an Object oriented Programming Language Saar.

AC: Do you have a passport?

IP: Yes Saar.

AC: You are appointed.

IP: Thank you Saar. Thank you Saar. Thank you very much Saar.

AC: Okay okay. Best of luck, reach soon.

Indian programmer in US shore within 72 hours or maximum within a week. Seriously, all that clients wanted to know was :

- If the Indian Programmer has done some Computer course and know something about programming.

- Can the person understand what I speak.

- Can I understand whatever he/she says.

- And does the person has a passport valid atleast for one year?

BTW : Quite a few of my "Nalaayak" (nincompoop) friends flew to US without knowing anything, learnt everything from Onsite projects and have done quite well.

Yellowstone trip 2024 - Day IV

Our fascination towards visiting National Parks continued as we continued our journey to the nearby Mount Teton National Park in the neighborhood snaking through the topsy turby mountain roads. On the way we stopped by the sparkling blue and beautiful Lake Lewis. The Chinese leader Mao famously said "Let thousand flowers bloom". If he saw this lake in Yellowstone looking at its surface he would have said - "Let  thousand stars glow". 

The song "America, the Beautiful" echoes a lot after visiting Yellowstone. I would count it as one of the prettiest on earth. On our way to Mammoth Springs inside the Park we stopped by at Gibbon waterfall. It is a relatively small Waterfall with waves of water gurgling down the hill forming a stream into the Yellowstone river traveling to an unknown destination. 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 knows, ever sees". 

We came across a lot of flora and fauna. The entire Yellowstone is filled with Pine trees, but they are smaller in size compared to those we see in Georgia which are taller, larger and bushier. We saw a big family of Bisons nonchalantly munching grass. The head of the family, a big burly bull Bison with balls size of coconut swinging like a pendulum behind him was blocking the road with the stranded motorists taking pictures of him. The Bull Bison who must have fathered several bastards all his life stood like a champion, remaining unmoved, then melted away after having the fill of his photos taken. We saw couple of Elks munching foliage and a Coyote pooping close to a pool formed by a hot spring. I am so jealous of the animals in the wild. They lead a wild life without stress. They just eat shit and fornicate without bothering about life's blues. 

At Mammoth Spring we saw sputtering water heated by underground Geothermal power of volcanic lava perennially constipated. The water of the hot spring seemed to be boiling enormous amount of bluish white sapphires eager to blurt out to open in quest of freedom. The water rolled down the walls of huge reddish-yellow walls of stones creating a spectacular view to capture in mind and camera. 

The highlight of our trip was the helicopter ride which enabled us to have an Eagle's eye view of the Yellowstone river snaking through and the enormous number of dwarfish pine trees pointing their arrow like green needles to us above 800 feet up in the air. The snow clad mountains were basking under summer sky with white, fleecy clouds trying to kiss them. The clouds of smoke emanating from the numerous geysers and hot springs gave a mystic hue to the horizon. 

Heard a new word "Tourons", which means tourists who are morons. No long ago a drunk touron picked up a fight with a Bison and was saved from being gored by an alert Park Rangers. Another came accompanied by a chicken and tried to cook it inside one of the steaming hot pools, only to be fined $200 by the Park authorities. He could have given it to me and I could have gladly cooked him a nice chicken dinner for half the price of the finest. A lady once came with detergents and tried to give her cloths a hot wash before the bystanders reported her to the authorities. Moral of the story - "Don't wash your dirty laundry in public". 

It was our last day well spent at Yellowstone Park. We added 4 new states to our kitty. Now we have covered 47 states in the USA. Only states left to visit in America are North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Now happy to get back to my the lap of my home state of Georgia, to its sweltering heat and humidity.

Yellowstone trip 2024 - Day III

 Good Morning Yellowstone as we woke up to a brightly sunny but chilly 26 degrees (-3° Centigrade) morning. I left Georgia with the Air Conditioning in full blast, but slept last night with the heating in our hotel room whirring all night, comfortable enough to feel warm and fuzzy inside the comforter for a good night sleep. We were told by the hotel receptionist that it snowed here last Monday. Saw proof of that as we saw some snow on the ground in the month of June for first time in life, though we saw them aplenty on top of the snow clad mountains.

Not sure where from the name Yellowstone came, though I saw no yellow colored stone here, same as there is a place named Bandra in Mumbai which has no "Bandar" (monkey) living there. Places owe their names to strange things. But later we saw golden yellow stones near the hot springs and geysers sputtering all over the park, that's perhaps where the term "Yellowstone" emanated.

As the day proceeded, it turned out to be bit warmer, the temperature climbing up to a not too bad 65 degrees. The lined up trees ladened on both sides of the road in gorgeous morning sun 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 pine trees foliage seemed like a bunch of tall beauties in bluish white caps wearing light green lipsticks. A string of long trees looked like tall, pretty girls wearing embroidery of various greenish hue weaved together on a Sambalpuri saree. What a enthralling sight it was !!!

Standing on the various lookout points inside the Yellowstone Park enroute to "Old Faithful Geyser" we listened to the soothing music of a silvery, gurgling mountain spring spiraling downhill. It seemed as if the stars took a day off from their night duty to dance on the surface of the bubbling blue spring water. A canopy of trees were shedding the spring from both sides, as a lover 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.

As we drove further, I kept the windows of our car open to listen to the sound of music from the nature, the chirping of birds and gurgling of the pristine mountain streams. Suddenly we saw white smokes on the horizon, looking like dozens of funeral pyres as can be seen from a distance at the cremation grounds of Puri's Swargadwar (Gateway to Heaven) or Varanasi's Manikarnika Ghat. They were nothing but the Sulphur laden fumes skyrocketing from the myriads of big and small hot springs and geysers sprinkled all around the Yellowstone Park. It was so tempting to stop by to take a peek at them, but we procrastinated our plan to see them later as we stayed faithful towards our drive to the Old Faithful.

It turned into a gorgeous sunny day with light wind making the weather enjoyably salubrious when we reached the Old Faithful Geyser. Even if it was middle of the week, the parking lots were jam packed like sardines with tourist vehicles. We could see cars from all over the United States, from as far as Massachusetts and Florida. Luckily we found a spot at the right time to view the Geyser erupt. And erupt it did with smoke filled hot water shooting upto 30-40 feet up in the air with hundreds tourists surrounding it taking snaps and videos. Many put their kids on their shoulders so that they could take a peek at the awesome spectacular view. No trip to Yellowstone is complete without a visit to Old Faithful Geyser. More later....

Yellowstone trip 2024 - Day II

 There is always an adventure in misadventure, thanks to the modern technology which could on occasions lead to confusion but turn out to be a blessing in disguise. We were on I-15 freeway traveling North, cruising at 80 miles per hour (the speed limit in Utah) to our destination of Pocatello, Idaho when the GPS went off air for a few minutes. When it came back on, it redirected us to take a rural route to our destination, arguably the most remote locations we ever drove through the inside of one of the innermost country area of the US.

It was 9.30 PM, getting nearer to sunset. In the twilight hours I saw cows 🐄 for first time on road in my 28 years in America. Puzzled, the black cows looking grayish from a distance were gaping us as we approached them. No sooner the bovines saw our car closing on them than they dispersed off to surrounding fields, the little calves following their mamas. The sun rays through the gigantic sprinklers spraying water on the massive potato plantations spreading their mammoth white wings were spraying golden hues of water on the petrichor scented air, creating gigantic sparklers in the air. Windmills at a distance seemed to be waving good evening to us, their huge hands reminded me of Sancho Panza of Don Quixote by the famous novelist Miguel De Cervantes. We saw a long tailed mountain Fox on road as it was getting dark closer to 10 PM. Caught on our headlights it looked flustered, got startled for a moment before jumping away from our path to its safety.

Next morning post our night halt in tiny township of Pocatello in Idaho, we continued our drive to Yellowstone through the semi arid area of sparcely populated vegetation amongst black rocks on gray, granular volcanic soil. The hills which looked beautiful from a distance looked drab and dry from close by, reminding me of the Odia "DHAGA" (proverb) "DURA PAHADA SUNDARA" - "the far hill looks beautiful". 

On our way we stopped by at the Idaho Potato Museum in a small town named "Blackfoot". The museum was small but impressive, filled with tons of information on Potato, the most popular vegetable in the world. Spanish explorers brought the tuber from Peru and introduced it to Europeans in 1527. Then in 17th century, the early settlers from Europe brought Potato to North America where the root vegetable found its way to the fertile Snake River Valley where it grew as a bumper crop, so much so that today Idaho is the major supplier of Potato to the rest of the United States and beyond.

Potato continued to spread its tentacles far and wide. It is said that Potato and Sardarjee (Sikh) can be found all over the world. Many in Odisha still refer to it as "BILATI ALOO" (The English Potato) although it was Portuguese who introduced it to India and China in 1600s. Now a days rarely a meal goes without Potato which is a good source of carbohydrate and potassium. Potato soon became a staple diet all over the world, so much so that a devastating Potato famine in Ireland caused a lot of their population perish and many migrating to America which has a large number of immigrants from Irish origin.

I have an emotional connection with Potato. Both my mom and I love the vegetable. My father always complained of putting too much of it in hour Puri style home cooked dishes of Dalma, Machha Haldi Pani (fish curry cooked with turmeric) and Machha Besara (scramled fish curry). In the year 2008 when my mother visited us in the United States, I bought her some mashed potato from outside. After taking a bite she found it too bland for her comfort and spiced it up in our typical Odia fashion by adding some chopped onions and green chillies, followed by a few drops of mustard oil added to it to make her own "Paaga" (concoction). Then she sprinkled it with some "Dhania Patra" (cilantro/ coriander leaves). She is in heaven now, but I still remember it tasted heavenly. Wherever I go, whichever place I visit, my mother's memories will get tagged to me forever. Unknown to me, as I write this, my reflex action took my glasses off as I was wiping my couple of drops of tear, tersly reminded of this Hindi song, an ode to the nicest of human being whose repertoire of love and affection to me would waver -

"ZINDAGI SAU BARAS KI SAHI,
ZINDAGI KA BHAROSA NAHI;
CHAAND CHHOOP JAE KAB KYA PATA,
CHANDNI KA BHAROSA NAHI".

Transliterated..

Life is for living hundred years,
But destiny is unreliable forever;
Never know when moon can go into hiding,
For Moonlight is not worth relying for.

More later....

Yellowstone trip 2024 - Day I

 We have a penchant for visiting National Parks in America. So far we have traveled to many, from the Mammoth Cave National Park in the North to the Smokey Mountain National Park in South. As we have already covered the Acadia National Park in East, it was high time to do some balancing act by visiting its counterpart in the West. So we chose to make a trip to the Yellowstone National Park in the Mountain West.

Not a bad time to get away from the prickly Georgia heat now searing at 95 degrees and 100 plus heat index if you add to it the humidity factor. As the 4 hour long Delta flight from Atlanta descended on the Salt Lake City Airport, we descended from a temperature of 95 to 65 with this feeling of crispy, mountain was up in the air, for we could see and feel the high mountains and valleys all over place glittering under the golden late afternoon sun. The undulating Rocky Mountains were still snowclad in June, though bit sparcely, looking like the brownish-gray forehead of a person smeared in white sandalwood paste. The tip of the mountains looked icing on gigantic trianglular cup cakes with golden sprinkles spread by sun. The glittering valleys chose to take a crimson shower.

The gargantuan sized Salt Lake acted like a gigantic mirror reflecting the crystal clear azure sky. It seemed thousands of sparklers chose to fall on its blue waters and stars couldn't wait until nightfall to take a dive into the lake. The mesmerized Lake reminded me from the stanza of a song from movie "AAP KI KASAM" voiced by the legendary singer Kishore Kumar espousing a lover's call to his beloved smitten by her beautiful eyes :

JHIL SI ANKHON MEIN ASHIQ
DOOB KE SO JAEGA,
ZULF KI SAAYA MEIN
DIL ARMA BHARA HO JAEGA.
TUM CHALE AO NAHI TO
KUCH NA KUCH HO JAEGA.

Roughly transliterated...

Inside your Lake like blue eyes,
the lover wants to drown, see himself lost,
In the shadows of her long hair,
Gets fullfilled the desires of his heart.
You come over, otherwise
Something or other shall happen to me.

Before driving North towards our destination of Yellowstone Park, we wanted to grab something to eat as we were starving. So we Googled a local Indian restaurant not far from the Salt Lake City Airport. We were greeted by a tall, pretty Punjabi girl with an aqualine nose. I reciprocated - "Sat Sri Atal. Wahe Guru Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ka Fateh", meaning...

In devotion to Guru lies purity,
It will be rewarded with Victory. 

She looked impressed and smiled back at us. Leading us to our table she asked us which part of India we are from. I answered - "We are from Bhubaneswar, Odisha". "Where is it" - promptly came her inquisition ? I replied - "Do you know Puri" ? "Oh, Jagannath Dham", it rang a bell to her. She wasn't interested any further conversation about Bhubaneswar or Odisha but complimented - "It has been a long time a non Punjabi wished me "Sat Sri Akal". She served us a wonderful dinner and obliged us by taking our picture.

There was a Punjabi encounter of different kind and flavor when we checked in to a motel in Pocatello, Idaho for a night halt, couple of hours drive from Salt Lake City enroute to the Yellowstone. These days when a guest arrives at your home, instead of a glass of water the first thing you offer is your WiFi password. Similarly, the receptionist offered me the electronic key to the room, followed by the WiFi password "benchroad". It sounded more like the popular Punjabi greeting "Beh***od". I had to the make the receptionist repeat again to ensure that the password isn't what I heard. Glad this time the lady wasn't from Punjab. More later...

Father's day 2024

 This Father's Day reminded me of the India vs England match in the Barabati Stadium during the last week of January,1982. It was an event one of it's kind at that time. Earlier the venue had hosted a few matches between international sides and East Zone. But for the first time an One day international match involving India was being played.

Public enthusiasm was building up. I was very keen on watching the One Day international in an era when there was no Television in Bhubaneswar. There was a serious shortage of tickets and I couldn't get any. The day before the match my remorseful mood couldn't escape my father's eyes. My father who taught kids of few influencal folks in Bhubaneswar managed to buy couple of tickets to the jealously of my friends on the evening of the day of before the match in spite of the huge demand for the tickets. Today I use the occasion of FATHER'S DAY to thank my father for giving an ardent cricket fan in me the most cherished opportunity of that time. 

All the tickets were sold out. Government officials were openly selling their passes in the black market. I was in Class VIII living close to the Hotel Kalinga Ashok owned by ITDC near Kalpana Chhaka where the English team was staying. On that morning I heard "TRING TRING", a friend of mine ringing his bicycle bell in front of our flat (apartment). It was his usual signal that something important was going on. 

I immediately rushed downstairs. He told me to ride with him as he got the news that English players were out in the lawn of the hotel. I did not think twice as my heart was pounding hard with excitement. Now I am going to actually see those players I see on Sportstar, Sportsweek and Sportsworld magazines. We pedaled fast and within 5 minutes reached the spot. I could see Bob Taylor and Ian Botham from close sipping their morning Tea and chatting on the lawn. Only a barbed wire separated us by a few feet. 

My friend got over excited and started shouting in Oriya at top of his voice - "HEY HEY..ARRE DEKH RE TALOR AU BOTHAM BASICHANTI (Hey Hey take a look. Taylor and Botham are sitting)". Passerbys took notice and a crowd was starting to build up. Now both these English players could sense the commotion. They got up and hurried inside to the comforts of their room. Before leaving Botham made a monkey like gesture and rolled a half eaten apple towards us. We felt so privileged of getting his attention and felt as if we got salvation. Little I realized that it was not a complimentary gesture. 

Finally the D-Day arrived. Due to excitement I could barely sleep the night before the match. My dad and I got up at 4 AM and proceed towards Cuttack. We started early as we were told in advance that there were many fake ticket holders, so we better get inside the stadium before it gets full. The match started on time. I had my pocket transistor with me. England batted first with the Odia commentators (one of them was our neighbor) blaring "GOOCHA AAU COOKA (Gooch and Cook in Oriya accent) THIA HOICHANTI AAU MAHANADI PATU KAPIL DEV ASILE( are standing and from Mahanadi rive side Kapil Dev is walking in). 

It was a long day. At lunch time we consumed some cold Puri and Potato curry brought from home. After the match ended we came out of Barabati stadium with one hand closing our nostril trying to avoid the yellow rivulets of urine almost flooding the exit gates. Finally got back home tired around 9 PM with tons of memories to cherish down the road. Later I learnt that at least 5000 spectators with valid tickets were denied entry into the stadium.

A father is invariably benevolent to his child. Even during the cruel times in history there is hardly any instances of a father taking the life his children, though there are several instances other way round. In history we have instances of a son killing or jailing his father to ascend the throne, but rarely fathers are known to kill their children. Even Jahangir who like his successors had no qualms about killing their brothers for the Mughal Takht (throne) and jailing father like Aurangzeb did, he only blinded his son Khusru and put him in jail after quashing his son's revolt. Happy Father's Day to all.

Welcome Mohan Majhi - the new CM of Odisha

 A young, new Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi takes office in Odisha, my home state back home. After 24 long years it feels like a breath of fresh air, a la the captivating petrichor scent post fresh monsoon showers on parched earth. Though his predecessor's performance was a mixed bag, Naveen Patnaik, a suave gentleman who has done some good things for the state had carved his niche. Yet it was high time for a change, a change one can believe in after a long hiatus. 

Along with the new Chief Minister, a team of mostly new and unfamiliar faces took oath as Ministers. Barring a couple may be, all of them have little or no experience in  administration. One of them is Suresh Pujari from Western Odisha, a grassroot leader of BJP and a man of impeccable credentials. He was a popular student leader in the early 1980s and is a first time MLA from Brajarajnagar. The rest are new to me. 

The first 100 days of any marriage is called as Honeymoon period. The couples don't judge each other as they explore themselves. Eventually familiarity starts breeding contempt. Same goes with public life and politics. A new face carries the burden of hopes and aspirations along with unbridled expectations. As the CM and the team don't carry any prior baggage and come fresh from the oven after 24 years of same old, same old people gone stale over the time, I would give them an extended honeymoon period of 6 months until end of this year. 

The challenges will start from the new year as the young faces will start showing signs of aging due to stress and fatigue of their tremendous responsibility loaded with expectations as loaded cheese on Nachos or loaded ingredients on Dahi Bara and Aludum, the quantities of which is never enough. Similarly they will be assessed by the ever dissatisfied commoners, facing new challenges with opposition waiting on them to make mistakes. Something can always go wrong in a state of 45 million people. There are 65 MLAs in the opposition (51 from BJP and 14 from Congress), the biggest ever in recent history of Odisha. They will demand every pound of accountability and try to make political capital out of it, leaving no stone unturned to embarrass the government whenever they get the opportunity. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Majhi and his team are going to handle the challenges they are going to face sooner or later. 

Well begun is half done. To give credit to the new BJP government in Odisha, as the first major decision they opened all the four doors of the Puri temple. Sri Jagannath not just lives the temple, he lives in the heart of all Odias. Jaga Kalia is not simply just one among the 330 million Hindu Gods. He is the way of life of Odias. You visit the drawing room (as living room is called in Odisha) of any Odia family, you will see at least a picture or statue of Sri Jagannath along with His siblings. No marriage or any auspicious occasion begins without inviting Chakadola, called "Jagannatha Nimantrana" in local parlance. Mahabahu (another name of the Lord) no doubt represents our wonderful culture and tradition. Devotees throng the temple in thousands every day. 

In this context I don't know whose brilliant idea was to close 3 out of 4 doors of the temple and keep only one open, forcing the devotees to stand for hours in scorching heat to get a "Darshan" (view) of the Lord. Now the decision to open all the temple doors is the step in the right direction. BJP is only keeping its poll promise of Odia "Ashmita" (it should be Swabhiman, meaning self respect). Ironically we Odias who are most immigrant friendly folks on earth who eagerly welcome are known to accept and imitate others language and culture. But taking the entire race for granted by trying to inculcate the Tirupati temple culture by non-Odia officers, the BJD folks at the helm of affairs of the state completely misjudged the mood of the elecriand made some grave mistake. The consequence of this miscalculation was the ruling Party BJD losing the elections after long 24 years. 

Remember the movie from the 90s "There is something about Mary" ? There is something about the air and water of Bhubaneswar". As akin to America whoever comes rarely leaves this country, one who comes to Bhubaneswar never goes back from where he or she came from. The person gets assimilated to the polluted, corrupt political atmosphere of the state capital which can be the perfect recipe for to play the spoilsport for the newcomer. It is a city of Dalaals and sundry parasites. 

A good number of MLAs from BJP aren't grassroot politicians, rather the discarded elements from BJD and Congress. Hope the new team keeps aloof from them and do their job to earn their voter's trust. Otherwise they could collapse under their own weight of ever scrutinizing public, enabling BJD to make a spectacular comeback, with BJP reduced to 20s like before. Good luck to Mohan Majhi and his team !

Raja festival of Odisha 2024

The month of June is regarded as the beginning of summer in USA, whereas in Odisha, my home state back home in India it marks the beginning of the end of the blistering, hot summer season. RAJA SANKRANTI is a popular festival during this time of the year - especially in the long, culturally rich coastal Odisha. The festival invariably comes in mid June per the Gregorian calendar. Raja festival isn't native to Western Odisha and frugally celebrated there.

The festival of Raja is also considered as the harbinger of the cooler rainy season, as the South West monsoon rolls over the state from the North East, lashing it with silvery stripes of rain. The nimbus cloud bearing dark sky gets alive with the spectacle of flashes of white lightening as if zillions of flashlights are switched simultaneously in the sky, a la the zigzag lights on circus stage. During daytime the rain is often followed by the sky getting rewarded in the form of a garland of rainbow. These long awaited rains bring much needed relief from the long streak of heat and prickly humidity, healing the parched earth dried from a long, extended Indian summer.

As the silvery monsoon rains ornament the thick humid air, the perfume of PODA PITHA (baked rice cake) pervades the environment. Young and old alike play on DOLI (swings), with men snarling their blackened teeth and girls exposing red pouty lips - post effect from chewing PAAN (betel leaves filled with colored condiments and scented tobacco for those habitual with the stuff). The drenched earth, now softened by the fresh summer rains on parched earth accompanied by petrichor, gets ready for tilling, marking the beginning of the KHARIP crop farming season when water supply gets plenty following the monsoon rains. 

I still cherish the memories of my trips to our ancestral village near Puri for a fun filled lunch of GHEE (clarified butter) laced NADIA KHECHUDI (coconut sprinkes sweet rice), thick sweet DAAL (Lentil soup), an array of Curries and fries, washed down with KHIRI (sweetened skimmed milk). It would invariably be followed by an afternoon session on the RAJA DOLI (swing). Dinner would be PITHA (Rice cakes) and more varieties of PITHA - the icing on the cake would be occasional PODA PITHA made from ripened TAALA, fruit from tall palm trees, as a fitting finale to a day of RAJA MAUJA (fun).

I remember the tall palm tree standing taller than the surrounding Coconut trees behind our house in our village, right behind our home facing a green pond perennially covered with a cessful of watercress in its dark, stenchful barely visible water where locals wash their utensil as well as their buttocks post defecation. During the early monsoon close to the 3 day long Raja festival these large brownish-black color fruits from the palm tree, looking like coconut sized plums with a yellowish orange pulp ripen and fall off from the tree. Many roll into the green swamp. Those who survive make their way to make PODA PITHA of different flavor. I was sad to hear that particular palm tree ruptured from its middle as it couldn't withstand the devastating force from Cyclone Fani a few years back, closing a chapter of the history of my ancestry.

A few summers ago in Odisha, on the morning of RAJA Festival I switched on the TV. A promotional song LEMBU, ATI CHUPUDILE PITA (Excessively squeezed lemon tastes bitter) from an Odia movie scheduled for the RAJA release (same as prominent Bollywood movies go for Diwali Release) was playing on screen as an Odia actress danced to the tune of a song from that movie. 

This was followed by an interview of the actress. It didn't go unnoticed to me that a discussion about an Odia movie, between an Odia anchor and a leading Odia actress getting released on a leading Odia festival, was taking place with a typical accented Odia with almost an equitable spread of 50% Odia, 30% English and 20% Hindi. Speaking in pure Odia is a sign of being a GAUNLIA (from village origin) these days, whereas talking accented Odia sounds so cool. A lot of billboards and commercials on local newspapers take pride in pronouncing RAJO instead of RAJA. 

A person usually speaks with an accent when speaking a language other than his or her mother tongue. Odisha is perhaps the only place on earth, where some (certainly not all) natives not only love to speak their own mother tongue with an accent, also chose to write it in another accent, e.g, RAJA as RAJO, MANSA as MANSHO bear testimony of it. Wish you a Happy RAJA (certainly not RAJO) from the bottom of my heart. Have a feel and fill of RAJA MAUJA - bound by the rules of social distancing as Covid may be down but not out.

Memories of Shitala Sashti - A festival of Odisha

Today is SHITALA SASTHI, a festival celebrated in Odisha per Gregiorian Calendar. It is not a very widely followed occasion - nevertheless limited to few villages and cities of the state where the occasion is celebrated on a larger scale. Not sure if the event is going to be celebrated this year with the pomp and gaiety as before in the era of many localized, native festivals of Odisha are slowly but sadly getting extinct. Yet the memories of this unique festival from past years is still vivid.

On one such hot, sultry SHITALA SHASTI day during my early teen I happened to be in my native Brahmin dominated village near Puri during the long summer holidays. Accompanied by my Grandpa, I went to a nearby village named "Rayakhandi" where his sister's family lived, to see the celebration of SHITALA SASHTI famously celebrated in that village which attracts myriads of tourists and onlookers from far and near.

Came evening, we were porched on a high level verandah covered with coconut trees as canopy, typical of villages near Puri, watching the "Radha Krishna" dance duet performance by a local troupe under street light to the tune of beating up mega drums and PENKAALI (large Trumpets, a crude version of Sehnai). As the Shitala Sasti celebration went on full swing, came a burst of SHITALA (cool) wind wafting through the dense Coconut groves, followed by a squalor lashing out slices of rain. The artists and the onlookers ran helter shelter for cover as the electricity went poof. 

It was pitch dark for a few minutes. Soon the rain stopped and normalcy was restored, but not the electricty. The organizers hand pumped Petromax lights to glare, throwing some lights onto what we were going to see. Radha, the paramour of Lord Krisna, whom I imagined to be a full bosomed woman dancing with gyrating hips not long ago, now turned into a half bosomed man. The artificial bosoms made up of stuffed soft coconut coir covered with shell of a dried coconut (locally available in plenty and called KATAA in Odia) tied to the man's breast apparently came off during the strong gales accompanying the thunderstorm. Commotion followed to the amusement of the curious spectators. Throwing out his female outfit, he was busy putting his coir back into his blouse frantically scrambling to salvage whatever residual coir fell off on ground, plucking them off and putting them back to fullflll both his artificial breasts. He continued doing his act nonchalantly, ignoring the laughter and cat calls surrounding him. Finally the he turned she managed to complete the curtailed act of Radha Krishna romance.

It was now dinner time and electricity was still playing truant. Though the rain had stopped the air was still through which stars popped out of the dark night sky. Our host served us an ascetic dinner on the same high podium used earlier for watching the dance show. It consisted of CHUDA GHASA (crushed parched rice mixed with Ghee and sugar), DALMA (boiled lentil with mixed veggies) and the dessert of SUJI KHIRI (made from  from coarse grains of flour) and if lucky, a restricted supply of only one serving of the luxurious KADALI CHAKATA (Mashed Banana in Sweetened milk).

It wasn't a hassle free dinner, trying to avoid the ever swarming JHADI POKA or the local fire ants who develop wings during the unseasonal rains. A la a lover knowingly gets burnt being attracted to its beloved's flame of love, many of those insects were consumed by the hot surface of the lanterns and petromax lights. Those who couldn't be "Samme Pe Parwaane" made a kamikaze dive into my food plate. I had to be extremely careful to avoid them lest a true vegetarian feast gets supplemented with additional animal protein. Not many were lucky, as they swallowed some of these locust in the semi-lit area, desperately doing "THOO THOO" to spit the winged fire ants them out. 

Post dinner it was a trying time to get back home, guided by whatever light thrown by the golden zigzagging lightening on the sky, amidst the croaking of frogs excited on the natural swimming pools provide by the fresh rains. The year was the year 1983, probably the last SHITALA SHASTI celebration I ever attended, but still fresh in my memory like yesterday. Happy belated SHITALA SHASTI to folks back home.

Pandian and the long rat race for power

A rat swallowed a diamond and the owner of the diamond contracted a man to kill the rat. When theLet's see who survives the long rat race of power. rat hunter arrived to kill the rat there were more than a thousand rats bunched up and one sitting by itself away from the pack. He killed it and that was the exact one that had swallowed the diamond. The puzzled owner of the diamond asked - How did you know it was that rat ? He responded, "Very easy. When some folks become famous they feel that they are superior and keep away from their own !!!" 

Something similar happened to Pandian, the man who not long ago was the De Facto Chief Minister of Odisha and the head of ruling Party BJD. Among the equals in the power corridors in Odisha, he was the rat who carved his niche enough to be the only one more than the equals, getting hold of Naveen Patnaik, the real diamond of the party. Since BJD's defeat, Pandian has gone underground inside a rat hole, nowhere to be seen in Odisha. Ironically less than a week ago he was in complete control of his party and the cynosure of the eyes of Naveen Patnaik, the Supreme leader of BJD, by successfully creating a hubris around him. 

Part of it was due to complete submission of the so called intrepid stalwarts in his party who genuinely genuflected before Pandu. During a recent campaign event near our village which comes under Puri Parliament and Assembly constituency, Pandian was the solo star campaigner after doing a perfunctory introduction to his party's candidates. The Lok Sabha candidate who once supposedly created terror amongst criminals in Maharastra was standing with folded hands covering his private parts symbolizing he had no balls. This didn't go unnoticed by commoners in that meeting. Those few, the likes of Pradip Panigrahi and Jay Panda who had balls to protest the Bureaucrat's dominance went over to the rival BJP. 

There are 101 reasons given by 501 analysts on media, social or otherwise on BJD's defeat. I don't want dwell over them, but just give one word of reason behind BJD's defeat - "Pandian". Let's cut the crap of BJD being a cadre based party. It was and still is Naveen's party, whose day to day affairs he once outsourced to Pyari. After Pyari went rouge, then Pandian became his Man Friday. Only difference, when Pyari's mutiny failed in year 2012, Naveen was still young, in his early 60s with time on his side. Now a 78 year old and more importantly visibly ailing, he had to be fully dependent on Pandian who gladly took over the reigns of both state's administration and the party . 

In public meetings Pandian was seen on Naveen's side holding microphone for him, trying to hide his boss's shaking hands from public view. Politics is a matter of perception. Any "Rama, Dama, Shama" (Tom, Dick and Harry) in Odisha now has a smart phone with access to instant information which passes like lightning on the social media. BJD took full advantage of Naveen's fledgling health seen in public view and Pandian's dominance and control became an open talk. As the Odias aren't exactly famous for their so called "Asmita" (the more appropriate word would be Swabhiman), folks in charge of the admimistration filled with officers from outside the state continued to underestimate the Odias as nincompoop. But they silently retaliated in polling booths by giving 78 seats to BJP. Thanks to the mild Odias, in spite of their hatred towards Pandian, due to the personal popularity of the Chief Minister BJD still managed a respectable tally of 51 seats. 

Politicians are known to make comebacks. BJP in the state of Odisha consisting of many discarded elements from the BJD and the Congress party is perfectly capable of messing up things. But it needs to be noted that Naveen Patnaik doesn't have time on his side. At 78 and ailing, even if he makes it to 2029 when the next election is due, he is unlikely to be in great physical shape. That said, a week is a long time in politics, as just vindicated by this election results. A week ago Naveen Patnaik and Pandian were in charge. Not anymore. In this context, 5 years is eons away. 

Now a pariah Pandian has gone into hibernation and ran his rat hole. He has not seen in public until reported today that he has fled to Delhi. There is a saying in Hindi - "Jab Jahaz Doobta Hai To Pehle Choohe Bhagte Hain" (Rats are the first to jump off a sinking ship). It may not be a surprise if Pandian commences the exodus from BJD. More will follow, as I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end of BJD in its current form. Tighten your seat belts and enjoy the upcoming roller coaster drive. Let's see who survives the long rat race for power.

BJP's below par performance - Election 2024

 The Bollywood actor Anupam Kher playing the role of Dr. Dang from the movie KARMA in the late 1980s after receiving a tight slap from Dilip Kumar screams - "ISS THAPPAD KI GUNJ SUNI TUMNE" (Did you hear the reverberation from this slap) ? I am now reminded of this dialog, post the tight slap received by BJP after the party's pyrrhic victory in the recently concluded Parliament Elections in India. If I am allowed to extrapolate the signals coming from the voters of the country as they punched the electronic voting machines, it's time for BJP, India's right wing Nationalist Party to smell the Coffee and wake up. 

Contrary to the common belief, the Indian electorates are the smartest lot. Since independence they have been making their governments accountable, changing them as and when needed - so that no political party can take them for granted. As crop rotation is known for enhancing the productivity of the soil, changing things and positions brings spice out of life, similarly government rotations and changing power is the much needed check and balance in a democracy. It is required to curb corruption and inefficiency.

Indians voted out a popular Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1977 for her misuse of power when she took the voters for granted by imposing Emergency followed by brutality on its citizens. Similar, though not the same happened today, as voters sent a clear message to the BJP led NDA as it struggled and just made it to the half way mark. 

The party should thank my home state of  Odisha for saving its skin by sending 20 invaluable MPs to its kitty. Otherwise today BJP would be preparing for sitting in the opposition. The Odias also voted for a change in their state by removing Naveen Patnaik who has been ruling without a break for last 24 years. Many first time voters are going to a new Chief Minister in Odisha for the first time in life. 

Does it mean that this is beginning of the end of Modi magic ? Not so fast. But one can't deny that there is clearly a dent in his image as public histrionics has its limitations. Being a good salesman he should have known that a product has an expiry date. But power makes folks blind not able to see what's coming. 

Why BJP's performance wasn't upto mark in this election ? There are many. First and foremost is the arrogance that crept into the party's top echelon, the Modi - Saha duo who ran the country as their personal fiefdom showing dictatorial tendency. They would send ED, CBI against their opponents, arrest them with impunity and send them to jail, break legitimately elected government by doing horse trading if they don't fall in line. This didn't go unnoticed to the public, as public display of arrogance is the biggest enemy of a politician. BJP's top brass should take a cue from Odisha's gentle and suave Naveen Patnaik who never shows any arrogance in public, rarely speaks ill of his political opponents. He lasted 24 long years and probably could have lasted longer unless he didn't have Pandian campaigning by his side. 

After building the Ram temple in Ayodhya last January, BJP thought they sealed the deal in UP, the politically important state which contributes 80 seats, the largest number of members to the Parliament. The party became complacent and made bad candidate selections. One of them was a B-grade actor Arun Govil who was given ticket to run in Meerut, UP and publicly boasted of changing India's Constitution once BJP gets 400 Paar (more than 400). Such silly remarks by immature leaders from BJP backfired on it big time. The construction of Sri Ram temple barely helped, as BJP lost Faizabad constituency which has Ayodhya as part of it. 

India has a gargantuan population inching towards 1.5 billion. Unemployment is a big issue. Many in North India look forward to joining Army which provides them a secured job and secures them a bride. Now when the BJP government brought the Agniveer scheme of temporary military employment on contract basis, it didn't go well with the youth who were looking for a full time job. Political sidelining of Rani (Queen) Vasundhara Raje alienated the Rajputs in Rajasthan, BJP loosing a good number of seats in that state which it swept last two elections. 

The Electoral Bond scam, though not much of an issue during the campaign trail, made a dent on BJP's image incorruptible. Plus the election being held in the middle of an unusually hot Indian summer led to voter fatigue and low turnout which prevented the committed BJP voters from coming out to vote. And many more reasons are there beyond the scope of this blog... 

Is it going to be the end of Modi era ? Not sure. Things can change for better for BJP if they learnt from their mistakes. Public memory could be short. Indira Gandhi who was swept out of power in 1977, made a spectacular come back couple of years later, her Emergency atrocities forgotten. A week is a long time in politics, 5 years is eons away. BJP leadership still has time to mend their way. Modi is still the undisputed leader at the center, his closest rival Rahul Gandhi isn't even close to him. The influence of other rival  leaders are at best territorial in nature. 

BJP has a presence at national level (except most of South of the Vindhyas) and being in power for long it has money and the powerful machinery at its disposal. It can certainly overcome the anti incumbency factor. Hope BJP learns a lesson from their below par performance, changes its game plans and strategy accordingly. They need to shed their arrogance and focus on governance. People are also getting tired of divisive politics. But will BJP and Modi Bhakts ever learn their lesson ? Your guess is as good as mine.

Gout - A rich man's disease

Last April I passed 8th Anniversary of the last time I got Gout - a painful inflation on my toe. That was April, 2016. Glad so far I have been spared from getting gout. Yet as always illnesses can be predictably unpredictable and have a knack of hunting you at the most inopportune moment. Quoting Scarlett O Hara from Margaret Mitchell's classic movie Gone With the wind, "Tomorrow is after all another day".

My first bout with Gout was 14 years ago when I was in India during the summer of 2010. One fine hot and humid morning, I woke up to a painful, inflamed toe. It hurt pretty bad, even the slightest touch of the soft blanket on my toe gave me a throbbing, stinging pain. It was so bad that one evening I couldn't wear my  shoes and had to cancel my planned trip to Bhubaneswar Club, a place which mandates wearing shoes.

The first thought came to my mind was that it's probably an insect bite which was causing this lingering pain on my toe. I took several painkillers which gave me some temporary relief, but the pain stubbornly refused to relent. My father's friend Dr. B.K. Das, an eminent physician, upon seeing my symptoms suspected it as gout. The lab tests soon confirmed it, finding my blood saturated with more than the normal amount of uric acid. Medicines prescribed by Braja Mausa reduced the pain, but it still persisted, with me walking with a perpetual limp like the legendary character SHAKUNI of B R Chopra's  MAHABHARAT serial from my college days, until it fades away slowly after completing the full course of the medications.

Now fast forward to April 2016, almost 6 years later. My tryst with gout continued, as after years it showed at my toe step. This time on American soil as I woke up to a big, painful toe. My Primary Care Physician prescribed a medicine to reduce the pain and another to reduce my high level Uric acid, which apparently caused gout. The medicine acts fast and swiftly reduces the pain, but gives severe diarrhea. Less than a day after I started taking the medicine, at my workplace a sudden urge to relieve myself hurried me towards the Restroom (toilet). Before I could bang through the door, my boss appeared right in front of me, exchanging pleasantries, though my mood was hardly pleasant at that time.

Struggling to hold on to my bowel with a smiling face, I had to bear the imminent nature call with clenched teeth. Suddenly I remembered Shakuni ridiculing Duryodhan in B.R. Chopra's MAHABHARAT serial - "MURKH WOHI HAI JO RONE KI WAQT PAR HASTE HAIN" (Fools are those who laugh at the time of crying). My smile was now slowly turning into a helpless grin. You should have seen my face and captured it on camera. It would have gone viral with million plus hits on YouTube.

To my relief, my boss got a call on his cellphone and melted away, leaving me alone to attend my nature's call. The journey of less than 10 feet from the restroom door to the stall seemed eternal. I tip toed as fast as I could, sat, shat and burst myself. Ahh..finally came out immensely relieved of both bowel and gout pain, which was now gone with the wind. It reminded me the story of the legendary Odia witty jester Gopal Bhanda who convinced his King that world's greatest feeling of relieving oneself after taking a huge dump in toilet.

Gout used to be known as the Rich man's disease during medieval times though I, a poor man, no where close to being rich has been its victim. Mughal Emperor Akbar had gout. His Hakeems (doctors) struggled to treat him. The King of England Henry VIII had multiple wives and multiple bouts of gout. Protein rich, high purine foods like red meat, shrimp, crab, turkey, bean, beer etc are said to cause of high Uric acid, leading to gout. But I know someone, a strictly vegetarian and frugal foodie who also gets periodic gout attacks. Guess genetics plays a role here.

The prescription medicines are good at providing instant relief, but would like to avoid them as they're not free from side effects. Eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and doing regular exercise are recommended to prevent gout. As always, prevention is better than cure. Thanks for your patience for hearing my goutlandish story. Glad gout has spared me for 8 long years though tomorrow is another day.