Historical Fiction

 I love history and ok with fictionalized versions too for they add some amount of emotions and human aspect to the whole story. Example the story that Sambhaji, son of Shivaji the chatrapathi of Marathas defected to the Mughals and joined them for a couple of years and that’s fact but what was the political conditions that led to this is fleshed out in the book The Life and Death of Sambhaji by Medha Bhaskaran.

Anyways, this one is not about that but something else that caught my attention. I was reading the history of Nayakas of Chitradurga and reading the full line of books by Ta Ra Su. When I was reading his book Vijayothsava he made a statement or rather a paragraph about the ruler of Keladi Somashekara Nayaka, husband of Chennamma of Keladi. That he was the worst womanizer and women in his kingdom were not safe and sort of equated him to the worst of the medieval rulers.

I didn’t buy the story multiple reasons for one, Keladi Chennamma is a very famous historical figure and has earned her name in history for being a righteous ruler who stood against the great Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and was loved by her people till she died and gave their lives to defend their queen against the greatest odds. Also, they did not have a child of their own and Somashekara Nayaka was experimenting with drugs to solve the same is something else I remember reading from childhood days. Lastly with the AI search I got to know another story of how he fell in love with a dancer and ignored the kingdom for her sake.

None of the above says Somashekara Nayaka was a lecherous being in any sense and makes me wonder why Ta Ra Su says so in his book. Yes it’s writers liberty but in the process of showing something great one should not cast wrong impressions about something else which is equally good.

Ps: the childhood memory of reading got triggered when I saw the name Bharame Mavutha in the search

Pps: this story I had a background and hence didn’t believe makes me wonder if other stories where I have zero background how much or Authors liberty has been ingested 🤔

Something to ponder over

 This incident happened when I was rewatching BR Chopra’s Mahabharata and the incident happens between a Brahmin and his eldest daughter. The scenario is in Ekacbakranagari where Bakasura has to be fed and the turn is of the Brahman family.

The story goes, he has 2 kids with eldest being the daughter and son too young to go to the demon. The father decides to go but stopped by the daughter who volunteers herself and the reason the Brahman gives for not sending his daughter is what baffling me.

The man says, daughter is “some one else’s property” she has to marry some day and go with her husband, fair point for patriarchal system then and to this he adds “you are the earth on which new life needs to grow”, I am assuming here he is talking about the progeny and the sperm being the seed and so on.

For the ancient Indian science and the renowned sages/scientists didn’t we know the kid has both mom and dad aspects in it and women is not playing the role of earth alone by providing nourishment but also altering the genetic code of the baby by adding her own to the mix, which if I understand science right earth never does.

Maybe I am overthinking this as always or maybe the dialogues said more and I only remember this.

Anyways, just another post.

Ps: there is a bit of background to the story for I overheard someone saying, if not for this mom I would have been born to someone else with the same dad and that made me think, then you won’t be you, you would be someone else😊

Kashmir 1947

India and Pakistan were divided back in 1947 and the reasons that led to happen is debatable and whether Gandhi was the main reason or the end of world war 2 was the reason is a debate beyond me (at least for now, I do have some thoughts on the same). My contention here is about Kashmir.

Agreed the Maharaja of Kashmir wanted to do what ever he wanted and Pakistan also wanted a part of it or the whole of it and all the “controversy” surrounding it and how our then esteemed prime minister placed friendship over national interest at the time and how he changed his mind within a few years later and there is enough and more literature around this also.

My concern stems from the fact that the lashkars attack on J and K happened organically. 2 countries were formed on August 14/15 1947 and both countries military was still under the control of British. But by October that year, our neighbor managed to arm the “Lashkars” and send them across the border to attack Kashmir and in turn India. It all happened organically is the lie that I feel has been peddled for us.

Here is my contention, how can a newly formed country with thousands of problems to deal with organize and launch a war? The military was still under the British on both sides of the border and if that were the case, what was the governor general Mr. Batten doing? He had no intelligence and did the Pakistan side of British government went rogue? My theory they had been preparing for a few months before the whole thing and ready to pull the plug when needed, indeed going beyond the simple “the irregulars attacked”.

Nehru went to UN to resolve Kashmir, I would have taken the British to task and maybe take them to the international court for their military which was supposed to be “neutral” did take sides and was active in supporting one side over the other. Unless it was known that British wanted to do it on purpose.

All the history being taught why these simple questions are not raised by the “teachers and scholars”.

A friend of mine says history should not be changed and questioned for it would mean we are questioning our teachers and parents and some one else says History is dead. I question that statement whole heartedly and say that what history lacked when taught to us in schools is the scientific temperament and question things and not accept everything to the face value.

Aiyyo Shraddha - comedy show

I had seen her reels on YouTube, mostly of her funny takes on tech industry, on Indian middle class family and had seen some of her challenge posts only to have doubts about her stand up comedy ability. I was proved wrong by her on the Friday evening when she stood on the stage here in Austin and performed comedy for a good 2 hours without even taking a sip of water.

When Sandhya told me that Shraddha (Aiyyo Shraddha) is coming and I will book the tickets, I first said yes and expected the whole event not to last more than an hour and on the day of the event we got lined up with 3 other things for our about to graduate middle schooler. But as though it was divine intervention, one after another things fell apart and we were able to go as a family and enjoy one of the best 2 hours of our lives.

Her comedy was so clean and she intertwined all the way past to almost today present with such ease that it was remarkable and for someone like me who grew up in similar background it was totally relatable. More importantly our middle schooler had the best time too, I could hear her burst to laughter almost the whole time.

Listening to her, it was like time and space travel back to my hometown, her ability to intertwine multiple languages from Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and possibly Tulu was mind boggling. As they say, for those 2 hours she owned the stage. The show started sharp on time, I was completely expecting the opposite and had to stand corrected again.

Only grief is that we should have had given her a better welcome meaning a bigger auditorium and may be one more show. I believe she is still touring and if you do get a chance, take my word and go see her in action live on stage. https://www.sominithings.com/

An Engineer by profession and that too E and C (same branch as me) only to blossom out as a world renowned comedian made me question my own view points, I used to hold the view that people should stick with the fields they studied in, maybe they can switch to management. I guess that view point came from the lack mindset coming from India in the 80s and 90s. Anyways that is a discussion for another day.

ps: Daughter had attended another comedy show with Zarna Garg and when asked her opinion, she chose Shraddha hands down.

Dynast in politics

 When I came to America, George W Bush as about to contest against the clinate man and people were calling it as Dynasty in politics. Coming from India (at that time it was the era of Sonia and our man Raga was still not in limelight), I was thinking how can it be a dynasty when son succeeds father, or wife wants to compete in same slot as husband (Clintons). For a dynasty to be called one it has to be multiple generations and not just 1.

Anyways, this post is not about that but about the fact that people in India are equating the same for Indian political landscape and suggesting the Congress control of the party is no different from regional parties where son or daughter tend to run for the office along or after their parents.

I used to share that view point and agree with the same but now that I think about it, our kids learn from what we do on a day to day basis. Example: talking with a friends son, he wanted to do work similar to his dad on some sort of hardware, doctors kids tend to become doctors and Lawyers become one and actors kids try their hand in acting and we all try our best to help our kids in their respective interests. Again example: actors working to launch their kids and Engineers trying to find internship for their kids in the company they are working in and so on.

I had written this draft a while ago and now concluding it, I think with other aspects of life like Engineering or Medicine or any such professional places the number of opportunities are technically unlimited unlike the political landscape where the expansion is almost impossible. 

Democracy India and US

For the first time in my life I got to participate in the democratic process, aka voting. Yes I do regret I never got to vote in my home country. That said, now lets focus on some interesting aspects of democratic process, more importantly difference between the 2 great democracies USA (my adopted country) and India (home country). 

The big difference between the 2 countries that every one knows is that in one we vote for the president and the other we vote for the president directly and in other we vote for the member of parliaments, who then elect the prime minister. 

This much is known to all but the thing that caught me by surprise was the fact that in India, the elected PM and his party has the choice of cabinet members to work with but in USA the president gets to select his cabinet members but almost all other than his chief of staff has to go through senate hearing and need to be confirmed by the senate, albeit simple majority is probably sufficient. Another key difference is the number of cabinet positions are fixed from president to president unlike India where we expand and contract (mostly always expand) based on how many parties are huddled in the coalition.  

In short, the elected leader cannot appoint his own people to work with unless both the senate and house are in control of the president's party. 

If anyone had asked me about the elections in USA before 2020, I would have said 2 things. USA votes for president directly and it is determined by electoral votes and not popular votes, vote in 1 election cycle and I know all the nooks and crannies including what the term Gerrymandering mean :).   

Freakonomics Dr. Raghu Rajan

I admit, I am a huge fan of Freakonomics radio and never miss their podcast (listening for the past year or so). I like the way host Stephen Dubner asks questions and doesn’t hesitate to put the guests in an uncomfortable situation during the interview process and in general always adds a different perspective to the topic at question.

Full disclaimer, I am did not live in India during Demonetization and quite frankly nor did Dr. Rajan.

So, this week Dr. Rajan was interviewed on Freakonomics radio and as with all things one of the topic discussed was the big Demonetization effort that happened in India 2 years ago. The nation was shocked at the sudden move and me personally thought that was a bold move and a much needed move to increase the tax base and make economy more transparent. Dr. Rajan did go on saying he was consulted and he had voiced his opinion strongly against the program for he was concerned about killing the parallel economy that runs on cash with people who do not even have bank accounts and also people would find a way of turning their stashed away money without paying taxes. He went on to say that the effort did destroy the economy of the cash transaction and 10-15 million jobs were lost in the process and a lot of them haven't been regained.

I agree with your comments Dr. Rajan but in what way will it be beneficial for the country to have 2 parallel economies? one formal where the government collects taxes and provides services with the money collected and other entirely out of the governments hand and no tax collected from that but only services availed? The question I believe Mr. Dubner failed to ask is about the widened tax base due to the Demonetization and didn’t the tax rates reduce in India overall? Also, what about the effect on counterfeit currencies and reduced naxalite activities (I am not talking of Pakistan supported terrorism in J and K)?, granted Mr. Dubner was interviewing Dr. Rajan with the point of view of the man who called the great recession of 2008 back in 2005 itself. Another point I didn’t really understand was when Dr. Rajan says the world has too many strong leaders and that somehow is bad for the world economy. Last one was Dr. Rajan claimed credit of his policies as RBI Governor for the current rate of inflation in India, I am not a financial expert but I thought when he was the governor the inflation was close to 7-8% and only in the last year or so inflation in India is 3-4%; Not even a paltry credit to the finance ministry Dr. Rajan?.

One last thing I believe Mr. Dubner should have realized is along with Demonetization came  with couple of other tighter controls on financial transactions, which I personally can vouch has made a difference. Example: the sky rocketing costs of real estate in India took a grinding halt and things started to become more realistic.

Maybe I am wrong, if I am then I know the one person who will enlighten me :).    

ps: I hadn’t heard him speak and I admit he has a great voice and now I know why media houses like NDTV love him.

History brings perspective

Growing up as a kid, I hated Social Studies and specially history. Looking back I blame it on the teachers who refused get us fired up about history. Thanks to my dear friends for getting me hooked up with podcasts and I am becoming a history buff. Granted I still can’t remember the exact dates of events and I am now listening for fun instead of an exam.

One should study history and not just once own country’s history but world history or at the least the major events that shaped the world we live in. I have been listening to this podcast on crusades back in the Middle Ages (1100-1300 ad) and I think it has added a new dimension to my view of the world.  

Before the crusades podcast, my interest in history had been either Indian history or the biggest event of modern times the world war II and to some extent world war I. While listening to the podcasts on ww II I was mind boggled by the scale at which the war took place and finally got to appreciate the fact that  our (Indian) then leaders like Gandhi and Nehru supported the British against the axis forces, that's a separate blog post in itself. It made me believe human consciousness evolves to an extent in parallel across the globe irrespective of the distance.

Now back to crusades podcast, after listening to almost 90 odd episodes each 25 minute long spanning from 1st crusade to king Louis crusade I have learnt the following things

• Back in those days the whole world believed in pillaging and looting of conquered territories
• Back in those days mass killing of captured population was part of common culture
• No empire or kingdom lasts for ever, Rome got destroyed by the barbarians from Europe and Byzantine empire got destroyed by crusaders, the Muslim empire got destroyed by the Mongols and so on
• Intolerance towards practice of other religion was truly up to the whims and fancies of the kings/rulers and their needs.
• If I think Hinduism has too many castes/sects, Christianity and Islam have their own with each one claiming superiority over other
• Infighting and Traitors aren't patented to India alone they exist all over the world
• Destruction of property or materials that are sacred to other religion or conversion of their place of worship to your own was also a common practice
• Feudal system and practice is not a patent of India alone, it existed all over the world
• Money and trade always and mostly trumped religion
• Catholic church in the middle ages was corrupt beyond my imagination, I never truly comprehended this till I started hearing the podcasts

In short, I have been blaming the Islamic invasion of India for destruction of property and looting and killing of innocents and I have to an extent come to terms that the world was like that back in those days and I do feel we have come a long way since then.

Ios Maps vs Google Maps India

Recently when we went to Bengaluru, we took our beloved unlocked iPhone 4s with us (idea was to try with an Indian Sim card) to help us with phone access during our vacation. With the data plan we figured we could use the navigation also. Considering the charging of the phone is such a problem in India, I was hoping against hope that the built-in maps of iOS aka Apple maps would work for in US, I have found them to be battery saver and have come a long way since introduction. 

As they say, India is completely different dynamics at play and the Apple maps I was so hopeful about was up to no good. I had to change tactics and rely on Google maps. I wasn't expecting this extreme of a difference but Google maps are a few light years ahead of Apple maps. 

In places where Apple maps was struggling with GPS lock on my location,  Google map was able to give me point to point and turn by turn directions including details on service roads and one way too. 

With the driver we had hired for Bangalore trip, we survived solely thanks to Google Maps.

On the same note, traffic overlays on Google maps is extremely accurate and I admit I have a new found respect for Austin traffic after encountering Bangalore traffic.

So, a piece of advice if you are interested in taking your iPhone to India make sure it has Google Maps.     

  

2 phone solution

It probably happens only in India and would sound very alien to US residents, one needs a dual sim phone to keep up with multiple networks as one might be active in some areas while others are not.  How about dual phones itself? one for talking and one for internet? Yes this is what I witnessed while in India during my vacation recently. If it were 1 or 2 people I wouldn’t have bothered but I saw at a minimum half a dozen people doing this and to top this, there was a news paper advertisement for a smart phone which said buy a smart phone and get a multimedia (dumb) phone for free.

Made me wonder why?, I just barely scratched the surface and I had my answers.

On an average my Iphone 5s lasts a day or so with 4G disabled and on an average here in the USA in about 3 hours or so my phone charges from 0 to 100%, in India my phone takes almost double this time if not 2.5 times and on top of it if there were a power cut then god alone save me. To contrast, my mom’s multimedia phone has almost infinite talk time (compared to my smart phone), the voice is clear and it charges fast.

Another reason may be, thanks to Apple and Samsung for not allowing their real high end phones to be dual sim.

So, how do we solve it Indian way? have a phone for talking and have one for internet.  

One plate per person or one plate per line

When I go the buffet at any restaurant here in USA, it is mandatory to take a new plate every time one goes to the buffet line, while in India it is exactly the other way, meaning 1 person and 1 plate and not a new one each time. One can argue it as cultural difference and also point out that it is not sanitary to take the used plate back to the buffet.

All said and done, one thing I noticed was with 1 plate each time per buffet line there is a larger wastage of food while the other one there is less. Surprised?, last time I went to a buffet in India (one plate per person) I filled up my plate first time and went back to my table. When I was ready for the second round I realized I need to finish everything I have taken before going back to the line (left over means wasted real-estate) and I eneded up taking only things I know I would eat, now compare this to the US style since I know I will get a new plate each time in the buffet line there is never a real need for me to finish everything I got from the previous round before heading back to the line.

Irrespective of buffet or entree order, I do not believe in wasting food and more than likely finish everything I have taken or ordered. That said it was a revelation to me that one plate per person saves not only water but also produced food.   

No more PIO only OCI

Back in 2010, right around the time Avni was born, I started researching the options for her as she will be born in USA and the parents were Indian citizens. People had all different solutions, some were crazy as suggesting that she can pick her citizenship when she is 18 years and others that she can get Indian citizenship if registered right at birth.

Turned out all were wrong, since she would be born on US soil, by default she would be citizen of USA and also India does not support dual citizenship.  In the end she could become either a PIO (person of Indian origin) or an OCI (overseas citizen of India).

We the parents were Indian citizens and not foreign passport holders, she could only apply to be PIO. Even further, for some reasons un known,  being PIO had way more restrictions than being an OCI, few from top of my head are, it had to be renewed every 15 years and if the person had to stay for more than 180 days in India then they had to register with nearest police station. The only saving grace was that PIO was 1 step and OCI was a 2 step and longer process.

It always pinched me that the fact that we are citizens of India and my daughter had to be PIO but if we gave up our Indian citizenship then my daughter can be an OCI. To say in another way, government of India government rewarded non-Indian citizens better than Indian citizens. I was so annoyed with this that the last 3 times I took my daughter to India, I went with a visa for her.

Thanks to Modi and the new Indian government there is no more of PIO, only OCI and all PIO’s are being converted to OCI’s.

Great going, I am happy with this. I believe it is time to make Avni an OCI.      

The Mayan village

During our tour to Chichen-itza we stopped at the model Mayan village and the structure of the same surprised me. It totally reminded me of my native village in India. The house was in 3 parts with one part dedicated for the temple, the other for the kitchen and the rest of it was boarding and playing areas. Wait a minute that’s how my native house in my village is built like.

The other intriguing common thing I found was the use of samrani aka benzoin resin, a sort of powder that when put on the burning charcoal gives an aromatic flavored smoke which we use specially around new born. The same is apparently true in Mayan also.

You are still interested, their back yards had Cuban oregano (dodda patre), banana plants and few others, voila that’s again our back yard in my native. We do have a few conconut trees there but these guys seemed to have some betel nut trees instead.

I am not here to talk about any major connections between the 2 cultures as one could argue that the same tropical weather led to the growth of these plants and human beings through evolution figured out the same.

Diya painting for Diwali

Last Saturday (October 11), the Circle C Indian community had organized a diya painting workshop for kids on account of Diwali. Please don’t get confused when I say the big name “Circle C Indian community”, I would prefer it to be read as organized by 2 individuals Kirti Joshi and Meenakshi Matai. The event was organized in a nearby public library and thanks to Sandhya I got signed up to be the official photographer for the event.

All the supplies required for the workshop was provided by the organizers including 2 diyas per kid. The kids were divided into 2 groups (I am guessing it was done based on age initially and latecomers joined in where they could find space) and the instructors were giving detailed instructions about the painting. It was fun to see the little ones listening intently to the instructions and following to the extent they could. There was a noticeable difference in the way smaller kids (3.5-4.5 years) approached vs the bigger kids (5 and above) approached. The younger ones believed in colorful palettes to start with while the older kids believed in more professional approach and were meticulous with their details.

For me personally it was double bonus, for one I got to document the entire event from beginning to end at the same got the opportunity to catch up and hangout with some old friends. It could also had been an opportunity to enhance my photography skills too but passed it up for good pictures.   

At the end of the event, most everybody had painted their own diyas and in some instances parents took up the brushes on behalf of their kids and painted the diyas. Either way everybody had 2 well painted diyas with them.   

The event was so good that it was initially announced to be a hour long event but ended up being close to 2hours. I will be the first one to say, some of the diyas painted that day could have competed in the professional league.

I don’t know if Kirti and Meenakshi had organized such events before but this one was professional grade. Kudos to you two for doing this.

Below are some of the pics from the art studio.

What is the alternative

Every day I open the online portals of news papers like Times of India, NDTV, Tehelka and so on. I find articles again and again repeating why Modi is a bad choice, lets look at them one by one

• His model of development is fake: Are my friends who live and visited Gujarat and also this article in Forbes about agricultural development in Gujarat wrong and only the congress and AAP are to be believed?
• He is a fascist, I don’t even know what this means
• He is for crony capitalism, I thought more and more industries are moving to Gujarat including precious TATA Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat
• The infamous Gujarat riots of 2002: come on guys. With supreme court and number of special investigative teams not able to find him guilty. Why should we believe you? are you guys claiming yourselves above the supreme court of India? Also, if you have proof go to the court and prove him guilty and hang him or send him to jail.
• The encounters of Ishraat Jahaan : Luckily nobody has brought this up and the one portal that was beating drums with this one (Tehelka) has gone cold right after the arrest of Tarun Tejpal and resignation of Shoma Chaudhary. Even here, I am yet to see the CBI implicating Modi or Amit Shah. 
• He stands for Hindutva: we don’t have a problem if some one says “I am true to Islam or in Hindi mein sacha musalman hoon” or if a Christian says “ we all are true Sunday church going christians” but we always and invariably have trouble to call ourselves Hindus and we stand behind it as though our religion is some sort of untouchable and to be vary of.

Despite all these, lets for a moment say we believe you and don’t want to vote for Modi and BJP. So what’s your alternative

1. Rahul Gandhi? – Pappu or Shahzada who can’t even answer questions to a TV journalist and give the power back to commit more scams. I think I am tired of this part,
2. Mulayam Singh Yadav? – the one who says boys are boys and rapes happen?
3. AAP Kejriwal – he claims he did a sacrifice by quitting as CM of Delhi but I for one fail to understand it and considering he resigned in 49 days don’t have faith that we will stick longer than 6 months if made PM
4. Jayalalitha? – if we want to have 1re for lunch and dinner all over India then here is the candidate.

I don’t know others who are contesting for the PM ship.

Few observations from Mr. Kejriwal’s interview

If one starts to write about AAP there is no end, they are just too colorful and wonderful. Mr. Kejriwal, I appreciate you for your dedication, your logical arguments and the way you stand up for your colleagues and defend them at all costs.

I am one of the those who saw your interview on CNN-IBN and also a similar toned one on NDTV (I know, I am jobless). All hail your achievements in the last 3 weeks and lets see what documents you now have in hand against congress that you didn’t get with RTI before and how you will make them sorry for their act.

That said, you kept saying “people will decide what to do, people will run the government and they will decide where the money to be spent and you won’t contest the parliament election but the people will”, in case you are not aware there is an English word for it called “Refrendum” and your esteemed colleague Mr. Bhushan said the same thing but you said what ever Mr. Bhushan said is his personal opinion, you totally disagree with the same and not that’s not the stance of you or the party. Now, I am confused what do you stand for?

Second, we need accountability, suspend the few police who did not do the duty and all these crimes will stop. I agree on the accountability but do you believe we have enough police officers for the population and enough resources with them to prevent all this kind of crimes?

Third, you vehemently defended your colleague Mr. Bharati’s act. Fine that shows you stand by your troops. But few simple things arise in my mind, what was the intent in going there in the middle of the night? was that the only time your minister had? mind you he has been receiving complaints for last few months (before he became minister). if your minister only took the PCR van with him, who called the media?, if according to your comment there were lot of women and drugs in the plain sight, why didn’t any of the folks who complained recorded the same on their camera phone or some such device? Your argument of “they refused blood test”, even in USA to make employment decisions all they need is urine test and not blood test.

Fourth, the drug and prostitution rings cannot run without police help. Agreed on this point, but in the same breath, I for one find it hard to believe that a bunch of Nigerians are able to run such a racket without the help of the local people (Indians, Aam Aadmi), do you agree?.

Fifth, you are now the chief minister of Delhi and please respect the post and stop making allegations like “local police pay bribes to the Union Home Minister”, you even named him by name. If you have proof please come out and publish the same and defame the guy but not without proof. 

Sixth, you comment on police ran away from Mr. Bharati and anything could have happened to him. Last I remember it was you who said no security needed and want to be accessible to people and so on. So, are you saying your government needs police protection now? 

AAP is wonderful, they keep my blog active

Is AAP making a joke of itself

I know I know, I am the one who wrote the post that said “Case in Favor of Mr. Kejriwal”. But in the last few days the acts that the AAP has done seems to make me think otherwise. Here are the incidents

No FDI in retail because people will lose jobs if this happens. Really, do you really believe in this crap Mr. Kejriwal. Please don’t compare US and Mexico to India to make your case for this.

Law minister ordering the police to raid a place which he claims to be a brothel and a drug peddlers place, and he is angry that police did not act according to his whims and fancy to top this Mr. K supports and defends his ministers actions. Really, I am pinching myself to see if I am not dreaming.

The comment from Mr. Prashant Bhushan on referendum in Maoist infected areas about removing the paramilitary forces, again who are we kidding.

The comment by one Mr. Binny for not being offered a ministry in the AAP government in Delhi. Mr. K please keep a tight leash on your party and its members, just because you are Aam Aadmi doesn’t mean there should be anarchy within. 

A foreign woman tourist gets attacked and raped in Delhi and the AAP just like its predecessor/supporter congress blames the way Delhi police is organized (central vs state). Really, don’t you have some other original ideas other than aping your predecessors?

The AAP reminds me of a line from the book Freedom at Midnight in which our esteemed Prime Minister Nehru requests Lord Mount Batten to take control of India and see the violence during partition is quelled, the reason being Mr. Nehru says that he and his fellow colleagues have been freedom fighters and half their life went in fighting and don’t have any experience in governance. 

So, I think AAP may prove to be a revolution that had all wonderful aims and life looked lot rosier when being on other side of the fence and blaming the system. But when you are in the seat of power and have the authority to change, it seems to fizzle out.

In short, they seem like bunch of novices and Delhi is their learning ground. Hope it doesn’t become costly for Delhi and India in general. 

Solar Panel on a Canal

Back in the days when I was young, naïve and inquisitive I remember visiting our native village in Karnataka and looking at the big canals that were dug to carry water from the dams to villages and reservoirs hundreds of KMs away. I remember asking some of the elders around me in those days, why can’t we do something to cover the canals won’t the open canal lead to lot of evaporation and sorry I remember vaguely that the cost would be exorbitant to cover the same.

But the new initiative taken up by Mr. Modi of having Solar Panels on the river canals has solved that problem, a cover that pays for itself. I am not sure of all the claims in the article but this is definitely a way forward and progressive thinking.  

 

Enjoy the slide show here

Case for Mr. Kejriwal

I resisted myself from writing this article but some how I couldn’t resist putting my points across.

To Mr. Kejriwal’s credit, he is the champion of Right to Information Act (RTI) and he along with Anna Hazare started a campaign against corruption and in some sense the whole country united behind the cause. When the political parties did not heed much he took the most democratic way possible and launched his own party called the Aam Admi Party (AAP). In the process he is accused of delineating Anna Hazare and other activists whose charisma he is accused of using for his benefits. On his launching the party, I think the choice was simple, either be on the sidelines and keep protesting and hope someday our elected leaders would listen or become the leader and show how its done. Most everybody was with him till then.

Now after Delhi elections where in which his party won majority of the seats but not enough to form a government and he formed a government with the external support from Congress (against whose corruption he rallied against). Here many people believe he betrayed, I take a different view.

If AAP hadn’t agreed to form a party then it would have been a hung government in Delhi and a set of re-elections. Considering the inflation and cost of re-election is it really justified to do the same? Now that he has become the CM I think the first priority would be the good transparent governance with no corruption, that’s where I believe we need to give him some time to see how it will work. Life looks lot different when you are in seat of power vs being an activist, the best example I can quote is of President Obama, if people remember he ran first time in 2008 on the notion of “closing Guantanamo prison within a year”, now its been  5 years and we are still struggling to find out how to go about it.

On the other hand I am not ready to give national reins to his hand, for one he and his cadre haven’t proved a thing about anything and Delhi is like their learning ground, will wait 5 or so years before I take that decision. Also, I am worried about his cronies like Prashant Bhushan and his take on Kashmir.

In closing, my take is lets not pit him and Mr. Modi against each other as that’s what the congress government wants and lets wait and watch to see what wonders he can do in Delhi. On a related note, back in 2011 Mr. Kejriwal along with others once shared the podium with Sri Sri and if Sri Sri has faith in him then I for sure am willing to wait and see.  

Lucia–Kannada movie

One more blog due to the India trip, the movie was discussed big time during my high school reunion and apparently one of my school friends had worked on the movie (don’t remember in what capacity he worked though), Incentive enough to watch isn’t it?, My fellow friends did offer me the pirated copies of the movie but due to lack of time and lack of initiative from my side it never happened.

Now back in USA and alone, I figured lets Google it. Learnt quite a few things about the movie, it is the first crowd funded movie in Kannada  and it has won some awards in the international level, some even call it Kannada’s answer to Inception the English movie. If you want the plot and all such things then there is the Wikipedia, but take my advice and just watch the movie by paying $5(not pirated).

Its not too long, just 2 hours and a few minutes and packs enough punch to keep you engrossed the whole time. Not as complex as Inception but in the bigger picture it is sort of inspired by Inception.

Its truly an edge of the seat thriller and one of the best Kannada movies ever made. The actors are not some hi-flying stereo types in Kannada movie but the ones who were famous for playing the side kicks and comedian roles in Kannada movie. The songs are just out of this world. The story line, direction, casting, acting and pretty much every aspect of the movie is done to perfection and one will be hard pressed to find fault in the movie. I would say almost a perfect movie (I am sure if looked hard enough one can find a fault here and there).

I definitely recommend it for my Kannada speaking friends and for those who can’t the movie has subtitles too. Still with me, you can find the rental here. Please don’t pirate its not just another run off the mill movie.