India's performance in Tokyo Olympics

 The year was 1984. In the general election following Indira Gandhi's tragic assassination, Congress made a bumper harvest, came to power winning around 425 seats. BJP was reduced to only two MPs, far below the rest of the major opposition parties.

The two members of BJP in Lok Sabha were mocked at as HUM DO, HUMARE DO (We two, ours two), taking a cue from the famous Family Planning Campaign of that era. By 2019, BJP increased its tally to 300 plus leaving Congress gasping for Silver medal way behind.

The same innuendo was reserved for our performance in the Olympics games. HUM DO, HUMARE DO - as we won 2 medals on average in the Olympics, sometime increasing the number a bit, sometime back to square one again. This year we made substantial improvements in our medal tally though not at BJPsque scale. We won a gold medal after 12 years while Americans and Chinese win golds in Olympics on daily basis. 

Million analysis have been done about India's performance attributing the causes for our failure - from apathetic Politicians and Officials who are considered part of the problem rather than solution (the usual disclaimers apply), to our poor genes and diet.

The myth about the genes is as vague as the myth during my childhood days - that there is no Business in the blood of Odias, who are destined to fail as businessmen and entrepreneurs. I was never aware of any Business Blood Group, nor checked the blood group of my numerous Odia friends who are now successful businessmen.

But our millieu never encouraged to excel in Sports.Summing up this attitude is what I heard in Odia mumerous times  during my childhood - "CHHATARA MANE KHELANTI, SUNA PILA MANE PATHA PADHANTI. KHELA RU KANA MILIBA. PATHA PADHI OFFICER HELE LOKE MUNDIA MARIBE" - Only girl chasing vagabonds indulge in Sports. Golden kids focus on studies. What is there in sports and games ? If you succeed in academics and become an officer, hundreds will bow before you". A clearly feudal mindset, where sportpersons are demeaned.

A song from Odia hit movie JAJABARA (Vagabond) aptly describes this mindset.

GURU NKARA ACCHI MATARA GADI, GURUKARA ACHHI KOTHA BADI. CHAKARA BAKARA DHADI KI DHADI, HUKUMA CHHUTE GHADIKI GHADI.

Our boss has a fleet of motor vehicles, Our boss has bunch land and buildings, Servants in drove line up in front for him, Orders are given to them time to time.

Being an Officer brings you servants, orderlies, lands, buildings etc. Being a Sportsperson fetches none of the above.

This is not just limited to Odisha. In  North India there is a saying,

KHELOGE KUDOGE TO HOGE KHARAB, PADHOGE LIKHOGE BANOGE NAWAAB. 

Roughly translated it means,

Sports & games make you a commoner,
Excel in academics, become an emperor.

It speaks volumes about where our priorities lie. Those blamed for our debacles aren't any aliens from another planet, they come from the same milieu. No system will succeed without the participation and cooperation of the common men and women (Our women left their indelible mark in this game. They won medals, our women's hockey team and Golfer Aditi Ashok came tantalizingly close to winning a medal by ending in 4th position). 

In the world of competitive sports, at the highest level where class and quality matters, it needs a lot more skill and steely nerve to make the difference, not age or background. It needs a lot of commitment, dedication, consistency. A 14 year old from our Northern neighbor China won a Gold medal. Many swimming medal winners are in their teens. Once out of curiosity I visited the website of the Swimming Federation of India. Their achievements section is blank, with a picture of Michael Phelps on its web page. That pretty much tells we swim aimlessly like CHATARA (Vagabond).

When we won a gold in 2008, thanks to  shooter Arvind Bindra, I thought a new era has dawned,  when more Golds will follow in the following Olympics. No golds came in 2012 and 2016, but finally during the final days of 2020 Olympics. Like the proverbial monkey climbing a bamboo pole, we climb 2 feet up and then 3 feet down. The saga continues till date.

It would be heartbreaking for me not to have the high expectations, especially when the China and Britain have already done so in last few years. We sure can, provided, as we studied in Intermediate Physics - our immense potential energy is converted to kinetic energy extended to the Sports arena.

Better late than never. If tiny Ecuador can win 2 Gold medals we can do better (Not sure the fugitive Baba Nityananda who has found his abode in Equador is claiming credit for Equator's success).If we sow the seeds now and rightly nurture the plant, it will bear fruit in due time. It won't happen overnight, its a long term project which will take decades to yield some tangible results. Hope our monkey keeps on climbing the bamboo pole, and keep climbing and climbing, as slipping is not an option.

Happy Birthday Pandit Nilakantha Das

 He along with his legendary friends UTKALA MANI (The Pearl of Odisha) Gopabandhu Das, Godabarisha Mishra, Krupasindhu Mishra and Acharya Harihara formed the famous PANCHA SAKHA "Five Friends" who were freedom fighters, patriots, social reformers, educationists and philanthropists - way ahead of their time.

Pandit Nilakantha Das was was born this day, August 5 in the year 1884 in a village named Sri Ramachandrapur, not far from the temple town of Puri. He was his parent's only male child who followed his seven sisters. 

His grandfather was a Tahsildar who died young at the age of 28, leaving his father in penury. It was the practice those days to pay the tax to government from borrowed money in order to meet the deadline and collect it later. Unfortunately his grandpa died before the collection, so his property was confiscated and auctioned away.

Pandit Nilakantha Das's father lived lot longer to see his son carving his niche in life. The young boy did not belied his dad's hope, being an outstanding student from childhood. Nilakantha Das's father at the age of 72 had a bad bout of cold and cough, and believed he wont survive anymore during a time seeing 50th birthday was considered a luxury. Certain of dying, he took opium to relieve his pain and making his death painless. But he continued to live until 89, a rare longevity those days.

Those days it was common for men to get married during their early teens and girls before reaching puberty. Still in school, an educated Nilakantha Das was very much sought after by prospective groom hunters. His father was approached by one such gentleman with a NAGADA (instant payment) cash offer of Rs.4,000 in advance, a hefty anount those days, with additional assurance of the bride's father bearing any addition cost involving higher studies by the prospective son-in-law.

The young Nilakantha reacted by reciting the following couplet in Sanskrit :

UTTAMMAM SWA ARJITA BITTAM,

MADHYAMAM PITRU ARJITA.

ADHAMAM BHATRU BITTAM,

STHEEE BITTAM MAHAMADHYAM.

Roughly transliterated....

"Excellent is money earned on your own,

 Okay is the money received from father.

 Bad is living on Brother's earning,

 Worst is to live on wife's money"

His father got the message and did not proceed further on the proposal.

The Das triumvirate of Nilakantha, Gopabandhu and UTKALA GAURABA (The pride of Odisha) Madhusudan were instrumental in the creation of the State of Odisha, a dream realized after a lot of struggle. Madhu babu was the more educated and the dilligent one of the trio who used to address the public in a mode equivalent to today's Power point presentations - sharp and articulate, but lacking a storyteller's ability to arouse passion in the audience. Though a patriot and foused on his mission, being seen as an elitist from a ZAMINDARI (Feudal lord) background and not being a prolific public speaker he could barely connect with the commoners, unable to arouse interest and enthusiasm among the masses whose support he needed the most.

That hiatus was bridged by the "Dases" duo Utkalamani Gopabandhu and Pandit Nilakanta who were young, charismatic with epic sense of humor - who could connect better with the commoners with their amazing oratory skills & convincing capability. With their down to earth background closer to the milieu they could feel the pulse of the masses and the masses could feel it in their tone. The duo successfully carried Madhu Babu's message to them.

Together they complemented each other, forming a formidable proposition and propelling their cause towards their common goal of a unique, separate state of Odisha, now appealing to the public from far flung places like Barhampur, Sambalpur who were now motivated enough to join the movement. Finally an independent Odisha saw its birth on 1st April, 1936.

After independence Pandit Nilakantha Das dabbled in electoral politics, elected to legislature couple of times and later became the Speaker of the Assembly. Yes he could not succeed a whole lot in the murky world of politics - because he was a Statesman, not a politician. He passed away on November 5, 1967. Happy Birthday to the Odia legend, one of our many forgotten heroes.

Panama City - Day II

 Last week Jeff Bezos lost $13.5 billion as Amazon share price plunges. I lost a few thousands of the meager amount of stocks and 401K Portfolio I hold. He travels to space for his vacation. Down to earth, I visit Florida beach designed for commoners.

It is always darkest before dawn. The crimson Sun peeked from the distance South-Eastern horizon showering strings of rays on the sea. Early morning is the best time to watch the beach where it is barely populated with beach goers. A tightly holding couple drove an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) close to the beach, scaring a sea gull who dove into the water to get its first morning catch. The waves were low and the floating green algae were clearly visible, bumping into each other.

In my "Jagannth's Own Country", in my home state back in India we are endowed with lot of natural beaches, less commercialized rolling waves and golden white  sands. Once in a meeting of government officials, an Odia officer boasted before his counterparts from Goa, "Our beaches are better than your beaches. Your beaches are flat" - with our Odia bro pronouncing "Beach" as "B**ch" in his thick Odia accent. The Goa delegates were not amused.

We took an Airboat tour in a brackish marsh. What's the difference between a swamp and a marsh ? A swamp is stillwater. However in marsh the water is connected to tide and gets replenished. The captain of the boat craftly tore his way through the narrow marshy corridor of swallow water like a surgeon using scissors. 

There were thin, elongated greenish saw grass and grayish needle grass all around, tiny crabs hanging on their roots. Crab is a common feature of brackish water - Chilka lake in Odisha being famous to harbor some of the tastiest varieties of crabs. However we failed to see any snakes and  the much sought after alligators.

The sea was close enough to the hotel to pick its complimentary Wi-Fi. In the late afternoon it was pretty windy on the beach. You can fart loudly there without bothering about bothering anybody. Fart is meaningless in front of sea breeze,  Gone with the wind. The fun of walking barefoot on the soft, white sand is incomparable. The beach was immaculately clean with the soothing warm sand felt like nature's foot massager. Missed the JHAAL MUDHI (Super spicy puffed rice) sold on the Puri sea beach. 

Late into night we took another strol on the semi dark beach as rolling waves fell on our feet. A number of night owls inspecting the beach using their cell phone flashlights appeared like fireflies from a distance. The sea water was still felt warm late into the night, but the breeze cooler. More later....

Panama City - Day I

 As sun sets over in Panama City Florida, you can feel it's morning in America. Sun might have set over the British empire long time back, but sun certainly doesn't set over Panama City. We discovered this after arriving here on our first post pandemic trip out of state to find this popular beach vacation spot on Florida panhandle extremely busy and bustling. 

We drove through the three states of Georgia, Alabama and Florida on a three  and half hour drive to Panama City on a hot, steamy day when temperature reached almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38°Centigrade). The undulating landscape of gigantic Pine, Maple and Mimosa trees under the sizzling mid day sun gave away to Palm trees swaying in the incoming Ocean breeze as we got closer to our destination. The land got flatter, swampier - riddled in Shrubs and Bushes swamped with decaying tree trunks visible on both sides of the road.

I have a long tryst with Florida, having visited the state multiple times. Arguably it is America's favorite vacation spot. Six year ago on our way to Miami we took a night halt at Melbourne, Florida in a Potel (in America so many motels are owned by Patels, they can very well renamed as Potels). Though it was month of March where most of the United States burn gas to keep their homes warm, standing in the lobby I felt a wave of wafting cool air from the Air Conditioning. 

As the pretty motel receptionist handed over me the magnetic strip key to our room, I saw a mosquito surreptitiously sitting on her cheek. She smiled and asked me "Do you have any questions ?" I replied back "Yes, May I slap you ?" "What ?" She retorted back. I pointed to the mosquito on her cheek. She instantly burst into laughter and as she slapped herself she blurted out - "Welcome to Florida". We call Mosquito, the National Bird of our State. Glad a la Mahatma Gandhi she didn't show her other cheek to the mosquito.

Haven't seen a single mosquito here in Panama City so far, nor expecting any on a sea facing balcony on the 11th floor of a motel, because mosquitos can't fly beyond 60 feet in ocean wind. The bursts of sea breeze felt pure and pristine as we lunged for it, longing for it so long. 

After darkness dawned, from the high rise building we could feel bouts of cool air due to an approaching thunderstorms from the South Western sky. It reminded me of the adage - Marriages are made in heaven, so also thunder and lightening. More later...

The Death of Telegram

 Exactly 8 years ago this day the telegram services was closed forever in India. July 15, 2013 was the last day a telegram was sent. 

For years telegram was the harbinger of news - good, bad or ugly. First the good news, which was mostly related to birth of a child (mainly son, birth of a daughter unless she is the first child is rarely an occasion to celebrate back home). Or a new job offers for which the mailman (postman) was rewarded with LADDOOS (sweets) or monetary tips, occasionally both. 

Bad news was mostly related to sickness and death. Often dreaded for delivering news related to death, the telegram was already on its death bed in the age of emails, internets, social media, texts and smart phones. Unsurprisingly, finally it died its natural death.

Once a Babu (the way the government servants are addressed in India) went out on an urgent trip. He instructed his servant to send a telegram to his family members informing them about his unplanned jaunt. The faithful servant sent a telegram in Odia "BABU AJI MARI JAICHANTI" transliterated " Our master passed away today".

In fact the Babu went to a place called AJMER. So the slight difference in the spelling of AJMER and AJI MARI (died today) played havoc with the ill fated recipients of the fated telegram. When the smiling Babu returned back home a few days later his family members were startled to see him as if they saw a ghost. 

I sent one telegram in my life to fake illness in order to get some leaves from my Govt service where I once worked for a short period of time. I was told to do so, as a telegram message then was the best proof of authenticity to use in the SARKARI (govt) world. RIP, telegram service. Even 8 years after your death you have enough of nostalgia tied to you to be dug out from your grave.

Belief in Limited Socializing

 Over the years I learnt something the hard way. Unlimited socializing leads to unnecessary headaches. Hence I have decided to limit by socializing to a limited circle of friends around whom I feel quite comfortable and have no qualms whatsoever.

These days finite socializing keeps me sane. It has reduced the vulnerability from any future fiasco. Familiarity breeds contempt. Someone once told me - "Ass might look pretty from a distance, but if you get too close to the ass it will stink".

A few Odias aren't happy with me for my social distancing from the greater US based Odia community. Being from the same fraternity the expectation is higher from your own BIRADARI. In USA you have Odia, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi - all kinds of regional outfits (often multiple ones from the same community in the same state or city), but hardly any functioning Indian association. We are Odias, Gujaratis or Telugu first, Indian origin later. Only time we think ourselves as Indians when India plays a cricket match, especially against our arch rival Pakistan.

To those Odias who detest me of staying aloof from them, I have this message. I didn't come to USA to mingle only with Persons of Odisha origin. If my intention was to mingle only with Odias, I could have lived in my ancestral village near Puri. My native village consists of only pure bred Odias, not a single non-Odia lives there. Why I came to America if I had to socialize with Odias ONLY?

Please forgive me for doing some self bragging - after staying a quarter of century in the United States I have not forgotten my roots, culture, language and tradition. I have touched them in many of my blogs, highlighted Odisha's history, its eminent personalities, its culture,  festivals and language. Whenever possible I have brought our forgotten heroes to life by highlighting statesmen and their contributions to my home state of Odisha in various fields - e.g. art, literature, astronomy, sports and politics. I have translated many articles and a book from Odia to English (Now I have self patted my back so much that I might sprain my hand).

Man is a social animal (women are more social than men). Some socializing is necessary. But person doesn't have to go around every weekend and do "ହେଁ ହେଁ ଫେଁ ଫେଁ" (laugh and chitchat) just for the sake of socializing. In fact frugal socializing has enabled me to focus on the larger agendas in life and following various creative pursuits. I would love to keep it that way going forward.

Do Businessmen make successful politicians

 Do Businessmen (or women) make great politicians ? Technically speaking nothing stops them from becoming one. I have many entrepreneur friends who are not only highly successful, they are outstanding individuals who make immense contribution to society. Always in awe of them I admire their guts, risk taking capability and philanthropic outreach.

Yet I can't remember a business person ever becoming a successful politician. The rise and fall of Donald Trump brings up a very pertinent question - Can a businessman (or woman) excell in state craft ? Possible, but unfortunately history hasn't been on their side. Rarely we have seen eminent business persons at the helm of affairs of a nation and carving a niche.

Billionaire Trump boasted that if elected, he will build a wall on Mexican border, making Mexico pay for it. None of that happened. In four years in office, he managed to build a token wall on a small stretch of the vast southern border, but by any stretch it hasn't stopped illegal immigration. Nor Mexico has paid a single Peso for that wall. 

Trump was a businessman from outside the Washington Beltway, supposed to bring a breath of fresh air using his much vaunted negotiation skills as an asset to his administration. But he turned out to be a pompous, big fat liar with dictatorial tendencies, trumpeting hot air to garner votes. His skills as a businessman (a failed one) neither helped US, nor helped his reelection bid.

A nation ain't a Corporation. You can't build a fence and bill your neighbor, as you send invoices to your clients in business. You can't fire your voters if they aren't on the same page with you. Managing a country is not a business of managing boardroom or balance sheet. A country is not run on the basis of profit and loss. It's takes lot more than that.

It's not just Trump who failed. We have seen many Businessmen making poor politicians, national leaders or anything remotely statesmen. Mitt Romney, a man with business experience failed to enthuse the electorates in a nation known as the citadel of Capitalism.  Despite his best efforts he could not get rid of the stigma of a vulture capitalist. He could not connect to the commoners especially in a country where business and business men are adored and not so much frowned upon, unlike in many nations including India.

I personally admire and respect the businessmen for their vision, acumen and stewardship. They make champion managers, have exemplary people skills and guide their corporations to pinnacles of success. However their leadership is mostly limited to their boardroom, rarely beyond that. Many are poor managers on home front which lead to marital discords and divorces. Managing a nation is a whole different ballgame.

History stands as a testimony to this fact. Our great leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.,  Subash Bose, Indira Gandhi (arguably the most manly Prime minister India ever had. She did size up Pakistan by walking the talk, not just by talking the talk) did not have any business background. In America, the most capitalist country in the world, none from Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton or Obama had any kinda business background. So also English Prime Ministers Churchill and Maggie Thatcher. The myth that a business person would make a great national leader still lives on and on, yet to be vindicated.