Fall trip to Athens

 This week I made a road trip to Athens, Georgia to pick up my son for his Fall break. This time I chose a different route, a 3 hour idyllic journey through central rural Georgia to the University town located in Northeastern part of the state. I was traveling north-east on a cloudy, chilly, windy weather lashing out intermittent sprinkles of light rain.

Drove through the up and down cascading roads among the scenic undulating landscapes, looking at the vast grayish-green agricultural lands and pastures where frugal, sparsely populated cows and horses were grazing, barbed fences separating them from the highway. A foal could be seen following the footsteps of its Mama, shadowing her, looking for the shadow of warm comfort. The surrounding vast meadows reminded me of the phrase "grass is greener on the other side of fence" which made a whole lot of sense.

Driving through the rolling hills in deep, scenic Georgia I had a mid Fall day dream transported on a time machine to another era. I imaged myself in one of my previous lives back in the 18th Century kneeling down to propose to my tall, svelte dream girl standing tall on the gracian greens in her beautiful, flowing long flannel white dress with her brimmed hat protecting her pretty face from the peeping Sun. Karma endures, dream shall never die. It lives on for centuries and more to come.

Pines, Oak, Mapples, Sweet Gum, Mimosa trees adored both sides of the road forming gigantic Canopies, garlanded in fascinating early Fall foliage. The winding roads in sparsely populated rural Georgia can give you a feel of chill and darkness of the inside of a valley as the autumn sun struggled to peep through the semi Azure, gray sky. Occasionally I caught the crispiness of the air by rolling down the windows a bit, never failing to catch a glimpse of the historic old houses with large front porches. The idyllic small towns on the way were filled with Churches as many as the fallen Fall leaves on the ground.

The recent rains after a long, dry spell had wiped off the red dust from the tree leaves, like a wiper cleans the window of a car. Small muddy mounds strewn across the road were printed by tire marks.The further North I drove, more and more trees started to change their color. Multi color leaves floating in the chilly air were head bent on committing suicide by colliding on my windshield. Saw a bright red leaf falling and suddenly it started defying gravity, deftly wafting upwards by the cool breeze, only to drift further away, melting into the bottomless abyss of a creek.

The trees wore different shades on Fall color, light greenish-yellow, bright red, yellow and orange, a la different shades colors of Sarees worn by women in an Indian wedding. Miles long Canola plantation in hues of yellow adored both sides of the road , akin to mustard fields in India. Large Oakleaf Hydrangea studded with white flowers, same as Diamond studded a medieval King's crown. The tall Pampas grasses with white top were looking like feather on a cap. Miles of Cotton plantations looking like snow white fleece of clouds could be visible on both sides of the road, smiling brightly in Fall after fighting the fatigue of the summer heat. One of those memorable days...

Didn't realize when I was murmuring this old Yesudas song... 

"IN BALKHATI RAHON PE
OONCHE NEECHE SADKON PE
YUHI KAHI MERI MANZEEL CHUPI HAI
MANZEELKO KO MEIN DHOODOON
MUJHE MANZEEL DHOODEN.." 

"On these paths fascinating
 Up and down roads swerving
Somewhere lies by destination
As I look for it
It looks for me". 

A Spooky Halloween tale

Halloween always reminds me this spooky episode of my grandmother's tryst with the outer world. She used to narrate us this story from her childhood which till date stands fascinating.

Those were the days when incurable diseases like Cholera not Condom which kept India's population under control as villages were wiped out due to "MAHAMAARI", incurable diseases perfectly curable now leading to mass extinction. Our grandma was about 10 years old when she fell seriously ill.
Her parents quit on her, when they saw her eyes closed and her body became cold.

She remembered floating above her body, watching her parents crying. She saw some of her dead relatives. That included her sister, barely two years older who was close to her and succumbed a year earlier to Small Pox. She told my grandma, not to worry about the nether world, as she got familiar company.
Then a big burly guy came from nowhere, yelling - "What she is doing here ? She needs to go back. Her time hasn't come yet." Soon she opened her eyes, to see her sobbing parents relax and wipe off tears from their eyes.

From that moment she started miraculously recovering. Our grandma lived a long life, well into her 90s, never ever suffering any major ailment and leading a very smooth life until she passed away the age of 95. Till her death, she was active, taking care of herself and passed away away peacefully while taking afternoon siesta. A blessed death for any human.

In modern day clinical terms, it is called NDE (Near Death Experience). I would think, this was a short term Nether Death Experience, her tryst with the outer realms. Whatever it may be, my grandma forever insisted on this event, took RAANA (swore on the lives of her near and dear ones) of speaking the truth. I do have reasons to trust her, as ladies from that generation took their RAANA seriously, especially when it comes to their kids and grand kids. Happy Halloween !!!

Death Anniversary of Indira Gandhi

 Exactly 41 years ago, on the morning of 31st October, 1984 Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India was assassinated by her Sikh body guards. Incidentally she was in Bhubaneswar in the state of Odisha the day before and I saw her from close quarters. I vividly remember that day as our classes in College were suspended and an ongoing cricket match between India and Pakistan being canceled. Coincidentally her father PM Jawaharlal Nehru and youngest son Sanjay Gandhi were in Odisha just few days before they died.

Eminent writer Khushwant Singh who once used to be very close to her family, especially to her younger son Sanjay Gandhi, but later fell out of her favor after Sanjay's death in an air crash wanted to visit her place to pay his last respect in spite of their estrangement. When he was about to leave he got a call from a well wisher (I have forgotten the person's name) - "Sardarjee (as Sikhs are addressed), Have you lost your mind ? Don't ever dare going out now. The goons of Congress are dragging Sikhs out of vehicles and roasting them alive. They are going to make a Sikh KABAAB (roast) out of you".

Needless to say, the hired goons of HKL Bhagat (An East Delhi Mafia) and goon troika of Lalit Maken, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar - all HONORABLE MPs from Congress party, were directly accused of conniving and complicity in the riots against the hapless Sikhs who have no connection with Indira's killers except their religion.

Thousands of Sikhs were killed and maimed in the days following. Estimates vary - from the government issued figure of 2,800 to the independently assessed number 8,000 to 10,000. All said and done, many hardened criminals were released from jails that fateful evening in full police protection. Scores were armed with iron rods and Kerosene oil.

Bribed and motivated by the 100 rupee note handouts (had a decent purchase value then) and fueled by bottles of liquors alleged supplied by Sajjan Kumar and Lalit Maken (Uncle of Congress politician Ajay Maken who was a baby when his parents were mowed down by Sikh gunmen months later for his dad's involvement in anti-Sikh riots in Delhi), they went on rampage, destroying life and property of Sikhs they came across.

Indira's son Rajeev Gandhi who took over as the Prime Minister after his mother's untimely death shrugged off the Sikh massacre as "When a big tree falls the surrounding earth shakes". Government controlled All India Radio and Doordarshan blacked out the mass killing of Sikhs. People tuned in to British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) to get the stunning news of Sikhs being killed not in the hundreds but in thousands (Ironically the news of killing of Sikhs by iron rods and garlanding them with tyres set on fire would have stayed hidden from the same folks who today despise BBC for reporting some unpalatable truth from India).

This is not the sole example. Our great Congress party, espousing soft Hindutva has a history of involvement in several large scale killing of minorities including Muslims whom ironically it now portrays itself as their savior. The following ones come on top of my mind, though I am sure of many more such incidents taking place under the auspices of our Grand Old Party Congress.

1983 - Nellie massacre in Assam (3,000 killed)
1987 - Maliana near Meerut (50 Muslim youths picked up from their homes and killed by the UP police)
1989 - Bhagalpur in Bihar (1000 killed).

Congress was in power in both at the Center and the above states during the above mentioned pogroms of Muslims.

BJP is no lily white, but it sounds utterly hypocrite when Congies like Digvijaya Singh and Ajay Maken whose father incidentally handed out 100 rupee notes and liquor bottles as prize to teach the Sikhs a lesson, are accusing BJP of resorting to Communalism. This is nothing but a classic case of Pot calling the kettle black. Death of Indira was itself the end of an era but the progrom that followed paved the way minority bashing in the future.

The Super Cyclone of 1999

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

It took my memory back on this day to the month of October, 1999 exactly 26 years ago when arguably the worst cyclone of my lifetime hit Odisha in the form of Category 4-5 winds more than 150 miles per hour (250 kmph) knocking down trees, houses, killing humans and livestocks in several thousands. 

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

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

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

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

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

For the cunning, powerful and disgruntled Congress leader JB Patnaik, the man Gomango replaced not long ago the incident was manna dew, an opportunity to score a political goal. He reportedly played some deliberate politics to accentuate Gomango's removal. Previously in power for 14 years he activated his widespread contacts and sleeper cells inside the all pervading Bureaucracy calling shots in Odisha to indulge in tardy distribution of the relief materials, causing further damage to the reputation of the CM Gomango who was soon was unceremoniously removed. 

Since then things have changed a lot over the last quarter of a century. Lessons were learnt from the mistake of 1999. The subsequent administrations led by the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have done a commendable job in disaster management. In meantime technology grew in leaps and bound. Modern day satellites are able to accurately predict and track the path of Cyclones. Time being the essence, prior anticipation and tracking of this behemoth single eyed monster has led to evacuation of public en masse, drastically reducing the casualty. When the ferocious Fani hit the Odisha shore in 2019, nearly a million were evacuated to Cyclone shelters. Though damages to property was extensive but valuable human lives were saved.

What hasn't changed is the corruption in the post cyclone relief distribution which may have gone from bad to worse. As my friend, young man Pravat Pruseth questioned - ୧୯୯୯ ମହାବାତ୍ୟାରେ ଆମେରିକା ସରକାର ପଠେଇ ଥିବା ପାଞ୍ଚ ହଜାର ଟଙ୍କା ମୂଲ୍ଯର ଗୋଟିଏ ଗୋଟିଏ କମ୍ବଳ ଫାଇଭ ଷ୍ଟାର ହୋଟେଲ ଗୁଡିକରେ ପହଞ୍ଚିଲା କେମିତି ? (How come blankets sent by the US government during super Cyclone 1999 manage to reach the 5 Star Hotels) ? There were talks of some of the high quality tarpolenes from America to act as shelter cover of the storm affected public ended up covering the cars of the BADA BADIA (Big Shots) in Bhubaneswar. The relief somehow manages to reach the greedy, not the needy. 

In this context, it is not unusual for another Cyclone named Manthan just hit Southern part of Odisha, now that it is the peak hurricane season in Bay of Bengal. But it wasn't too bad, more like a walk in the park considering a lot of guardrails and safety measures already in place. 

Apart from the ubiquitous improvement in preparedness the following factors have helped in facing the Cyclone menace over the years.

1. Because of the advance technology and satellite imagery the authorities are informed well in advance to plan evacuations ahead of time.

2. Due to improvement in economy, number of concrete houses have gone up to replaced the predominantly thatched, mud hits in villages. Concrete houses can withstand strongest of the stronger wind.

3. Number of media, social or otherwise has gone up. Though they have gone hyperactive for their own TRP and other benefits, they indirectly act as an antidote to complacency, keeping the authorities and the public on their toe which as a benefit in disguise. Alertness helps. Alwaya better be safe than sorry. 

RIP Satish Sah

 My first introduction to Television was on November 19, 1982 when I saw the electronic device for the first time in my life in my 9th Grade (Class IX as it was called those days). The occasion was inauguration of Asiad 82, the Asian Games held in India's capital New Delhi. In my alma mater D.M. School in Bhubaneswar a new color Television of brand Konark TV was installed in the school library. The afternoon classes were suspended and the school bus supposed to carry us back home was delayed to enable the students to take a glimpse of the inauguration ceremony.

During the first ever transmission of the TV in Bhubaneswar in form of the Asian Games we were glued to a new gadget called Television which neither we nor any one from our 14 generations ever saw with our eyes, ears and mouth wide open. The telecast was hazy with frequent loss of signal with "Appu", the baby elephant mascot of the Games stepping forward holding a placard proudly proclaiming "RUKAWAT KE LIYE KHED HAI" (Sorry for the interruption). We, spellbound students clapped with enthusiasm as Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India who would be assassinated less than couple of years later inaguated the games. But more clapping was reserved for the actor Amitabh Bachchan, the one man Bollywood industry of the time. No sooner the camera captured him live than the entire library erupted with excitement as we saw our favorite star live in any form outside movie theatres for the first time in our lives.

I sneaked in our neighborhoods to watch cricket matches and "Chitrahaar", a collection of Hindi songs from Bollywood movie industry until couple of months later my dad bought us a Black and White "Rohini Delux" TV with an an extra feature of blue screen attached to make the images look spicier. As the sky cleared in month of March, 1983 and starry, windy nights adored the crispy dark skies of Bhubaneswar, I tuned on to faraway Dhaka TV which aired the latest American movies. The experience was unreal. However I missed the color transmission. My dad could have easily afforded a Color TV at that time, but our plea for one fell into his deaf years. He summarily dismissed my request with a sarcastic tone - "Will you see two Amitabh Bachchans or two Kapil Devs on Color TV" ? Focus on your academics. Many those days believed that youngsters would become a "CHHATARA" (Girl chasing vagabond) or a "BAZAARI" (Free roaming loafer) with exposure to Television. A few from our generation eventually became CHHATARA or BAZAARI, but TV had nothing to do with it.

My father hardly watched any TV as most evenings he was busy tutoring students Physics at our home. But his great sense of humor made him to take breaks from tutoring students to watch comedian Satish Sah in the TV serial "YEH JO HAI ZINDAGI" which aired on Prime Time twice a weak. It was an outstanding family oriented comedy soap opera series directed perfectly towards the middle class milieu with Satish Sah being the central character who would make you laugh till your stomach hurt. Next day in college we talked a lot about the actor, some of us trying to recollect his dialogs trying to emulate him. Those were the days of limited entertainment sans internet and social media, when color TV used to be luxury.

Satish Saha soon moved to Bollywood, but never could replicate his fame on TV. He passed away today at the age of 74 after battling kidney ailments. RIP the first Comedian on TV who left his indelible mark in me. Om 🕉 Shanti.

The Birthday of United Nations

 Today is the Birthday of United Nations, arguably the world's biggest, bloated bureaucracy which houses a bunch of nincompoom entitlement seekers, famous for their lack of efficiency and accountability. A spineless organization which goes by acronym UN, it has more failures than success on its Balance Sheet ever since its inception post World War II in 1945. 

A sizable amount of its maintenance is born by the American Taxpayers. It's now high time to dissolve and dismantle this junk body, or the United States kicks them out of their own soil. What a blatant waste of prime real estate properties in New York and Washington DC which can be used for far better purpose as UN hardly serves any purpose.

The member nations in United Nations in contrary to the name suggests are hardly united. In spite of tons of money poured into them (mostly American) many poor nations still remain poor, languishing in poverty. Those who have succeeded in moving tens of millions out of poverty (notably China and India), have done so by helping themselves and with some help from private charitable agenies, rather than taking anything remotely from the United Nations.

Not ago Saudi Arabia headed the UN council of Human Rights. Amongst other members is China, another Champion of human rights violation .completing the league of distinguished gentlemen of the so called protectors of Human rights. Its Security Council is used as personal fiefdom of its veto wielding members to further their own selfish agenda. It has hardly achieved any world peace and stability, which was supposed to be the primary goal when the organization was formed 80 years ago.

In June, 1981 following the Israeli strike on the Iraqi Nuclear Reactor on the outskirts of Baghdad, US promptly vetoed any UN resolution to chastise Israel. I still vividly remember this cartoon by R K Laxman on the front page of India's prominent newspaper of the time, The Times Of India, where the UN Secretary General was telling the recalcitrant, mockingly grimacing Israeli PM - "The more you launch such an attack, you will be condemned more severely". It still does the same.

44 years down the road not much has changed. Not long ago Philippines threatens to come out of UN, a trend would be set for more nations to come out of this behemoth global Babudom (bureaucracy). Hopefully it is the harbinger of the demise of this monolithic structure, the sooner the better. Why stick to an institute which after scores of years of existence has far more failures than achievements to its credit ? In my opinion completely getting rid of it is not going to hurt anything. A world without UN will be more or less the same - sans billions of wasted dollars.

Happy Diwali 2025

 It is interesting to note that Halloween in the United States and Diwali, the Festival of Lights in India come around the same time in year. This year it's unique, for both Diwali and Halloween happen to be 10 days apart but there have been occasions they fall on the same day. Both occasions involve respecting the dead in their respective ways. However, there is a difference. Diwali indicates the culmination of the festival season in India, whereas Halloween is the harbinger of the festive season in America, with Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays to follow towards the end of November and December. Halloween is nvariably on October 31 every year as Westerners follow the Gregorian Calendar. The date of Diwali which follows the Hindu Lunar Calendar falls on a New Moon Day, comes very close its American counterpart of Halloween every year.

In Odisha we call it DEEPABALI, but the genX in the state has already switched to the more fancied, eye catching "Diwaali". Traditionally earthen lamps are lit and KAUNRI KATHI (a thin, white capillary stick which is empty inside) is burnt to wish salvation to the departed souls. The culture of incessant bursting of loud, noisy crackers (fireworks) is an outside import along with the fireworks manufactured in Sivalakshi, Tamil Nadu or imported from China these days. This cultural deviation commenced as an urban phenomenon in Odisha, now well permeated into its villages.

Though an important festival in Odisha, unlike Diwali which is arguably the major festival in India, especially in the North and West, Deepabali is more like just another festival, because the preceding Durga Puja and Raja festival during the early monsoon steal more limelight. But invasion of North Indian culture along with Hindi when sister now a days is preferred to be addressed as a "Didi" rather than a "Naani or Apaa", thanks to the all pervading Ekta Kapoor's TV serials, Deepabali is slowly paving it's way to Diwaali in Odisha.

Not sure if many remember the traditional Odia way of celebrating Deepabali is to invite the deceased forefathers with shouting at their top of their voice - 

"ବଡ଼ ବଡ଼ୁଆ ହୋ ! ଅନ୍ଧାରରେ ଆସି ଆଲୁଅରେ ଯାଅ । ଗଙ୍ଗା ଯାଅ, ଗୟା ଯାଅ, କାଶୀ ଯାଅ, ପୁରୁଷୋତ୍ତମରେ ମହାପ୍ରସାଦ ଖାଇ ବାଇଶି ପାହାଚେ ଗଡ଼ଗଡ଼ଉ ଥାଅ ।" 

Roughly transliterated...
O' our beloved departed Souls, 
Come in the dark but depart in light.
Travel to Ganga, Gaya and Kashi,
After eating the sacred offerings in Puri,
Roll over the 22 steps of Lord's abode).

The new moon night symbolizes arrival of the departed souls in darkness. By lighting lamps we invite them to lighten up with festivities and leave the pervading darkness behind. Our Odia legends Fakir Mohan Senapati, Madhu Babu, Gourishankar Ray, the Pandit duo Gopabandhu and Nilakantha Das et all who worked tirelessly to secure the Odia language must be groping in the dark, shedding tears to see their mother tongue getting ravaged by cultural onslaught from the North. Let's light a few lamps to the salvation of our forgotten heroes and enlighten the GenX.

On the other hand Halloween is a custom of the Western world, much prevalent in America who succinctly protect this tradition from dilution by drivels in any form of outside influence. Homes and front yards are decorated for Ghosts and Ghouls. Kids and adults alike wear fancy and funny outfits, especially the former roam outdoor from door to door asking for "Trick or Treat".

More often the "Treat" of candies is provided to the kids, rather than any "Trick" by the homeowners. Once I tried my own trick to impress a bunch of kids doing a Ghost dance, shaking my 6 packs of fat, which ultimately made the kids flee for their lives. That was the best ghoulish trick they probably ever got.
Since then I have stuck to treating them with Candies. An estimated $10 billion worth of candy is consumed in America during the Halloween. A lot of it wasted, going down the drain, eaten by teeth bacteria and ending up benefiting the Dentists.

Happy "ଦିପାବଳୀ ଶୁଭେଚ୍ଛା, Dipabali, Diwaali" to my friends and family. Stay safe and enjoy the occasion.