The potato war

Amid skyrocketing prices of potatoes in Odisha, my home state back home in India, the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal, a high producing state of the vegetable has regulated its supply to other states to control prices in the local market. Meantime in Odisha, leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik who has good terms with West Bengal Chief Minister, wrote her a letter seeking her intervention to ensure a smooth supply of potatoes to the state from Bengal as it has stopped supply of the tubers to other states.

I have many Bengalis as friends - both inside and outside Odisha. The states of Odisha and Bengal bordering each other among the eastern coromondel coast of Bay of Bengal have a lot of similarities - from the dress they wear, the language they speak, they share common food habits, festivals, culture and traditions. Many call each other's state their home. There is hardly any Odia who has never been to Calcutta, nor any Bengali who has never visited Puri, a favorite holiday destination of Bengalis from all classes. Each year Millions of Bengalis throng the temple town of Puri, enjoying its pretty, pristine sandy sea beach. You can say Bengali is the 2nd language of Puri as the locals speak it in typical Odia accent to communicate with the Bengali tourists. Shops and restaurants all over the town have signs and hoardings written in Bengali. If for some reason Bengalis decide to stop coming to Puri, rest assured the township's economy will collapse like pack of a card within a month.

Odias and Bengalis look very similar. Few years back a PANDA (Priest) in Puri mistook me for Bengali and started chasing me - "OH DADA, ESON ESON (Bro, come with me). I immediately switched to Puri accent, "HAIYE MALIKE, AME PIRA BALI SAHI LOKA" (Boss, I am from the local Bali Sahi, adjacent to the temple) faking the Puri accent, for being originally from that area. The Panda got confused and disappointed for dealing with a local chap, not a vulnerable tourist to be ripped off. Still not giving up he made a last attempt - "HAU, MAHAPURU 10 TA TANKA DIA", "OK, master. Pay me 10 rupee in the name of God". I replied back, "Bhaina (my elder bro). I don't have a single penny in my pocket". As I moved on, I heard our frustrated Panda bad mouthing behind me -"KANGALA KAHASE AYA", "where from this impoverished bankrupt guy has come" ! (We Odias switch to Hindi when we get excited). It was quite a funny experience for me.

Now coming back to potato, in Odia and Bengali we have a term called ALUDOSH (the potato flaw). Pronounced in different accents in Odia and Bengali, they mean the same connotation in both languages. Overall it denotes Idiosyncrasies or unusually irritating attitude, usually lascivious behavior by men towards women, though not just limited to it. That is exactly seems to be happening between the both neighboring states. The Potato politics due to the ALUDOSH from both sides have stung the consumers for whom the vegetable is a staple side item to their primarily rice based diet.

Price of potato has reportedly shot into Rs.50 per kilo. It is making the Odias mad, threatening Bengal for not releasing enough of the tuber to its neighboring states. Bengalis aren't too happy about it. There is an age old saying in Africa "When two elephants make love or war it is the grass which suffers". It is always the hapless consumers who bear the brunt. The brewing potato fight between these neighboring states can be stopped by making them agree to rather brew some potato based Vodka. That can sooth their nerves by sitting together and having a friendly chat imbibing that fiery drinks together.

One solution to this ALUDOSH. Pappu (Naveen) and Didi (Mamata), the most eligible bachelors from the states should tie the marrital knot. In the era of RAJA (kings) and MAHARAJAs (emperors) marital alliances between heads of states often solved age old rivalries. Not much difference these days. Pappu, aka, Naveen is the scion of Biju Dynasty. Mamata is unquestionably the Princes of Bengal. Though with declining health and recently out of job, Naveen has started showing promises of rejenuvated youth. We Odias can take few shots of potato Vodka and dance our way in the "BARAJATRI" (Baraati or groom's procesion) to our neighboring state of Bengal and have fun feasting on our favorite rice and fish meals, enjoying our contested "Rasagola" until this potato mess is resolved.

Behn**od Air India

Air India is back in the news again. Again for wrong reason. About 250 passengers of Air India who were to travel from Copenhagen to Delhi on June 30 were stuck in Denmark for two days. A San Francisco bound Air India flight was inordinately delayed causing chaos and confusion. A harangued passenger from Delhi in front of the camera retorted back - "BEHN**OD HADH KAR DI" (The sister slammers have crossed their limit). 

I have flown Air India couple of times internationally, the last time was quite long ago in September, 2000. That was like almost 24 years when I was flying home from New York. There was nothing great home to write about the flight. The flight started and reached the destination on time. Those days not many international airlines used to provide Indian food, but Air India used to. With drinks you can have "Moong" mixture as CHAKHENA (snacks) instead of some drab, dry peanuts. Frankly I didn't have anything to complain about except dark, stout, short and pot bellied ugly Air Hostesses to oggle at ! 

But one particular incident stood out. My wife and I were checking in at Air India counter in the JFK Airport, New York. In an era when e-tickets were still fanatasy, we were holding on to our quintessential Air India paper ticket, its trademark red cover followed by couple of pages. A portly, chubby, bald headed Indian guy at the counter while weighing our luggages was flirting with a comely female coworker. The girl retorted back - "Did you forget I tied a Rakhee on your hand not long back" ? (Tying Rakhee is an emblem of sisterhood in India, in this context a smart endeavor by the girl to put a full stop to an obnoxious irritant). 

The guy while handing us our boarding pass shied away his frustration - "BEHN**OD BOLTI HAI MEIN ISKI BHAI HOON (Sister slammer saying I am her brother). My wife and I, both heard it loud and clear. As we walked towards the security gate my newly married wife not exposed to typical slang of Delhi asked me innocuously - "What does it mean" ? I said - "It means he is from Delhi". Then gave her the simplest answer - "As Jai Maharastra" is to Mumbai, Oh' Calcutta to Kolkata, "Jai Jagannath" to Odisha, the word Behn**od (sister slammer) fits well to Delhi milieu. 

During one of my earlier trips just before landing at the Delhi Airport came abruptly the voice of an exalted guy sitting close to me exclaiming to his buddy next row, "OI UTTH, BAIN**OD DILLI A GAYEE" (Get up, So and So the sister slammer, Delhi has arrived). More than the pilot, I found the teen's welcome far more enthusiast and the most appropriate way of welcoming to Delhi. 

It was a grand standing Welcome, Punjabi/Delhi style, where a sentence can start with Bain**od (occasionally sounds as Pain**od, interspersed with a few liberal dosages of Bai**od and ends with Bai**od. It is how the self proclaimed Dill walle (Big Hearted) Dilli walle (Delhites) often greet each other. Same goes in the Punjab provinces of both India and Pakistan. When Sunil Gavaskar, a Maharashtrian, was batting in Lahore in 1978 in his first tour to the country, he was puzzled by some Pakistani players frequently uttering "Pain**od" which sounded like "Pant-Shirt" to Sunny bhai until his skipper Bishen Singh Bedi, a man from Punjab clarified to Sunny bhai what it meant, Punjabi style.  

Bai**od" is not such a bad word in Delhi and Punjab. Apart from usual meaning, it can stand for multiple euphemisms, to describe a scene or situation. "Bai**od KYA THAND HAI YAAR" (My friend, it's so cold), Bai**od MEIN GIR JAUNGA Bai**od (I will fall down, spoken after sighting a pretty girl), Bai**od KYA MATCH THA (what a game it was) ! Friends hug each other, Aa GALE LAG JA OI Bai**od (give me a hug, my dear friend, you the sister slammer).  

Air India might have flown a long way since the year 2000. From a colossal loss making entity used as a fiefdom of Netas (politcians) and Babus (Bureaucrats) It is now privatized. It's still the same old wine in New bottle. But BEHN**OD nothing much has changed - from New York's JFK to Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi.

India and Paris Olympics 2024

The Olympics games is held every leap year, only exception being year 2000 which wasn't a leap year and year 2021 when it was held after a year due to Covid Pandemic. In the leap year of 2024 the Olympics has already gotten underway in Paris, France, its opening ceremony starting tomorrow. This summer Olympics is World's biggest sporting events where athletes will compete on land and water to win medals and laurels for their respective countries. 

In this context, India is likely to improve its medal tally from last time. India has been steadily improving its tally since it won a bronze medal in Tennis in 1996 after a long gap of 16 medal less years. Even its arch rival Pakistan managed to win a medal in 1992 Barcelona Olympics where India came blank. 

It is not a coincidence that India's failure to win a single medal between 1964 and 1992 coincided with its poor Hindu rate of economic growth. India did win a Gold in Hockey in 1980 Moscow Olympics when the 4 top most hockey nations of the time, i.e, Pakistan, Australia, Netherlands and West Germany (Germany reunification was yet to happen) boycotted the games. 

However since 1991 when India opened up its economy under a Congress government, India's performance in Olympics started getting better resulting in medals. It won a bronze medal in 1996, followed by another in 2000 in Sydney. Then it won a Silver medal in 2004, the first Silver medal in a game other than hockey. Then in 2008, India's Abhinav Bindra won a Gold in Shooting, again the first of its kind in a game other than Hockey. India has never looked back ever since and has won multiple medals in each Olympics that followed, in events of Wrestling, Boxing, Wright lifting, Hockey and Javelin. With a rising economy, India is ready to bid for 2036 Olympics. 

Though more is expected from a nation of 1.42 billion people, its still a work in progress and more medal is expected to come in this year's edition of Olympics in Paris. India has been doing much better in Archery these days in which it is expected to win at least one medal. Also it is expected to win a few more in other sports as well. Good luck Olympics team India.

How Indian Americans vote

Many aren't aware of the fact that Usha Vance, wife of Donald Trump’s VP pick JD Vance and daughter of Indian immigrants was once a Democrat. She turned into a  Republican after her marriage to JD Vance. Does it mean that most Indian Americans are going to vote Republican ? 

Don't think so. Indian Americans vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic party, though Republican party has been able to make some late inroads over a period of time, though marginal in nature. Nearly 80% of Indian Americans voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. That's a gargantuan gap there. But in 2020 it got reduced to 78%, which means the gap has narrowed down a bit by 2%, not by a substantial margin.

As seen from comments on social media many are of the opinion that Trump is good for India. Last time I was in India, I ran into our neighborhood grocery store. The owner of the store known to me for more than three decades was excited to see me. He welcomed asking me the standard question I get from all during my India trips - "When did you come and how long you will be here". After we exchanged pleasantries he told me - "TRAWMPAW AU BAIDENEY BHITARE PUNI KANA LADHEI HABA ! TRAWMPAW ASILE AMA DESHA PAI BHALA. Pakistan UPARE BOMA PAKEIBA. NA KANA APANA KAHUCHANTI (It seems Biden and Trump are going to fight again. It will be good for our country if Trump comes to power. He is going to bomb Pakistan. What do you say) ? I said - "APANA TA SABU JANICHANTI. MU ADHIKA KANA KAHIBI" (You are know everything. What more could I say) ? From his body language I could decipher that he took my response as a huge compliment. Nothing has changed since January except now Trump is going to fight Kamala Harris, not Biden.

American Presidents are good or bad to India or any nation per se depending on their country's national interest. Today India being an emerging economy America has business interest in it and strategist interest in containing China. Regardless who becomes the President, he or she will be good for India as long as it suits the American business and geopolitical goals. Foreign policy isn't governed by emotions, rather by pragmatism and crude reality. There no permanent friend or enemy in geopolitics where only permanent interest thrives.

There is another myth going around that only Republicans care about India. Let me counter it with some facts. In fact Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was the first US President to visit India after 24 years. The last President to visit India was another Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976. Between these trips the Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr never made a trip to India. While President Reagan went on arming Pakistan caring a hoot about India, another fellow Republican POTUS Richard Nixon went to the extent of referring to India's woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as "that Bitch". 

I haven't failed to notice that most persons of Indian origin in USA start as Democrats when they arrive in this country as nascent immigrants. But once they start making money their attitude becomes elitist and they start talking like Republicans, e.g. paying less tax, displaying anathema towards large government and advocate family values. But some Indian-American Republicans who talk about family values are perennial wife cheaters and notorious womanizers, champion hypocrites they are !

Let's do some Math here. Per latest census, number of folks of Indian origin in US is 4.5 million (1.5% of the total population). Out of them, American Citizens of Indian origin would be less than 3 million as there are lot of Indian diaspora on Green card, other work related visa and students who cannot vote in the US Elections. That makes Indian-Americans about 1% of the total Registered voters. For those who are eligible to vote, simply take a look at the demography. Among the Indians in the United States 51% are Hindus, 19% Christians, 11% Muslims, 5% Sikhs and 10% unaffiliated to any religion. Bulk of the support comes to the Republican party from the Hindus.

Majority of the Indian Americans live in the states of California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Texas. Out of these the first four are solidly Democrat and Texas Republican. The Indian American vote in these states won't make any difference to the outcome of the Election. However in swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and my home state of Georgia where election will be decided by few thousand votes, Indian American vote does matter. Even if the Indian-American votes for Democratic party goes down by a few percentage points due to our newly converted Republican Desis (a slang for Persons of Indian origin in America, of used in a derogatory sense), still Democrats won't get anything less than 2/3rd of Indian -Americans votes in this election. Let's see if will be able to make a difference in the outcome of US Election 2024.

Turbulence in airplane

Not so long ago a passenger in a Singapore Airlines flight died and several other were seriously injured due to severe mid-air turbulence. An United Airlines flight too hit such rough air that a baby was thrown in air mid-air, fortunately not harmed. One passenger's head 

Not so long ago a passenger in a Singapore Airlines flight died and several other were seriously injured due to severe mid-air turbulence. An United Airlines flight too hit such rough air that a baby was thrown in air mid-air, fortunately not harmed. One passenger's head made a dent in the ceiling and few were admitted to hospital. 

This being the summer holidays, many will be travelling far and wide. Unfortunately Summertime is also peak time for turbulence due to unstable tropic air clashing with jet stream on multiple fronts. I love winter travels, when the weather is salubrious, the air is still and crispy and unlike summer season, the flights are less prone to turbulences - at least in Northern hemisphere.

Turbulence in airplane scares the hell out of me. I have fear of heights. Once on top of the Sears Tower Chicago where my son jumped on thick glass enjoying the sight of cars plying underneath him looking like matchboxes in motion. But I felt dizzy enough to step few feet back to my comfort zone. Now flying for more than quarter of a century it hasn't gone unnoticed to me that the occurrences of turbulences in air have gone up over years. To vindicate my observation, as per a report published in National Geographic magazine, because of climate change the extreme weather events that breed turbulence are likely to become more frequent and intense. That means air travel which is getting costlier and less customer friendly, is going to have the additional baggage of more bumpy rides. This is less pleasing and more scary scenario.

Seventeen years ago in July, 2007 at peak of the monsoon season moments before my flight landed at Bhubaneswar Airport in India, dark clouds started engulfing the plane. The Alliance Aircraft (a subsidiary of Air India) encountered severe turbulence as it was pelted with powerfully packed tropical air currents. Unlike the violent winds outside, inside wafted a calm and composed female voice - "MAUSAM KHARAB HONE KE KARAN AAP APNI KURSI KI PETI BANDH RAKHIYE (Due to bad weather please keep fasten your seat belt). I promptly followed her order.

The plane shook vigorously, shaking my confidence to the hilt. Some slid down their window to take a peek outside, not knowing that turbulence can only be felt, can't be seen, for High school Science says Air is a mixure of invisible gases. There is no debris or dust flying at 35,000 feet to make the air visible. I am sure they must have been disappointed. As the Aircraft shook violently, for a moment I thought the overhead baggage compartment will break open, spilling the bags on hapless passengers. The shaky roller coaster ride which lasted a few minutes seemed like eternity. It was enough for the agnostic in me to suddenly turn into a believer. My agnosticism vanished into thin air. I closed my eyes and started remembering all our 33 crore (330 million) Gods and Goddesses mentioned in Hinduism, including the little Goddess under the Banyan tree near my home whom I conveniently ignored for so long.

Finally the ordeal was over. The flight touched the ground amidst pouring, torrential rain. The passengers rejoiced by clapping and whistling. Soon I could hear murmurs of HEY PRABHU (O Lord) and JAI (Hail) JAGANNATH from the passengers repeatedly touching their foreheads with folded hands, offering their thanks to God Almighty for saving their lives and letting them live another day. As the flight came to a complete halt, I was back to my normal self and my belief in agnosticism. The selfish me forgot once again the plethora of Gods and Goddesses I remembered only moments ago.

Flight plans avoid regions in atmosphere known to be prone to severe turbulence, but these regions constantly move. Hence it is difficult to predict exactly where the severe turbulence is going to be. Per Stanford, USA based NASA Center of Turbulence Research

help is on the way. One US airline debuted new turbulence detectors that use special radar to predict the levels and locations of turbulence in the flight path. Yet such prediction isn't 100% accurate as Nature always holds the Trump card over humans. It is going to be a perennial ongoing battle between man and nature in the game of upmanship.

The first month of Mohan Majhi's government

 Little more than a month since a new government took office after 24 years in Odisha, my home state back home. The first 100 days of any marriage is called as the Honeymoon period. The couples don't tend to judge each other as they are busy exploring themselves. This phase usually lasts from 3 to 6 months. Eventually familiarity starts  breeding contempt as reality strikes. 

Same goes with public life and politics. A new face and a new government carries the burden of hopes and aspirations along with unbridled expectations. As the new CM of Odisha from BJP and his team don't carry any prior baggage and come fresh from the oven after 24 years of same old, same old people gone stale over the time, I would give them an extended honeymoon period of more than 6 months until end of this year.  

But one positive step taken by Mohan Majhi, the newly elected CM of Odisha is meeting with the general public to listen to their grievance. People from far and wide, nook and corner of Odisha are coming down to Bhubaneswar to meet the Chief Minister with their complains filled with general apathy from government. Mr. Mohan Majhi gives them a patience hearing. His predecessor Naveen Patnaik, though a thorough gentleman, was elitist type who hardly reached out to commoners, creating a mystic aura and enigma surrounding him. The Chief Minister's grievance cell during the previous administration was lying defunct for several years. So this is a step in the right direction by Mohan Majhi's government. 

But at the same time it seems weird to me that the colors of Laxmi Bus, a brain child of previous BJD government is being changed from Green to Saffron. Doesn't make any sense. What's the point of doing that ? Does the common man who travels by bus really cares about the color of the bus ? What a collosal wastage of government money ! BJP's party bigwigs who could be pulling strings from center should understand that Odisha is neither a communal, nor a saffron state. They simply voted AGAINST Pandian, not FOR BJP. So any kind of saffron painting will hardly help, could rather backfire. They better focus on cleaning the mess left from the previous government rather than wasting time, money and effort to change the color of buses.

Family bickering post death

 The parents of an Indian Army's Captain named Anshuman Singh who died in line of duty have demanded changes in Army's next of kin criteria for financial assistance to family members. They claim their daughter-in-law Smriti to whom their son was married to has left their home after their son's death and she now receives most entitlement. "We only have photo of our son with a garland on it" - said the father of the martyred soldier.

It is always tragic for parents to lose their young son and the wife to become widow at such a tender age. It is more tragic to see the family's internal wrangling over money which has now spilled out as they wash their dirty linen in public. Regarding the claim made by the parents of the deceased martyr, we may not be knowing the whole truth, not even the media - social or otherwise which always reports half truths and sensationalizes for TRP. What happens within the four walls of the family no outsider really knows. In most cases the media tends to take sides, casting the parents as victims and painting the widowed daughter-in-law as a greedy opportunist. Many jump into conclusions too fast, too soon with gullible public sympathy invariably going with the parents and an over enthusiastic media ever ready to capitalize on the incident by making the hapless woman the villain of the piece.

Regardless who is the real culprit here, the financial assistance should go to the individual as per the Army rule book, not by public emotions. Law should take its own course based on the definition of the next of kin. Yet sudden financial gains, especially the arrival of unexpected free money can drastically change people. I have seen many such incidents from close quarters.

During the Kargil War in 1999 hundred of men died fighting in the hills along Pakistan border. Apart from the usual government benefits received by next of the kin, a lot of folks contributed towards the family of the deceased. With an overwhelming amount of free money at stake, innumerable family feuds between the widow and other family members came into limelight. It was also reported that in many cases, especially in North India, a good number of army widows were married to their "DEWAR" (husband's younger brother) so that the doles stay inside the family.

Reminded me of the liberally Hindi mixed Odia saying, which I read in an Odia short story titled "ANDHARUA" during my childhood.

"ABE PARASU, JABE PARASU,
BABU PARASURAM;
PAISA KYA NA KARE KAAM."

Roughly transliterated....

Come Peter, Go Peter,
Oh My Lord Peter,
Money Can do,
Tremendous wonder".

Money, Money, Money.
Brighter than sunshine,
Sweeter than honey.

In this materialistic world Money rules, Money talks, Money matters. As matter of fact, nothing else matters. If tomorrow something happens to me, all I will receive is a "RIP" comment on my obituary. People are going to forget me in a week and move on with their life. I won't matter any more to them. But what will matter is the future of my family and money I left for them. I sincerely hope that the parents and the widow of the Army man amicably settle their issues and move on. May God bless them.