The Resort politics in Assam

In 1977 Indira Gandhi was swept out of power post emergency, but she swept South India where her popularity was at its peak. Akin to Bhakts now, she developed a cult in South of the Vindyas where she was popular among the masses as AMMA INDIRAMMA (mother Indira), especially in the politically important state of Andhra Pradesh.

Her popularity in South continued unabated until the matinee idol NT Rama Rao gave her a shock by dethroning her in the Assembly elections held in Andhra in 1983. In July 1984, an insecure Indira Gandhi with the help of a pliant Governor created a fracture in the ruling Telugu Desam Party by making some Vijay Bhaskar Reddy as the CM. 

Telugu Desam MLAs were rumored to be given 25 lakh Rupees, a big amount those days to switch party. A concerned NT Rama Rao drove his loyal MLAs to a resort in Bangalore as the last resort. Incidentally there was a non-Congress government led by RK Hegde of Janata Dal was in power in Karnataka. Thus began the era of resort politics.

Now fast forward to almost 40 years later. Does it ring a bell ? Now its deja vu time for us as history repeats itself. The present BJP led government has taken a leaf out of Congress page and mastered the art of resort politics. BJP has vindicated itself as the party with a difference. The difference being - Crores instead of Lakhs are used to purchase Siv Sena MLAs parked inside a resort in Assam. 

Not surprisingly the BJP supporters are conspicuous by their silence, though a few shameless ones still believe it's an internal matter of Siv Sena where BJP is innocent lily white. The 40 odd Siv Sena MLAs are simply visiting Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Their thick skinned impudence is thicker than the skin of the Rhinos of Kaziranga Park.

It yet forces me to repeat my often quipped colloquial Odia proverb, 

NARATTOMA DASA KAHE,

KOU SALA BHALA NUHE.  

Roughly transliterated, 

Narottam Das says; 

Not a single SALA (scoundrel),

Is a good Fella. 

BJP and Congress aren't a whole lot different.

Back to USA - India trip 2022

 After settling down on the windows seat on the Vistara flight from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi, I had to wait patiently for half an hour as the giant beast growled on the turmac. Running behind schedule it finally took off from Odisha's soil. I switched my head towards the window to take a view at the fading string of the lights below. The flights from Bhubaneswar Airport fly right above our home after take off, so I tried to get a bird's eye view of our house from above. My wish was belied as the airplane slowly vanished into the cloud.

I have already covered the topic of a large number of Odias these days talking in Hindodia (Hindi mixed Odia). When you look at a person after a hiatus, you can perceive any noticeable change rather than someone who sees the same person every day. Similarly, visiting Odisha after a long gap one other thing I did notice - there is a drastic drop in the quality of Odia songs. They are filled with nonsense lyrics and double entendre. Not to be left out the Odia music videos play cheap songs full of gyrating hips in gay abandon. Modern Odia music videos are made for the masses by asses.

Long distance travel is real pain in the back, literally. I could feel the soreness in my back after I am back in USA after a grueling 30 hour long journey from Bhubaneswar to Delhi to London to Atlanta to Columbus interspersed with several stops. I was welcomed by 100 degree (38°C) heat here. From one heat wave to another, heat follows me everywhere. Looks like I am a hot guy, destined to be roasted this year. I could sense the heat, but can't feel it so much here as I just came from India after encountering the prickly humidity of Bhubaneswar adding to the heat index factor which makes it energy sapping.

It felt odd not to hear a single vehicle honking on my 100 miles (160 km) road trip from Atlanta Airport to Columbus. Miss the din and bustle, crowd and the continous kickee...kickkee..kickee...of bikes yonking horn and slicing their way through the traffic - the ubiquitous jerk on the road and the bumpy rides. The roads here are too smooth, comfortable to my back. A person who has driven on roads of Odisha, driving anywhere else in world is a walk in the park.

Already miss the murmuring of the mosquitoes and brutally clapping them to death, the yodelling of mongrels in the middle of night to mark their territory. The air of Georgia feels refreshingly fresh after spending hours inhaling the breath and fart filled stale air emitted by hundreds of passengers inside the flight for 21 hours.

The 30 hour long journey including the in between flight stoppage time seemed eternal and tiring when you are packed like sardines inside Cattle Class, better known as the better sounding Economy Class. Above 40,000 feet in the sky the moon looked a whole lot bigger and brighter in the pollution free air - the rabbit inside the moon looked eager to jump out into the window seat I took.

US President Ronald Reagan was known to doze off during meetings he attended abroad as he couldn't get sleep inside long flights, even inside his comfortable Air Force One. I also share a similar trait of not able to go beyond sporadic cat naps on long haul flights. I am scared of turbulence. The slightest of shaking of airplane gives me nightmares. I feel tired but could barely sleep inside a flight. The whirring sound of airplanes still humming around ears.

My first day at work wasn't too bad except late in afternoon when my chin started to drool and hit the space bar of computer keyboard. Still drooling over my India trip. No black coffee or aspirin can assuage this post vacation hangover, only time will heal it. My trip didn't go in vain. Travelled miles to achieve several milestones meeting my parents, friends and relatives, connected with old friends and met new ones, ate a lot of local food with fun filled moments.

Reminds me of Kamal Hasan from the movie PUSHPAK who while staying in a posh hotel could not sleep as he missed the sights and sounds of his locality, where his deep rooted roots lied. The pleasure of staying amongst your own is unparallel. One always tends to fall in love with own millieu. Love it or hate it, amidst all these there is a unique flavor of incredible India which you do not find elsewhere. It concluds my travel blog to India. More next time...

Goodbye Bhubaneswar - India trip 2022

 In Bhubaneswar the fad of Hingodia (Hindi mixed Odia) continues unabated. Nani and Apa have catapulted to Didi. Bhinei has turned into the fashionable "Jiju" and so on. A lady whom I used to address as APA (elder sister) since time immemorial now insists on being addressed as DIDI (as they address elder sister in Hindi). "APA, NA KADALI CHOPAA (Banana peel), MOTE DIDI DAAKE (call me Didi)" - she retorted back when I addressed her as APA. I got the message loud and clear. Ekta Kapoor's teleserials are clearly having their effect. 

First time I heard the word "bro" was in Hollywood movies and after coming to America. Now bros are roaming rampant in Bhubaneswar, a few addressing me with "Hi bro". For someone from the current generation of middle class in Bhubaneswar being closer to Hindi and English sounds "Hef" (the slang used for being cool here). The city Forest Park dwellers, Netflix and Amazon Prime watchers are one step ahead of the rest in "Hef" category, as they chew "Phew, Oops, Shit" in English - for them Hindi is so passe and English being cool.

In the United States most places open for breakfast quite early, between 5 AM to 6.30 AM. Then open for lunch from 10.30 and dinner at 6 PM. Here breakfast stalls are never open before 8 AM, most restaurants open for breakfast around 9AM. Lunch is eaten not before 2 PM and dinner often after 10 PM. With such late dinner one can imagine eating a late breakfast. But at our home here we don't eat that late and it keeps me sane. I prefer to have my cuppa tea early in the morning, but lunch at 2 PM and dinner at 10 PM isn't my cuppa tea.

There is a severe shortage of Rs.2000 notes (Bills) though Rs.500 notes are available plentiful. I hate to have a bulging out pocket filled with lower denomination notes in it, so carrying Rs.2000 bills is my preferred option. Yet couple of banks I checked out couldn't provide me with any 2000 rupees note. Someone shared with me his reasoning behind this shortage - that Rs.2000 notes are mostly used for black money transactions and hence much sought after, eventually becoming elusive for the commoners. Conspiracy theory or otherwise, it made sense.

Overall my trip went well. The enery sapping heat and humidity didn't motivate me to venture outside Bhubaneswar. Though didn't bitten by travel bug to wander far and wide, I was by mosquitos multiple times. Gladly so far no symptom of Dengue. Ran lot of errands, did some charity work. The feeling of helping someone is more satisfying than visiting any temple.

When I loaded some Airtel minutes to my local mobile (cell) phone, I was prompted to speak out my phone no. Speaking "96688" as nine-six-six-eight-eight" is often frowned upon and not properly understood. You need to pronounce 66 as "Double 6", 88 as "double 8" and so on. Being out of touch with the milieu for a while, it took me a while to figure this out.

Eminent writer R K Laxman sited this reason for him to stay in India when he had the option to settle abroad invited by multiple Colleges in UK and US -"Where on earth you will find so many variety of characters to write about !!!" He wasn't far from truth. No place under sun can match India in the richness of flora, fauna, chaos and characters to write about. Often chaos and disorder brings the fun and frolic out of life rather than orderly tidiness.

What's the similarities between a vacation, a consulting assignment and life ? All have a start date and end date. Like all good things in life a vacation has to come to an end. Before vacation one is rejuvenated and filled with energy. Towards the end of the trip one is jaded, somewhat depressed. There is always an inherently internal wish you had a few more days to spent. Three, four or five weeks, however long you stay it is never enough.

In the wee hours of the trip it's always the endless cycle of last minute shopping, meeting friends and relatives, running errands, packing, weighing, repacking and re-weighing of luggages.  Now the time has arrived to bid adieu to my motherland. Good Bye India. See you later...

Day XXII in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2022

 It felt great this evening meeting with my friends from REC (now NIT) Rourkela at Swosti Grand. Engineered for fun we cherished a lot of old memories from the college days, arguably the halcyon days for all of us.

My credit card issued in US is declined at many places here though some merchants still accept it. That's really strange. I am told it's due to some weird rule recently set up by RBI (Reserve Bank of India), the equivalent of Federal Reserves in US. So, those who are planning to travel from USA to India please carry enough cash with you as backup.

So the water broke and monsoon finally delivered. The rain has grounded the dust in air, swiping off the dirt from the foliage like wiper blades of a car. The air looks clean and crispy. The buildings are looking wet but brighter in sunshine peeping through the cloud. No one minds this respite from incessant rains. The craters on the street across our house were filled with muddy water. One of those craters was used by the familiar stray dog who is part of our family, for we never fail to feed him. Now filled with water he was slurping the khaki color water as his eyes were scouring for a drier spot to rest.

Monsoon season is very unique to India during which it gets bulk of its annual rainfall. It is accompanied by the reversal of wind direction. Arriving just after a long, torturous hot summer it quenches the thirst of a parched earth. Everyone eagerly waits for its arrival - from the farmers to poets, from villagers to city dwellers, from kids to seniors. Farmers to start their KHARIF (summer) Crop, the city-zens for a reprieve from heat and poets to add one more ode to myriads of poems dedicated to monsoon.

People looks at the sky to savor this rare occasion of the first monsoon rains marking arrival of the rainy season. Poets are motivated to let their pen capture the moment. Many love songs are written over the advent of monsoon - from the romance of Radha and Krishna, to songs of Bollywood depicting drenched actors and actresses eager to shower in the first shower of the season for the viewer's delight. Legendary poet and dramatist Kalidasa several centuries ago wrote an eulogy to cloud in his MEGHADOOTAM (Cloud Messenger) to carry the message from the lover to the beloved.

In West where winters are wet, cloudy depicting morbid gloom, the arrival of sunshine is celebrated. In contrast, in India the dark clouds with thunderclap followed by torrential rains is a welcome phenomena. Birds start singing, Bards sing legendary songs in the praise of the arrival of the monsoon, Peacocks spread their colorful tails to dance to the tune of rains. Dark clouds as silver lines are welcomed in India over sunshine which is associated with heat and dust. It brings joy and respite from the never ending Indian summer. 

The celebration is not just limited to the reel world of movies capturing the monsoon. In real world people come out to play, enjoy sitting on swings propelled by cool, gusty winds accompanying the rain, singing songs of delight to welcome the arrival of Monsoon. Swings play an important part in the Odis festival RAJA exactly timed around the arrival of the monsoon season. Many love to get drenched, as they believe that getting soaked in the first rains of the season cures skin infections. 

Monsoon is rarely an equalizer, far from being uniform. It could be deficit at one place but at the same time causing waterlogging in the cities and floods elsewhere. Vagaries of monsoon is neither new, nor unheard of. Its inherent tendency is bountiful one year, scanty the next. Invariably every year, the monsoon arrives in the month of June and takes leave in early October, with a highly inequitable distribution of rainfall. This Odia proverb aptly depicts  the vagaries of monsoon :

JALA BAHULE SRUSTI NAASA,

JALA BIHUNE SRUSTI NAASA, meaning

"Lack of water causes catastrophe,

Excess of water causes catastrophe."

Talking of puddles, I was reminded of this incident few years back. One evening that summer after a bout of fresh monsoon rain my wife, son and I were waiting on the street right next to our house for our Uber ride. 3 guys on a motorcycle started oggling at Tanujaa, their heads turned in unison by 90 degrees towards her, like they hadn't seen a girl before. 

All of sudden their pillion stumbled a pothole filled with ankle deep water. Distracted, one of them fell on the muddy poodle, while the other two got busy extricating their buddy from the mess. We had a hearty laugh at the fallen hero's expense. Monsoon has its share of fun and joy. More later....

Day XX and XXI in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2022

 On completing 3 weeks of my stay in India I remembered this funny anecdote. A man once went to an astrologer, who after seeing his chart said "You will be begging after two years". "What will happen after 2 years ?" asked the man, now somewhat curious and concerned. The astrologer replied "Don't worry. You will get used to it". Similarly in the initial days in Odisha I struggled with the heat and dust, the sultry weather and the erratic traffic. Now I have got used to it.

During this trip I am occasionally having dry cough which I can relate to the heavy dust cover in the air, mostly due to never ending construction activities going on in our area since time immemorial. The arrival of monsoon would have settled down the dust. Monsoon seems to be constipated this year, stubbornly refusing to come out, delivering in bits and pieces, a few drizzles here and there. So far lots of thunder and lightning, all fart no shit.

In my childhood days in Odisha, a dry cough had a medical term ascribed to it - "PETA GARAM", or warmth of the belly. No one really knows what it exactly means, but it was suppose to be the symptom of many diseases, especially related to cold and allergies. The term PETA is famously associated with the acronym for "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals". But here, the treatments for PETA GARAM is only associated to a species of mammal called humans, ethically treating the human belly from getting hot as a prevention which is better than cure.

My mother attributes my dry cough to its root cause of "Peta Garam" after her son landed up in this unfriendly weather. She has advised me to take bath sprinkling less water on head, but a liberal flashing of mugs of cold water on belly (PETA) to prevent it from going hot (GARAM). She says if your pee resembles Mustard oil in color and viscosity, it is the classic symptom of legendary PETA GARAM.

Shower and ablution back in those days were a combination of water, bucket and mug, the fad of toilet paper was still elitist. The concept of toilet paper was as alien as aliens were to me. Toilet and paper were two separate entity, those days juxtaposing them was strictly fantasy. In 40°C heat, post consumption of hot, spicy food water feels a lot cooler than the softest of toilet paper.

An NRI visiting India went shopping for toilet paper. The store was out of it. Said the furious NRI, "What kind of store you have, you don't carry a necessity item like Toilet Paper ?" "Sorry Sir", The storekeeper responded. We don't have toilet paper but we have plenty of Sand papers. "TIKE ADJUST KARANTU (Please adjust a little bit)". Trying to imagine the condition of the guy using sand paper in place of toilet paper.

Brahmins are expected to take shower in a semi naked state to prevent their PAITA (sacred thread worn over their shoulder) from getting MAARA (spoiled). And it should involve pouring mugs of water on your belly to keep it in cool and forming a barrage against disease.

It's not uncommon for folks coming out of our NIT hostel bathrooms in fully drenched and dipping cloth, a la male version of Mandakini, of Raj Kapoor's "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" fame. In summer such an experience was pleasant. In winter in Rourkela one needed to shiver for minutes before changing to dry cloth.

In our NIT hostel there would be beeline in front of the standing showers when the municipality supply water comes running at noon. The line used to be a lot longer during the winter months as the running water was relatively warmer than the stored one.

The first couple of mugs of water would be poured over the body with a burst of latest Bollywood hit song on top of the voice. That would instantly kill the fear of cold water. The BESURA (tone and beat less) song continues as mugs of water are flashed on the belly to prevent PETA GARAM. The song slowly dies down, as the next person in line keeps knocking on the door, a terse reminder to wrap up with soaked GAMUCHA and tip toe back to your room.

Not sure if those preventing measures against PETA GARAM really prevented us from common ailments. But am sure, "PETA GARAM" is just another name for dehydration. By drinking plenty of water one is better off than flashing liters of cool water on the torso.

I would like to end this blog with an ode to talented, blind author Faturananda from Cuttack who incidentally was born this month of June. He wrote many Odia short stories and was known for his dry humor and sarcasm. His description of minute details was amazing - especially of the human feelings. At a very young age he lost his eyesight, hence he could never fall in love at firstsight.

He described his feeling of love in Odia - "PETA RU GOTE GARAM PABAN BAHARI CHHATI KU KUTU KUTU KALA PARI EKA ABHIGYANTA" (Love is the feeling of a hot air emanating from the stomach and tickling your heart). I fell in love with that expression of a blind person who could see the love it without able to see. A feeling of PETA GARAM isn't too bad. My mother was so correct. Flashing of cold water on the stomach and drinking of plenty of water has helped me beating the PETA GARAM. More later....

Day XVIII and XIX in Bhubaneswar- India trip 2022

 "KAALI MU TO HUSBAND SANGARE HATA KU HATA DHARI MARKET RE SHOPPING KARIBAKU JIBI", "Tomorrow I will go shopping in the market with your husband holding his hands" - a challenge thrown by a woman to another woman. The later obviously irritated by this indecent proposal lands a thunderous slap on the girl's cheek who just boasted herself as the other woman in her husband's life.

The camera zooms on their faces for 30 seconds, flashing intermittently while capturing the emotions of the ladies, one of satisfaction of being the conquerer of the other woman's husband and the other woman's face showing signs of insecure annoyance. The background music grows louder as camera continues focusing on their faces. This is a scene from a popular Odia teleseries in the evening prime time. The women folks in our home are glued to it, including my mom who after a long day watches it bleary-eyed.

I call "SAMBADA", the vernacular Odia Newspaper rubbish. But my bowels won't move unless I scan it, going through all the crap while sipping my morning cuppa tea. An important news item caught my eyes - "SAALI SAHA BEDI RU BARA FERAAR", "The groom flees from the marriage altar with the bride's sister". Another noteworthy news item was about a Clerk in Pension Department of Odisha caught for taking a bribe of Rs.15,000 (about $200). It's high time they stop reporting bribes of these meager amounts. I find ultimate hypocrisy in seeing this reported on media. A classic case of the Odia saying - HAATHI GALI JAUCHI, PIMPUDI DHARA PADUCHI (Elephant escapes while the Ant gets caught).

We studied in Math and Physics during our school/college days, that when a number tends to get too small we ignore it considering it as zero. And those who are familiar with corruption in India a bribery of Rs15,000 is too small these days to get noticed and reported. The media should forget them and rather focus on catching bigger fishes.

We use the term GOAT for Greatest Of All Times (GOAT) - for the likes of Pele in soccer, Tendulkar in Cricket, Roger Federer in Tennis and so on. I can proclaim that Goat meat is the greatest of all meats, especially in curry form. I have eaten chicken, turkey, venison, tortoise and quail meat curries. But nothing beats the taste of goat meat curried the Odia way.

The scorching heat and humidity of the daytime restricts my shopping and dining out mostly after sunset. The cooler and breezy weather earlier this morning prompted me to go out and do some shopping as my departure day gets closer. Didn't find a single store carrying a decent collection of craft and gift items. Some of the stores I found were grossly overpriced.

So I headed to "UTKALIKA" - a craft store located in the iconic Market Building, the Times Square of Bhubaneswar. I took a stroll amongst a plethora of shops, big and small, just opened for business in the morning. I found the price in Utkalika quite reasonable. It had a wide range of products and their staff friendly. The same afternoon I visited my friend Alok Kumar Pal at his office in Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). The office, the rooms and the cafeteria looked modern and impressive. It looked no less than a 5 star hotel.

While driving on Bhubaneswar roads we have to skirt the incoming traffic on our own lane approaching us. It feels quite irritating and often scary to see a vehicle coming towards you in your lane. The Bond movie "Living Dangerously" should have been shot on the roads of the capital city. Or a Road mafia movie "Roads of Bhubaneswar", similar to the Coal mafia based movie "Gangs of Wassyrpur" would be a big hit. Nothing more can relate this phrase "from reel to the real life" than riding on Bhubaneswar roads. More later...

Day XVI and XVII in Bhubaneswar- India trip 2022

 After finishing my dinner the other night at a well known hotel-cum-restaurant in the city I suddenly stumbled upon an old friend at the lobby. He introduced me to someone accompanying him - "He is my friend Sambeet". His companion who seemed inebriated asked me in a slurry voice, "Where do you live ?" I replied, "in USA". "Oh, I see. There must be one lakh (100,000) Odias in America" - he queried.

I found one lakh a gross overestimation of the population of Odias living in the United States and concluded it as a perfect calculation of a drunk mind. Before I could correct his exaggerated figure he dropped another bombshell - "America re jou Lakhye Odia Achhanti sabu mo B***a B*la" (All those Odias living in USA are my pubic hairs).

"How could you count your pubic hairs so accurately and arrive at the exact figure of one lakh ?", I somehow blurted out. I went further - "How do you manage to count and groom your 100,000 pubic hairs ! Do you count them by hand or use a machine, the kind of which they use at bank to count cash with a whirring sound" ?

He was too drunk to get my joke, but told me - "I will see you around". He never came back. My friends were still laughing at my response. No sooner I turned around than I heard a loud thud. I looked back to see our drunk friend fall down at the doorstep of the hotel lobby and farted loudly enough to be audible over a distance as his friends struggled to pull him up. He staggered a few feet and suddenly leaned on a car parked close by and vomited on the tyre, belching out in waves. It was a long day and I thought it was time to bid goodbye.

During this trip I found many small, nondescript restaurants who supply great food at a reasonable price while the reputed ones have started faltering. Once they get name and fame and sense lack of competition, they start taking their customers for a ride and dilute the quality - literally in case of Lingaraj Lassi.

Yesterday evening was quite pleasant. I was standing on our balcony enjoying the hitherto missing gusts of Southernly sea breeze, overlooking the street near our house. Over the years the volume of the traffic on the street has considerably gone up. Nowadays it's lot more chaotic and cacophonous. The vehicles big and small horn their way all the day spraying clouds of dust into the sky.

One day my son was waiting for his turn to cross the street, expecting incoming traffic to stop for him as he thought Pedestrians always have the right of way. So he thought. He stood for several minutes as not a single vehicle stopped for him. I told him - "If you expect the incoming traffic to stop for you to cross over you will be waiting forever". Finally I held his hand and helped him maneuver to the other side of the road.

I was observing the neighborhood kids playing closer to the street close to  twilight hours as coconut, betelnut, mango, Jackfruit, Sajana (Moringa) trees happily swayed in the cool breeze, enjoying their swing ride in the middle of Raja festival. A boy was busy chasing a Chameleon who was hopping fast on the dusty road and jumped on our flower tree clinging on to the fence. He shouted with pure, unadulterated excitement on top of his voice - "ENDUA, ENDUA" (Chameleon, Chameleon). His mother chastised him - "ENDUA NUHE GIRGIT KAHA" (Don't call Endua, as in Odia, tell Girgit, as in Hindi).

I have no reason to believe the family had ever lived outside Odisha at any point of time in their life. Forcing a child whose mother tongue is Odia to say "Girgit" substituting "Endua" didn't make any sense. Endua is so old fashion, Girgit sounds so cool. As I was pondering over my thoughts the good old "Endua" startled by the commotion melted away inside the dusty, green foliage.

I constantly keep on hearing that Raja didn't bring any rain this year as it normally does. The monsoon doesn't depend on Raja, rather Raja is tied to it.
The festival has hardly anything to do with monsoon other than coinciding with its arrival. The festival is set around the arrival of monsoon, not the other way round. Monsoon doesn't depend on Raja, rather on several Geographic factors like El Nino and La Nina, the unusual heating or cooling of the Pacific Ocean located thousands of miles away can make the monsoon very freaky. So delay in the arrival of monsoon isn't something new or unusual. More later...