Happy New Year 2025

 2024 paves way to year 2025 - a New Year we perpetually wish to be better than the previous one. The passing away year was unique, a leap year, with a date of February, 29 which comes once in every 4 years, enabling those born on this unique day the rare opportunity to celebrate their birthdays on the actual day.  Also it was the year of the Olympics held in Paris in the summer.

I am reminded of Morarjee Desai, who in year 1977 became Prime minister of India at the ripe age of 84. When a reporter questioned him about his old age, the witty PM answered - "I am just 21", alluding to his date of birth. His birthday occured once every four years as he was a leap year child, born on February 29.

While stepping into the New Year of 2025, thousands of Nostadamus, Baba Vanga and Malika predictions from our ubiquitous Whatsapp University are circulating on social media. Yet we don't know for sure what lies ahead of us and what's in store for us next year in an age of unpredictability. No one predicted Covid Pandemic 5 years ago as we stepped into 2020, something which came with cataclysmic events associated with it.

As the old man 2024 bends his spine, bends forward extending his hand to open the door to welcome the New Year, it is now time for some retrospection. The passing year 2024 will be forever be remembered for several reasons. The Coronavirus pandemic which was a scourge for past several years is now passe. Economic uncertainties and wars at hotspots of the world still continue. 

India won the T20 Cricket World Cup, part of which was held in America where Cricket means an insect emitting shrill noise. The game of Cricket is a great unifying factor in India, a nation of 1.4 billion. The English say "God save the Queen", the Americans say "God Bless America". I say 'God bless Cricket". Arguably our national passion, the game of Cricket, unites every Indian from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Bengal to Baroda. When India plays Cricket, we feels ourselves as an Indian rather than a Punjabi, Tamil, Marathi or Odia.

A la getting rid off old cloths for the new ones and the soul moving from one body to another as famously extolled by our Hindu God Sri Krishna in BHAGWAT GITA, our Hindu Scriptue, year 2025 will be reborn yet again at midnight tonight as the soul of 2024 passes away. The year dawns with the cherubic smile of a newborn, as another number is added to its age in the form of New Year. But hardly anything else ever changes with the arrival of the New Year. For me the mundane life trudges ahead as the same shit, different day - with different color and texture. Hardly anything worthwhile difference occurs, the status quo is maintained more or less.

The antonym of "Happy New Year" is "Unhappy Old Year". Year 2024 was pretty close to that for me due to various reasons. I lost my mother in May, not to mention a few close friends and relatives who passed away to a different realm. This year came and went with a mixed bag of good, bad and ugly, with additional baggage of  memories gently rolling into next year. Made new friends, revived old ones and lost a few near and dear ones once and for all. I may sound nihilist, yet the year comes with this stark reminder to me - life goes downhill from here, tasks become uphill and years are numbered before we go over the hill. 

I do not make any New Year's resolution as can't keep them. Resolutions like promises are made to be broken. I simply roll over to the year ahead of me. We may forget history but we repeat it year after year, similar to this starting stanza of Kishore Kumar's song :

EK RUUT AYE, EK RUUT JAYE PHIR,
MOUSAM BADLENA, BADLE NASEEB.

"One season comes and another goes,
Seasons don't change, fate does". 

To me, almost all New Year wishes expressed over the years have been too pleasant to be forgettable. The Homo Sapien species which is inherently cynical has this instinct to remember the unpleasant ones and I am no exception. I remember this one from 1st January, 1982. On the first New Year after his marriage to princess Diana, when the nosey British Paparazzi got a scent that her marriage with Prince Charles wasn't going too well, he wished them - "Have a Nasty New Year".

But I don't have to be nasty and negative. So let me repeat the forgettable wish, as I do not forget to do at the end of every year - HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR 2025 ahead and stay blessed.

RIP Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States passed away at the age of 100 today. He was the first ever President to reach that milestone of living for more than 100 years. 

A rare Southern Democrat and a peanut farmer from the state of Georgia where I currently live, he became President of the United States in 1976 after defeating Gerald Ford at a time the country was coming out of the miasma of the famous Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of Ford's predecessor Richard Nixon. 

President Carter was a gentleman to the core. But unfortunately he presided over a poor economy and the famous hostage crisis when Iran was taken over by a cleric Ayotollah Khomeini who took American Embassy staff in Teheran hostages for 444 days. Both bad economy at home and hostage crisis abroad made him highly unpopular as he was up for reelection in 1980. Earlier same year he tried to salvage his rapidly plummeting popularity by launching a secret rescue attempt on Iranian soil. Unfortunately for him the rescue mission went horribly wrong due to bad weather and collision of two military aircrafts killing some American commandos. 

Later that year a few days before the 1980 Presidential Elections when Carter was up for reelection, his Republican opponent Ronald Reagan, a former B -grade Hollywood actor asked the Americans a pertinent question - "Are you better off now than 4 years ago ? If so, you have your choice", he said winking at President Carter. His message was well taken as less than a week later Ronald Reagan won by a landslide. Poor Jimmy Carter ended up bring one time President. 

President Carter had his tryst with India in 1978 when as he was the first American President in more than a decade to visit India. It was during the height of the Cold War when India was the bete noire of USA as it had firmly tilted towards the erstwhile Soviet Union. The visit went cold as cold as the cold war when the relationship between a Socialist India and a Capitalist America was at best frosty. The visiting US President told to his officials sitting next to him that he didn't get a good impression of India's Prime Minister Morarjee Desai, whom he found blabbering incoherently during their meeting. Desai who drank his own piss every morning and lived until the age of 99, pissed off the Americans. It was an embarrassing diplomatic moment, as the microphone in front of Carter was not switched off and many could hear the conversation. Carter's visit was a milestone as not a single American President chose to visit India for 31 years except him between 1969 and 2000. 

After his Presidency Jimmy Carter didn't sit idle. He never retired, led a hardworking active life engaged in myriads of charity and humanitarian work all over the world which won him the Nobel Prize for Peace. A fighter and survivor he scored a century. RIP Mr. Carter.

RIP Dr. Manmohan Singh

An episode from the year 1991 might ring a bell. This is how Subramanian Swamy, a man who has been in almost all parties and now-a-days a BJP man turned into a BJP critic, then a Commerce Minister in Chandra Sekhar's government, had this conversation with the USA Ambassador to India. This was during a very crucial time in early 1991 when the American led coalition forces were fighting the Iraq War and Indian economy was totally in shambles. The American Ambassador asked Dr. Swamy what India needed in exchange for refueling facility provided on Indian soil to the Gulf bound US planes fighting the Iraq war. 

Here is how the conversation was reported. US Ambassador - "What do you want in return" ? Dr. Swamy replied - "We want $2 billion because we are on the verge of bankruptcy". The Ambassador asked, "You want it from the United States" ? Dr.Swami responded - "No, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and without any condition attached". 

The Ambassador went on, "How can I get you money from IMF" ? Dr. Swami replied, "You have 87 percent voting right in IMF. So, if you want landing rights, then by Monday I want $2 billion". The American played hard - "Today it is already Friday". Said Swami, "In Washington DC it is still Thursday night. I know you have the ability to pull it off." (And unlike many believe that world leaders get ecstatic by looking at Mahaprabhu's white beard, we know in international matters it is always a give and take relationship and every one plays hard. It invariably needs some negotiation and hard bargaining before a deal is reached). 

So US gave India $2 billion and they were given the landing rights by India. We changed our non-alignment policy overnight. 2 billion dollar, even adjusted to inflation is not a gargantuan amount by today's standard, now considering India a USD 4 trillion economy and $650 billion plus in its Forex reserve. But it was no laughing matter then, when India's Balance of Payment position was extremely precarious and its coffer was on the verge of depletion. India with few hundred million of USD in its reserves and its gold mortgaged in a London Bank was staring at nightmare scenario of economic catastrophe. 

Long rule by the Congress Party and its disastrous, leftist - socialist economy policy followed by years of classic Hindu rate of economic growth took us to the doorstep of impending bankruptcy. Yet it took another Congressman, incidentally not from the Nehru - Gandhi family to fix it. A huge credit for this transformation we are seeing 33 years down the road goes to a man, who after almost retiring from public life became India's Finance Minister by fluke and a two term Prime Minister for 10 years. He is no other than our erudite, educated, a qualified Economist and the first Sikh Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh who is no more. He passed away earlier today at the age of 92. 

Dr. Singh was a gentleman whose integrity was beyond question. Never a politician, he was liked by everyone. He was India's Finance Minister for 5 years, Prime minister for 10 years - both rare achievements by a person who wasn't a politician. Khushwant Singh once mentioned that Dr. Singh once ran for Lok Sabha from South Delhi constituency and borrowed some money from the eminent writer. Needless to say, he lost the election and soon after he returned the money to Khushwant Singh. Such a gesture is very rare these days when money taken in never returned. No wonder such a person lost the election and it says a lot about the people we elect. Manmohan Singh never got elected from Lok Sabha and had to get elected via backdoor to Rajya Sabha to be able to continue in office and contribute to nation. 

Dr. Singh's tenure as India's Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996 was eventful. He opened up Indian economy from the stranglehold of Red tapism, Permission and License Raj, devalued the moribund Indian Rupees to make it more competitive and encourage exports, cut tariffs and improve India's substandard infrastructure. India's economy responded positively unshackling itself from its classic Hindu rate of growth. Its foreign exchange coffer increased to a healthy level. All happened sans any fanfare and fake jingoism surrounding it. 

Yet his tenure as India's Prime Minister between 2004 - 2014 was a mixed back. Though India's economic growth continued, there was visible corruption done by people around him, although his own integrity was impeccable. He watched silently and helplessly as there was policy paralysis everywhere as he was seen as a puppet of the all powerful Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, followed by her son Rahul. Internationally, Pakistan continued to make one terror attack after another inside India perceiving him as a weak person and the leader of a weak state. Regardless of all these, India's growth juggernaut chugged ahead contrary to many who believe everything was in doldrums before 2014 and "Satya Yuga" (golden era) arrived in India the same year after the arrival of BJP and Modi. RIP Dr. Manmohan Singh. Om Shanti.

Corruption Reporting in Odisha

As reported by this Odia media outlet some government employee has been arrested for taking a bribe of Rs.10,000 ($120). A news from Odisha not long ago didn't just raise my curiosity, it got my attention - "ଯାଜପୁର ଜିଲ୍ଲାର ସୁକିନ୍ଦା ପୋଲିସ ଷ୍ଟେସନର ସବ୍ ଇନ୍ସପେକ୍ଟର ନିର୍ମଳ କୁମାର ସେନାପତି ୧୦ ହଜାର ଟଙ୍କା ଲାଞ୍ଚ ନେଲା ବେଳେ ଭିଜିଲାନ୍ସ ଦ୍ୱାରା ଗିରଫ". Transliterating the gist in Odia, "A police sub-inspector in Odisha was arrested by the Vigilance department when taking a bribe of Rs.10,000". 

It's high time they stop reporting bribes of these meager amounts. I find it ultimate hypocrisy in this getting reported on media, social or otherwise. A classic case of the Odia saying - "HAATHI GALI JAUCHI, PIMPUDI DHARA PADUCHI" (Elephant escapes while the Ant gets caught). The meaning is self explanatory.

We studied in Math and Physics during our school/college days that when a number tends to get infinitesimally small we ignore it considering it as equivalent to zero. And those who are familiar with corruption in India any bribery less than Rs.100,000 ($1200) is too small these days to get noticed and reported. The media should ignore them, rather focus on reporting the big fishes who invariably find a way to escape.

Regardless of what's reported on Odia media, I love reading Odia, my mother tongue. Whenever I visit my home state back home Odisha in India, I make it a point to grab a few books written in Odia language, the most cherished ones being those by the eminent writer Manoj Das. Reading Odia script was never cumbersome for me, even after living in the United States for more than quarter of a century. In Sanskrit there is a saying "BINA ABHYASE BISHAM VIDYA" (without practice knowldege becomes poison). I was able to overcome whatever little bit of initial tardiness I had while reading from Odia script by sustaining reading habit in my mother tongue. I can now boast of being equivalent of linguistically ambidextrous who can read both English and Odia at aplomb.

Living abroad does not give me much option of getting Odia books from stores, so I have to restrict myself to reading Odia newspapers on the web and social media. I see sparks of brilliance in young and not so young minds who pen a whole lot of blogs, articles and short stories in Odia on social media - from short, crispy writings to long, gripping essays. Most of these creative Odia writers who have a passion for writing in Odia, a few themed around feminism. Not to mention I religiously try to catch vernacular Newspapers in Odia font. But I find a few newsworthy and most I wish I could drag and drop into my Trash folder.

Can't stop mentioning certain eye catching news I often stumble upon on regular basis. Some are outrightly funny - "SARAPANCHA KU NISTUKA MADA" (The village head being thoroughly thrashed), "UTAKTA JANATA BHANDA BABAJI RA DAADHI KAATI DELE" (irate mob cut the beard of a fake Guru) and so on. "SASHU SAHITA JWAIN FERAR" (Mother-in-law eloped with son-in-law). And not so amusing pieces like "SAANA BHAI RA TANGIA CHOTA RE BADA BHAIRA MRUTYU" (Younger brother kills the elder one using an axe). The one which hurts me a lot, "JAUTUKA PAI BADHU NIRYATANA / HATYA" (Bride tortured or killed for Dowry). Such news mostly emanate from coastal Odisha districts which makes me believe that my coastal brethren are champion dowry harassers compared to their western Odisha cousins. 

On the same page I read "Bhubanesar RASTARE FERRARI AU BENTLY GAADI BHIDA (Ferrari and Bentlies crowd the Bhubaneswar roads) proclaiming the arrival of nouveau riche in once upon a sleepy township of salaried people. What fun is riding a Ferrari in the capital city of Odisha where a gnawing and crawling traffic can hardly make your vehicle go over 30 kmph (20 mph). If you are intrepid enough to exceed that speed limit you could very well kill someone. If you survive, I would tersely remind you to remember your dependants and make the last payment of Life Insurance policy on timely manner for the risk of going above and beyond 20 miles per hour.

Many think this a symbol of Odisha's progress. In my view too much in the hands of too few is not a sign of upward economic mobility of the entire state. Number of Ferraris, Bentlies, iPhones etc has no doubt gone up. I dont mind it as long as the income used to purchase them are from legal sources. Growing number of dowry deaths and economic inequality is not a sign of upward social mobility by any yardstic. 

Such contrasting news protrays a world of have and have nots in Odisha in particular and India in general. In this context a meager bribe taken by small fries - a Peon, Clerk or sub-inspector is too trivial these days to get noticed and reported by the media. 

Christmas party years ago

We had a Christmas party last week and another scheduled for coming week. Every holiday season the Christmas parties reminds me of one such party, long time back in the 1990s when I was a new arrival in America. It was my first Christmas party in USA. Alcohol, especially the locally popular Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey and Jack Daniel were flowing like Mahanadi in spate during monsoon or a flooded Chattahoochee river after heavy showers. New, shy and a bit unsure about myself to fit into the milieu I was sipping some Vodka, standing alone at a corner of the big banquet hall.

Sensing my loneliness three mountain sized coworkers, as big and burly as the local Appalachian mountain approached me with the intention of making me comfortable. They said Vodka is not sipped, rather tossed in at one go and gave me some demo by inviting me to join them to imbibe shots in unison. I got carried away by their attention and joined them liberally tossing down a few shots of Vodka repeating 1-2-3 go, 1-2-3 go several times. I could feel the fiery stuff going down my esophagus, clearing away any doubts I had about Biology when last time I studied the subject during High School.

It turned out to be a foolish decision on my part. Nothing happened to the big guys as they melted away inside the hall enjoying the party. Minutes passed by without anything happening to me while I munched some chicken nuggets and chunks of cheese on toothpicks. As absolute power can corrupt absolutely, Absolute Vodka can intoxicate absolutely. Alcohol shrugged off my jaded nerves. Moments later suddenly my legs started getting wobbly and head swirling like whirlpool. The sound of this song played by the DJ suddenly started wavering and dancing with the light.

"Where'd ya come from Cotton eye Joe
I have been married long time ago.
Where'd come and where'd ya go,
Where'd come and where'd ya go."

The flickering lights started floating around me amidst the tap dancing Cowboy hat wearing men and red dressed women. All of a sudden they started looking blurred to my elated, intoxicated eyelids. The sound of music got louder and louder, as I stumbled couple of times. But I was in sense and sensible enough to know where I was heading to. So I thought it judicious not to hang around anymore and make an ass out of myself. Rather it would be wise for me to head back to my apartment sooner than later.

On my return drive I rolled down the windows to let in the frigid Midwest air to keep me alert and awake. Luckily I encountered no cops. A DUI or Driving Under Influence of alcohol could have hampered my on going Green Card, i.e. the Permanent Resident status in US which was under process during that time (An advice to my friends not to drink and drive, especially if your Green Card processing is still on. A DUI at that juncture certainly won't help you).

No sooner I reached home than I crashed on bed, my shoes half hanging from my feet. It was 10 AM the next day when I woke up with a heavy head and parched throat, feeling my urine has dried up. Drank a full bottle of water to see my urine resembling mustard oiI. I spent the entire next day nursing my hangover. That experience was enough of a lesson for me to never get drunk and go overboard with alcohol. So far I have religiously adhered to it. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Enjoy the season responsibly.

Pathani Samanta - the pride of Odisha

Today I decided to commemorate the memories of a gentleman who is not remembered much these days in his place and state of birth, let alone people know or care about him. He is our Samanta Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Pathani Samanta (pronounced Samantaw) - an Odia who dabbled in astronomy producing results with immaculate accuracy in 19th century, at a time modern science and astronomy was at its infancy. He was born exactly 189 years ago, on December 13, 1835.

Born in a village in the district Nayagarh in Odisha, Pandit Samanta deeply studied our Ancient Hindu texts of astronomy written in Sanskrit and was able to decipher the hidden knowledge which supplemented his instinct and intuition. He used his grasp of astronomy to measure the distance of celestial bodies from earth amazingly close to what has been found by modern scientists. Without any access to the modern instruments, he took the help from a hollow bamboo pipe and couple of sticks for his measurement. Pathani Samanta's findings were recorded in his book titled Siddhanta Darpana (The Gospel Treatise Mirror). This book found mentions in the European and American press in 1899. 

During his childhood, Pandit Samanta's passion was watching the movement and position of moon and stars in the night those days when the air was crispy, pollution free - the sky was bright and blue during the day, crystal clear to gaze at night. During the day he would closely observe shadows of Sun and their length. It is said that he could measure the distance of vultures flying high in the sky using his naked eyes and few wooden instruments.

In the year 1894 Sri Chandrasekhar was concerned about his health due to chronic frequent bouts of colic, commonly called in colloquial Odia as "PETA MARA BEMARI" those days. At the age of 59 in an era when the average life expectancy was less than 50, he had reasons to be worried, carrying the burden of 5 sons and a daughter, not to mention his shy but supportive wife. He was a poor man, being dependent on meager income received from the King of Manjusha who was impressed by the Pandit's skills in correctly measuring the height of Mahendra Giri (Hills) using his bare hands and his famous paraphernalia of bamboo sticks & wooden accessories. His ability to correctly predict Lunar and Solar eclipses earned him the title of MAHAMOHAPADHYAYA (The Very Wise and Learned One) by the British India Government - first time ever conferred to a non Brahmin in Odisha. 

Though poor, Pathani Samanta's fame in Astrology and Astronomy had travelled far and wide, enough to get an audience with Commissionner Cook of Cuttack. One sultry August afternoon the duo of Samanta and his son travelled downstream on a boat on River Mahanadi to Cuttack and reached Cook SAHEB's (a colonial way of addressing the Englishmen and still reserved for the elites in India). The Commissioner who was leaving for a game of Tennis gave them an appointment to meet the next day. 

Following morning, Cook took Pathani Samanta to the bank of the river Kathajodi. Pointing to the Saptasajya range of mountain, the Commissioner challenged the later to measure its height. Samanta Chandrasekhar instantly got busy with his hollow bamboo stick and other instruments, burying his head, making calculations on the ground using a piece of chalk - finally deriving his figure of 1178 cubits and 16 fingers. Commissioner Cook cross checked the height of Saptasajya mountains from his official records. The result was tantalizingly close.

An impressed Cook shook hands with Pathani Samanta. The first thing the Pandit did after coming out of Commissioner's residence was to take a dip in the river Mahanadi - for he touched a MLECHHA (outcaste). Touching a beef eating, Christian White man those days was tantamount to sacrilege, so he needed to purify himself by taking a bath in the river before it was too late.

On another occasion, during a bright, starry night sitting on the verandah of the house of Jogesh Chandra Ray, Professor of Science in Cuttack, Pandit Samanta was challenged by the Professor to measure the distance between the planets Mars and Venus shining on the Western sky. The shabbily dressed old man got busy with his instrument and making calculations using a chalk on the verandah. To the Professor's surprise the calculation by Pathani Samanta came extremely close to the actual distance between the two planets. When Sri Jogesh Chandra Ray showed our Pandit a modern Telescope, the old man started dancing as he could see from close up his favorite celestial bodies whom he gazed at from a distance over several decades.

But his joy was short lived, as he didn't live long after this incident. His Colic got better of him, slowly consuming him, destroying the body of one of the finest brains Odisha had ever seen. On his birthday I am taking the opportunity of dedicating my blog to our twinkling, scintillating star of Odisha who is living among the galaxies in the boundless sky where he rightly belongs to - a beacon of light, ray of inspiration for the current generation and many more to come.

The forever unreliable Middle class

 Laloo Yadav, the veteran politician from the Indian state of Bihar, known for his earthy talk, once said - "AGAR GARIB KA DIL KISI PE A GAYA, TO APNI JAAN TAQ LAGA DETE HAIN", if the heart of a poor person gets fixated on something, he puts his life into it. Being a grassroot politician from one of the poorest of poor states in India, he had a point about describing the poor.

But he wasn't the first who noticed this trait in those who belong to the deprived section in India. Years ago before Laloo was born, Mahatma Gandhi, India's Father of Nation figured this out. A smart strategist, Gandhi realized the importance of assimilation of the underprivileged mass in his Freedom movement against the British occupation of India. So, he started calling the poor and downtrodden folks from the lower strata of the society as "HARIJAN" (Children of God). He knew very well that most from the upper class were in the pocket of British, the middle class couldn't be trusted as they are selfish and change their allegiance at drop of a hat, but the poor class, if motivated can come to the front and take the blow from the LATHI (stick) of British police on their chest. Those from Upper and the Middle class, all creatures of comfort would rarely do that.

Talking about the fickle and unreliable Middle class, it reminds me of a scene from 1974 Amitabh and Rajesh Khanna starrer "NAMAK HARAAM". As the movie progresses, Amitabh is advised by his rich father not to trust his friend Rajesh Khanna, because the later was from the middle class. The rich dad played by veteran actor Om Shiv Puri warns his son - "Your friend is a good guy, but belongs to the middle class. Folks from that class, though vouch on their ideology and principles, are also ambitious and hence could turn treacherous. They perennially look for an opportunity to move up, hence they can easily drop their pretense of ideology to do anything to climb up the social ladder. Keep in mind my dear son, most ambitious folks come from this middle class who can be dangerous and should never be trusted."

Very apt and prophetic statement. People from the Upper class born with silver spoon in mouth mostly have a smooth sailing and stay closer to the establishment. The barely ambitious lower class may look forward to their next meal, but can give their life for the cause they believe in. The middle class always has this feeling, "I would love to be there but I am not there yet, may be one day in this life".

They day dream about reaching the status of those "haves". Competition is cut throat and jealousy is the highest amongst middle class. Some of them are capable of doing anything and everything, by hook or crook for the sake of upward mobility, to grab money, power and social recognition. 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 responsible most corruption and scams we see these days, as many corrupt Netas (leaders) and Babus (Bureaucrats) happen to be from this class. The tall ambition of the middle class told to the tall actor Amitabh years ago still thrives.

In a more recent Hollywood movie "INSIDE MAN" the actor Clive Owens takes a bank into hostage. He blackmails the Bank owner using a letter he finds from a safe deposit box given to the Bank owner by Nazi authorities years ago during World War II in recognition to his service to the Nazis. The kidnapper keeps that note as his insurance, a safety net in case the banker turns revengeful in future. The dejected Bank owner narrates his story to the actress Jodi Foster who was trying to mediate a deal - "During the Nazi occupation of France, my rich Jewish friend trusted me with his family's money and jewelry. I was young and ambitious, betrayed my Jewish friend to the Nazis who took him away for execution". The middle class man soon became rich by establishing his banking empire with his betrayeal blood money and Nazi connection.

Chanakya, ancient India's legendary teacher, strategist and advisor to Chandragupta of the Maurya Dynasty famously said - "Never trust an ambitious person who can easily betray you to achieve goal". He wasn't far from truth. We live in an era where thoughts fly in twinkle of an eye, but the basis human nature hasn't changed since Chanakya lived around 300 BC.

Bhopal gas tragedy

 Exactly 40 years ago, the killer waves of MIC (Methyl Iso-Cyanate), a highly toxic gas engulfed the skies of the sleepy township of Bhopal in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Many who were peacefully sleeping, would never wake up again, only to breath their last in the form of poisonous air. A leakage in the local Union Carbide plant killed thousands and maimed many when the Knight of Death visited that night.

This incident popularly known as the "Bhopal Gas Tragedy" had its consequences. The value of Union Carbide Chief in India, Warren Anderson from USA was so valuable that he was helped by the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh who flew him out of the city on his way out of country. He couldn't have done this without the tacit approval of his all powerful boss in Delhi, Rajeev Gandhi who barely a month ago was made the Prime Minister of India on the aftermath of his mother's assassination. (Per Congress party culture, its regional leaders can't even go to toilet without the permission of their High Command, aka the Gandhi family at the helm of affairs. It's inconceivable that American CEO Warren Anderson was let go without the knowledge of PM Rajeev Gandhi).

We go an extra mile to transport an American who does felony in our own homeland miles away to his safety, but whine and protest vehemently when our diplomat is treated shabbily for breaking the law on American soil (ironically this incident happened in the month of December little more than a decade ago in the year 2013). We, the champion practitioners of hypocrisy and double standards, never lose opportunity to accuse Americans of the same.

40 years down the road the justice has been both delayed and denied. Anderson the Union Carbide Chief, died of natural death at his home in Long Island, New York not so long ago. He refused to meet any Indian reporter and hardly took ownership of the disaster nor offered any tangible benefits towards the families of dead and the injured. Those who survived the Bhopal gas tragedy had to go through a lifetime ordeal, many of whom became maim for rest of their lives were given compensation thrown at them in peanuts - a tardy too little, too late. 

Have we learned anything from history about industrial safety and bringing rich and mighty felons to justice ? Your guess is as good as mine.