Sinister Designs - 05 September 2008

Orissa Government told Supreme Court on Thursday, 4-Sep that no VHP rally that could inflame the smoldering passions in Khandhmal would be allowed. The proposed yatra by Praveen Togadia was ostensibly for the declared purpose of carrying the ashes of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati done to death by yet-to-be-determined extremist elements on August 23. The assurance followed Orissa Archbishop Raphael Cheenath’s submission to the apex court through senior advocate Colin Gonsalves that allowing any such yatra would be akin to striking a matchstick into the communal tinder box. It is widely feared by the victimized community locally in Orissa that the “asthi-kalash” yatra is merely a ruse – since the Swami was not cremated but buried, so no ashes really to parade – to incite communal passions yet again for a repeat of Gujarat-like engineered carnage; to give effect to the oft-repeated and declared agenda of the Hindu fundamentalists to “wipe out Christians” from the State.

As per reports, VHP leader is quite undeterred by the SC’s flak or its orders to the State to keep communal elements at bay, and declared the yatra would go on. He has merely changed the “asthi-kalash yatra” to a “shradhanjali yatra” to condole the Swami’s death, and said they “will march through every village and town of Orissa”.

It may be recalled the so-called “spontaneous” reaction to target Christians commenced this second time round on August 26 and only after the venom spitting Praveen Togadia’s visit to Orissa on Aug 25 – who in his typical style aroused the crowds by blaming Christians for the brutal murder – and not earlier or immediately after the Swami’s killing on Aug-23. This view is supported by analysts and now even by a section of the local police brass who feel the hasty suspension of SP Kandhmal who had effectively controlled any communal fall-out immediately after the Swami’s killing on Aug-23 was a knee-jerk reaction, which act may in turn have helped the communal forces he had controlled to have a free hand to commit the carnage without state intervention.

In the aftermath of the on-going violence against the minority peace loving Christian community, at least 26 Christians have been killed; six priests and other religious injured, more than 40 Churches and convents burnt, 11 other Christian institutions including orphanages attacked and ten Christian shops looted; and over 5000 Christian houses torched or destroyed – affecting 50,000 people who have fled into jungles for safety.

Earlier, in the first of ethnic cleansing of Christians from the area which had begun on the eve of Christmas 2007 and lasted for a month thereafter, more than 100 churches were destroyed in arson, at least six people killed and thousands of Christians rendered homeless to hide in jungles braving severe winter, and surviving on forest products.

Following the current carnage, His Grace Vincent M. Concessao – Archbishop of Delhi, led a peace mission to Orissa on September 2-3 to meet up with Hindu leaders on the issue of violence in Kandhmal and neighboring areas. I was part of this delegation, which also included Archbishop Raphael Cheenath – the centre-stage head of the victimized community in Orissa to espouse whose cause and that of the larger Christian community we were going – who however had to drop out following serious threats to his own life. Our one point agenda – to seek a dialogue and appeal for cessation of all violence in the State, restore peace and harmony, and promote inter-community understanding through proactive dialogue with mutual respect for each other's concerns.

The Christian delegation consisting of Archbishop Vincent, Fr. Dominic Emanuel –the spokesperson of Delhi Archdiocese, and myself – reinforced by Orissa locals Bishop Sarat Chandranayak of Berhampur and Dr. Swarupnanda Patro of the Baptist Federation…. met the Hindu leaders on September-2: Ashok Das - Orissa Chief of RSS; Ashok Sahu of Hindu Jagaran Manch; Bipin Behari Rath- State President VHP; Laxmikant Dash – State Gen Secy Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram; Prof Gopal Chandra Mohapatra – Gen Secy RSS; Gauri Prasad Rath – State Gen Secy VHP; and later, also Ajit Mohapatra the Kshetriya Pracharak of RSS.

It was obvious that this host of Hindu front organizations generally known as the Sangh Parivar have serious problem with people converting to Christianity of their own freewill. Their simple thesis is Islam and Christianity are foreign religions, so their followers or converts to them automatically owe their allegiance elsewhere and turn anti-national. No arguments, evidence by way of statistics, or the contribution Christians have made to the development of this country in terms of education or health services or their role in the army and other services, in preserving the languages and cultures of India; or the fact of their diminishing population (from 2.8 % about five decades ago to 2.33% in 2001) brook merit to convince the Sangh members. No testimony contrary to the ideological brainwashing received at their morning Shakhas over last 80 years seems to cut ice.

The Church has all along clarified that conversion to Christianity by force or fraudulent means is strictly forbidden. The Indian Constitution and Indian Penal Code hold such activities criminal. Despite that, several Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws, Orissa being one of the first to do so in 1967 – for reasons it would appear no other than to harass and put hurdles to the developmental work the Church is engaged in.

The self-coined refrain “Christians killed Swami Laxmanananda” continues relentlessly despite no substantiation through fact or evidence, and despite claims by Maoists and the state police that the killing appeared to be carried out by Maoists. It is but natural that the voice of two percent Christian community against the canards of 84% majority community just gets drowned, rendering the Christian community at its wits end.

In the circumstances, it was agreed during the dialogue, that we should at least build upon the unanimously agreed desire for peace, and to issue a joint declaration to this effect. Even so the reluctance of the representatives to append their signatures to this joint declaration or to be seen on the same platform with the Christian delegates while pronouncing this declaration – for reasons of being viewed adversely by their rank and file, and before the proposed “shradh” yatra, surprised us all. In fact the foreboding message this spells out is loud and clear. Are we to expect another Gujarat-like pogrom too to wipe out minorities in Orissa?

Where were you when they crucified me? - 01 Sept 2008

“Ohh…oh.. oh… some times it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble…… Were you there when they crucified me on the Cross!” These haunting words of the hymn and its accompanying melody were the theme throughout this Sunday’s service at the village church I usually attend within Gurgaon’s new developments. Though far from the carnage in Orissa, the poignant, electrifying and gripping service this Sunday was a penitential one, to pray for Orissa – its victims and its perpetrators.

On Christmas Eve 2007, while Christians in Orissa were preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus, gangs of fanatical elements in Kandhamal District, in a series of pre-planned and well organised assaults, attacked churches and Christian institutions, damaging them, desecrating statues and Bibles, and even burning houses in Christian bastis.

The atrocities continued for a month, and left 107 churches destroyed in arson, at least six people dead and thousands homeless. Though instances of violence were spread across the State, the bulk of it was concentrated in Kandhamal District. The district has a population of 6 lakh people of whom almost 2 lakhs are Christians. Practically all tribal, very poor and exploited.

By February although the brutality seemingly subsided, the persecution never stopped. Fanatical elements kept up pressure on Christians to renounce their faith and convert to Hinduism. Christians were taunted at work, boycotted socially, women were harassed, children caught and shaved bald.

In the forefront of the movement to force Christians to abandon Christianity was Lakshmananda Saraswati, a Vice President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Though a sadhu, he was known to be deeply involved in politics. On the night of August 23^rd, a band of 20 to 30 masked men, armed with sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 rifles, attacked Lakshmananda Saraswati’s ashram and shot him and four of his associates dead. The operation was typical of the Naxalites - with the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, a Maoist Communist outfit, even claiming credit for the killings – as Lakshmananda Saraswati they said, had been mixing politics and religion too much for too long.

Despite differences the Christians had with him, the Church and the All India Christian Council immediately condemned the killing of Saraswati, and appealed to the police to arrest the killers, since the Church is always against violence.

But the fundamentalists found in this an opportunity to make Christians the scapegoats, knowing full well that the poor tribal Christians were incapable of the killings using such sophisticated weapons. They rejected the by-now-publicly-believed-fact that Naxalites had killed Saraswati, and instead began a violent persecution of Christians in revenge and retaliation.

For the last week and more there has been a dance of death and destruction in Orissa. Over twenty-six Christians killed in different instances, an orphanage destroyed and a woman helper, possibly a nun, burnt to death. Many priests beaten, one burnt. In what is believed to be a spreading infection of violence, a CMI priest - Fr. Thomas Pandippally was brutally murdered on the borders of a neighbouring state. Nuns raped and children tonsured. Even the Archbishop’s house in Bhubaneshwar attacked, dozens of churches and prayer halls across the State burnt, sacred statues broken, Bibles torn and burnt, tabernacles desecrated, and saffron flags hoisted on churches and crosses.

The violence has spread to all the districts of Orissa. Not satisfied with destroying churches and convents, even Christian schools and hospitals are attacked. There is a systematic attempt to destroy the livelihoods of Christians. Hundreds of little shops and small businesses owned by Christians have been targeted and Christian houses broken. Thousands of Christians including priests and nuns forced to abandon their houses and flee to jungles, to live in fear, braving rain and poisonous insects.

In a state with history of repeated communal violence and persecution of Christians, the state police are doing little to protect the lives and properties of Christians, claiming inadequate manpower and resources, and saying the rural roads have been blocked by trees. Christians are being denied their fundamental right to life, livelihood and property.

Not all victims are Christians. Hindus who work in Christian institutions or who live in Christian bastis, and those friendly with Christians too are targeted. The attempt is to polarise society on communal lines, and drive a wedge between communities.

To mark their solidarity with the Orissa Christians and as a protest against all acts of communal violence and brutal murders of priests and nuns of Orissa, the Delhi Christians sat on a 48-hour dharna in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral from 27^th August. And on 29^th, all Christians with teaching and non-teaching staff from all Christian schools, institutions and organizations in Delhi, gathered in front of the Orissa Bhavan for a protest demonstration - even as Christian schools and institutions all over the country remained closed for the day

While dharnas and demonstrations are important, Christians believe their strongest and most trustworthy weapon is prayer. And so the prayers at all Christian worship places like the one I witnessed in Gurgaon this Sunday, not only for the victims of Orissa carnage, but also for their perpetrators. “Father forgive them – for they know not what they are doing!”

'Make ordinary citizens stake-holders of peace' - 03 Aug 2008

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http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:kslRM0y0AzIJ:www.deccanherald.com/Content/Aug32008/panorama2008080282463.asp+maxwell+Pereira+in+Deccan+Herald&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=in&client=firefox-a

Deccan Herald: Sunday, August 3, 2008

By Maxwell Pereira

The blasts reinforce the conviction that the war against crime, social injustice, terror, et al is not a leader's war but a peoples' war. That the need to mobilise vast masses of citizens is the only permanent deterrent.

Yet again the country is in a spin over an increased threat perception following bomb blasts in two major cities – Bangalore and Ahmedabad on two successive days; more bombs then found in a third city Surat, and to boot - a terrorist module also busted in yet another, Tamil Nadu city. On everyone's mind now is, where next? …and when!

The realisation how utterly vulnerable we are, is gripping; the desperation of seeking a solution that’s eluded us over all these years no less. Following each of the blasts be it in Varanasi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Bangalore or Ahmedabad or the ones earlier, the same deadpan placid faces of leaders with platitudes and promises, political mud-slinging and attempts at opportunistic political mileage; and finally, other inevitable blame game.

No doubt there is more than a grain truth in all the allegations and accusations one gets to hear - but is that where the buck stops? As a society, are we prepared to lie on our back and suffer this state of affairs and terrorist lashings time and again? When will we learn? Each citizen needs to introspect and search within him/ her for a list of commissions or omissions on one's own part that contributed to today’s mind-numbing scenario.

Commenting on police role I would concede there has been unpardonable failure - be in intelligence gathering, be in local policing methods of crime control. It boils down to failure of grassroots policing by leaderships that failed to give ear to the ground to listen to undercurrents and happenings behind the scene. The unpardonable shifting of emphasis from the time tested beat patrol to more and more reliance on technical supports, to the neglect and detriment of basic policing. The sense of complacency that ends up invariably to catch us unawares and unprepared. With the plethora of duties today's police stations are burdened with, the actual presence of the policeman in his beat is nix - where it exists, more on paper than real.

In my district policing days I often refused to lend ear to a complainant who could not identify or name his beat constable. It served a dual purpose: the constable lost his invisibility and anonymity but acquired dignity and status, and in turn ensured the citizen better policing. What more, in the social structure in cities, the colonies are invariably dependent on people that provide services to residents - the plumbers, electricians and linemen, postman, the iron-presswala, the cobbler under the tree, the diligent colony chowkidar and not the least the beat constable.

Add to these those from sanitation, health, census, survey, corporation, security guards, cable and courier-wallas, milk, newspaper and vegetable vendors and so on. The govt has in each one of these, a veritable goldmine of resource; there is nothing that misses their eyes and ears. It is a clever SHO that fails not to tap this potential. But sadly in today’s policing structure and priorities, the vital link to tap this pot of gold is the missing : beat constable.

Every citizen is a stakeholder in today’s terror-scenario, just as the police have no time to relax or take lightly the threats that are just too many. The cracking of terror module in southern TN followed from such a stake-holder’s individual tip off call. A police officer in TN has for some years now been crusading his “Friends of Police”
concept (a platform for such concerned and involved citizen stake-holders). The FoP has not caught the imagination of police leaderships countrywide.

The reluctance perhaps, because it is another’s brainchild. They would do well though to realise that FoP is none other than formal nomenclature to an age old concept of basic community involved policing that empowers the individual to be part of the overall policing in which he has a stake. Where he can be the eyes and ears of the system and share the ‘Intelligence’ privy to him without suspicion of the others involved.

The blasts reinforce the conviction that the war against crime, social injustice, terror, et al is not a leader’s war but a peoples’ war. That the need to mobilise vast masses of citizens is the only permanent deterrent.



(The writer is a retired IPS officer)

Is the IAS fortress showing cracks? - 20 May 2008

Is the IAS feeling the heat? Has the decision of Adapa Kartik – this year’s civil services exam topper for appointment to the IAS – to continue serving in the IPS, shaken the citadel of power?

The en masse uprising of all non-IAS services following the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations are common knowledge. These resulted in exposing the not-so-deft sleight of IAS dirty hands for safeguarding their own turf through chicanery and machinations – indulged in through the decades to perpetuate, consolidate and still better their superior edge over all other services, and continue to lord over while gloatingly twiddling thumbs from their lofty chairs.

Now with their back to the wall, the IAS has at last woken up to the need to go on the offensive – to salvage their diminishing stock? The chosen target for initial attack, it appears, is a brilliant young buck from the IPS, whose lucid pen has been attracting attention for putting heat under IAS seats.

The route for the strike, through Union Ministry’s Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT); which has sent Abhinav Kumar, an SP from the Jharkand cadre, a show cause notice for his articles in the media, analysing the game behind the recommendations of the CPC. The IPS lad is being targeted for exposing the embarrassingly unsavoury chinks in the IAS armour and for presenting readers realistic facts and figures that hurt IAS interests; secrets which now stand exposed, no longer safely hidden within well guarded IAS controlled vaults inside labyrinthine mazes under their ministries!

Among other things, Abhinav educated the nation how in 1981 out of 60 secretary level positions at the centre as many as 25 were occupied by non-IAS; which number has remained same for non-IAS even 27 years after, when secretary level positions have now risen from 60 to 250 – the nigh 200 additions all having been created for and occupied by the IAS. So much for the government’s adumbrated policy of downsizing its bureaucratic belly! Abhinav also made bold to postulate his theory for the root cause of unrest, violence, and growing naxalism in the country as the inefficient management of land revenue and land records – both closely protected turfs of the IAS.

Media has been ablaze with articles from others too – condemning the only justification peddled by CPC for granting IAS an ‘edge’ based on philosophy of tradition, something completely misplaced in today’s world. Discrimination favouring the pay suggested for Secretary level officers (80,000) – at which almost 100% IAS officers retire notwithstanding the much-touted pyramidal structure declared for public consumption, vis a vis Additional Secretary (67,000) – the best level reached if at all by a mere sprinkling few in other services – has been termed most outrageous. Every IAS officer retires with the maximum pension, while it is hard to find even one percent of the total cadre strength in the IPS retiring as Secretary or equivalent.

The Sixth CPC recommendations have been exposed unequivocally as “a well-contrived move by the IAS to hold on to its tottering suzerainty on the specious ground of historical logic - now rightfully challenged by all sections of Indian society and other services”.

Against this background, an exception seems to have been made to single out Abhinav – in whose case Centre has directly intervened, probably out of desperation; for normally such a course of action is initiated by the State as the cadre controlling authority. It is rare for the DOPT to be involved, and would invariably need prior approval of the Minister concerned.

The outcome of this show cause notice, only time will tell. But what’s clear is that this mindless vindictive act on their part has united the IPS community across the country like never before – something the IAS perhaps did not anticipate or expect. The move is being viewed as a fresh attack on the much aggrieved IPS as a whole. The feeling within the country’s IPS fraternity – be among the serving or past, is to take the IAS head on and not let them think Abhinav is alone. IPS will “no longer suffer in silence” nor permit individual officers to “face IAS music on their own” – is the war cry.

Does this open war between services augur well for the nation and its governance? Are the warning signs deliberately being ignored? Or is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too fickle to stand firm by his promise for giving this nation a top class police force capable of tackling its ills of terrorism and naxalism?

How long more will a dissatisfied, much-aggrieved and disgruntled, selfishly controlled by an inefficient power-crazy bureaucracy be able to deliver goods?

How long more is the nation to permit the hegemony of a created elite class to rule over other services – to the detriment of national interests?

Even Older….! Treasures in our backyard - 16 Apr 2008

On April 10 this year, Big Ben – probably the best-known bell in the world – which is inside the famous clock tower in London, celebrated the 150th anniversary of its existence. Cast in the Whitechapel Bell Foundry which is said to be one of only two such foundries left in the UK today, the huge 14.5 ton bell inside the world's largest four-faced chiming clock, even now provides right time and those distinctive chimes known to Britons as the ‘bongs’.

For tourists flocking to London, among the famous sights at which to aim their cameras – like Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Nelson's Column and the London Eye, is also The Big Ben – which in a recent poll was voted Britons' favourite landmark. Despite its popularity, funnily it is not uncommon for tourists and even taxi drivers to mistake the elegant Victorian edifice of the Palace of Westminster Clock Tower with the Big Ben.

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry which made Big Ben, along with America's Liberty Bell, is just one among a number of others who cast bells for cathedrals and churches around the world in the days of yore. One such beneficiary Church in India sporting an ancient clock tower is in Mahé on our west coast, which I had occasion to stumble upon during my tenure as the chief of Pondicherry Police. Mahé, midst surrounding Kerala, is one of the four constituent erstwhile French-ruled land territories now in the Union Territory of Pondicherry.

According to a brief history of the Mahé church dedicated to St Teresa of Avila – prepared by Fr. Menezes – a former vicar, one Abbé Duchenin reconstructed the then existing thatched roof church in 1788 with laterite stone and Mangalore tiles, in its present model. The Church tower was then renovated in 1855 and a clock was installed on this tower presented to the Church by some French Marines. To this day – at least till the time I saw it in the late 90s, it has given correct time to the whole town of Mahé. According to Mahé’s historian novelist Gangadharan, the clock was from Borel, Paris – one of the very early clock manufacturers, set up by Jules Borel and Paul Courvoisier way back in the 1850s – and installed in Mahé church in 1855, three years before the BIG BEN in London was erected above the British Parliament in 1858. Even though the Mahé clock is not as big as the BIG BEN, the fact that it is three years older (if Gangadharan’s version is to be given credence) and still giving good time, is significant.

It makes me wonder why we Indians care so little to know about our heritage and such wonderful treasures lying in our very own backyard, whilst Britons celebrate their ‘bonging’ counterparts!

© Maxwell Pereira: April 16, 2008. Tel: +91-124-4111026; +91-124-2360568; email: mfjpkamath@gmail.com; web: www.maxwellpereira.com

Cavorting around California - 07 Apr 2008

For all it's hype California gave me a rather clammy welcome in early January this year. Its much-trumpeted glorious weather, instead, played truant through my four weeks' stay there with daughter Sonal. It was racy winds and rain coupled with a temperature drop, the kind locals were not used to. ‘Twas California's worst storm ever in ten years, they said! But who cared! I had the warmth of my daughter's love and the comfort of her delightful place at Domicilio, Santa Clara.

The incessant rain and unpredictable weather often forced me indoors – hampered my morning constitutional outings, and put up hurdles in my adventures to satisfy the insatiable thirst within to experience new places, people and cuisines. But the whistling winds outside seemed to have their own say – telling me there's more to California than what's commonly talked about. The beautiful view outside the apartment, overlooking the palm trees and swimming pool in the centre court below, with the distant hills in the background held promise. Considering the worst snow storms rest of America and Canada were experiencing, I was still better off.

The scenic splendour of California unfolded in bits and pieces, each time the weather held out – for me to explore the neighbourhood on foot, or for Sonal to bundle me into her car and whisk me off to see the towns that make up Silicon Valley. Initially it was the famous academia – the over two centuries old Santa Clara Mission with its University next door, and the famous Stanford University in Palo Alto, just around the corner. The impressive drive that led up to the main campus – the majestic palms towering everywhere were just amazing, especially when one realized palms were not really native to California.

While my first weekend there was a washout, the weather gods were kind over the next – to let us experience Alamo Hills, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe on the Nevada border with its Casinos. It started with a night at Aroon and Usha's at Oakshire Place on Alamo Heights – delightfully luxurious and relaxing; with the view from the ridge during my walk in the crisp morning air, refreshingly soothing and invigorating. But Napa Valley was a disappointment. Being winter, the vineyards were all dried up, barren and devoid of leaves. For miles around not a sprout nor shred of green atop the brown stub-trunks that in season had sported lush green and grapes. But wine tasting - the bread and butter of the area still held strong! We experienced Beringer's – only to come off with a sick feeling of being cheated and deprived of an expected treat – as if wineries here have done you one helluva favour by letting you stray into their hallowed precincts! Unlike in France, wine-tasting in America's Napa is a total hoax, making you end up paying anywhere between 25 to 45 dollars for four thimbleful sips of wine while being bored with commentaries on their own founding history and assumed greatness.

Visiting Lake Tahoe in the company of David and Rebecca Pinto, was stunning; the smooth climb from rainy sea levels of Davis (Sacramento) where they live, to altitudes over seven thousand feet to access Tahoe, not discernibly felt or realized. And Tahoe itself tucked away so majestically amidst a tranquil setting of tall pines atop the pristine High Sierra Mountains – when sighted, just breath-takingly awesome. No less gripping, the sheer expanse of its unfrozen waters – even more, the dark metal green emerald waters of Emerald Bay not all tourists take the trouble to go to. The logwood cabins almost buried under snow and settlements along the route around Tahoe were very picturesque; the ski-runs/resorts on the snowy white mountain slopes around were ever so enticingly exciting; and our own dwarfed presence, mere insignificant dots marring the spotless grandeur of white for miles around. A memorable experience indeed!

Over the third weekend came my real treat – two days of San Francisco – California's show piece. Sonal chose the 49 Mile Scenic Drive what Joseph M. Lubow and Laurel Rosen called "the best tool for exploring the whole city" – in their book "San Francisco's 49 Mile Scenic Drive: The Guidebook" – a paperback of 2001. Signs for the Drive – a seagull looking over one white shoulder into a blue sky, dot throughout the route around San Francisco.

Like most who have attempted, we never got down to completing the whole ‘drive’ in one sitting. The Drive was created in 1938, to highlight the city's beauty and entertain tourists attending the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939-40, a fair that opened the following year on Treasure Island. The route then began at City Hall, curved along the northern shoreline of the bay and down the Pacific coastline, swooped around Lake Merced, dipped into Golden Gate Park, climbed to the top of Twin Peaks, cruised down Market Street, crossed the Bay Bridge, and finally ended on Treasure Island. It now begins and ends at City Hall, modified many times since its first meandering course was traced on a map.

We were able to cover majority of the listed sights; among the vintage and modern landmarks of which are – the Old St. Mary's Church, Pacific Bell Park, Palace of Fine Arts, Ferry Building and Mission Dolores where a row of stately palms greet you as you skim along. Along the way experiencing the narrow streets of Chinatown, where we funnily ate at the trendy E&O Trading Company while earnestly salivating for more traditional & down-to-earth Chinese dim-sum. We ignored not Little Italy too, the section with Italiano restaurante "Roma Italian" where we had coffees and tiramisu. After a short drive thereafter, we were greeted by giant female legs in seductive hose stockings, sticking out of a window on the street, also dotted with yoga centres! This was San Francisco's Haight & Ashbury district, which 40-odd years ago weeded out the 'straights' to welcome in the weed, LSD, hashish and riff-raff by holding the first Hippie Parade. The wonders of all three neighbourhoods are best discovered on foot. But ascending Twin Peaks known for its stunning city panorama though, we found our way blocked – for similar reason having to abandon our attempt to reach the Coit Tower with its murals too, and the towering Transamerica Pyramid that's seen from every nook and corner.

With the seagull signs missing at many intersections and without a map, the Drive is difficult to follow – as also without someone sitting in the passenger seat as I was doing for Sonal, looking back and forth between the map and the cityscape, and calling out directions despite having a GPS at hand!

Driving here can be a daunting exercise for a newcomer to the city, especially with its incredible gradients and curious distractions including a variety of architectural styles – the 'dollhouse' Victorians, the stately Queen Annes, the ornate Edwardians. There were places blocked by "one-way" or "no-turning" signs making it hard to turn around, backtrack, retrace or to get back on track. There are other stretches distinctly non-scenic – filled with fast-moving cars furiously changing lanes; as also bustling complexes clogged with cars, taxis, buses, even jaywalkers and foot-slogging nature walkers.

We drove up Nob Hill following one of the city's hallmark overcrowded antique cable cars – right on its tracks (perhaps against regulations, but we did it anyway) along steep inclines between terraced flat stretches where crossroads met, and I got pictures of the vintage coach that reminded me of railroads from the wild west era; and of people hanging out – a common sight back home in the starved-for-transport city of our New Delhi. We got into a tizzy then with even steeper gradients, on the downward stretches of which no road could at all be seen beyond the car's bonnet. Instead of holding the steering wheel with both her hands, Sonal preferred driving downhill with one hand gripping the steering wheel and the other gripping her dad's arm, whilst screaming all the way till we reached comparatively manageable level stretches. Talk about a free rollercoaster ride! With enough wind of courage under her wings, she then dared the drive down Lombard – the Crooked Street, to find it child's play compared to stretches of inclines earlier conquered.

At every road crossing in the higher stretches we had a full view reaching right up to the harbour with ships berthed alongside and deep into the bay. Where to, the Drive eventually took us – on to Jefferson Street that's despised by the local residents, but popularly known to tourists as the Fisherman's Wharf. On the embarcadero here is supposed to be mounted the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, so insultingly as to have invited protests for reasons of being difficult to locate even by those specifically looking for it. Driving past Pier 39 later in the dark, we heard the lazy sea otters cry out before they caught some shut-eye.

The finale for our first day in this glorious city definitely had to be the Golden Gate Bridge. Wanting to catch the sunset, we drove over and across it to access the vista points. We lost track of time even as we feasted on the sights from across, of the one-time-high-security-prison Alcatraz (that once incarcerated the notorious mafia don Al Capone too) and of the San Francisco skyline at dusk. We drove up the mountain side through the quaint artists' haunt Sausalito, to higher vista points hugging the mountain beside and beyond the other end of GG – where we walked right up to and above the vertical end-pillars of the bridge making my vertigo-touching acrophobia (fear of heights) act up a bit. But since this place was known to give the best view at sunset, we had to make it. It was worth the hour spent here savouring sights and taking pictures while bracing the winds at twilight against the constantly changing hues of a crimson sky. The mighty GG stood dwarfed before our eyes with the red and yellow lights from moving cars on it, appear as though they were mighty ant-trails from our vantage height. Our hearts raced with the sheer grandeur of it!

We started day two leisurely, in time for brunch at the Squat & Gobble where Castro meets Market, with friend Vikram Anand's daughter Missy Aparajita. Castro houses the town's Gay quarter, where for the first time I experienced people-watching from a street cafe, where everyone seemed to be overly groomed, young men walking in pairs, with their cute canine pets at their heels – reminding me of society ladies in high heels with foot-long cigarette holders in mouth, cuddling their manicured curly poodles. As Sonal wrote in her 'foodie' blog later, this place is her "favourite for the consistently delicious food and the fun ambience; for the friendly and extremely efficient service from the gorgeous guys behind the bar, and the warm and welcoming Management that goes above and beyond to make one's visit enjoyable, every time!"

Back to China town again, Sonal insisted we enter a reflexology joint where I refused to give a tip for the utter sham job they did on my feet – despite the Chinese lady's repeated exhortations to my daughter telling her how handsome she found her dad to be! Escaping that place, we ended up losing our way curving around the storied Presidio – earlier an Army base, now a national park with a quirky pet cemetery too – ending up at the Greek/Romanesque Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. Try as we may, we could not find a way to enter it without driving illegally across the road! The Drive here swept down the Great Highway, skirting the vast sandy expanse and crashing waves of Ocean Beach, to circle the lovely Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park which consumed a considerable part of our second day. I later got to know that the California State Automobile Association's new version of its San Francisco Guide Map which features a thick, bright red line showing the 49 Mile Scenic Drive is a good aid here, as it includes a much-needed inset of the path the scenic drive follows as it winds through GG Park – which apparently can befuddle even residents. But the sheer foresty grandeur of the Park made it a delight for us to lose ourselves in it, while on our way to and past the Dutch Windmill to reach the high-windy stretches of the Cliff House over looking vast stretches of the beach alongside the Pacific Ocean. Portions of rocky stretches here lent a great backdrop for glorious pictures. I bought Sonal some costume jewellery ear-rings too, from street gypsy vendors selling wares from portable makeshift display units. We ended day two by treating ourselves to hot mugs of cocoa at famous Ghirardelli Square along with Cara's handmade cupcakes – that left a delightfully sweet taste in our mouths to go with all the other delights of our two days in San Francisco.

April 07, 2008: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira, 3725 Sector-23,Gurgaon-122017:

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080402: On IBNLive -The Other Side of Policing: Politics, mind games!

The other side of policing: Politics, mind games
Aasim Khan / CNN-IBN
Published on Wed, Apr 02, 2008 at 14:59, Updated on Wed, Apr 02, 2008 at 18:16 in Nation section
Tags: On The Beat, Police , New Delhi
New Delhi: On a fateful November morning in 1984 – a day after Indira Gandhi’s assassination – a mob gathered outside Sis Ganj Gurudwara. One lone officer stood in the line of duty and ordered the policemen to fire.
“When mob was advancing, I gave them a warning, but when they did not heed, I ordered fire,” recalls former Delhi police commissioner Maxwell Pereira.
Many lives were saved but it did little for the career of Maxwell Pereira. After a silence of 23 years, Pereira has now spilled the beans in his book, The Other Side of Policing.
“What was shocking was I gave a message saying I have opened fire but control room would not acknowledge. They were silent,” he says.
What Pereira did was a brave act in 1984 but there were few others who could resist the political pressure.
No wonder 1984 was not the last time when the hand of law failed to help the victims.
It’s been 18 months since the Supreme Court moved to give functional autonomy to the police (Prakash Singh Vs Govt of India Case) but so far only 10 states have accepted the directives.
Most of them small states, but most big states, notorious for police-politician nexus, have simply ignored them.
Prakash Singh, a former Chief of the Border Security Force, says politicians are not keen on implementing the judgement because it takes away their powers to transfer any cop anywhere , anytime.
“It’s a very strong instrument to show I can influence your future and career,” he says.
For most in police the fear of transfer and punishment posting still weighs too heavy.