How to catch a Bhakt

 I have nothing against BHAKTs (a very prolific, popular slang for the blind Right leaning devotees of Modi and BJP. The tag sticks to them as iron sticks to magnet). Like everyone else they have every rights to their unflinching BHAKTI (Diehard Devotion) for their MAHAPRABHU (Ultimate God). I have no issues with that. Their BHAKTI (devotion) is non of my business, until they get personal and start trolling me. 

Every Fall (Autumn) and Spring I get into the mode of cleansing of such BHAKTs from my Facebook friendlist and still continue this practice. I follow a very simple method of scouring and smoking them out of their holes. So far it has worked well for me and I have been quite successful in my mission of trapping & eliminating them. 

How to catch a Bhakt ? During my childhood days in our village near Puri, I have seen an occasion called "MAJENA" - An offering of Fish to our village Goddess, followed by a massive feasting on varieties of mouth watering dishes made out of fish - MACHHA BHAJA (Fried fish), BESARA (scrambled fish cooked in mustard paste), MACHHA KAALIA (fish Chunk curry), MACHHA MANJI (fish roe or egg) fries and so on. 

The fish is procured from our village pond. The fishermen would enter into this pond called GAAI GADIA (named after cows taking bath inside the pond), wade through it several times, toing and froing from one and to the other, deliberately muddying the water. The fishes who get agitated and start jumping around are caught first. The process is repeated until the target for the evening MAJENA session is met. 

I do the same on Facebook by deliberately posting something critical of Modi, BJP, RSS, sarcastic memes and cartoons poking fun at them, especially the superstitions peddled as phoney scientific theories simply to score cheap political goals. It riles some Bhakts to no end. A la fish they start jumping around with their asses on fire. They bite the bait, start bad mouthing me. I lose no time in giving them the option of unfriending me - to go ahead and make my day. If they prefer, I oblige them by reciprocating the same at my end. 

Last week I had to unfriend couple of guys from my Facebook friend list. The reason - although they wrote nothing against me but irritated me by their nonsense, parochial and outright moronic statements directed to my post and comments on my posts from some of my erudite friends. 

They later said sorry, but my prudence prompted me to get rid of them. If you keep snakes in your backyard expecting to bite only your neighbors, then you are living in a fool's paradise. One day they will turn their fangs on you. It is wiser to wipe them off from my friendliest rather than leave any such scope for future. 

I am also reminded of this story great folklore PANCHATANTRA (The Five Treatise), a series of meaningful short stories compiled by our ancient story teller Vishnu Sharma. A king kept a monkey as his pet. His favorite simian became too close to him as the King treated the animal as a friend. 

One fine afternoon the King was enjoying his siesta. A fly came from nowhere and sat on his nose. The monkey saw it. Not wanting to disturb the king and get rid of the nuisance fly, the monkey grabbed the unsheathed sword of the King and took a hard blow at the King's face. The fly managed to fly away, but the King was dead. The moral of the story - "MURKHA BANDHU THARU BUDDHIMAN SHATRU SHREYASKARA", an intelligent enemy is preferred to an idiot friend. This moral from hundred years ago still holds good. Lesson learnt, good riddance. 

So far this strategy has worked out well for me. I have already have my quota of fish and feel satiated for this year. Now I got to wait until the next MAJENA before I go on my next fishing expedition. Fall is just getting started, so also my cleansing. Elon Musk once said -“You don't lose friends. You lose undercover haters. Real friends can never be lost". He wasn't far from the truth.

Beethoven and sound of music

 Years back, while driving I caught the esoteric tune of Beethoven's all time classic Moonlight Sonata on one of the local FM channels. Neither I am a connoisseur of Western Classical music, nor it's my forte. This music was inscrutable to my dumb mind.

Yet I tried to comprehend it, after all it was a masterpiece from an all time maestro. Legend has it, the German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven had turned completely deaf by the time he composed his Moonlight Sonata. The thunderous applause he received from the esteemed Viennese audience fell into deaf's ear. 

In my case it was deafness of another kind. There is a popular Odia DHAGA (proverb) - "KAALA AGARE MULA CHOBEIBA", transliterated it means chewing Radish in front of the deaf. In other words, "talking rocket science to a layman". I could hardly make any head and tail out of it. My self learning effort was futile, akin to another Odia saying "SANDHA KU BHAGABAT PADHEIBA" (trying to teach Bible to Bull). My attempt at understanding Moonlight Sonata ended in a fiasco. The music was way beyond the comprehension of a tyro in me.

But from my own experience, I can vouch that Beethoven's music really had a very soothing effect. My newborn son used to stay awake for long, hardly sleeping and giving us sleepless nights. It was quite unlike of an infant who was expected to sleep longer whereas he slept no longer than taking some sporadic naps. As parents we were a worried lot. His pediatrician recommended a CD with some soothing music to play so that it will act as lullaby, ensuing calming effect which would lull him into sleep.

I observed that he would be still awake when one after another music played. But no sooner than the CD sequenced itself to a Beethoven's number he would sleep like a baby. A realization descended upon me that day that music can be felt, need not be understood. Centuries later Beethoven's music still had its effect on mere mortals. Mortal men, immortal melodies. This maestro was born this day of December 17, 1770.

These are the lines from a popular Hindi song from 1985 - "Pyar Kiya Nahi Jata, Ho Jata Hai", meaning "Love isn't created, Love happens on its own". We have its Bollywood version from the iconic movie "GUIDE" - Jab Matlab Se Pyar Hota Hai To Pyar Ka Koi Matlab Nahi Rehta (if there is a motive for love it's not love). Love is strongest when it is unreasonable. When you try to reason it, it is not love. Love is a feeling to be felt, a la music.

Same goes with poetry. Poetry isn't read through mind, it is read through heart. It's not understood, it is rather felt. A lot of things in life need to be felt, not comprehended. Music, love and poetry fall into that category. Beethoven just vindicated it.

Happy birthday Uncle Pai

 Today is the birthday of Uncle Pai of The AMAR CHITRA KATHA (Immortal Tells in Illustration) fame. Like many from my generation, I spent my entire childhood reading his comics, which contributed immensely to my knowledge and character. More importantly, he inculcated a reading habit in me which I carry till date.

Pictorial depiction of stories and events can enliven the mood and leave long imprints in mind, which gets captured in memory like a lasting photography. For more than a decade I poured over those comics, starting when it was priced at Rs.2 until the price soared to Rs.20 - its range reaching myriad subjects, which includes but not limited to History, Mythology and the Saga of Freedom Fighters who participated in India's freedom struggle.

The popularity of these comics could be judged from being the most sought after items during my school days. Most of my schoolmates would rarely buy them. They would borrow from me and never return them. Some was outright stealing.

To stop this I came up with this novel idea - I lent those to whom I suspected of stealing with one condition. When I handed the Comics to them, I requested them to forget about returning and better keep them. The message was well taken. Though it didn't entirely stop the menace, it alleviated my problem to a certain extent.

(Another popular stolen and burrowed-to-never-returned materials were the popular Weekly Magazines of Sportstar, Sportsworld and Sportsweek, especially during the peak cricket season. The chief target were the colored center spread sheets of popular cricketers those days - Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. Those magazines would soon get raped and soiled, with those cherished center spreads gone missing. In our school library there was virtually a riot to be the first person to tear and grab those).

Back to Amar Chitra Katha - There is this anecdote of a famous King whose three sons could never focus on learning as they showed little interest in academics. So he appointed several tutors to impart knowledge on his recalcitrant children. All of them failed, until stepped in Vishnu Sharma of PANCHATANTRA fame. To these spoiled brats, he recited his famous short stories. The characters were mostly Animals conveying a strong social messages, which are very apt even at this age. The Princes listened to them with rapt attention and were soon transformed into a wiser, learnt lot.

Uncle Pai was one of those rare kinds, the modern world Vishnu Sharma. As soil needs tilling and crop rotation to retain and enhance its fertility, human brain's fertility can be nurtured through good reading habits. Uncle Pai was a pioneer in his field who immensely contributed to the fertility of brains of young and old alike with his matchless story telling ability. RIP Sir, wherever you are and many happy returns of the day.

Speaking American

Sarah Palin, who was John McCain's running mate in 2008 US Presidential election called on immigrants in the United States to speak "American.” Years ago, a gentleman in US told me we don't speak English, rather we speak American. I politely disagreed with him, saying "whatever you might call it, however Americanized it may be, the language is still English". I love English, the language I mostly read and write these days though I haven't lost touch with my mother tongue, roots and heritage.

English, though originated from England spread world wide as most British colonies, including America. Many adopted it either as their mother tongue, the official language of communication or both. No wonder Winston Churchill, desperate to drag America into World War II when Nazi Germany's blitzkrieg was juggernautung through Europe, flattered the then US President Roosevelt, "We are common set of people, separated by a common language".

English is a rich language. Like Urdu it does not have a script of its own and has a loosely knit Grammer. It uses Roman script, same as Spanish, French, German etc. The richness of English comes from its flexibility. It not shy and very liberal at accepting words and phrases from other languages to enrich itself. This has been the secret sauce of survival of the language. Another reason for the spread and survival of it is English being spoken by British and United States, the two major powers over centuries. Its adaptability made it the language of the masses while the Brahminical rigidity of Sanskrit restricted it as an ornamental language.

In India, English is often used as the language of elite and the passport to success. Most job oriented education and official transactions take place in English. A person having good command over English commands respect in society. In Odisha many in the state of excitement, anger or inebriation switch to English from their mother tongue Odia to drive their point or score over their rivals, even it is "PAKHALA KHIA" Onglish (the typical Odia accented English which comes out of mouth after consuming a stomach full of water soaked rice). Whenever I go to India to my home state of Odisha, I am respected more if I speak English over Odia, and much more so if I switch to American English, uttering Pepsi as "Phepsi", School as "Skchule", OK as "Okhay" and use a liberal dosage of "Awesome", "Cool", "Bro" and so on.

The ubiquitous Hindi word "Yaar" is already there in the Oxford English dictionary. It means friend in Hinglish (Hindi-English). We also have our share of Binglish (Bengali-English), Tanglish (Tamilian English) and so on, all denoting different versions and accents of Indian English. We all are aware about thousands of words of Indian origin seeping into English dictionary. Bandh (strikes or protests in India) and Gherao (surround) are few of them, not to mention the famous word of Odia origin "Juggernaut" - which took birth when the British ruling India saw Lord Jagannath's chariot in Puri rolling over, chugging along its path. The meaning of the word is self explanatory.

Culturally same words or phrases can have different meanings. In Southern part of the United States "Thanks you good Sir" is used as a token of appreciation. Once I told this someone in India to be immediately rebuffed - "Am I a bad someway" ? In the 1990s when I was new to the United States I continued my inertia retained from India by asking a coworker - "What's your good name ?". She smiled back politely - "I don't have a bad name".

In America they care a lot to pronounce your name correctly. Thankfully, my first name isn't too difficult to pronounce unlike Krottapalli or KondaUddaraju. No one cares in India if you mispronounce someone's name. Similarly the phrase "don't care" means I simply don't care because it's non of my business. Nonsense means something which doesn't make sense. In Odisha if you say "don't care", you will be branded as a selfish, heartless person having no concern for other and nonsense is considered as a rebuke

American English is no different as it is bit different from other forms of English. During my initial days in the United States I uttered the words Lakh (means 100,000) and Crore (10 million) to the bewilderment of my American friends and colleagues who only know in multiples of thousands, millions, billions and trillions. The words Bandobast, Juggad (both meaning making the necessary arrangements) used in Indian context have already found their way into the Websters dictionary.

The phrase "chewing English" or "English Chobeiba" is another example of Onglish (Oriya-English). Every year new additions are made to Oxford dictionaries, so who knows one day "Chewing English" could be one of them ! I have chewed enough about English for now, unable to digest it, burping out my PAKHALA KHIA English. Have a good day or good night, wherever you are located at - for the Sun might have set over the English Empire, but not over the English language.

Jesse Owens - the American legend

 Today is the birthday of Jesse Owens, the American sports legend who carved his niche in history by being the first man to win 4 Gold Medals in an Athletics event of Olympics, a record which stayed unbroken for a long time to come. He is also remembered for another reason, for driving a nail on German Nazi Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's misplaced belief in Aryan supremacy theory.

88 summers ago the 1936 Olympics, world's greatest sporting event was eventful for few reasons. First, it was held in Berlin under Hitler's Germany, being overshadowed by the blatant use of the Sporting events for Nazi party's German supremacy propaganda. Second, it was also the first Olympics to be televised. Third, it also showcased the talent of Jesse Owens, the famous black athlete from the United States who seized the limelight, overcoming myriads of obstacles in an insecure, pressure cooker atmosphere to win 4 golds.

Jesse Owens was an American icon, a symbol of black power in the Sporting arena. Growing up in an era of racism in America, he battled poverty with a wonderful rags to riches successful life story. Hailing from a poor family in the post recession America, no one ever imagined him winning accolades in the land of "Hail Hitler", bringing a dent in the dictator's theory of Aryan supremacy.

Jesse Owens's talent was spotted during his tenure in the Ohio State University, where he created record in the 100 meter sprint event. Soon he was a shoo in for the American Olympics team, selected for the mega event across the Atlantic.

The preparation for Berlin Olympics started on a controversial note, with America almost boycotting the event due to the host's overtly anti-Semitic policies. Germany was desperate to see American athletes at home, for without the USA participatation the Olympics would be akin to a German Bratwurst sausage without salt and Sauerkraut without sugar. After a lot of lobbying by Hitler's Man Friday Goebbels the US Olympics Committee narrowly voted to send their team.

On arrival at the Olympic village in that eventful summer of 1936, Jesse Owens was appalled at the disgusting sight of anti Semitic graffitis all over the Olympic village proclaiming - "Dogs and Jews are not allowed". The fitting finale came in the form of 100 meters event, still a prized event in the Olympics which every one looks forward to. Jesse Owens was pitted against the local favorite Lutz Lung of Germany - the symbol of Hitler's Aryan racial supremacy.

Jesse not only won that race, he went on to win 200 meters, led 4x100 meter relay for an American gold and the long jump event, yet again defeating Lutz Lung in the later event. (Jesse and Lutz became friends and continued communicating with letters in an age sans email and Whatsapp, until Lung died fighting for Germany in North Africa during World War II).

Hitler was in the stadium, watching Jesse sprint his way to a stupendous win. Here is where historians differ in their accounts about what followed. The Fuehrer supposedly left the stadium in disgust as his myth of Aryan supremacy was shattered. But per Jesse Owens knowldege, Hitler acknowledged his victory by waving at him.

On the other hand, after coming back to America, during a felicitation dinner for the US Olympics team in New York, Jesse Owens along with other black athletes had to use the service elevator, whereas their white counterparts took the regular one. The humiliation didn't end there. It was customary for the Olympics medal winners to be invited to the White House. But Jesse's name was conspicuously missing from the names of the invitees. Roosevelt didn't want to be in news hosting, baking bread with a black man in White House, his picture of shaking hands with a black man getting published on the front of newspapers in an election year. Incidentally Roosevelt was a Democrat.

What happened to Jesse after that ? He continued earning money as appearance fee, running against race horses for the pleasure of spectators, until he became too old to do so. Yet his record of 4 fabulous Olympics Golds was a record which stood for almost half a century, never broken during his lifetime, only to be emulated by his compatriot Carl Lewis in Los Angeles Olympics of 1984, four years after Jesse's death in 1980. Happy Birthday Jesse Owens. You will remain a Sporting legend and will forever be remembered.

23rd Anniversary of 9/11

Today is the Anniversary of 9/11, when a prominent chapter was added to America's history on this day exactly 23 years ago on September 11, 2001. How time flies ! A child born on that day is no more a teenager. Feels just like yesterday when on a cool, late summer morning commute to my work at Toyota Motors in Kentucky where I was working as a consultant, the news of terrorist attack on the World Trade center was a bolt from the blue. That day is forever etched in my memory. 

Most at my workplace were stunned, but stayed calm and composed. Many were frantically trying to find Afghanistan on the world map and I remember helping a few in locating the beleaguered nation on the map which made the cardinal mistake of harboring Osama-Bin-Laden. No hysteria in public but it was not business as usual.

I had the habit of filling my car with gas at a local SHELL gas station which used to give 5% discount on Tuesdays and unfortunately that September 11th fell on a Tuesday. On my way back home when I went to fill up my gas tank, I encountered long line. There was hardly any car on the road. People were mostly indoor, glued to TV.

The aim of terrorists is to create terror and they really succeeded that day in scaring the hell out of Americans who were attacked on their Mainland for the first time in history (technically the first major attack on US soil took place at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on 7th of December 1941. But it was in Hawaii, America's 50th State thousands miles away from mainland).

Contrast that to the indomitable spirit amongst Indians. Mumbai and many other cities in India have gone through several terror attacks. But within hours the life comes to normal. It's not about the number of people being killed, those many are killed in road accidents every day. The main goal of the terrorists is to create terror in the hearts and minds of the people. In that aspect they fail miserably in India, though it has more to do with the need for ROZI ROTI (daily bread) than any great bravery against odds or fighting spirit. Yet they still deserve the credit of defying the odds and getting back to normal life quicker than anywhere in the world.

More than 2 decades years down the road, hardly anything has changed. Though, touch wood, America has been able to prevent any major terror attack on its soil, terrorism across the globe still thrives. No nation on earth is fully immune to this disease which is spreading its tentacles far and wide like cancer, nor they're entirely blame free for letting this menace prevail due to their short sighted political goals.

Some one is a good terrorist as long as he is an useful idiot to serve one's own business, but becomes a bad terrorist if it hurts the state which sponsors them for creating terror in another country. Someone's terrorist is another one's Freedom Fighter. If not curbed, on long term terrorism is going to do irreparable damage to the mankind unless everyone close in to root out this evil. Remember, if you keep snakes in your backyard thinking that it will only bite only your neighbors then you are living in fool's paradise. One day that snake is going to bite you. The lessons learned from 9/11 should never be forgotten.

Dus NUMBARI - No 10

William Shakespeare famously said - "What's in a name ! You call Rose in some other name, it still smells the same." But there is something about numbers we can't ignore.

Not long ago I was watching an old Hindi movie DUS NUMBARI (Number 10). The leading actor, called "Hero" in Bollywood parlance, was wearing his trademark jersey with no.10 proudly painted on top.
This is not the kind of no. 10 Jersey worn by Maradona, Romario or Messi, the famous sports stars wear. It rather refers to the Number 10 file in the police stations in India, where the names and details of habitual criminals are registered.

In the same movie the actress Hema Malini while shopping asks for the price of DAAL (lentil) at a grocery store. At Rs.4 per kilogram those days, she finds it very expensive (the movie was from 1970s), and accuses the shopkeeper MILAWAT KE BAAD BHI ITNI MEHNGI (even after adulteration it is so expensive) ? The accused was involved in DO NUMBARI (No 2 deeds, ascribed to illegal activities in Indian subcontinent).

It instantly reminded me a stanza from a comic Odia song from the talented singer Akshay Mohanty : 

MASTARAM GIRIDHARI
PURUNA CHORA BEPARI;
BEPARA KARI SE CHANDAA;
TAKU MALOOM ANEKA DHANDAA.

Roughly transliterate...

Mr. Mastram Giridhar;
The nefarious old Black Marketeer.
Deep pocketed business made him bald;
Many hidden sleeves he has on his hand.

The store keeper whom Hema Malini suspected of adulteration perfectly fitted the bill of an unscrupulous trader - A bald man clad in LUNGI (Loincloth worn around waist which could be easily removed for urination, defecation or sex) and white short sleeved banyan. The front of his head has a few strings of isolated hairs hanging loosely from sides of his barren head, and a fewer left on the backside of his head. But he had plenty of hairs growing on both of his ears like weeds. It was the perfect image of a CHORA BEPARI (Black Marketer) of those days. Now a days frauds clean-shaven, wearing expensive clothes and suits.

Adulteration has been our way of life. There is a popular Odia idiom - KETE PANI MISICHI (how much water is mixed) to ascertain the degree of manipulation or adulteration made. It is best seen in gully cricket matches where at least 5% score is added by the scorer to the ultimate tally. Back then, it was a normal practice.

Like milk, a little bit of adulteration here and there in gully cricket score was not seen as a big deal, it won't hurt anything. I was aware about tiny black pebbles were bought from a special place near JATNI, a small city on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. It was used as an the perfect mix for Rice and Daal. Grounded red brick granules were considered as the ideal mix for Chilli powder, dried Papaya seeds for Black pepper and so on. It probably explains why Gold is always 22 carats, never 100% pure.

Cheating in Indian subcontinent is also called CHAR SHO BISHI which simply denotes the number 420. The number comes from the section 420 of Indian Penal Code which deals with cheating.

The eminent writer Khushwant Singh's father Sardar Sobha Singh was a rich contractor in Delhi having plenty of cars at his disposal. He would visit Delhi Vehicle Registration office asking for CHANGA (eye catching) numbers to make his cars to make them distinguishable from others.

He was promptly given a number of 420 by a playful employee of the office. The poor rich Sardar (Sikh) drove the car around Delhi with SARDAR 420 engraved on the number plate on the car, until someone disclosed it to him that he had been taken for a ride. The fuming Sardar changed the number plate.

So names may or may not, but numbers have their significance, from no. 1 till no. 420. As the song from the movie DUS NUMBARI goes - DUNIYA EK NUMBERI, TO MEIN DUS NUMBARI (The world is no. 1, straightforward, but I am no. 10, Crooked).

Goodbye Sanu Mausi

 Very sad to hear about the sad demise of Sulochana Patnaik (Sanu Mausi). She passed away mid day yesterday in Florida where she moved in the year 2021 after a long stint in Canada, Philadelphia, Maryland. 

She has been very close to our family for a long time. In the year 1997, when I was a new comer to the United States she helped me settle down in Philadelphia. Sanu Mausi was the first person who discovered the flair in my writing. She was a School teacher in English subject and would on occasions during my childhood days give me assignments to write essays. She would throw random topics at me - marriage and other social occasions I attended, cricket matches I saw at the Barabati stadium, Cuttack and my annual summer vacation trips to our ancestral village near Puri. During the summer of 1978, I finished an assignment she gave me to translate from Odia to English. She was so impressed that she showed it to her school students as example. 

She would tell my father - "Sir, Babloo (my nickname) writes lucid, captivating English. You should nurtur his writing skills". She used to bring me tons of books and magazines to read. I remember in the summer of 1979 as a 10 year old finishing Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar's Autobiography "Sunny Days". She was very impressed and suggested my father to switch me from my Odia medium school to the English medium D.M. School. There was an entrance examination followed by an interview to get admission to the coveted institution, arguably the best English medium school at that time. I made it. She immensely contributed to my knowledge in both English and Odia during my formative years, for which I will forever stay indebted. 

Now a days when I as see compliments on my blogs, I remember her contributions in shaping my writing skills. I will still remember for the rest of my life. May she rest n peace. Om 🕉 Shanti !!!

Teacher's Day 2024

Today is TEACHER's Day, all other brands are prohibited. (Teachers is a popular brand of Scotch). Jokes apart, I salute to all my teachers who have made a huge difference in my life by contributing towards shaping my knowledge and character.

It is not just limited to my teachers in  school and college. My parents were my first teachers. Then came friends, relatives, acquaintances as teachers in various forms at different stages in my life. There is always something to learn from every human being, a prince or a pauper, a beggar or a sorcerer, an animal or an inanimate object. Life is the biggest teacher. 

A good movie can be a good teacher too. In the iconic movie 3 IDIOTs, on the Teacher's Day of 5 September, character Chatur Ramalingam goes on the stage to recite a Sanskrit Sloka (hymn) eulogizing the teachers of his college. 

He rotes the Sloka by memory, without understanding a single word of it, nor caring about its content, without realizing that the original speech was altered by a playful and witty Rancho (played by Aamir Khan). As Chatur on the stage was about to vomit the Sloka he rote from what Rancho wrote, the later told his friends to get ready to hear a sermon about the former's farting prowess. Chatur recites:

UTTAMAM GAD GADATA PADAM,
MADHYAM PADAM TUCHAK TUCHAK;
THUR THURIYA KANISTAM PADAM,
SUR SURIYA PRANA GHATAKAM.

Roughly transliterated...

"Loud farts are majestically thundering;
Medium farts come along stuttering,
Small Farts arrive whisteling & sirening;
The silent ones can be life threatening."

As the crowd goes berserk and poor Chatur gets kicked out of the stage, Racho's dark humor teached us another lesson in academics - Knowledge acquired through roting sans understanding may earn you a Degree, but will take you nowhere. My father always emphasized on understanding rather than roting.

Decades ago there was this incident, when a sub-collector in Sonepur district of Odisha did this cowardly, shameful act of kicking a hapless school teacher, abusing him as a poor MASTRA (the way the word master is often pronounced in Odia, a term mostly used in derogatory sense for teachers back home). 

I remember a cartoon related to the above incident which came out on the local vernacular Newspaper with the following caption, (rhyming with our famous Sloka "GURU BRAHMA GURU BISHNU... "

GURU DEENA GURU HEENA
GURU SAMANYA MASTARA;
KANDOOKA SAMAN GURU
TASME SRHEE GOITHA MARA
ITI UPA- COLLECTOR
JILLA NAMA SONAPUR.

Transliterating in the same rhyme form to keep the theme intact,

"Teacher is poor, Teacher is mere;
Teacher is just an ordinary Master.
Teacher is akin to a football;
To be kicked for sure.
Courtesy Sub-Collector,
From the district of Sonepur."

I have heard folks asking in Odia to their children "KIRE MASTRA AJI KANA PADHEILA" meaning "Hey, what did the master teach you today". The English transliteration may not sound so bad but the way it is delivered in the native language is not a sign of great adulation.

My take is simple - A society which does not respect its teachers, can never  prosper. Period. Great nations are made by great men. Great men (and women) are shaped by their teachers. HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY to all.

Uttam Kumar - the legend

Today, September 3, is the Bengali actor Uttam Kumar’s Birthday. Many girls confide that he is the only Bengali man they ever had a crush on and could have readily married him as women of that era swooned over him. The man had grace, style and a killer smile. It is said that talented artists are "Gandharvas" reborn who live for a small time, but leave early leaving their mark. He died early too, a week before the death of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi. Both were of the same age.

Uttam Kumar’s death at a young age of 53 brought Calcutta to standstill on July 24, 1980. The Bengali hero of all ages was a natural actor who won over generations with his charm and persistence. After getting symptoms of a heart attack he drove himself to a clinic in Calcutta where he was attended by a team of cardiologists. But he died the next day in spite of the best effort of the doctors to save him, stunning the entire state of Bengal and nation.

Sharing a small incident of his life which stands testimony of his polularity and his stature as "Mahanayak" or the mega Star by his fans. Sometime in May 1966, the famous director Satyajit Ray called Uttam Kumar - “Uttam, my movie 'Nayak' premieres tomorrow at Indira Cinema. I hope you will be there".

"But Manikda (the nickname of Satyajit Ray in movie industry), the press and public will be in attendance. Do you think I should go? There possibly will be pandemonium,” he replied.

“Uttam, don’t forget it is a Satyajit Ray film (movie is also widely called as film in India, especially in Odisha and Bengal, the two states bear a lot of resemblance in language and culture). Please be there,” - Satyajit Ray commanded. It wasn't easy to say no to Manikda, even for a man of superstar status. Uttam Kumar relented, though reluctantly.

The next day, the news of Uttam Kumar’s appearance at the cinema house spread like wildfire and all the hell broke loose. By late afternoon, roads leading to Bhowanipore in Calcutta had to be barricaded. Uttam's car (probably a Chevrolet Impala) was piloted through the bylanes. The theatre was shaking under the weight of uproarious chanting, ‘Guru, Guru’ (Uttam's nick name given by his fans) with demands to see the Star. 

The hall manager rushed to Ray. “Sir, if we don’t bring him up on stage there will be a serious law-and-order issue.” 

Minutes later, the lights came on and Uttam Kumar was seen standing on the platform in front of the screen. He raised his hand. The crowd fell silent, as if by the waving of a magic wand. “I request you to please be silent and watch the film. Don’t forget it is a Satyajit Ray film.”

This story, a piquant testimonial to two of Bengal’s foremost immortals, is probably apocryphal. But that takes nothing away from what this tale protrays, which testifies two stalwarts in 1966 – from Ray’s sway over his cast, the pliant theatre manager and finally the phenomenal stardom of Uttam Kumar. In some ways, this story encapsulates the fantasy that was Bengali cinema. But as is known, it is not Ray who colonised that cinema, either as fantasy or as commerce. It was Uttam Kumar, and the one and only Uttam Kumar. Happy Birthday to the Mahanayak who if alive would have been 97 today.