Personal Space

At Crossroads

2012-01-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

I hate being at cross-roads, for not only it challenges your today, but also questions your tomorrow. Suddenly life has put me again there in my personal, official, social, moral …et al …. lives. Not an envious situation, definitely.

What to follow?

A big question ……

Answer: Follow your heart :)

Be healthy and forgetting, Be blissful

2011-11-26T09:12:00.001-08:00

A few days back, one of my friends posted this on his Facebook status,” For a successful life, one only needs a good health and the power to forget.” The more I think of it, the more it hits the truth. The catch-phrase ‘successful life’ is so discussed, yet so arcane, and individualistic, that any claimed erudition on its essentiality is at best a falsified belief. Undeniably though, this whole ethos starts from the self, and the self finds manifestation in good health. And this good health is both physical and mental, which allows an individual to work and enjoy life as it comes. This great state can only be achieved if the person has the ability to forget and forgive the past, however cruel or enticing it might have been. The philosophical import of ‘Living the moment’ can indeed be realized then. All simple …. life deciphered …. Right?

Time to Settle

2011-07-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

When you are flushing in teenage, life is an unhindered ride of thoughts and actions. The first thing that occasions itself is the affinity towards opposite sex. An 18-year old boy can’t help falling in love with a pretty damsel of his class, and the rosy world dreams follow. You also get surrounded by closer-than-life friends with whom you share your inner self. Then college happens and again a round of infatuations starts. You get firm in belief that life is all about a throwaway attitude. Ride and swim in the bewitching world– what and where are the checkpoints. Even the best of times has to come to a stop nevertheless. You pass out from College, and Work accosts you in all its fancy and glory. Realities start hitting, with their own sets of complexities and compulsions. Life is not anymore a child’s play; it is bloody taxing and engaging. You start seeing things which you never bothered to earlier. In the process, educational and professional dreams are aroused again. Studies, career, money, excellence, settled life – all become part of necessities now – a set of no-no things during earlier times. Your private space too grows. The change is mind-boggling …. all in a space of 10 years.

Then the inevitable happens. Marriage knocks on your door. The first realization that dawns on you is it is not anymore a fairytale ‘boy meets girls’ story. You cognize that it is actually meant for the rest of your life. You start thinking in terms of its suitability. You realize a pretty wife may not be the best wife. You long for someone who understands and supports you. There is no space for the frills and thrills of yesteryears. The sexual charms, however enticing, aren’t the first checkbox either. You instead wonder whether her presence will alienate your private space which never got away from you. You reason whether you will have to abandon yourself and adopt someone else post-marriage. Nevertheless you crave for that someone. ‘Plucking the stars theme for love’ still blooms, but those stars are bred on earth now. You theoretically believe in ‘all-for-you’ marriage, but also wonder whether she will the life-blood of you, as you want to be hers. Your wish list is radically changed. You again Ride and Swim, this time though in the unknown world.

What a departure from the times of yore!!!

Office Life is Intoxicating

2011-03-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

Very seldom will one say this. But having missed corporate life for close to one year, I felt some kind of desperation to join the software company back. It took some patient wait by me, but finally I was back in my earlier company, this time in Gurgaon. And to tell you frankly, no sooner than 2 or 3 days later, I was assimilated. The same old work, the same/similar faces and voices of colleagues, juniors, managers, the same project and the same kinda sick office feeling too. But intermittent between these was also a rejuvenated sense of starting it again, this time differently and intently. Not that earlier I was working shoddily, but now there is a sense of purpose and desire too to excel my work. It has been contributed no less by my last year’s work and experience when I was finally doing something from my heart and hum.

So, the normal routine has ensued now. It also has given a glimpse into the temporality of time. It already seems last year is last decade. So are the memories, both good and bad, of it. As someone said, we only value the time when it is gone, and no time is worth not valuing. In simple terms, enjoy the present. In those terms, my life sets out again with new goals in sight and with new means of work. Happy sailing!!!

If Ever I could Say, Sleepless in Delhi

2011-01-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Indeed I am, Sleepless in Delhi. Not for any lost miss, but because of the ****ing cold. I haven’t been able to sleep properly for the last 3 nights, as the frigid cold keeps on penetrating the scores of clothings, which I keep adding on and around myself, somehow. In the day, the bed is a virtual ice-layer, so no chance of respite even then. I had thought only Delhi heat could be an irritant, but I must say, the last few days cold, has even beaten that.

Delhi has become even colder than Paris and Madrid, despite it being lying in the Tropical Zone. It must be because of the global-warming industries which have effected such a catastrophic change in the climate worldwide. Such avaricious fellows. Or is it because of the pollution around Delhi which augments both heat and cold? Stupid Delhites.

Meteorologists say it is going to be like this for another week. Phew! I can only say, this time around, Delhi has shown to me the extremes of both summer and winter, and I dare say, in fact repeat, that I hadn’t experienced any of it before in my life. Bravo!

Re-entry

2010-12-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

Back with a bang! My blog, I missed you so much.

What a ride it was all these last few months. A taxing one, but definitely exhilarating and enriching. It has been only since the last month that I have got a chance to do the long-listed things during that period. Movies and novels are back, and so are the merry visits to the friends and family.

More fulfilling has been the various small travels that I have undertaken recently. While visit to Varanasi and Sarnath was religiously suffusing, the travel to rural areas was an eye-opener and soother both. What joy, car meandering through the desolate but well-laid roads, flanked by the swaying paddy crops, presenting the full stretch of greenery beyond it in an attempt to kiss the horizons. No literary hyberbole can express the ecstasy showered upon me then, who had long been lost from such bucolic charms. A day or two of rural India can really enliven you, if you just stick to the untarnished environment. But the reality of its misery dawns upon you as soon as you start observing the neglect perpetrated on its even very rudimentary aspects. I won’t dwell on the education, health, infrastructure etc problems, as they are, however rude and indifferent it may sound, considered genetic. But what was eye-sore was the sheer apathy that had been tendered towards the Rural Development Schemes that had been started, and are supposedly run by the Government. I should supplant ‘corruption’ with ‘apathy’ here, as the decrepit buildings of the ‘Block Resource Centers’, ‘Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya’, ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan-Medium and High Schools’ etc won’t present a different story. It is better not to think more, as the national level scandals- Aadarsh, Commonwealth, 2G, Housing Loans etc’ are even more sickening. Ah! Sorry blog, for polluting the moment with these souring tales.

Anyway, back in Delhi now and back to some sort of pre-routine. But as expected, this is again going to be really wonderful. I am game for it, more than ever.

A sabbatical of sorts

2010-07-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

There could be nothing more frustrating or annoying than giving up on your one-of-the-most likened things. For the last 5-6 months, my blogging had to endure a test of wait amidst all the frentic and sapping schedule of my life. Even after putting a resolve every now and then to get back to it, I was unable to devote much or rather any time to it. And sorrily, I won’t be able to give any time in future too, for at least 4-5 months.

It is all for a greater cause only; but I hope, I will come back more learned, energized and focused then.

So, it is an official sabbatical till then. Hope life continues to cherish all of us!

The Wonder of Time

2010-06-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

Nothing has attracted as many epithets and sayings as time. But it has not lost its ability to bewilder us. More confounded am I when I look at myself.

Not long ago, in fact, four months ago, I was in Cyprus, marshaled in an International Software Company, and leading a life of typical worker, hustled-bustled with an equally enjoyable off-work life. It was all too perfect – a daily life of chores of various sorts. Business trips, Meetings, Project Deadlines and Birthday Parties, Pubs, Beaches and Cooking, Reading Novels, Watching Movies, Blogging – an array of my definitive moments there.

All permuted, rather substituted, now! More direct in case is my blogging. Having pledged to be a regular writer of my blogs, I have/had been forced to forego it, even if for a greater cause. I get a small window of time now to resume it, but I don’t know how long I will be able to sustain it. The needed hawk-eyed focus on my Studies and Exams warrants it though. But I believe I will come back stronger once it is over. So, all -Job, Parties, Movies, Novels etc – take a backseat for some more time. Time of now dictates this.

Ever wondering about my new phase of life, I was taught another lesson when I went to the wedding of one of my friends. I was to attend a marriage after a gap of four years; moreover it was a first for me of any of my friends’. Naturally I was excited, expecting to relive some of the moments passed by in the College. It was a happy reunion with many friends; most of them hadn’t changed in appearance. But there was a definite move-on in each one of ours’ lives. Most prominent of all was the new spouses of the married ones. It felt really good and surreal too, to see some new space created and taken by new members. More so, I think I felt like that, because I am unmarried yet. But I couldn’t help notice the fact that all had leaped in thought process too. Work, Future, Life – the words were the buzzwords of our talks, something which couldn’t have got even a shoe-in in our talks in the college. I wonder what would we be discussing 5 or 10 years hence – our gardens, furniture, children’s school, work’s responsibility? Well, a very strange thought but a very probable one.

You can call it the dynamics of change and hence a nothingness of sorts. But if you miss the wonder of it, you miss the essence of it, as time can never reveal itself in more acuity and clarity than this.

India and her Neighbours

2010-02-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Neighbours are your second family, they say, but India has always, somehow, found or fostered estranged ones. And it is befuddling, because some of the neighbours owe their existence or sustenance solely to India’s help. Unfortunately South Asia is not one of the prosperous regions in the world; it is rather destitute, densely populated and marred with maliciously corrupt polity and bureaucracy. Add to this the brewing religious fundamentalism. It makes the region a veritable powder keg. Thankfully the situation has not sparked to create any notable conflagration.

But India can’t count on it for long. It has already suffered enough due to its cold relationship with the neighbours. And believe me, larger part of the blame lies on India’s shoulders only owing to its faulty and egotistical foreign policy. SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) was an attempt, started in 1985 with first conclave held at Dhaka, to develop trust and cooperation among the 7 member countries. But it is a dying organization, hardly creating any tangible output. The onus thus lies on the individual countries only. So, I find it highly encouraging that India, of late, has started to mend relationship with the neighbours.

Bangladesh was rightfully created out of Pakistan on 17th Dec, 1971, and India played an instrumental role in achieving that. The things turned sour soon though, and Bangladesh got disturbed with the policies of Indian government related to border sharing, NE rivers water distribution, illegal immigration etc. But the latest events of conferring Indira Gandhi Peace Prize on Bangladesh Premier, Ms Sheikh Hasina Wazed, and her subsequent fruitful visit to India, promised much. Thus, the recent agreement of India helping Bangladesh to develop 1300 MW of power plant in Southern Bangladesh is a very welcome step towards strengthening of bonds.

Similarly, India’s help of $300 million plus several tones of rice, pulses and yellow pea to Nepal will bolster her image, which has got badly tarnished with the allegedly India-induced Maoist imbroglio, in the country. India has also signed some hydel power deals with Bhutan during the king’s visit last year. Also, Maldives Vice-President was here recently, seeking help to counter the radicalization of youth. The recently elected government in Sri Lanka is looking forward to a renewed cooperation with India. Mahinda Rajpakse, even though not very popular with Tamils, is not a bad person to extend ties with.It is imperative that India doesn’t dither and vacillate on its policies towards Tamils now.

Thus it has been happy going recently with the immediate neighbours, but what about our The Neighbour, Pakistan? Really I can’t comment, because Pakistan is such a profoundly arcane country, and increasingly makes me wonder and fear about its immediate future. I do recognize the mistakes of India, but for Pakistan, those mistakes only had been and are the raison d'être of its policies. There is so much scope for Pakistan to improve itself, but it has bungled on democracy, religion, Talibanisation, sports etc, and mark my words, there is no else to blame but itself. India seriously can’t be expected to move ahead until Pakistan root out the elements of terrorism, the most baneful issue for India. The proffered reasoning of Pakistan cannot guaranteeing India a terror-free breeding ground because it can’t shield herself from terror is not smidgeon of argument to hold water. From an Indian perspective, there needs to be an overhaul of its policies towards India; if not done, Pakistan only has a lot to lose. And this is coming from a man who loves Pakistan every bit, for her umbilical relationship with India.

Happy Reunion with India

2010-02-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

Time to breathe! It has been such a hectic time of late. Moving back to India not only involves a lot of logistics stuff, but also a mental shift in viewing the things. I could understand why people said, “Who had stayed outside India for some time and heard a lot of development tom-tom about her, often are left disappointed and rueful on confronting the reality. Their bloated sense of hassle-free world as present abroad, so craved by them, comes crashing down.”

I am not that alienated to have felt such extremes. But having lived in Delhi about 10 years back, there was nostalgia pouring all the time I looked at the roads and buildings from the windows of my taxi. Traffic was the same, so unnerving and riling. The northern Delhi seemed to have been left untouched by the Commonwealth Games renovation. Things had changed, but only in time. What else could I say?

The thought lingered with me for the first 2-3 days, but surprisingly, the environ started seeping into me. Soon I was back to childhood days of buying groceries from kirana store haggling over the prices, dodging the darting bikes and autos to find my way, stuffing myself through the crowd to take a seat in metro or bus keeping a conscious attention on my purse etc I had been though this before on my vacations, but the thought of these all going to be my daily chores had a different casing on mind. And how easily I passed. You can’t take the genes out of a body, they say.

And to tell you the truth, it feels fantastic now. Eating samosas on the roadways; seeing children play on the open streets; hearing people’s gossips on the bylanes; propitiating before God on my way- these all are truly Indian flavoured. I don’t know how long the euphoria will last, but it seems, the magic of the same contrast of despair and hope, so discerned by me always, will probably keep me rooted to my motherland for ever.

All India Combine

2010-01-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

A man boards a flight from Delhi to Mumbai. As he settles in, he glances up and sees a gorgeous woman boarding the plane. She heads straight towards him and take the seat next to his. Eager to strike up a conversation, he asks ‘Business trip or vacation?’ She smiles and says ‘Business. I’m going to the annual Sexologists convention.’ He swallows hard and calmly asks: “What’s your role at this convention?” ‘Lecturer, “she says, ‘I use my experience to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.’ ‘Really?’ ‘What m-m-m-m-myths are those ?’

‘Well,’ she explains, ‘one popular myth is that African men are the best endowed when, in fact, it’s the Tamilians most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is that Frenchmen are the best lovers, whereas actually it is Bengalis. However, we have found that the best potential lover in all categories is a Sardar.’

Suddenly, the woman becomes a little uncomfortable and blushes, ‘I’m sorry,’ she says . ‘I shouldn’t be discussing this with you. I don’t even know your name!’

‘Venkatraman!’ the man blurts out. ‘Venkatraman Mukherjee: But all my friends call me Sardar Joginder Singh.

Source :- From a tid-bit section by Khushwant Singh. The old man knows how to charm himself and others :)

The burqaisation of beliefs

2010-01-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

I find myself amazed, not distraught, when I read news like this: France and Denmark propose to ban burqa and niqab. For them, these fabric coverings are a sign of repression of feminism. But do they really believe in what they are preaching? Or is it more driven by the now-so-prominent Islamophobia? Where do we draw the line, the reasons or the notions?

I am further amused to notice how this notional aversion has got entrenched in us without any ground provided to it. I see it day in and day out, in each one of us. I see it in myself. I will tell you three such stories of my life:-

1> I was in an informal talk with one of my European female colleagues in office. Somehow our talk digressed to religion and the needless wars it is causing. Muslims invariably surfaced as our discussion topic. But even before I could utter anything, pat came the reply from her, “I don’t care about them. Those buggers ….” Like a servile toady person, in fear of alienating a girl companion, I nodded with a broad grin on my face. I ask both of us now, “What in real tangible terms had any Muslim caused grief to us? Why were we so blindly driven by an idea, bereft of cause or value, about a sect of fellow human beings?”
2> Three years back, in India, I was searching for a good rent-flat where I could live with my three other friends. After some wanderings, we did find a house which satisfied all our needs and requirements. But before we formally agreed on it with our landlord, he asked me separately, “Is any of your friends Muslim?” In order to satiate him, I abruptly replied, with a hint of pride too, “No sir. Not even by any thought.” Ah! What if one of my friends had indeed been a Muslim? Had I deserted him or fought for him that day? I would never know, but I do know that I was a silent abettor of a bush raging fire of hatred and fear, that day.
3> Recently about two months back, I had been to a night club in North Cyprus (unfortunately a disputed territory). Already I had been bewildered a bit, to see relatively good life style there, as opposed to what had been advertised. But when I saw some Turkish Muslim girls, wearing low neckline and high hemline dresses, exposing a lot of flesh, I was astounded, and indeed wondered how advanced they actually were. Hey, did I write ‘advanced’ here? Yes, because this is exactly what I had thought then. “Why were women’s clothes a barometer of so-called intellect, advancement, and emancipation of any society? Wasn’t I too obsessed with this laughable worldly idea of Muslim women being straitjacketed, in both mind and body, with an overdose of clothes?”

I feel ashamed and guilty both, of harbouring and fomenting such views. But I hadn’t developed these, by any means. They had got seeped into me, and they had got internalized because I hadn’t resisted them. In turn, I have got maligned. These are the stories of my life, but such stories are abundant in everyone’s life. And when our strength is tested, these long-held opinions take a devious form and make us do the unthinkable without attributing any reason to it.

That’s why, whenever I come across these views, of banning burqa and niqab, I wonder whether any attempt has been made to understand the reason for the practice. When Barack Obama entreated the Western World from Cairo University to appreciate the beauty of Islam too, he was merely asking to take the veil off our eyes, instead of attempting to take it off supposedly repressed Muslim women. Wish we can really do that, and believe me, we will really see the world more rosily and openly then.

PS: - I am not a supporter of veils or any form of clothes which is dictated by society or religion. Clothing is more of a person’s wish and need. But I do believe that clothes can’t be a judge of someone’s character or personality. Hiding or exposing flesh can incite opinions but shouldn’t corrupt them. That’s why we have a place for both burqa and bikini in this world.

Happy New Year, 2010

2010-01-01T05:22:00.000-08:00

The New Year is such an event. Each time I am driven to think again, loud and differently. My two previous blogs would bear testimony to that. 2010 arrives with an added dimension of the ascent of a new decade.

I can’t talk about the last decade, but can certainly certify that 2009 was the best year of my life. Not for the occasions, but for the promise and purpose. The occasions have yet to sprout. 2009 gave me the reason, rhyme and rhythm to think, and that has singularly made a sea-change in how I think. 2010 needs to be the year in which I act what I think. The outcome will take care of itself, as they say.

Apart from that, I seriously look forward to better by blogs. My writing has improved in both quality and frequency, but what is good if not driven towards excellence. Blogging can never be complete if it doesn’t translate and relate thoughts and ideas to the real world we live in. I would make an endeavour to zero in on that world.

What else??? Nothing sort of actually. The flesh and blood remains the same, and the air that it breathes. It’s just that I do that proverbial burying of spent and sinful soul again, and hope to rise in a world where life chimes as it does in Eldorado.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Boys and Girls

2009-12-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

I am sipping a cup of tea in my home’s balcony. Beyond the rain-induced moistness in the air lie the mountainous terrains. Buildings abound and then there lie, at the bottom, the criss-crossing roads and streets, and the ever plying and dodging traffic on them. Beautiful rendition of nature and that is what people and poets alike call the bliss! But I see bliss floating in the eyes and ears of those young kids which are sauntering on the front street right now. Oblivious to the world and unmindful of the life, they are all immersed in the post-school jaunt – some calling others names, some coaxing others to go to the kiosk, some actually snogging Hey, sorry these are not kids, these are adolescent teenagers, if the italicized emphasis of words hit the meaning. They are carefree and careless …..

And so was I, about 10 years back. Diving into the first waves of insouciant manhood from the headland of innocent childhood. It was all expansive as universe, all too imperfect unlike the orderliness of my earlier military school. Yes, a new school happened right at the time when I was feeling a new ‘me’ inside my veins. I could run 10 miles a day, I could solve the Kashmir issue, I could be the Casanova ala Shahrukh, I could actually do everything …. That is how I thought. It was the sudden power of flush of adulthood. I could actually see love happening vis-à-vis the girls. I could savour the beauty of their lips and their body. I could read what love – the everywhere word- had to say. No wonders, I fell in love with every girl I met.

I also questioned why world is so snobbish and selfish. Why religions fight and why do nations war? Why people give bribes to get work done? Why can’t we all be pure …. Questions, questions, questions …. all emanating from the new beauty and reason that I could see radiating everywhere. Why can’t boys and girls mix without inhibition, even if the rightness of it is shown in our movies every time? Why is everything about sex so bad even if the impulses are so pleasing? Why are things forbidden, for God’s sake???

The answers had to be earned though. And it took me a decade to know why things are as they are. The energy is sobered and the mind acclimatized now. But also there is a submitted self to the whims of the world.

I look at those boys and girls again. I look at their effervescent smile and their nonchalant gait. Everyone feeling the warmth of the company, and everyone beaming the same incredulous queries and beliefs about the world. How blissful is that? I suddenly feel envious as I slurp the last drops of my tea.

The Three Sci-Wishes of My Life

2009-12-15T13:36:00.001-08:00

It sometimes bewilders me how all the Science and Humanities that I studied in my school and college has started appearing in true valuable forms now. It is only now that I am viewing them as not study subjects but as purveyors of intellect much needed to understand, study and better the life around us.

Every subject is fascinating and has direct implications on our life. But I ever wondered, what would those complex Chemistry Formulae mean in my real life, or how the Physics Motion Laws manifest themselves in front of me, or how the Pancreatic Enzymes ever intrigue me to visualize their churning of my ingested food. These aren’t into-the-face stuff, and really not something which evolve with us as we draw away from books. Something present but also veneered ….Unless we start looking through the stratum and stencil the concepts against the world around us. Every theory then looks substantiated, and every formula proved and used. Just the sheer cognition stretches the imagination and insight alike to newer horizons. How vast is the Universe, How can we define Time, How is our Human Body so precisely defined, Why is F=ma all the time, Where was E=mc2 before one century, How is the quantum level so energy rich, Is there God who designed all this, If not Him then who else? I mean, the questions then ultimately blend into an integrated form of Science, Philosophy, Arts, Theology etc, all culminating in this pursuit of understanding of life.

We are at a strange moment of time. At the start of 20th century, the discovery of electrons, protons, atomic structure, relativity etc was the hallmark; then nuclear fission-fusion, recognition of DNA double helix, design of transistors etc marked our scientific achievements in the mid-century; and in the last part of the century, undoubtedly, Computers, and in particular, WWW (World Wide Web) have been our greatest breakthrough. So, where can we go now in this century? I believe, again our efforts will be dictated by the need to comprehend and ameliorate our lives. As per me, none could be more fulfilling than these three discoveries/inventions/explorations:-

1> Life outside Earth
Wow! It sounds so cool. More and more movies are making this concept a reality. But believe me, now it is not a fancy, but an absolute necessity to find Life outside Earth. And it is a necessity, to learn from other Lives their system and culture. Do they actually follow religion, do they build homes or just live in a big society, and do they fight wars? A whole lot of concepts that we assume are a must, can be put to test then. Too quixotic an idea, but I, for one smidgen of a moment, can’t believe that there is no Life outside Earth, and that it can’t teach us something to better our lives.

2> Cure for AIDS
I have chosen just AIDS to highlight the need for medication for the most lethal kinds of diseases. We have come miles ahead in dealing with the pernicious diseases, viz Small Pox, TB, Polio etc, but as weeds, the new hitherto unknown diseases keep festering. Of all, AIDS is the most enigmatic. There has been a lot of research going on towards the discovery of a cure for the last two decades. It is high time we arrived at an efficacious solution sooner than later.

3> Fusion of HeavyWater to generate Energy
Nothing could be more relevant now, considering the Save Climate Brouhaha all around us, than the need for Renewable Energies. Wind, Solar, Hydro et al are the storehouse of energy, ready to be harnessed. Just unimaginable why we haven’t gone after them as zealously as we have after the manufacture of bombs. But soon we will have to. And the richest source, for me, could be the HeavyWater (found aplenty in Oceans) to generate energy through Fusion. Right now the process is too expensive and dangerous, but once mastered, it will be the panacea of all the climatic ills.

My sci-wishes are only three, but I believe, if fulfilled, they will have sea-change on the whole humanity. The real science, so diligently learned by the kid inside me, will be realized for me then. “Necessity is the mother of Invention,” no other time the saying has had more pertinent meaning.

The Sixth Sense Technology

2009-11-16T13:58:00.000-08:00

My friends had mentioned about it sometime back, but it had failed to garner much of my attention. Then I read the heading ‘The Sixth Sense Technology’ in one of the blogs three days back. Today I came across a video of it. I had to peek into it. My God! This is awesome. Not because it is technologically outlandish as every new invention is, but because it has the potential to alter our lives in many better ways. You need to have a look at it:-

Measure its usefulness for the disabled ones. Gauge its effects on the scientific explorations. Consider its impact on our daily lives. It could be revolutionary. This is what I call scientific innovation at its best. Only wish it doesn’t fall into bad hands.

Two words for the genius, Pranav Mistry, too. I know my adorations are more pronounced because he is an Indian. But they are also so because he is a typical example of a capable mind blossoming into its full potential. Being an IITian, he is no doubt a brilliant mind, but he is also a potential-turned-realized mind. How often we can claim this of people around us, or more importantly, about our inner selves? His should make us realise what a life of destiny means.

Home bound

2009-11-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

There is something about India which belies and defies everything. In fact, everything said about India now-a-days harps on this aspect unfailingly. A land of brutal-lovingness; a haven of evil necessities; a reflector of life, death and sundries; a place of assault and assimilation; a contrast within contrasts. No oxymoron or figure of speech can describe it.

But as everyone says, you have to feel it to experience it. My recent India trip was nothing short of repeated amazement about it. The Delhi airport elicited a shaming comparison with the other posh airports of the world. But the very next hour, the buzzing, improving and promising life out there gave the proverbial optimism I haven’t experienced anywhere else. The clogged streets, the jammed roads, the interminable queues in offices, banks, hospitals, the Naxalites violence, the drought and flood, the poor people begging on the roads etc– all are too mean and maddening to frustrate and deflate you to the core. But simultaneously there is also a stable working Government and the Prime Minister, rapidly-improving economy, Nobel Prize winner, youth-exhorting Rahul Gandhi, IT companies, world-encompassing Bollywood, improving Cricket and Sports, mangled but happening Commonwealth Games. Add to the list - Diwali, the family, aam ka achaar, dhaba ki chai and paranthe, the ultimate beautiful and cultured girls, the sobering temples. You have everything that life can give, torture or inspire in you. India is everyone’s life story.

Moving from a cozy life-style to the rigorous one is never easy, but as years grow by, one realizes, demanding life only, is the real and pleasing thing in the end. India definitely needs me, but I think, for now, I need India more than that.

The great world of racism

2009-10-11T04:01:00.000-07:00

Black and White! So integrated, yet so far away. I will tell you a story I picked from some movie, I believe. There was a bevy of housewives discussing their daily lives in one of the ladies’ home on a hot summer leisurely afternoon. A laundry man appeared outside, and before anybody could utter anything, he said, “Only Whites please.” The black lady proceeded to bring the White Clothes only, leaving the laundry man a bit disapproved. Another black lady present there said, “He meant only White People.”

Though the meaning was apparent, I can grasp the meaning of its context only now. I am sorry; I think I can understand it now, but I know it is beyond my cognition, yet. It is beyond anyone’s cognition, I should say. In the above story, no one was racist, but everyone was feeling it somewhere. The ladies were so closely knit but still there was a divide, created unobtrusively between them.

I feel that divide every time and everywhere around me. In fact, I saw that divide inside me. I was born an Indian, and did my preliminary studies, higher studies, graduation, post-graduation better than most of my countrymen could afford. I led an absolutely fine life, but somewhere all these years was also buried deep inside that complexity of colour and have-nots. I am brown, and as with most of Indians, have a fascination towards white, more so with a feeling of deference. All my life, I couldn’t abide by this whole logic why I am less than others. Leave my feelings, why people all around me feel white is better than brown, and brown is better than black. I could see people staring wide-eyed at some American White couple, and also sniggering at some African Black one. Someone having a white girlfriend would be considered princely, while someone with a black one would be the butt of all taunts.

I moved outside India three years ago. The cloistered feelings were challenged more often than not now. A brown guy walking the streets amidst the crowd of white people; eyes fixed on you, some with disaffectedness, some with insularity and some out of mere curiousness. You go to McDonald’s, and there is some suppressed chirping around you. You go to watch the movie in a cinema hall, and you leave behind a group of young guys and girls smirking in an incomprehensible language. Yet, I was never abused, taunted or racially profiled openly at any of the places. Not even once. The shopkeepers were nice, the landlords helpful, the locals guiding, everyone, in fact, as normal as one could be. Since then I have traveled to a lot of places: America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and met a lot of people. I have shared seats on airplanes, dined in restaurants, danced in discos, played in grounds etc with people of different nationalities, colours and religions. Nowhere I was assaulted or affronted directly. Where was the fucking racism?

Yet I felt that divide, a veneer separating me from others around and vice-versa. Then one morning I could detect where that divide was. I was in a hurry to go to my office, and boarded the empty lift from my top floor. Down two levels, the lift stopped, and outside appeared, a white man. At first, he flinched and stopped, gave a worried look, finally sported a courteous smile, and walked inside. I stepped aside, careful to leave some space between us. Down two further levels, the lift stopped again, and I was ready for another encounter. But this time, appeared another man, a brown Bangladeshi. He hesitated to see two of us. We made a face this time around, and gave a perfunctory smile at the end. He then walked inside, careful to leave some space from the rest two of us. The lift then descended nonchalantly to the ground floor, but during those moments, the whole world of human love & its formality, and the great divide was exhibited in front of me. I was shell-shocked, because for the first time, I wondered how tightly I have been conscripted, strait-jacketed and faulted by the long-held-developed notions and beliefs. Not only I, but all three of us on that day on that lift were mere servants to the thoughts of the world.

I haven’t been able to fully extricate myself from these notions. It will take some time to dispose of the thoughts of a lifetime and the world around you. But I feel my life is much better now. I can understand the queries in the eyes and minds of the fixated onlookers on me, and can also appreciate the undertones of brown, black and less recognized people. I still prefer white women, but can also date a black woman, if time comes. It feels mighty different now, I must say. And have also realized, the insecure and the superior feelings, both at the same time, not only remain limited to colour. They are, in fact, present in every aspect of our lives: region, religion, nation, states, wealth etc. Even the wealthy Americans, the suave Europeans, the strong Africans, the intellectual Chinese and Indians, in fact, all the fucking great Earthians, can’t help feel these double feelings, based on some radically-generated and pre-conceived notions, at some aspect and point of their life and time. Such is the great vagary of life, and hence it remains beyond my cognition.

Remembering Mahatma

2009-10-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

I know I should have written it a day earlier. Better late than never. Anyway the point is not about singing a panegyric, on the eventful day of 02nd Oct, about Mahatma Gandhi. But about the need of answering this question,"Nehru: Bapu, the whole country is moving. Gandhi: Yes, but in which direction?"

Each year, on Gandhi Jayanti, I read something like this, “Is the Mahatma relevant today?” A stark reminder of the times we live in. And a cognition that such a pass has come that we are asking this question. But ask me, and I will answer, “A firm yes.” Not so because of the deeds he performed, but because of the ideals and the firm belief he had in those.

Tell me, which nation has fought its war of independence totally on non-violent terms? It makes my head high just thinking of it. Don’t wonder whether we would have got our freedom earlier or easier if we had adopted a different policy. Just consider there were hawks and belligerents at that time too, but the majority listened to him. And they listened because he showed a more morally soothing and justified path. Contrast this with the path the modern day jihadis, terrorists, freedom-fighters are following. Why go there, contrast this with the way we live our current simple lives. Everywhere we reject the ideals and morals as not-relevant-now or impractical vis-à-vis the current realities of life. Aisa nahin ho sakta aaj kal, agar yeh sahi bhi hai to. Here is where he was different and not like us. He didn’t give in to the world, but believed in what has been right since time immemorial.

Two days back, I was reading a letter he had written to Hitler in 1940, asking him to re-judge what he was doing. Not a single sign or word of aggression, even if the situation warranted that. Just the words of idealism thrown in. So firm believer he was in the power of reasoning and truth.

He was and remains the look-up-to personality for many: Obama, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Aang San Su Ki, Lech Walesa etc. United Nations declared 02nd Oct as International Day of Non-Violence in June 2007. Many schools in Europe celebrate or remember his birthday or martyr day. He was chosen as the second-most influential personality of the century by Time magazine at the end of 20th century. Even the first one on that list, Albert Einstein, said, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."

I hope we really don’t die wondering whether such a man ever existed. Let not the ‘belief in ideals’ die in the name of practicalities. This is the least we can do for him this Gandhi Jayanti.

It is Rio's chance

2009-10-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the world decides which city will host the 2016 Olympics. The candidate cities are Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Tokyo. The latter two, having already hosted the Olympics, have a lesser chance than the former two.

Most independents, including me, are supporting Rio to get the nod. The reason is obvious: It would be really exotic and exciting for a Brazilian city to host the world’s greatest sporting show. Olympics are synonymous with global aspirations, and need to have a pan-world connection. What better to host the Games in a city which is more dreamlike for most of the people? Actually, if given a chance, it would be first South American city to host it. Chicago might have better credentials, and might actually provide a superior show. But that would be too perfect an act. The Games need a reflection of the actual world, and that world resides in cities of Beijing, Rio, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Bangkok etc. So, for a change, the judges, please cast aside your rooted thinking of grandiose criteria (infrastructure, security, connectivity, investment etc) as the only deciding factors, and give people’s heart and vibrancy a chance.

For a change, I too, for the first time, won’t endorse Obama’s plea. He too is going to be there to champion his city’s candidature. But I hope he fails, and then gleefully endorses, “It’s time for change.”

Euro Trip Revisited

2009-09-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ah! The Euro Trip. Those certain 16 days will remain forever etched in my memory. It is very easy to declare any recent moment the best, just for the need and emphasis for it. But if life does start talking sweetly after it, it indeed is the moment.

No, it wasn’t the best I have felt, but it was certainly the time when I learnt the most. And that is what I like about travels and had hoped from this one too. I had planned to write a daily dairy of the tour, but feel it is impractical now, for the lack of time and also for the sheer volume of it. It deserves a good synopsis though. So, here are some travel guiding points picked from the sojourn:-

1> Prepare an itinerary which suits your taste. If you are driven by History and Religion, go to the numerous Churches and Palaces. But if they darn you off, no point in going through the ordeal. The world has plenty to offer for everyone.

2> But whatever you decide, do a thorough analysis of the places to be visited. They come in handy to feel the place and also the occasion. History and Geography of the place, not necessarily knowledge of their kings and chronology etc etc, do have their bearings on the experience.

3> Just like taking a small luggage, have a small group too. It offers less pain of going through the likes, dislikes, frills, tantrums, and also idiosyncrasies of the rest of the members. But more than that, it gives you the chance to explore out of the group and meet the world.

4> Stays in places which you feel are comfortable for and needed by you. It is not only for the budget, but I feel hostels provide the most wonderful staying area for the youth. But if you want something peaceful, do check out their websites for their score on this front.

5> Learn the local languages’ basic words and sentences. It will help, and you won’t have to repent the moments when you wanted to stay something but couldn’t. Some of the phrases, “Good Morning”, “Hello”, “Thank You”, “I need help”, “You look gorgeous” etc etc are an immeasurably strong necessity.

6> It is always a good idea to travel many places on foot. So check out its viability in the places you are visiting, and whether you can carry this out, as it can be very tiring.

7> Make the trip wholesome. I mean, the usual affinities aside, a fulfilling trip on all counts, helps the travel invigorate. Fun factor is a must even if the trip is just sight seeing or educational. It is just that things have to be in balance as per the taste.

8> Finally, travel is not about visiting the places; it is about experiencing the place, culture and people. Have eyes, ears, senses open for each and every moment, and you will relish the time spent for lifetime.

It is not that we did everything I have stated here. In fact, it was the guideline and will also serve as the lesson for our future tours. But on most of the counts, we did OK. So, another reason why I feel it went so smooth. I want to do another Euro Tour of the ilk, but know future time and place won’t allow me that. An added reason why we must enjoy each and every bit of the place we go through.

Europe Calling !!!

2009-09-03T10:34:00.001-07:00

Well well then. Finally the moment has arrived. Long cherished, sought after and planned. I am indeed going on Euro Trip tomorrow ….

The excitement is not that much of seeing new places, but more of experiencing the moments. I still remember and relish most of my previous travels; hope it emulates and betters them all.

So, off from work, study, Internet etc etc for 2 weeks, and a big hello to Europe ….

Happy Independence Day

2009-08-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

After many years, on the eve of this Independence Day, I feel that childhood-sense of pride and passion for the day. Back in those days, I used to buy a small paper flag and hoist it proudly on the roof of my house. That was my salute to the nation.

As world and life unfolded, 15th August became another day. Actually, it became a holiday. India is not going to run away from me, even if Independence Day is not celebrated.

But as all things turn full circle, this time around, that gleaming misty-eyed flag-waving passion seems to be pouring out involuntarily. Happy Independence Day, India. Long live the nation of destiny.

Live Blogging

2009-08-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

I always had a wish to do Live Blogging … the sort of Tweeting, you know. I am not such an influential person to warrant one. But it can be fun and needed too, when you have a lot of time to pass.

Yeah, right now I am flying over the Atlantic, about to reach New York in 2 hours or so. The flight from Amsterdam is a lengthy 7-hour one, and hence by no means an easy one. You develop strains, spasms, uneasiness etc just by sitting for this much time. But this time it has been a rather comfortable one. Surprising …because I already have taken a 5-hour flight from Cyprus to Amsterdam, and waited 6 more hours in the Transfer. Also there is no in-seat entertainment. There are more-cramped seats and a very cold interior. The food was great though, in fact the best one that I have eaten till now. It was Asian chicken served with rice, and fantastic salad and pastry.

The girl sitting beside me is right now lying in the lap of her boyfriend. They have been kissing non-stop (almost) since the time they were waiting for the flight at the airport. No embarrassments for them though. Everything works here … On my earlier flight, there was a Dutch couple beside me. They had come to Cyprus for vacation. Less charming than the current one, but they were more involving, as we kept talking about our life, culture, India etc all along our journey.

I started reading two novels: Zahir and The White Tiger. I feel pleasantly surprised that I like Zahir, as it is my second attempt at it after the first one was aborted after a few pages only. The White Tiger is, as publicized, the Slumdog Millionare of the books. Lots of India’s brutal revelation in the first few pages. I hope there are much more diverse things ahead.

What else to write? Most of the people around are sleeping, or better said, trying to sleep, constantly straightening their legs or arms. Some are immersed in their books. One looking askance to see what I am typing so engrossedly. Life in an aircraft is a perfunctory one. Just done to reach its destination.

Well, time to wind up, as I wish to take another small nap. A very average blog today, but it will do. Will try to post as soon as get hold of Internet in my hotel room in New York.

The Right to Education

2009-08-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

This may not be as glaring as ‘Raakhi Ka Syamwaar’ thing in media, but a few years later, this 'Right to Education Bill' might be considered the watershed moment of Indian emancipation. My experience of Indianness has been crying for this since long.

My single belief is that of all the sectors, if any sector can be the panacea, it is the Education sector. Education, even literacy, brings us the power to think right, cultivate and build virtues, differentiate between good and bad. It has got nothing to do with the monetizing power it gives to the individual. It gives a soul to our lives. The above is not didactical in its efficacy, as once my friend remarked that despite having good education, people like Hitler, Osama, Madoff etc were/are not necessarily good persons.

Quite right, as we can’t fight fanaticism and extremity. But if ever there is any way to counter these idiosyncrasies, then again it is through good education only. We have a higher probability to achieve goodness in society by providing everyone compulsory education. This brings us to point what constitutes a good education.

People are very much against rote learning. I am not totally averse to it, as sometimes by-hearting things helps us later. But what I consider a fruitful learning is the ability to liken a subject or idea to take it to extremity. If I like Physics, I should be so engrossed with it as to have a belief of finding undiscovered realities of nature. This is the specifics of a subject, but it will also generate a healthy attitude towards life in general, and other subjects, in particular. Such are all the aspects of our life interrelated.

Anyway this is the apotheosis of an education system. Right now if India can just impart even the famous 3 R’s (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) to all its citizens, it will create a sea-change down the years. India’s spending in Education Sector is way too low, but somehow tough decisions, if warranted on other sectors, need to be made. As an anonymous quote goes, “Give me a fish, and I will eat for a day. Teach me fishing, and I will eat for a lifetime.”

Gay is not a 'happy' word

2009-07-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Gay is not a word that only means ‘happy’. That is how I was introduced to this word. I should say ‘concept’, because it is quite unique on its face value. Or at least I thought so. When I had a fad about chatting on Yahoo, I had accidentally dropped into ‘Gays/Lesbians Room’ one day. A guy accosted me. Instantly I shooed him away stating, “I am not your type.”

“What type I am then? Do you think I am abnormal or lesser human being? What if you had been born like this type which you vehemently declare a no-no type?” I don’t remember what else exactly did he say, but he was full of angst and anguish.

I wasn’t emotionalized by it though. A queer lamenting his life …

Sometime back a lady friend of mine, in an informal conversation, asked me, “How a man can become a gay?” I don’t know why she asked it, but I asked her back, “How a girl can become a lesbian then? I suppose that is the way with males too.” It was a very impertinent answer wrapped in a question, but her reply was very succinct.

“Sexually a female body is more captivating for both males and females. Where the females lacked in gaining strength, they attained in having a softer, cleaner and lovelier body. A man can have an affinity for another man, but for him to neglect a female body and root for a man’s one instead is something totally out of human nature.”

Yeah, it is true. For a man, nothing could be more enticing that a curvaceous and voluptuous female body. Kingdoms have fallen over it. So, for some sections of human beings to be averse to it is a bad propensity on their part.

My belief was severely challenged a few days back, again on account of some in-front-of-eyes happenings. Delhi High Court annulled a law decreeing homosexuality a criminal offence. Hey, was there really any such law? I was surprised and angered too. For all their incomprehensible proclivities, they are not criminals. Also what about the STDs? Who among them will approach a doctor if they have some disease? We are generating or compounding many problems by an irrelevant so-called solution or deterrent. Go for the terrorists or robbers, my law-makers.

Anyway, this leads us to another, in fact the most important, question. Is it a since-birth inclination or a wrongly developed perversion? Nobody knows this yet, even if people can keep debating it. While some can put on table biological experimental reports proving its natal connections, some like Baba Ramdev can preach its curability through Yoga. All these are beside the point though. It is not a crime. Period.

Even if I grew more understanding, even though not fully acceptable, towards gayism, I had doubts about its purpose. I read an article yesterday then. A man proclaiming his love for another one, in pure terms of affection and belongingness. They never had sex, but were riveted towards each other just through a sheer bonding which they couldn’t find anywhere else. For them, sex was unimportant; they just felt happy with each other.

Ah! again I can not comprehend this :) But at least this was a bit of an answer to my friend’s question. May be she too can view it from a different angle now.

The real 'machos'

2009-07-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

Like an earnest employee, I was standing in the lift (elevator) waiting for my floor to arrive. Hurried even though I was, the lift had to stop in between. In entered a person with an assumed grandiose gait. Wrist bands on the arms, uplifted shirt-collar, strong perfume, goggles perched inside the front-pocket – I mean everything that you can think of to be associated with a so-called macho. He didn’t dither though to hum a tune in the presence of his superiors. And mind you this was an office premise.

He might have been the subject of my questioning, but in reality, I meet everyday several such machos. Studs driving their cars wildly with songs blaring full sound, philanderers hitting on everything conceivably female, the hunks puffing out with their gauzily dressed girlfriends in front of cinema-halls or discotheques. The grandness of these actions is hard to miss. And I am not complaining; for this is the time and prerogative of them, and more so, who am I to object.

But it confounds me hard when I see everyone copying it. I mean, every boy or girl, with supposedly defined good looks seems to believe that he/she has a right or in fact, duty to act like a stud or a coquette. Starting from even the school days, he will come attired in fancy clothes, flirt with the girls, treat studies as a burden, throw discipline and morals as playable; all the rules to follow to be anointed a macho are already laid down by his predecessors. Beautiful girls on their part have to be trendy, acting as superiorly divine beings, with an anathema towards any less charming person or thing. Their rules too are defined since the time of machoism. And why not? Everywhere for them, it is the macho who wins. In movies, it is the person who lags behind in studies, who comes late, who treats everyone as secondary, is the hero and the prize of all. In ongoing life too, we doff our hats to the one who can brag how he cheated in exam, how he dodged his assignments in office, how he drove wildly to scare the hell out of everyone. In short, anyone who is and acts smart is macho.

But what they don’t realize is the ultimate truth of life: in real life, it is the doers who win. All around me, the successful persons are the ones who have valued life as the house of many flavours. The best persons of my school, college, university, job lives have been the ones who have been good at everything; studies, sports, music, social behaviour and norms, even flirting, and not to mention the ever-needed qualities of honesty, sincerity, integrity, braveness etc They know what is Newton’s second law, are good at playing soccer, can strum a guitar, are courteous to teachers and elders, have a besotting girlfriend, and if needed, can help the friends, fight a war, support a cause, even catch the moon. They are not ostentatious, but possessor of qualities. They are who I call macho.

But who to tell these pretentious ones? They have their own world, aloof from the other pleasurable tenets of life. In order to relish something flitting, they miss on the durable ones. Such are the vagaries of life that everyone understands the truth someday. The machos too will ….

Stop and look over, "Life is beautiful !"

2009-06-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Why miracles don’t happen in life? Because they are not meant to. Life itself is such a miracle. Have you ever wondered about the vast expanse of earth in front of us, and the ever teeming life there? It is an amalgamation of stories: love, hope, spirit, peace, success. You name it; every good is present in this world. Yet we fail to feel or even spot it. We never bother to stop and relish it, because such is our preoccupation with the supposedly fulfilling family-life, work, obsessions etc that we take these for granted. Then one day, we come back and realize, “Is this the same place we have been living in? Where was it all these days?”

It is such an oft-repeated philosophy that everyone stands by it. But very few are able to even understand, leave aside execute it. The moments I have been able to do even an iota of this, I have felt non-pareil moments of blissfulness. The words have just sprung out then, “Life is indeed beautiful”.

Hail the watershed moment!

2009-05-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a victory by the UPA, nay Congress. I had been glued to my Internet throughout the counting day. My prayers, viz of any alliance (UPA or NDA) getting a sizable number of seats, were definitely answered. But what was more reveling was a sense of some political emancipation soothing through me all the day.

For the first time, I felt Indian polity has arrived. I was deeply skeptical about the results, considering how the Indian electorate votes. The whole exercise is, or was, based on regional or caste/religion dispensation of the candidates and the voters. The seemingly uneducated/poor rural people have been the targets of the sighs of this wrong and myopic voting pattern. They are granted sympathy of being unrefined, but are also not spared the blame. Ah! They are much beyond our erudition. The results of 2004 National Elections and Assembly Election in AP were the apt case in point. But this time’s results surpass everything.

There is uniform voting all over the country, and the uniformity is in the selection of a national, just and delivering government. Consider the performance of Nitish Kumar in Bihar, Naveen Patnaik in Orissa, SS Chauhan in MP, or the booting out of Left from WB and Kerala. The electorate has rejected incompetence and Mandal/Kamandal malignance. I am going overboard, but the signs are really there for all to see and change. I had felt the same about Indian economy about 10 years back. Now it seems the most maligned of sectors, Indian polity, too is knocking on those doors. It is for us now to open them with arms of acceptance, appreciation and participation, and let the Indian polity usher in an era of deliverance.

India's electoral middle-mix

2009-05-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

57 % voting in the fourth phase of election! It is a respectable number if you consider the past figures, but still think, just 57%. The elections are meant to be a pan-population exercise, and not a percentage one.

Even though 57% of India’s population is twice the size of USA’s one, it doesn’t resemble every section of society. I am mostly referring to middle class here. The middle class consists of myriad of people who got educated, weathering several impediments, and are doing white-collar jobs at different parts of the country and world. Most of them are working out of their native places, or are too damned occupied to exercise their suffrage. This middle class is supposedly the backbone of India, giving the finest of technocrats and businessmen to the world. They are considered erudite in real sense too, who can discern the right and wrong of polity, and choose the apt leaders of the nation.

The whole of India has moved with them, but Indian polity still remains an aloof proposition to them or vice-versa. Part of the fault lies with this bourgeoisie, for they remain cocooned in their office shells oblivious to the world outside. Ask an IT professional the names of different chief ministers or government officials; he will be hard pressed to remember even the different states. So it is obvious he is not going to take that extra effort to go to his constituency and vote. On its part, government too is not inclined to do anything to ensure their participation. Its main target, the proletariat section, is there to be taken for a ride.

So, how can we bring this much-needed interaction? First, make voting a paramount, even if not mandatory, exercise. To ensure this, take the domain of voting to outside the constituency area too. IT and telecoms can be great assets in ensuring this. Second, start attaching corporate and office sectors with Indian polity. It is an abhorrent idea on first read, as corporate sector loathes nothing more than association with polity. But it will also help cleanse the political sphere. Finally, do away partly with this notion of single government job holding. A politician or government official, under certain cases, should be allowed to pursue his interests in other private sectors too. A capitalist and a government official need not be antagonists, but in fact can be useful complements. The idea is to mix the current ethos of India with the heart of Indian polity, which still remains a distant zone for normal people, like me.

The Earth Hour Campaign

2009-03-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

"Switch Off on 28th March for Healthy Earth." 2009 is a critical year for action on climate change, with the world's leaders meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to sign a new deal to supersede the Kyoto Protocol. Supported by

Euro countries and More details -> http://www.earthhour.org/home/

I am writing this after the period 8:30 – 9:30 pm is already over. I had expected a total blackout of the city. But it was not much different. The reason I could find soon. I myself tried to put off all the lights, but after a while, it didn’t seem feasible and wise too. There were many works hindered by it, and lighting candles would not have provided the solution either. As per the facts, lighting candles would cost more in totality. Also, the total energy saved by this exercise in whole one day is equivalent to that saved by whole China in six seconds.

Anyway, the purpose of the whole campaign is not to save energy but to highlight its importance. In our lives, there are many things which we earmark as the to-do things, because they have been deemed right by tradition or theory. But as a result, unfortunately, we miss out on many other important things too which are yet to achieve our acceptance. Environmental preservation is one of them. On second thoughts, everyone considers it ultra significant, but somehow is not able to make it his first-hand habit. Not a blatant mistake, but just oblivion or indifference because of the lack of exposure to it.

Today’s endeavour is a wonderful step in the direction of enlightening everyone.

Time to wake up, Pakistan

2009-03-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

Before someone judges me on the basis of my nationality and religion, let me tell you that I am writing it as a human first - a human that is deeply distressed by the happenings going around in Pakistan. On first look, actually it should not bother me a wee bit – Pakistan is none of my business. But it becomes mine, when it starts engulfing the whole humanity in general and India in particular.

The attack by the militants on SriLankan cricket team is not only cowardly and abominable, but I dare say, also laughable. What sort of motive does these goons wanted to achieve by attacking SriLankan cricketers, who can hardly be categorized as the so-reviled enemies of Islam and Muslim world. Bloody, they were just cricketers who had gone to play when everyone else had refused to tour the country. So, why this- just because some injustice has perceivably be done to them, and as a result, they want the whole world to suffer. But what is most frightening is that the proportion of these sick people seems to be increasing all the time, and also encompassing the so-defined learned and educated people. I always believe that a small chunk of every society, country, religion or any group will be misguided, and continue to play nuisance with the others and the rest of that same group. But when that nonsense becomes a movement, it is unspeakably dangerous. How could you define that the attacks happened even with the ‘Presidential Kind of Security’ provided to the players? How could the terrorists carry machine guns, grenades, heavy rocket launchers with them through a crowded place, and also go scot-free without any of them getting caught or killed? It is too early to pass judgement, but it seems, contrary to my deep belief, that many people have started empathizing with the Taliban and their ideology. The implementation of Sharia law in Swat valley is just a case in point.

My call to these aggrieved people is how long will they keep blaming the West, US, UK, Israel, India etc for the wrongs done to them? We all agree, and every sane mind will, that most of these problems are the results of the political and military games played by the bigger powers at different points of time. But is this the way to avenge? If they really want to shame them, better beat them in economy, technology, sports, society etc. Become engineers, doctors, scientists. Develop technologies. Play as champions in sports. These things won’t be easy, but that is the only way. Continuing this blame game, why don’t they also know that despite many despicable acts done by US, it remains the most democratic and open society the world has right now. For all the wrongdoings of Israel, it is the spearhead of many new technologies. For all the antagonism of India, it is the most promising country in the world. So, please stop this obsession with others, and look inwards.

I generally refrain from relating these things with religion. But now, we can’t deny the truth that these are related to religion. I have friends who practice different religions, but the best of them are those who are moderate ones, for they can view the wrongs of their religion with a reasonable eye. So, we need some sense going with our beliefs. Even the most moderate ones whom I know, agree that Islam is more rigid with its ideologies. Not a problem, but it surely is when one starts defying the logic. How can one debar the girls from education in the name of religion? How can one force someone to grow beard when it is his choice? How can one ban music, sports, entertainment etc when it is our soul to all intents and purposes? If they believe that these things purify them, then they better be eradicated. One extreme example of this happened when I, along with my friends, was sitting in a lawn in front of Al Asqa Mosque on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. An elderly bearded person arrived to us, and after the usual hello-givings, he started preaching us that Muhamed was the last Prophet of God, and so we should follow him. If someone doesn’t follow him, he is useless to arrive on this earth. I was just stunned to hear that someone can actually harbour these kinds of thoughts. Ah! Muhamed better arrive again to earth to teach these people.

Whatever I , or many others, have been writing or preaching does not and can not find its intended audience because they would be busy planning the next attack. I know these hurt the moderate, intellectual Pakistanis and Muslims the most. But in this hour, the need is for the conscience and beliefs to be right and clear. Nobody can afford people moving from this zone to the other zone of insane barbarians.

If this is not checked, we might be headed towards another World War. I am a bit cynical here, but unfortunately, all the things – economic recession, growing unrest, a motiveless mania all point to an impending conflagration. The First War was fought on Imperialism and Colonialism, the second on Nazism and Fascism, the third might be on Islamic Fundamentalism. As someone had dreadfully presaged, it will start from the Middle East and South Asia, with attacks on India on eastern front and Israel on the western front, soon engulfing Europe, then finally drawing US and China to complete the trash. The only point to take solace from is that the World Wars sounded death knells to those sick ideologies of Imperialism and Fascism, then it might do so for this Fundamentalism too. If that is the case, better it be tomorrow then, than living in an age of counter-accusative hate and distrust.

The BackPack of Travel

2009-02-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

Earlier people might have called them vagabonds, but today they are the esteemed ‘backpackers’. The first time I had heard of one traveling the whole of world for two years, I was instantly jiggered; the gumption, leave aside money and time, needed to do so is monumental. But that is travel - we may never understand the joy of it unless we do so.

This is not to mean that I am a big time traveler. On the contrary, I am a much laidback person, preferring a cosy day at home to a slog in the outside. But whenever I had managed to visit some places, I have been overwhelmed. Part of that comes from the sheer occasion of being present at those places, and the rest of it from the sweet and sour travails of reaching there. I can’t categorically say though whether the occasion was better or the experience. I think it has to be experience.

I believe tourist spots fall into three main categories. First, the most likable 3’S category (Sun, Sand and Sex). Go flipping around the periphery of Europe, S-E Asia, Caribbean - in fact all the exotic islands, one can find these places in plenty. The buzz of life or night-life, on beaches or discotheques, is hard to find anywhere else. But as with most things salacious, these are ephemeral. The second type of tourist places is the ‘Nature Trail’. Mountains, snow-laden hilltops, steep cliffs, deserts, water resorts etc provide enough of excitement, challenge or recreation for the hardened nature-lovers. Indeed there is nothing more soothing than natural beauty. But there is another genre which is probably more esoteric than all these, at least for some. The Historic and Religious places. Some are absolutely smitten with history and religion, so no wonders they feel truly whelmed on just being at those places. It is not uncommon for them to feel vicarious about the legends and stories –true or untrue- associated with those sites.

Not tough to judge by now, if I have to place myself in any category, then I will fit in the third slot. I do like buzz and nature, but somehow those experiences don’t last with me forever. Talking of my recent trips, I have liked Manali coolness, or Ayia Napa intoxication, or St Louis’ Six Flags topsi-turvyness, or Nile’s felucca ride or London Eye merry-go-round or Israel’s Dead Sea. But nothing can match the excitement of their historical counterparts: ‘Vaishno Devi darshan, Baths of Aphrodite, Dayton’s Air Museum, Luxor’s pharaohs’ tombs, British Museum, and the whole of Jerusalem. In fact, the most lasting image till now of my whole travel-career is walking on the alleys of Bethlehem in Palestine on the Christmas 25th Dec Night with the Palestinians and us exchanging looks, glances and also glares of many unanswered and unfathomable tenor. That is what I call experience, and that is what I always try to find: the feeling of the place.

Take whatever one may; the reasons are galore, and only one is sufficient to drive one away on a trail. I wish I too could pack my back up one day, and get oblivious to the world around. But sometimes the word ‘backpacker’ isn’t meant to become everyone, at least not to me who didn’t visit the Taj in spite of living only an hour’s drive for five straight years :)

Aais paais, you duffer

2009-01-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

I threw my school satchel on the sofa, and ran as fast as I could, evading my mother’s calls, to my friend’s house. The sweltering summer didn’t dither me, neither did the closed window. I knocked his window, and after some earnest whisperings too, he opened it. I demanded, “Where is it?” Still rubbing off his sleep, he gave it to me disapprovingly. I had got my prized possession, and ran back, again as fast as I could, to my home. My mother had laid out my lunch, and I sat on the dining table, and opened it by the side of my plate. Ah! ‘The new comic’s release of Super Commando Dhruv’ How long had I been waiting for you, Dhruv.? You are great, better than Nagraj. My school mates are buffoons. They don’t realize that you, unlike Nagraj, do things without supernatural powers. Thus quickly granting victory to me, I got immersed into the comics, with my mother coaxing me to eat first and read it later.

I am smiling now while I write this. The professed sense of adulthood can’t approve it, but a few years back, those were my moments – each day. I was reliving these moments with my colleagues during our post-lunch walk a few days back. Following a discussion, we had somehow jaunted off to our childhood, and before long, we were throwing out similar, if not same, stories of nonchalant innocence. Each gushed out his blissful days in never-to-return mood. Remarkably we were all floating in the same zone.

There is this laid out field of cricket, the only difference being that the field is the lawn of some house. Leg side play is barred because the wall patrolling the leg side has some glass-pane windows, some already broken. There is a well in between, and whenever the ball is hit inside it, the batsman is admonished for being too perfect. Not only he is given out, but he also has to borrow the bucket to draw the ball out, from some hard-faced and hotheaded uncle of us.

Then there is this lukka chippi (hide and seek) being played among the half-raised walls of an under-construction house. Vivek has counted till ten. Hey see, Raj has swapped his yellow shirt with the brown one of Sohan. And Ram is sporting the now-borrowed blue cap of Gopi on his bald head. Gopi is walking with his scalp just peeking above the wall. To complicate matters, Raj is dangling the flaps of his yellow shirt beyond one corner. Poor Vivek! That’s you, Sohan. No idiot, aais paais. It’s me! Raj. Go and count till ten again, you duffer.

Also there is the clutter of kites flying around. Today instead of borrowing comics from my ever-sleepy friend, I had run straight to my roof, because I had an inkling of a kite landing on my roof. Even though I didn’t find the kite, I found the string which led me to its mother-kite, hopelessly suspended from the maze of electric wires. I rescued her, and now it is flying high among the skies. Hey, some other kite is coming. Shit, it is of big bully Kitu’s. Oh! It is gone. Hey, you fool Ron, why didn’t you sharpen our strings with the crushed-bulb mixed colloid.

Never mind, there are a plethora of other things still. Vish amrit, buddhiya kabbadi, kho kho, denga paani ….

We were just laughing; then followed the ever-consoling sigh of the days gone by. Someone looked up his watch. It is time to go now. I have a conference call to attend. We walked back, perhaps a bit differently this time, if not with moist eyes, then at least with moist feelings.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

There ain't a new story of New Year. If ever there is, it is strikingly similar to this one:-

The Story Of New Year

Two years later, the same resolutions and denials, the same overworked (or overslept) soul, and the same moment of sleep-bursting crackers remain :)

But one thing has changed. 2009 is now the stage. So, over to you 2009. And the mandatory, Happy New Year to all.

Story behind Print and Nature

2008-12-07T13:39:00.001-08:00

Believe me, each week is a tale in itself. My last week too was such a story, even if trifling. My office time is generally busy, so my head doesn’t work more often than not. Even if it tries to function, it usually errs on the wrong side.

So, I was not sure whether to take print-out of one of my important mails. With all the talk of environment preservation going around in my office, a certain internal vigil has taken over my every official doing. I thought, ‘The printout is a must if I want to explain my point’. Then the next moment, ‘No, it is not. A forwarded mail to him can do.’ Yes and no, no and yes, I kept dithering. Finally, ‘No’ won. As it turned out, a forwarded mail actually did the trick. I felt righteous, actually morally king-size.

The next day, again I faced this dilemma of taking printout. Oh God! these qualms about my nature-bound duties! I kept vacillating, but I knew I would decide in the negative. I had actually made up my mind; then in a swift action, I clicked on the ‘Print’ button. Before the remorse could take over, I had swooped the papers from the printer and rushed toward the meeting room. An hour later, I was glad. I actually needed those hand-outs.

It is a stupid story, naa. But for me, it is the supposed culmination of my efforts-my efforts of being savvy in my environmental duties. Ever since I have confronted imprudence of ours towards natural resources, I have made a conscientious effort to right myself at least. So, ‘no AC if heat/cold is bearable, no Heater if the water is enjoyable, no Car if the distance is walkable, no Running Tap/Tub if the effort is doable, actually so many No’s…’- I keep reminding myself. Usually I overdo or underdo these things. So, my last week’s balanced efforts do strike as an achievement for me, and re-instills my beliefs towards resource preservation. I feel extremely proud to harness and hone such feelings, because not many have done or can do that.

Whose fight is it anyway?

2008-11-30T07:50:00.000-08:00

I had held it for so long, but I too gave it up on that day, the day when our Mumbai was burning. Having vowed never to look unilaterally, I did get overpowered. “Damn all the Muslims in the world”, how easily it crossed my mind and senses. I have not been able to reconcile myself since then.

The terrorism wrought upon Mumbai was so ghastly that it shook my entrails out. It was the death of humanness, and this is saying a lot, considering we all have been witness to many barbaric incidents in the world. My heart died each time then, and woke up in search of peace that it ultimately found in this world. This time though, my heart has been torn asunder, and now instead of looking for some comfort, it is searching answers- some sort of re-belief from life yonder. The more it looks around, the more it gravitates to the same answer, the same belief of love. But you can’t feel it when there is hatred abound. When the terrorists are killing innocent people without remorse in front of your eyes, you can’t have any other outlook save revulsion. But the most distressing aspect of all is that you know it is not the solution for all this carnage. This vicious cycle of retribution has been created by us only, give it a dimension of country- US, UK, Israel, India, Pakistan or name it in terms of religion – Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism. All have struck in vengeance, and no surprises, the penance has been done by us only then.

I am not a moderate or a coward. I do believe that these gun-tottering sick people need to be eliminated. Not only they, but also their tutors and this whole ideology, need to be decimated. Killing is not the answer to injustice. Moreover every person has a right to live, most aptly exemplified in the movie ‘A Wednesday’ – “No motherfucker in this world is going to dictate when I am going to die”. The example here may be coarse, but it derives itself from the reality around us. And you know what; we need to change this reality, first, by fighting against the terrorists and their mythos, and second, by fighting against ourselves who create these terrorists in the first place. We can bring the prevention and cure both, which can ultimately become a panacea. But are we prepared and strong enough?

No religion for me

2008-10-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

I don’t feel human again. I don’t feel human each time I read a horrific news like this. The Hindu outfits raped and burnt a girl suspecting her to be a Christian. Damn those bastards ... and sorry for my blasphemy, damn Hinduism too, if it advocates such methods to preach itself.

A few days ago, two motorcycle riders threw a bag at a small canteen and fled away. Out of general goodwill, a child working as a servant there picked that package to return it to them. And then boom …. An innocent life gone in this fight of honour-jihad …. What honour and prestige? Ask the Prophet.

Why ask Him, ask those persons who created these jihadis in the first place. In an attack to destroy Taliban and their base, the American aircrafts bombed the Aghani civilian settlements. What price these civilians are paying for? How can the whole world be so inert to all this going on in this part of world? Instead, in return is fomented a prejudiced view on Islam. Again, a diktat from the other God?

So will people say, who are the anointed keepers of their religion. But I don’t want to be a party to all this, by being a part of any of these religions. Oh God! I only wish there were no religion for the world, or at least for me.

It is morning, God

2008-09-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today's morning was not much different: of another Tuesday, of another day of office, in fact, of another 30th of a month. But it was not any other morning. Today after waking up, I did say, "It is morning, God"

Every other morning I was saying, "Oh God, it is morning". I had longed to say it the other way. But I could never muster enough enthu to say so. But today was different. Reason: I don't know, but it felt fantastic.

Kohinoor and Da Vinci

2008-09-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

There is no co-relation between the two, however far you stretch your imagination. But I could strike one, even if in the most unusual of ways, today. I saw the Kohinoor, the diamond of immense fascination, in Jewel House in Tower of London today.

Long before entering the museum, I had set out my mind and eyes to look at it. Even then, I missed it among the other crowns and diamonds of the Queens, laid in a row. The stand containing these precious jewels is flanked by an automatically moving pathway on either side; so, if you miss what you are looking for, you can’t just stand and search for it. As soon as I reached the other side, I approached an attendant to ask about it. Before I could open my mouth, she said with a smile, “It’s there, beside the Mother Queen’s crown.” She would have answered about Kohinoor so many times, that she need not second guess what the question would be, coming from an Indian. Indeed, we Indians are so intrigued and involved by Kohinoor, that even after so much time, we consider it an Indian property, wrongfully looted by the British. The Kohinoor was given to Queen Victoria by the Nawab of Patiala in 1863 as a gift, and since then it has adorned the crowns of many Queens. At that time, its value was evaluated to be about 60% of the world’s wealth. I was simply astounded to read the same. I also read about Cullinan’s diamond, the world’ biggest diamond found in South Africa, and brought to UK subsequently by the colonial masters. I didn’t feel very highly of these larcenies by the British.

I went to the British Museum next. The entrance is free for the visitors, and it is really a welcome change from other museums which charge a lot for antiquities of significantly lesser worth. The Museum is so big that it is impossible to see and study everything in one week, leave aside one day. I went to the Egyptian section where the artifacts and antiquities, including mummies, were kept. I also saw the original Rosetta stone, the replica of which I had seen in Egypt. There are Greek and Roman sections too, containing these civilizations’ statues, writings etc. In fact, the Museum contains materials of almost all the Civilizations found till date, and you know what, most of them, if not all, are authentic materials. The British did a good job of amassing these. But still these don’t belong to them. “When I go to British Museum, I expect to see things from British culture, not things accumulated from different places.”-my accompanying friend fired this line, seemingly feeling the same. I had just moved to the corner of one section, when I espied one room, curiously secluded from other areas. I peeped inside it, and buoy, it was unexpected. There were people reading books, working on computers, writing notes etc, but all trying to look beyond the present into the past to educate themselves and the world. Needless to say, it was the library. I always had a dream about that kind of place after reading the novel, The Da Vinci Code, and I stepped into the hallowed room with excitement abound. There were materials of unlimited information, and on the basis of which, old world is unfolded before us.

There was a swift change of thoughts. If the British would not have gathered these, we would not have been even looking at them now. Lots of studies are funded by the Museum. There is always a prospect of someone finding something new here. Isn’t it a proverbial cradle of knowledge then? Ashamed a bit, I looked at the antiquities again for a while, and then quickly left. I could find the co-relation between Kohinoor and Da Vinci only for myself today; but if there is indeed one, it would be surely found out, if not today, then tomorrow- courtesy the all-embracing world we live in.

Time to Regroup

2008-08-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Whenever you feel worn out, you tend to think of the past days-the days which were full of promise. I certainly feel worn out now, not of anything else but something of my own making. The days have thus become harder. There is no better time than now to regroup.

My UK stay has been nothing short of intense. Besides making me worn out, as said above, in every respect, it has thrown so many different posers and challenges to me. Some latent feelings were brewed, while some were sobered. I certainly enjoyed the most part of it, but when the questions were left unanswered, I felt the distinct unease that I hate. I made a hash of my work life too, making it pound over me like anything. I had worked on it so much in the last few months. A part of it was undone. Thus there is no better time than now to regroup.

Sorry for writing such trash. I don’t want to piffle, but sometimes you can’t help it- especially when you believe that it will be the last time of piffling, and things will change for the better in future. Believe me, I won’t write, or at least try not to write, such abstruse hokum. Didn’t I say before- there is no better time than now to regroup?

A step forward

2008-07-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Thank God, the UPA government survived. I had been praying for its survival ever since the confidence motion was mooted to be put in the Parliament. I am not a UPA government supporter per se, but a common citizen who can discern what is right and what is wrong. You don’t need a big perspective to realize the fatuity of the farce going out there in the national polity. Now that it is over, I can seriously look forward to, and in fact, again pray for, some of the developments.

First, the Left parties need to be eliminated from the Indian political system. They are a blot on our country. However harsh the words may sound, it is true. They held the government to ransom for four years, but now they have got what they deserved. Hope in the next elections, they get negative seats, if that is possible.

Second, the UPA government push not only the N-deal, but also a number of held proposals in its remaining one year. There are many Acts lying in limbo in the Parliament. They need to be pushed for the betterment of the economy.

Third, the NDA headed by BJP realize what it takes to win an election. The country has changed much, and so has its polity, even if minimally. I hope it concentrates on building its own profile, rather than confronting the government just for the sake of it. The NDA, for all its publicized communal ideology, was the first government to actually arise in a new Shining India. I want them lead the nation next year.

Fourth and final, I want everyone to draw inspiration or reaffirm his or her faith from the above development that the time has indeed come or not gone away, to usher in a new developed era. The charlatans can’t hold the erudite now. If we manage to pull it off, then we would be proud of today several years later. It just needs a bit more belief; acts will follow, I am sure.

A bit distorted

2008-07-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Things have not been moving as expected or planned. So, life has gone haywire to an extent. And it has taken a toll on blogging too. Worse, it is going to be in limbo for some more time .

Ah! Someone had observed an out-of-lane car always takes time to regain its position. So, never waver your speed or lose your track.

The World Will Pass Underneath You

2008-07-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

My friend asked me to write this, so I am putting it up on my blog. He has devised a unique plan of controlling the oil problem that has the whole world in convolution. But the nonchalant way in which he presents this to everyone is the most impressive part. So, I won’t be able to emulate him a wee bit here.

Ever wondered why does the earth rotate on its axis? Yes, or may be not, but we all would have definitely studied about it at some part of our learning. But did you ever think about harnessing this natural phenomenon? It can indeed be done. Whenever an aero plane takes off from its runway, make it go vertically upwards and not forward. After it has reached a comfort zone among the clouds, rest it there. The damn earth will nevertheless keep on moving underneath it, and after sometime when the destination is reached, let the plane descend gently on its new place. Whacky!!! This is bloody double whacky.

I had my food dropping out of my mouth, when he narrated this grand idea to me while we were having lunch. Despite knowing fully well in advance that it was ludicrous, my mind started working out the reason why it was not feasible. The famous Physics problem, “Why our body doesn’t get hit by a moving train when we jump inside it?” No, this case is different. I did find out the reason; the whole exercise of this churning of mind being a non-exercise in itself. But the important thing is that his plan did strike me and got me thinking; and it struck others also who were listening to this. Bravo! Well done, and hats off to you, Sunil.

A recap

2008-06-24T15:01:00.001-07:00

Really the last two weeks passed so fast that I am getting time now only to re-gather some part of it. I won’t and shouldn’t talk about my work life. There are two reasons: first, I don’t want to spoil my blog and second, as per one news article (I read it last week only), companies have started firing people writing job stuff on their personal blogs. I love both my blog and job.

Anyway, just to mention, contrary to my earlier fears, it was a very sedate time on work front; thankfully, as it allowed me some more time to ruminate. But the most happening things happened during the return journey. I started off from Champaign, in a resigned mood about the impending 24-hour journey seated, sleepless and foodless, in a plane. The weather had started to get inclement too. Portents of delayed flights, held luggage, harrowing time etc. - my rumination had already started. At the airport, check-in happened and then, the long queue of security check waited. As my turn came, the lady at the counter said that I had been marked for extra security check, and she didn’t know the reason why. Damn it, everyone knew why, and one knows more so, when one and also one’s friends had to go through the same exercise during the onward journey too. It was embarrassing. I can’t write shorter than this. No wonder, the disquiet about discrimination has reached everywhere. But as a learned person, I sobered myself. The rumination though added some more views to my already partly-conceived topic of similar nature (should be a part of another blog item soon)

I passed the security check. Did I need to write this? I don’t know. Anyway, my journey to Chicago was a non-descript as I kept my eyes closed almost all the time. The small jet was literally shaking in the fast-blowing winds J At Chicago, I waited for the next flight to Frankfurt, and as I went to the counter to get my boarding pass, I was told that I had been put on stand-by due to the flight being overbooked. I knew this. They had done this to me last year too. But I had managed to get on board that time by constantly haggling with the counter people. So, this time too I shamelessly kept going to them, but as time passed, it seemed the rugged idea won’t work this time. The plane was indeed overbooked, and they were looking into arrangements how to send the held passengers in later flights. As a deflated but hopeful passenger, I tried the last time and stood at the counter. Sometime later, an attendant took note of me, and after some searching glances beyond me, asked for my stand-by boarding pass. Yes, a passenger had not turned up and I was getting on board. I knew it, because you know, last time too, this had happened. I boarded the plane only five minutes before departure.

I was given seat 12E, and when I enquired the seat position from the standing flight attendant, she ushered me to the anterior part where the board of ‘Lufthansa Business Class’ stood in front of me. Good, gosh, jolly! I again thanked the lady at the counter umpteenth times. So, then … I opened my shoes and sprawled on the big seat with an affected aura around me to look the part. I read financial newspaper which I never do; opened my laptop to scribble something, and when done, nonchalantly put on my i-pod. First time experience can border on nasty showiness. After sometime, I started talking to my fellow passenger who was much senior to me. He was a German, going back to his country after attending some business conference in San Diego. More talks revealed that he was the founder and Chairman of a pharma company, even though small, in Germany. Good to share the space with him. He knew a lot about India too, and we talked like business partners for long. On his recommendation, I tried shrimp and salmon fish too. Another first for me. And in the end, slept well to conclude an easy ride to Frankfurt.

I thought it may not be the end. Another flight, back to Larnaca awaited. I boarded the plane on time and this time, much to my dejection, I got an economy class window seat. By the way, my ticket said economy class only J My adjacent seat remained empty for sometime, and then I saw a beautiful girl hurrying from the front door, and landing straight on my empty adjacent seat. Things were happening. The plane also took off. My mind too was bordering on the brink, thinking about not-so-have-happened things. Could it be the day? I kept thinking; time passed; I slept; she slept; Larnaca arrived; she walked; I walked. And it all ended. An anti-climax for day? No way! I was smart. I didn’t want to take a chance to put a blot on my day. Moreover, my day had taught me that unthinkables happen only when one doesn’t think about them. So, it will happen, if it has to happen someday, in the most unthinkable way. Otherwise too, it is cool J as it has been till now.

I wore off my jet-lag, sleeping in the office next day, even though tons of work had been pounded on me as soon as I came. Back to real world Mr. and again a time to ruminate, this time though about defects and assignments. Ha ha ha

2nd Coming, US

2008-06-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

I am in Champaign, Illinois right now, and scribbling this stuff at 4 o’clock in the morning. I slept yesterday continuously for more than 12 hours from mid-noon to mid-night crossing two days. I don’t know when I had slept this much last.

Though it is a hastily arranged 2-week business trip, it feels nice to be back in US. The US remains the paragon of development for any nation. Things are so immaculately planned and developed that you wonder how much time any other country is going to take to reach the same level. Even a small city like Champaign looks so posh, even though it has a likable green rustic look to it.

I was here last September for three long months, and explored quite a bit of it. I was able to experience the change of weather too from post-summer to pre-fall. It is relatively hot though right now. Also I don’t think I will get a chance to add to my sight-seeing this time around due to the hectic work planned. Work comes first, every time!

This time, unfortunately, a few things are more glaring than last time around. The news channels are obviously occupied with the Obama-Clinton showdown, or rather the end of it with Clinton withdrawing her nomination. But also there is the much abominable news of schools’ shootings, killings, minor-rape charges etc and unidentifiable TV programs of reality shows, sex talks etc. Well, equally bad news but of different kind is replete in TV channels in Cyprus and India too, but as said, it is of a different kind. I don’t know which one is worse, but it just goes on to show, the world is diversified even in bad things.

The perennial oglers

2008-06-05T04:41:00.000-07:00

I received a mail forward yesterday from one of my ogler-set friends. It was an old one but its amusing power wasn't diminished. Excerpts from it:-

Especially hilarous was the comment at the end. As if the girls really mind. I don't know, may be. But it is medically certified now. Not posting the pictures (meant to provide some exercise)attached in the mail here for obvious reasons.

I am an egoist

2008-05-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

What is the difference between self-respect and ego? I have been wondering this ever since I found that I am an egotist. I never had a liking for my voice being cut, even if I was wrong. Worse, if someone corrected me in a brazen way, I would put up a sullen face and act as if he committed a mistake. It was the most-adhered way of keeping my sanctity intact and also smarting the so-deemed offender. In a way, I destroyed myself and also hurt the other.

I don’t say, I still don’t do it. But I at least try not to do it, and in the instances, I have been successful, I find the world so radically different. The problems then cease to exist and what comes out is happy co-existence for one and all. Ego isolates one by keeping an exalted view of oneself, and thus can never reach the solution. Self-respect on the other hand keeps one exalted in the midst of all by solving the problem. I fail to understand it, or more importantly, adhere to it when the situation demands. It happens in the heat of the moment, and it takes a gigantic effort then to put aside my self-righteous views. But it definitely gets better when I get it right. I need to puncture my ego at the start only, and hopefully one day I can make make my life even more beautiful.

My Egypt Trip - V

2008-05-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Having reached Cairo, we had another easily-attained sleep. Next morning, we were ready for the final leg of our journey. Neevin was her usual beautiful-self in a spic green dress.

The day seemed like the hottest of all the days we had spent in Egypt. The traffic was huge too. Since we had only half a day at our disposal, we had to drop the Citadel from our itinerary. As known now, it was another important location of history which we had to miss. Incidentally, the location has its relations to one of my favourite historical characters, Saladin.

Old Cairo:-

We went to the old Cairo first, famous for its ancient churches, synagogues and monuments. We had to walk through a relatively narrow street into the area. After about a 5-minute walk, we reached the famous Old Roman Fortress, now lying below the ground level. Built on top of it is the Hanging Church. I had not been to any church till then, so was quite expectant about the opportunity.

Hanging Church is the most famous church in Egypt, supposedly built around 4^th century AD. It was very beautiful from outside and quaintly eye-catching inside. I had the first view of altar, pews and the frescoes inside a church. It seemed they had intentionally kept many things in an old and worn state, probably to retain their archaic look.

Coming out, we found another church lying adjacent to it. As told by Neevin, it was the Greek Orthodox Church which she didn’t visit as she was a Coptic. The Christians in Egypt are called Coptics and are the most populous ones there. Interestingly, I had a chance to visit Greek Orthodox Church here in Cyprus recently, and found it to be a bit different with people kissing the pictures of Jesus as a ritual.

Anyway, we then went to a synagogue, Ben Ezra, the oldest in Egypt. It was another first for me to visit a Jewish worship place. The central part there was more expanded, and actually elevated, finally rising in a pulpit. I don’t know whether it was a particular feature of that synagogue, or common to all. The Jews in Egypt have become very few in number recently.

It didn’t take us much time to visit these places, but still we were left with only a few hours to visit the Cairo Museum, our last destination. Swerving through the Cairo traffic, we reached the site, the place which was the home to the mummies of the great pharaohs of the past.

Cairo Museum:-

It was indeed crowded there, the reason of which really doesn’t need any telling. While going through the security check, one guard incidentally told us we had got the best guide in Egypt to escort us. No further words on his indulging remarks:). Cameras were not allowed inside the museum, so we had to leave them at the counter. But before that, we took a good number of snaps in the lush green and cool fountain-seeped environs outside.

Egyptian Museum is a two-levelled building (ground floor and first floor) containing antiquities of great interest. Entering the museum, we could find so many things-statues, paintings, rocks etc in front of us. It was a sea of ancient world wonders before us. But the most important things were on the first floor.

Yes, the mummies’ room! The cost of entry into the rooms was the highest of those of all the other places; but many people go to see those reclining centuries-old corpses only, so it was justified. The first room was a medium-sized one, surprisingly (I had visualized it to be a big hall containing the royal mummies in different chambers, he he :) ) Great lesson: Everything is a downer if you expect too much of it. Nevertheless, the mummies are there to see right from the door. Lay in a series, the mummified bodies are kept in glass chambers with detailed labels on them. The first or may be, second of those (if I remember correctly) was that of Queen Hatshepsut, the Great Royal Queen. She had one of her teeth protruding out. The reason I looked at her quite attentively was that our guide, Youssef, at Luxor, had said she was very beautiful. 3000 years later, I couldn’t make it out from her face, but her hair was indeed free-flowing. That was the case with most of the other mummies: nails were spotless, hair very much grown, some even luxuriant, cheeks and heads prominent. No doubt, some of them were the products of the recent chemical works done on them. I just laughed and wondered inside me about the sheer belief and science of those Egyptians. The world would have been a better and more developed place if they would have been still surviving! Ramses-II’s mummy too was there. He looked very thin, but age does take its toll! The second room was very much similar to the first one and contained mummies of other royal persons. I could not spend much time on the lesser known ones’, because we had to head off to another marvel of modern world-the treasures of Tutankhamen.

The treasures occupied a large area along almost two sides of the first floor. Practically all the materials related to his life-chariots, gloves, jewellery, gameboard, the famous throne and mask were on display. He was buried within a series of caskets, all made of pure gold. Such ostentatious wealth! It simply spellbound me. Tutankhamen, despite being a famous pharaoh, was no match in clout to the bigger kings, such as Ramses-II, Akhenaten, Hatshepsut etc. Imagine Ramses-II’s treasure that would have been buried with him. In my stupefaction, I did ask Neevin a stupid question about the treasure ever being targeted at by the gutsy thieves, ala those in Hollywood Movies. I wouldn’t mind even a minuscule share of the booty!

Last, we saw a replica of the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is the antiquity which helped decipher the ancient Egyptian languages. It contained three sections with a text written in three different languages-Classical Greek, Hieroglyphics and Demotics. The original piece now rests in Museum of London. It was the only item there which was not authentic.

Seeing only the above things took us about 2 hours and that was what we could afford. Neevin did show us the other things but I don’t remember even an iota about them. But may be, those are for next trip, if it at all happens. We bid adieu to Neevin, wishing Good Luck and exchanging our FaceBook account details. But before that, I asked her whether she understood whatever we talked in Hindi. She nonchalantly replied, ‘thoda thoda’, ala Sue in RDB :) Hope we didn’t say any of those usual commonly-uttered flattering words in her presence.

Mr. Michael escorted us to the airport and we seemed to have befriended him even more by the time we reached there. Thankfully there wasn’t much rush at the airport that time around, and we easily passed through the Security and Other Checks. The Egypt Air flight was on time, and the return journey started in the same way of me falling into ponderous thoughts as in the incoming one. This time though, the thoughts were more educated and refined.

I had never thought Egypt would be such a great place. My preconceived notions, most of them forced and based on fatuous opinions, were torn asunder. A few days are hardly a measure of time to build an opinion, but sufficient enough to quash the ludicrous ones. I saw disporting smile on a beautiful face, dreams in the eyes of a young Muslim girl, optimism of a boy, affability of a senior genial guy and the ever-moving promising buzz of life that was Egypt. Muslims were not all bearded, belligerent and inhuman; Egypt was not another world; and above all, life was not at all different. And do you know, that is true of all the places and people in the world.

My heart was more cheerful; mind learned and ideas emboldened; and all slowly nestled on the perch of my eyes which gradually closed themselves to acknowledge the sleep of a more lettered kind.

My Egypt Trip -IV

2008-05-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

We slept for a long time after many days (phew, it was only two days of exertion but you feel the effect if you are a habitual long-sleeper :) ) Saurabh overslept, probably to make the tour-representative, Mr Malak, who was waiting in the lobby, suffer. Anyway, we were ready for the tour not very late, after having another heavy breakfast.

This time our tour guide was Youssef Ibrahim, surprisingly a male this time. We had thought that the company would be providing female guides only to us; to recompense for the poor accommodation provided till then. But it was better actually, because apart from being more knowledgeable, he was more homely. Needless to say about his ebullition about Indian movies (apparent now as a gesture to become friendlier), his talks were more detailed and honest. He was a forty-something guy with a distinct aura around him. He quickly endeared us by his knowledge and glibness. I realized then it might be the best day as far as sight seeing was concerned. We went to the ‘Valley of the Kings’ first.

The Valley of the Kings:-

I had heard only a little about the Valley of the Kings, save it being a historical place related to the kings. When Youssef explained the significance of the place while on our way to the Valley, I was simply marveled by it. It is good sometimes not to have read the history before.

“As told before, the pharaohs of the Earlier Dynasties were buried in tombs inside the Pyramids. But as happens with wealth, it was never safe from its looters. Over a period of time, the buried treasure was stolen away by thieves. From the Thirteenth Dynasty onwards, the kings decided to build their tombs in these hills to keep them safer from the ever-prowling robbers. So, these hills became a burial and resting place for the great pharaohs. Hence, the name ‘Valley of the Kings’.”

It is so obvious, isn’t it? But at that point of time, it was quite conjuring for me.

As soon as we entered the big lobby, we saw a mini structure depicting the location of the tombs inside the Valley. There was a TV show going on in one corner, detailing the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922.

We strolled out to a big open area following the lobby. There were small trams to carry the visitors to the site. Ah! a nice arrangement, one can say. Having reached there, our guide bought us the ticket but we were allowed to visit only three tombs. Visiting any other tomb would have incurred an extra cost. But as people had said, three tombs usually proved to be enough to give an idea about the creepy dungeons.

While walking to the various tombs, one can’t help but notice the tomb of Tutankhamen, the most famous king of Egypt, lying on the right side of the pathway. There was a sizable crowd outside it. Youssef then told, much to my dejection, that visit to that tomb would cost even greater additional amount which according to him was not worth it. Alas! I had to leave King Tut for my next trip. Later on I came to know that the tomb also housed his mummy. I had missed a great thing of historical significance :(

We went to Tuthmoshis III‘s tomb first. There was a big queue in an ascent up wooden steps. As told by our guide, this tomb was the most unusual one, with a pit after the entrance, and then a steep descent down into the tomb. The pit was probably dug as a deterrent to tomb robbers. Two small chambers, decorated with stars and a larger vestibule are in front of the sarcophagus chamber, which is uniquely rounded and decorated with only red and black.

We went to the tombs of Ramses-I and Ramses-IV then. I don’t remember much about them, except that they were shorter than the earlier one but contained similar paintings and engravings on the walls. I call them just paintings, unfortunately owing to my ignorance about them, but just consider their significance for the students who could study them in real. As usual with the other places visited till then, I was just excited to be there.

The Hatshepsut Temple:-

After coming from the Valley of the Kings, we went to the Hatshepsut Temple. It looked really magnificent from a distance. It was very hot, but we decided to take a walk than a tram this time to behold its beauty from a perspective as we sauntered closer to it.

“Hatshepsut was the daughter of Tuthmoshis I. She married Tuthmoshis II- her half-brother and assumed the title of Great Royal Wife. After Tuthmoshis II died, she became the Queen. But Tuthmoshis II had a son, Tuthmoshis –III (whose tomb we visited earlier) from another wife, but he was only a child at the time of his death and wasn’t accorded the throne. But he came back later to take the reign from his step-mother and in revenge, practically destroyed every single remnant of her. The Queen Hatshepsut remains though the longest-serving and one of the most powerful female pharaohs of the Egyptian history.”

History like this often tells the world hasn’t changed much since its inception. Deceit, treachery, lust for power etc was as widespread in the earlier world too. Yeah, the concept of marriage within a family, to say incest in a cruder form, is gone now.

The Temple is a three-tiered one with the first tier almost destroyed. There are sphinxes, statues, vestibules etc still remaining, despite the vandalism wrought upon the temples by his step-son.

The Valley of the Queens:-

The Valley of the Queens lies very adjacent to the Temple. There were not many tourists outside its entrance, which summed up the importance of the place. In fact, one of Saurabh’s colleagues had termed it ‘Useless’ in a very bland manner. But nothing is useless, if there is history attached to it.

As the name suggests, this necropolis was used to bury the Queens. But some of the royal children who had died young too have been engraved here. We went to the tombs of Queen Titi, and Amenhikhopeshef and Prince Kha Em Wast, sons of Ramses –III.

The Colossi of Memnon:-

Amenhotep III , a king of 18^th Dynasty, built a mortuary temple in Thebes (now Luxor) that was guarded by two gigantic statues on the outer gates. All that remains now are those two statues which themselves have been destroyed by earthquakes and natural elements over the years. The statues are still impressive, and we took some snaps against the backdrop of their base.

It was unusually hot that day-even though it was only mid-March. I wonder what life is like in Egypt during the sultry months of the summer. Anyway, it only acted as an aggrandizer for the big hunger that had set in.

Youssef took us to a very good restaurant, probably the best till then. We also had the best lunch. It is another matter that every another lunch seemed the best for us J But this also cost the least. The reason: we paid ourselves. Youssef certainly didn’t want to profit himself there.

A tour-representative was waiting for us outside the restaurant. He wanted us to buy the ticket for Light and Sound Show at Karnak Temple in the evening. We did buy in the end, but before that, we let out every word of bad experience we had had with them. We appreciated the praiseworthy things too. He seemed to be convinced, at least apparently, but we were finally relieved to have done the talking.

The Karnak Temple:-

Our first post-lunch destination was Karnak Temple. It lies very much at the top in the pecking order of significance in Egyptian history.

“In ancient Egypt, the power of the god Amun gradually increased over a period of time, and after the short persecution led by Akhenaten (the only monotheist pharaoh known till date), it rose to its apex. The temple is actually dedicated to three Gods, Amun, Mut and Montu. Each subsequent king added something (pylon, obelisk etc) of his own and the temple then sprawled out to become the largest temple complex ever built by man.”

There is so much about Karnak Temple that it is impossible and in fact, unjustified to write a summary on it. Every aspect of it has a history of details attached to it; none more so than that about the pharaoh, Ramses-II:-

"Ramses-II’s statues are very much prominent in the main open courtyard of the temple. He was the king of 19^th dynasty and a very powerful and certainly, a long-lasting one. He lived for 99 years and had about 110 children in total. In fact, he married some of his own daughters. Going by his family count, he probably didn’t have time for anything else. But actually he was an equally capable warrior, and extended his kingdom as far as the southern region of Nubia. The temples of Abu Simbel bear a testimony to his grandeur."

Ramses II had an obvious impact on the development of the Temple. But the most impressive part of the Temple is the Hypostyle Hall which contains the gigantic Colonnades-big rounded columns rising magnificently in the sky. They are placed very close to each other and hence, present a great overseeing look-up to the whole area.

There is also a very interesting thing nearby. A pedestal containing a scorpion statue lies in front of the sacred pond. At first, we were surprised to see people gathered around it. Then, we realized they were actually moving around it. Scorpion being the symbol of good-luck, is propitiated like this to bring good omen to the people. Saurabh and I too encircled around it but I forgot to wish anything. Huh!

The Luxor Temple:-

The Luxor Temple is not very far away from the Karnak temple. In fact, in earlier times, both were connected by a 3-km long avenue of sphinxes. The remarkable similarity between them is also not unnoticeable. It too contains big colonnades, courtyards, statues and vestibules.

The biggest attraction is the entrance though, where two big obelisks raised by Ramses-II present a grand view of the facade. The western obelisk is missing now; it was given to the French government in the 1830s by the then Egyptian ruler, Md. Ali (probably) as some sort of indemnity for loan-waiver.

Post Luxor temple visit, our tour for the day had come to an end. As anticipated earlier, it was the best sight-seeing day for me. Youssef had lived up to its impression of being a very articulate and affable guy. Good for him that as soon as he left us, he had another set of tourists, French probably, to guide.

In the evening, as per the plan, we had to go to the Light and Sound Show at 8 pm. We went to the hotel to take our luggage, and also bought the Khartoosh pendants from a nearby shop.

The Light and Sound Show:-

The show brought us back to the Karnak Temple. In the illuminated night in dark, it did look a bit different and I dare say, spooky. We were made to stand outside the entrance, and as the show started, were guided inside it with a commentary aided with light-effects explaining the history. We again revisited the different parts, and that time, understood their significance better. Finally, we were led to a big seating area across the sacred pond. The whole Egyptian history related to Thebes and Karnak was then narrated before us.That was the most riveting part for me.

Ramses, Hatshepsut, Tutankhamen, Akhenaten, just to name a few, were mere persons like us. But how different? In thinking, behaviour, achievements …. ? Probably everything, but again humans playing their part in this world. Suddenly the fleeting nature of life and earth started appearing in more certain terms than ever. ‘But this is life’, I had to answer myself at the end of the magnificent show.

We then headed off to the Luxor Airport to catch the flight back to Cairo. The next day was going to be our last day of the journey. We had definitely got exhausted in three days only, but somewhere there was an intrinsic feeling of this amazing trip to never get over. I did feel saddened a bit, but ‘this is life’, I again had to say.

My Egypt Trip - III

2008-04-12T13:13:00.001-07:00

We landed at the Aswan airport around 01:00 am the next day, Saturday, 14^th March. I had tried to catch as much sleep as possible during the flight journey, but I still felt very drowsy after landing. This time, a boy, Mahmud, was waiting for us. As usual with our Tour Company people, he too was very involved and active. During our ride back to the hotel, he asked us to be ready by 4 o’ clock in the morning. ….WTF? ….That was our unsaid reaction to this least expected plan. First, you booked our flight so late and then you are asking us to be ready by the time only roosters wake up. I was literally fuming for the kind of callousness shown by the Travel Company. But what to say to this boy?

With pent-up anger, we reached the hotel which was at least better than the one in Cairo. We had only about 2-3 hours to pass, but most of that time went in joking about our current situation. Anyway, I slept for an hour; but we were fully ready by 04:00 am. This time, our guide was Fatimah, a typical Arabic Muslim girl, with scarf on her head. Also, the van was bigger this time, which actually helped us later in sprawling and managing some much-needed sleep. We owed something to that boy Mahmud, later nicknamed Half-Ticket by Saurabh, for this foresight or consideration.

Ah! I forgot to tell you where we were going in those wee hours. Our destination was Abu Simbel, the last minute addition to our itinerary owing to its eye-catching photographs we had seen earlier on the Internet. It lay about 290 km south of Aswan, but the traveling buses or vans needed to be escorted by a security convoy which only left at 04:15 or 04:30 am for the earlier part of the day. That explained some of that early morning exercise. I did feel sheepish for my enraged soul earlier :)

We joined the security convoy on time and off we were for the amazing temples on a desert safari. Fatimah tried to explain a few historical things, but I was too dopey to heed or hark anything, and invariably crawled off to the last seat to gather some sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later and gropingly put on my glasses. What I saw was hitherto inexperienced in my life: vast stretches of sand on either side with no modicum of life to be seen anywhere, and our van moving along with the caravan on an endless journey. My mind moved on to those similar scenes in the movie “Resident Evil: The Last Extinction”. Wow – I had to say.

Fatimah wasn’t very amused with our sleeping for those many hours. She wanted or needed to talk about history. Since Saurabh was in the front, he did most of the talking with her. There was some wrong information given to her by Mahmud about our itinerary back in Aswan, but it was sorted out with us having to skip some places, like Aswan High Dam, due to the cramped schedule.

Abu Simbel:-

Abu Simbel remains one of the most astonishing feats of engineering marvel. There are two temples there, the bigger one of Ramses-II and the smaller one of his most beloved wife-Nefertari. After the construction of Aswan High Dam, the temples were slowly getting immersed in the rising water of Lake Nasser. With the danger then clearly in sight, UNESCO with concerned people from all over the world, worked to move the temples completely to a relatively higher and safer position. With engineers and workers working round the clock, this movement was completed in a record 5 years time in 1972. Since then, the place has got added popularity.

We reached there around 09:00 am and we, by then, were relatively refreshed. There were lots of tourists too, all coming in the caravan escorted by the two security convoys. So, it was a bit of a rush to enter the two temples. But before that, Fatimah briefed us about the history of the temples from a booklet containing their pictures. Guides were not allowed inside the temples, nor was any photographing. As usual, the history was riveting. This man, Ramses-II was all powerful and omnipotent, as you could see he was everywhere we went. His full story, I will narrate in my writing detailing our Luxor sojourn.

We first went inside the bigger temple which is dedicated to Ramses-II. On the façade, four big statues of his, one slightly deformed by an earthquake, welcome you awe-inspiringly. Inside it, there are columns, and engravings on the walls. At the foremost place in the passage is the sanctuary, considered the most sacred place. There, on a black wall, are rock-cut sculptures of four seated figures: Ra-Horakhty, the deified king Ramses-II, Amun-Ra and Ptah. On a particular day in each of the two halves of the year, sunlight falls on these statues, barring that of Ptah, the God of Dark and Underworld, from a crevice located on the right upper part of the room.

The smaller temple of Nefertari is almost a replica of the former; the only difference being that it is dedicated to the female folks: Nefertari and goddess Hathor. The importance of the queen, Nefertari can be gauged by the fact that this is the only temple in the Egyptian art where the statue of a queen is higher than the knees of her husband. Ramses-II did attach a lot of importance to her and as he did to himself, he accorded a divine status to her.

Despite the magnificence of the temples and the abutting Lake Nasser, I didn’t feel that excited after seeing them. May be I had got too expectant after reading about them on the Internet, or the still-accompanying drowsiness had acted as a dampener. Interestingly, Saurabh too shared the same feelings. But we were definitely delighted to visit a great location of history.

After coming from the temples, we had to search for our guide, as she had moved to a relatively isolated place to bird-watch from her binoculars. Here was a girl completely different to our earlier guide. Grown-up in traditional way but very educated and carrying lots of dreams, she was indeed a product of modern Egypt. It was interesting to meet different people.

We returned to our van to go back to Aswan. After having breakfast which we had got packed from the hotel, on the van, I could afford another round of sleep there in. Philae Temple was where we stopped next.

Philae Temple:-

Again due to the submersion caused by rising water, Philae Temple was moved in toto from its earlier location of Philae Island to a relatively higher Agilika Island, located about 550 metres away. But the temple is famously named on its earlier location only. We had to go through a ferry to the temple, and we could see its earlier site, half submerged in water.

The temple is dedicated to the Goddess, Isis. She was the wife of Osiris and mother of God Horus. In the myth, Osiris was murdered by his brother, the wicked God Seth. Seth scattered Osiris pieces in various places. Isis tirelessly searched for Osiris' body parts and then using her Goddess powers, joined the pieces together and brought Osiris back to life. Following Osiris' resurrection, Isis and Osiris conceived Horus. Osiris then adopted the role of ‘God of the under world and judge of the dead’. At the end of the tale, Horus grew up to avenge his father’s death by defeating Seth in combat. Philae Temple is also the legendary burial place of Osiris.

What surprised us most there were the stark and vivid engravings on the walls. They were very intense and depicting. Although, we could not get everything of those because of our lack of knowledge of the exact history, we could roughly make out the happenings which would have taken place. Greco-Roman and the subsequent Christian history too was very evident from the different sculptures and constructions.

While Fatimah was explaining us the engraved writings, a group of boys speaking in Arabic dispersed around us. One of them clearly didn’t say something pleasant to her, as was evident from the subsequent hush of disapproval from her face. We could understand that; young ruffians are everywhere. A few moments later, one of them approached her and spoke in Arabic to ask us for our approval to be photographed with them. Ah! Here we were, always taking photographs of foreigners with us back in India, and then there, we were being photographed! They were glad to take some snaps and I too took one of them. Later Fatimah told we looked like film-stars to them. I don’t know about myself, may be Saurabh looked like one :) Meanwhile, they continued to have their bouts of photographing with other groups of tourists. I had told you before; Egypt is very much like India.

Coming back from the place on the same ferry, we headed off to ‘The Unfinished Obelisk’ site.

The Unfinished Obelisk:-

The site is located right on the side of a main road. In earlier times, it was a quarry, where Egyptians carved out granite stones in a single piece, called obelisk. These obelisks were the show of grandeur of the pharaohs, and each of them raised many to exhibit his power. There is an unfinished obelisk lying in the middle and that has become a matter of study and visit for the current people. Some say, it was left like that as the people digging it found it to be weak enough to be raised as an obelisk. Hmmm…anyway the real significance of obelisks was known to us in Karnak Temple in Luxor where we saw the actual erected ones.

Felucca Ride:-

Having had enough of historical sites, we needed to have some recreating moments. What better than a boat ride on the Nile River? It isn’t exactly a boat; it is famously called felucca in Egypt. Half-Ticket had arranged for us a small felucca for our sailing in the river. It felt really great to be amongst the water of Nile River. We sailed for about an hour around Elephantine Island, seeing the nearby scenery. There were many people relaxing in the shade of the feluccas. I wished, someday I too could afford that with time and money.

We hadn’t had lunch till then, and obviously felt very hungry. Our guide accompanied us to a very good restaurant where we were served delicious chicken tomato curry (the exact name I have forgotten). Needless to say, we gorged and guzzled everything.

We had to go to the railway station then to move to our next destination, Luxor. Fatimah meanwhile left us. I don’t know why but the words “God Bless You”, generally reserved for older people to utter, came out of my mouth when she was parting. Probably because of the sheer amount of respect I had developed for her by then.

Mahmud took us to our seats in the train and bade good-bye. We were apprehensive about the seating train compartment not being comfortable, but it was actually very cozy. Those bogies were especially for the tourists, it seemed, and soon we could find many others joining us. Two Chinese girls (could have been Japanese, Korean etc but I hope you got the drift) sat in front of us, and we kept talking about them under the guard of our Hindi. Typical boys naa, on a trip! Soon though, I was in the arms of sleep and Saurabh with a meal in front of his seat.

Three hours later, we reached the Luxor station where Mr. Malak was waiting for us. He looked a very reserved guy, and our talk remained very minimal during our ride to the hotel. As usual with the hotels provided to us, this again was a very sub-standard one. But our frustration grew into extreme wrath on seeing the room. It was pathetic; we were more annoyed on being taken for a ride like that. We decided to bring this up the very next day in no uncertain terms. Despite having a memorable time in the day, the end was as bad as was the start. Suddenly Luxor didn’t seem enjoyable, but we were so wrong.

My Egypt Trip -II

2008-03-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

The next day we woke up early, and reached the restaurant on time for our breakfast. We decided to hog as much as we could, for we didn’t know when and where would be our next eating-spot. After a while, the driver came to summon us, and we had to finish our eating spree. We went down to the lobby, and checked out for the day. And there she was, Neevin - our tour guide, sitting on the couch. She was definitely pretty, and we thought the tour should be a good one with her (smiles).

We had a private A/C van occupied only by our driver and guide along with us; so it was very comfortable with space. We got to see Cairo in the daylight for the first time, and were immediately confronted with the reality. The traffic was snarling, and the whole aura had that throwback similarity to an Indian set-up. A while later, I started feeling very much at home.

Meanwhile, Neevin too started gushing about her Indian movies fascination. She had indeed watched a lot of Indian movies, and Akshay Kumar was her favourite actor. Bollywood is everywhere, you see ….. She then started telling us about Egyptian history, and how the current Egypt had shaped up over the years on it. It was intriguing to know about 5000 year long history, all open for us to decipher and experience. Our itinerary for the day was very much aligned with the chronology of the sites – I came to realize this later on - and that indeed had a right effect on our understanding of the history, as it had gone by. Our first stop was Memphis.

Memphis:-

Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt. Right now, there are a few statues and sculptures present on the site. We had our first encounter with the king- Ramses–II there. A long statue with his left leg pressing forward, depicting bravery, stands right in front of the enclosed place. On the sides of the pathway, are different artifacts – statuettes, sarcophagus, hieroglyphics carved figurines, and also a small sphinx. In a separate small room, a reclined but very big statue of Ramses–II awe-inspires you in more ways than one.

Overall, it was a good primer for us for the bigger things to come. Neevin had tried her best to feed all that history into our minds, but it was too much for us to digest in such a small time.

Saqqara:-

We then headed to Saqqara, the necropolis of old times. From the outskirts of the place only, we could figure out our first pyramid. Ah! I had indeed seen one, after reading about those in the history books all my life. We entered into the complex through a pathway with small cubes like chambers on either side. They were used for different purposes, like storage, mummification etc. related to the after-death rituals. Following the pathway, is a big open courtyard, and right–in –front lies the magnificent pyramid. It was Djoser’s Pyramid (also called The Steps Pyramid). I must tell some history here:-

Ancient Egypt was unified around 3000 BC by king, Menes, and since then the Dynasty Rule started. The subsequent periods were divided into different dynasties of kings. Djoser was the king of 3^rd Dynasty and with the help of his chief engineer, Imhotep, he built this pyramid - supposedly the first Pyramid to be ever built.

Egyptians had a strong fascination with their lives and wanted to live forever - so completely believed in life-after-death concepts. For them, the sun-God, Re, was the ultimate universe and life-creator, and every night, He handed over the reins to Osiris, the God of Death, to emerge out again in a new life in the morning the next day. They believed their life-cycle followed a similar pattern, and so prepared in every way for their after-death experiences. One of the after-death rituals was mummification - embalming the dead body with various herbs and chemicals to preserve it over a long time.

The king, or pharaoh, was the direct representative of God on this earth, and was the protector of all and sundry. As soon as he became king, he started preparations to meet life after death. Pyramids were built to house his mummified body enclosed in a sarcophagus. Along with his body, several other offerings were laid to help him carry over to the other world during the night. It was a valuable treasure indeed, buried in those pyramids.

Djoser’s Pyramid, as stated already, was the First Pyramid to be built, and was constructed with Six Steps all around its sides. It was a primitive but effective way of keeping the structure balanced and protected from falling.

I kept listening to Neevin’s words with rapt attention. Such a fascinating but true story, which we sometimes take for granted. Imagine the mind-set, beliefs and daily learnings of those people around 5000 years ago. I was stupefied to say the least.

We also roamed around to look into various excavated pieces and writings. From an elevated portion, we could see Bent and Red Pyramids – the next generation of pyramids - located some distance away.

After an enriching experience at Saqqara, we decided to have our lunch. But before that, we also went to ‘Carpet School’ where children worked to make supreme-quality carpets and fabric. Saurabh bought a few pieces from there.

We were skeptical about eating something non-religious, read pork, beef etc., in our lunch. It is hard to be a vegetarian outside one’s home, but it definitely helps if one eats at least chicken. We decided to taste Grilled Chicken. The rest of food was surprisingly very delicious. Another myth, this time related to food broken! We had a small beer, and Neevin too could afford it there, as she was Christian. Muslim women are forbidden to drink anything remotely alcoholic.

Giza Pyramids:-

After a sumptuous lunch, we headed to Giza Pyramids. To tell you frankly, I had heard only about Giza Pyramids before studying about and going to Egypt. And I knew then exactly, why they were the most famous monuments for non-Egyptians. The first pyramid, Khufu Pyramid, lies right in front of the complex. It is astounding. It remains the only surviving wonder of the ‘Seven Ancient Wonders of the World’.

Entering into the campus, I was immediately hounded by several knick-knack sellers. “India! Amitabh Bachchan!” was the most common and constant phrase uttered by them on seeing us, and ‘us’ here included Neevin too, as she looked remarkably similar to an Indian to be mistaken by her own people. It was a recurrent phenomenon everywhere and to be honest, it was pleasantly flattering as it gave that distinct joyous and respectful Indian identity to us. But unfortunately at Giza, I was a bit distant to the rest of my group, and one of them got me to wear that sheikh- turban and photographed. Before I had to pay something, my group arrived to my rescue (grin). These are the tidbits I remember the most now.

Khufu Pyramid is the after-work of Bent and Red Pyramids, and is considered to be the first complete and original pyramid. Its interior is open for some distance for the general public, but incurs an extra entry fee. On the suggestion of our guide, we decided to visit the interiors of the next pyramid, lying adjacent to it.

Khafre Pyramid, named after its builder Khafre, the successor of Khufu, is smaller than the Khufu one, but actually looks taller as it stands on an elevated ground. The entry fee for its interiors was also less, and we decided to go inside. While we were going down the wooden steps, the creepy faces of the visitors coming outside struck an unpleasant note about the things inside. And soon, we knew why. It was all dark and creepy inside, and after a few steps, I about-decided to return. Thankfully, I didn’t. Stooping, bending and standing in between wherever possible, we reached the inner most part where an empty sarcophagus was lying. In need of fresh oxygen, we had to return soon. But the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime one, however claustrophobic it seemed initially.

We then moved on to the famous ‘Panoramic Spot’ to take the photographs of the above-mentioned pyramids. The lilting ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ number from ‘Kabhi Khusie Kabhi Gham’ was shot from here only.

Giza Sphinx was our next stop-over. The word ‘sphinx’ meaning human-headed lion in a sitting posture, is very famous, but it has to be seen how and where it originated from. Sphinxes were considered the protectors of the land, and they were built outside important places to keep the enemies away. This big sphinx, built by Khafre, lies directly opposite as if in a straight line to the Khafre Pyramid, and presents a captivating view above the whole ambience. Inside its complex, there are storage chambers, mummification rooms, sacred pit etc.

We were overwhelmed by the whole experience till then, but had become very tired too. The evening had started to draw out. Our sight-seeing trip for the day had also come to an end. So, Neevin then took us for some buying. We first went to a 'Khartoosh Shop'. Khartoosh–an oblong pendant with Hieroglyphics engraved name on it, is considered a good-luck charm, and is generally bought by the travellers, esp. the first-time ones. But it was very costly there, and we thought to buy it later. Adjacent to the shop was ‘Papyrus Paintings Store'. It had some very good paintings done on papyrus made papers; the first paper in human civilization is considered to be made from papyrus plants only. I and Saurabh bought some of these paintings as souvenirs. Then, we headed off to a ‘Perfumery Shop’. There another beautiful girl, Barbie, greeted us, and showed some of the most original perfumes. They indeed were natural, and very aromatic. Some were massagers, pain-relievers and even aphrodisiacs. She tried very hard to make us buy that lady-viagra, but who needs viagra of a lady if you don’t have a lady :) Anyway, we hadn't intended to buy any perfume at all with our stock already full, and we bid her adieu promising to come to her shop when our stock got over!

Finally, it was the time to end our journey with Neevin. She had indeed been a very helping and knowledgeable guide to us, and her disarming influence was never missed on us at any point during the day. She was, nevertheless, to re-join us when we came back to Cairo in the last part of our journey.

Replacing her, Mr Michael then got together with us, and he had to spend the evening with us. The Tour Company had duped us a bit by booking our flight to Aswan very late in the night, and we had no option but to spend 2-3 hours somewhere at a joint. We decided to go to a Coffee Shop and have some snacks. Michael was very adamant on us trying ‘Sheesha’. It is nothing but flavoured smoke, drawn from a long pipe connected to a silvery stand containing the smoke. It is very much like ‘hookah’ in India but obviously more prevalent and enjoyed in Egypt. The ambience was apt too, as a football match between two teams the names of which I don’t remember, but akin to Manchester United and Arsenal in EPL, was about to start. Saurabh went for it, and though I don’t smoke, I too tried a few puffs. But Michael had the longest ones, the reason why he was so insistent on us ordering it. Otherwise, he was a very affable fellow. We shared some banter about Egyptian girls and culture. He had a Canadian girlfriend and lamented how it was difficult to live with a girl without marriage in Egypt.

With time spent like that, we left the shop to go to the Airport to board the flight to our next destination, Aswan. It had been a wonderfully well wonderful day, to say in a bizarre but truly experienced way. We hoped to have similar days ahead also. Our only downside was the hectic schedule and lack of rest, which as we found out later did take a toll on us.

My Egypt Trip -I

2008-03-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

There is so much to say, but so few ways to express it. That’s what sums up my recent Egypt trip. I have never written a travelogue before. The best attempt was a narrative of my experiences in India in the early part of this year. I will try, nevertheless, to present a vivid and honest description of each and every thing I encountered and experienced during my short trip to Egypt.

It all started during my pan-India trip, mentioned earlier, when I felt that distinct joy and joviality, and the related travails associated with a travel. I experienced India and her people as never before. Then and there itself, I had decided to undertake several more journeys of the ilk, time and money permitting.

Coming back to Cyprus, I was able to coax one of my friends, Saurabh, to undertake a journey to the mystical land of Egypt during mid-March. Egypt had always fascinated me by its uniqueness and universal appeal. Moreover, it is only an hour flight distant from Cyprus. So, it was the apt destination as a starting point for my travel plans.

After much deliberation, we decided on 13^th-17^th March as our trip duration, and booked DeCastro Tours as our tour agent in Egypt. We had to arrange for visa and the to-and-fro flight tickets between Cyprus and Egypt. The rest of our arrangement, viz. taxi, hotel, food, guide etc., in Egypt was taken care of by them.

It was all arranged perfectly by and for us. Unfortunately, as the D-day got nearer, I developed an unwanted fit of restlessness due to the boredom set in my mundane office and personal lives. In the week, running up to Thursday, 13^th March, I including Saurabh got heaps of work suddenly. So, it wasn’t an expected run up to the journey date. Finishing or better said, managing, our assignments somehow on Thursday, we left for the airport after lunch. It was really a much deserved break for us.

Our flight operator was Egypt Air and without much ado at the airport, we were through the travel formalities and soon inside the carrier, which took off sharply at 04:00 pm. On that day, I, for the first time, got some time to reflect upon the impending travel. And it invariably wandered off to the fear of the unknown. I shouldn’t say fear but thoughts of doubt about going to an unknown land, populated by the much-derided Muslims. We didn’t know anybody there, save our travel company communicated through e-mails. But again it all imparted that same travel-induced sense of excitement. And I decided to soak in all which would come my way thence forth.

Our flight landed at the Cairo airport at its right time of 05:20 pm, and we went out excitedly to meet the land of mysticism. Our first encounter wasn’t a very exciting one though, as there was a veritable bedlam at the airport. We could spot our Travel Representative, holding Saurabh’s name in his company’s placard, in the crowd, and had to really keep up with him all the time for fear of losing him out in the mess, which we admittedly did once (grin). He placed us in the serpentine and long queue for Immigration Check. Ever wondering this shabby arrangement, we came to know about the computer network failure which had occurred just before our arrival. Certainly not an auspicious start! After going through the long procedure of then manually-done passport check, we exchanged some US Dollars for Egyptian Pounds, and were finally outside the airport. A different well-attired gentleman greeted us outside, and we were off with him to our hotel.

Cairo looked to me like New York! Even better. Exaggerated, but I certainly didn’t feel that way then, because it came unexpected to me. It was so marvelously developed in its infrastructure that it belied my image of Egypt being a third-world country. Night life added a distinct glamour to it. Traffic was huge, but certainly better managed than in a similar city in India. Cairo’s views that night will certainly remain with me for a long time.

The gentleman, Mr. Michael, with us in the car then broke my daze. He asked where we came from; the answer of which, I suspect, he knew. When we answered India in chorus, he blithely said about his fascination with Indian movies and Amitabh Bachchan in particular. We were both surprised and pleased to know about his Indian association.

We reached ‘Santana Hotel’ located somewhat in the interiors of the city. There the tour company manager, Mr. Soliman, was waiting for us. We finalized our itinerary, and then we paid and signed the formal paper of agreement. He, sadly but expectedly, told us about the cancellation of our plan of Nile Cruise accompanying Dinner and Belly Dance that night, owing to the delay caused at the airport. But he suggested where we could go out nearby for dinner and recreation. He finally asked us to be ready by 09:00 am in the morning the next day, when our tour guide, Miss Neevin, would meet us and show Cairo the whole day.

We were slightly disappointed with the Hotel, as it didn’t look like a 4-star hotel promised to us. But we were prepared for it, as we knew beforehand that we, as tourists, would be the prime target of some leeching. We strolled out to the nearby shops, and to my no-surprise then, even at 11:00 pm, the life was buzzing. We went to KFC to buy some food, and it was really heartening to see that particular branch being run by the disabled people; something novel for us.

We came back to our hotel and had our meal. Bracing ourselves for the wonderful would-be tour the next day, we went to sleep. The parting shot before our retiring to bed was, “Let’s hope our tour guide tomorrow is as exciting and beautiful as this place.” We were soon to find out.

To be continued …….

Hand in Hand

2008-02-11T04:11:00.000-08:00

I had to instantly take my hand off his. You don't want to be mistaken for something which you are not, for the mistaken view or identity can linger for long. Yes, I am talking about our friendly hand-in-hand walk back home in India, which is no more than a show of solidarity, or a no-show at all. But over here, and I am talking about the whole western world, you would be considered queers, if you carry on your deportment.

So, I took my hand off his during the post-lunch saunter which we take daily to recreate ourselves. He too was amused by my hasty demeanour, but the speculative glance of passers-by was not lost on me. I wondered afterwards, "Did I really have to act like that to look like others?". May be not, but this is not to be beside the point that how our beahviour can be viewed differently time to time or place to place. And I find some of these views not only inappropriate but dissolute. Back home, we also put our arms on other's shoulders sometimes to show friendliness. But there is nothing deviant in that. It is true that male and female interaction is not that much in India yet, so similar public display of affection between them is almost non-existent. But even if such beahviour is seen between two persons of same sex, it need not tantamount to their being homophiles. I see this as another fallout of the sex-obsessed western world, where prurience has tainted even the normal propriety.

A few days back, I had visited the discussion forum of the movie 'Taare Zameen Par' on imdb site. I had hoped for some healthy discussions there, but most of them were useless ramblings and one out of them was nauseating, where arguments, if ever this word suited there, were put forward whether Aamir Khan acted like a paedophile in the movie. Gosh... if ever there were warped minds as these. Not to talk about the nationality of the people there, one can't gabble about anything in the name of liberal and nonconformist views.

One can't help but wonder about the correctness of the above quoted examples. One's views are heavily influenced by the surroundings of one's upbringing, and so one cannot mark it as completely right or wrong, but definitely it warrants some contemplation- if not that then at least some consideration.