China and US - The Odd Couple

US and China make an odd couple. Or may not be so odd, conspicuously akin to numerous married couples who don't like each other but stick together simply because of mutual dependency. Both are suspicious, distrustful, frequently spy on each other, and occasionally flirt with paramours. They hold each other's hand and fake smiles for public consumption, fighting in private. Yet end of the day, they stay together to protect their common interest. Like two sides of coin they may be able to see each other but live together.

 

Their marriage was arranged by one Richard Nixon in 1973 on the advise of irrefutable, wily matchmaker Henry Kissinger, known for his out of box, maverick foreign policy to checkmate then Soviet Union at the height of Cold War. The husband US obviously had the upper hand then vis a vis a coy, unsure and insecure of herself China, a la a new bride in an arranged marriage. Lots of water have flown down  Mississippi and Yangtze Kiang, the irritant in the relationship called Soviet Union has long lost it's fang. Now China is an equal if not the larger say in the relationship. America cannot divorce her easily and diverse his attention to another suitor as she has the custody of its debt like their child. This relationship will sustain as long as the producer-cum-debtor China will be lending in USD to its favorite consumer America to consumer its product.

 

China wants American consumers to buy what it makes, otherwise its export oriented economy will be in serious trouble. It could open the lid of a can of worms which kept closed tightly till date by the Chinese authorities and lead to social unrest in a nation of 1.35 billion people which would be a nightmare. The smart and foresighted leaders of the Middle Kingdom know it. All bravado not withstanding both US and China cannot do without each other. Chinese products from Toys to Tilapia flood the American market, even the ubiquitous American Flags visible on 4th of July have "Made in China" tag. Huge ocean liners ply goods across the Pacific manufactured in miles long Sanghai EPZ (Export Processing Zone) for the voracious American consumers. It's said that if those shipping liners stop coming to US West Coast for couple of weeks the prices in Wal Mart would double. Reminds me of the SAHUKAR MAHAJAN ( traders and money lenders) in villages back home. They lend money to their customers in their village so that the later can buy their produce. As it's said in Sankrit RUNAM KRITVA GHRUTAM PIVET, transliterated "Borrow money to drink Ghee (clarified butter)". The US - China relationship perfectly describes it, on a larger scale of course.

Oil over the Oily head

Those from my generation might be aware of a popular brand of Coconut Oil called KMP. The shape of the green or yellow colored cylindrical tin is still fresh in my memory. One needs to make couple of punctures on its surface using nail and hammer, then tilt it a bit to let the oil flow out. In winter months a few minutes under the mild sun would melt the solidified grease, enough to bring it out from the orifice. Not sure what KMP stood for but a joke used to go around that KMP stands for KEBALA MAALISH PAAIN which in Odia means "Suitable for Massaging (buttering) Only".

Oiling or buttering comes in many shades, hue and color, in different shapes and sizes. Irrespective of its form the effect can be quite profound. MASKA LAGANA (in Hindi) or TELA MAARIBA (in Odia) both meaning buttering, is an art. A friend of mine during our college days perfected it. We had this fastidious, stubborn Professor who was rarely approachable. My friend approached him for a favor only to be rebuffed " Your TELA (buttering) won't work on me". My friend smiled back and politely replied " You are correct Sir, you are the only Professor in this entire institution who is not prone to buttering". Needless to say he got his mission accomplished. Irrespective of the means, the success of an effort is judged by the end. My friend vindicated that.

Many characters from my student days stuck at back of my head often come flashing. They are invariably males (I studied in Co-Ed institutes, in the girls only institutes it could be different). The familiar sight of them obsequiously following teachers with one hand inside their pocket, the other hand scratching the back of their ear with head slightly bent would ring a bell to many. They would readily volunteer to do the teacher's odd jobs. Their impressive TELIABILITY ( TEL in most Indian language means Oil + Ability) impacted our teacher's Malleability. Westerners in general are not so accustomed to flattery, often readily fall for it. Most Orientals are arguably tougher nuts to crack, one needs to work harder due the surplus of sebaceous glands. In Odia we have a proverb "TELIA MUNDARE TELA" transliterated "excess of oil lies on a oil soaked head". Literally it means those who have, always tend to have more. But in reality it needs some extra effort for the oil to sip in because of the already surplus oil, similar to water which percolates better on a dry rather than wet surface.

Debates about PK

The protests against PK doesn't make sense. You are free to express your opinion as PK has done in this movie, without indulging in vandalism. The worst sufferers are neither Raju Hirani nor Aamir Khan who are laughing their way to bank, rather the theater owners and the innocent bystanders.

 

We are a democracy where freedom of opinion should be accepted and respected. You don't like it, don't see it. Period. It's a movie which espouses rational thinking and not to be fooled by Godmen. Our much venerated Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Bibekananda espoused the same. PK is a movie which has an agnostic theme tied to it - not atheism. We are not a theocracy, rather a democracy. So, one has every right to mock at the existing dogma through mediums of art and literature. At the same time the movie has been declared Tax free in two of our most cash rich, revenue surplus states, i.e., UP and Bihar. It's not that our PUTTAR PRADESH (of the son) and Perennial PM aspirant Nitish's SARKAR (government) have suddenly become a champion of free speech, rather they want a piece of the political pie.

 

It's interesting to note the conspicuous silence of the Bollywood fraternity on this subject, yet vindicating themselves as champion hypocrites. They have no qualms preaching social justice, rationalism, challenging stereotyping and dogmas etc on screen, yet hardly anyone has come out of closet to condemn the vandalism and violence related to PK. Their silence is not golden,  it speaks volumes.

Happy New Year 2015

The year 2014 paves its way to the year 2015. As the old man 2014 bends extending his hand and opens the door to welcome the New Year, it's time for some introspection. A la getting rid off the old cloths for new ones and the soul moving from one body to another as famously extolled by Lord Krishna in BHAGWAT GITA, only the number of the year changes. Nothing else, as more or less the status quo is maintained. We may forget history but we don't forget to repeat it year after year. Similar to this starting stanza of the Kishore's song

EK RUT AE, EK RUN JAE PHIR,

MOUSAM BADLENA, BADLE NASEEB.

"One season comes and another goes,

the season changes not the fateful woes". 

This year came with a mixed bag of good, bad and ugly. Made new friends, revived old ones and lost some ones, once and for all. To me almost all the New Year wishes expressed over the years have been pleasant which makes them forgettable. Our inherent human nature makes us remember the unpleasant ones. I remember one from 1st January 1982. On the first New Year after his marriage to Diana, Prince Charles wished the nosey British Paparazzi " Have a Nasty New Year". Let me repeat the forgettable wish as I do not forget to do at the end of every year, HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR 2015.

Goodbye M S Dhoni

It was early 2006. India was chasing a sizable Pakistani total in front of a hostile home crowd in Lahore. At a crucial moment India loses its star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, still requiring loads of run. Those days the end of Tendulkar was usually considered as beginning of India's impending end. Nonchalantly walks in this man with long hair, a tyro following a connoisseur. Nobody expected much from this young man from the nondescript, impoverished state of Jharkhand, M S DHONI. In middle of a hostile India baiting (rather hating) crowd, he led a successful India chase staying as cool as iceberg. It's not very common to be newcomer to crash into limelight in a nail biting, pressure cooker rivalry between the arch rivals. Dhoni's performance in Pakistan's own backyard earned praise from no other than then President General Musharaf, not a huge fan of India or Indians by any standard. (Musharaf incidentally told Dhoni not to cut his trademark long hair). Arguably Dhoni was the harbinger of a new era when Indians finally got out the cycles of defeats against Pakistan, not any more the nerve and guts to fight under adverse circumstances.  

 

Dhoni continued to flourish and never looked back since. His biggest contribution to India was his leadership under which India won the World Cup in 2011. An abrupt end to his test career came as he announced an impromptu retirement, arguably on the behalf of BCCI not known for its foresight and professionalism. For long Dhoni was a man surrounded by several controversies and debates around him. But what's not debatable is the fact that the man deserved farewell test match, same as an employee deserves the same after a long stint. He should have been allowed to play in Sydney Test as a fitting finale to an epic career on an epic ground. Such  unsportsmanlike conduct can only be expected from BCCI managed by folks who are more apt at politics than sports. If a person of the caliber and stature of Dhoni doesn't get the farewell he deserves it could be the death knell for the moral of achievers in a nation who sadly can't boast of many in the arena of sports. Hats off to legend and a God to many in a country where cricket is the religion.

Bush vs Clinton in 2016 ?

The Iowa Caucus, the first campaign in American Presidential election is almost a year away. A CNN poll among the Republicans finds Jeb Bush, son of one US President and the brother of another as their top most choice for nomination. For Democrats it's Hillary Clinton. So it could be Bush Vs Clinton again, old wine in new bottle.

A week is a long time in politics, a year is still longer. As the year 2015 is about to begin it will be interesting to analyze the prospects of these candidates. For Jeb the Bush tag is still a liability whereas for Hillary the Clinton tag is an asset. Bill Clinton is still popular, effuses charisma and reminds the Americans of the prosperity times of late 90s. In fact Clinton left White House with a budget surplus where as Bush left with trillions of debt.

Republicans could not defeat a vulnerable Obama in 2012 who was running a reelection with a record unemployment rate. With the US economy in upswing and if stays that way Hillary Clinton starts with an advantage. But we live in a highly unpredictable world. A lot of water would have flown under the bridge between now and November 2016.

Scare In Air

An Air Asia plane went missing, making the year 2014 one of the worst ever in the history of civil aviation. So far it looks like bad weather. The pilot reported severe thunderstorms and wanted to fly at a higher altitude. No other communication came from him ever since. Thunderstorms which can pour half a feet of rain in barely couple of hours with massive cloud vortex up to 50000 feet were located in that area. If the flight entered into it chances are the mother nature swallowed it and is likely to excrete the debris in future.

 

Once in July, 2007 at the peak of monsoon season moments before landing at Bhubaneswar 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. Inside wafted in a calm female voice MAUSAM KHARAB HONE KE KARAN AAP KURSI KI PETI BANDH LIJIYE (because of bad weather please fasten your seat belts). The plane shook vigorously, shaking my confidence to the hilt. For a moment I thought the overhead baggage compartment will break open, spilling the bags on the 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. I closed my eyes and started remembering all our 33 crore Gods and Goddesses, whom I had conveniently ignored for long.

 

Finally the ordeal was over as the flight touched the ground in the middle of pouring, torrential rain. Passengers rejoiced by whistling and clapping. Soon I could hear murmurs of HEY PRABHU (O Lord), JAI JAGANNATH from the passengers repeatedly touching their forehead with folded hands. As the flight came to complete halt, I was back to my normal self and my belief in agnosticism. It was so selfish of me. Thankfully winter flights are a lot better in the northern hemisphere. One rarely gets any turbulence beyond the turbulent zone which mostly stays south of the tropic of cancer.