As I watched the "Boys in Blue" celebrate their victory by hugging each other and jumping in air I also saw that the Tricolor was on the ground for a few moments. "Oh, oh, now someone is going to cry foul for this" I remember saying to myself. And sure enough, there were letters from angry citizens in the newspapers.

I am not saying we should let the Tricolor fall on the ground. Soldiers have died defending it and its honor must be protected. But aren't we doing the team an injustice? Couldn't you see the pride in their eyes as they did the victory laps around the ground waving the Tricolor high in the air? As they wrapped it around their bodies? Afterall, it wasn't just their victory, it was India's victory.

And if we are so sensitive about this issue then what do we do about the hundred of flags that litter the streets after every 15th August? Why don't we tell our newspapers that we are not interested in knowing about the internal squabbles in the political parties but tell us about the soldiers who are guarding our borders? When we ignore the soldiers aren't we insulting the Tricolor? Aren't we shaming the Tricolor when we don't condemn communal strife? when we treat women violently? When we litter the streets with garbage?

What has these things got to do with the Tricolor? Everything. Because "the Tiranga" represents everything that is noble and good in this country. And whenever we do something that is not noble we insult the Tricolor. Simple, isn't it?

So what was that line against throwing stones from a glass house?

Is the author telling the truth or is it an attempt to glorify the woman who was her friend for years?

I wondered for the first time since I started reading the book on Indira Gandhi by Pupul Jaykar. The book said that during the shortage of wheat and rice in India in 1966 Indira Gandhi had stopped eating both. The fact that India had to go with a begging bowl to the US of A for food seems incomprehensible in today's India with a booming economy. But what seems more bizzare is that a politician should care so much.

Could it be that I have become too cynical after watching the juvenile behavior of some of the current Indian politicians? Is it possible that there was once a species of politicians who despite their dirty bag of tricks, leg-pulling and back-biting really cared for what happened to India and her people?

-----

Here's a riddle. There's a thing that we all chase throughout our lives and very few of us seem to really get it. It's described by a 5-letter word. If you said "Money" you are wrong, my friends!

There's another clue and this time you should be able to get it. After Bangala Desh was formed Indira Gandhi made a comment to Pupul Jaykar. That indicated that she was also chasing it - but for the country.

"Glory" you said? Wrong again! The answer is "Peace". And Indira Gandhi's comment was something like "Will we be able to get peace?"

36 years down the lane and India is still chasing it!

I am not one of those who have only hatred for the British for colonizing us. I agree that they did a lot of good things for India - though from a purely selfish point of view. But I will never ever forgive them for sowing the seeds for breaking this country apart.

I am not saying Hindus and Muslims would have "lived happily ever after" if there hadn't been a partition. But we would have worked out our differences and saner voices on both sides would have prevailed. Now it's an uphill task at the best and it will be always tinted with the bitter memories of the partition - even after those who actually suffered are gone. :-(

----

I am not a fan of politics and politicians - except for ex-president Kalam. But he is not a politician anyways :-) So I started reading this book by Pupul Jaykar with an open mind. I wanted to know not only about Indira Gandhi as a person but also about the era during which she held the office.

And I wanted to know about the Emergency. What I read shocked as well as saddened me. In this day and age when a plethora of TV channels and a variety of media is churning out all sorts of information - useful as well as banal - it is shocking to think of the time when there was a gag order against media.

But what saddened me most was if the issue of population control had been handled sensitively and with taking people into confidence, it would have been a huge gift to India from a very dark era in her history.

Jindagi ne Jindagi bhar gam diye

Meaningful lyrics have become so rare these days in Hindi songs. So when you hear some, they get itched in memory. Here’s one beautiful song I have listened to a lot. Hope this is not going to cause any copyright violation but I really don’t know which movie this song is from:

Jindagi ne Jindagi bhar gam diye
Jitne bhi mausam diye sab nam diye

Jab tadapataa hai kabhi apanaa koi
Khoon ke aasoo rula de bebasi
Jee ke phir karanaa kya muzko aisi jindagi
Jisne jakhmo ko nahi marham diye

Apane bhi pesh aaye hamse ajanabi
Waqt ki saazish koi samazaa nahi
Be-iraada kuchh khataaye hamse ho gayi
Raah pe patthar meri har dam diye

Ek mukammal kash-m-kash hai jindagi
Usne hamse ki kabhi na dosti
Jab mili muzko aasoo ke who tohfe de gayi
Has sake ham aise mauke kam diye

Jindagi ne Jindagi bhar gam diye
Jitne bhi mausam diye sab nam diye

Gungi Gudiya

I am now reading a book on Indira Gandhi by Pupul Jaykar – who was her friend for many years. I have always been fascinated by this lady who was called “Gungi Gudiya” (Dumb Doll) when she first became the Prime Minister in a patriarchal country like India.

From my limited reading on her I knew that she didn’t have a happy secure childhood. Nehru family’s involvement with freedom struggle and the rift between her parents both were responsible for that. But I didn’t know that she didn’t have a planned education either. Contrast this with today’s scenario – any politician worth his/her salt packs off his/her kids abroad to get education in the topmost schools. Any exceptions really prove the rule!

We all have read that Jawaharlal Nehru was born with the proverbial “Silver Spoon”. And yet, at one point, owing to the confiscation of their property and belongings by the British government, this family faced shortage of money. A poor politician sounds like an oxymoron these days, isn’t it? :-)

I remember as kids we used to celebrate children’s day on 14th November. A Prime Minister who loved kids! But my image of “Chacha Nehru” took a severe beating as I read the book. How can a person daring to wear a red rose in his buttonhole treat his wife so callously?

The personality of Kamla Nehru too left me puzzled. Here is a woman who astonished everyone in the family by transforming from a shy, gentle “bahu” to a fierce lady wholeheartedly dedicated to the freedom struggle! And yet she was broken-hearted because her husband didn’t pay her attention. As a woman, I can understand her initial pain and disillusionment but couldn’t she later overcome it with some other purpose in life? Not even a cause as big as the freedom struggle?

You know what Indira Gandhi wanted to do with all her heart before she became actively involved in politics? She wanted to settle down with a husband and kids! She didn’t want a life full of stress and strain. She wanted peace. Does life always deny us what we ardently wish for? There is a saying that goes like “when life says No to what you ask for, it gives you something better”. Was this true in her case as well? Then how do you make sense of her death by assassination? Or was that a price for a better life?

I remember the tagline of a Hindi movie on Mahatma Gandhi – the tragedy of a family was the price of a nation’s freedom. Maybe Jawaharlal Nehru’s family paid that price too.....

Thank You Ganapati Bappa!!

The whole of Maharashtra is gearing up to bid farewell to Lord Ganesha as today is the immersion day.

As far as I am concerned, He has granted my wish -Twenty20 world cup for India :-))

Thank you, thank you, thank you Bappa!!

WE won, WE won, WE won

India did it again!

It felt good to see the entire team doing the laps of the stadium with the Tricolor!

It felt great to see them lift the cup against the backdrop of waving Tricolors!

But I don't have words to describe what I felt when the words "Congratulations India Twenty20 Champions" appeared on the billboard! :-)))

Great show guys and "Congratulations India!!!"! YOU ROCK!!

A miracle

I forgot to add another miracle in the earlier post - India's win against Australia in the semi-final of Twenty20 World Cup Championship :-) Not many expected India to win and it seemed nothing short of a miracle as we defeated Aussies by 15 runs.

Jokes apart, seems the team played really well and the energy as well as team bonding was there for all to see. I am saying "seems" because I was too scared to watch the match. Saw only the last 3 balls. And then the highlights :-)

Of course, Sreesanth could have done better to restrain himself. It was downright childish to thump the ground the way he did after dismissing Hayden. And not at all professional! But maybe what they say about everything being fair in love and war is applicable to cricket too.....

Here's wishing team India all the best for the finals!!

Science versus Religion

My earlier post might make me seem like an atheist. But I am not. I believe in God but that doesn't mean I dont believe in scientific explanations for phenomenons that might be considered as miracles. I remember a few years back in India there was this instance of all the Ganesha idols suddenly drinking the milk served as offering. People went crazy and all the temples got crowded with people bent on offering their share of the milk to the deity. But I didnt go. And I think the scientific explanations that were later offered completely explained the phenomenon.

Hence I eagerly read another angle explored in Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" - science versus religion. I dont think that if we can explain the miracles in a scientific way that in any way proves that God doesn't exist. He does exist - only that he brings about his miracles in a much more subtle way.

God does show His hand when people risk their lives to save strangers, when people give up their well-cushioned jobs to help less fortunate ones,when people fight adversity in life with sheer will-power and when people go out of their way to make life a teeny bit easier for others.

If these aren't miracles I confess I don't know what a miracle is!

Omnipotent-Benevolent

My knowledge of Christianity is very limited. But when I read one of the Swiss Guard (in Dan Brown’s "Angels and Demons") ask about the apparent contradiction in this "Omnipotent-Benevolent" concept I thought someone was voicing my doubt.

If the God is all powerful (Omnipotent) and has only love for the humans (Benevolent) why is there so much suffering on earth? Why doesn’t He step in to stop all killings? Why does He allow intense blind hatred that won’t pause to think before butchering others? Why does He let the voice of sanity - the voice that proclaims that He is one, no matter what people choose to call Him - get drowned in the maddening chaos worldwide?

Since He is not doing any of this, he must either be powerful but not caring as to what is happening in His world or else he cares but is powerless to do anything about it. The apparent contradiction!

The Swiss Guard in Brown's book gets his answer - there is pain and suffering because that’s how we grow. Just like your parents let you fall because otherwise you will never learn to be careful.

I remember a parallel story from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. There is a story that Pandava's mother Kunti asks grief from Krishna in blessing. She explains that grief strengthens the soul like no amount of happiness ever can. That’s why probably they say that adversity brings out the best in people.

I must confess that this answer only partially convinced me. That's because I still can’t accept that so much of pain is necessary for all of us - isn't it rather a steep price to pay for growing spiritually? Is it necessary for innocent children to die in sniper fire? Is it necessary for people to die in genocides? Is it necessary for soldiers to die a lonely death in battlefields because countries cannot agree on the location of their borders? Is it necessary for people to die in blasts because some people disapprove of others' way of praying? I think NOT.

Using the same analogy, will our parents stand back and watch if we are about to jump off the cliff? NO. Then how can God watch when the human race is standing so close to the brink of extinction?

As far as I am concerned - the contradiction remains!

Personal perfumes, anyone?

Today I read that now perfumers based out of Paris and Italy (where else!) are developing personal perfumes for clients who can afford to pay the steep price for the same.

The process starts with profiling i.e. asking questions to gauge the client's personality. This is followed by sampling of scents and tests on which ingredients suit the client skin. Then the development and testing of the finished product. The formula used to make the perfume can also be used to make bath oil, body lotion, shampoo, soaps and incense sticks!

How I wish we all could bottle up all the scents we love. I would go for the scent of the earth after the first shower of the season, the ssentl of the flowers that grow in forests away from prying eyes, the earthy fragrance of the mountains and the scent of the tall green grass sparkling with rain-drops......

I think Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" ended on a weak note. :-((

I don't want to play a spoiler for some soul who might chance upon this post and hasn't either read the book or worse, is in the middle of reading it. So I won't explain my disappointment any further.