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.