Justin Bieber in Bombay

A lot of fanfare is on in anticipation of the pop sensation Justin Bieber’s visit to India. His itinerary is a closely guarded secret, with no one willing to talk about when he is expected to set foot in India, or where will he stay, or places he goes.

Hype and hoopla associated with the Western popstars visiting India is neither new nor unprecedented. Couple of decades ago Michael Jackson made a trip to Bombay, which was not yet Mumbai. He visited MATOSHREE, the residence of Bal Thackarey - the head of Siv Sena. 

After giving the Rockstar a rockstar's welcome, the undisputed Don of Bombay and the self proclaimed growling Tiger who scared the hell out of the city's citizens, cowered like a Kitten, posing for a photograph with MJ.

The lord of Bombay even went on boasting, being privileged by Michael Jackson using his loo. More than the Moonwalker's ever gyrating hips, his residues left in Balasaheb's residence mattered the most, the later openly expressed how blessed he was by the American doing so at his home.

Not long ago Justin Beiber had the largest number of followers on twitter. His records are blockbusters topping the chart. I can't remember anyone capturing the imagination of teenagers in recent times the way he has done. Girls swoon and go crazy over him. Boys emulate and desire to be him. Fans flock in hordes from neighboring nations when he has his concerts outside North America.

Alas, celebrity status does not come free. Too much fame can make one infamous. Some of his actions are not exactly worth idolizing. Success had apparently gone to his young man's head and at an young age he lacked maturity to handle it. 

Three years ago he was caught throwing eggs at his neighbor's home in LA. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of careless driving and resisting arrest seven months after his arrest in Miami Beach following what police initially called an illegal street drag race. 

At that time cops stopped his Lamborghini in Miami and charged him with possession of drugs and DUI (driving Under Influence). Not to mention in early 2004, he was caught in a kinky incident involving several girls inside his Limousine at his home country Canada. 

Reminds me of a stanza from Kishore Kumar' s song from movie NAMAK HARAAM (True to the Salt)

DAULAT AUR JAWANI

EK DIN KHO JAATI HAI;

SACH KAHTA HUNSARI DUNIYA

DUSHMAN BAN JAATI HAI.

(Wealth and youth, 

One day one goes away;

Truly speaking, the whole world 

From you turns away). 

Nothing sounds more prophetic. Sooner or later a new music star will eclipse him. Another celebrity will surpass him as far as twitter goes. World has seen Michael Jacksons and Britney Spears. Nothing lasts forever, never has.

Autobiography of Nilakantha Das - XIV

This is the 14th in the series of recapitulation in my own words portions of Pandit Nilakantha Das's Biography in Odia. Enjoy...

NILAKANTHA DAS AND SUBAS BOSE

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In 1939, just before the World War II, Netaji Subash Bose called Nilakantha Das to his 32/8, Elgin Road residence in Calcutta. He heard about impressive leadership quality and charisma of Sri Das. In spite of an extremely busy schedule, he huddled a conference with the triumvirate of Pandit Nilakantha, Jadumani Mangaraj and Godabarisha Mishra. 

Netaji told them - "My hunch is, Japan is going to win this war as British are on decline". Anticipating it, he laid out his vision of an independent India where the Eastern region is going to play an important role. He continued further, "It's now time to start the groundwork of governance for the eastern states of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. So, Mr. Das, I would leave Odisha to your leadership as I can't think of anyone better than you".

Nilakantha interacted extensively with both Nehru and Subash Bose. No doubt, Subash Bose was the more charismatic and a fiery, arousing speakers compared to Nehru. Nilakantha fell to Netaji's charm and his blood curdling, goosebumps arousing slogan - "Give me blood, I will give you freedom". 

Alas, he missed UTKALAMANI (Jewel of Odisha) Gopabandhu Das and the later's poem which was no less inspiring

MISU MORA DEHA E DESA MATIRE

DESA BASI CHALI JAANTU PITHIRE,

DESARA SWARJYA PATHE JETE GAADA,

PURI TAHIN PADI MORA MANSA HADA.

May my body blend in this country's soil

May on my back my countrymen take a walk,

The potholes on path of self rule of my nation,

May it get filled with my flesh and bone.

Fully motivated by Subash Bose, upon returning to Odisha the troika went on political blitzkrieg, building a formidable combination of personalities from different spectrums, as diverse as the King of Paralakhemundi and Suhaan Khan of Muslim League - a Party who at that point riding the crest of Jinnah wave was giving Congress run for money, drastically cutting into later's support among Muslims.

In the meantime Hitler's tanks blitzkrieged into Poland on 1st of September, 1939 - marking the beginning of World War II. Later that month Subash Bose came to Odisha. As President of State Congress Nilakantha Das took Netaji around Cuttack atop an elephant. During that jaunt, both stayed in the same house in Odisha. During that period Netaji would consult Nilakantha, his Man Friday in Odisha before taking any decision during his campaign in the state.

Many of his colleagues were trying to persuade Netaji to give speech in Bengali. Nilakantha told him bluntly - "Please give speech in Hindi, English or Odia. Not in Bengali". Subas Bose duly obliged. In Puri BADA DANDA Netaji gave a fiery speech in Hindi, mocking Gandhi SUTA KAAT KE KYA SWARAJ MILEGA (isn't it preposterous to get self rule by making threads out of cotton) ? 

(My grandfather, then in his 20s heard this speech by Netaji and mentioned it in his Diary which I still hold on to like a Precious Jewel. I used to ridicule him when he showed me his photograph from 1939, wearing starched DHOTI or loincloth, thick, well drenched hair combed to a side divided by a prominently visible thin hairline, with RASHI TELA or til oil conspicuously dripping from it. I, as the NAATI or grandson was entitled to poke fun at my Grandpa ).

As expected, Nilakantha Das's closeness to Netaji aroused jealousy, especially in his native Satyavadi (Odias are champion in harboring jealousy towards the success of the fellow Odias, especially your near and dear ones). It shows the difference between leaders like Subash Bose and ordinary ones. A la GUNA CHINHE GUNIA, SUNA CHINHE BANIA (A talented person can spot a talent, as a goldsmith. can truly judge the quality of gold), Netaji Subash Bose was head above the rest. It was shameful and disgusting that the small time leaders of Odisha, rather than working under Pandit Das's leadership and making our state progressive, did everything to clip his wings.

This trait of his fellow Odias neither surprised Nilakantha Das and hardly perturbed him. This was an expected, inevitable political hazard, about which he was well advised and warned in advance by his mentor UTKALA MANI Gopabandhu who once told him - "JETE TU SAPHALA HEBU, SETE SHATRU SHRUSTI HEBE. HELE KANA KARIBA. EMANANKU NEI TA JATI NADNDIGHOSA KU AGAKU NEBA KU PADIBA, (The more successful you will be, more enemies will be created. But what can we do, we have to live with them to keep the  Juggernaut of Odia race chugging ahead). Nilakantha harbored no ill will towards his jealous detractors, so also the pragmatic Gopanadhu whose thinking was well ahead of his time.

(TO BE CONTINUED, AS I READ 📖 FURTHER)

Death Sentence for Nirbhaya killers - 2017

Today the Supreme Court delivered death sentence to the culprits of the Nirbhaya rape case which shook the nation few years back. The decision was on expected lines and didn't come to me as surprise. 

Jumping into judging the judgment of the judges regarding death sentence can be tricky. It's veracity needs to be looked beyond the narrow prism of caste, race or religion. Dastardly acts provoke dastardly response. 

The debate about Capital Punishment and the state taking law into own hands in a civilized society is probably as old as the civilization itself. I have seen many squabble over the efficacy of death sentence. The gloat over the death sentence awarded to those responsible for this heinous act was highest amongst women as they could relate to the agony of the victim. 

Males were certainly anguished by this heinous act, but the outpouring outrage from the ladies is quite understandable.  It probably explains why more males than females question the righteousness of the death penalty, especially in case of rape.

Yet, the contrast of opinions is quite conspicuous. Before passing some armchair judgment, let's take a pause and contemplate by stepping into the shoes of the victim's family, be it Nirbhaya's (the girl raped in Delhi) or anyone else.

It would be easy for me to preach eye for an eye is wrong, State has no right to kill an individual, blah blah. But would I be talking at the same breath if I can relate the victim to one of my near and dear one ? I don't think so.

In America death penalty is a state subject, most conservative states have it, most liberal states don't. The nation is evenly divided on the issue. Here the family of the victim is allowed to watch the execution of the perpetrator. 

They perhaps do it for a reason. It may not be humane, but it is human. I have no  illusions to be superhuman. Normally I won't hurt a fly, let alone watch someone die. But God forbid, if one day I am invited to such an event I will take the first row. 

No wonder in movies nobody sheds a tear when the bad guy falls. These Nirbhaya convicts goose is cooked, for one fine morning (not sure why hangings are done in the morning), they will be hung until death from the hangman's noose, as the President is highly unlikely to pardon them.

Hang in there. Before I end this blog, I can't but mention this monologue sonnet delivered by in the Hollywood Western Classic - "3.10 TO YUMA ", based in 19th Century US. Electric Chair wasn't invented yet, when Hanging in the Public was the preferred mode of execution in America's Wild Wild West. A hangman taunts the convict before taking him to the gallows :

"They will hang me in the morning,
They will hang me before dawn.
They will hang me in the morning,
I will never see the Sun".

I can attribute the same sonnet to these convicts. RIP Nirbhaya.

Raising fang can be as effective as biting

In our school, there was this mild mannered kid who was regularly bullied by his classmates. He lacked courage to counter attack and used to meekly say - CHHADA, MATE MARIKI SE BHARI BADA LOKA HEIJIBA. (Leave him, as if by bullying me he will be a big guy). 

That was his way of retaliation. Not that he was forgiving in nature, he was simply weak. And his tormentors knew it.

Considered as a BHALA, SANTA SUDHARA PILA (A good, quite, cultured kid), he earned everyone's empathy.  But no one ever came to his rescue and the bullying barely stopped.

Same happens to India, who is praised by big and small for showing immense restrain when constantly battered with fusillades from its western neighbor Pakistan. The only tangible and visible response it has done so far is KADI NINDA (strong condemnation). Alas, it hardly helps in stopping the bullying, not withstanding paeans of praises heaped at it from the Biggies, aka US, Russia, Western Europeans for showing immense restrain.

Reminds me of a story from the great PANCHATANTRA (Five Treatise), a series of meaningful short stories compiled by our ancient story teller Vishnu Sharma. Once a sage told a snake to stop biting people. The snake followed the sage's order quite literally.

One day the badly beaten snake came back to sage blaming him for his bad HAALAT (plight). The sage said - "I told you to stop biting, did not tell you to stop hissing or raising your fang". 

The snake got the hint and was never attacked again. Hopefully we take a cue from CHANAKYA and our Ancient texts. Our Nuclear weapons can be used to strike a lethal bite, but is redundant as hissing or raising the hood, snarling our poisonous teeth can do wonders.

Autobiography of Nilakantha Das - XIII

This is the 13th in the series of recapitulation in my own words portions of Pandit Nilakantha Das's Biography in Odia. Enjoy...

THE POLITICAL PLUNGE

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Nilakantha Das was a member of Central Assembly from 1924-45 along with C.R. Das of Bengal. He was the part of Pro-changer section of the revolutionaries who wanted to fight for freedom by joining the political process via legislature. Gandhiji was a no-changer, who boycotted the Central Assembly. 

But that doesn't mean he abhorred Gandhi, the disagreement was healthy. He also participated in Gandhi's famous Dandi March in 1930. From 1932 Pandit Nilakantha became President of the Odisha Congress. Soon he went to jail for 18 months before getting elected for Central Assembly again and continued until India's independence in 1947.

After Gopabandhu's death, his enemies were creating sustained roadblocks against his political path. The major one was the wily politician and ex Chief Minister of Odisha, Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab. Not long before his death in January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi proposed Nilakantha's name as a member of All India Congress Working Committee, a rare honor for an Odia. 

But wily, old fox Harekrushna Mahatab fixed him. (The Crabby character, better known as KANKADA PRAKRUTI of Odias is legendary. Like crabs we are world champion of pulling legs of our own who we perceive as pulling ahead of us. The story goes - once a truck carrying baskets of crabs from different states of India turned over. All the crabs escaped from baskets sans one, the basket from Odisha which was found intact. No sooner an Odia crab tried to move out of the basket, than the others pulled him down).

Another touching incident was the death of Utkal Gouraba Madhusudan Das vividly described by Pandit Nilakantha. Couple of days before his death, KULA BRUDDHA (The Grand old man) Madhusuduan queried Braja Sundar Das - NILAKANTHA KAHIN (Where is Nilakantha) ? Braja Babu took a horse driven carriage to manoeuvre fast inside the city of Cuttack (the city wasn't congested yet) and traced him out of the house of one Chandra Sekhar Mishra.

Nilakantha rushed to Madhu babu's house and was saddened by his plight. He was in a very painful state, unable to have bowel movement in spite of having the urge to do so. But he gathered enough strength to utter - "After my death, I am passing the baton to Nilakantha. He is going to be the savior of Odisha. You should cooperate with him". (The two Pandits, Gopabandhu Das and Nilakantha Das were akin to the left and right hand of Madhu Babu. As the former was already dead, it was but natural for Madhu Barrister to pass his baton to Nilakantha Das). 

"Don't worry. It won't be necessary. You are going to recover" - responsed all present inside the room in chorus. "No, I don't think so," said Madhu babu, as he covered his head and went to sleep. 

The next day Madhu babu spoke in a feeble voice - "I am so overjoyed that the far flung territories of Paralakhemundi (part of Gajapati district now) and Jeypur (Koraput) are going to be now part of Odisha. I am so glad it is happening". He passed away the following day. To Nilakantha, it was akin to another shining star above the sky of Odisha grounded forever.

(TO BE CONTINUED, AS I READ 📖 FURTHER)

Autobiography of Nilakantha Das - X

This is the 10th in series of recapitulation in my own words portions of Pandit Nilakantha Das's Biography in Odia. Enjoy...

Invited by Sir Ashutosh, then the head of the University of Calcutta to teach "Odia and Comparative language principle", Pandit Nilakantha Das left for the metro. It was September, 1920. 

His stay at Calcutta was important for couple of incidents, which brought the rebellious tendency out of him. It was during this stay in Calcutta he heard Lala Lajpat Rai's fiery speech, calling to embrace SATYAGRAHA (Followers of Righteous path), a mode of protest against the British rule.

Also, it was during this stay, he started keeping moustache as a youthful SHOUK (fashion). But soon it turned out to be a rebellion against the prevalent culture, shocking his fellow Brahmins from Puri when he came to the temple town. A leading Brahmin from the SOLA SASANA (16 Brahmin dominated villages surrounding Puri) Lokanath Rath bluntly told Sri Das - "Here in Puri, we will uproot your moustache". "Respected Rathe, don't ever dare that. It would be be tantamount to putting your hands inside a snake hole. You can be bitten big time", retorted back Pandit Nilakantha.

It was equivalence of waving a red flag before an already enraged Bull. A visibly annoyed Lokanath Rath organized a meeting against the moustache rebel inside "Ani Mahari Building", which famously housed an old Prostitute (the world's oldest profession thrived even during those days in the temple town of Puri). But they were no match to the oratory skills of Nilakantha Das, well supported by the influential and charismatic Gopabandhu Das. It didn't take long for the anti-Moustache protest to fizzle away.

Now back to Calcutta - inspired by the speech and later motivated by Sri Gopabandhu, Nilakantha Das left his cushy job in Calcutta and came to Sambalpur in the year 1921 to join the Freedom movement. At Sambalpur, the major city of Western Odisha, he started a school on the lines of the now famous Satyavadi School. Many eminent, rich persons of the city started sending their kids to the school as it flourished.

Soon he organized HARTAAL (protests) against the British, joined by students and lawyers of the city, singing SWARAJ BHAIYA ALBAT HOGA (Self rule will definitely occur). He also continued serving cholera and small pox stricken people in the remote villages of Western Odisha, caring and nursing them when no one would come close to the victims. 

Pandit Das started a weekly newspaper called SEVA (Service) to inform and educate the people. But like any new endeavor, money was the need of the moment. Padmalochan Mohanty, a renowned businessman of the time immediately pitched in, contributing Rs.120 for advertising. During his stay in Sambalpur he taught Odia in college for sometime before coming back to his place of birth near Puri.

Gandhijee visited the Satyavadi School during his trip to Odisha in 1923. Sri Das disagreed with his mode of operandi by getting freedom through spinning the wheel of CHARKHA. After completing his meeting at Puri, it was Gandhi's turn to proceed towards his next stop - Cuttack. 

Gandhi's team suggested that half of them would travel by train and the rest by PADAYATRA (March on foot). But Nilakantha advised all of them to take the walk, so as to build the momentum of public enthusiasm, giving Gandhi an opportunity to better connect with the local polulace. Gandhijee heeded to Pandit Das's advice, opting for a walk. 

On the entire journey Gandhi's entourage survived on boiled rice and vegetables. It was tough on Pandit Nilakantha, who loved his fish. Midway he came across a leper and donated his hand spun KHADADA (crude cotton cloth) to the destitute. Next day, Bapuji encountered a group of KELA (nomads) feasting on Barbecued KATASA (wild cat) who strayed into their camp. 

He went on preaching vegetarianism to them, trying to dissuade them from eating meat. Gandhijee advised them - "Eat milk and ghee which are good for health. Stop committing the HIMSA (violence) of killing animals". But for the poor nomads, milk and ghee were pipe dream, a distance luxury and KATASA MANSA (Wild cat meat) was the crude reality.

(TO BE CONTINUED, AS I READ 📖 FURTHER)

Kadi Ninda Singh

Once Home Minister Rajnath Singh was driving from Lucknow to Delhi. On the way he met an hitchhiker who asked him for a ride. "Hop in" - said Rajnath Singh.

Oblivious of the person who gave him the ride, the hitchhiker asked his name. "Don't worry. By the time I finish telling my name, we will reach Delhi" - replied the Honorable Home Minister. "Do you have such a long name Sir ? You don't sound South Indian" - queried the now perplexed hitchhiker.


It's a long story, as long as my name. My original name was Rajnath Singh. Not long after I became the home minister, Pakistan launched a terror attack on our soil. I responded with NINDA (Condemn). So, I was christened - Ninda Singh.


Then Pakistan launched one more attack. I responded with KADI NINDA (severe condemnation). I became K. Ninda Singh. Another attack followed, I retaliated with KADI SE KADI NINDA (Strongest of the strongest condemn). I was renamed as KSK Ninda Singh.

As they reached the outskirts of Delhi continued the home minister - After the 489th attack and my 489th response, I became KSKKSKKSKKSKKSK Ninda Singh. The hitchhiker on the backseat was seen scratching his head, rolling fingers on his forehead.

He was immensely relieved when finally he arrived at his destination. "Going through the longest of long names in Chennai Telephone Directory was a walk in the park for me. But I can't take it any more", said the hitchhiker while thanking Mr. Singh for the ride. As he disemarked, he requested - "By the way Sir, do you have a headache pill to spare" ?