Spring Allergy season in Georgia

Peak Pollen Allergy season here. Come Spring, many places in America, forefront is my state of Georgia, which has a reputation of heavily impacted by this irritability.

It's particularly bad in my city, which is located on low lying Chattahoochee river valley. On a clear, sunny day sans wind, one can easily locate low hanging green cloud of pollens, settling down and engulfing the town in a blanket sea of green on rooftops and cars alike, floating like a poltergeist eager to haunt you.

And it has already started haunting me. Though advised not to stay outdoor for a long time, its impossible to stick to the advice, without letting the inquisitive, nosey pollens stick to your nose. Even if you are out for a few minutes, you simply can't stay away from breathing.

Spring is the harbinger of pollens and the agricultural season. The charming fun of farming isn't free from its challenges and side effects. While doing my yard work, planting seeds of Pumpkins and Ridged Gourds (JANHI) for summer harvesting, I involuntarily sucked plenty of these Green Pollen shoots ejected by blooming Oak, Maples and Sweet Gum tree.

It sucks now, taking its toll as I woke up this morning, chocked up with itchy watery eyes, stuffy nose and sore throat. Gargling with moderately hot water with a pinch of salt works great. I usually avoid going to the doctor and getting myself medicated - unless it's absolutely compelling.

Imbibing luids, Rest and of course watching Cricket helps - as today's close T20 encounter kept me on my toes, helping  to shrugg off my jaded nervous nerves, temporarily liberating my body from the strains of Allergy.

Hot food, both temperature and taste wise, titillates the taste buds at this juncture. Especially the Thai chicken soup, which washes down the soreness as it makes its way downstream, its fiery, flames of hotness engulfing my tonsils as a panacea.

As always - time is the best healer. It is the best, proven nature's natural remedy for common ailments. Bearing it is better than a doctor's visit and coming back armed with a prescription of antibiotics to annihilate the good bacteria in billion.

Pakistan a blue eyed boy when Obama plans to leave Afghanistan

Some of my observations and feel free to connect the dots.

Obama promised when he came to power in 2008, to get the US troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. He did so in Iraq prior to end of his first term. Now at the fag end his Presidential legacy he is wrapping of the process to get the most US troops out of the mountainous, land locked nation. In the process of doing so, Obama administration wants to keep our western neighbor and their crucial ally for fight against terrorism - Pakistan, very much in the loop. A few of its latest overtures to its vital non- NATO ally are :

1. Sell of F-16s to them. Win-win for both. Pakis are happy, so also the Armament industry in USA. Pay them $2 billion dollars, make them buy $1 billion dollar worth of arms from you. Uncle sam knows how to do business.

2. A visible drop in drone attacks on Pakistan - Afghanistan border badlands, a strategic dollop to Pakistan and an extended life for a few months  for a few. But if they need to take out a high value target to enhance the winning chance of his party's nominee Hillary, come September and October, Obama and Kerry, old Democrat hand can order a few drone strikes to take out some bad guys and take out the trump card out of trump's campaign - strong against terrorism. Pakis would love to see Hillary as President rather than trump.

3. So far, State Department is conspicuous not overtly criticized the latest Lahore bombing targeting Christians on Easter. Had this happened in India, it could be planning to send a religious team to investigate, accusing India of prosecuting and persecuting the religious minority. (India did the right thing by recently) denying Visa to such a religious representation)

4. At this moment, Uncle Sam wants all quite on the eastern front of its lap dog Pakistan. I can see an American hand behind all these recent peace overtures from India to Pakistan, from Modi's impromptu visit to Lahore to inviting Pakistani investigator to Pathankot.

After USA leaves Afghanistan (with the usual disclaimer of leaving a few thousand troops for training and security purpose), things will be back to business as usual. Drone strikes will resume on the west frontier badlands and Terror strikes on the East.

Welcome to the world of realpolitik folks.

It ain't over until it's over - T20 World Cup 2016

My heartiest Congratulations to Team India on making into the semis of T20 World Cup. Now we exit the Round Robin and enter the knock out phase. Next stop - Wankhede with the Windies in Mumbai, arguably the cricket capital of a nation where Cricket is a religion, a la Soccer in Brazil. We do have an advantage over them, who are too much dependent on their master blaster Chris Gayle.

An avid cricket fan of Team India, I am glad with their performance in T20 so far and wish them to win the coveted Cup. Though resurgent and we got the momentum behind us, I would rather hold my Champagne until the team actually lifts the Cup. As the Baseball legend Yogi Berra said - it ain't over, until it's over. If we get pass the Windies hurdle, our next likely opponent would be New Zealand, who have comprehensibly beaten us earlier in the tournament.

 

With hope comes tremendous expectation. As sports fans we are known to be highly emotional, our emotions swinging faster than a Pendulum. Often our reactions in defeats and victories veers in the borderline of immaturity. It's not unusual for the Houses of our Heroes to be stoned and effigies burnt - some like Yuvraj Singh and Ravi Shastri, very much part and parcel of the current team, have been there, seen that. There is no guarantee of history not repeating itself.  For the same fans it won't take long to switch from Bouquets to Brickbats.

 

As a cautionary note we should not forget in the Euphoria of recent success, our dependency on Virat Kohli, the glue of the team, who reminds me of the heydays of Sachin Tendulkar. He is treated as a God, could give run for money to both Narendra Modi  and Amitabh Bacchan at their peak of popularity. But even Gods are known to fail. Our fighting spirit, never say say die attitude not withstanding, there are still chinks in armor in our batting. Our bowling department woes aren't over. A couple of overs can change the direction of the game - such are the vagaries of T20 cricket.

 

There are plenty of mockery of the losing Australian team going on media, social or otherwise. Just a reminder - this is not our last and final ever encounter with the Aussies. What goes around comes around. Also, as of 8 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 27th of March, 2016, Australia have a far better cricketing history in the history of cricket than us. 

 

Australia, a nation 1/60th the population of India has represented in World cups of Soccer, Hockey, Rugby, produced World Class Athletes, Swimmers and Tennis player, hosted Olympics more than once and not to mention, wins tons of medals in Olympics. They also play Cricket.  A great sporting team deserves a sporting sent off, due credit should be given where credit is due. By mocking them, we are making a mockery of ourselves.

Using too much of water during Holi

So much water has flown down the drain since Holi. But the hue and cry involving the self proclaimed environmentalists and protagonists of restricted use of water for celebrating Holi, hasn't gone down. I agree - water conservation is a must, because the supply of potable fresh water is not unlimited and doesn't come cheap either. But does a reduced Holi with a reduced shower make any tangible difference in water conservation. I don't think so.

Holi is once in a year event, doesn't come every week or month. During my growing up days, I would wait for days for this day, to shower in color and fun, though often stuff happened which may not be so funny. (Once due to a death in family, all I could do was helplessly took a vicarious pleasure of watching others having fun through window railings). Those days many used unsafe sticky colors made from Varnish (Silvery glazing white color) and reportedly from ALKATARA (pitch black color made from tar).

Like a Pariah dog who steps into a different territory is harassed by their local stray brethren, once on a fine Holi morning couple of us strayed into our rival's territory and overpowered by them, who feasted on us by embalming our face with a liberal dosage of Varnish. We managed to come out from their clutch, not before we were looking like a Haired Mandrill, a Silvery-White version of Donald Trump.

Humiliated we came back and prepared for our revenge, stalking them when they came closer to our locality. With a few burly friends backing up, our retaliation came swift. One of our friends supplied us with BATTERY KALA (a black paste supposedly made from battery). No sooner than they arrived, we surrounded them. Revenge is best served in cold - coolly we reciprocated their hostility by smearing them with that cold, pitch black stuff. In a graceful appreciation of them making us Trump lookalike, we made them look like Obama, with their shiny white teeth protruding out of their jet black face.

And there was this MUNDA PHATA RANGA (head cracking color) - as the name symbolizes, when applied, endless stream of color comes out of your head. Before you can clean that stuff, ending up consuming tons of water.

But I doubt such kind of Holi is played these days. I believe on water conservation. For Shit, Shower and Shave, I have installed reduced water friendly gadgets at home, avoiding continuous water running from faucet during shaving. I live happily with the motto - that grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. So never mind keeping my lawn a lesser lush green by not using the sprinklers, unless we have a real dry spell, letting mother nature do the rest. The inflated pool on my backyards which holds a lot of rain water accumulated through winter. Now I have planted some seeds and sapling, but water them by using the stored water from the inflated pool.

Though frugal on using water, when occasion comes I don't mind, at least couple of times a year, switch on the sprinkler or fill the inflated pool for my son and his friends to play. We don't use the Varnish and Tar Black paste these days, so it won't hurt me to use an extra 10 to 15 gallon of fun, as long as I pay my water bills. Can't we have occasional fun and enjoy Holi, a once a year phenomenon with 10-15 extra liters of water ? Come one, when can we ever get rid of such socialist mindset.

In this circumstances, the fashionable preaching of water conservation by playing a scaled down version of Holi doesn't hold any water. Rather than preaching about reduced water consumption during Holi, they should focus on arid areas south of Vindyas where water retention and myriad places all over, where the Water Table is dangerously depleted. But what a B-Grade Bollywood actress with a faltering career, the chief protagonist of this Holier Than Thou theory is doing, is to stay in the news. If tomorrow she is offered an item number to dance hours under potable water sprinkled all over her, she won't mind, Water Conservation be damned.

At Universal Florida - Day III

Americans, after driving the Brtitish away from their soil, built their country from scratch. In many ways they relinquished the memories of their occupiers by doing everything opposite of Britain - from travelling on the right hand side of road, reverse electrical switches, to play their own version of Cricket called Baseball. But separated from the English by a common  language called English, they retained a fascination for few things British - primarily The Beatles and Harry Potter, the later beating the rest of the American fictional characters by yards at the Universal Studios.

The queue for "Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey" had the longest wait time of 50 minutes. Conspicuous at the better known vacation spots in America - the  noticeable sight of Desis waiting in the line. You can't miss their prying eyes, checking out another Desi, inspecting you with inquisitive, a bit suspicious look from top to bottom, from left to right. If your eyes met by chance, they turn their heads away, feigning aloofness. I am positive, I am not the only one to observe this.

The cleaning lady at my hotel was about to step inside our room when we were stepping out. She uttered something to me in Spanish. I responded "Hola, Senora - No Spanish". Then she switched to broken English, asking if she can come in to clean. Hispanics are very much part and parcel of Hospitality and Agricultural business in America. Whatever Trump says, without them these two economies will suffer big time.

Been to a local Indian and Chinese restaurant near our hotel. Both provided equally impeccable food, service and ambience. But the Chinese food was almost half the price - on top of that they were offering 20% off on next visit.

There's a term in Odia SASTA, SUNDAR, MAZBOOT, meaning cheaper, prettier and quality product. A consumer can't ask anything better. No wonder the Chinese restaurant was filled and the Indian was half empty. Indians, by and large are poor spenders, usual exceptions apply. On the other hand the Chinese have mastered the art of attracting the Mainstream American customers, a key to their success in business.

While driving through Florida a catching billboard caught my eyes - Don't Hurry, Be Happy. Driving through I-4, I am reminded of this politically important corrider of Florida and the vital role it plays in deciding the ourcome in US Presidential elections.

North Florida is mostly Republican and South Florida, Democratic. It's said more South you go in Florida, more North it gets, alluding to the baby boomers from North of United States who settle in South Florida post retirement, lured by its warm, salubrious weather. They tend to be mostly Democratic who, along with Hispanics have changed Florida's political landscape. In nutshell, this I-4 corrider, connecting the populous Tampa and Orlando could very well decide the next US President.

It's time to bid adieu to the lovely Sunshine State which attracts tourists from across the globe. Its Theme Parks blend characters ranging from British Harry Potter to Egyptian Mummy to  finesse, resulting in an highly effective business model - ever since Walt Disney came up with the concept of mixing profit with pleasure.

At Universal Florida - Day II

On reaching the gate of the Universal Studio Florida, felt like "Enemy at the Gate", due to the heavy security Bandobast (arrangement) at entrance - obviously the aftermath of the recent Brussels attack.

Long lines at security and at popular attraction spots like Jurassic World, Spiderman, Transformers etc, gave me some time to inspect the milieu around us. I saw tourists as varied as Australians chattering in "Gidday Maite" accent, to Japanese in immaculate suits , too formal for warm Orlando weather. Lots of kids could be seen around bubbling with tons of energy, teenagers smooching and fondling each other with youthful enthusiasm. Spring break, it explains.

I spotted several Sardarjees in the crowd. Not only Sardars and Potatoes can be found anywhere and everywhere on earth, Neal Armstrong reportedly saw a Sardar after landing on moon. I saw a few of them today,  their conspicuously bright, shining turbans gave them away.

I deliberately avoided the ride "Dr. Doom's Fear Fall", which comes with a fall from 150 feet. Never a big fan of all these roller coaster rides and don't find them enjoyable. Once in Blackpool, England, as I came with a free fall from a steep roller coaster ride, scared to death, I suddenly remembered the Goddess below the large Banyan tree in our village back home, whom I conveniently ignored before. Glad I came out unscathed. No sooner the Roller Coaster screeched to halt and I verified that I am still in one piece, than the selfish me forgot the benevolent Goddess.

Trips to these Theme Parks are best avoidable during Spring breaks and long weekends, unless you have patience towards long waits for the rides. But for the lovers for comic characters it's a damn exciting and fun filled place, b'cos they take their fans on a ride with them. The trip on "Hogwarts Express" from Hogsmead Station, taking you from Islands of Adventures to Universal Studio was unique of its kind and highly recommended.

Long story short, it was a long day for us. As I struggled to peep through the swish-swashing wipers in the pouring rains on our way back, the broad rainbow on the other side of the horizon smiled back at us.

RIP Johan Cruyff

This Dutch Soccer (Football) prodigy and a gifted strikermay not be as famous as the famed Pele. But he was an awesome player who coined the term "Total Football" which forever revolutionized the  game of soccer.

Prior to Johan Cruyff popularized this concept, soccer was compartmentalized - with backs for defence, center forwards only engaged in atrack. He broke this conservative attitude by liberalizing the game, making it more fluid, where all the players can switch, toing and froing between attack and defense.

His fancied side in 1974 was the much favored to win the Soccer World Cup hekd in Germany that year, same was the Windies in the Cricket version in 1983. The Dutch started spectacularly, scoring the first goal in minutes against their rival finalist West Germany. But they could not sustain the blitzkrieg from the gritty and cohesive Germans. What could be a fitting finale to a befitting career, ended up in Dutch tears.

The inertia of Dutch juggernaut continued till 1978 World Cup, when the Dutch lost again in the final, this time again to the host team, this time Argentina at Buenos Aires. However Cryuf wasn't part of this team. He had already retired from Soccer, but not his concept of total Football which thrives today. RIP, Johan Cruyff, the legendary "Flying Dutchman" - for the way his dribbling resembles a floating butterfly through Green Meadows.