Unprecedented heat wave in Bhubaneswar

The unprecedented heat wave in Bhubaneswar with no immediate respite on sight, can be attributed to couple of reasons.

First, a rapid, reckless urbanization and deforestation. The lush greenery and water bodies crisscrossing the city have been replaced by high rise buildings, with little or no plantations or surrounding water bodies to replace them. Rourkela, only the other hand, deserves kudos for still retaining in its greenery.

Second, an inept and corrupt authority. Nero fiddled when Rome burned, the authority not only slept when the city grew, they became ludicrously corrupt, with no immediate respite in sight.

Reminds me another summer day in Odisha couple of years back, when the temperature topped 45 degree Centigrade  (115 F). Around noon, when I stepped out of home, it felt like as if some one opened the door of an oven on my face. I rode a Scooty to the local gas
station (locally called petrol pump ) to fill up the gas tank. The ride was a rude reminder of nature's constant blowing of a hair dryer on my face.

Job done, the pump attendant was about to hand me over the changes when his mobile phone rang. He took the call and went on "TIKE PIAJA AU RASUNA DEI BHAJIBU (Saute fry using onion and garlic)". A customer can afford to wait getting fried waiting for change in 45 degree plus 80% humidity heat, but onion garlic stir fry can hardly wait.

After grabbing the change without bothering about counting, I rushed back home for a shower to cool down. Before I could switch on the motor to fill up our overhead water the electricity went poof.

For 4 hour no power ;
No toilet no shower.

Felt like a fish out of water, lying supine on hot bed getting barbecued. It's 5 PM, still no sign of electricity. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over me I am a great grill. Another couple of hours I could have become a SUKHUA or dried fish, an Odia delicacy.

Only positive news from back home - the electricity hasn't played truant so far. Otherwise, those already feeling like fish out of water, will soon turn to SUKHUA  (dry fish), an Odia delicacy.

So much for the tag of smartest of the "Smart City". Heat wave is not a recent phenomena. Yet due to the woeful unpreparedness of the authorities, it was was a disaster waiting to happen. Damn history can't just stop repeating itself.

An advice to the NIT Srinagar students

Here is a piece of unsolicited advice to the NIT, Srinagar students from an ex NITian - in the context of the ongoing agitations by the students, after they were allegedly beaten by the local police.

Most of the students enter the institute as teenagers with adrenaline rushing through their body and fickle minds, which is ruled more by emotions than logic. Many of us have done things then which we regret later and wish to go back on a time machine to get it undone.

In NIT, Rourkela we had our issues with local law enforcement authorities and Lathi charged (a remnant of British time crowd control procedure, when the police lashes the public with thick sticks, like they are dealing with marauding cattles).

But NIT Srinagar is not like any other NIT of India. Instead of Lathi, you might face bullets from the hostile locals who hardly consider themselves a part of India and clearly see those from the Mainland as outsiders.

Though the battle hardened Indian security forces are doing a tremendous job, no security ever is full proof. No parents would like to see their dreams die down early with their kids, for factors beyond their comprehension, though well within apprehension.

Remember - NIT is not JNU. It is an elite institute, a class of its own, only next to IITs (I would say to 25% of NITians are no less than IIT graduates) where a selected few are selected by elimination process through an  entrance examination.

You won't find any 28 year Kanhaiya Kumar in NIT aiming for a platform to further his political career. For many of you from the coveted institute, your career doesn't end after NIT getting into a job. Many go for higher studies in Ivy League Schools, do MBA in premier institutes (in facts no less than 50% of most IIMs and Xaviers are Engineers). Some get into Civil Services too and much more.

Agree, Kashmir is an integral part of India. But it is not another normal state, with Article 370 tied to it. Srinagar is not your normal NIT locations of Rourkela, Allahabad or Trichy, where thousands of soldiers are needed to maintain law and order.

It might sound patriotic and fashionable to shout "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" (Long live Mother India). But wish raising such slogans would solve the volatile issue of Kashmir, which is a political issue of complex dimension, not a fluid dynamics equation which can be solved in minutes.

It which needs a political solution. So, it's better for you guys and girls to go back to study tables and prepare for your futures. Let the politicians struggle with the Kashmiri issue, when you follow your academics and get out of it in 4 years to further your dreams.

World Hypocricy against reverse racism

I wrote a blog earlier about the elephant eating (no pun, he actually feasted on an elephant on his 90th birthday), nonagenarian African dictator Robert Mugabe, who did everything to take his country Zimbabwe into an abyss of elephantine proportion. The country's economy is in shambles. It's said that you have to carry a sac of Zimbabwean Dollar to buy a bag of grocery in that nation.

 

Mugabe practiced what we can call is reverse racism, driving away the white minority, who were mostly farmers and formed the backbone of their economy and cricket. Imagine if he would have been White and drove away the black minority in that nation. Zimbabwe would faced severe sanctions, in the same boat as South Africa during the heydays of Apartheid, banned from all international sporting events.

 

In that context, the hypocrisy of the African Union and rest of the world about Mugabe can't be ignored. They're conspicuously silent when Mugabe practices reverse racism. India once backed Nelson Mandela, supporting him tooth and nail during the heydays of apartheid, eventually bestowing him with our highest Civilian Award BHATAT RATNA (The Jewel of India).

What was Mandela's reciprocity to India's magnanimous overture of giving its highest honor, rarely given to someone outside India - he wanted to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, knowing fully well India's sensitivity towards outside mediation in Kashmir. Go figure. It's one example (could be many more), those who help at their time of crisis leave no stones unturned when it comes to hurt us.

The sas saga of Zimbabwean cricket

Zimbabwe, previously known as Southern Rhodesia, qualified for the first time in 1983 World Cup held in England. They arrived at the scene with a bang. Captained by Duncan Fletcher, they upset Australia, a regular Test playing nation with quite a bit of cricketing history behind them.

It was not the first time, a regular Test playing nation, was defeated by a team qualifying for World Cup by playing a ICC tournament. It happened earlier in 1979, whe Sri Lanka, then a non Test playing nation, humiliated India.

But unlike 1979, when India was not  regarded as a decent One Day side and Sri Lanka were not new to the World Cup, this victory in 1983 by Zimbabwe was  considered a major upset - for Australia was the connoisure of One Day cricket, regularly playing in Benson & Hedges triangular one day series at home. Zimbabwe was a tyro, the new kid in the block, with virtually zero exposure against any quality team.

The new bloke almost repeated its feat, against another side whom the skipper of their just vanquished opponent, Kim Hughes declared as the "Dark Horse" prior to the tournament. They were Kapil's Devils with the famous tag of 40 -1 outsiders, least expected to win the Cup.

No sooner than the match started, Zimbabwean bowlers Dawson and Kevin Curran ran through India's top order like a hot knife through a slab of butter, with the score reading 5 down for 17, glittering that fine morning on the  scoreboard at Tunbridge Wells, a sleepy small English town.

At that point, for some strange reason their captain Duncan Fletcher, took off their marauding  bowler duo from the attack - a decision he would regret later, for one more wicket by their bowlers on rampage would have unsettled Indian batsmen, forever sealing India's dream and Kim's prediction.

When Dawson and Curran returned back later, a well set Kapil made a mincemeat of their bowling, rushing towards his record knock of 175 not put, setting up a respectable total to defend. India won the match, continuing its campaign further and later ending up winning the Cup.

India won the match, but the minnows Zimbabwe won the hearts, especially impressing all by their acrobatic fielding and spirited batting and bowling, announcing their arrival into the World Cricket scene.

Four years later in 1987, the World Cup was held in the Indian subcontinent for the first time. Led by a spirited score chase from Dave Houghton, their moustached, chain smoking, beer guzzling wicketkeeper, Zimbabwe almost defeated the Kiwis in a group game. It took Martin Crowe to take the catch of the tournament (adjudged the best catch in that World Cup) to grab Houghton's wicket and prevent an improbable Zimbabwean win.

Zimbabwe continued its impressive form, eventually earning its test cap. Not sure when exactly their downslide began, but most likely, it was political turmoil inside their nation which took its toll over its cricket.

Their elephant eating (no pun, he actually feasted on an elephant on his 90th birthday), nonagerian dictator Robert Mugabe did everything to take  Zimbabwe into an abyss of elephantine proportion, the game being a collateral damage. He practised reverse racism, driving away the white minority, who were mostly farmers and formed the backbone of their cricket.

Imagine if he would have been White and drove away the black minority in that nation. Zimbabwe would faced severe sanctions, in the same boat as South Africa during the heydays of Apartheid, banned from all international sporting events.

It's said that you have to carry a sac of Zimbabwean Dollar to buy a bag of grocery in that nation, where Cricket took a backseat as it was ravaged by severe recession. Yes, Zimbabwe continues to play Test cricket. Yes, they still play in World Cups. Yes, they have their odd successes. But the rising and shining team, which could have followed the footsteps of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, never rose any further and woefully stagnated. It is the sad saga of a resurgent team, who deserved a lot better.

Violence in NIT, Srinagar after India's defeat T20 World Cup

Just read a news about NIT, Srinagar - there was clash amongst the students after India's defeat in T20 semifinals. The environment inside the Engineering College Campus resembled a room filled with it flammable gas. All it needed to light a match stick, in form of celebration of a section of students, post India's defeat.

The Valley's antipathy towards India snd sympathy for Pakistan is not something new. During my college days in REC (now NIT) there was unprecedented violence over in Srinagar. Those students from Odisha, (tagging those on my friend list Ashutosh Mallick Dave Patnaik Asis Kumar Swain ) who used to study in Srinagar REC (as NIT was known then) were shifted to ours, as their institute was closed due to prolonged disturbances. They narrated many  interesting and harrowing stories. (One of them, Ashutosh Mallick, was taunted frequently SALIM MALIK TO MUSALMAN HAI, TU KAISE HINDU BAN GAYA, "Salim Malik is Muslim, how come you are Hindu",  ascribing to his last name ).

The students from the Srinagar Valley were mostly Muslims, who kept to themselves and were completely segregated from their Hindu and Sikh counterparts from Mainland India. Except perfunctory interactions of exchanging academic notes and greetings on Eid and Diwali, there were hardly any interactions between them. Pakistan was seen as the Promised Land, the land of freedom and opportunity. When  Zia Ul Haq died that fateful day in August, 1988 the mostly Muslims Kashmiris felt bereaved while the rest rejoiced in silence.

Nothing reflected the mental partition and the hiatus based on faith than cricket. The rooms of the Kashmiri Muslims adorned the pictures of Imran, Akram, Miandad and Salim Malik. In their common room, during Indo-Pak cricket encounters they used to sit segregated, with Kashmir Muslims cheering for Pakistan. Only Indian players who ever got an occasional cheer from the predominantly Muslim Kashmir students were Azharuddin and Arshad Ayub.

Unfortunately for the students from Mainland, India used to lose often to their traditional rivals. Their hapless supporters had to bear the brunt of taunts from the Pakistani supporters from Srinagar. It's no surprise for a politician from the Valley to sympathize with Pakistan, for he has correctly assessed the pulse of the locals.

I am sure this will ring a bell to my friends who studied in that institute a quarter of century ago. History never fails to repeat itself.

The Silly Campaign to ban buying Chinese goods

On social media, there is a campaign to ban buying Chinese goods in India, subsequent to the former's role in preventing from declaring Azhar Masood, the master brain behind terror attacks on Indian soil, an international terrorist. It goes as follows.....

"Please Boycott Chinese  goods permanently as China has voted against India in United Nation on the question of terrorism and has supported Pakistan openly. I am going to do it in National interest. You may also join. Blah blah .."

It's not my intention to put a spanner in their movement, IF it really helps in making a substantial difference to teach the Chinese a lesson - but India's share in Chinese exports is a mere 2 %, vis a vis, America's 20%, Western Europe's 15% and even Japan's 5%, a country which raped and ransacked China a little more than half a century ago.

The Chinese know how to do business. If they sensed any tangible impact on their economy by an Indian boycott of their goods, they could have been more prudent and easily dropped a small fry Azhar Masood like a hot potato. It wouldn't have been a big deal for them to do so.

Having said that - the best way to deal with the shrewed and recalcitrant Chinese is to built our own economy. We have a great potential to compete with them by becoming the economic hub of export. The Vietnamese and the Cambodians are already doing it - so why not us ?

But with such a chaotic democracy, it is easier said than done. To be an economic bullwork against the Bull in China Shop will take a while. The call for boycott of Chinese goods would be akin to take away a bucket of water from an ocean, or throwing a toothpick inside a volcano  - which would hardly make a dent. Till then, we have to bear this. Unfortunately.

Kukkad Khande Joge Ho

The legendary writer Khushwant Singh was once visiting Hong Kong, close to the heels of the humiliating defeat suffered by India at the hands of the  Chinese on the aftermath of their surprise attack on our Eastern front, in October' 1962.

As the eminent writer on an journalist assignment was walking on the street, a Sardar called him from behind, uttering  "SARDARJEE (As Sikhs are addressed in reverence). DESH SE AYE HO (have you come from our country ) ? TUMNE TO NAAK BHADDA DITTA (you cut our nose - meaning you have shamed us) ".

He continued further - "CHINIYAAN NE TO TUMHARI BH***ND MAARLI (the Chinese have screwed your bottom). KUKKAD KHAANDE JOGE HO (You are now only good at eating chicken - poking at the penchant of the Punjabi towards eating chicken. The pun was, you are good for nothing, chicken eating folks, who don't know how to fight).

The Sardar of Hong Kong went on - "I used to boast before my Chinese wife about our great martial tradition of Sikhs. Now she is poking fun at me". Point taken, the Chinese beat us left and right in that war, catching us unware, following the age old military adage, "surprise is the main element of war".

But no surprise here, when we fast forward to 2016, as history repeated itself. The Chinese successfully vetoed in United Nation, preventing the spineless agency from declaring Azhar Masood, the master brain behind terror attacks on Indian soil (spineless because the world's biggest and bloated Bureaucracy is utterly inefficient and helpless against the veto power wielding members, who use it, time and again with impunity to further their strategic aim).

Needless to say Pakistan had the last laugh, with the Chinese doing their bit to keep India on check. As far as India is concerned - it best can be described by my thoughts when I was eating chicken last night, that KUKKAD KHANDE JOGE HO (We, are good for nothing, good at eating Chicken). In addition, I have the additional skill of cooking chicken too, that's the best we can do.

Not a whole lot of water has flown in the SABARMATI since the last bonhomie between Eleven Xinping (as Xi Xinping, the Chinese President was called on Indian media) and our PM Modi, on a swing on the bank of the river. Things have taken a swing since, as THANDI HAWA (cool wind) on the river bank has turned into GARAM HAWA (hot wind) down the road - close to the advent of Indian Summer.

It again proved that the Chinese give a damn to our security concerns - the efforts of our North Block foreign affairs officials not withstanding. SABARMATI KE SANTH TUMNE KAR DIYA KAMAL  (Oh the sage of Sabarmatiyou have done wonders for us) !!!