tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31013101067167303282024-03-14T07:32:54.244+05:30The Undercover Indian<a href=""><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/gasharma4u/SE6P2mM4j4I/AAAAAAAADEc/aaNG54xlASc/s288/mr_detective_logo_2.gif"></a>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-85094609776270707502011-12-13T17:23:00.000+05:302011-12-13T17:28:04.698+05:30Raikva the Cartman, the King and Congress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In recent times, when government of India , congress party and politicians in general are facing increasing heat from public and Anna Hazare led movement against corruption, an oft- repeated refrain we have heard is supremacy of parliament. Whereas that is technically correct ,we know very well that this is a shield that is being used to shun away from answering to questions that public has been posing. Congress party found it beneath themselves to be present at a public debate on janlokpal organized at jantar mantar. The same congress party had no qualms in debating same topic with same people they call as Civil society at Calcutta club. Why? Perhaps, because jantar mantar was hoi-polloi and Calcutta club was elite! If Democratic politics is about connect with people, then Indian politicians in general and congress party in particular have become distant from the people they claim to rule. The art of politics and public engagement has been forgotten by Indian politicians. On top of that, Government ministers have shown incredible amount of arrogance in dealing with agitation that has huge public support. Kapil Sibals,Salman Khurshids, Chidambarams and their ilk will have you believe that they by virtue of being lawyers and bureaucrats and elected members of parliament, have attained superior statuses and knowledge of everything.In guise of supremacy of parliament, some of these elite and not so elite men and ministers have forgotten that vanity and arrogance creates intellectual blindness. It makes you believe falsely that you have the sole and whole knowledge. In this regard, I am reminded of a story from Chhandogya Upnishad about king JanaShruti and Raikva the Cartman. Upnishadas represent the later and final stages of tradition which started with the Vedas and form the basis of what later became Hindu philosophy. In the story that I represent here, Raikva, a poor cart river , is approached with humility by one of great kings of his time, JanaShruti , with request to impart him the knowledge (of Brahman). Scripture wanted to convey the importance of humility in quest of knowledge (of Brahman) but implicit in it are messages that knowledge can not be monopolized by any selected group and that even rulers can learn from their subjects when they are humble. Remember, this was written in First millennium BC. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Raikva , the Cartman and King Janashruti<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdYm0PFnGGjVsBMUDhECrnt8q4hcn6_sD3PKWd0NRusX6JMiv96pdRfss4PRwRUYYLJ1fUC-iJCtxj55RH7Pcbz469tUbByPbfD-cQKwxj6SCkbcIKxSaAPwJUa0IZhGmmoXe-J70Jr4/s1600/image001-709631.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685552334863526034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdYm0PFnGGjVsBMUDhECrnt8q4hcn6_sD3PKWd0NRusX6JMiv96pdRfss4PRwRUYYLJ1fUC-iJCtxj55RH7Pcbz469tUbByPbfD-cQKwxj6SCkbcIKxSaAPwJUa0IZhGmmoXe-J70Jr4/s320/image001-709631.jpg" /></a>Many years ago, there lived a king named Janashruti. He ruled over the kingdom of Mahavarsha. He was a benevolent and generous ruler. He built rest houses for travelers along the roadside, distributed free food to the poor and needy, built hospitals for the sick and old and he taxed his subjects fairly. Quite naturally Janashruti was pleased with himself for having done so much for his kingdom. Unfortunately it did not take long for him to turn into a vain man and he thought:"Ah! it is I who am providing the food to people. How much merit have I earned! The God must be pleased with me'.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One evening while he was relaxing on the terrace of his palace he saw two swans flying over him and conversing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Be careful while passing over the King Janashruti" one of them said. "The glow of his fame may burn you to ashes."<o:p></o:p></div>
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"You must be joking" replied the partner, "As if King Janashruti is greater than the humble cart-man Raikva!"<o:p></o:p></div>
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The king was perplexed and became thoughtful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Who is this Raikva?" He pondered. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"How could he earn more merit than me? What has he done to achieve that!"<o:p></o:p></div>
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King Janashruti felt restless and could not sleep for the rest of the night.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The following morning, when the elaborate ritual of waking up royalty began, the king got irritated.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Stop all these adulations and empty praises for me. I am not worthy of it."<o:p></o:p></div>
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The king's attendants were puzzled.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"What happened Maharaj?" asked the bard.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The king told the bard about the swan's conversation he had overheard.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Now go and seek out Raikva," the King ordered, "He is the most pious of all men."<o:p></o:p></div>
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A massive search was soon launched to locate Raikva. Many days had passed and finally they were told by a peasant that Raikva was a cart-man in their village. All the kings men then saw Raikva, a poor cart driver, sitting on the ground and engaged in his own thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Our king wishes to meet you" said an attendant.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Well, here I am," said Raikva without budging from his place. "The king can come here if he wants to see me."<o:p></o:p></div>
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The attendants were surprised. "What does our worthy king seek from this ordinary man?"<o:p></o:p></div>
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The king was pleased to hear that Raikva was found. He ordered to make preparations to leave for Raikva's village the next morning. King Janashruti took with him an army of men with impressive presents of 600 cows, an expensive gold necklace and a chariot as gifts for Raikva.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Upon arriving at the village, King Janashruti introduced himself and said, "I have heard a great deal about you. I am told that you are one of the rarest person who has the personal experience of Brahman, the supreme Lord."<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Oh Raikva" the king continued, "I will give you all that you desire, and in return I ask that you impart me the supreme knowledge of Brahman."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Raikva smiled. "So you want to buy the divine knowledge!"<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then he scolded the king, "Oh ignorant king! The knowledge of Brahman cannot be purchased. It is not a commodity that can be bartered. You are not yet ready to receive the supreme knowledge. Go home."<o:p></o:p></div>
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The disappointed king returned to his palace. He became withdrawn, drowned in his sadness , always wondering, "What do I lack?". His sadness and sincere anxiety to know Brahman, made him humble. His ego disappeared and King Janashruti became a different person . He then decided to go to Raikva once again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Upon reaching the village, the king could not help himself. He fell at the feet of Raikva begging to impart him the knowledge of Brahman.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Enlighten me" the king cried out "I have no peace. Your knowledge has more richness than my entire kingdom. Please give me a part of it. I beg you with all my sincerity."<o:p></o:p></div>
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This time Raikva saw that the king had lost all his vanity and the genuine desire for knowledge was evident. He picked up the king and said, "I bless you, O virtuous Janashruti. All the knowledge that is mine will now be yours as well."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Raikva then drew the king close to him and spoke at length, "The supreme knowledge cannot be imbibed unless one has shed one's ego. Only the humble can perceive the Brahman. Now that you attained the humility, come with me and I will share with you whatever little I have about the knowledge of our creator."<o:p></o:p></div>
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So saying Raikva accepted Janashruti as his disciple. The king could realize that Raikva was materialistically poor but spiritually rich. As time passed by, Janashruti received the gospels of Raikva and dedicated his job of royalty as a service to Brahman without taking the credit of his personal achievements.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-9579347119131525992011-12-13T17:12:00.000+05:302011-12-13T17:12:04.077+05:30Testrt<div><p>Test</p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-693934665025542692010-12-04T21:57:00.003+05:302010-12-04T22:04:09.565+05:30Strange logic of Delhi Police<div style="text-align: justify;">Delhi Police commissioner can easily be a politician or a diplomat. After all we know that people in these two professions are given to high degree of deflection, diversion and obfuscation in their talks. Delhi police , the commissioner or for that matter police in general in India will not be found wanting in this aspect.<br /><br />Recently there was ghastly incident in Delhi when a girl from North East working in a BPO was gang raped in a movie vehicle. As 2 girls were dropped by their company vehicle late at night, bunch of men driving a tempo truck kidnapped one of the girls and fled away. Other girl, her friend, called the police control room soon after. Kidnapped girl was found next day dropped at some location after being raped. That Delhi is not just a political and national capital of India but also a rape capital is not a secret. This is a city where 1 rape is 'reported' every day. In year 2010 itself there have been around 398 rape cases so for. It is also not a secret that Most of North India and Delhi region is unsafe for women and a sexually aggressive culture is one of the reasons. Girls from North east are often the target primarily because of cultural insensitiveness and stereotyping which tag them as 'loose and easily available'. But this is not the point I want to disuses here. Why does North India and Delhi in particular has a certain attitude and behavior towards women is not what concerns me in this post. What concerns me is what Delhi Police commissioner said on a TV debate while discussing the aforementioned gang rape incident.<br /><br />The commissioner argued that had BPO vehicle stopped for some time more , the incident would not have happened and that BPO and other employers need to be more responsible around safely of women employers. Now these are fair points. But fact is that commissioner was indulging in diversion here. Let me tell you why. Main responsibility of police is to maintain law and order so that citizens of country can lead normal lives without fear, day or night...yes day or 'night'. What if woman in question was not a BPO employee but just another woman on her own returning home after a late night train or flight or dinner or party or after work or after just taking a night stroll ? Would she then be a legitimate target for kidnap and gang rape? This is ridiculous argument. Agreed that one has to be careful at night and specially knowing that Delhi is not safe. But does Delhi police has no role to change this status quo ever? Point I want to make is that commissioner was conveniently shifting blame on BPO whereas maintaining law and order is Police's job. After kidnapped girl's friend called the police helpline, the vehicle carrying those criminals passed as many as some 10 ( or in that range) police checkpoints and was never stopped. Why? According to commissioner Police has to know make of vehicle and its number to look for vehicle . This is preposterous. If Police gets a distressed signal of a kidnap of a girl at 1 am in morning, shouldn’t it stop and check all vehicles in that area! Don’t we see arbitrary, traffic stopping checking at peak hours during day sometime, so why couldn’t it be done in this case at 1 am in morning when traffic is thin. It could have saved a girl from getting raped for god sake. From what we hear, police hardly reacted on time after getting the distress call and a girl was raped in vehicle as it was moving around the national capital streets passing police check points. How tragic and what a failure.<br /><br />There are many aspects to this case which speak a lot about how bad our policing system is (e.g. the culprits were routine offenders and should have been under watch) and I don’t want to comment on it here. But it is unnerving that commissioner of police instead of accepting that there are things that are not working and need to be changed is indulging in diversionary talks. There is a little hope of change when that happens.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-36965167185267377262010-02-19T15:02:00.026+05:302010-02-19T17:34:19.301+05:30Travels in Central India Part 3- Mandu<div align="justify">I had absolutely no idea what to expect from Mandu or Mandav and all I knew was that I had 3 days on my disposal and no definite plan to reach anywhere. I heard of Mandu fleetingly in a conversation and knew that it was known for its historical ruins and monuments. So on bright sunny Christmas morning I took bus to Dhar a town known for Raja Bhoj. Raja Bhoj, a philosopher king is a well known figure in Indian history and Dhar was the capital city of Paramara Dynasty to which Bhoj belonged.<br /><br />Today, Dhar like many other small Indian towns is congested, noisy and chaotic. Urinal at bus station was dysfunctional and actually had half a dozen people living there and playing cards. Somebody was burning heap of garbage on corner of square in front of bus station and loud advertisement for some local product was blaring from loudspeaker hung on terrace of a bigger looking shop. The policeman posted to control traffic on square was busy talking to a young man on bike, perhaps trying to extract some money in compensation for breaking traffic rule, as rest of traffic was trying to meander its way around a big stubborn cow, not bothered of blaring horns, carelessly passing the road while chewing the cud. Overhead, blue sky could be seen from a maze of hundred criss -crossing electricity wires and all kinds of political and religious banners hung on ropes attached to poles and building on either sides of square. I found a small bus parked in corner of station which was to leave for Mandu. It had a very vocal family seated inside who were eating poha and bananas with banana peels summarily being deposited out of the window. The kids were excitedly talking about going to Khala’s (aunt) place and their dad was telling another man how much children enjoyed during last Id when they visited Ammi’s house. Within few minutes the bus was full and started. A man, conductor of the bus, standing near the Bus door on the foot mat was loudly shouting ..’Mandu Mandu Mandu’, soliciting passengers to Mandu even as the bus made its way slowly through chaos on road out of the bus station and ahead of square. In no time bus had passengers, sitting, standing and hanging wherever possible. </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><br /><img src="http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/madhyapradesh/mandu-fort.gif"/><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Day 1</strong><br />After half an hour drive, I could see the plains making way for small hillocks and plateau. It was lovely December morning and when I saw the glimpses of a ruin of what perhaps was a mosque, I knew that I was going to enjoy Mandu. Just before noon, bus finally left me at main square, in front of Jami Masjid and I saw a dozen buses and cars parked and offloading tourists. A big bus with banner of a school plastered on its side had bunch of chirpy kids surrounding it with their teacher trying in vain to get the unruly lot to form a queue The Ram Mandir (temple) in front of Masjid was full of people attending last day of weeklong yoga workshop. I had come to Mandu when it was full of tourists due to Christmas weekend and I hurried to find myself a place to stay. Govt has restricted new construction in Mandu and there are just 3,4 small lodges and Tourism department hotels here. Luckily I got a place to stay in one of better lodge which had immaculately green lawn and overlooked the gorge (kakra khoh) and villages down in it. Bag was deposited, a map bought, a cycle rented and I was on my way. What A day it was. Balmy winter sun, clear blue skies and aroma in the air. Most people come to Mandu on a day long trip, day trippers as they are called, visit some well known monuments and go back by evening. But if you really want to enjoy Mandu , you got to stay here for at least 3 days explore the place on a cycle. Mandu as it turns out , is a natural fort on top of plateau in Vindhay range and has a ruined city spread in around 20 square km , sprinkled with historical buildings and monuments of bygone era. It is also called celebration of love and life in stone and it is quite true, for such is beauty of the place. Built by Hindu Rajput kings of Malwa on a plateau protected by Kakra khoh (deep ravine) on all sides, the fort was won over by Muslims rulers during advent of Mughal empire and traces of it can be seen all around Mandu. One can observe that many muslim buildings have stones and pillars reused from dismantled Hindu temples.<br /><br />Jahaz Mahal (Ship Palace) is most popular attraction and is quite impressive. It was used by Ghiyas-ud-din-Khilji as his harem and is surrounded by two artificial lakes. One can stand here and imagine how it must have been in its day of glory when Sultan would visit his women who were housed in naturally air conditioned quarters around Champa Baoli (water tank) , whose waters it is said used to smell of Champa flowers. Many parties and orgies must have taken place in Hindola Mahal (Swing place) in front of Chmpa Baoli, which is quite unique in its architecture. There is a large courtyard in one corner of palace which was ostensibly used for royal dance parties under starlit skies. I met a small girl here, whose mother is employed with keeping place clean, who told me that at night courtesans who are buried nearby come alive and she said that she knows because she has seen them many times. I thought she was a very interesting kid to talk to. Around 10 minutes away from Jahaz Mahal are Lohani caves and sunset point. Lohani caves are small chambers cut in a rock face on one of the cliffs overlooking Malwa plains. Caves have a water cistern filled from natural water source and were used by Buddhist or Hindu mendicants and later by Mughal sentries protecting the fortress . The sunset from this place is quite amazing and one of the sights that I cherish from Mandu. As the night fell, I cycled back to my lodge. The night was still and silent and I could hear croaking of creatures of night interspersed by laughter of merriment carried from a distant hill by gentle breeze.<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aFj0_IeFm9QQI4QYEN_ER_SaTb-bLuv35aM96CMkJbJd28txqKf1cqaBDP3SpFpzVKhx5_W63tfZwU4nogTd3CnXG1Cq0nUUAEHrKLyTKNbsg8K_flOBVv72MV-LN2LaY_pVljsDGJE/s1600-h/jahajma.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439888663315261442" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aFj0_IeFm9QQI4QYEN_ER_SaTb-bLuv35aM96CMkJbJd28txqKf1cqaBDP3SpFpzVKhx5_W63tfZwU4nogTd3CnXG1Cq0nUUAEHrKLyTKNbsg8K_flOBVv72MV-LN2LaY_pVljsDGJE/s320/jahajma.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxu7WoPXHnkJZjcueyGnAnOOZdXBMF-bMVW_VZvJoHf_7fj2Oimalq6Bqaa4UevaBWdXE4eVHhge12EdY5Ez99Bl_E0am-NA4Nu2NmXq3Z-DSbCLvgxrD4mvGiBJziCwVIeCbAzFqVD0/s1600-h/HindolaMahal.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439889225925288770" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxu7WoPXHnkJZjcueyGnAnOOZdXBMF-bMVW_VZvJoHf_7fj2Oimalq6Bqaa4UevaBWdXE4eVHhge12EdY5Ez99Bl_E0am-NA4Nu2NmXq3Z-DSbCLvgxrD4mvGiBJziCwVIeCbAzFqVD0/s320/HindolaMahal.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvC8tXU0HrNA4jK-y7Y7pBWSAAlrt1F35ZdxRrpWdmGX7_EeicZRKg74xElMD2xFR5X7Lg2L186s0wfLesYbU0_PQi6yxHNfAMQNaAXIcbJePXxkLzs-rmUwIFGQCPF_BdGWNmmbFJ-k/s1600-h/SunsetAtMandu.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439890212994300754" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvC8tXU0HrNA4jK-y7Y7pBWSAAlrt1F35ZdxRrpWdmGX7_EeicZRKg74xElMD2xFR5X7Lg2L186s0wfLesYbU0_PQi6yxHNfAMQNaAXIcbJePXxkLzs-rmUwIFGQCPF_BdGWNmmbFJ-k/s320/SunsetAtMandu.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Day 2<br /></strong>There is something in bright sunny mornings. There is something in sun when it is not at its ferocious avatar. It gives you warmth which percolates inside you into your soul. Is that the reason that sun worship was so central to Hindus! It was one such morning and I took my cycle on my way to another popular spot called Baj Bahadur’s palace and Rani Rupmati's pavilion. It is around 6 km from the Jami masjid and on the way I stopped at many ruins along the road. Dai ka Mahal is quite interesting building. It was built by a poor woman. It is said that during its zenith, Mandu did not have any poor and every new citizen was provided with gold coins by residents and this is how Dai , a poor woman could build a palace for herself. Overlooking Dai's Mahal is echo point which was used by mughal sultan's sentries to shout to Dai whenever one of Sultan's women was to deliver a baby .She must have been very busy women considering the big harem of women the sultans had and absence of reliable birth control devices during those times.<br /><br /><br />Baj Bahadur's palace is the place where you get the essence of Mandu. The palace is build near Rewa kund (pond) which itself was built by Baz Bahadur to supply water to his consort and lover Rani Rupmati's pavilion which is situated on a hillock , some 500 meters away from Baj Bahadur's palace. When you stand atop Baj Bahadur's palace you can clearly see Rupmati's pavilion and it is said that in evening Rupmati, would sing for her lover and Baz Bahadur would hear her sitting in his palace. Baz Bahadur and Rani Rumpati's love story is extraordinarily unique. Baz Bahadur was a muslim king and Rupmati was a hindu shepherd woman who worshipped Naramada very dearly. After Baj Bahadur met her during a hunting trip, he married her in accordance with Muslim and Hindu rites. When Adham Khan, during battles of Deccan marched on the Mandu fort, Baz Bahadur confronted him with his small force and was defeated . Instead of falling into Adham Khan's hands, Rupmati poisoned herself and thus ended Baz Bahadur and Rupmati's love tale. Rupmati's Pavilion is on top of hill which overlooks Narmada river flowing in its glory in Nimmar plains. So on one side Rupmati could see her beloved Narmada , on other side she could gaze at her lover, Baj Bahadur. Rani Rupmati's pavilion is one of most scenic places in Mandu and on a clear day , one can see vast Nimmar plains. I find Baz Bahadur and Rumpati tale both fascinating and poignant , steeped as it is in times of music, poetry, love, wars and tragedy. Sarojini Naidu's beautiful poem "An Indian Love song" comes to my mind when I read Baj Bahadur and Rumpati's story, considering that both of them were from two religions which were at loggerhead at that point in history and yet found love for each other. Love after all conquers all divides: </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;"><strong>He </strong><br />Lift up the veils that darken the delicate moon </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">of thy glory and grace,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Withhold not, O love, from the night </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">of my longing the joy of thy luminous face,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Give me a spear of the scented keora </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">guarding thy pinioned curls, </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Or a silken thread from the fringes </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">that trouble the dream of thy glimmering pearls;</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Faint grows my soul with thy tresses' perfume </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">and the song of thy anklets' caprice,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Revive me, I pray, with the magical nectar </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">that dwells in the flower of thy kiss.<br /></div></span><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;"><strong>She </strong><br />How shall I yield to the voice of thy pleading, </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">how shall I grant thy prayer,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Or give thee a rose-red silken tassel, </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">a scented leaf from my hair?</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Or fling in the flame of thy heart's desire the veils that cover my face,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Profane the law of my father's creed for a foe </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">of my father's race?</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Thy kinsmen have broken our sacred altars and slaughtered our sacred kine,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">The feud of old faiths and the blood of old battles sever thy people and mine.<br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;"><strong>He </strong><br />What are the sins of my race, Beloved,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">what are my people to thee? </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">And what are thy shrines, and kine and kindred, </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">what are thy gods to me?</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Love recks not of feuds and bitter follies, </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">of stranger, comrade or kin,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Alike in his ear sound the temple bells </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">and the cry of the muezzin.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">For Love shall cancel the ancient wrong </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">and conquer the ancient rage,</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">Redeem with his tears the memoried sorrow</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">that sullied a bygone age. </span></div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">From Rupmati's pavilion I cycled my way to Fort of Sonagarh which is around 7 km. There is nothing much left in fort expect for its door but I enjoyed cycling to it. The afternoon was so beautiful that I could live there forever. On way to Soagarh, is temple of Nilakanth which is a Shiva temple clinging to a steep hillside and is unique because temple facade has a look of a mosque and has Persian inscriptions on it from the time when Akbar visited it during his stay in Mandu. The village kids around the road to Sonagarh would wave to me and shout "Hi, whats your name, which country!" Every second kid asked exactly same question. I guess they are used to seeing foreigners on cycles and perhaps thought that I was also one. Apart from well known monuments there are many other ruins which one can stop by. There is a very impressive Cavern building which was built in European style, and around Dai's Mahal is a ruin of mosque where one can clearly see use of temple pillars. On intersection of Rupmati road and Sonagarh is Hathi Mahal, a deserted place , perfect to get siesta under its tree covered courtyard. Jami Masjid is another beautiful building, built in year 1450 after a famous mosque of Damascus. Adjacent to it is Tomb of Hoshang Shah . Tomb is architectural marvel and it is said that architect of famous Taj Mahal in Agra had paid a visit here and used this white mausoleum as blueprint for building Taj Mahal. I must say that ASI (Archaeological survey of India) has done a good job of maintaining ruins of Mandu and must be commended in a country which is known to deface its historical legacy. In evening I cycled back to Sunset point and interplay of lights before the sun set was mesmerizing again. Just sitting on a hill side and watching the night fall on ruins is one amazing moment.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCnowiJM38rN2va3afJ0HPTfqx1EUcP58Atdv8PcBkHO9-MeeWkfPoJMSit2O5iD-D64szJtYOGoAIvOTFKpxLMgPql9_VIM3bZO8FQKrl-TjWCeIeNmEGSsWOCgFAqTPut62JzT8AaA/s1600-h/Daikamahal.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439891504361945906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCnowiJM38rN2va3afJ0HPTfqx1EUcP58Atdv8PcBkHO9-MeeWkfPoJMSit2O5iD-D64szJtYOGoAIvOTFKpxLMgPql9_VIM3bZO8FQKrl-TjWCeIeNmEGSsWOCgFAqTPut62JzT8AaA/s320/Daikamahal.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><strong></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eeayoNmzM0m_6XccE1QFgoElcUuDQIaR9zKljPopNOyONqor_3zDnygeIPrTnAJmDN8aQWE41Af0cD-ui7A2EIyR2aR7scYPLn1B7dmAHptDA7KQOOU_2FWBK8KRjl1caIrEx07QrSE/s1600-h/RupmatiPav.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439891993688799954" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eeayoNmzM0m_6XccE1QFgoElcUuDQIaR9zKljPopNOyONqor_3zDnygeIPrTnAJmDN8aQWE41Af0cD-ui7A2EIyR2aR7scYPLn1B7dmAHptDA7KQOOU_2FWBK8KRjl1caIrEx07QrSE/s320/RupmatiPav.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6B5SbU_uCPfqdGQJ-S-uaHhN-g9AW_Nk4iPABnprgNJnz29SG0G4DIRlybGGm3PZTYytIqfI3wXcAsC50jKxTlAL87gUN18btt5rgqh-zM7T-uGRvUbbikO2YipNfxkw_EYPVjSPLKmc/s1600-h/Sonagarh.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439892985724678530" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6B5SbU_uCPfqdGQJ-S-uaHhN-g9AW_Nk4iPABnprgNJnz29SG0G4DIRlybGGm3PZTYytIqfI3wXcAsC50jKxTlAL87gUN18btt5rgqh-zM7T-uGRvUbbikO2YipNfxkw_EYPVjSPLKmc/s320/Sonagarh.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Day 3</strong><br />Next morning was the most beautiful. I could understand why Mandu became city of pleasure. In rainy season it is said it becomes entirely green replete with vegetation and hundred natural streams that start flowing from plateau down to kakara khoh. In winters it is pure heaven, days are comfortably warm and evenings are cooler mixed with aromatic breeze. Summers are not as harsh as in towns of Malwa and in plains of Nimmar. There are many ruins and buildings one can explore. Gada Shah's shop has an impressive facade and is must visit. But the place I liked the most was little known and almost skipped by day trippers; Chisti khans's place. Take a book there, soak in sun with none to bother you, hear distant faint voices from tribals working in their fields down in kakara khoh (Kakra gorge or ravine), pure heaven. I thought of going down the hill to tribal villages but then love of cycling won over and I decided to cycle my way to a Fossilarium, around 7 km away from Mandu and outside the fort. The road is littered with ruins again, Zali mahal, some old temples, Delhi darwaza, etc. Fossilarium is small and can be seen from a distance due to two massive stone statues of Dinosaurs in its compound. Mandu is considered to be part of ancient Gondwana continent and places around it and Narmada valley are considered to be geologically very significant. 100 fossilized dinosaur eggs were found in Dhar region including Mandu in year 2007 and some of them are displayed in Fossilarium. Millions of years ego before kings and sultans made Mandu a pleasure resort, before love and songs reverberated in ravines around it ,Mandu was home to these gigantic creatures.<br /><br />“Origin of self initiated System of Systems resulted in the existence meaningful enough , that is being Shiva- According to Hindu mythology”<br /><br />Domed mausoleums Mughal palaces, mosques, ruins crumbling beside medieval reservoirs and precipitous ravines, a place where love roams in air, where tragedy lies buried in sands, a place where stones tell stories....that is quintessential Mandu or Mandav. And at the end , all I could say was "Incredible India".</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lX3yzPGjCbA2c7k746Nh_v-WAkwo41Wwwq8MGDRiCOTC3N2lmHOV7IDYM04XgD4tK4K9lSrdTArECGhOZq9gQwJhWAL6mXchLe-l1DOvDQO7epBY8v2JV4tLN38fadydiibuXEzTIYk/s1600-h/GadShah.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439895940673488226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lX3yzPGjCbA2c7k746Nh_v-WAkwo41Wwwq8MGDRiCOTC3N2lmHOV7IDYM04XgD4tK4K9lSrdTArECGhOZq9gQwJhWAL6mXchLe-l1DOvDQO7epBY8v2JV4tLN38fadydiibuXEzTIYk/s320/GadShah.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oX3_3TMqzq9Ubk079OK1F7E6A1mcfzuXGalK_J-2I-wE98U6QtkScq5l-y6mqrAs-xtgCCSpDp2hzoog4QK5zxGBTbUlGPustbw_UkDp8hzNriAMk8ST-hWg4gQw7CgSLNVRqexdh7k/s1600-h/JamiMasjid.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439896373735591378" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oX3_3TMqzq9Ubk079OK1F7E6A1mcfzuXGalK_J-2I-wE98U6QtkScq5l-y6mqrAs-xtgCCSpDp2hzoog4QK5zxGBTbUlGPustbw_UkDp8hzNriAMk8ST-hWg4gQw7CgSLNVRqexdh7k/s320/JamiMasjid.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5e8UThzrz30Oh6tqyZzisx4TDR-6CfAibSBna0TdijaOejk0ZNzbbdPRhJBzt8-AiQ0X7CJjgN1p13E1Mf4YiQ83Qpw_FqC784E7c8TbkH1-QG3-6EkEIRnfkXUExKqGY5EMgwlGKICI/s1600-h/HosangShah.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439897216827110290" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5e8UThzrz30Oh6tqyZzisx4TDR-6CfAibSBna0TdijaOejk0ZNzbbdPRhJBzt8-AiQ0X7CJjgN1p13E1Mf4YiQ83Qpw_FqC784E7c8TbkH1-QG3-6EkEIRnfkXUExKqGY5EMgwlGKICI/s320/HosangShah.JPG" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-92072190716323510582010-02-16T12:02:00.014+05:302010-02-19T17:43:24.731+05:30Travels in Central India Ujjain - Part2<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H1C2fF2xa6068kt4vhH0ytOtv8doLXCqbCsfUK7V5a7QQ51mk7oC-LTHJCFK0iwshekU-a6a70sXr8zqViKnR821-w_vYTudikkA2lgERwnRKZfSwx9XvwOP-oR9fIPHmGJsFqJbFiM/s1600-h/MahakalTemple.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438738649340028658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H1C2fF2xa6068kt4vhH0ytOtv8doLXCqbCsfUK7V5a7QQ51mk7oC-LTHJCFK0iwshekU-a6a70sXr8zqViKnR821-w_vYTudikkA2lgERwnRKZfSwx9XvwOP-oR9fIPHmGJsFqJbFiM/s320/MahakalTemple.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLV7ElcKycnY6lcyrAsk6tryO-82ahV8p7ebU6BdrMlsOUvgKIYWtVW0y_JfbybB_tzPlhoqo-gNcynt1dpQ_5X1cY7B373FgfyePZzFCz2NHwe3k3336ga7S-VDu-Atr-2qlD8yw-d6k/s1600-h/ShipraGhat.JPG"></a></div><div align="justify">Ujjain was one place I was really looking forward to see as I had rather romantic notion of it. Shyam Benegal's Discovery of India , every Sunday afternoon used to be my favorite TV program and names of cities like Kosala,Maghada, Avanti, Ujjaini had stuck in my mind. Ujjain is one of oldest cities of India and traces its history to ancient time. Ujjain saw its golden period during Gupta empire when it became a centre of Hindu leaning, art, science and trade. But the city finds references in book like Ramayana, so one can imagine how ancient it is.<br /></div><br /><div align="justify"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Day 1<br /></strong>Today's Ujjain is a different city, though still very important and holy for Hindus. One of its major attractions is temple of Mahakaleshwara, which is seat of one of 12 jyotirlingas in India. Reaching Ujjian from Indore is very easy as there are constant buses plying from Sarvate bus stand in Indore to Ujjain and it takes just about 2 hours to reach. Mahakaleshwara was the first place I visited and comforting sight was that temple didn’t have long winding queues which are often the case with famous temples. Temple itself is not very glamorous or impressive in its architecture or setting and I didn’t feel particularly spiritual either. There is some amount of jostling one has to sustain during darshans of Shiva lingam as you are pushed, pulled and manhandled by dozen others in pursuit to touch the holy stone. I don’t get it. Do people think that if they touch the shivalingam long enough or from a particular angle , it is going to eliminate all their pains and give them instant salvation! May be this urge to hold the shivlingam arises because Mahakaleshwara is supposed to be self-manifested and one of rare lingams which is south facing. Anyway, I spent couple of hours in the temple and then walked around other temples;and there are too many here, bada ganesh, chotta ganesh, wrinmukta ganesh, rudraganesh and normal as we know him ganesh.<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438727741406146258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHpHQ8xDKXUTXKeNgvGq8guW5FKZ5t_JEZv1ahvXhbh-egWSf9IYOGnp1sT_gqqVuz9cJFNilW-e9hKTQuLAs95pt5e2tzdJbw9FJYBgCa-ANlTO6a1dz9CK_lXRN4QRSSIgSgoTjhGA/s320/Shipra_evening-arti.JPG" border="0" /><br />The place I wanted to really see was ghat of river Shipra, so I asked someone around and set off in that direction and came across a water body which looked stagnated, covered with moss and place around it was garbage dump of some kind with open drains overflowing into it. And my heart sank. This was not happening. Ujjain was to be glorious city of Kalidas and navratnas where pundits and Brahmins walked on streets, where lofty conversations on art and religion were held under banyan trees. And all I was seeing was garbage lying around roads, poor emaciated cows and beggars. I cursed myself and felt pangs of sadness. So is this the Holy city of Ujjain! What is holy about it beyond legends? keep the faith I told myself. Be patient.<br /><br />So I walked down and reached ghats of real Shipra river. This was better place . Only slightly. Thankfully it wasn’t crowded and I sat on the ghat and watched dozen people coming , worshipping , offering, getting naked and bathing in the river. Women with saris, portly men with half of their body fat hanging out…. Shipra let everyone in. Among the crowd which was gathering for evening prayer, I met this old farmer Bhagirath who was on a 300 km padyatra around holy places along river Narmada. Illiterate but wise and interesting and yet so simple man was such a delight. He made me see Ujjain, Shipra, ghats and about to start evening Aarti in a different light. There are millions like him, simple and humble men who still carry the flag of our culture which is not blind rituals and apathetic symbolism most have started indulging in. Evening aarti on the ghat where prayers are offered to holy Shipra was fantastic experience. First time for me, unique experience of music created by cymbals and bells and drums and chanting of mantras along with incensed lights just as the day was fading into laps of darkness. So I bid farewell to Shipra and walked back to main city and into its narrow streets. The bazars at night were brilliant. There was a fragrance in the air. There were streets which look hundred years old with equally ancient buildings and shops and with equally old shopkeeper selling equally old wares. Large section of the bazars are owned by muslims. Ujjain being one of holy cities for hindus was always under attack by invaders and signs of those time can be seen around. I walked around the city until city started shutting down and then...<br /><br /><strong>Day 2<br /></strong>Next day I woke up early, googled what else was an attraction in Ujjain, asked locals and set to Bhartrihari caves. I have read story of Bhartrihari in my school days including some chapters form his seminal book called Bharithari Shatak. Bhartrihari for me is an important figure in Indian history, but so little known . He represents man's two eternal quests- enjoying the material world and looking for metaphysical . It can't be said whether his story with Rani Pingala was real or a legend but one thing is certain that he was a man who enjoyed pleasures of life to hilt before renouncing it for quest of ‘truth’. His shatak has 3 volumes or sections, Shringar Shatak, Niti Shatak and Varagya shatak. Roughly coinciding with his phases in life when he was lover of women ,a king of Ujjain and when he renounced and became a Yogi. Sample this very crude translation of one of his couplet from Shringar shatak:<br /><br /><em>"There are only two ways worth living,<br />either roaming in valleys of woman's body<br />or exploring valleys of Himalayas."</em><br /><br />Bhartrihari Caves are around 5-6 km away from Mahakleshwara temple and situated on banks of Shipra river. But river here is dirty and stagnated. This makes me very angry. Same people who worship river in evening with flower, also offer it all our civilizational garbage. I reached there early morning with no tourists around and spent time in chamber under huge stone where he meditated for 12 long years. The place has vibes. Sit there with eyes closed and meditate for some time to know it. Three sahdus from Pir sect (I thought so looking at their big black ear rings) who live there were smoking holy pot and trying to get enlightenment. One of them high on substance exhorted me to donate for "service of cows" but all I could offer was my middle finger.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438729115354551874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU89bTUGKFHeHwHKyz7t_UUXkcYxy5N8HTTGrG42kS_QuYxg8JUnCEIiif5NX3UM4C_swhYsC_0fE15rdMdUNf-w0jIHFLs9bZ-65uO4xCsxbKZzxRKMm5j2nJyqygKR4HTAbHV-Z964g/s320/Bhartiharicave.JPG" border="0" /><br />From caves I moved to temple of Gadkalika where great poet Kalidas is supposed to have worshipped. I found wild berry trees around temple more interesting. It is such a pleasure of life to be able to collect berries form lush and full trees and pop them in your mouth. I could have spent entire day eating berries, lying on grass and sleep. Men are after all evolved from monkeys. Around 15 minutes walk from Bhartrihari cave, on a small hillock is Pir Matsyendranath. This is supposed to be samadhi of adi-guru Matsyendranath who , as legends have, had learnt from Lord Shiva the art of Kriya Yoga and then taught to his more famous pupil Guru Gorakhnath. Samadhi which was in Muslim control for long time, now has a sadhu as its keeper and he was very happy to see me. He told me that there is no place more powerful than this. He gave me a prayer’s mat and said go and meditate near his samadhi and see for yourself. So there on a brilliant sunny day, with noise of gentle crows nearby and fragrance of slowly burning wild herbs (I forgot what it is called but it is amazing) I sat and closed my eyes ,said "OM", took my breath and mind down in my spine hoping to raise it further up and invoked great guru Matsyendranath. I don’t know what it was but I couldn’t keep my eyes close. They started fluttering uncontrollably. Guru was telling me "Go son, you ain't ready yet. Your heart is full of sin. You have debts of hundreds unfulfilled karmas and you are carrying guilt on your soul." I spent 2 hours there and promised to sadhu that I will come back one day and stay him. Incidentally, Pir Matsyendranath is skipped by religious tourists who flock to temples and holy trees and pujas where quick shortcuts for a better afterlife or material prosperity are in offer. I will have to come back here.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438734305361734290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur_GnnCDPRFAqOEv4E1964oW9uIwmzEZjTMTbkyZEE6rCBqRdKHL5GdHbaHLY9Mlv-CmevIHfHxXCSq0lObMm5TcObmIW84NPaODYK3EH_0KxkWXi1D490qvips8CLD4lxp3cgOTTOY8/s320/Sidhawat.JPG" border="0" /><br />From Pir Matsyendranath, I moved to a holy banyan tree called Siddhavat on banks of Shipra which ostensibly doesn’t grow or die for centuries and even after Some Muslim king tried to murder the holy tree under tons of stones. I sat near the tree for some time watching complex rituals being performed enmass and then moved on and went to Kaliadeh Palace which is also on banks of shipra and is in ruins now. A good site to visit but could be better developed from tourism point of view. The palace was ostensibly sun temple but with nobody looking after it , it has now become a dating place for dogs. From here I rented a Jugadu local transport for 50 bucks which is called tempo. I agreed with driver that I will pay him fixed 50 rupees for 4 sites with added incentive that he is allowed to seat any lonely female looking for lift midway. This is monster of a vehicle, runs on a diesel engine with a thousand years old starting mechanism (priming the engine with rope) ,makes noise like a woman delivering baby and can seat 100 people like in one of those fevicol advertisement. My next stop was Kal Bahirov temple the god which is fond of alcohol. Temple is again thousand year old and nobody knows where does all the daru which is offered to deity goes. I theorized with a vendor selling trinkets that there might be secret chamber under the temple but he found it to be too sacrilegious. Anyway, I bought a small bottle of whiskey and offered it to Bhairov which it drank without saying cheers. I had strong urge of joining this friend of Bacchus but preferred to keep my vow of no alcohol while touring the holy city.<br /><br />From here with my trusted Tempo and a very verbose driver I moved to Temple of Mangalnth which is, Ripley's believe it or not, a birthplace of planet Mars. Yeah right there was planet Mars born before it ejected out to outer space. Oh by the way, driver also showed me a temple in a distant field which he said is right on top of centre of earth because line dissecting the earth in two equal halves passes right through that field. After meeting Mangalnath I moved to Sandipani Ashram where lord Krishna had studied. There is a water tank there which is called Gaumti kund where Krishna used to clean his slate (so it is called Aksharpat).A little Shiva temple there is unique for two reasons if you like subtleties, 1.) Nanadi is standing (usually Nandi facing Shiva is always sitting) 2.) Temple has a Shri-ynatra made in its roof. There I met an interesting man who claimed to be direct descendent of Guru Sandipni himslef!! Incidentally he also said that he worked as a software engineer at one point of time.He told me some interesting things like why Krishna needed to study if he was all -knowing incarnation of Good! Or why we never take full circle of shiva. By now I was getting into spiritual mood of Ujjain and city was growing on me but so was the darkness around. So I bid goodbye to this amazing city with a promise to return sometime and boarded my bus back to unholy Indore.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-8755747157377233782010-01-06T17:55:00.006+05:302010-01-06T18:12:06.765+05:30Travels in Central India - Part 1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTpoe3Wn80HBUsuBCL3zxj0IuyvF4ZmY9TCE7jaztl8BOnqKPDL8spmuiFeORvBuFDFyQrP0wtNKlgbwEqtYpaVZfwLi53uBoCxdFEv8tzMRiondTUSOWBZz06acld5HKAqsvR4l1Rc4/s1600-h/ShipraGhat.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423604240284378546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTpoe3Wn80HBUsuBCL3zxj0IuyvF4ZmY9TCE7jaztl8BOnqKPDL8spmuiFeORvBuFDFyQrP0wtNKlgbwEqtYpaVZfwLi53uBoCxdFEv8tzMRiondTUSOWBZz06acld5HKAqsvR4l1Rc4/s320/ShipraGhat.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><p align="justify">I have visited many places in south and north India but never had chance of visiting central India. Recently I got opportunity to work for a month in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indore">Indore </a>which is in state of Madhya Pradesh, very much the central India and I decided to explore some places during long weekends. My first impression of Indore was that it had looks of typical provincial town - it is dirty and crowded, roads are terrible and traffic is chaotic. Very much like any other Indian city, you might say. Indore, it seems, is one of fastest developing cities in India and has become educational hub with dozens of colleges and also on its outskirts, in place called Pithampur, it now has one of biggest Industrial areas of Asia. Indore in fact is also called mini-Mumbai but considering what has become of Mumbai of lately, It shouldn't be seen as a matter of pride. My first week in Indore was extremely depressing. City is such that it can leave you mad. Every second person on streets, chew paan masala and spitting is almost a second nature to everyone. In fact spitting is so rampant that if you are in Indore (or elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh, as I learnt later), you are advised to stand clear of any window, buses and other vehicles because you never know when someone will roll down the window and spit copious quantities of red saliva. It is almost a malaise there. You see on roads, driver of cars suddenly opening the doors to relieve their mouths of paan laden salvia, all the while when car is speeding. Being an Indian, you would expect me to be immune to this, but no, you have to see this phenomenon to believe it. Imagine thousands or may be lakhs of people in coordinated spitting spree and you get the picture. Custodians of Indore city and generally of Madhya Pradesh would do very well by launching a mass anti-spitting campaign.<br /><br /><strong>How to Travel?<br /></strong>If you like backpacking and travel cheap and believe that best way of really seeing a place is by travelling in local transport then there are some things you should know about Madhya Pradesh. First, local buses here are as big as matchboxes but they contain an ocean of humanity within them. Chances are that if you happen to be any taller than 5 feet, then you have to cut off your legs below knees to fit your body inside the seats which are designed for kids. And obviously that is only if you can get a seat in bus which is more often than not packed like can of sardines. And if you could still survive the campiness, you have to face another challenge, smoke of beedis. People in these parts, love beedis and they love to smoke while travelling. And no, you can't complain to driver or conductor of bus because they themselves smoke. It is a normal, accepted behavior. Do I hear about smoking ban in public places! Nobody would have heard it here. Only thing which works is hostile stare and threat of violence.<br /><br /><strong>Travel Times<br /></strong>And now something important, especially if you are time challenged and want to squeeze the time you are going to spend on road. Average speed possible while travelling in local buses is 20km/hr. So normally everywhere else in world, if your destination is 60 km away, you would expect to reach in 1 hour, but not in Madhya Pradesh. Here you should be happy if you can reach in 3 hours. The reasons are many, buses don’t run they drag and then they stop every 2 miles to unload and load sea of people. There are just too many people everywhere. Roads are so bad at places that they resemble lunar surface and at places they are as wide as pissmark. To make things worse, most drivers have no lane sense. By the way, the slowness of travel is not limited to just local buses but also to many trains. For example one of the trains which I almost took form Indore to Bhopal, around 300km away, takes<br />7 hours and stops at some 20 stations.<br /><br /><strong>Where to Stay:<br /></strong>In most town getting a cheap place to stay is easy but do check water supply in toilets. In one of town called Pipariya , where I arrived very late in night , I got a room which the manager proudly told me was royal suite fitted with bathing tub and other modern amenities like a local type of four poster bed. Well, in morning, with my pants down I found out that there wasn’t any water in toilet and bath tub had cobwebs. In Ujjain, I had to fight and shut up hotel guys who would sit outside my room ,shout loudly and argue over lost towels from rooms, all at midnight. In Pachmarhi, the Bengali families which had invaded the town, had taken it on themselves to not let anyone sleep, in audible range, so excited were they at finally coming on picnic.<br /><br /><br /><strong>People, Food and Cows</strong><br />In this Middle India, everyone seems to take middle stance, centre of both left and right. Binary logic is unknown in these parts. If you ask anyone some question, chances are that you will hardly get the definite answer. Also more people you ask, more varied answers you will get for same question. Don’t trust anyone for what he says. It is not that they are malicious. It is just that they are "like this only". And finally, nowhere else have I seen such veneration to cows. Even being and Indian and having default in-built deference to the holy animal, I found local devotion beyond my comprehension. In most cities or towns you will find posters and banners extorting public to save cow. In some places, like Ujjain, I saw proclamations like "Only Cow can save the universe". Blimey, how please! And in most towns you see cows abandoned on roads and forced to eat paper and plastic garbage. Ah! talking about eating and food, the little said the better. Place is not known for its cuisines. Or maybe it is because I am not that fond of food or a connoisseur so I didn’t look for places where I could relish some local dishes. But whatever I ate at places which you are bound to get to while backpacking (like bus stands, cheap hotels, railway stations etc.) was certainly not remarkable. I mean, what is the deal with Poha and Kachori and Jalebis for breakfast and lunch and dinner! I am sticking to vegetarianism and only option I could see was "spicy chats" masquerading as food. With all due respect “Poha Jalebi” is worse kind of food I have seen. Poha and Jalebi separately, I can understand ; But together? May before I leave this place, I will make an attempt and discover some food here.<br /><br /><strong>Central India – what is?<br /></strong>Ok, so now that I have offloaded all my pent up anger, I can move on to positive side of things. For me, whatever little travels I did, have been a discovery of central India and I loved it. From Administrative point of view, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_India_Agency">central India</a> comprises of states of Madhya Pradesh and newly formed Chhattisgarh. Though seeing central India from a historical perspective is more interesting because there are different regions each with its unique history and culture. This makes travel in each region unique. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malwa_(Madhya_Pradesh)">Malwa</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimar">Nimmar </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundelkhand">Bundelkhand </a>can be broadly seen as 3 distinct regions. Malwa is central west part occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Ujjain, Indore, Mandu, Omkareshwar are some prominent places in Malwa. The culture of the region has had influences from Gujarati, Rajasthani and Marathi cultures and Malwi is the most commonly used language in villages. Nimmar lies on south west part of Madhya Pradesh and Khandwa and Burhanur are prominent towns in it. Nimadi languages or dialect is spoken in these parts. Bundelkhand is central northern parts in Madhya Pradesh and some places in Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi, Orcha, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho etc. are important towns or cities in region. There have been some demands of making Bundelkhan into a separate state. Bundeli is a common dialect of region. Central India is also home to one of India's largest and (well) holy river called Narmada which forms boundary between south and North India as it flows from west to east. Flowing between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satpura_Range">Satpura </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindhya_Range">Vindhya </a>hill ranges, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narmada_River">Narmada </a>has religious significance and in some village, I found people greeting others as "Narmade" (respect to Narmada), very heart warming. Satpura and Vindhya ranges were once thickly forested and housed various animals. Most of forests have now been cleared and animals poached for man's wanton desires. But many national parks and reserves have been created in recent times to control the damage and preserve some of natural bounty. Central India is also home to some ancient tribes and tribal tour is very exciting to see a different people and culture. I couldn’t do that because of being time poor. But will return some day.<br /><br />So, Central India as it turned out is really the heart of India, as the MP Govt. tourism also says "India ka dil dekho" (come and see India’s heart). It has some amazing forests and tiger reserves in Bundelkhand and Malwa, Geologically, parts of it are as old as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana">Gondwanaland </a>and some of its cities like Ujjain have been at centre of golden period of Hinduism. Malwa region has been hotbed of political turmoil in times of kings and nawabs and is replete with architecturally significant sites. If you are patient and tolerant, then the region exposes it real beauty as I found out.<br /><br />To be continued..................</p><br /><div align="justify"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-2803483301618608112009-07-08T18:26:00.006+05:302009-07-08T19:53:20.144+05:30What is Indian Culture!<div style="text-align: justify;">I recently visited Ladakh which I always thought as a magical and mystical land. And so it is. The Place is so stunning that when you see it for first time you can’t help but get overawed. What make it mystical, apart from moon like terrain, are its denizens, most of who practice Buddhism, a mystical religion and way of life. Ladakh literally means land of high passes, surrounded by greater Himalayan passes, some of which are highest in world. Being in rain shadow, it hardly ever rains in Ladakh which explains the harsh, rocky dessert terrain. Ladakhis have a unique culture of their own which was created by various influences from traveling mendicants of Tibet to tradesmen stopping -by en-road the legendry skill route.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuMnfMGzUo6A7jWluxPL9QBmh043QlfBPllEPcWNDQ2h3Bl-afiV-D1EYx4cm1md0gBwJ51fNAwno44qY4uN9yzlARCMlR-mBY0ff-GYB7E6Dk1aLSb6eq_Zk4H0DJz9a2A0XktidOzc/s1600-h/leh-indus.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuMnfMGzUo6A7jWluxPL9QBmh043QlfBPllEPcWNDQ2h3Bl-afiV-D1EYx4cm1md0gBwJ51fNAwno44qY4uN9yzlARCMlR-mBY0ff-GYB7E6Dk1aLSb6eq_Zk4H0DJz9a2A0XktidOzc/s320/leh-indus.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356074448361699826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The joy of travel and seeing a new place increases when you can indulge in a culture different than yours. While on a trek in Ladakh with my friend, I stayed with a Ladakhi family in a village as there were no hotels or lodges in the area. It was wonderful to spend time in a traditional Buddhist family. They invited us in their kitchen, let us see Buddhist prayer being performed by a lama, all the while supplying us Thukpa and hot tea. We got to know why our search for a local climbing guide called Norbu was fruitless, because every second ladakhi boy has Norbu as his middle name. While we were soaking in this new culture, we observed how kids of house were glued to television kept in a corner of kitchen. And no, they were not watching any Ladakhi channel or program, but some Hindi serial on zee TV. One of those serials which show beautiful women draped in glamorous saris plotting against each other and men who are rich but never seem to work and still live in palatial houses. So how would this exposure to Mumbai- Delhi culture (TV), change new generation of Ladakhi kids? It is said that Ladakhis never waste anything. They use and reuse everything which is locally available. Their houses are made of sand bricks, because sand is all around them. Water is scarce so where-ever get little water, they turn the land into a mini green oasis. Instead of using water to flush toilets, they use pits to store the human waste and convert it into manure for their farms. Nothing really gets wasted there. But it is changing slowly. Now a new supply chain is opened from rest of India and locals don’t have to be frugal anymore. Many will call it Ladakh’s integration with India. Or would it be Ladakh's dependence on India!!<br /><br />Renowned lyricist Gulzar was in Tribal district of Chamba in Himachal recently and he was aghast and angry by change in art and music tradition of locals. During a function he found tribal singers singing bollywood songs. In a public speech he lamented this “erosion of culture”, or as he termed it.<br /><br />Then while browsing TV, I happened to watch some program where a little 5 years old girl was performing in a talent hunt. She danced to a very garish bollywood item song as her mother watched adoringly. One of the Judges, Sonali Bendre was shocked and other judge Shekhar Kapoor asked the kid to stop midway. They couldn’t understand why a little kid was asked to perform on a number which was way beyond her age. But after the episode, Shekhar Kapoor while reflecting on incident said something which is very pertinent question. He said "We can’t really blame these kids. They are merely doing what they see on TV everyday. And they see Indian culture. <span style="font-weight: bold;">If Indian culture today is not Bollywood music and dance, then what is it</span>". What is Indian culture, indeed?<br /><br />If Indian culture's richness came from its diversity, if it came from a Ladakhi tradition or a Chamba's tribal folk, then how long will it survive against a bollywood cultural onslaught which is beamed into every house and which has defined a certain lifestyle which Indian middle class aspires for.<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-73448957152408058212009-04-22T15:21:00.003+05:302009-04-22T15:30:52.944+05:30On the Threshold of Eternity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Vincent_Willem_van_Gogh_002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 369px; height: 474px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Vincent_Willem_van_Gogh_002.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Oil on canvas by Vincent Van Gogh. <br /><br />Clinical depression is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities.<br /><br />The understanding of the nature and causes of depression has evolved over the centuries, though many aspects of depression remain incompletely understood and are the subject of discussion and research. Psychological, psycho-social, evolutionary and biological causes have been proposed.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-19474400319477776472009-03-12T22:58:00.006+05:302009-03-12T23:21:12.482+05:30What is wrong with Pakistan?Pakistan is in doldrums. It has <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/pakistan-in-crisis-india-gets-headache/87469-3.html">fallen into bad times</a>. It is being labeled as everything from a failed state to a global headache. Many have been asking this question: What is wrong with Pakistan?<br /><br />In My opinion the picture below answers the question very well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBEZtr1cHtn-rL0QEmgQksy-k9pnArhm_0Xe6Iu5g3lhKO0vM6_zYIfLPq1DGCtbaruO3mMQg8Qo8siMT_M4s0Q6tAKVaJq5Y3_3IMk1blGZJaU6rhPg2Ui22u5UHVUD4bgy_JdttLds8/s1600-h/pakcric.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 184px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBEZtr1cHtn-rL0QEmgQksy-k9pnArhm_0Xe6Iu5g3lhKO0vM6_zYIfLPq1DGCtbaruO3mMQg8Qo8siMT_M4s0Q6tAKVaJq5Y3_3IMk1blGZJaU6rhPg2Ui22u5UHVUD4bgy_JdttLds8/s320/pakcric.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312355762284013122" border="0" /></a><br />It is picture of Pakistani women's cricket team praying on cricket field after defeating Srilankan team recently in a world cup match. Some comments on a popular Pakistani blog, <a href="http://pakistaniat.com/2009/03/11/pakistan-womens-cricket/">Pakistaniat</a>, pretty much summaries why this picture is symbolic of all that is wrong with Pakistan:<br /><br /><br />One <span class="name">atheist</span> says :<br /><blockquote>its not a good sign to bring religion into everything especially things like this cricket match which was between two countries and not two religions. thanking god is a good thing but that should have been a personal gesture and not in the middle of a stadium. sports and religion shouldn’t be clubbled. isn’t mixing the religion with _all_ aspects of life one of the biggest problem for the country ?</blockquote><span class="name">adeel</span> writes:<br /><div class="commenttext"> <p></p></div><blockquote><div class="commenttext"><p>there are two things in this picture</p><div class="commenttext"> <p>I am not sure what to make of this picture. I guess if the girls really do want to display their gratitude like this, it is their choice.</p> <p>A wise man once said that the best form of service to God was not to make a show of it. One could infer that more subtle forms of showing thankfulness are desirous as Allah does not need to actually see us prostrate to accept it. By the way, the wise man’s name is Ali (r.a).</p> <p>On the other hand, if the girls are saying one of their daily prayers, I guess a mosque or a prayer room is more suited for it than a cricket pitch - unless it was hot inside!</p></div></div></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-79413577536324970132009-02-20T22:03:00.004+05:302009-02-20T22:24:41.961+05:30Dev D - In Love with Sluts<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZR0XDpwvvIMtneCazcASMrR37mSHq1Q9aEpb7tjjiaxJiK43IvXTkDwvW2ltgLGz_K32nXsOqrl8sYGWGL1uMF7Cb61wLMuwJPoDS_OIeuvKRchlvwWq2hlb9qXQHCnobVG7PdEU6I-E/s1600-h/dev-d-wallpaper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZR0XDpwvvIMtneCazcASMrR37mSHq1Q9aEpb7tjjiaxJiK43IvXTkDwvW2ltgLGz_K32nXsOqrl8sYGWGL1uMF7Cb61wLMuwJPoDS_OIeuvKRchlvwWq2hlb9qXQHCnobVG7PdEU6I-E/s320/dev-d-wallpaper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304923334969579586" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Nah, this is not a review of <a href="http://www.devdthefilm.com/">movie</a>. If you are looking for a review , I suggest you <a href="http://passionforcinema.com/dev-d-the-first-cut-is-the-deepest/">check this one out on Passion for Cinema</a> but do stay away from Taran Adarsh and his ilk.<br /><br />This is just a short note on Movie. I have watched it couple of times and possible more and I guess I am gonna watch it couple of times more.<br /><br />For me, personally, Pardeshi song in Movie pretty much summarizes the whole experience.The setting of the song, the state in which Dev is at that point in life, on cusp of ejecting out from Paro's orbit and falling into Chanda's, the 3 guys dancing in bar, the graffiti on the wall behind them, everything is piece of art and brilliant cinema. Dev D gets drunk and stoned and those who have ever had that sort of experience would know that the scene of Dev walking to loo during the scene and putting his face into water, with blood oozing out of his mouth, the numbness and what follows pretty much says it all. Incredible music and lyrics to match it,.......<br /><br />"o pardesi, o pardesi,<br />mitha sa chadha hai bukhar,<br />he re mai thahra pardesi!"<br /><br />Umm....That feeling, how well it has been put into words....."Meetha sa bukhar"<br /><br />Cheers to pain, agony, addiction to self destruction and aimless wandering....... and there is Chanda , with cig in her hand, sitting cross legged, watching Dev stumbling into her room.......WELCOME HOME.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-89622240678703067022009-02-09T21:13:00.007+05:302009-02-22T20:47:42.928+05:30Muthalik, Sri ram sene - a Coward and his impotent followers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wWWZnwGTl5SLq6NjydVaq6v45mQiuTb1HDIt0eCpCHtX-GFlBD5DuHfZseEBw7agR0lTy2zbW9pVoYDt6U9KpAyAi6Fp2nah83yV1LX1ejV98fdz4Qep6SqQv_T9dbiZUn3NWnl-hyY/s1600-h/pinkchaddies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 97px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wWWZnwGTl5SLq6NjydVaq6v45mQiuTb1HDIt0eCpCHtX-GFlBD5DuHfZseEBw7agR0lTy2zbW9pVoYDt6U9KpAyAi6Fp2nah83yV1LX1ejV98fdz4Qep6SqQv_T9dbiZUn3NWnl-hyY/s320/pinkchaddies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300841196744189890" border="0" /></a><br /> India is country of paradoxes. If it has generated some incredible spiritual thoughts in times when rest of world was walking around the planet naked and hunting deer, it has also at same time, produced some insanely stupid men in times when world has progressed from caves to computers.<br /><br />One such men is one called Muthalik in Bangalore (or Bangaluru) . Now this Muthalik is a head of fringe group called Sri Ram Sene which nobody in this country knew until few weeks back. Until these guys walked into a pub in tow with TV cameras and beat up women present in the pub to protect Indian culture. Since then these guys have been making all kinds of comments on what they think Indian culture is and how they will beat anybody to protect this culture against any (perceived or real) corruption. Now I can analysis this logically and write a erudite piece here to explain this phenomenon, and how it is a tussle between India and Bharat, but that would be useless. Because neither these guys understand any logic or reasoning, nor do they deserve it. All they deserve is an answer in their own language which is one of violence and hatred. I hate people like Muthalik because he is as ugly as an asshole and he stink badly. He needs good thrashing. And that is what all of his so called supporters need as well. They need to be fought against in their own language. Using language of violence.<br /><br />Muthalik is a pest. He cant be a Hindu because he is not even half a man. Just by wearing vermilion on his forehead he does not become a Hindu or its spoksperson. He is sort of guy who would not even respect his own mother. Because he thinks that beating women is Hindu culture, on one or other pretext. For me he is not any different than the Muslim Mullah who wants to marry 10 women and want to keep them covered in name of culture and God.<br /><br /><br /><br />So I support all these protests against Muthalik and his fringe sex-starved (presumption but so be it) group of supports. There are women who want to <a href="http://thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com/">send him pink chaddies</a> this valentine's day, and I say, women, do it, by all means. There are people who want to hug publicly this valentines’ day and there are those who want to "pub bharo"... do all of this. But I say, go beyond it. If these people come in herds (like cowards usually come) to beat you, you retaliate. Beat them back. Break their heads. Hit them hard where it hurt the most. Don’t be afraid.<br /><br />We need to do it now because these fringe groups, these Taliban like forces are spreading deep and wide and faster than we think. They are spreading like weed which needs to be uprooted now or else it will be too late.<br /><br />So guys, stamp on them wherever you see them. Indian culture can do far better without these insane, half witted, men who use sacred vermilion to cover their own cowardice. So Mr. Muthalik , I am Hindu. I believe in God and I don’t. I celebrate Khajuraho as much as I celebrate messages in Gita. I will do all that which this country lawfully let me do. You keep out of my life, our life, and if you don’t like what we do, burry yourself in sand and if you coward come and want to fight with me, come like a man, alone, .........not with your cowards sena, not with your herd of impotent followers. And Muthalik did nobody tell you even that ...you look more like Ravana than Ram!!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-15900741298325541242008-12-21T22:38:00.003+05:302008-12-21T23:12:21.890+05:30Zahid Hamid and His Funny Programs on Pakistani TV<div style="text-align: justify;">If you are bored on a weekend, and want some humor, do check this lunatic who claims to be a Pakistani strategic expert called Jahid Hamid. Frankly, I haven't seen anything funnier than him on TV and best part is that he is damn serious about the whole business of his. He has incredible theories on almost all significant political events in world, which according to him are either Jews or Hindu Zionist (whatever it means) conspiracies to thwart the greatest nation on earth,Pakistan .<br /><br />Yes, as per him, Pakistan is destined to be the leader of Ummah and Muslim world and the rest of the world and; Zionists , both the Israeli Jews and Indian Hindus are conspiring for decades to destory Pakistan. He tells us how 9/11 was a Jews conspiracy and how Mumbai terror attacks were actually handiwork of Hindu Zionists. He also tells us how Indian foreign policies are based on Mauryan empire of ancient India or how numerous scientist in labs throughout India are researching and studying intricate manuscripts to develop advanced weapons for army (like shoes which makes a soldier walk for miles wihout tiring) and how Indian Government is using Chnakya niti as a philosophy in Indian Diplomacy.<br /><br />Jahid hamid is the most erudite, and knowledgeable security expert to have come out of great land of Pakistan. In fact , he could be the greatest Pakistani to have ever been born. So do check his videos of brasstack (his porgrame) on a Pakistani news channel c<a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zahid+hamid&search_type=">alled News1 on Youtube here</a>. He talks about everything in world , ranging from Jews conspiracy to dominate the international economic system to how pimples on a Muslim girls face are handiwork of Hindu zionists.<br /><br />And do check the beautiful girls acting as moderators or hosts on some of his shows. They seem to be trying hard to to seduce this dickhead , while sprouting innuendos and hatred of west in perfect westernized English. Go on Zahid Hamid...please entertain us more..........<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-70374133709642167022008-12-19T20:32:00.005+05:302008-12-19T21:06:14.077+05:30Mumbai Attack, Shiv Sena and lawyer for Kasab<p style="text-align: justify;">Shiva Sena has an editorial in its mouthpiece demanding an open , public hanging of Kasab. If I was asked what should be done with Kasab (Pakistani terrorist captured in Mumbai attack) soon after Mumbai attack, my answer had to be “shoot the bastard”. With some healthy dose of expletives. Such was the anger anybody would have felt. Such was the wanton violence Kasab and his cohorts had launched in Mumbai. Shiv Sena is also threatening lawyers not to stand in defense of Kasab.<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;">But whole point of having a system is that you don’t circumvent it, you do not undermine it. We have a justice system in place and even though it is flawed and rotten and downright stupid at times with lawyers like Jethmalanis who spin incredible theories in name of criminal laws, it still is a system better than instant justice of Mullahs or Talibans or Shiva Sainiks or collective wisdom of crowds or mobs. System should not be undermined but improved. The fact is that our justice system sucks at the moment. We have had instances where a petty thief spent 5 years in jail without trial. And we have had cases where Pakistani terrorists were in our jails for 3 years before they were “rescued” by a fantastic airline hijacking. Why the heck were we keeping an enemy of state locked comfortably in our jail without convicting him, is beyond me. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;">What we need in case of Kasab is speedy trial and conviction which I don’t think can be anything but death. Shiv Sena’s demand of a public hanging is natural. One can not expect anything else from a party which has built its “career” on baser instincts.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;">The real solution of Pakistani terrorists attacking us so blatantly is to kill them in their own dens..by secret operations. Instill fear in their minds. Pursue them until they are caught or killed. There is no reason why Dawood should be alive till now. There is no reason why Maulana Masood Azhar is not liquidated. Pakistan is a failed state, state which has only exported terrorism and fundamentalism all across the world. It is also a land of amazing conspiracy theories like theory of 9/11 being perpetrated by Jews or Mumbai attack being a handiwork of Hindu Zionists. We can not except Pakistan to co-operate with us and hand over the terrorists whom it has created and nurtured. We can not expect out diplomacy to work with them . We can not always keepm running to US asking for pressure to be put on Pakistan and we can not always try to be good guys by showing so called restraint. Countries are also like men, some are reasonable and some are not. While dealing with unreasonable ass****, one has to become like one.<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;">So yes, give a lawyer to Kasab, don’t hang him openly. But make the quick and without letting people like Jethmalanis and his ilk sprout higher wisdom in name of criminal justice. And use secret services to restart (stopped by one of our PMs) operations in Sindh , NWF and Baluchistan and bleed Pakistan. Let it know that if it can not handle non-state actors, then it has no right to exist as a state.<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Addition of 10 more portly havaldars at airport, more checknakas on roads and useless frisking in cinema halls would do nothing. Nothing but covert, offensive operations can protect us in long run from terror exported from outside. <br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-13292492195155147492008-12-11T22:38:00.005+05:302008-12-12T14:42:58.230+05:30Mumbai Terror Attack and the Anger withinDust finally seems to be settling down after a traumatic fortnight following the worst terrorist strike on India , in Mumbai, perpetrated by bunch of crazy lunatics across the border seeking their place in heaven with virgins by killing infidels in name of a God .<br /><br />What can men do to find a place in an elusive paradise!!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">For past two weeks, there has hardly been anything being discussed in country other than terror strike in Mumbai. Most of newspaper pages and magzines have been full of it. Even the cookery sections started with some mention of terrorism and what happened in Mumbai. The sports commentators had more to comment on terror than the sports. Almost every Indian blog that I read for past two weeks , had a post on the incident. Even blogs which untill now only wrote poetry, could talk nothing but terror attack on Mumbai. TV news channels were obvioulsy having a field day with many journalists covering what would be thier biggest news story.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />I was angry.Very angry. Like everybody else. It felt like a smack in your face. It felt like somebody barging in your house and slapping you hard. Many more were angry. Lot many, lot more. Many marched on streets with candles and many more with angry slogans and placards.<br /><br />"We are angry, we need action" Many shouted.<br /><br />For first time, it is been claimed that urban middleclass was so outraged that they took to mass protests. They shouted slogans against politicians, against corrupt system and our inpept leaders. The anger against terror soon turned into anger against our politicians who showed that most of them suffered from foot in mouth diesese which , proving to be highly contagious, during the crisis and afterwards spread like a wildefire. The worst hit was somebody named A- Chut-***** who went mad after being bitten by a stray dog and could talk nothing else but dogs and thier canine habits and even started barking . <br /><br />So what are we angry at? No doubt, the odacity of attack created the outrgae we witnessed, but then, we have been on recieving end of this kind of cross-border terror for many decades now. and have virtually become a soft state where anybody can enter, kill and bomb. Writing in Hindustan Time, Vir Singhavi perhaps analysed it best as to why Urban middle class was so angry this time. He wrote that our anger is actually menfiestation of realisation that we are impotent. There is nothing much we can do to change the scenario or avenge the attack. We dont have visivble targets which we can go and bomb like US did after 9/11 and neither do we have the will to do that. But worse, the anger against political class, is due to the fact that we (urban middle class) know that we can hardly do anything to replace them. Most of us do not go and vote and even if we do, our votes hardly count. Politics in India is played on various fault lines and identities and not on issues. People vote to their caste, religion, sect and region. Small urban middle class hardly changes the equation and thats the reason politicians dont care about some urban youth coming on roads and shouting against them. We tend to forget easily. After every bomb blast, we feel outraged, leaders make repetitive statement and then soon it is forgotten and we get back to our internal bickering in name of region and religion.<br /><br />As for as strong action against terror which is being demanded by citizens this time, I am afraid nothing much will change. We will get a central agency to unify our 100 incompetent Intelligence agencies, NSG will get cloned, we will see more policemen with bellies holdling AK-47s and thats about it. It will not change the fundamental issues of corruption, incompetence and impotence .<br /><br />Corruption , because that is how our Coast guards let mafias in Pakistan smuggle diesel into India through sea route, same route through which Mumbai invaders came. Because that is how fake identity papers can be made, ration cards be bought. Because that is how millions of Bangladeshis have enteretd into India and have vanished. Incompetenece , because that is how every intelligence agency claims to have the intelligence of attack but nobody acts, Even Pannu Panwala knows about the impending attacks. And Impotence, because only that can explain our patience with anybody who tries to mess with us, again and again. Because that is how Dawood Ibrahim can still mock us sitting in his palace, because that is how Maulana Azhar Mahmood can still openly roam in cities of Pakistan and keep sending boys to attack our parliament. Because that is how ISI can do all the damage and RAW can not even know of its own officers defections.<br /><br />Only option is to do what Israel Did after Black September, Go after these people and kill them in thier dens. Fear can only be faught with fear. But are we potent enough is the question!!<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-27274851303333089172008-11-11T18:35:00.009+05:302008-11-11T18:59:56.840+05:30Home SickThese images make me want to return home . Pictures are from cheenj, a traditional wrestling which is usually organized during village fairs in Spring season.<br /><br /><blockquote>Where skies are clear,<br />and sun shines bright.<br />to people, so gentle<br />return a day, I might<br /></blockquote><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBz1ZJdX3zNb6a67wK3G_kNpNxnnJh6jVP1lEGbhfR1jkHAA2XjibCaQdlGnBolPYSa4A0UjhnubNiPMgTVNjAiaX_TRbwMwaIitzf3Mxi0Kil3lHLl7J05JZOn9lHagBU0of9RoPt37M/s1600-h/cheenj.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 402px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBz1ZJdX3zNb6a67wK3G_kNpNxnnJh6jVP1lEGbhfR1jkHAA2XjibCaQdlGnBolPYSa4A0UjhnubNiPMgTVNjAiaX_TRbwMwaIitzf3Mxi0Kil3lHLl7J05JZOn9lHagBU0of9RoPt37M/s400/cheenj.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267389100486027346" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyIEGvEG777t1nKJvV7C6Qr15lHq032uWYuMtjDpQ900v5SssC4YKsKc_RdTpPOBhEVkLv4uaEPTOu6HQzQfFlaPR2r483YGz_EZFyNyJtGqEq_6JJZVFBs3wam2h6UTGlGzcieoHEGs/s1600-h/cheenj2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyIEGvEG777t1nKJvV7C6Qr15lHq032uWYuMtjDpQ900v5SssC4YKsKc_RdTpPOBhEVkLv4uaEPTOu6HQzQfFlaPR2r483YGz_EZFyNyJtGqEq_6JJZVFBs3wam2h6UTGlGzcieoHEGs/s400/cheenj2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267389828987424226" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">These photos are taken by <a href="http://khagta.com/">Himanshu Khagta</a>, I have used them here with his permission.</span> <span style="font-size:85%;"> Much better resolution is <a href="http://blog.khagta.com/2008/09/29/chheenj-fair-fagu/">here</a>.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-22441666447566578502008-10-23T12:19:00.003+05:302008-10-23T12:31:50.084+05:30Indian State - Losing its potency?<div style="text-align: justify;">Blame it on coming elections, in past couple of months, large tracts of India have singed in senseless violence. Many parts of India are witnessing riots between Hindu and Muslims. Violence against Christians which started in Orissa has spread to many other states. This happened after a prominent Hindu leader was killed by Maoists which have large number of converted Christian recruits in their ranks. Hindu fanatics then systematically targeted converted Christian tribal by killing them, burning their property and raping nuns.<br /><br /> *<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"> <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">State by and large remained spectator. Many people commented that even though the violence is not the solution, there remains a problem with conversions. Symbol of state power, Police stood on the sidelines letting Bajrang Dal to run amok. They moved in only after substantial damage was done and “the lesson” was taught to convert Christians.</span></span><br /><br /><br />Cut to few years back, in state of Gujarat, a train carrying VHP’s Ram sevaks was burnt by rioting Muslims which sparked off massive religious riots across the state. Some say the attack on train carrying hindus was a Muslim conspiracy and some say it was a natural reaction of Muslims after being provoked by Hindus shouting religious solgans. In one of worse riots thereafter, Muslims were hounded, burnt and killed. Their women were raped and villages set on fire.<br /><br /> *<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> State by and large through out the riots remained mute spectator. Many people commented that even though the violence must be condemned, the riots were natural reaction to a violent act of train burning. Symbol of state power, Police stood on sidelines letting hordes of Hindu rioters burn cornered Muslims. They moved in only after substantial damage was done and “the lesson” was taught to the Muslims. </span><br /><br /><br />Rewind little more, year 1984, Prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh security guards. This was a revenge killing by Sikhs as Gandhi was blamed for flushing out the terrorists from holy Sikh temple. Ironically, the Sikh terrorist leader who was killed in raid was raised by Gandhi herself to keep Alkalis way from political power. Her killing sparked, large scale violence against Sikhs throughout the country and they were rounded up, insulted and burnt.<br /><br /> * <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">State by and large through out the riots remained mute spectator. Many people commented that even though the violence must be condemned, the riots were natural reaction to a killing of popular leader like Gandhi. Symbol of state power, Police stood on sidelines letting hordes of rioters burn cornered Sikhs. They moved in only after substantial damage was done, “the lesson” was taught to the Sikhs. </span><br /><br /><br />This week, in Maharashtra, we were witness to ugly scenes of goons of MNS and Shiv Sena beating students from North India. The hate campaign has been going on for quite some time and North Indians have been attacked since early this year. All this ostensibly on the pretext ranging from outsiders are taking up jobs meant for Marathi manoos to outsiders diluting Marathi culture. After Raj Thackeray was arrested this week, large scale violence mainly in Mumbai erupted and ”supporters” of MNS torched and damaged taxis and autos and beat up poor shopkeepers and vendors in perfect show of Marathi culture.<br /><br /> *<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">State by and large through out the hate campaign has been spectator. Many people commented that even though the violence is not the solution, the migration of outsiders remained a problem. Symbol of state power, Police stood on sidelines letting MNS activities run amok. They moved in only after substantial damage was done, “the lesson” was taught to outsider North Indians. </span><br /><br /><br />In all of these incidents, one thing is starkly common. The collusion of State or police with the perpetrators of violence. If you are a Hindu or Muslims or Sikh or North Indians or South Indian or Tamil, Marathi or Dalit of whatever and you are being taught a lesson, the Police will stand on sidelines and let the Law of land rip to shreds. <span style="font-weight: bold;">In this country where everybody is a trying to teach lesson to everybody else, and where State has lost its potency, the only minority left is an individual</span>. In such a lawless State where an individual and his property can not be protected, the question which needs to be asked is if such a State needs to exist or not!!<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-10703944340150627742008-10-17T14:04:00.006+05:302008-10-17T17:27:50.277+05:30Jet Airways Layoff episode<div style="text-align: justify;">India is increasingly becoming a country where rule of law is fast losing its meaning. From instances of crowds taking law in their hands to lynch buffalo thieves to politicians forcing businessmen in returning legally obtained land, we have numerous instances where mobocracy , loud rhetorics and petty politics is ruling the roost by subverting the laws of land. We Indians are unique for creating systems which we our self then seek to dismantle for short term gains. One such example is Jet airways fiasco where around 1800 employees on probation were laid off by Jet Airways to cut cost on its bleeding operation. Agreed that, the way Jet management handled the whole laying off episode showed off their poor HR practices but what followed after that was equally bad.<br /><br />First the laid off employees suddenly became socialist in their approach, very conveniently forgetting that until few hours back , <span style="font-weight: bold;">they were willingly part of a system where risk is as much part of game as reward</span>. Then they went even a step further and managed to politicize the whole matter by begging in front of MNS's Raj Thackeray. Other parties and sundry ministers then followed the suit and jumped into the bandwagon, until Jet <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080069084">Airways chairman had to do revert the decision</a> and ask laid off employees to join the duty back. Quite obviously he was pressurized by Government and politicians to do this, though, he said that it was because of his conscience (suddenly awakened).<br /><br />We know that global economy is facing unprecedented downturn, most of markets are melting down and big banks have fallen down like nine pins. Effect of global recession has started to show signs in India also. So in near future, many companies might have to tighten their belts and shed excess weight to stay afloat. And it is in this regard that Jet episode has created a bad precedence. Now we know that if some employees are laid off, all they have to do is organize dharna , call the media, cry on TV and tell sob stories of how their dreams were shattered and then approach opportunistic politicians to put pressure on management. Jet employees, for their own gains have setup a very bad example by involving Raj Thackeray. It is people like these employees, who ultimately give legitimacy to such politicians who feed on opportunities to further their own petty and short sighted gains. Nobody has asked who Raj Thackeray is to threaten a company to stop its flights from taking off until employees were taken back!! Wasn’t the company within laws to lay off employees on probation, and didn't these employees know that they could be removed while on probation!! Havent they signed contract for this while joining the company!! And by rushing to MNS, Jet employees have only fed a snake which one day could also bite them.<br /><br />In future if aviation industry in India does not recover and Jet is forced to shut shop, then these 1800 employees of Jet can go back and join Government services where they can live off lesser rewards on lesser risks of being terminated. And as for Jet Airways, one has to wonder if this whole episode which in hindsight looks like a drama, was put up to get bailout package from Government!! Afterall, they could have done it better by laying off employees in smaller chunks and with more civility. And if the decision to lay off was driven by economic downturn, thun how has situation suddenly improved to take these employees back? So was this episode stage managed by someone in Jet or aviation industry? Would MNS force these Jet employees to learn Marathi now? We wouldnt know, but what we certainly know is that Aviation has some very pretty faces which we can see more frequently on morning newspapers.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-21722633732441739532008-09-26T17:52:00.004+05:302008-09-26T18:18:00.796+05:30Jaago Re- One Billion Votes<div style="text-align: justify;">I had seen the add on TV , but I didn't know that it was also an online campaign ; untill I got an email form one of my friends, telling me about this initiative <a href="http://www.jaagore.com/">jaago re</a>, started by an <a href="http://www.janaagraha.org/">NGO </a>. It aims to spread awareness about voting and also makes it bit<span style="font-weight: bold;"> easier for first time voters to get registered on voting lists</span>. There is lots of useful information on the site for first time voters. Considering that many of us do not vote and think that it is not going to make any difference, it is a good initiative to spread the message that voting is what makes a difference in a democracy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jaagore.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjBD0L9ied5tf-MZJcGb901fDIPKO2kIQOTpCJyWUXBtETQgfsfRJuLxMynyUtQhcV3r3KctDCQK5urN2N9RRqZBBSuWlj13nFeyWxxziOKJhxH0eAhncrsyQH7JdFvMcAB6BXQvaIb0/s320/jaagore.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250308406183606754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I also sort of like thier site and its integration with Maps. Nice job done. It will make a difference in its own little way. For me what works is that, it brings voter registration form right upto your desk, so all you have to do is fill it up and sumbit it to office whose address you will get from the site.<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-45876231357767647272008-09-25T19:22:00.007+05:302008-09-26T10:27:56.772+05:30Terror Crackdown - Post Delhi Blasts, A defining moment?<div style="text-align: justify;">In a highly polarized environment, truth is often the victim. In fact in such a scenario, there are many versions of truth. The recent crackdown on suspected terrorists in India is an example of how polarized our society has become.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Following is Police version:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">From SIMI to IM</span>: It all started with death of MC Sharma, a decorated police officer of Delhi Police, who while raiding a hideout of suspected terrorists was killed by gun shots. Two persons suspected to be terrorists belonging to Indian Mujahideen (IM) were also killed in encounter and 2 other were caught. Sharma was hailed as hero by media and Delhi Police which also claimed that with this encounter they had busted the IM module which was largely responsible for multiple terror attacks in country for past 2 years or so. The arrest of terrorists soon triggered a chain of events, and in next few days many raids were conducted throughout the country and suspected terrorists were nabbed in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and other parts of country. Police claimed that the success of operation was due to inteligence sharing among various states and central agencies. The terror jigsaw is not yet fully solved but pieces are falling in place, they claim. So if one accepts police version as truth, then IM is responsible for recent series of bomb blasts in country, and is a splinter group of banned SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India). IM was born out of SIMI soon after Gujarat riots, ostensibly, to avenge killing of Muslims. SIMI had its root in Aligarh Muslim University and had thousands of members throughout country. As per Police, SIMI was a moderate group to start with but got increasingly radicalized over the years with radical elements being driven by Safdar Nagauri, the secretary general of SIMI (a 8 years old <a href="http://www.hvk.org/articles/1000/41.html">interview with him is here</a>, proving his radical views). The friction between Nagauri and moderate faction ultimately let to Breaking of SIMI, which police says can be compared with that of breaking up of Hamas, where one breakaway group became millitant by violence and terror tactics.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Onset of Hunt</span>: IM was unique in the way that its members were educated youth, many of them even engineers and MBAs. They operated in small and largely independent modules. The anger which Muslims felt after Gujarat riots was used by people like Nagauri to get young , educated members into his unit. He also specifically looked for technically qualified youths and those who had some angst or grudges against the state or police. IM also got hooked to LeT (Lashkar e Toiba) which helped it with initial trainings and funds. Trainings were conducted in various parts of country in Jungles of Kerala to Karnataka. Recruits were taught to swim, fire pistols, and make bombs. After a camp, these recruits would then fan out to many places and build their network of terror. Police started the hunt after the bomb blasts in UP and name of IM for first time emerged. Unlike in past, when most of bomb blasts used to be handiwork of Pakistanis, this time evidence was pointing out to homegrown terror groups. As many bomb blats followed in many Indian cities, Police found it tough to crack the cases and it was due to nature of IM and how they operated. Things were also tough for police as the intelligence was scattered and every state police acted independently. The real break came with arrest of Safdar Nagauri a secretary general SIMI from Madhya Pradesh and then later with arrest of Abu Bashar a recruit of IM , soon after Ahmedabad blasts. These two key members provided vital clues in functioning on IM and after Delhi blasts, the proverbial camel's back was broken. There was tremendous hue and cry throughout the country to act tough on terror. The central government which was slack in taking tough steps until now (perhaps thinkning that it will upset muslim community) was jolted out of its reverie. All states were asked to coordinate their efforts, share intelligence and act as one team. The bits and pieces of intelligence collected over the years by various state police were sewn together and sketchy leads were formed, good enough to act upon. And this is how MC Sharma was asked to raid a flat in Delhi which eventually led to killing of 2 suspected IM terrorists and capturing of 2 more. Unfortunately, Sharma who was not wearing his Bullet proof jacket also lost his life. Two suspected terrorists were reported to have escaped during encounter. Sharma was hailed and quite deservingly, a hero, and his funeral was attended by many politician including home minister, who untill few days ago was about to be ejected out of his office.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Jigsaw getting solved</span> : There have been various press conferences by different state police, and the final picture is pretty much consistent, albeit with some loose ends which could raise doubts. I think it is primarily due to the fact that even though various states collaborated in operation, the news conferences were done independently and in hurry. So we had a scenario that mastermind of terror was changing every day. In my opinion, considering the sensitive nature of crackdown, police should have been more careful with press conferences. One gets an impression that either state police departments were competing against each other, trying to stake the claim of cracking the module or they were pressurized by Government to go public, keeping in view of the upcoming election. Regardless of this, If one has to believe this version of police story as the truth, and I use if because, unfortunately, past shenanigans of Police in India, do not give it much credibility, then the picture of terror in India looks frightening and grim. Terror now is pretty much home grown. The catchment area of terrorists seems to be in UP and profile of terrorists have changed dramatically. They are now well educated young men with normal lives. An MBA here, two Software engineer there. So are these guys terrorists? If we believe police, then yes, they are. They are driven by hatred for Government and for majority community and they want to avenge atrocities which they think are done on their community. They are also fed by people like Safdar Nagauri to do jehad for Muslim Caliphate. They are indoctrinated to extent that they place bombs in children's parks and even hospitals. They plant bombs, come back to their normal lives, watch blasts news on TV and celebrate their success.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The another version:</span><br /><br />But this is one version of truth. There is another version which in unfolding on <a href="http://indianmuslims.in/">Muslim blogs </a>and discussion forums and generally in that community. They believe that recent crackdown are nothing but part of conspiracy to corner the community. Many of them <a href="http://indianmuslims.in/jamia-nagar-delhi-police-encounter-terrorists/">have raised doubts about authenticity of Delhi encounter</a> and they suspect that it is fake. In fact many don’t suspect but believe that encounter was fake and many conspiracy theories are doing rounds. They would even believe that Sharma was killed as part of larger plan to pass the encounter as real and to use it to target muslims. They think that people caught by police are innocent young Muslim men and they are being targeted for being Muslims. They even question why terrorists were paraded in muslim scarves (even though I have seen otehr criminals being hooded in same scarves).They ask questions of how good students, doing their MBAs could be terrorists. People of Aajamgarh, the native place of most of terror suspects, dont believe that there is any iota of truth in Polcie version. They think that thier good studious sons have been wrongly caught or killed and made a scapegoat. Many theories are doing rounds and generally the community is in fear and suspicion. They suspect the Police, the media and the Government. Even a legitimate voice trying to reason often gets lost as the level of mistrust are high.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And the Politics</span> :With upcoming elections, when all parties would try to consolidate their vote banks, the polarization is bound to increase. The BJP would pressurize governments to have tougher terror laws. Muslims would perceive tougher terror laws as being a tool to harass them. Police, will catch some more terrorists including some innocents who will be counted as collateral damage. Muslims would huddle together and raise noise about them being targeted. BJP would raise fears in majority community by citing resistance of Muslims against tough terror laws. Jamia Milia Islamia would stand by its students caught as terrorists and Hindu Nationalists would brand it as against national interests.<br /><br />And to those who care, let it be known that this is start of a defining time in life of this secular republic.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-21673167947758475712008-09-15T16:18:00.008+05:302008-09-16T20:34:33.341+05:30Delhi Bomb Blasts and well attired Home Minister<div style="text-align: justify;">It has almost become a monthly ritual now. Bombs go in tandem in an Indian city, scores of people are blown to death, hundreds are maimed and scarred, Media goes into tizzy, mobile network get jammed and Government issues same old statement about its resolve to fight terrorism. And then in couple of days everything is forgotten. In fact, with bomb blasts happening with this alarming regularity, I wonder if terrorists have to think of something else to really shock and scare us now!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The face of terror has changed</span>: Last Saturday it was turn of Delhi to be targeted. The pattern was same which has emerged in recent few blasts and is being credited, if one might say so, to SIMI, albeit this time rechristened as Indian Mujaheedin. Locally assembled bombs are placed in crowded places on cycles, stolen cars, dustbins and then an email is sent to news channels just before or after the first bomb goes. The terrorists have become more tech savvy also. The terror emails are sent through hacked wifis networks to avoid tracing and usually with MPEG files and videos to prove that they are the real perpetrators. This time the email had a chilling message to authorities "Stop us if you can". They also opened up thier email box for eevrybodyto see. These are not some kurta payjama wearing, bearded, madarssa educated, brain washed kids doing a jehad against India. No, these guys are educated, are from middle class families and are tech savvy. The face of terror in India has long changed. It is now home grown, de-centeralised and far too dangerous and ugly. These guys are also more perverse, as they don’t think anything about planting bombs in a children’s park.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Remove Home Minister: </span>As if seeing the footage of Bomb blasts scenes on TV is not enough to make one angry, one has to endure listening to inane and often-repeated statements from Home minister Shivraj Patil. After every bomb blast he mouths the same pattern of words “I am sorry for this. We will spare no effort and will catch the culprits…..blah blah". Do we really need a Home Minister to repeat same excuses every time? Why not hire a school kid who can perhaps do better on TV and atleast think of a different excuse every time!! I don’t think this man has any clues, whatsoever, about what we are dealing with here. He seems more bothered about his attire and specially his white bandgallas and shoes. I remember vividly watching him accompany Sonia Gandhi to a hospital in Ahmedabad to visit blast victims. <span style="font-weight: bold;">He seemed more bothered to avoid a rain puddle which could soil his immaculate white shoes while escorting Sonia Gandhi across the road to hospital</span>. This time around also, if you were watching him on TV, you could see him changing his clothes between his appearances on TV. I know that no politics should be played on Bomb blasts, but enough is really enough. This home minister should be removed as he has been an utter failure and even seem insensitive to occasion. Or atleast please someone bar him, from appearing on TV and press with his inane statements after every bomb blast.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update: 16th Sep,2008 </span> Mr. Patil's regular dress changes appear to have been caught by many people inculding national press and opposition parties. And this man still doesn't get the irony of it all. He thinks that <a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/news/mr-presentable-patil-says-dont-fault-me-for-my-clothes/73704-3.html">he should not be criticised for his attires </a>as he likes to be neat and clean. WTF!! He is more bothered about his personal cleanliness when bodies of indians lay scattered in roads and parks?? And on top of that he thinks that he is answerable to leadership. No, you are answerable to people of this country, Mr. Patil, not to your Madam.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-54224075792904111662008-08-11T16:00:00.004+05:302008-08-11T16:19:17.149+05:30Abhinav Bindra win Gold at Olympics - A tipping point?<div style="text-align: justify;">Ok, I had to write about this as it is all over the news. A<a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/olympicsnews/i-wasnt-thinking-of-making-history-bindra/70879-29.html">bhinav Bindra won gold medal </a>in rifle shooting event at Olympics. India's first individual gold medal in many years and India's first gold medal in many..... Whatever. Let’s face it. India is not a sports country. Our sportsmen and their achievements can be counted on fingers and about our show in Olympics, less said the better. The causes of our dismal performance are many but I think it is perhaps best summarised by a wisdom (if it can be called so) which was deeply ingrained in our psyche and was found scribbled on many government school building's till not many years ago. The wisdom of "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Padoge likhoge banoge nawab , Kheloge koodoge, hogey Khrab</span> " , roughly translated as "Study and you will become a king, Indulge in sports and you are ruined".<br /><br /><br /><br />There was some truth in this indeed. After all, regardless of what Steven Levitt says in <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/">Freakonomics</a>, conventional wisdom can sometime be true. The truth in this slogan was simply the reality that Sports in Indiacould never be adopted as a profession for reason that it was not professionally managed and there was hardly any money in it. So even if you were good at some sports while at school, there wasn’t any incentive for you to pursue it seriously and professionally and become world class. There was no social incentive either. Society didn’t respect sportsmen; it valued academic achievements more. For few of those who played any sports, it remained a hobby and some of us who were good at some sports, used it to land a safe government jobs using sports quota. Some more became sports teacher in schools and colleges and for many others it became a weekend hobby. Sports were and are not taken seriously by our society.<br /><br /><br /><br />Has it changed? Or is it changing? I don’t know. India is changing in many aspects. Economy is far better than it has even been. There is enough money which can chase good sportsmen now and it is not limited to cricket alone . Though we havent become a sporty country but we don't hear slogan I mentioned above that frequently now. So when are we going to see a tipping point for sports in India? Well, Unless we undertake a massive overhauling of sports management in this country, we will continue to remain a laggard in international sports and have to be satisfied with occasional individual brilliances. I think we could do well by learning from China which systematically adopted an Olympic program, identified sports where they had more chances of winning medals and pumped money. They even skipped one Olympic to concentrate on long term preparations.<br /><br /><br />In India, we need to create both monetary and social incentives so that more kids participate in sports and also pursue it professionally. And yeah, all those politicians falling over each others now to announce cash rewards for Abhinav Bindra, will do well to know that he belongs to a millionaire family already. He wasnt playing for money but someting more......pride, ...just for heck of it...for love of it ...!!! And, well done Abhinav Bindra.....<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-54721611109163556762008-07-14T17:24:00.005+05:302008-07-14T17:50:07.154+05:30Aarushi Murder Case - Media circus and Police incompetency<div style="text-align: justify;">So Finally Aarushi Talwar murder <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3223052.cms">case is solved</a>. Finally I hope. Unless there is some other hidden twist in this tale. After all, what can you expect when a murder investigation is done in full public view and media glare and when every day you have a new person being suspected for murder? It is not unusual for some investigations to take longer but Arushi murder case stands out not for investigation but the way it was (un)done by Police and circus which media created around it. Every news channel followed this "breaking story" like a mad hound. As if it was only murder committed in this country. What was even worse was the way all news channels shamelessly hounded Talwar family and others involved and ran theories as breaking news. There were stories of Aaruhsi's father being the murderer, insinuation of his affair with a woman and worse of all stories on Aarushi's character and hint of incest.<br /><br /><br />That there is something rotten with law and policing in this country is not something unknown. This is a country where suspects can be kept in jails for years waiting for their cases to be judged, police can be easily bribed and investigations are often botched up and superficial. But in Arushi's case, the media had created an unholy alliance with incompetent Police to feed us half cooked stories and lies as breaking news just to keep their 24 hours channels running. Every news channel was trying to come out with its own version of truth and investigations. Investigations, done in studio rooms with graphics and animation and by hyper news presenters asking viewers to vote who they think were the murderers. An Entire nation was turned into detective. <span style="font-style: italic;">A new form of collective wisdom perhaps where murder mysteries would be solved in news rooms and by news polls and not by hard and objective investigation</span>. All ethics of journalism were compromised on alter of one- up-manship and TRP race. Firstly, illiterate police officers leaked absolutely private details of Arushi to media and then Media did nothing but feed on it. Whatever happened to a minor's rights of privacy? Few things come out of this case for us a society to introspect:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> police force is unable to do any investigation in a scientific and modern way</span>. They are too prejudiced and biased to employ objective judgement to crack a case. They also appear virtually illiterate and <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Appeal_Join_protest_against_UP_cops_for_leaking_Aarushis_mails/articleshow/3084547.cms">have no knowledge </a>of a person’s (dead or suspect) right to privacy. If CBI has to be called out in every other case, then what happens to all those cases which don’t get as much press and CBI involvement as this one did? And when police officers who botched up the case would be punished, if at all? Dont we need massive overhauling of our police force to bring them out of medieval mindeset and methods or is it that Police has forgotten how to investigate as it has beocme merely a coercise tool in hand of state?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> News Media is fast turning out into a parody and circus of speculations and theories</span>. It has forgotten all journalistic values and ethics and is high on its power and privileges. It thinks nothing about runing speculations as stories on a 14 years old girl's private life. It thinks that it is not answerable to anybody and can do anything in name of freedom of press. It is not able to self-regulate it and it is about time that someone else (State!!) did it. As my friend, says "you can’t really expect bunch of kids to self-regulate, they need bit of parental control". And presently, Indian news media, especially news channels are nothing more than quarrelsome bunch of kids. They need little rap on their knuckles.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There no privacy laws in this country</span>. Anybody suspected of anything can be hounded by media, their names and pictures splashed 24 hours on TV. All kinds of insinuations can be mixed with fiction and drama to cook up a truth. Can Talwars now sue all those news channels which ran day long stories on them and had camped in front of their house? And why not!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A voyeuristic society ?</span> As the case was unfolding "live" on news channels, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3116201.cms">there were reports</a> of some production house planning to make movie or TV show based on Arushi's life , even before truth was revealed and investigations were over. That was clearly insensitive and indication of how voyeuristic we have really become . Afterall, if there is 24 hours coverage of a murder , trial by media and attempt to make TV shows on a tragedy, then there must be because many of us want to watch this on our TV sets. Is it an indication that we are becoming a voyeuristic society now where news , entertainment, gossips, halftruths are all mixed together in a heady concoction of 24 hours news sprinkled with advertisement breaks?<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-82582505522988175852008-07-03T13:30:00.004+05:302008-07-03T13:59:27.304+05:30Reality Kid Shows - warped reality anyone!<p style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; OVERFLOW: auto; WIDTH: 300px; HEIGHT: 340px"><a href="http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=303119"><img title="\Eliminated \" alt="\Eliminated \" src="http://www.toondoo.com//public/g/a/s/gasharma/toons/cool-cartoon-303119.png" border="0" longdesc="\Kids reality Shows\" /></a></p><br /><div align="justify">The recent incident of a 15 years old girl from Kolkata losing her voice due to reprimand by judges during a Bengali reality show is being widely discussed in TV and print media. Central Government has announced that it would soon come out with guidelines and regulations for such reality shows on TV where minors and kids are involved. Even as girl is being treated at a Bangalore hospital for reportedly severe mental shock, the show producers and parents are blaming each other in media. Times News ran the snippets of event last night with English subtitles and seeing them, I think the comments passed by judges were little harsh considering that the girl was in tears and visibly shaken. </div><div align="justify"><br />Both the parties are to be blamed here. Both the Producers of such shows which try to make money by staging drama by encouraging unnecessary provocation and comments and parents who are ready to go to any extent to ensure that their kids become celebrities. Most of reality shows for kids are about songs and dances where kids enact popular movie numbers. Shows are sold to audiences as a quest to search for new talent and parents go to any length to make their kids participate in them. Some parents even quit their jobs to support their kid in this quest of this mini-celebrity hood. Now I might be little slow here in understanding but I don’t understand what sort of talent is found in these shows!! Often you see kids dancing to raunchy numbers which they don’t even perhaps understand. There are little girls who sing "beedi jalile jigar se piya...." and judges comment "fantastic...your expressions were excellent". That is preposterous. How can little kids be expected to or even required to understand such songs and then emote them either through song or dance! </div><div align="justify"><br />In India parents often derive their own sense of achievement or failure by what their kids achieve or don’t achieve. This adds lots of pressure on kids to perform. You could see this behavior on so many reality shows for kids. You can see parents fighting with show organizers when kids get eliminated as if their whole world has crashed down. You can see parents staging emotional drama or using parchocial appeals to get votes from audiences. What sort of reality does it create for a kid who is still trying to get any comprehension of world around him/her? </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-56154105470063344472008-06-26T15:05:00.006+05:302008-06-27T16:37:55.259+05:30Euro Cup - Nearing Climax<div align="justify">What a fascinating contest Euro Cup is turning out to be. Most of matches I have seen have been cracker of games like previous night's semi final encounter between Germany and Turkey. Even though Turkey had done well in last matches, nobody gave them any chance against Germany, me included. But they turned out to be more than a match for Germans. In first half they had as many 14 shots at goal and German had only 5 or so, if I remember right. Last 15 minutes of the game was absolutely fantastic, if not for quality of play, then for goals scored and the drama. Bad luck for Turkey, but I think It will set a great final on Sunday, with Russia. Obviously I am supporting and hoping that Russia beat Spain tonight. Russia versus Germany in final, what a treat it would be. Podolski, Ballack and Schweinsteiger running against Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko . Russians were such a treat to watch against Netherlands , they virtually outran the Dutch. But before that, Russians have to outplay Spain tonight. And player to watch out would be Arshavin...He is best player on display at the moment and hopefully he will do the trick tonight with his tireless sprints and skills with Ball.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X04YReZ3k40&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed><br /><br />I hope that ESPN doesn’t keep getting blacked out like last night. Even though it happened due to electric storm in Vienna, their overall coverage of Euro has been pathetic. Agreed that Football is nowhere near Cricket in terms of popularity in India, but there are a million fans that follow and watch Football in India, and EPSN would do well to deck up their coverage. Their presenters look sleepy and bored. May be they need a Mandira Bedi for Football. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong>Update, Jun27</strong>: Spain roasted Russia 3-0. Russia was completely outplayed. I was wondering if it was the same team that I had seen earlier!!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101310106716730328.post-20381808218508413712008-06-12T14:12:00.005+05:302008-06-12T14:27:26.289+05:30India-US Nuclear deal - Roadblock on Left<div align="justify">Henry Kissinger once said that foreign policies should not be governed by emotions but should be dictated solely by cold logic of a nation's self interest and strategic objectives. He could be right or wrong depending on how you look at it. From American's perspective, He was right. Americans have followed it to the hilt and have always pursued thier own interests even if meant using brute force or undercover operations. If you are non-American, you would despise their foreign policy as is widely done in middle East, Iraq, Iran and so many other parts of world. Even in India, for various reasons, there has been an American phobia for long time. I think somewhere deeper; it has got to do with clash of civilization values. Eastern and western split. Materialism versus spiritualism. It also did no good to our relations with America that, soon after Independence, Nehru sided with socialism and became friends with Soviet Union. In era of cold war and bipolar world, India had clearly chosen its side even though ideologically India was never in any club and proclaimed its non-alignment. India's closeness to Russians led Americans to make Pakistan its ally. During 1971 war with Pakistan, Americans showed their intention by moving their naval fleet towards Karachi, a definite low point in Indo-American relationship.</div><div align="justify"><br />World has changed since then. Cold war is over. Soviet Union is thing of history. China is rising and India is on the move. Changed equations have brought India and America closer. Our foreign policy towards America has seen this tilt of close cooperation for mutual benefit and this has been true regardless of which political party has come to power. BJP started this and Congress followed it up. A new beginning was expected when Manmohan Sign signed Nuclear treaty with Bush, but the soft speaking Sardar had not counted that he had party poopers in his own alliance in form of left parties. The days of Ideologies are long gone but not for the communists in India. They still live in ancient world of Carl Marx. They still thrive on anti-Americanism, their mistrust of everything American and their love for China. These leftists have no solution for anything other than striking work in their states, perennialy asking for subsidies and inventing ways of keeping poor always poor. How is that West Bengal which left has ruled for so many decades is still economically backward? The same Left, still stuck is some bygone era, has also managed to derail the nuclear deal and from recent reports in press it looks like that deal could be virtually off. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">To ask few questions. How many people in this country actually know about what Nuclear deal is? I don’t know. But I don’t care. I would rather trust people like Manmohan Singhs and Kalams and country's nuclear and energy scientists than listening to some Karats and Basus. 80% people of this country don’t know or care what Nuclear deal is about. In fact they might not know what nuclear is about. Rest 20% who might have some idea what it is, don’t ever vote for left parties. So why do we have a situation that a party of men stuck in past and confused by manifestos of last century denying us a deal of mutual benefit? All for an ideology!!</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">There can't be an ideal situation. America might not be the best loved country in world but if nuclear deal is inline with country's strategic objectives, then why not pursue it by cold logic of self interest, keeping ideologies apart.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Gaurav's Blog</div>Gauravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404581745164940324noreply@blogger.com0