Spring time in REC

Spring time brings back fond memories of "SPRINGFEST", a jamboree celebrating the arrival of the spring season at REC (now NIT) Rourkela. Semester exams over, the students were Engineered for fun. 

Weather in the steel city during end of February and early March was salubrious, neither hot nor cold. The mornings were cool, afternoons warm. The sun was warm while the air was cool, the perfect blend for festivities.

One of the major attractions in Spring Fest were female participants from outside. There was a saying during those days, God cursed Engineering girls to be plain looking (The Usual disclaimers apply and please don't shoot the messenger). 

A typical male student psychology, whenever we looked at a group of girls, our eyes used pry for a pretty face, often ending in disappointment. In the country of blind the one eyed woman can be queen. With few girls in Engineering Colleges those days, still fewer relatively better looking, some toon the advantage of turning into queen bees, attracting droves of boys towards them. Arrival of fresh faces from outside during the much awaited Spring fest, was considered as REGISTAAN MEIN BAARISH (Rainfall in the desert).

Still remember this funny incident. I was on the stage during the Quiz show, a popular item of Spring Fest conducted by O'Brien from Calcutta. (REC Rourkela was the only college to represent Odisha at the popular Siddharth Basu Quiz Time show on TV those days).

A car went to fetch our Quiz master from the Railway Station, but came back empty. We thought he gave the event a pass, scrambling for a last minute replacement. Suddenly the Quiz Master was stotted disembarking from a Rickshaw in front of AV Hall, the venue, bargaining for every Rupee he could save. We profusely apologized for missing him at the station. He wasn't amused, but nevertheless procceded to the stage.

One of his questions to the participants was "Which animal sleeps with one eye open and the other eye closed ?". No one on the stage could answer, following which the question was put to the esteemed audience. 

"So and so", some one shouted amidst the scores inside the Hall, uttering the name of one of our friends, known for his characteristic smile with one eye closed and the other eye open. The entire hall erupted with laughter. Our buddies from REC were creative, no doubt had great presence of mind with a greater sense of humor. 

The festivities concluded on the "Rock Show" night with hundreds engaged in bacchanalian twists and turns to the tune of the heavy metal music. Outside were drums of country liquor called BHATTI for those interested in some free liquor.

I was one of the volunteers assigned by our Cultural Secy to fetch it from a local hooch dealer at the junction of Sector-2 and Koel Nagar. No sooner we arrived, than the owner of the Hooch Store, a dark, burly guy with Walrus moustache jumped from his KHATIA (threaded bed).

He graciously offered us his samples in tin tumblers with big onion chunks sprinkled with salt and Bidi (locally made cigarette in India) as side dish. I took a sip of that fiery stuff, feeling it burning all the way down inside my food pipe reaching my stomach, clearing any doubts I had in my Biology class from my School days. My mouth was so bitter, I grabbed a bite of onion chunk laced with salt granules, snatched a Bidi from my friends hand, took a long drag to sooth my throat.

I always hated Bidi, but this time it was my savior. Then I took a big gulp, this time only water to wash down all the residual remnants of our DESI DAARU (country liquor), fomented at the local Rourkela Koel Nagar Distillery. 

Yet the elation of imbibing this premium Country stuff with friends, was no less than sipping any Premium Single Malt. Nothing has left such an imprint on my mind as much as the brand from Rourkela Distillery, graced with Chunks of salt laced onion. The drums were loaded on a trolley, we goaded it through our gate to the rock show venue.

Later in the night, it would act as the fuel propelling the Engines of the budding Engineers, as the Rock music concert commenced. The girls were giggling at our discomfiture, watching the proceedings safely ensconced within the locked gates over the 2nd floor overlooking the arena. They were the catalysts to the inebriated gyrating hips several feet underneath in the semi dark coliseum, a few throwing up the privacy of the darker corners.

Some, who were destined to collapse, would be dragged and loaded like sardines on top of the trolley. Drooling DAARU (alcohol) from their frothing mouth, with heads hanging downwards as the trolley trolls its way to the safety of the hostels. It would be the fitting finale to an occasion the students would be dreaming throughout the year.

Maichia Dukhei Sahoo

A few days back I posted an one liner - "Obedience of the bookish, good students from my generation has shifted from parents to wives". It was laconic, equivalent to the "Precis" we wrote during our intermediate college days (now Twitter is the modern equivalent of precis, restricted to 140 characters). 

Now it is time to convert the precis to an essay form (Facebook posts are modern counterpart of essays) - expand and elaborate my one liner. It is the ethos and pathos of the modern times, a test case of Human relationship which can be fragile unless handled with care. 

Nothing withstands the sands of time, certainly not relationships. I present the case of a brother duo, both academically brilliant and absolutely obedient to their parents. During my childhood days they were considered as Ram - Laxman duo (based on our epic Ramayan), epitome of sibling love. 

Everyone heaved paeans of praise on them. The siblings commanded immense respect and adulation in the neighborhood, worthy enough to emulate and idolize. But post marriage, it didn't take long for their obedience slowly shift to their wives, followed by relationship with their parents going bust. 

Far from Ram Laxman, now they were branded as the MAICHIA duo, which in Odia means effeminate, but usually alludes to the hubbies who have gone a complete transformation, a la from Caterpillar to Butterfly, now SAT PRATISHAD (100%) controlled by their wives. Roll reversed, playing "Maichia" they were more like modern day SITA devoted to their RAM like wives. They were the SATI BRATA PATI (the truthful hubbies), devoted SATYAVANs to their SAVITRIs.

The brothers still loved each other, but afraid to proclaim it in public, lest they earn their wives wrath. They blame the other one's wife for initiating the rivalry. It's a common occurrence these days - story line of many movies and soap operas. 

They say if your wife incessantly whispers vituperative thoughts against someone, spilling venom into your ear every day and night, sooner or later you will fall pray to it. As the poison percolates into your mind through the ears, one fine morning you wake up brainwashed, with a splitting headache and a reluctant desire to split from your family. 

Their parents are now mute spectator to the relationship turning sour, slowly drifting away like shifting sand in desert wind, on its way to lie ruined in the sands of time. The saying "A daughter is daughter all life, a son is a son until he gets his wife", stands never more vindicated these days.

One of my friends justified his forced hibernation at his inlaw's place in his Barhampuri (a local dialect) accented Odia - "FADRAA-IN-LAA (Father in law) GHARE BESI DINA RAHIBARA EKKA. SASHURA GHARA PARA SWARGAPUR HEY."

Another guy when confronted with accusations by his relatives as JORU KA GHULAM (the Slave of his wife) had this swift self defense, "I am proud to be the slave of my wife. But there are others who are slaves of others wives". Life is relative and full of relatives. He had no remorse as he drove his point.

Both drove their points equally well. As Lord Krishna (A Hindu God) said MAM EKAM SHARANAM BRAJA (surrender to Me). "If you can't fight them, join them" - can be the best policy.

This blog can't end without a mention of this well known Odia DHAGA (Adage) - 

MAICHIA DUKHEI SAHOO,

MAIPA HATARE KAHUNI KHAU.

Roughly transliterated...

The wife battered Effeminate John Doe

Perennially punched by his wife's elbow.

(Disclaimer - Any coincidence with any characters dead or alive is purely coincidental).

Why BJP won the election in UP - Election 2017

Results (soon to be followed by knives) are out in the just concluded Assembly elections in India. When everyone has an opinion about it, not to be left behind I scribbled mine, the 11,46,33,897th one on Social media. 

Held little after half way through the tenure of the current BJP led central government and months after the DeMo (Demonetization) move by NaMo (Narendra Modi) - the elections held in 5 States, which included the electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh, was billed as a benchmark of its performance and harbinger of things to come in the future.

The proof is in the pudding, as BJP's icing on the cake was its historic and spectacular victory in the State of UP, where 1/6th of India's population, close to the population of America live. It's rival Congress, the GOP (Grand Old Party) of India bit dust on the dusty cowbelt, with cow dung topping its cake.

The win can be ascribed to BJP changing its strategy with changing times, where as its rivals, especially the Congress still living in 19th century. It's not the India of 25 years ago. In a country with a huge, aspiring, young population with access to Smartphones and social media, the new generation doesn't buy old gamut of blatant caste and communal politics. 

The Harkishan Singh Surjit style of politics of "all secular parties joining their hands together to defeat communal BJP" no more holds good, so also stale Indira Gandhi kind of slogan Garibi Hatao (remove poverty). It is vindicated by BJP getting nearly 40% votes which would not have happened without a good chunk of support it got from the lower, backward castes, and minorities. 

The traditional naked pampering to the minorities by the non BJP parties is not futile, it backfires big time, in the form of backlash in the form of consolidation of votes behind the majority community. India is 85% Hindu and UP is 70%. A mere 5% of Hindu backlash can swing the election, and 10% can cause a landslide. The later happened.

It's not the local BJP leader K P Maurya or Yogi Adityanath who won the election in UP. It was Modi all the way, and he is not from UP, yet reinforcing my view that Modi has transformed himself to a pan Indian figure, a la Indira Gandhi in 1970s. 

A lot of credit should go to Amit Shah for his no nonsense approach towards aggressive micro targeting the voters and shaping the image of his boss as a man with a vision, who isnot afraid to take bold moves like demonetization. Politics is a matter of perception. Modi is regarded as a go getter, compared to his counterparts and his predecessor who presided over policy paralysis vis a vis Modi who is trying to get things done.

Not that Modi or BJP are perfect and free from lacunae. But the results are a tell-tale sign where the nation is heading to - a Congress Mukt (free) Bharat (India). It hasn't happened yet. A party at the helm of affairs for most of the 70 years post Independent India is well entrenched to be dislodged overnight. But the die has been cast, for a while the ball has been set rolling in that direction.

It's not just that Congress has been constantly facing one electoral debacle after another, it's the vacuousness shown by its leadership at the time of crisis. Sonia Gandhi, the Party's unquestionable leader is in USA right now, supposedly for medical check up. As they say - JAHAAJ JAB DUBTA HAI, TO PEHLE CHOOHE BHAGTE HAIN (Rats flee a sinking ship). Don't want to be rude, but if her days are numbered, then without her being not so young and Rahul Gandhi being forever young, Congress party will splinter. That won't be bad at all - my dream of a Congress Mukt (free) India will come true. Time for Rahul Gandhi to retire and start GHAR SANSAR leaving the party to its fate.

India is moving slowly towards a Presidential form of government in guise of Parliamentary democracy. But every democracy needs a viable opposition for doing checks and balances. In a future Congress Mukt Bharat, a credible opposition is the need of the hour. AAP (minus Kejriwal) can very well fit the bill. Otherwise, BJP may turn into another monster like Congress.

Now basking in a comforting majority in Lok Sabha, a win in the most populous state of UP and soon going to be in majority in Rajya Sabha, BJP has never seen better days. It has come a long way since with only 2 members elected to Lok Sabha in 1984, it was mocked as the party of HUM DO, HUMARE DO (Us two, our two), alluding to the famous Family Planning campaign those days to limit couples to only couple of kids.

A note of caution - nothing lasts forever. What goes around, comes around. A week is a long time in politics, a year can be eons. BJP should beef up its governance, not worry about who is eating beef. Then only they can be the beacon of a new India. Otherwise, it's going to be same old, shame old.

The day of the Phosphorous Jackal

One day our Chemistry teacher in College, Mr. Raghu Nath Panda was tutoring us how Phosphorus reacts after coming in contact with Oxygen, produces Phosphorous Pentoxide (P2O5), a glowing compound which emits illumination. 

I instantly remembered, how folks in our village were in awe at the sight of the unexplained faraway moving lights in the night, ascribing it to the local DAHANI (in Odia meaning witch) who walked upside down, using her hands as feet. 

We were fed on this shit of the DAHANI eating shit left by the villagers defecating on open fields. More shit - no one ever survived to see the face of a DAHANI, for a glance by the witch would result in the demise of the onlooker, caused by instant RAKTA BANTI (Blood Vomit).

But our teacher explained the myth behind this superstition. Jackals who roamed villages aplenty, would eat bones from carcasses which contains the element Phosphorus. It gets stuck to their teeth and so no sooner it comes in contact with atmospheric oxygen, than it forms the glowing P2O5. Every Jackal has his day, so also there used to be Night of the Jackal. 

But the saga of superstitions doesn't end there. The moving crawlies ruling the nights are not just limited to faece eating faces. Everybody was advised to stay indoors, safe from the legendary rolling ball of fire (called MAADALA), which loves to chase their victims to death.

No one has ever succeeded in out running a MAADALA. The best way to avoid death while being chased by this marauding juggernaut of fireball is not to allow it pass between your legs, failing which one is destined to vomit blood and die. 

There was nothing to confirm my skepticism, as I haven't encountered a single case case of someone dying from their wrath of DAHANI or MAADALA, accompanied by spasms of RAKTA BANTI (blood vomit). Or may be, dead men tell no tale.

RIP Rabi Ray

Rabi Ray, a highly respected politician from Odisha, prominent Socialist leader and ex-Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Parliament of India), passed away yesterday. He was 91.

It was the year 1984 when I first came to know about him. That was the time when the teenager in me started taking an avid interest in politics. The Parliamentary Election that year was the first major election I was following keenly. Those days the the voting age was still 21 years in India. There was no electronic voting, though it was tried on an experimental basis in a handful of booths in Kerala.

In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections that year, Indira Gandhi was the Prime minister of India. An iconic figure in India at that time, she was akin to Narendra Modi - there was no one close to her stature at national level. All we had a bunch of faddists and obscurantist leaders in a fragmented opposition. Though she made fiasco of in Punjab leading to Operation Blue Stat, her Congress Party was expected to be re-elected, albeit in a lesser margin.

The legendary Biju Patnaik, who was the sole non Congress MP from Odisha, was expected to get re-elected hands down, unlike in 1980 when he barely scarped through. Other opposition leaders like Rabi Ray were expected to win easily, with the opposition all set to improve its tally in the state of Odisha, mostly due to the misule of Congress in the state.

But the tragic assassination of Indira Gandhi barely couple of months before the elections changed the dynamics. Those days manual counting of votes would start in the morning but continue late into night, with the one Channel Television, named Doordarshan, showing Bollywood movies interspersed with election results and trends.  

The fate of opposition stalwarts of Odisha, Biju Patnaik and Rabi Ray would go sinusoidal, toing and froing between leading and training between the movies shown on TV. At one point they would be leading by 1000 votes, to trail by 1500 votes one movie later, again to lead by 1200 votes after the end of another movie. Finally Biju Patnaik managed to scrape through by a few thousand votes from his home turf of Kendrapada.

Rabi Ray lost his Jagatsinghpur constituency by 1000 odd votes to his tainted rival Laxman Mullick, who was accused of shielding the perpetrators of an heinous crime involving the rape and murder of Chhabirani, the wife of a local journalist. It was an extremely narrow margin to lose a Lok Sabha seat. The sympathy wave due to Indira Gandhi's assassination stalled what could have been a cakewalk for him.

Indira dead proved more powerful than Indira alive. The opposition was decimated in every state, exept Bengal and Andhra. BJP with only 2 members elected to Lok Sabha was mocked as a party of HUM DO, HUMARE DO (Us two, our two), alluding to the famous Family Planning campaign those days to limit couples to only couple of kids to arrest the explosive growth of population.

Rabi Ray made a spectacular comeback in 1989, winning easily in an election I remember for voting first time in my life, as the voting age was reduced to 18. His experience and stature was rewarded, as he was made the speaker of the Lok Sabha in the short lived V P Singh led government.

I lost track of him after that, but not my respect for him. He was one of the rare breeds, from the generation of genuine socialist leaders in the mould of Jayprakash Narain, arguably was last of his kind to walk on the surface of earth RIP, Mr. Rabi Ray.

Turning once weaknesses into Strength

What is the similarities between Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, Donald Trump (needs no introduction) and the current Australian cricket team visiting India ? Their uncanny ability to convert their weekness to strength.

The Chief Minister of Odisha doesn't speak Odia. At best be has minimal knowledge of the language. Many call it his weakness and predicted that his inability to speak the local language would be detrimental to his survival. Considered a novice in politics, he was expected to be trampled by his more politically savvy opponents.

Eventually he proved his detractors wrong. His lack of understanding the local language and aloofness from public was instrumental in surrounding him with a mystic aura - avoiding an over exposure to a milieu known for their obsequiousess and overwhelming feeling of reverence towards outsiders. He outsmarted, outlived and outfoxed all, all set now to complete two decades in power.

The Australian cricket team currently touring India was considered weak and vulnerable against spin bowling. But their dual weaknesses of lack of home advantage and spinners who are considered as tyros turned into strength, as they turned the tables in a turning pitch on their more fancied opponents, making them bite the dust. The visitors batted to potential, bowled accurately and took brilliant catches, catching the home team off guard. They simply converted their weakness to strength to eke out a memorable victory.

In the last US Presidential election the wily fox Hillary was caught flummoxed like the animal in front of headlights, when her opponent Donald Trump crashed her White House dream. Trump's weakness of being an Washington outsider, who is not a politician worked for him and trumped over a stale Hillary from the same old political establishment. 

Trump was successfull in channelizing his weakness to his strength, his image of an outsider who is not a politician (people look at politicians with cynicism these days) upped his ante with the common Americans. Rest we know is history.

And history stands testimony to myriad such instances of turning weaknesses into strength, listing all of them is beyond the scope of the blog. But success lies in using the weakness effectively to turn the tide, which makes these individuals or groups rise above and beyond the rest.

The curious caseof Gurmehar Kaur

The curious case of Gurmehar Kaur. No one outside the Social Media knew about her a week ago, any one who isn't linked to media probably don't know have an iota of clue about her.

In a short period of time, she has gained a celebrity in her own rights and we, the people, have contributed to that. She is the daughter of an Army Officer who was Killed in Action while fighting against terrorists (No offence, but I chose the word killed instead of the more patriotic sounding word "martyr". The choice of words is matter of personal choice, so using "killed" instead of "martyr" doesn't make one less patriotic, nor it is any kinda vilification of a soldier. Killed in Action is a term officially used by nations known for patriotism and no one raises an eyebrow).

It all started when the girl studying in Delhi University posted a picture on social media, holding a placard "Pakistan didn't kill my father, War did". We might agree to disagree on her action, but our Constitution guarantees her right to Freedom of expression on a social platform.

Soon she was trolled, several of them by celebrities, including the retired cricketer Virendra Shehwag. She was accused by many of misrepresentation of facts, spreading fake news. The girl probably threw a bait, and others readily took it. 

No one might care about my blog, but if Donald Trump comments on it, it makes me a celebrity. Same as an ordinary piece of iron gets magnetic in contact with a strong magnet, the high prifile trollers have magnetized her and her supporters.

In the summer of 1990, V P Singh, the then Prime minister of India forced moribund "Mandal Commission" on the nation. It was followed by widespread protests by students. Many student set themselves on fire. Those who died were eventually forgotten. Some of those survived got elected to Student Union bodies, a stepping stone to political career.

Has she planned this from beginning to launch a political career ? Or may be her innocuous protest to get some attention was blown out of propertion by trollers, forcing her to bite more than she can chew. We don't know, as myriad views on her are partisan, depending on the Left or Right side of the Isle. But what we know - her detractors might have played into her hands, handing her a celebrity status, crashing her into the limelight, inadvertently or otherwise.

20 years old is the ripe age to shape one's career. She is pretty well known now and she is pretty, a perfect media sales pitch, both mainstream and social. Media is already helping her brand. Win or lose - she can cherish her newly aquired brand status while it lasts, because nothing lasts forever.