When tragedy strikes

Death comes sneaking and gallops away before we realize leaving some distraught people in its wake. This blogger had gone to Ramanagaram (it is an hour from Bangalore) to snap Long billed Vulture (this my second visit in last one month and still couldn’t get it, will have to come back again). This is a rocky terrain (famous for movies like Sholay and Passage to India) climb up and you will reach a temple (dedicated to lord Ram) with deceptively placid looking pond- that is formed on the cervices of huge rocky mountains. I was expecting a calm day, had chosen a working day when people are busy in offices, a sunny quiet day i love to be out, then came bus load of utterly excited school children to my utmost irritation. I have nothing against children but there are times when you don’t want them around. So I climbed further up where you get a clear view of the mountains and no one around, I sat there to watch the amazing sight. Screams and shouts woke me from my stupor; apparently an adolescent boy was sucked into the pool his sister jumped to save him she too was drowning when some local saved her. It was chaos with children and attempts made to rescue, few who dared to get into the pool came back stunned by the steep sudden depth. In the meantime some foreigners came with troop of tidily dressed children and immediately congregated to evaluate the situation and decided to go back. I too was getting sucked into the whirlpool of overwhelming despair and so decided to go away. Close the eyes and pray for the soul and move on what else to do.

Who is responsible for this?. You cannot blame the child he was ecstatic, euphoric being out on a picnic. Did the school authorities take enough precautions?. Did they have parent teacher meeting to discuss the risks involved and precautions to be taken, after all you are giving your children’s responsibilities to teachers?. Were the children told what is expected from them?. I guess no because they were all running well ahead of teachers, when the tragedy happened there were no elders around. Further up the rock mountains too are dangerously placed with precarious paths, this is no place for unsupervised children.

What about the authorities? There is no one around, at the gate down below there is a fellow who collects money for parking that’s all. The threaded fellow in the temple should also be held responsible. He is not here to make easy money, he has responsibility. The path to the pond is from the temple, why was it kept open? He is not even bothered about basic cleanliness of the surrounding with plastic covers strewn around the place, disgusting people. To keep the surrounding safe and clean is the duty of those who run the temple. Religion should necessarily start from that premise.

Tragedies happen in tourist spot which collide with the might of nature, I have seen many like this it upset me lot (this time I got it on camera, more pics on photo blog). City dwellers generally tend to underestimate nature. I recall many deaths in meenmutti (near Trivandrum which was favorite excursion spot). Being drunk is understandable, being drunk on a beach is also understandable but being drunk during monsoon and wanting to get into the sea is not understandable at all. Sea is treacherous during monsoon with heavy undercurrent but some of these youngsters (studying in manipal) with exaggerated understanding of themselves are ready for any stupidity. I have seen many deaths in Malpe beach during my brief stay. Why would anyone intentionally reduce their probability of survival with these kinds of antics is beyond me.

PS: cleanliness of the surrounding is different from ritualistic cleanliness of dimwits, hygiene includes keeping the vicinity clean and safe. Religion should necessarily reflect heightened aesthetic sense. This blogger strongly believes there is an increasing need for ministry of aesthetics, every new structure or urban plan has to be cleared by them

Celebrating Galileo

Yesterday was Galileo’s birth anniversary, the Indian Institute of Astronomy (IIA) celebrated this by arranging a seminar. This blogger got an invitation but the distance and peak hour traffic was a threat, finally after much vacillation decided to go. Must say it was worth the time spent. The main speaker (don’t recall his name) had good sense of humor and made the seminar lively with slides. He did a good job. Certain aspect of Galileo was so spectacular that it kept me riveted. Galileo was multifaceted, apart from being an incisive scientist he was a writer, a musician. He used his writing skills to good affect trying to communicate his astronomical observations as dialogues. He used Italian, and not Latin, to reach common people. Galileo is referred to as father of modern physics, his contribution has been stupendous. UN declared last year as International year of Astronomy to commemorate invention of telescope. Telescope was a leap from what is seen and what is reality.

It was a great way to spent the evening, this blogger expresses his gratitude to IIA (more photos in photo blog).

What to say…

The blast in German Bakery was a heinous act of cowards. It has left me deeply sad. German bakery was quaint little place which was a meeting point for people, last few years the whole place had become quite crowded and so I used to avoid. Koregoan park was such a beautiful place more than a decade back (I guess I visited here in 1997 and brought a cycle on rent to roam around, I had come here much before while studying in school), it was a agreeable place and I used to interact a lot with foreigners. I recall being in love with a Colombian briefly so used to go to German Bakery with her often. My favorite was Cappuchino (a kind of fungus drink that took me an hour to finish. Every time I come to pune I don’t miss this drink). I also recall making fun of Nepali waiters in here when that massacre at Nepal monarchy happened many years back, they sold newspaper at the counter). Recently though Koregoan has changed a lot, a kind of development I hate. With traffic, even crossing once isolated roads has become difficult. I am also not a fan of young urban Indians, and suddenly lots of call centers and buildings have turned up and so this crowd. Last time I was in a pune I went to German bakery only once (for old time sake I think), for breakfast (poha sold by that woman under the tree used to be really good), I also keep my interaction quite limited these days so preferred the excitement of race course. Pune has changed a lot, some call it development (and therefore should be welcomed) but it lacks any form of subtlety, don’t know crude, crass and gross is how development should be defined. What prevents cities having stricter pollution and noise rules as also space for cyclists? I don’t think I will be going to pune in future, this I decided on my last visit. Slowly cities are moving away from me…images of German bakery only add to uneasiness.

Cities are becoming similar they lack the character and flavor of the place. Unaesthetic buildings are alienating us from ourselves. It is a colossal loss that is difficult to express. .

Britain does it again !!

This irresponsible nation has done it again. They have provided a Hindu fellow to exhibit his “religious rights”. Now this fellow wants to be burn his body (after death of course) in open pyre. This he believes is how Hindus attain salivation (it is news to me, not that I am terribly concerned about what happens to me after my death…living itself is quite a challenge!). These kinds of crude expressions and irrational adamant behavior (which is a step away from fundamentalism) you will find in people once they reach Britain. Britain seems to be churning out crudest possible people. The problem here is prosperity does cushion the impact but poorer societies pay heavy price. Unfortunately Britain also happens to have embryonic link to pretentious elite of the subcontinent- who get framework from these societies.

The fellow who won his religious rights in Britain has put people in here in precarious situation. Electric crematorium is encouraged, it is environment friendly and people have adapted to it quite well despite earlier reservations. Also one need to understand in crowded cities it is not feasible to have open pyres, it troubles other. Most people in this part of world will know that it is not decent thing to do and would compromise so as to not cause trouble.

Now enter the vicious breed, market has already done enough ground work, having emboldened by “developed nation” they will create problem here. Fundamentalist have got one more weapon to work on sentiments. It is I am told asserting one’s rights (there is this fellow with funny white hair -who calls himself ‘Lord’-another British joke!- who also visits this country occasionally to tell us how we should live). They will now insist on cruder forms of religion as their right. It puts tremendous pressure on societies that has to live by sharing and adjusting.

Britain is a shame, their arrogance (or is it the guilt of their primitive ancestors who basically were into looting and wholesale massacring) will definitely take them down. Yes they have the money to have high quality surveillance but then societies don’t work on surveillance they work on cooperation and being responsible towards society and environment. These kinds of verdict fracture that bond. The high priests in British judiciary may not have experience to realize these. These are not found in books.

Post script: flip side is in India they are only responsible to family and friends. The reason why India is among the most corrupt countries in the world. It about loving the family.

So is the film a super hit? Not exactly super hit but a movie can be hit before even it is released. These miracles happen these days. They don’t even need audience!!. Isn’t that wonderful?. They do it by selling the rights and working out with ads and so on. As far as this movie is concerned they saved a fortune on marketing, it’s been free for a week in news channel and otherwise, it has also helped the TRP (it has good looking people and ready made masala, a hindi news anchor kept repeating dilchesp hota ja raha hai!!). That is great beginning. Everybody seems to be happy. Ideally this nonsense would have subsided just before the date of release with each party having worked out their profit/benefit agrees to back down. But our man for once is being egged on to play martyr…who are the people behind these could be quite a revelation. Anyway the mardon wali cream fellow is an unlikely martyr, he is quite shrewd for that. I guess the calculation would be: even though the movie may have problem in Mumbai that should be the reason why people around the world should watch it. They could spin it as- if you watch the movie you are supporting freedom!!. So much of possibilities and can win awards (it becomes our duty). His being a muslim has only helped the matter. The mute question here is how can state machinery used to protect a movie, how much it has cost the exchequer?. Whether common people in Mumbai also don’t need police protection?

Shiv Sena goons are clear winners (others haven’t lost-these are always framed to win –win), it is not difficult to see why people in maharashtra wouldn’t agree with them (however if they don’t temper they might loose it, but I guess they are not really looking for majority). They have used the media quite effectively (it could be a case study in management schools). The state governments over the years have fed the goons and now they have attained a size that if you do anything they could play victim card and gain sympathy. They have taken the city on ransom. Chief Minister with centre is working out how to utilize the situation, Union minister Sharad Pawar has done his small mischief (even crude woman turd is out of her hole to steady her brand, this a trump card to brandish her image as also ask for future favors from big banners). It is amazing is it not?.

Have you ever seen dog in front of butcher shop?. The kind of concentration, patience, ditto here everyone is working out their future with diligence. Also dog will snarl if they see their kind around ditto here they are snarling at each other. So who gets the meat?

Believe me none of these people are going to be of any help when reality strikes, although they each are equally responsible to deteriorate the situation. The common people will pay some heavy price. The elite section will not be in streets when killings happen. That is why you will not see Sunil Gavaskar screaming on the TV screen because he doesn’t have to position himself. And yes he will risk his life to save lives (and I am very certain woman like turd-or that joker moron would even roll down their car window in the same circumstance- I know what these people are all about). He is an amazing guy, a great sportsperson, a great human…if any sportsperson is ever considered for country’s top honor it has to be him.

We live in a world that is increasingly getting cynical the reason why I seem to be getting very demotivated in my blogs. I am definitely going to reduce my postings. I though am quite excited about my birds blog (writing short story with my kind of English is an arduous task, I like the challenge so would keep posting once in a while. Previously when words fly I chase it now when they settle down they become poems without me realizing it!!). I love that one, it gets exciting every time. Initially I was thinking on hundred birds but now I would like to cover about 1000 birds. That will take my life time I think!!. And as you can see I cannot really leave it on birds alone I do write about literature/poems so on. That’s double whammy. I guess I have just got started and there is so much to cover and read. One of my dream when I was kid was to visit as many countries as possible- I still spent lots of time on atlas, that is unlikely to happen but internet (and TV) has opened amazing opportunities…you can visit countries with click of button. It is incredible.

What a filly !!!

you got to stand up for Jacqueline, what an amazing horse. Mumbai Derby was never so exciting and competitive (Becket is a great looking horse with flowing mane and a speed to match, i love that colt), it was worth the money and time. Well done everyone. Quite an incredible day at the turf club.

Mollycoddling Shiv Sena

It is a wonder that a small fringe party could take a mega city on ransom that too for decades, even the splinter groups has found its footing. I am amazed. Any ordinary person on the street if he or she breaks the law they have to pay instantly (last month I parked my vehicle in no parking zone- it was new sign I haven’t seen before, ended up shelling out 300Rs. Definitely not a small amount of money). And here they do all kinds of nonsense but seem to get away quite blatantly. That brings into question whether it is all not arranged with each party aware of its role and share?

Clearly police is politicized and nothing has been done by successive governments, maybe judiciary could do something about it. The executive seem to have failed the people consistently over the years for their personal gains and using state machinery for this purpose. The police need to professionally handle these law breakers without any bias or favor, strictly following the rule of the land. With the system like this it doesn’t look like it is going to happen. It is about accruing power never mind people pay for it heavily.

At this stage it seems that it helps the ruling party to pit splinter groups against each other and try to gain from these. Law and machinery therefore becomes mute testament to these violations. MNS’s growth can be traced to these soft handling by state government. Shiv sena looks like the major gainer again since they have made the kind of voices which most people seem to agree with and I will not be surprised if they win elections or become vicious in its pursuit. This is how societies get polarized, narrow short term gains for politicians. I fail to understand how Bal Thackery is a free man after all that he done and doing over years. He should very well be in jail. This blogger believes that any politician or person in authority who plays with the life of people should be arrested and kept behind bar as a social menace. I don’t give much about Babri demolition, but I am very concerned about what happened in Mumbai riots. Incompetent Liberhan (with an attitude to match) took twenty years, wonder what happened to Srikrishna commission. Shouldn’t there be a time limit for these commissions?. This blogger strongly believes commissions should be brought into the ambit of judiciary.

Normally fringe groups and its lumpen actions should be ignored but the compulsion of 24x7 news channels see to it that these are blown up exaggerated and repeated hundreds of times across hundreds of channels around the country, with screamers taking sides looking for their share (for small time ambitious people this a huge PR chance- to show how evolved peace loving they are). Most importantly the cameras are always present when these small skirmishes happen (must say sometimes end up instigating behavior that wouldn’t have happened otherwise, it becomes a play for wider audience), it surprises me always how camera reaches before cops?

Clearly Shiv Sena and other fringe groups are good for socio-political elite, they are fighting for their share. It is a synergic relation at the expense of people. They differ quite viciously in media, and goons take it out the remaining on the street. Politicians work out their agenda while media gets their bite. It is win-win situation for people at the top. It is people on the street who generally suffer. It is loss for them that too something they are not much bothered about, nothing to do with. People at the top are divided quite viciously for their own selfish reason (for smallest of action the benefits are huge in here) and common people become pawn. But the fact is ignoring these small skirmishes will embolden lumpen elements to go for bigger intrusion into law.

There is a question on why a big actor or big budget movie is targeted? Simple it is maximum publicity at minimum cost!!. You don’t have to be Newton for that!. Media loves these and there is no way they are going to miss it (ask any peddler worth his or her salt they will tell you how they make people buy things with few lines from these actors even mardon wali cream!!). This is ready made masala, TRP busting situation. So the fringe group leaders also get chance to speak to wider audience and increasingly selfish and cruder breed that is watching -of course they will agree to these. So there haven’t we got it right without any election campaign expense?. That is marketing strategy at desultory ease. Producers of movie are also looking for controversy after all that is the easiest publicity than jumping from one studio to another to malls and god knows what thamasha to make people watch their movie. Some even manufacture controversy. Even today when they were talking about Shiv Sena they were trying to promote their yet to be released movie. Showing clips of movie as people discuss. It is called maximizing the opportunity.

Apart from these there are also these clever breed who make a living out of using small time opportunities, they exist in fault lines very cleverly calibrating their moves. They are the one who want to play victims in this melee. Their whole life depends on it. Haven’t faced much problems in life they crave to represent the needy, a vicarious sense of victim hood. This is an easy career if you have access to money and power. Playing the saviors. Now these people have their butt close to the fringe group so even an accidental kick is a godsend. They howl and create hoopla and lo we have victims. They therefore actively instigate fringe groups. The problem is that they work very closely with market media and so make it precarious for common people. The more divided the people, more troubled the situation, better for them. It is about pushing their ass around powerful people. They have an eye firmly on people who matter and what they can accrue from the situation. It is a stampede.

So there everybody stands to gain. I too enjoy watching exclusive pictures “first time in any channel”, hypocrite leaders showing their fake emotions, amazingly irresponsible media telling the goons- who moon walk as politicians, to be civil. Quite entertaining, it is good for digestion. So far so good but the hitch here is if law is broken then they have to be punished. And yes police force should be depoliticized. Maybe judiciary can take this up.

Condolences: Cochin Haneefa was one of popular actor in Malayalam- Tamil movies, he expertised in comic roles (he also directed few movies). Comedy is one of the difficult things to do (put some glycerine you can cry, Chinese rope trick and muscles for heroes...that makes comedians exact actors!), it needs timing that should instantly click with the audience and you have to be innovative all the time. There are some masters in this field Jagathy (in Malayalam), Vivek (Tamil), late Mahmood (in Hindi), Woody Allen (English)…to name few. The list is quite long maybe some other time. Cochin Hanifa I came to know when kireedom was released “hydros” was a very popular character (there was this fellow in college whom we called hydros!!), he did it to perfection. Haneefa expertised in comedy through dialogue delivery, the way it was spoken, delivered and nuances associated with it. He was a class act.