Gandhian Gleanings! [Originally posted on 02 Oct 2013 on Tumblr]

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, re-posting a humble tribute to the Father of the Nation by my dear friend, Aam Aadmi (@MeMangoMan) that was written 2 years ago… with due permission from the author. [Link to the original: http://memangoman.blogspot.in/2011/10/gandhian-gleanings_01.html]

02 October 2011. 142^nd Birth Anniversary of Shri Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. To us in India, he is the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The day is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti. The day is also celebrated as International Day of Non-violence across the globe.

There is so much written about this Mahatma or ‘Great Soul’ and so many interpretations about his words of wisdom, that it would be futile to add more chapters on him. This is just a small attempt at a bit of gleanings from the life of Gandhi that would perhaps be of some help to those who seek just that.

‘Gandhi’ means Grocer. He belonged to a family who were grocers by profession.

As a child, Gandhi was not very good at studies and had particular difficulty in learning to multiply.

He got married to Kasturba at the age of thirteen. Kasturba too was 13 then.

Gandhi’s political mentor was Gopal Krishna Gokhle.

A few golden quotes from the Great soul:

"Yes I am (a Hindu). I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

"As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it."

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

"I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life."

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

These sayings by the Mahatma hold good in today's selfish and brutal world and would be worthwhile to put into practice. Surely, if applied in good measure and with patience, it would make the world a better place to live in?

Tribute to a Dear Friend [Originally posted on Tumblr on 04 Aug 2013]

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." ~ Albert Einstein

Today is Friendship Day. It is also the 4^th of August. I remember the 4^th of August as my best friend’s birthday. A true friend if I had one, Anna Rao. I wish he were here and I could personally wish him as I have done for so many years. Alas! This time around, he is not physically present to answer my call, thank me for the wishes! He is, perhaps, in the Kingdom of God. “Away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

 I remember Anna as a shy, unassuming, loner. We met in the year 1979, in Delhi. At first some of us -his colleagues- were distraught with this guy- keeping aloof, sleeping most of the time, with a pillow placed over his head, to drown the sounds emanating from outside, perhaps. We wanted this guy out and fast. But he stayed put and we soon began to like him. Over a short period of time, I noticed that we got on well together- we had the same taste in music, movies, books….

 These similarities perhaps goaded our friendship to a higher plane and soon we became quite inseparable. Discovering previously unheard music, digging deep into the archives for unread stuff and watching the latest releases at Chanakya and Archana cinemas became a favorite fad. We were together except when our work schedules were different.

Years went by, we were separated geographically, but yet we remained connected. Through regular hand written letters, occasional cards, or a rare telephone call. By the summer of ’85 I was posted to Bombay. In a few months, to my pleasant surprise Anna got posted there too! And once again we were together, and though I was married by then, our bond only strengthened.

In two years’ time, we split again. I went on to Calcutta and then returned to my home in Bangalore. Anna moved on too and finally he too got back to his home town Madras, by then rechristened as Chennai. He was married too and it was fun visiting each other whenever we could.

Towards the fag end of last year, Anna spoke with me over the phone. He sounded rather unusual, dwelling on a few trifles back home. I took it a bit casually- maybe it was one of those moods. Perhaps I should have heard him out. Perhaps I should have visited….

Sounds fine on hindsight, but it was not to be. In early February this year, Anna moved on from this life. He died just the way he lived all his life- being too good to those around him. He always lent a helping hand or shoulder, unmindful of any discomfort it would cause himself. He was forever ready to take that extra bit of effort to placate people who were in any kind of anxiety.

To transcript 34 years of friendship in words is not an easy task- the silence we shared itself would run into several volumes. Thus, attempting the task here would be futile. I write these few words just to start believing that Anna is not in our midst, physically. I shall not miss him because I know he is around me, somewhere. Only he is silent. And I also know he is doing what he likes best- being a Good Samaritan. 

Politics [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 18 Jun 2013]

Politics

NaMo Speak! [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 04 May 2013]

Gadkari [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 25 Jan 2013

"Earnest Game"!

MMS Again!! [Posted on 25 Dec 2012 on Wordpressdotcom]

No Comments...

MMS [Originally posted on 25 Dec 2012 on Wordpressdotcom]

"......................................."

Neither here nor there! (Pic via DH 21Dec12)

Change! [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 22 Dec 2012]

Words are all you have? (pic via DH- 22Dec12)

No Comments! [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 15 Dec 2012]

The picture says it all! [Pic courtesy: DH]

Cricket: The Numbers Game [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 12 Dec 2012]

A lot has been said about the batting of India’s specialist Test batsmen. People have also been asking for heads of senior batsmen to roll. Below is presented in simple tabular form the scores of India’s top six batsmen (over a period of time) in the last 20 innings played by each of them. Some have already retired and some are on the verge of retirement. This is just a comparison in numbers. Figures, they say, do not lie. Hence, no comments. Check for yourself! [updated till 12 Dec 2012]

Gambhir Sehwag Dravid Laxman Tendulkar Ganguly Last Inns 1 40 49 25 35 5 0 2 60 23 1 18 76 85 3 65 9 47 0 8 32 4 4 30 9 31 8 5 5 DNB 25 29 66 DNB 27 6 45 117 5 2 13 102 7 34 38 10 1 27 26 8 2 43 68 2 17 47 9 22 47 33 31 19 18 10 3 62 82 32 13 35 Last 10 Inns 275 443 309 218 186 377 11 34 18 119 176 35 16 12 14 10 31 58 18 0 13 31 0 54 1 0 4 14 83 4 13 24 31 23 15 0 30 146 2 66 13 16 13 7 18 2 2 87 17 3 67 22 30 1 87 18 12 60 6 4 2 0 19 55 37 117 54 31 24 20 65 38 36 56 32 18 Last 20 Inns 585 714 871 625 404 649 Source: Cricinfo

"More Kindness" [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 11 Dec 2012]

It all began with a seemingly innocuous tweet by Jack [not of Jack and Jill notoriety] Jack's tweet: "More Kindness" - Ram investigate whether we can put this in #Snakewine.

This came about because Vikas had said something like “Monkeys treated With ‘Love Hormone’ Show More Kindness” [http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/0111/monkeys-treated-with-love-hormone-show-more-kindness.aspx?xid=tw_depression_20120111_emo] In all seriousness, yours truly set off on a mission, not knowing the ramifications of the exercise….

Now, #Snakewine I have in abundance but procuring “love hormone” was a tricky if not gargantuan task. Since hormone is a chemical, my first stop was the local chemist store. The lady at the counter looked at me as though she had just swallowed a macaque and I had to make a flash retreat.

Well, what are friends for, I thought, and set off towards Pals Avenue. I got in touch with Hema, Rekha, Jaya and Sushma. Even Maya. They all came up with zilch. That set me on the right path, or so I thought and set off towards home, to the most dependable person in my life, my wife! Why did I not think of it earlier! My dear wife always seemed to have the right solutions to the frequent predicaments I found myself in, since the advent of Twitter. And, the wife did offer a solution. Quote: “I shall secrete some oxytocin for you if you promise to get me the diamond jewelry set I saw at Neil’s last week.” Period.

After extended research and a few oxymora, I could manage to source what I wanted. But mixing “love hormones” or oxytocin with #Snakewine had its challenges. For one I found that Oxytocin is destroyed in the gastrointestinal tract. Hence I had to device a way by which it went directly to the nasal tract or into the blood stream. Simple! Now came the more difficult part. I had to conduct tests!

In the absence of any rhesus macaques or guinea pigs it was indeed difficult. I convinced myself it would be harmless and decided to administer a dose on myself. I was about to create history. Lo and behold, I had the first sip of #Snakewine laced with oxytocin. *POOF*!!!

I felt a strange tingling sensation up my nostrils, right up to- and through- the roof of my head! I tried to open my eyes but realized that they were already open and staring a cow straight in the eye!

It was a pink cow, a la MKBKM!  It wore a sarcastic smile and lay there relaxed and content! I scrounged my wits about me and stood up on tip toe. As I turned to move away, Pinky mooed! And rose up to its full height, which was not much. It then looked heavenwards, opened its mouth wider than wide, dangled its tongue out and

threatened to swallow me whole, head, torso and limbs! Cows are supposed to be vegan, I thought. That is when I drew strength from the #Snakewine in me and before Pinky could say ‘moo’ again, I dashed out of where ever I was to the safe confines of my home.

This incident [and a few others that I shall not narrate here] set me thinking about the effect of Oxytocin in #Snakewine. Will it induce “more kindness”? Yes, it definitely will. So much that you start oozing kindness from all the pores in your body. It hits you straight in the head. Elsewhere too. And if you have someone like Pinky around, you had it!

United Perverts' Alliance [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 14 Oct 2012]

The UPA Government has taken the mantle of “Defence” very seriously, or so it seems. To be more specific, it is the Congress party that is doing all the ‘defending’ and denials. Have a look at headlines from Deccan Herald in the past one week and decide for yourself:

DH 07 Oct
No ground to probe Vadra: Chidambaram
Mumbai, Oct 6, 2012 (PTI)
Transactions between two private individuals cannot be questioned on basis of "implied act of corruption", Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in response to a query if government will probe allegations against Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra for certain realty deals. ……

DH 08 Oct
CAG observations on Delhi airport erroneous: Civil Aviation Min
New Delhi, Oct 7, 2012, (PTI)
The Civil Aviation Ministry has termed as "erroneous" the CAG's observations that "undue benefits" were given to operator of the Delhi International Airport. ……

DH 09 Oct
No case for probing Vadra, DLF business links: Govt
NEW DELHI, Oct 8, 2012, DHNS:
Pvt transaction can’t be inquired into, says Chidambaram
The Centre on Monday sought to defend Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra in his business deals with realty firm DLF. The government also ruled out any investigation into the Vadra-DLF business transactions. ……

DH 10 Oct
Congress questions veracity of Kejriwal's papers on Vadra
New Delhi, Oct 9, 2012, (IANS)
Within minutes of India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal reiterating allegations against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, the party Tuesday questioned the veracity of the documents flaunted by Kejriwal. ……

DH 11 Oct
Congress defends Haryana government on spurt in rape cases
New Delhi, Oct 10, 2012 (IANS)
The Congress Wednesday defended the Haryana government over the spurt in rape cases in the state, saying that steps were being taken to nail the guilty and provide relief to victims. ……

DH 13 Oct
Nothing illegal in Vadra's business dealings with DLF: Cong
New Delhi, Oct 12, 2012 (PTI)
Congress today said there was "nothing illegal, malafide or unethical" in the business dealings of Robert Vadra with realty major DLF and accused BJP of unleashing its "B-team" India Against Corruption (IAC) to "regurgitate" the old allegations. ……

DH 14 Oct
Congress defends Salman and Louise Khurshid
New Delhi, Oct 13, 2012, (IANS)
Defending Law Minister Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid against charges that their NGO had siphoned off lakhs of rupees meant for the physically challenged, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari Saturday said "untruth cannot become the basis for crucifying anybody". ……

Hmmm… I can’t even laugh out loud!

TOIed! [Originally posted on Wordpress on 02 Nov 2011]

This morning, for some strange effing reason the paperwala rang the doorbell after hurling the newspaper up the stairs. I grimaced when I saw the paper. WTF! It was TOI in place of my regular newspaper! So they had done it again! They managed to sneak it to my door. A paper I hated from the bottom of my heart.

This is not the first time. Every once a while, they do this. I am not aware if it is a strategy adopted by the publication to ‘boost’ its sales or an innocent mistake by the newspaper vendor. I suspect it is the former. I had previously warned the vendor about such mistakes. Anyway I had routine to do so with a cuppa in hand I settled down on the sofa to do the obvious - read.

The paper was heavy- it had all of 34 pages! I finished in about 15 minutes, what I normally do in not less than 45! Of the 34 pages, only 5 had NO Ads- the editorial, global & business pages and sports (2 pages)! So in effect 29 pages carried advertisements that were not too useful, were flashy or what the eff ever. In fact there were even ads that promoted sister publications and other related services of the publisher!

Then there were innumerable number of photographs of events, of people clad and semi (or micro) clad, and leftovers from yesterday’s net scan! So in effect, a considerable amount of the space was taken up by pictures- good, bad and ugly. The ‘news’ also contained anecdotes, tweets by so-called celebrities, and other internet downloaded stuff. The same ‘tweets’ were present in more places than one- accompanied with a picture! Net result: about 11 pages or 30% of the paper devoted to news. Under the circumstances, perhaps it was too much?

And they call it a “News paper”

The only person that probably would be happy with this publication would be the wife. For it would fetch more moolah when the raddiwala (or the old kali-sheesa-paper-wala) drops by! I'd prefer my good old DH. Any and every day.

The 'State' of the Governor! [Originally posted on Wordpressdotcom on 14 Sep 2011]

This piece is inspired by the TNIE Editorial online (13 Sep 2011) titled “Governors should not be Centre’s errand boys”  bit.ly/nyALvv

Governors of States are not elected representatives and are appointed to the office by the President of India on the recommendation of the central Government. Ideally the Governors thus appointed need to command the respect of not only the ruling party but the other parties as well. But then, the party (read Congress) in power at the centre takes undue advantage and recommends its own party representtatives [someone who has been their bête noire within the party,] for these positions. Such Governors eventually spell trouble for the government in the states where their own party is not in power. Thus the centre achieves an undue advantage as far as the administration is concerned, in the states where other parties may be in power.

Governors should be apolitical and not stooges of the ruling party at the centre. However if we look at the current scenario in our great democracy, one would be surprised, maybe even distraught! Of the 27 current State Governors, 19 belong to the Congress Party and were ministers in one capacity or the other before being ‘elevated’ to the ‘prestigious’ position of Governor. (The erstwhile ‘Home Minister’ holds the appointment for two states- Punjab and Rajasthan). The remaining 8 are not directly from a political party but most had something to do with the Congress. More importantly, there is not one Governor who is from ANY other political party. This in spite of 15 states being ruled by NON-CONGRESS governments, including 10 by the BJP & its allies. Any surprise then that the Beniwals and Bharadwajs enjoy the power vested in them and act as the centre’s henchmen and more?

While on the subject, let us take a quick peek at the President’s office as well. We have had 12 Heads so far. Of the 12 only Dr. S Radhakrishnan and Dr. Zakir Hussain did not ‘belong’ to the Congress though they were probably inclined to it and ONLY ONE was apolitical- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who incidentally took office during the tenure of a non-congress government- the NDA- at the centre! And is it a coincidence that all the three statesmen had ‘Doctor’ in their titles!!

If this trend of appointment to the high offices of Governor will change only if a ‘Bill’ is introduced, so be it! It is about time too.

Anna, Jai Ho! [Originally posted on Wordpress on 19 Aug 2011]

Anna Hazare has set the ball rolling. The journey has begun. The long and arduous task of cleansing our system of corruption has finally taken off. Hopefully, the people of India in general and the youth in particular will pick up the gauntlet and take forward this movement, without losing impetus, to its logical conclusion.

It is indeed very heartening to see people from all walks of life joining the India Against Corruption movement. People from every corner of India as well as Indians outside are eagerly doing their bit to contribute to its success. It is amazing to see the sheer energy going into the campaign, be it through protests on the streets, activities online through tweets and various other means. It is humbling to see that people in high places including celebrities are cutting across social barriers and party affiliations in support of Anna. In fact one such person whose blog I read influenced my thoughts and I too am trying to do my bit in any which way I can.

Cleansing the system involves not targeting the Government or politicians alone. The ‘system’ includes every walk of life where corruption is inherent, right from the grassroots level to the top. That is the reason the Prime Minister too, should fall within the ambit of the Lokpal or Janlokpal. To quote Sri. R Soma Varma, retired Principal Research Scientist, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, “The anti corruption act must bring in the private sector also. It is not only government servants that are corrupt, the private sector is the one that corrupts and breeds corruption and pressurizes even the unwilling government officials also to become corrupt. Likewise RTI (Right to Information) should be applicable to private sector as well. Exceptions must not be allowed to rule. May be exceptions to rules should be indicated in small print as in advertisements - *conditions apply !”

The cleansing needs to be done systematically and elaborately to cover all sectors and strata, beginning of course with the political system. Reforms need to be introduced by which the voters would have the right to recall the elected representative if they feel the need for it. A minimum qualification should be specified for contesting elections. We do not want illiterates and people with criminal backgrounds sitting in our legislatures and parliament. We have been compromising for far too long; let us not do that anymore.

Now that a beginning has been made, we need to thank the Government for all the wrong steps it took which contributed to galvanize such a massive movement. The remarks of certain elected representatives in parliament only further aggravated the people. They even went to the extent of labeling Anna as corrupt! They jailed and then released him- on his terms, when they realized it was too hot to handle. It was indeed amusing to watch one of them smilingly concede on a news channel (live) that Anna indeed is a hero!