My Singer of the year

Adam Lambert. Definitely.

I knew it the very first time I set eyes on him and heard his voice on 'American Idol', that here wasa a winner that would really manke it big. Every performance was a sheer delight to behold.

According to the trade papers , Adam had people tuning into American Idol in record numbers, and this one performer was regarded as 'a shot in the arm' for a seven year old Reality Show.

The question was whether an 'openly gay' contestant could actually win American Idol. Well, we were all surprised that Kris Allen finally won, but Adam's subsequent career graph has shown us that it's all about talent and not sexuality.

His latest album is definitely going to take the world by storm.

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!

Looking back on the first decade

Episode 2

Ten years is a relatively short span of time, but again, it is also a pretty significant amount of time in a human life. A decade makes all the difference between childhood and youth, between youth and maturity, between maturity and middle age.

It has been interesting to see how youngsters in 2000 have made their own mark in society. In 2009, two of the young men featured here have done exceptionally well. One with his own business in the middle-east, and the other first made a name for himself on CNN-IBN's consumer channel, and now heads an ICICI production house.

This young man of fifteen in 2005 is now completing his studies at St Xavier's College, Bombay.. and has recently returned from a student exchange trip in the US. One has hopes for him. Let's see what the next decade reveals.

Looking Back on the first decade

Episode 1

2009 marks the end of the first decade of the 'new millennium' that started in the year 2000.

Life is a journey, they say, but nobody tells you where the devil this journey is headed.

In the words of the legendary Frank Sinatra.. [which he probably borrowed from somewhere] Once in a while, along the way, love's been good to me.

One of the reasons to feel good about being alive is seated by my side. A lively and utterly entertaining young man whom I knew as a naughty little boy in the year 2000. How time flies!

Another reason that makes this journey to God-knows-where seem worth it is the pleasure I have had to witness the growth of another gangly teenager, a rural hick of a boy whom I was fortunate to have met in 1997, and accompanied on a trip that spanned six years . He has blossomed into a well-known name in the social sector, and his continued success working for social justice, human rights, and other issues makes me happy.

Two friends who have made this journey interesting are pictured here during one of those not-so-rare moments in the Department of Communicative English with Media Studies in Patna Women's College.

Sadly, these moments are now enshrined in old photographs, as each one's journey is unique. Let's say we've all stepped off the CEMS train and have continued our own journeys. But without a doubt, I am immensely thankful, enriched, and a better person for being in their company for almost ten tumultous years.

[to be continued]

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!

Christmas

Perhaps the most meaningful Christmas has been held in a little village in Sasaram in Bihar, which has just seen violence, oppression, but this was followed by a tense but peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Not many people this season can make merry because of the rising food prices in India, with meat, poultry and vegetables facing 40 to 50 percent increases in price.

My wish is that despite the recession, may goodness, sharing and peace be with one and all.

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!

Yuletide Wishes

My journalist and upright Christian family -man friend Allen Johanness of Patna sent me the first picture via e-mail in 'fun'. This is the kind of stuff that 'mature' [read verry middle-aged'] men like him send around to other middle-aged men prove that they are [1] heterosexual [2] that they can still get it up and [3] that they are 'broad minded'.

Didn't it cross their mind that they're probably just sending around Lesbian soft porn?

Well, personally, I intend to reply him with the picture number two, the one with the real hunky looking men.

Now watch him howl in an offended manner, act shocked, stutter that kids use his computer, and accuse me of promoting homosexuality. His homophobic reactions are only natural, the same as many 'christian family men' -- symptoms as they are of their own repressed sexuality and fear that they actually maynot be able to hide their attraction, or so the shrinks say.

But the way i see it, they're just fat old men who're jealous that 'gay' guys look far better than straight ones!

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 !!!

The egronomics of nursing

I was in hospital recently. The Kurji Holy Family Hospital is still the best place in Patna where one can receive top quality nursing care. it is clean, efficiently run, and the nursing staff are compassionate, quietly confident, and cheerful.
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?]

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!

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!!!

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...."

The real India

JAI HO!

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

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.

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.

Unforgettable Lesson

TRUE STORIES of the KOSI FLOOD

It is seven thirty in the morning as we turn into the iron gates of the BDVS [ Bihar Dalit Vikas Samiti] compound in Saharsa.

It is Vishwakarma Puja day, when Hindus pay homage to the Divine Architect, and the neighbouring temple has religious chants on at full blast, so we have to shout above the din. Thankfully, the rituals stop after a few minutes and the temple turns off its public address system.
Preparations for the relief distribution are under way.

Father Jose, who is sipping his morning tea while going through a sheaf of papers in a makeshift shelter in the yard, informs us that a relief truck is due to arrive in a few hours.

In the tent, younger men are working on a couple of laptops, checking data, writing reports and generally being busy. On a couple of camp cots, some volunteers are still sleeping. They have been working throughout the night.

Sheela Devi, BDVS district in-charge, extends us hospitality – a simple breakfast of buns and ‘ghugni’ – a spicy chickpea preparation – and black tea.

She will arrange for our camera team to accompany BDVS personnel on a survey of some villages in a cut-off area. These villages are marooned and have to be reached by boat.

“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.

At the verification point, a man may be asked the name of his mother-in-law, or how many children he has, thus making it difficult for imposters to take benefit of materials meant for the dispossessed communities.

It is an important religious festival today, one that will kick-start rituals that lead up to the mammoth Durga Puja.

Vishwakarma Puja is a time when most workers show respect to their tools, honour them and generally give them a holiday. I wonder whether we would be able to actually avail of a boat. We are to visit the Pattarghat block.

The organisational skills of the BDVS team soon come into play, when, after a few phone calls, it was clear that a Mukhiya from one of the Panchayats will be accompanying us and the verification team to a couple of marooned villages.

The cooperation of the local self government functionaries is a valuable asset.
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.

These are old wooden boats with leaky bottoms, which need constant bailing.

The Mukhiya, it turned out, is terrified of deep water, but this had not deterred him from going out to the villages, even though he was in trepidation every time he boarded a boat.

This fear works to our advantage, because he insists that not more than six people should get on a boat, so scared is he of its capsizing!

The boat journey over windy water is no joy ride.

There is fear visible on the face of the Mukhiya, but one cannot but admire the sense of purpose this man has, even though he has a sharp tongue and belongs to a ‘dominant’ caste, his genuineness and generosity shines through.

There are undercurrents, and the boatman has to be alert or the craft may get entangled in bamboo thickets, dash against tree tops, or overturn.

We come dangerously close to a clump of submerged bamboo...

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.

A couple of men wade through the waist deep water to grab our boat and bring it alongside, so we can disembark in relative comfort.
We trek through a cluster of about thirty houses, mainly Dalit hutments, that are a couple of feet above the water level.

Towards the north, the fields and most of the pucca houses of the higher castes are in over six feet of water. These huts are empty.

There are a few men and boys in the village, and some older women who have stayed behind to keep watch over their homes. The men say that looters roam about entering deserted villages and taking away whatever they find.

There is not much food.

A family has a sack of maize which they are subsisting on. Fortunately there is a single hand-pump which is working, three feet above the water.

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.

In the dish is roasted corn from the precious stock of maize. “You are our visitors, he says, we cannot let you go without offering you hospitality.”

I am reminded of the Gospels, of a woman giving all from whatever little she has, and am deeply humbled. This lesson in generosity is something that will remain with me as long as I live.

Anniversary

Hearty Congratulations

to two wonderful people

on your first commitment anniversary.

One year of being together is reason to celebrate.

You make a really cute couple.

Wishing you many more such occassions.

The more committed couples like you start posting photos on cyberspace celebrating your love, the closer will we get to attaining that ideal country where a rainbow of colours and communities can live in simple harmony and acceptance.

Flavour of the month

One has so many thoughts about so many things at any given point of time, that writing consistently in a blog of this nature becomes an onerous task.
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.

The flavour of the month for me is iced TEA.

Refreshing, delicious, cooling, and so easy to make.

Lemon, tea, water, and ice are the base ingredients.

Then you can become as innovative as you want to.

Tea is good for you, especially if you keep off the milk and use just a little sugar.

Cricket?

A cricket is an annoying little creature that chirps long into the night.

T-20 is something else and no less annoying.

For the next fortnight or so, all we're ever going to see on Indian TV

will be T-20 interspersed with the other great Indian Tamasha

If one has dogs messing up the pitch

The other has its own infinite variety of distractions

there was Varun Gandhi whose foot-in-mouth disease has not been cured

then there's Laloo the lantern man who is trying to derail the Indo-Italian express

then there's Sanju Baba who's replaces hardware with hugs, and is being gunned for by Mayawati who thinks mentions of public displays of affection are obscene...

By the way

the picture

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!

I agree with this

I'm tired of all this mollycoddling of kids

and female fascists trying to get governments

to condemn time tested motivational practices

A belt had its uses when we were kids

and if it were still used

the world would be rid of a lot of teenage 'problems'

thank heavens in india parents still have control over kids

but that's going to be watered down

and the next thing is even more anarchy

My vote is for the person who says

that parents have the right to smack their kids!

BUT NOT TO MURDER them

Jai Ho!

Well, the Great Indian Elections are here, and there is the usual amount of hype and hoopla.
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!

Letter from Italy

My friend, Jacob Srampical , a Jesuit priest, wrote this letter on Easter

Dear friend,

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.

Too tired to blog

Too tired to blog

after slog.. slog... slog

so goodnight

do sleep tight

don't let the mosquitoes bite

and don't you finish off my Sprite

MY BlogBaby

Okay
so I'm

shamelessly

promoting

this

baby

blogger

and I know

he's gonna be wild with me for posting these pix I took of him on a recent trip to Dilli,

but

he's become a real Dilli Billi

his blog

http://cuttersandgooglies.blogspot.com

Rhyme Crime 1

Anypone can blog

Anyone can slog

Or get stuck in a bog

In the middle of a fog

Or eat like a hog

or sleep like a log

Go, take a morning jog

but beware of the dog

who appears from the smog

looking like a golliwog

Happy Easter

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question.
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.

Over the moon

Blog

and slog

It's all a fog

this recession

Car smog

Eat like a hog

you're heading for

indigestion

every rung you climb

like the beanstalk's vine

but no matter how you beseech

the roti's always just out of reach......

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

CUTTERS AND GOOGLIES

I'm really happy that

my one and only 'Manoj'

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!

Republic?

On the eve of Republic DayI watched Shyam Benegal's 'Welcome to Sajjanpur'.

I found therein.. a message for the Republic of India.

And then on NDTV 24x7 footage of women being beaten up by goons on camera

the women were dragged out of a beer bar in Mangalore

where they went to enjoy a pint.

NDTV termed these anti-socials as 'moral police'.

What's MORAL about beating up women?

What's Moral about snatching away a woman's right to have a beer?

These lunatics are neither 'moral'

nor they are 'policemen'

They are cultural terrorists who want to talibanize India.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

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

Ritual

Every morning
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 ......

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

Learning is endless

Once in a while, somebody sends you pearls of wisdom. For the following, I am obliged to Allen Johanness, the invertate e-mail forwarding maniac.

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
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.

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

!!!!!

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. .......

2009 begins

Another year is past.
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?