Jai Ho! Long Live Our Dreams...

We were on a Delhi Yatra this Sunday. As kids who work away from home we were proud and eager to show out visiting parents the grandeur of Delhi.... And what better time then the Grand Republic Day celebrated at the very heart of Delhi? 

Well one Day before the Republic Day( 25th Duh!!! also a Sunday) when the patriotic fervour we decided to visit the Red Fort, when we went there we realised it was closed for visitors with disappointment oozing out of our faces we decided to stroll down the lazy streets of Chandini Chowk. Then with a never say die spirit we decided to move on to the India Gate.... But, well here we saw stretches of deserted streets.... so we moved on to what I loving call the museum of Gods or Akshardham which was of course open with a few instructions like :

• In the list of things you cant take inside with things like bullets, blades and alcohol was a another item drunkards!!! Well I like the spirit of not recognising the human status of drunkards :P

Then after braving at least a dozen frisks and checks... by the time we reached the entrance we had the done with the teertha yatra feel. And, on why I call it the museum of Gods? Well It has these magnificent looking statues of Excessively hunkish six packed Gods... no nicely displayed I forget prayers and end up gaping at the beautiful architecture. 

Ok! Back to the point... Every Republic Day and Independence Day we celebrate about out country being free, in fact on the Republic Day when we many years ago so daringly declared Independence and a day when the best of our armed forces salute to their chief in command two things hit me harder then anything else the President who was taking the salute with all due respect to her seat did not in anyway inspire any confidence in me... I did not see a commander of armed forces I saw the face of an old women wrapped as much in a saree as by the influential political powers in the back ground!

Secondly, I saw that ironically on the days preceding our display of strength people preferred staying indoors out of fear more then anything else I heard out at least a paranoid friends and relatives who advised me to stay in so sure that I would be blown up to pieces by a terror bomb otherwise. It felt weird that we had more confidence in their capacity to blow us then our capacity to hold them off.... That left me wondering if we would have ever won over the great ( sarcasm for those to didn't notice) British Empire if our Freedom fighters were to be cowed down and preferred staying in? 

In short this Republic Day I wished for an India where people stop waiting for the messiah to walk in from the skies and find independence on the streets, but that does not mean we can make do with a compromise Presidential Rubber stamp. I pray for the Wings of Fire ( with tribute to its author) that will soon provide us with the strength to fly our country high.

When will Ram get a human Sena?

Well a couple of Yuga's ago there was The Prince Ram who defeated Ravan with his army of vanars of monkeys well but I can bet my last breath on the fact that the vanar or the army of monkeys were more human then their name sakes who beat up women for ruining the Indian culture in Mangalore. In short the monkey's then seem more civilised the the humans today.... or would i rather the humans today seem more beastly then the brave vanars then... (I guess Darwin would have redone his evolution theory if he saw these incidents ). *

On a more serious note...

Every time there is an attack by the fundamentalists or so called the religious brigade it is on women be it the bar dancers or the burqa draping. I don't know if I sound like a  feminist venting out a frustrated rant but the fact that women are at the receiving end of these barbarous whims is wrong. 

But a lot of times I wonder if I see a closet satisfaction in the masses when an incident like this happens... Just a couple of days ago there was an incident where kids celebrating a birthday party got beaten and abused for spoiling the culture of the locality by none other then the hooligans in the area. 

Just think back every time there is a call for protection of the culture the barbarians who quite literally hold the cudgels are the guys who would sit on street corners whistling at girls making cat calls and lewd comments.

In all probability the maniacs who attacked the girls in Mangalore were frustrated souls who were denied entry, and hence made a vengeful attack! I refuse to take a stance on does our society need dance bars... but if a set of hooligans were to attack women in them name of Ram I wonder how Ram would react.... maybe not too strongly for the man himself banished his wife heeding to words of a washerman.... Being a women I guess I would best love the Ram Rajya in a TV soap.

* But due to the immense respect and reverence I hold for the brave warrior race of vanars I extend my due apology to them for even making the comparison.... 

World Through My Brother's Eyes : The Birds Eye View

It was not so Long ago that I gaped  with my eyes and mouth wide open the spectacle of a man jumping of a plane in a skiing kind of costume on Discovery ! And I thought Freak what on earth are they???!!!

It was something like the spectacles you seen on AXN or Discovery where they show people sitting around with Lions and Crocs ( In short absolutely out of my definition of things normal people do!)

Then I met this girl in a youth hostel in Delhi who had pretty much taken it as a sport. That's when I realised that such people do exist. But, in my defence she was an Arjuna Awardee.... SO the aero sport segment was placed well literally quite high and out of reach from my mere mortal point of view...

Then one fine morning my mother told me my brother ( the ever adventurous one ) was going sky diving... I very comfortably assumed that he was going to watch one such spectacle till I watched the pictures below!!! 

My brother actually took a sky dive jump!!!! He came out pretty much unscathed but sooo many of my myths were shattered by this one jump...

• Aero sport can be taken up by anybody ( without any major ailment that is..)
• The sport is considerable safe even for untrained ones, so it is a ' my first time' for most people!
• And nothing can stop you from dreaming and fulfilling your dream ( My brother as a kid was prone to asthma attack, and If I were in his place would have conveniently bailed out using it as an alibi. But, my brother is try something new type of species very different from earth bound Taureans like me)

The pictures gave me a dream to fly, but will it help me get over my Taurean fear of parting with this ground only time can tell... Till Then Dream Hope .... Swoosh I go.......................

Breathtaking Perhaps !!

Man Nope SuperMan

The Rope is from the Parachute( I thought It was a Rajnikant Movie Rope Stunt)

Swwooosh.... 

 My New Year Resolution 

Jack Fell Down, Came Rolling Down! Jill Came Rolling After!

The Flying Machine and The Group 

Then Here they Land...

After the skies my next stop could well be under water...... 

World through My Brother's Eyes - Croatia

My brother was bitten by a travel bug a couple of years ago and ever since he has been an irredeemable traveler.


It’s not just about visiting a place on the tourist map, its not about threading the unexplored territories its the simple joy of being in a new place and observing a new culture. Its travel for travel sake!!!!


He has another habit … He religiously mails me a holiday report (which he mails to all friends in the name of weekend paparazzi) to his friends and on some coaxing to me …. These are excessively funny personalized mail… (Which I am forbidden from publishing :( )


In any case these pictures he clicks there are my window to the world ….


So let me begin with.... Well.... Croatia! (Dont ask me why!)


Croatia


If i were to describe its geographical location it would be: Where on earth is this place??? OK! If you would ever be able to locate a country bordering Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia , Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and yes Adriatic Sea!!!!! If anyone had gussed that one please let me know you just won... well my Respect (that’s big ok)




Well I remembered Croatia for some strange reason for some tennis player I cannot recall! ( Wow ! how precise!)


On its political scene the Wiki described it in short as … Since the adoption of the 1990 Constitution; Croatia has been a democratic republic. Between 1990 and 2000 it had a semi-presidential system, and since 2000 it has a parliamentary system.
(Heavens they don’t symbolise stability do they?)


Slobodan Milošević Yes now it rings a bell... they were a part of the worst ethnic strife with the Serbs. With thousands of Croats dead in the strife the country is slowly limping to stability....


But the best thing I liked was my brothers ingenious observation! ( from weekend Paparazzi of course) .... he said … Amazing fact was…at more than few locations…the Croatians were surprised to see Indians… :O …. It was quoted that these were the first Indian visitors around… wow.. that’s some news..


Whatever be the rest of the facts....The place is stunning if nothing else :)...


That's edible .... yummy? Not sure..




Well had heard of a candle lit dinner....table lit dinner....interesting!




Beach Beautiful!( Adriatic Sea is beautiful in spite of the name ....)




Splash!!!




Serenity....Nice evening to settle down and gaze at the sun...




Hey even they are over crowded... heeheeheee




Now I wouldn't mind that crowd! Its beautiful




That's a Bright Idea? What say?




The sunset is beautiful sans borders ...




Well The stairs look antique ( reminder: Ask him where it leads???)




A European Architectural Piece




That's where it leads....But where is it???




I have no clue....




Going to another country... Byeeeeee

P.S.: No clue how some picture titles got the link.....so ignore it( it will lead u to the pictures : for curious cats)

Hail The King - Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck !

As the world was looking west at the American President Barack Obama, a small kingdom in the East was making silent history...

In Bhutan being coronated was the youngest head of the state Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck aka Prince Charming(Just 28!and by the way a bachelor too!!!). The retiring king has three wives ( sisters whow!) Khesar is the eldest son of the third queen. ( of 5 brothers and 5 sisters in all )

The coverage to the power change in the two countries was perhaps symbolic and reflective of the world politics... ON one side was the super power across the globe whose electoral candidates were more familiar to us then our Prime Minster! There were people so glued to the results and sending congratulatory or consolatory messages like it were a Cricket world cup! On the other hand was another country right across our border on whose head of state we hand to Google the information half of the interest seemed to be about his age looks and duh! bachelorhood !





No I'm not drawing any conclusion of whether it is right or wrong. NO! Just seeing a picture and wondering.NO not taking any glory or limelight from the young king whose country is the highest happiness index if not the economic index....wishing his highness all the good luck...





How this oxford educated young king will manage the mantel of this kingdom peacefully nestled far away from the world's glare in the tranquil folds of the Himalayas will be interesting!

Iraq: From Glory to Gory!

 Mesopotamia 

  This is a story, story of a proud civilization fighting a losing battle to hold their head high. Iraq, we shudder at the name! Every time we mention Iraq in the same breath we speak of war, of destruction, of chaos or uncivilized barbarians running loose! 

  Tigris and Euphrates the rivers whose banks have been the genesis of the ancient world often termed the cradle of civilization. It has been the seat of power for several empires like Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Abbasid empires (I hope to write about each of these empires in future – in case you are wondering)   

 Now the glory of past and the gory of the present are something which we are familiar with. But there is a question we conveniently forget. A culprit we let free. So, let’s trace the modern Iraqi history.  

Villains: Dictators and Monarchs 

  Iraq was under the Turkish rule till Britain took over the state by the time of 1st world war that is 1920 the state of Iraq was recognized as a kingdom.  In 1939 at the age of 3 King Faisal II succeeded his father after an accident. The Faisal II on the other hand was assassinated and overthrown in a revolutionary coup by the military headed by Abdul Kassem he tried reversing the kings pro western policies which communist leanings.          

 In 1963  Kassim had a déjà vu like coup experience with the socialist Baath party overthrowing him.The Batth party was headed by Gen. Abdel Rahman Arif  and unleashed a bloody authoritarian regime till 1968  when Maj. Gen. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr ousted him and Bakr subordinate was the know infamous Saddam .

 Blood on our hands 

 The lost page I was speaking of was the fact that through out all these regimes, authoritarian, barbaric, reformist or revolutionary the state has always been remarkably secular, unfamiliar with the sectarian strife so openly abused after the west interfered to bring in civility to the state.

  Now if you are thinking that the Sunni dominant minority oppressed and Shia majority and cleansed the ethnic minority Kurds, I agree that the abuse was ghastly! But every society deals with its own problems. If solution was to make the problem ubiquitous then I wonder!

  The UN sanctions and the US intervention to help together destroyed the country and killed far more people then these dictators put together. The civilized world intervened to cleanse the barbarians from Iraq to let loose the demons of religion, sect, terror, poverty, fear. This has been the tragedy of Iraq. The organized civil society has clinically destroyed a proud civilization much more than all the rulers put together ever hoped to do. 

  And at last if you are thinking the UN and US did it damn them, but why do we have blood on our hands? The stains are of silence, abetting the crime by not raising a feeble voice.  Lastly, what happened to them may happen to us… Today India is marred by sectarian violence. Do we need US to come and clean it up for us?  

Paul Krugman win Nobel in Economics 2008

I have been following Paul Krugman for ages on Hindu oped page where this write ups from the New York times are published. Today he won the Nobel in Economics and it was a pleasant news to wake up to.

Krugman has predominantly written about US politics and Economy but that doesn't make it any less interesting for an Indian reader. His writing on the Financial crisis and the third world economy and International Trade are a treat to read.

Not everyone may agree with this hard core liberal but i confess to be a adherent supporter. 

Attached is the link to his web page http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/ where he has documented all this work from the time he began in Slate to New York Times .