Now that the monsoons are gone, we are officially into the second summer thanks to Bombay's famous October Heat. The second summer doesn't give the city mangoes, the flowers are not in bloom and there is little relief in the evenings. However, the sunsets are beautiful and it's nice to see the twilight on cloudless skies.
The heat in October has the complete ability to wear down the most energetic of people. My take is that it feels worse as the body is used to the rains and cool breezes of the monsoons. By the end of the month, the weather starts improving and we have "relatively" cool evenings to accompany warm days. Until then, I'll just have to brave this weather and stay as energetic as possible.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
In memory of a great man born on October 2 - Lal Bahadur Shastri
In India, we mark October 2 as Gandhi Jayanti, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Another great man was born on October 2: Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Shastriji was the second prime minister of India and was a human being of unmatched integrity. He was an incorruptible and hate-less man who personified Gandhiji's principles of austerity and honesty in public service
Here are some excerpts from Wiki on his life.
"Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds."
"He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation."
"Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi. "
A lot of mystery surrounds his death and his family insist that he was poisoned in Tashkent. For more on that please see: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/clear_air_on_fathers_death_shastris_son.php I have heard "talk" about how the Soviets poisoned him to put Indira Gandhi in power. Mrs Gandhi aligned India with the Soviet bloc.
Now that the USSR doesn't exist, the Indian prime minister's office needs to come clean and let the country know what exactly transpired in January 1966.
Shastriji is hardly mentioned in history books and is almost a forgotten figure. The Congress has done its best to deny the very existence of leaders outside the Nehru-dynasty.
And finally a wonderful tribute paid by Pakistani journalist Javed Choudhury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifBawxDsxI&feature=related
Shastriji was the second prime minister of India and was a human being of unmatched integrity. He was an incorruptible and hate-less man who personified Gandhiji's principles of austerity and honesty in public service
Here are some excerpts from Wiki on his life.
"Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds."
"He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation."
"Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi. "
A lot of mystery surrounds his death and his family insist that he was poisoned in Tashkent. For more on that please see: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/clear_air_on_fathers_death_shastris_son.php I have heard "talk" about how the Soviets poisoned him to put Indira Gandhi in power. Mrs Gandhi aligned India with the Soviet bloc.
Now that the USSR doesn't exist, the Indian prime minister's office needs to come clean and let the country know what exactly transpired in January 1966.
Shastriji is hardly mentioned in history books and is almost a forgotten figure. The Congress has done its best to deny the very existence of leaders outside the Nehru-dynasty.
And finally a wonderful tribute paid by Pakistani journalist Javed Choudhury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifBawxDsxI&feature=related
Open spaces and freedom
As much as I love my city, there's one thing that I know I'll never have if I live here: open spaces. I long for the open spaces of Inner Mongolia, the savannah of the Masai Mara, the plains of Buryatia and the Russian Far East. If only, I could spend a week in Patagonia or by Issuk Yul in Kyrgystan!!!
October is a hot month in Bombay and a necessary evil to be endured before the more pleasant months of the so-called winter. A good rainy season this year, will ensure that the weather will be lovely from late-October all the way till March.
October is a hot month in Bombay and a necessary evil to be endured before the more pleasant months of the so-called winter. A good rainy season this year, will ensure that the weather will be lovely from late-October all the way till March.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
My View on the Ayodhya Verdict
First of all, I would like to say that there was too much tension in the air yesterday. It was an uneasy calm. You could count the number of people on Andheri's streets and there were more policemen than passengers at the Andheri station. This is the fear that a verdict created in a country where mobs can be assembled in minutes!
Having said all that, I think the verdict was fair and in the best interest of the nation. The Archaeological Survey of India was able to able to establish that a temple stood at the same spot that mosque was built. It is a historical fact that Islamic invaders destroyed religious structures in countries they conquered and built mosques. It is as evident in Istanbul as it is in Delhi. The verdict calls for the division of the land and is in the true spirit of Indian plurality.
Despite the fact that communal monsters like Barkha Dutt and Sagarika Ghose have been trying their best to provoke a riot, no such thing has happened. The BJP has behaved in a very responsible and mature fashion. I wish the Wakf Sunni Board would do the same.
Unfortunately the Muslim parties have reacted angrily and have taken a very belligerent tone. Their lawyer went on national television and said that the reason that Muslims in India haven't taken to the streets is because they asked them to wait for the Supreme Court verdict. The lawyer said he would accept the Supreme Court verdict but didn't respond when asked about how the Muslim community would react if the verdict went against them. The fact is that people who make provocative and belligerent statements need to be condemned.
The verdict is fair and India needs to move on.
Having said all that, I think the verdict was fair and in the best interest of the nation. The Archaeological Survey of India was able to able to establish that a temple stood at the same spot that mosque was built. It is a historical fact that Islamic invaders destroyed religious structures in countries they conquered and built mosques. It is as evident in Istanbul as it is in Delhi. The verdict calls for the division of the land and is in the true spirit of Indian plurality.
Despite the fact that communal monsters like Barkha Dutt and Sagarika Ghose have been trying their best to provoke a riot, no such thing has happened. The BJP has behaved in a very responsible and mature fashion. I wish the Wakf Sunni Board would do the same.
Unfortunately the Muslim parties have reacted angrily and have taken a very belligerent tone. Their lawyer went on national television and said that the reason that Muslims in India haven't taken to the streets is because they asked them to wait for the Supreme Court verdict. The lawyer said he would accept the Supreme Court verdict but didn't respond when asked about how the Muslim community would react if the verdict went against them. The fact is that people who make provocative and belligerent statements need to be condemned.
The verdict is fair and India needs to move on.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Maharashtra Home Minister Patil caught on camera with Dawood Ibrahim aide
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rr-patils-underworld-connections/131936-37.html
R.R. Patil here was caught on camera fraternizing with Salim Patel - a man known to be close to infamous gangster Dawood Ibrahim and Mobin Qureshi - a suspect in the murder of a BJP MLA Prem Kumar Sharma.
Folks, this is the same man who said in the wake of the 26-11 attacks on Bombay that "in big cities, these kind of small things happen." He was sacked after those comments but quietly reinstated after the last elections in 2009. Those were the same elections in which Bombay witnessed a poor turnout. After 26-11, many acquaintances of mine spoke about how they would hold the government to task for the lapse in security that led to the killing of 166 innocent people. Alas... the same people didn't even bother voting and now we have a government with ministers that are close to terrorists!
They say a country gets the kind of government it deserves. I couldn't agree more. Until the middle class of this city realise that they have responsibilities as citizens, we're going to have criminals in power.
R.R. Patil here was caught on camera fraternizing with Salim Patel - a man known to be close to infamous gangster Dawood Ibrahim and Mobin Qureshi - a suspect in the murder of a BJP MLA Prem Kumar Sharma.
Folks, this is the same man who said in the wake of the 26-11 attacks on Bombay that "in big cities, these kind of small things happen." He was sacked after those comments but quietly reinstated after the last elections in 2009. Those were the same elections in which Bombay witnessed a poor turnout. After 26-11, many acquaintances of mine spoke about how they would hold the government to task for the lapse in security that led to the killing of 166 innocent people. Alas... the same people didn't even bother voting and now we have a government with ministers that are close to terrorists!
They say a country gets the kind of government it deserves. I couldn't agree more. Until the middle class of this city realise that they have responsibilities as citizens, we're going to have criminals in power.
The impact of the Ayodhya verdict on Bombay
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the petition to defer the Allahabad High Court's impending verdict on Ayodhya regarding the settling of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit issue.
http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51784820100928
There is a genuine fear in this city that a verdict in favour of the Hindus may trigger riots by Muslims or vice-versa. Students at the Alliance Francaise and the university are demanding holidays, etc. It's an open secret that riots are triggered by politicians who use criminals to kill people and destroy property.
In fact, local criminals more than welcome riots as an opportunity to settle old scores and benefit from the widespread looting. Murders, rapes and looting during riots usually go unpunished. So has it been since the riots that took place during the partition of India. The Congress party would benefit the most from riots as these could be used an excuse to convince Muslims and other minorities to vote for them in the next election. "Vote for us or face the communal BJP," the Congress would convince scared minorities after taking an active role in the riots.
I don't think there will be riots in the city at this point regardless of how the verdict goes. The fact is that the Congress is more than eager that the Commonwealth Games pass off without any incident and with a large media contingent in India, they'd hardly want images of riots and arson being beamed to all corners of the globe.
Having said that, it would still be prudent to watch one's back in this city, especially in so-called sensitive areas. The Bandra skywalk is close to some Muslim-inhabited slums and I see increasing amounts of aggressive adolescents indulging in aggressive activities on that bridge which border on violence. A few weeks ago, some kids attacked a passer-by for no obvious reason. It's these kind of things that hooligans would love to take advantage of.
http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51784820100928
There is a genuine fear in this city that a verdict in favour of the Hindus may trigger riots by Muslims or vice-versa. Students at the Alliance Francaise and the university are demanding holidays, etc. It's an open secret that riots are triggered by politicians who use criminals to kill people and destroy property.
In fact, local criminals more than welcome riots as an opportunity to settle old scores and benefit from the widespread looting. Murders, rapes and looting during riots usually go unpunished. So has it been since the riots that took place during the partition of India. The Congress party would benefit the most from riots as these could be used an excuse to convince Muslims and other minorities to vote for them in the next election. "Vote for us or face the communal BJP," the Congress would convince scared minorities after taking an active role in the riots.
I don't think there will be riots in the city at this point regardless of how the verdict goes. The fact is that the Congress is more than eager that the Commonwealth Games pass off without any incident and with a large media contingent in India, they'd hardly want images of riots and arson being beamed to all corners of the globe.
Having said that, it would still be prudent to watch one's back in this city, especially in so-called sensitive areas. The Bandra skywalk is close to some Muslim-inhabited slums and I see increasing amounts of aggressive adolescents indulging in aggressive activities on that bridge which border on violence. A few weeks ago, some kids attacked a passer-by for no obvious reason. It's these kind of things that hooligans would love to take advantage of.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Delhi Half-Marathon 2010
One of my moments of glory last year was when I ran my first half-marathon in Delhi. It was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed every second of it.
http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2009/11/01/delhi-half-marathon-well-done-delhi/
I have 57 days to prepare for the 2010 version of the event. A few factors will work in my favour. For starters I am a lot fitter than I was at this time last year. I will be in the city a week before the event on account of the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum. So I can run in the evenings and early mornings and get used to the early-winter conditions in the city.
http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2009/11/01/delhi-half-marathon-well-done-delhi/
I have 57 days to prepare for the 2010 version of the event. A few factors will work in my favour. For starters I am a lot fitter than I was at this time last year. I will be in the city a week before the event on account of the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum. So I can run in the evenings and early mornings and get used to the early-winter conditions in the city.
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