From Patna, Bihar

Just to say that it takes some time to get used to life in Patna
Not much different from the Laloo days...
(For those who came in late, Laloo prasad was the 'invincible' Chief Minister of Bihar Province
one of the largest and most disadvantaged regions in Eastern india)
There is still a lot of hope being placed in the new man Nitish Kumar
and the honeymoon period isn't over...

Still, Bihar feels the same...
The pot-holes on the roads haven't disappeared yet
The electricic supply is as erratic as ever
Kidnappings and killing haven't really stopped

but one thing is new
There are a lot of people who actually belive
that things are on the mend
and, where there is hope...
there is always an opportunity to strive for the best.

A protest:
I was off-line for some time now
and I'd like to add my voice of protest
to the harrassment of sexual minorities in Lucknow , India
and the sensationalist attitude of the press, in particular
The Times of India
I somehow feel ashamed of ever being a part of the TOI team
(I wrote for them while in Shillong and Bihar a decade ago)
Whatever happended to journalsitic ethics???

In the meanwhile
Here's hoping that very soon
This country will get rid of laws that
needlessly discriminate against people because of
a two-hundred year old colonial statute
which has long since been struck off by the 'mother' country

The same country that gave Elton John the right to 'marry'
gave the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
the law that makes it possible to harrass sexual minorities.

yet another day

The picture on the right is of a teenager that people in Nepal think is a reincarnation of the Buddha. The boy has been sitting in meditation without food for more than a month now.... seeking enlightenment... now on to more mundane matters

Yesterday, a bomb scare in the Delhi Metro, handled quietly and efficiently by the Metro chaps and hardly a whiff of it in the press… or maybe I missed something. Wednesday evening. 6:40 pm. I’m rushing to Connaught Place (now called Rajeev Chowk) in a frazzle.

Earlier in the day, I had forgotten two boxes of Wenger’s cookies someplace, and only realised that the bag was missing when I was almost back to my shack almost thirty kilometres away.

Boarded the tube at Delhi university.. a smooth 14 minute ride to one of the Capital’s popular shopping areas. As we emerge, oblivious of anything I rush towards the subway that takes one up to Rodeo’s the favourite watering hole for many, where our one and only recognised Country Star Bobby … cash?? What’s happening to me, temporary amnesia… anyway Bobby used to sing there before he made it big in Oz…

Back to story, I sort of notice the automatic ticketing machines changing from green to red, but I’m at the last one which is green and it accepts my token, so I’m through. Suddenly I notice that except for me and a companion, there’s nobody in the passageway… (the rest of the passengers had been shepherded to other exits by the metro staff)… we walk in to a sanitised corridor with police chaps toting guns and talking in to their black walkie-talkies… The exit gates are closed, in fact, I see one actually being opened a fraction and the crowd of passengers outside being told that the section was temporarily closed… I tell an officer chap I want out, he signals to another cop to take us up on the elevator… I ask the cop, did a Minister or some bigwig visit here? (Delhi goes crazy when a big knob deigns to visit any place) – ‘No, he tells me casually, just a bomb scare, the checks are being carried out, looks like a hoax’ – we’re on the surface, escorted out through the quizzical crowds by the cops and deposited on the pavement—neat.

An hour later, the metro is back to normal, but trying to cope with the extra rush of passengers, some of them quite annoyed that they were delayed by half an hour… and yes, I managed to recover the cookies…

"The Doctor"

The doctor took my shirt away;
He did it for the best;
He said, "It's very cold today,"
And took away my vest;
Then, having nothing more to say,
He hit me in the chest.

Oh, he did clout my ribs about
Till I was bruised and red,
Then stood and listened to my spine T
o see if I was dead,
And when I shouted "Ninety-nine!"
He simply shook his head.

He rather thought that rain would fall,
He made me hop about the hall,
And savagely he said,
"There's nothing wrong with you at all
You'd better go to bed!

"Oh you must eat no scrap of meat,
No rabbit, bird, or fish;
Apart from that have what you please,
But no potato, bread, or cheese;
Not butter, alcohol, or peas;
Not sausage, egg, and ratafias
A very starchy dish;
Have any other foods but these
HAVE ANYTHING YOU WISH!

But at and after every meal,
And twice an hour between,
Take this -- and this -- and this -- and THIS
In water and quinine,
And wash it down with liquorice
And nitro-glycerine.

"You must not smoke, or read a book,
You must not eat or drink;
You must not bicycle or run,
You must not talk to anyone;
It's better not to think.

A daily bath I don't advise;
It's dangerous to snore;
But let your life be otherwise
As active as before.
And don't imagine you are ill,
I beg you not to mope;
There's nothing wrong with you -- but still,
While there is life, there's hope."

I woke and screamed a hideous scream
As greedy children do
Who eat too much vanilla cream
For I was having 'flu;
And it was just an awful dream
But, all the same, it's true. -- A. P. Herbert

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert, 1890-1971, was a regular contributor of comicverse (over his initials "A.P.H.") to the English magazine 'Punch'. He is adistinguished member of a great tradition of English comic poets, whichincludes such luminaries as Edward Lear (1812-1888), Lewis Carroll(1832-1898), and Herbert's contemporary Patrick Barrington (1909-1990).

baby year boogie

It’s that time again.

The rock that we are on has finished yet another circle around the sun
And what we call the New Year is here… a second later than the last.

On a rooftop in rural Delhi, deafened with the sound of Bhangra pop, the new year was ushered in by a group of panting, prancing, wildly gesticulating, screaming,. over-brimming with testosterone creatures aged sixteen to twenty seven to the sounds of BRAZIL and Vengaboys…. While I had in my minds eye memories of a blazing bonfire on a dark December night, friends holding hands as we sang AULD LANG SYNE….

Let Auld Acquaintance be forgot and never brought to Mind….

So, 2006 Anno Domini or as we mumble in our politically correct fashion CE (common era) has crept in on baby steps…thankfully 2005 didn’t leave us shaken and stirred like its predecessor….

Now for my new year resolutions…. In 2006 I firmly resolve to

Listen to at least five hours of radio on my brand new Worldspace Radio

Show off my newly bought booties from KK Lee in Khan Market .. Kenneth and Richard Lee have one of the friendliest places where you can lay your hands on genuine hand-crafted leather goods, and made to your specifications… my last pair of cowboy boots bought in 2000 lasted for over five years and are still comfy.

Preen around with a diamond in my ear… YES! I finally got it pierced

And definitely sometime in 2006, I’m gonna go in for a tattoo… where??? Haven’t decided yet. Any ideas???

Now those are resolutions I won’t have any trouble keeping… also I’m not going to stint on chocolates, cookies from Wengers, smoked bacon, and chilled beer.

Cheers!!!!!

Wine and Roses

The poet on my dining table .......

First: the dedications to the people
who make this individual's existence on the third rock from the sun
a tad interesting

Here's wishing Kaustabh: the poet the equanimity to deal with the things
he cannot change, the courage to change the things he can, and the common sense to know the difference.

To Allen the typewriter guerilla... the tripewriter gorilla: good health, good humour, and when he finally gets to kick the proverbial bucket after having lived riotously to the age of Methesoolah, may he spend half a year in heaven before the Devil gets to know he's dead
To my friends who were honoured by the Queen (not Freddy Mercury): OBE's no less!!! Shivanda Khan and Jenny Jha , one working from Lucknow, and the other from Ranchi, both places in Indyeah: may the fruits of your labour be as sweet as the grapes pressed in the vineyards of Sicily, and may you never be too diabetic to enjoy them

For Yams and Sainik, my inseparable siblings from a not so-long forgotten birth, this year should bring reunion, roses, fresh mountain beer and momos....

More power to all of you who strive hard to make this world a slightly more liveable place than it was yesterday: Sanat Sinha and his team working with street children and children on the wrong side of the law in Bihar and Jharkhand, The Catholic Sisiters working with the AIDS patients at Nazareth Hospital in Bihar, the pioneers: ARMAN, The Network of Male Sex Workers, the prople at Humsafar Trust, Lakshya in Gujarat, and my coleagues and friends on the AASRa anmd BiHan teams working in Bihar

And for all of you guys and girls who take time out to prowl around and read these pages
happy blogging and hogging for the new-tear oops I mean NEW YEAR....