Commonwealth Games - 2010

India did it, after all....
Despite all controversy over lack of preparedness, inefficiency, confusion and corruption, India gave the world, and the Commonwealth, its best Games ever.

Its total tally of 101 medals was an unimaginable best ever, beside its triumph at pipping England to the second best position in the over all ranking of medals tally based on the number of gold medals won. With 2 more golds won on the final day taking their total golds to 38, India overtook England's gold tally of 37, a figure which England had reached with a whopping haul of six golds on the penultimate day.
In the fitness of things, the Closing Ceremony also show-cased the martial arts tradition of India performed by 800 artistes from different states of India. Not many know that the now much touted judo, kung-fu, tae-kwan-do and related Chinese, Korean and Japanese martial arts all evolved from our own Kerala;s Kalaripayattu - knowledge of which was carried to mainland China by the greatest of (Chinese) voyagers ever even before the time of all the great voyagers we studied about in history recorded by the British to suit their agenda.
Maxie

--
Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.)
3725 Sector-23, Gurgaon-122017

A beautiful writeup on Mangalore comes from a non-Mangalorean

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/dpsatish/237/61930/mangalore-diary-highrises-malls--beautiful-bunt-women.html
  
MANGALORE DIARY: HIGHRISES, MALLS & BEAUTIFUL BUNT WOMEN

One of the best descriptions I have read of my beautiful Mangalore comes from 'Outlook' editor Krishna Prasad.

There are many things he has missed too (perhaps space constraints?) - like the yeoman role my alma mater St Aloysius had in educating generations and generations of Mangaloreans and others from the hinterland, neighbouring states and many from across the oceans too; like the number of ICS the single town of Mangalore produced; like the world famous Mangalore Tiles that reached corners of the world - even South America - for centuries; like the number of nationalised banks Mangalore gave birth to, and ... and much much more!

He writes:

 "The tourist guidebooks don't quite put it that way, but Mangalore has always been a bit like the city's trademark ice cream, the 'gadbad'. A potpourri of religions and languages-Hinduism and Islam, Christianity and Jainism, Tulu and Konkani, Kannada and Malayalam-that's one delicious whole. Canara Pinto buses dovetail Durgamba; Yenepoya College isn't far from St Aloysius, which isn't too far from Kasturba."

 

 Many Mangalores exist within Mangalore. It is Mangalooru in Kannada, Mangalore in English, Kudla in Tulu, Kodiyala in Konkani, Mykal in Beary and Mangalapuram in Malayalam! Perhaps no other city in India (and perhaps in the world) has so many names in so many languages.

 

 Most Mangaloreans speak three languages: Kannada, Konkani and Tulu. A few speak two more: Beary and Malayalam.

 

 Once our firebrand leader George Fernandes (the ailing George is a famous Mangalorean) told me that Mangalore was the only place where a three-year-old child, irrespective of its caste and religion, spoke three languages!

 

 The Air India flight from Mumbai to Mangalore is full. Oscar Fernandes, a senior Congress leader and a Mangalorean (actually from neighbouring Udupi!) is my co-passenger. He speaks to me in Kannada, he shifts to Tulu with an elderly woman, and returns to Konkani when he tells his son Oshan to get him a pillow. He also greets somebody in the Beary language!

 

 A visit to Mangalore is always refreshing. For me it is a beautiful city. After my beloved Bangalore and my hometown Shimoga, I love Mangalore the most!

 

 The landscape is fast changing in this lush green place surrounded by the Arabian sea, and the Nethravati and Gurupura rivers. The old Mangalore-tiled houses are fast vanishing and making way for highrises, malls and luxury apartments. I feel like a stranger in a city I know very well.

 

 Older parts of Mangalore, like Pump Well, Hampankatta, Kankanadi, Bundar, Kodiyalbail, Balmatta, Urva and Boloor have turned into a concrete jungle. Only a few government buildings have retained their old world charm. I tell somebody that Mangalore is now looking like Bandra in Bombay in the early 1990s!

 

 Interestingly, many well-off Mangaloreans live in Bandra in Mumbai!

 

 Mangalore is to Karnataka what Mumbai is to India. It is called the Gateway of Karnataka. The Western Civilization entered Karnataka through Mangalore, two centuries ago. Mangalore was the first port of call for Roman Catholic missionaries, nuns, traders, teachers, doctors, technicians, sailors and soldiers from the West. The same place is now exporting nuns, nurses and nuts to all over the World! Out of total 54 Roman Catholic bishops in India, 17 are Mangaloreans.

 

 Europeans called Mangalore 'the Rome of the East' two centuries ago.

  Mangalore has always been a coveted city. Many wars have been fought for Mangalore. All the dynasties which ruled Karnataka maintained their oversees relations (today's foreign affairs!) through the Mangalore port. The Portugese first set foot on Mangalore in 1520 AD. The Portugese naval forces defeated the Vijayanagara empire and took control of Mangalore.

 

  They sowed the seeds of Christianity in the Canara coast of Karnataka. The magnificent, nearly 500-year-old Milagres Church tells the story of Portugese influence on Mangalore. But the Portugese were forced to leave Mangalore by the Wodeyars of Mysore and later by Tipu and his father Hyder Ali. It was a time of grave crisis for Mangaloreans. Finally, it fell into the hands of the British and firmly remained with them till Independence.

 

 The British zealously guarded Mangalore like a precious gem.

 

 The Christian missionaries introduced modern education and western medicine to Karnataka through Mangalore. The first Kannada newspaper Mangalooru Samachara was started by a German missionary, Fr Herman Mogling, in 1843. Two other great German missionaries, Fr Muller and Rev Kittel, also entered Karnataka through Mangalore. Their contribution to Karnataka's art, culture, and education is immense. Old Mangalore is largely a city of Roman Catholics with their Sunday mass and confession.

 

 The main road from Pump Well to Bundar via Hampankatta is full of brand new malls and highrises. One of the biggest malls in India is coming up here. The road is dotted with showrooms selling luxury brands, food courts, and multiplexes showing the latest Bollywood and Hollywood movies.

 

 Bollywood star and Mangalorean Suneil Shetty has built a mall on this road. I jokingly ask my friend, "Where are Shilpa Shetty's and Aishwarya Rai's malls?". He replies with a straight face, "Will ask their relatives. Probably near Hampankatta, where their relatives live!"

 

  Mangaloreans always wear a serious look like the Arabian sea. Don't joke with a Mangalorean! They take you seriously.

 

  Mangalore now has top-rated hotels. Luxury hotels like the Taj Gateway, Gold Finch and Ocean Pearl have replaced the once famous Pentagon near Pump Well, which now looks like a haunted mansion. Mangalore was known for its famous cabaret shows in the 1970s, '80s and early '90s! The leading Kannada daily 'Udayavani' used to devote one full page for cabaret ads during those years!

 

 Young Mangaloreans now spend time at the malls, multiplexes, video game parlours, health clubs, and spas. Old-style Mangalore businesses are disappearing. Recently, choreographer Saroj Khan was in Mangalore to open her dance school. Let's hope the ancient Yakshagana and Bhootha dances survive the onslaught of Bollywood.

 

 Youngsters now prefer to speak in English, and Kannada, Konkani and Tulu are facing a real threat.

 

 Mangaloreans run the best south Indian restaurants all over the World. But Mangalore really can't boast of great eateries. Only the Taj Mahal at Hampankatta has retained its old glory and taste. Moti Mahal on Phalnir Road is no longer a favoured eating joint. The best dosa, idli and vada are available at Lakshmi Nivasa, a small hotel at Kalladka on the outskirts of Mangalore. I recommend this eatery to every visitor to Mangalore!

 

 I hear the best sea food can be had at Anupama, Gazali, Palki, Kudla and Deepa.

 The women of Mangalore are beautiful and bold. Pretty Bunt women run their family with an iron hand, and coy Konkani women do it with polish.

 

 I ask the local people ' Who is the most famous Mangalorean of our times ?'

Pat comes the reply ' George Fernandes '!! Surprised by this answer I again ask ' What about Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai '?

 

They say 'George Fernandes is famous', Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai are popular among the younger crowd!! George is a mass leader and these starlets are a media created celebrities"!!

 

Bombay and Calcutta have novels celebrating them. Not many cities can boast that privilege. I haven't read a real Bangalore-centric novel in English.

But there is one on Mangalore! IAS officer-turned-fulltime writer Richard Crasta's 'One Little Indian' is a superb Mangalore-centric novel. It talks about Mangalore of the 1960s. Richard Casta is now an NRI. His father John Crasta was a soldier in Netaji's Indian National Army (INA) during the World War II. His book Eaten by the Japanese tells horrifying stories of Japanese brutality.

 

The late K Ramaiah Rai, a distinguished police officer, wrote Tell Tale Teeth a Mangalore-centric suspense thriller. It is the real-life story of a police officer pursuing a brilliant, elusive murderer.

 

 I get a taste of Mangalore's diverse culture at the airport. Three pretty girls at the Kingfisher counter greet me and help me check in in just two minutes. I look at their badges: Sana, Marina and Aishwarya. A Beary, a Catholic and a Bunt perhaps... they speak three languages and belong to three different faiths. But they are Mangaloreans first and last. Because Mangalore is their identity!

Demographics: Muslim vs Jewish

This one landed in my INBOX through the internet email forwards circuit.

Rarely are we able to come across such revealing statistics.

(Just one bit of information here appears incongrous to me - about the size of Buddhist population in the world!

More importantly though, the contents here just emphasise the need for priorities in life; the importance of education for all - the importance of literacy, creativity, of gaining knowledge and disseminating knowledge....

 

The web link to this on the internet is available at: http://www.defence.pk/forums/members-club/19673-extracts-speech-hafez-b-mohamed-director-general-al-baraka-bank.html

 

Extracts from the speech by Hafez A.B Mohamed: Director-General, Al Baraka Bank. Demographics: o World Jewish Population. 14 million o Distribution: 7 m in America 5 m in Asia 2 m in Europe 100 thousand in Africa o World Muslim Population: 1.5 billion o Distribution: 1 billion in Asia/Mid-East 400 M in Africa 44 M in Europe 6 M in the Americas o Every fifth human being is a Muslim. o For every single Hindu there are two Muslims o For every Buddhist there are two Muslims o For every Jew there are 107 Muslims o Yet the 14 million Jews are more powerful than the entire 1.5 billion Muslims Why? Here are some of the reasons. Movers of Current History o Albert Einstein Jewish o Sigmund Freud Jewish o Karl Marx Jewish o Paul Samuelson Jewish o Milton Friedman Jewish Medical Milestones o Vaccinating Needle: Benjamin Ruben Jewish o Polio Vaccine Jonas Salk Jewish o Leukaemia Drug Gertrude Elion Jewish o Hepatitis B Baruch Blumberg Jewish o Syphilis Drug Paul Ehrlich Jewish o Neuro muscular Elie Metchnikoff Jewish o Endocrinology Andrew Schally Jewish o Cognitive therapy. Aaron Beck Jewish o Contraceptive Pill Gregory Pincus Jewish o Understanding of Human Eye. G. Wald Jewish o Embryology. Stanley Cohen Jewish o Kidney Dialysis Willem Kloffcame Jewish Nobel Prize Winners o In the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 180 Nobel prizes whilst 1.5 billion Muslims have contributed only 3 Nobel winners Inventions that changed History o Micro- Processing Chip. Stanley Mezor Jewish o Nuclear Chain Reactor Leo Sziland Jewish o Optical Fibre Cable Peter Schultz Jewish o Traffic Lights Charles Adler Jewish o Stainless Steel Benno Strauss Jewish o Sound Movies Isador Kisee Jewish o Telephone Microphone Emile Berliner Jewish o Video Tape Recorder Charles Ginsburg Jewish Influential Global Business o Polo Ralph Lauren Jewish o Coca Cola Jewish o Levi's Jeans Levi Strauss Jewish o Sawbuck's Howard Schultz Jewish o Google Sergey Brin Jewish o Dell Computers Michael Dell Jewish o Oracle Larry Ellison Jewish o DKNY Donna Karan Jewish o Baskin & Robbins Irv Robbins Jewish o Dunkin Donuts Bill Rosenberg Jewish Influential Intellectuals/ Politicians o Henry Kissinger , US Sec of State Jewish o Richard Levin, PresidentYaleUniver sity Jewish o Alan Greenspan , US Federal Reserve Jewish o Joseph Lieberman Jewish o Madeleine Albright , US Sec of State Jewish o CasperWeinberger , US Sec of Defence Jewish o Maxim Litvinov , USSR Foreign Minister Jewish o DavidMarshal , Singapore Chief Minister Jewish o Isaacs Isaacs, Gov-GenAustralia Jewish o Benjamin Disraeli, British Statesman Jewish o Yevgeny Primakov, Russian PM Jewish o Barry Goldwater , US Politician Jewish o Jorge Sampaio, President Portugal Jewish o Herb Gray, Canadian Deputy - PM Jewish o Pierre Mendes, French PM Jewish o Michael Howard, British Home Sec. Jewish o Bruno Kriesky, Austrian Chancellor Jewish o Robert Rubin , US Sec of Treasury Jewish Global Media Influential o Wolf Blitzer, CNN Jewish o Barbara Walters ABC News Jewish o EugeneMeyer , Washington Post Jewish o Henry Grunwald, Time Magazine Jewish o Katherine Graham , Washington Post Jewish o Joseph Lelyeld, New York Times Jewish o Max Frankel, New York Times Jewish Global Philanthropists o George Soros Jewish o Walter Annenberg Jewish Why are they powerful? why are Muslims powerless? Here's another reason. We have lost the capacity to produce knowledge. o In the entire Muslim World (57 Muslim Countries) there are only 500 universities. o In USA alone, 5,758 universities o In India alone, 8,407 universities o Not one university in the entire Islamic World features in the Top 500 Ranking Universities of the World o Literacy in the Christian World 90% o Literacy in the Muslim World 40% o 15 Christian majority-countries, literacy rate 100% o Muslim majority - countries , None o 98% in Christian countries completed primary o Only 50% in Muslim countries completed primary. o 40% in Christian countries attended university o In Muslim countries a dismal 2% attended. o Muslim majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims o The USA has 5000 per million o The Christian world 1000 technicians per million. o Entire Arab World only 50 technicians per million. o Muslim World spends on research/developmen t 0.2% of GDP o Christian World spends 5 % of GDP Conclusion. o The Muslim World lacks the capacity to produce knowledge. Another way of testing the degree of knowledge is the degree of diffusing knowledge. o Pakistan 23 daily newspapers per 1000 citizens o Singapore 460 per 1000 citizens. o In UK book titles per million is 2000 o In Egypt book titles per million is only 17 Conclusion. o Muslim World is failing to diffuse knowledge Applying Knowledge is another such test. o Exports of high tech products from Pakistan is 0.9% of its exports. o In Saudi Arabia is 0.2% o Kuwait , Morocco and Algeria 0.3% o Singapore alone is 68% Conclusion. o Muslim World is failing to apply knowledge. What do you conclude? Advice: Please educate yourself and your children. always promote education, don't compromise on it, don't ignore your children's slightest misguidance from education (and please, for God's Sake, don't use your personal contacts or sources to promote your children in their education; if they fail, let them and make them learn to pass; b/c if they can't do it now, they can't ever). We are World's biggest and strongest nation, all we need is to identify and explore our ownselves. Our victory is with our knowledge, our creativity, our literacy...And nothing else.

Global Papers

Put your mouse on a city anywhere in the world and the newspaper headlines pop up...  

Double click and the page gets larger....you can read the entire paper
on some if you click on the right place. 

  http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ 

aspects of Incredible India?

One of the great paradoxes of "Incredible India"
that came to me on email as a forward....
So many are the contradictions in our life...
Read on....

 

We live in a nation,
Where Pizza reaches home faster than Ambulance, police, or fire brigade...
Where you get car loan @ 5% and education loan @ 12%,
Where rice is Rs 40/- per kg but sim card is free,
Where a millionaire can buy a cricket team instead of donating the money to any charity,...
Where people worship cows, and yet wear footwear made from cowhide...
Where the footwear we wear, are sold in AC showrooms, but vegetables, that we eat, are sold on the footpath,
Where everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to follow the path to be famous,
Where we make lemon juices with artificial flavours and dish wash liquids with real lemon.
Where people are standing at tea stalls reading an article about child labour from a newspaper and say,"yaar bachhonse kaam karvane wale ko to phansi par chadha dena chahiye" and then they shout "Oye chhotu 2 chaii laao....."
This really is Incredible India... ?

--
Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.)
3725 Sector-23, Gurgaon-122017

Google Alert - Maxwell Pereira

Google News Alert for: Maxwell Pereira

Hindustan Times Traffic police in the grip of manpower crunch Hindustan Times "Basic traffic training is a must for a fresher to handle traffic efficiently," said Maxwell Pereira, former joint traffic commissioner. ... This once a day Google Alert is brought to you by Google.

Coffee Table Book on M.R.S.Fort Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur

Dear Mr Gill,

I am delighted to receive the copy of the first ever coffee table book on Maharaja Ranjit Singh Fort - Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur (Punjab),  that you so kindly sent me with your covering personal letter vide D.O. No.256/PA/D dt 18 Feb 2010.

I was puzzled at first, wondering what was my "invaluable contribution" in preparing the book - for I had no clue before I received the book, that the chapter from my book "The Other Side of Policing" covering my days at Phillaur had been used in this coffee table book. I am honoured that you considered it worthy for reproduction in the Police Academy's publication of great significance and historical relevance!

Coming to the BOOK, I must compliment you and your team of officers responsible for this endeavour - for conceptualizing, editing and executing this work. without in any manner compromising on the highest standards required for such a publication; and for producing a collector's dream worthy of a connoisseur.

A minor suggestion to your editorial team though, not to succomb while lifting/ reproducing - to the often irresistable temptation to alter/ edit/ or correct the author's original text ...for it often tends to mutilate or distort, or even change the meaning or context completely -- more often than not to the utter dismay and annoyance of the author! I noticed some such aberrations in the reproduced text of "Qila ka Damad" (one of them... the word 'ilk' meaninglessly changed to 'ilaka'). Also, that basic courtesy demands the author and the publisher be informed/ apprised in advance about the use of their work elsewhere... when it is without observance of the etiquette/ norms/ formalities in the prescribed rules of publishing. I hope you don't mind me pointing this out.

Not withstanding the above, it will be my pleasure to recommend this publication to my colleagues within and without the department, and to my friends circle.
I wish the coffee table book great success.

Congratulations to you once again!

With warm personal regards,
Maxwell

--
Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.)
3725 Sector-23, Gurgaon-122017
9871263322

Time Magazine Quote on Sachin Tendulkar

Wednesday 24 Mar 2010 05:49:11 +0000
"Morning Inspiration"
TIME Magazine -
When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam.
When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters.
The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy.
It seems while Time was having its toll on every individual on the face of this planet, it excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar.
"We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."

The Genesis Code - by John Case

Is “The Genesis Code” by John Case
really “….impeccable in plot, immaculate in story resolution, moving with high skill from locale to locale and from suspense to suspense”?
Why then does the book’s main character appear naiive enough to invite on himself expected harm to his own self and body, which miraculously he appears in the book time and again to be able to endure like no normal human can;
and more particularly, why does he carry the letter with the so mysterious and secret answer to the entire plot… in the pocket of his jacket through the entire latter half of the book without opening it –
till it is convenient to the author to end his story in a damp squib fashion?
I suppose fans of this book have all the answers!

Don’t shoot the messenger

.....I received this one as a forward in the email circuit from one of my friends. Contrary to the author's fears at the prospect of having to brace himself for a volley of abuse, it is bouquettes that I post here to compliment his candour and articulation of everything that every sane Indian wants to say --- has and holds in his mind, disgustingly and frustratingly critical of our so transparent shortcomings....
Kudos to Irfan Hussain for this piece of his in Pakistan's 'Dawn" newspaper...
Maxwell


Don't shoot the messenger

By Irfan Husain

Every now and then, I get an email from one irate Indian reader or another, demanding to know why Jawed Naqvi, Dawn's erudite and irreverent New Delhi correspondent, is so critical of India. Invariably, I reply that they should ask Jawed about his views. I also point out that just as I am often critical about Pakistan, he has every right to point out his country's shortcomings.

I suspect what upsets these readers is that an Indian should be voicing critical comments about his country in a foreign newspaper. I was subjected to similar censure from expatriate Pakistanis when I wrote for a Gulf daily. Finally, the editor told me politely that my criticism of Musharraf was incompatible with his paper's policy, and that was the end of the (small) trickle of Dubai dirhams.

The reality is that we are all touchy about seeing our dirty linen washed in public, but somehow, Indians seem super-sensitive to any hint of criticism. While there are many dissenting voices that question Indian claims to having reached Nirvana, they do not find much space in the mainstream media. Although Indian journalists do excellent work in digging up scams and scandals, they do not often question the broad consensus underpinning the 'India shining' image the media, politicians and big business work so hard at projecting.

I spent the other evening at the Karachi Boat Club in the company of a European who has spent a long time in the region, and knows South Asia well, having lived in Pakistan and India for several years. When I asked him how it felt to be back in Pakistan after being away for a few years in New Delhi, his answer came as a surprise. As we have known each other for fifteen years, he had no need to be polite: "It feels great to be back," he replied. "You have no idea how difficult day-to-day life is in New Delhi. Apart from the awful traffic, the pollution, and the expense, you have to put up with the prickliness of most Indians you meet. They are touchy to the point of paranoia. There is a lot of very aggressive poverty in the air. And when the New Delhi airport opens, we'll have to brace ourselves for yet another self-congratulatory blast. What is truly shocking is how little the well-off Indians care about the poor."

"Here in Pakistan, people are so much more laid back. Karachi's traffic flows much faster, and I don't sense the same kind of anger. While I'm sure there must be slums, I do not see the same level of abject poverty that is ever-present in India. And of course, the food is much better here."

I suspect this last observation will provoke more ire among my Indian readers than anything else my friend said. The truth is that meat dishes cooked in Pakistan are better than in India, although vegetables there are far tastier than ours. However, this article is not about scoring points, but about the different ways in which we react to criticism. It is also about the myth and the reality underlying the Indian success story.

And before my inbox is flooded with angry emails from across the border and the Indian diaspora, let me say that I am delighted at the huge strides our neighbour has made over the last decade or so. From cricket to technology, the progress has been little short of spectacular. I was thrilled to learn of the discovery of water on the moon by an Indian space mission.

So clearly, Indians have much to be proud of. Nevertheless, there is a dark side to this progress, and one that is ignored by those who react angrily to any criticism. In a recent article reflecting on his recently concluded six-year stint as the Guardian correspondent in India, Randeep Ramesh writes: "Whether I was visiting a rural police station where half-naked men were hung from the ceiling during an interrogation, or talking to the parents of a baby bulldozed to death during a slum clearance, the romance of India's idealism was undone by its awful daily reality. The venality, mediocrity and indiscipline of its ruling class would be comical but for the fact that politicians appeared incapable of doing anything for the 836 million people who live on 25 pence [33 Pakistani rupees] a day.

"… India is perhaps the most unequal country on the planet, with a tiny elite engorged on the best education, biggest landholdings, and largest incomes. Those born on the bottom rungs of the social hierarchy suffer a legacy of caste bigotry, rural servitude and class discrimination…"

Many of these painful observations apply to Pakistan as well, but by and large, we accept these flaws, and do not react angrily when a foreigner points them out.

The current issue of The Economist carries a searing cover story about the shameful phenomenon of millions of aborted female foetuses, mainly in China and India. This has caused the male-female ratio to be skewed to an alarming extent. The number of male babies in India is now around 108 for 100 girls, raising the possibility of serious social consequences.

Indian civil society is acutely aware of these grave social issues, and many of its members have long been demanding change. However, their voices are often drowned out by the chorus of those shouting 'India shining'. Many activists have distinguished themselves by their heroic advocacy of the downtrodden, but it is the success stories of dotcom entrepreneurs that are in the spotlight.

India's soft power is a potent instrument of projecting the country's image abroad. Its brilliant software engineers, its talented scientists, its outstanding cricketers, and its artists are all wonderful ambassadors for India. Bollywood and India's appeal to millions of tourists have put the country firmly on the map as a highly desirable destination.

All in all, as I said earlier, Indians have much to be proud of. But by focusing only on their country's achievements, the danger is that they will lose sight of the huge problems that still exist. Friends who point out these failings do not do so out of a sense of malice, but out of concern. However, as I brace myself for a volley of abuse, I fear that it's often easier to shoot the messenger than to undertake the hard work needed to address the problems.

20100221: Echoes of injustice

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/53799/echoes-injustice.html

 

Sunday 21 February 2010

 

Echoes of injustice

Prasenjit Chowdhury

Jarnail and his family barely managed to survive the horror. But his account is replete with accounts of how police, save some gutsy officers like Maxwell Pereira, became complicit in acts of butchery.

I ACCUSE...THE ANTI-SIKH VIOLENCE OF 1984 Jarnail Singh Penguin, 2009, pp 165, Rs 350 It was Milan Kundera who in his book The Book of Laughter and Forgetting said that a totalitarian state wants its people to be forgetful. But forgetting as horrendous a crime as the anti-Sikh carnage is a crime and a greater crime if one urges to forget it. Jarnail Singh, who shot to fame for having flung his Reebok runner at the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram — he waxed eloquent on the CBI's clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler accused as a prime instigator — at a press conference in New Delhi and came to be riled and adored in differing circles though he missed his target, manages to hit his target on the dot this time. He pores deep into the skulduggery of covering up the truth, in apparent quest of which one government after another set up various committees and commissions — the Marwah Commission, the Mishra Commission, the Kapur Mittal Committee, the Jain Banerjee Committee, the Potti Rosha Committee, the Jain Aggarwal Committee, the Ahuja Committee, the Dhillon Committee, the Narula Committee and the Nanavati Commission — one after the other. It was an instance of a state-sponsored, state-directed and state-supported violence. There was something crudely comical about the whole exercise because the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 on the streets, roads and bylanes of Delhi still awaits redressal and justice, and rankles the collective memory(26 years down the line). In the intervening years, the ardour for justice has been blunted by the State. Surely the memory has dimmed for those who needed to move on and the call for justice has been made far less strident. Some intractable souls like Nirpreet Kaur whose father Nirmal Singh was burnt alive still grope for justice.  Recalling the charged times of the 1980s, Khuswant Singh in his book, The End of India, rightly notes that "the Bhindranwale chapter in Indian history is a perfect illustration of the disastrous results of not keeping politics separate from religion." The Congress under Indira Gandhi, the then President Zail Singh and the Akali Trinity, consisting of Harchand Singh Longwal, the party leader and 'dictator' of the agitation, Gurugharan Singh Tohra, who controlled the Sikh shrines including the Golden Temple, and Prakash Singh Badal, a former chief minister of Punjab were all responsible for the situation of volatile Punjab to worsen further and Bhindranwale to hold sway for their narrow political ends. To my mind, the cult of hatred must be traced long before Indira Gandhi authorised Operation Blue Star, by doing which, as Inder Malhotra says, "she knew she had also signed her death warrant." Jarnail and his family barely managed to survive the horror. But his account is replete with accounts of how police, save some gutsy officers like Maxwell Pereira, became complicit in acts of butchery. The army was not deployed, the then President Zail Singh turned out to be a milksop, the then Union Home Minister Narsimha Rao played dud, a role he repeated during his prime ministership during the Gujarat riots, the Doordarshan tried to inflame base passions by pointing out ad nauseam that Indira Gandhi was killed by his two Sikh bodyguards, the print media chose largely to give a sparse coverage to the killings, and the main accused — H K L Bhagat rose to become a cabinet minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government — the list of omissions and commissions is endless.   Unfortunately, there is no writer of Orhan Pamuk's standing in India — recall his gall to remind Turkey of its past riddled with Armenian genocide — to remind us of the sin of our own genocides. And Jarnail Singh is no Raj Kamal Jha either to weave a gut-churning masterpiece like his Fireproof. But he speaks straight from the heart and brings alive the horror so graphically that for three days in November 1984, some parts of Delhi became virtual Mano Majras — a small Indian frontier village in Khuswant Singh's novel Train to Pakistan — with all the killings, flames, raping and pillaging. In effect, Jarnail's tale is one of not only the murder of over 3,000 Sikhs, but also of justice for those who "exist in a twilight of bitterness and despair."

2010 : Happy New Year to all...........

2010 : Happy New Year to all...........
Well........
The New Year of 2010 is on us... and after hectic all-night partying to usher in the new year, we are just about surfacing to an eggs and bacon/ blueberry pancakes and syrup breakfast slurped in with some aromatic freshly-brewed-in coffee... Indira and Manish who didn't hit their pillows till past 5:30 in the morning, are yet to surface....
Despite the glorious snowfall that did threaten to throw a spanner into the party works, almost all made it to Indira and Manish's new year's eve party... the only regrets coming in from Heike & Fernando because of their month old baby... and from Shalini's family from New Jersey. But Bullubai and Bavoji with Maria Errol and family/ as also Palvi & Pavan from even more distant NJ made it in time, and so did Meera & Ted from Poughkeepsie... and all others too from distant and nearer places. The Tamilian caterer produced gourmet Indian and western food with also his melting in the mouth kababs and snacks, fries and curries, pulaos and daals, tandoori naans and mouth-watering baturas, gulab-jamoons and caramel custard.... mmm mmmm mm mnn mnnnnnn.. nnn......
Flowing drinks, champagne and wine, martinis, margaritas, single malts and tequila, great music, and crazy dancing........ bonhomie, comaraderie.... speeches and sentiment - Manish & Indira's Kolkata wedding reminiscences; engagement wishes to Sonal & Keith too.... finally, salute to the year gone by and bated anticipation and hopes for a great and super 2010.......
Relaxed recalling and post-mortem of the party over breakfast by house inmates.. and all others that slept over too -- Merra/Ted, Carl/Marissa/Peter.. & Sheila and canine Janie too... much undoubtedly to the cat protest meaows from a traumatised Raani who had refused to surface throughout the noisy night, one cannot fail to mention. And definitely not to forget the sighting of the wild deer at the windows that greeted our waking moments....
I believe it is a good start to 2010... !!!!!!!!!!!
Off to church now, with Meera & Ted.... and whoever else is ready to go with us...