Wednesday, December 30, 2009
My Singer of the year
Posted by scorpio at 5:07 PM 1 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER, SHOUT BOX
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Compliments of the Season
There are twelve days of Christmas.
That's the tradition.
And it's also the time when everyone's told to be nice and not naughty.
But sometimes there's a blend of naughty and nice that's an absolute delight to behold.
And so as we wind down the year, there are a lot of people nearly forty, about forty, over forty absolutely willing to be a little naughty.
And that's okay.
So, here's to those who are gonna act naughty tonite.
A sure fire reason to celebrate.
Absolutely!
Posted by scorpio at 2:32 PM 1 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER, SHOUT BOX
Monday, December 28, 2009
Looking back on the first decade
Posted by scorpio at 3:18 PM 1 comments
Labels: BIHAR, People I Know, SHOUT BOX
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Looking Back on the first decade
Episode 1
Posted by scorpio at 3:42 PM 3 comments
Labels: BIHAR, INCREDIBLE INDIA, People I Know
Year-end musings
The whole year through, one's e-mail inbox is inundated with all sorts of non-essential communication.
Two decades ago, people would have to put pen to paper, bought a postage stamp, and then sent the letter off to get posted. This meant that what we received in the post was usually well written, interesting and brief.
In the instant click-through communication of the email, the receiving of mail , alas, is no longer an experience filled with pleasure.
Apart from the few friends who still have respect for themselves and the language, most people dash of discommected sentences with abbreviations, slang, and spelling mistakes. Worse still, there are those people who seem to have no ideas or thoughts of their own, but insist on flooding your mailbox with second and third-hand 'inspiration'.
Once in a while, though, one has to admit that while sifting through the garbage, one discovers a gem.
One of the images that I found appealing is the one with the old man speaking about 'not forgetting to live'.
I second that thought -- If you haven't started living the way you actually want to -- the time is now.
Peace!
Posted by scorpio at 3:05 PM 1 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER, SHOUT BOX
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas
Posted by scorpio at 10:47 PM 1 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER
The reason to celebrate
Christmas is here once again.
It's a time to remember all my friends, my family, and to thank the people who take some time off to read my blog. Christmas is a time for family, and the greatest family is the one that we build up through love, understanding, sympathy and sharing.
I am privileged to belong to the various 'families' that have chosen me: the Ravi Bharati family, the Notre Dame family, the PWC family, the AASRA family, the SIGNIS family,the LGBT family.
Merry Christmas one and all!
Posted by scorpio at 10:37 PM 0 comments
Labels: GOOD stuff
Friday, December 18, 2009
Yuletide Wishes
Posted by scorpio at 9:48 PM 5 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Chain e-mails
There are many annoying things that float around cyberspace, but the one that really takes the cae and eats it too is the half crazed, superstitious, pseudoreligious punk who sits around stabbing the 'forward' button and sending those 'I love Jesus - 'n' you better love 'im as well and send the stuff to about 12 more friends for a blessing' kind of chain e-mails.
Well, the message I'd like to give to the poor sap who sends me such crap is that he's not getting any blessing from my end, but I usuually let out a bloodcurdling scream and curse the bugger from the bottom of my shallow heart.
I mean I've really HAD IT with those endless repeats of old-hat causes that end up in my mailbox again and again ad nauseum. I've had skewewred Jews, slaughtered dolphins, coca-colaas toilet cleaner and all that other junkfloat in into my trash every thrww or four days. But waht really gets my goat are all these Christian fundamentalists parading their so-called faith and shoving it down my mailbox !!!
Posted by scorpio at 2:24 PM 0 comments
Labels: culture vultures, SHOUT BOX
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The egronomics of nursing
Having said that, hera are a few waysin which the services could be improved.
The first thing that nurses should consider when they want to attach a chap to an IV drip is : what kind of a patient do they have on their hands. If the man's in a really bad shape and about to croak, it hardly matters where you jab him and how you string him up to the various implements, because you have to get him to the ICU fast.
However, if the fellow is fairly mobile and can actually move around, like me, who had been admitted because of some respiratory problems, then it would be far wiser to attach him to the IV drips after considering whether he's right handed or left handed. The tubes were attached to my right hand, and that put me out .. If they had been on my left, I could have achieved a lot of small things unaided, and that would have made me feel less dependent on the nursing staff.
[I could have used my laptop with greater dexterity, it's darned difficult for a righthanded chap to punch keys with his left hand, and have you tried to fasten or unfasten buttons with your left hand ifyou're right handed?]
Posted by scorpio at 7:01 AM 2 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Watch this space
It's been quite a while since I have actually blogged. There have been numerous occasions when i considered writing rather brilliant criticisms of things that have needled me, but as they say, 'the spirit might be willing, but the flesh is weak'.
I have been particularly busy documenting several interesting things around the state of Bihar, and I have more than just an inclination to put some of the things I have observed on to this space.
So, keep coming back here, and you just might be surprised!
Posted by scorpio at 6:49 AM 1 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Greetings
Krishna-ashthami is a time to remember the timeless lover of humanity: Krishna.
15th August is, of course, Independence Day in India - flag waving is the accepted thing on this day, though what freedom actually means in concrete terms eludes each and every one of us.
I mean, we have caste panchayats torturing and terrorising villagers and plainly flouting the so-called 'law of the land'.
We have just seen our parliament pass an impractical and flawed elementary education Bill and which takes away the perogative of schools to expel students, and dilutes discipline.
And we Indians are expected to 'celebrate' Independence on a dry, meatless day imposed by the state... talk about the 'freedom' of choice!
Jai Ho to Hypocrisy!!!
Posted by scorpio at 8:28 AM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Friday, July 24, 2009
Old Songs
I'm in the mood to listen to old songs.
Just as the Carpenters sang
"When I was young used to listen to the radio...."
Posted by scorpio at 6:11 AM 0 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER
Sunday, May 03, 2009
The real India
One of my readers, Ashok Kumar sent this piece to me.
This is the India I am proud to be in, the real India, undivided by narrow domestic walls.
New York Times reader comment on India going to the polls,
"The world's biggest exercise in democracy"April 15, 2009
It is truly the greatest show on Earth, an ode to a diverse and democratic ethos, where 700 million + of humanity vote, providing their small part in directing their ancient civilization into the future.
It is no less impressive when done in a neighborhood which includes de-stabilizing and violent Pakistan, China, and Burma.
Its challenges are immense, more so probably than anywhere else, particularly in development and fending off terrorism -- but considering these challenges and its neighbors, it is even more astounding that the most diverse nation on Earth, with hundreds of languages, all religions and cultures, is not only surviving, but thriving.
The nation where Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism were born,
which is the second largest Muslim nation on Earth;
where Christianity has existed for 2000 years;
where the oldest Jewish synagogues and Jewish communities have resided since the Romans burnt their 2nd temple;
where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile reside;
where the Zorostrians from Persia have thrived since being thrown out of their ancient homeland;
where Armenians and Syrians and many others have to come live;
where the Paris-based OECD said was the largest economy on Earth 1500 of the last 2000 years, including the 2nd largest only 200 years ago;
where 3 Muslim Presidents have been elected, where a Sikh is Prime Minister and the head of the ruling party a Catholic Italian woman, where the President is also a woman, succeeding a Muslim President who as a rocket scientist was a hero in the nation;
where a booming economy is lifting 40 million out of poverty each year and is expected to have the majority of its population in the middle class, already equal to the entire US population, by 2025;
where its optimism and vibrancy is manifested in its movies, arts, economic growth, and voting, despite all the incredible challenges and hardships;
where all the great powers are vying for influence, as it itself finds its place in the world.
Where all of this is happening, is India, and as greater than 1/10 of humanity gets ready to vote, it is an inspiration to all the World.— V Mitchell, New York, NY
Posted by scorpio at 10:19 AM 2 comments
Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The legacy of Mary Peter Claver
She was an American nun with a big voice and a bigger heart, working in Bihar .. one of the most underdeveloped areas in India.
I met Sister Mary Peter Claver entrirely by chance. I was in Patna, on a holiday from Kalimpong (Darjeeling district) when an aquaintence of mine asked me whether I'd like to be interviewed in a televeison studio for a project of his.
Now, I had never seen the inside of a TV studio, and those were the days (the early 1980's) when television was a licensed ornate box in a pretty well-off person's living room.
Anyway, I was really amazed to see this television studio inside a girl's school.
It was really cool.
The next thing I knew I was helping out another guy, a Dalit boy, with his final project: a drama.
Well, that's a long story. But let's say I wrote the script based on an idea I had.
Anand Lal acted as Jesus Christ, and at the last minute when the lead actress who acted Mary Magdalene fell sick, I the playwright was left with no option but to get the the studio in drag!
I was a very pretty Mary, may I add, acting opposite an absolute hunk of a guy from Loyola School.
Anyway, after that show, Sister PC said that I should take the TV production course. Of course, I was already hooked looking at all those cameras and lights, and the idea that I coud actually create something.
That started a long association with PC and several adventures, with my dear friends Sammy, Sudhir, Billu, Sarojini, and Suzy Bhengra and Rajesh - the antics we were ip to all abetted by Sister PC.
She helped us experiment, allowed ius to make mistakes, and most of all trusted us.
there were no locked doors and keys and stuff.
We youngsters took charge, and responsibility, and had access to the studio even when PC was away for long periods.
Today, there are locks, and rules, and permissions, and no young people frolicking about Notre Dame Communication Centre.
No wonder it is dying slowly.
the only way to revive NDCC would be to tear down the walls and let the youngsters in!
To let in rock music, and wierd hairstyles, and problems that start with pimples and acne.
But sadly, there are no nuns of PC's stature left to put parents in their place and to let Love blossom.
There are a sad bunch of missionary sisters in charge who want to control everything
who will not stand up for teenagers in love
who will not advocate for mixed marriages
and who certainly don't have the guts to stage another 'The King and I"
PC died of Alzhiemer's on Saturday night.
Posted by scorpio at 4:23 PM 3 comments
Labels: People I Know
Tribute to my Guru
Sister Mary Peter Claver was a person with an unshaken belief in the goodness within young people.
When she opened Notre Dame Communication Centre, she threw open the doors of the television training studio to the privileged and poor alike. She allowed us to experiment, to make mistakes, and if by chance anything broke in the studio, no matter how expensive it was, there would be no fines or punishment if the culprit owned up immediately and honestly.
I learnt a lot about people management by observing Sister Peter Claver. I learnt how to be non-judgemental, to listen carefully, and to always look for the positive and to see the good in a person. There was a time when I consumed an overdose of sleeping pills thinking of ‘ending it all’ - the reason being various things that occur in what is now known as a ‘dysfunctional family”. Sister PC counselled me through this very traumatic period of my life and helped me recognise my inner strength.
The various young people, many who came from difficult circumstances, whose lives PC touched and who were guided towards unconventional careers and unchartered fields are now doing their bit in spreading the Good News in India and abroad.
PC will always live on in our hearts and minds.
Posted by scorpio at 4:16 PM 0 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Unforgettable Lesson
TRUE STORIES of the KOSI FLOOD
Preparations for the relief distribution are under way.
Sheela Devi, BDVS district in-charge, extends us hospitality – a simple breakfast of buns and ‘ghugni’ – a spicy chickpea preparation – and black tea.
“We are very particular to ensure that the relief supplies reach the genuine people,” explains Jose. “Many villages are still cut off and it takes a couple of hours to reach them by boat. Relief reaches the people along the roadside easily, but our aim is to make sure that we are able to reach much needed food to those who are far away and who may be in starving conditions.”
Volunteers thus accompany local Panchayat members to the source villages, verifying the Panchayat lists at the location and ensuring that they note down all the details of the families. “This is a very useful process and helps us identify the genuine families, because powerful people sometimes snatch away the coupons and send in their own men to misappropriate relief materials,” says Sheela Devi.
It is an important religious festival today, one that will kick-start rituals that lead up to the mammoth Durga Puja.
Generous Hearts
By eleven o’clock we are near Purvi Kamp, a Panchayat with several inundated villages. We wait for a while and spot two boats coming towards the road from a distance. They take about ten minutes to arrive.
The boat journey over windy water is no joy ride.
We draw alongside a half submerged village, the atmosphere is humid, emanating an odour which is a strange mix of the fetid and the fresh.
We trek through a cluster of about thirty houses, mainly Dalit hutments, that are a couple of feet above the water level.
The BDVS team gets down to work, surveying the village, taking down information. The people say that ours is the first team to have arrived at the village....
As we take our leave and get into the boats for the next destination, a man wades out to us, his hand holding aloft a steel dish over the water.
Posted by scorpio at 4:43 PM 1 comments
Labels: BIHAR, FRANK KRISHNER
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Anniversary
Posted by scorpio at 9:01 PM 0 comments
Labels: QUEER CASEBOOK
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Flavour of the month
No doubt, there are several issues to write about.
The favour of the month for me, is not the IPL [I wouldn’t touch cricket with a bargepole if it were not for the people I love who love cricket!]. Neither is it the Elections, though like other sane people, I am apprehensive about what sort of government will finally be voted into power.
Posted by scorpio at 5:17 PM 1 comments
Labels: TEA
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Cricket?
has nothing to do with Mayawati or madness
It's there to keep me cool.
I'm hot under the collar
because I was stood up on Saturday
My date was watching the South African safari!
Posted by scorpio at 9:57 AM 3 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
I agree with this
Posted by scorpio at 9:43 AM 1 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Friday, April 17, 2009
Jai Ho!
Government schools closed for a month, teachers shanghaied into manning election booths, rural banks shut down.
Murder, mayhem, hate speeches, community polarisation along lines of caste and religion.
Sorry, I won’t be voting.
Why? My name mysteriously disappeared from voting the list during the last general election, and in spite of ‘intimations to the concerned authorities’ it hasn’t materialised on the rolls yet.
This is probably because one hasn’t the inclination to lubricate a couple of palms to expedite things.
So much for transparency, democracy and all that jazz.
Jai Ho!
Posted by scorpio at 3:45 PM 2 comments
Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA
Letter from Italy
Easter days were sidelined here by the earthquake. On the 6th early morning the main quake took place.
In fact at 3.32 am that day I was already at my computer (a rare thing!) and instantly, being shook, I wrapped myself in a bed sheet and ran down from my fifth floor room, but seeing none of the 75 or so inhabitants in my house agitated, I went back only to listen half hour later on my radio, about the gravity and the centre of the quake. A number of quakes continued for several days and although 86 kms away we could sense the tremors very well in our rooms here in Rome. .
Statistics say about 308 died, 30 thousands (one third of those affected) evacuated and about 100 still in the hospitals.
The funeral of 205 people on Good Friday morning was a touching liturgical service, presided over by the Secretary of State, Salesian Cardinal Bertone.
Rai (Radiotelevisione Italia) did a great job of telecasting it with touching commentaries and well chosen visuals.
Later in the evening the traditional Way of the Cross presided by the Pope from the Collosseum was overshadowed again as Rai did an excellent programme called “The Calvary at L’Aquila” just before it. It was a pity that the Way of the Cross with text by Indian Archbishop Menamparampil and pictures from Indian artist Jyoti Sahi in spite of narrating all sufferings from India did not strike a chord, as it did not include, obviously, some images from L’Aquila. Perhaps that is why Rai called their programme “the Calvari at L’Aquila”.
In fact Rai’s religious programmes are top class (may be the best of their programmes, as a lot of others are entertainment based) and yet the Church here has 3 or 4 channels here all doing mundane work which hardly anyone watches, which make me wonder, whether the Church has understood at all what media are all about. (TV is a MASS medium, no?)
How does Italy cope with the earthquake?.
Earthquakes are nothing new here. Italy is much on the seismic range zone, as it lies on top of two geological fault lines, and the country had earthquakes as recently as 2001 and 1984. and many others in the past. And help comes in very fast from Europe and others parts of the world.
What struck me was every little village in the country is making a contribution, every association worth its name is planning schemes to raise funds. And many families are inviting evacuated families to come and live with them freely until their homes are rebuilt, which Premier Berlusconi (who was almost camping on site for days) says might be 2 years . In fact with one third of L’Aquila city and the rest of Abbruzzo region destroyed, 2 years is not a long time.
Houses will be rebuilt strong and sturdy but lost lives will ever remind them of the killer earthquake of April 6th,2009 for many years to come.
Posted by scorpio at 3:40 PM 0 comments
Labels: GOOD stuff
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Too tired to blog
Posted by scorpio at 11:12 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
MY BlogBaby
Posted by scorpio at 2:20 PM 1 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Rhyme Crime 1
Posted by scorpio at 1:37 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Happy Easter
The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up onthe footpath, and stopped centimeters from a shop window.
For a second everything went quiet in the cab, and then the driver said:"Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared me!".
The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap wouldscare you so much."
The driver replied, "Sorry, it's not really your fault. Today is my 1st day as a cab driver - I've been driving a van carrying DEAD BODIES for the last25 years.
Posted by scorpio at 1:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: LAUGHS
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Over the moon
like the beanstalk's vine
but no matter how you beseech
the roti's always just out of reach......
Posted by scorpio at 11:36 PM 2 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
ALLENBHAI
Allen Bhai
don't ask me why
But I pawned your pitcher
from de facebook
all it took
was a minute to snitch -'er
so here's Allen with the misus
Donna Angela, no less
and in the middle
Siddhant Jo-hann-ess
Posted by scorpio at 11:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: GOOD stuff
Sunday, April 05, 2009
CUTTERS AND GOOGLIES
I'm really happy that
has decided to write a blog, following his CBSE exams.
I'm really interested to read what he has to say about things, and the name of his blog is really fantastic.
Visit the blog HERE
while you are here, just click this link for an intersting QUIZ on eating out... and table manners!
Posted by scorpio at 3:17 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Monday, January 26, 2009
Republic?
Posted by scorpio at 9:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: FRANK KRISHNER, INCREDIBLE INDIA, SHOUT BOX
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Stuff
Jaswant Singh at the Golf Club : its an exclusive. When he was in Patna recently he spoke to a select gathering of citizens.
Hope : Something I wrote on the day Obama was sworn in
Posted by scorpio at 9:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Ritual
The computer calls
Morning veneration
At the altar of Babble
The need for constant updates
News that broke during the night
Emails that slid in under the covers of Lethe
Scraps of electronically designed emotion from the FaceBook congregation
I sit in contemplation
Unwashed, unfed and often constipated
Utterly enmeshed in spidersilk
The monitor - Cyclops eye- staring unblinking into mine
This hypnotic meditation, cyberspace addiction
As time sneaks around me and slips away
never to return ......
Posted by scorpio at 7:58 AM 1 comments
Labels: POETRY BY FRANK KRISHNER
Sunday, January 11, 2009
O happy day
Early on a Sunday morning one reads of a boy being sacrificed in Chattisgarh.
Tonsured. Hand severed. Beheaded.
The economy comes down crashing around your ears
So how does one appease one's fears?
A thousand jobs are going to be lost today.
Yet, those lucky to have good jobs demand more pay.
Transporters are on strike
Veggie Prices artificially hiked
It's time to jettison that SUV
And take to pushing pedals on a bike
Posted by scorpio at 7:49 AM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Learning is endless
BEAUTY PARLOUR: A place where women curl up and dye.
CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.
INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO:An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN:Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.
SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.
TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.
YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES: Something other people have, similar to my character lines.
Posted by scorpio at 8:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: LAUGHS
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Truckers and more
Truckers are once again holding the nation to ransom by going on strike.
The Great news is that the truckers of Bihar have chosen to take a brave stand....
Bihar truckers not to join all-India strike
"The Bihar Motor Transporters said they would not join the strike,saying the strike would affect the development of the state, where roads, bridges and culverts are being constructed at a great pace.
The state is on development path where roads, bridges and culverts arebeing constructed at a great pace, going on indefinite strike at thisjuncture would affect Bihar's development particularly in the eventof Kosi deluge, said Bihar Motor Transport Federation president UdayShanker Prasad Singh."
This should be applauded by all residents of Bihar
Posted by scorpio at 7:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR
!!!!!
The most irritating and exasperating things according to me
People asking why I am not married.
People offering to get me married.
People who suggest names of other people whom I should marry.
and the most exasperating of all:
Females who insist that I should marry them!
These types send you gifts even if you don't want them....
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts is an old Trojan saying
When a woman sends you gifts for no reason at all, look out!
The gifts are Trojan horses full of mercenaries.
It's a ploy to tie you up in knots and then to conquer you.
To pulverize your ego to pulp and force you to surrender your independance at the altar of marital monotony and nuptial nonsense.
No thank you, ladies, I'm not stupid like THAT!
I'd rather be most willing for a dentist to be drilling than to have a woman in my life. .......
Posted by scorpio at 1:55 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Thursday, January 01, 2009
2009 begins
Lest Auld Acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Lest Auld Acquaintance be forgot
For the sake of Auld Lang Syne
I breathed a prayer to the Universe
And lit the fire
And after it was over
Felt the usual rush of sadness
As I sat in the darkness
Listening to mellow music from years gone by
New calendar
The usual ‘resolutions’
Looking over past year’s ‘must do’ list
Happy to see some things actually completed
I resolve to live life more fully
In the coming year.
How about you?
Posted by scorpio at 11:17 AM 0 comments
Labels: GOOD stuff