MUMBAI MERI JAAN

Why Anguish this time when Mumbai is under Terror Attack ? It is not the first time that we are facing the burnt.This time it is special.Anguish and cry out Loud because it is not the poor but the Rich and affluent who have been targeted.Till last incident they were seeing it on there Plasma screens in their homes,Bars and Restaurants insulated climatically.Commenting that the Government is weak, our forces are incompetent so on and so forth. Ironically the one such joint was TAJ Mumbai.Till last time we saw the elite come out in press and media condemning the attacks but in the same breath talked about the spirit of the city.I wonder why? Was it that there next stop or the business meeting in an insulated environment should not be reflected in a bad taste.Or was it that they were in an insulated environment.My dear Suhel seths ,Javed Akhtars and Sobha Deys it was not the spirit of poor people but need to burn their hearths.
This time it was different.Cry aloud for the Rich have been killed.This time it is not the spirit of Mumbai because it had hit the core the rich.This time most of them felt angered who till last time talked about restrain.Do you see the irony?
In no way i am suggesting that lives lost were not innocent.They were.Problem is we may talk this time the Government may set up commissions and inquiries but when shall we see the light?
Talks about the great Indian Democracy.Where is it?I did not find it in any Newspaper or the ever blabbing News channels. No need to appeal to the people for our democratic setup is so strong that if Osama stand in election today I guarantee 110 % he will reach the parliament .Oh please do stand in election Mr Dawood And Mr Osama. We do need a change.
Lapses and lapses would have led to this.Where is the accountability.Compensation is no accountability.Any politician declaring compensation should be ............ i am out of words.Why cant as a nation we have a system of accountability?
Till then we will all feel cheated and can only talk and at times write a blog in anguish.
Mumbai meri jaan and India mere watan we get what we deserve.

@## read earlier blog advice to osamas feb 2008

FOR MY EYES ONLY (PART II)

The year is coming to an end surely and not so slowly.It also has been the steepest learning curve for me in terms of my profession particularly in an unit.Learning at times even involves unlearning what one had learned so far.I am writing here because in future when I look back I can at least take a clue.

Lesson No 1.
Unit Administration is not that simple and certainly cannot be ignored.For the first time I probably have a senior who has guided me like a senior subaltern should have done in my first unit.(For this is my second unit only unfortunately or fortunately). Not that my first unit subalterns were not that competent but the boss had a policy East is East and West is west the twine shall never meet.Whenever two subalterns were seen together it was perceived to be a plot being hatched hence the question why are you two here? So like two ends of a dipole we were dispatched in diagonally opposite directions.So much so for my first unit.Unit administration needs more attention at most of the times in our so called Technical Unit.

Lesson No 2.
Meet your command thrice a Day.For lets' not forget the raison d'etre leaders of men.

Lesson No 3.
It is always hard but satisfying to do things what is right rather than work on the fashionable policy of the unit is of the CO and 'sannu ki'.The choice of good and successful officer what we used to hear is I suppose is to be made here.I don't know yet what choice I will make when the days of reckoning will come and when it comes.

Lesson No 4.
Tactical or Technical? I think this is beyond the scope of this diary at the same time I hope to seek the answer at some time in near future.

Lesson NO 5.
Never mix pleasure with work. Would seem contradictory to corporate belief but then we are not one and neither is our social fabric.

Lesson No 6.
Knowing the rules help.It is the only way at times.

My earlier version (see post of Feb 08 )is in total contrast probably this is the coup de theatre before one picks field rank.

SHAMLI OF MY CHILDHOOD

Shamli as a town enchanted me in my childhood not because I have any ancestral association with it but I happened to read Ruskin Bond in my Junior School. His stories of boarding schools and ghosts and nature fascinated me and made my boarding school stay an amorous one. Growing up in Mussoorie had its privileges. One could see the Author come and play Badminton in our School with Principal and students of course who were good at it. This helped me associate better with his stories and I loved them. In one such short story he vividly sketches a small town called Shamli. I always wished I could take a train journey in night to Shamli all alone.Unfortunately in our term break I used to take train to the East of Dehradun. I had imagined and re-imagined the sleepy town many a times in my mind. Time passed and as all good things come to an end I too had to leave the School and the golden age .

Many years later after letting the name of the town go in milieu of my memory I got posted to Meerut Cantonment .As destiny would have it my unit was located on Meerut - Shamli Road. All my reminiscences of the Town came alive. Only thing was that the mental sketch of the town was fogged now. Soon I got an opportunity to travel to Shamli. I was tasked to make a trip to Roorkee, Dehradun and Saharanpur on an Army Truck called ALS. Army calls it 3 Tonner in their diction. Taking the Delhi - Dehradun Highway NH- 58 I reached Dehradun in the evening via Roorkee. As one was in the Army now and somebody had planned my night halt at Saharanpur so taking the Dehradun- Saharanpur Highway I reached my night halt location. Next day morning we stared off for Meerut. I had two options either travel by Deoband to Muzaffarnagar and take NH 58 back or take the road to Shamli. No extra credits for guessing that I took the road to Shamli. The journey was a comfortable one (by Army Standards @ 2008).

By 0800 hrs I reached the small town of Shamli. There was some fog in the fresh morning air. My Imagination was meeting the reality now. So many fond memories passed me that moment or say the time was by my side. In that small time frame I could recollect quite a few incidents and my friends. The town was sleepy indeed but the winds of change had caught it too. The morning tea at the local tea stall gave me a rough Idea that the lucid sketch of the town by Ruskin Bond and my imagination were a thing of the past. Time had changed and things were on an upwards in terms of population and money. I asked him did he Know who was Ruskin Bond? He had not heard of him and neither the school going children passing the tea stall.

After my tea and chit chat I moved on with my party leaving behind the Railway station of Shamli which at least had not changed much since Bond wrote his story. A part of me told me that I wanted to be a child again and read his books once more. At least they fired my imagination more than the talks of the Big Boys. In the end I quote Ruskin Bond ‘And when all the wars are done, a butterfly will still be beautiful’.



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REASONS FOR FLOOD IN BIHAR

Floods in Bihar could be a diplomatic move by Nepal to remind the Great Indian Democracy that how important Nepal’s Prime Minister visit is to India quite contrary to the view what our Ministry of External Affairs is projecting.

BUILT UP TO THE VISIT

1. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ Saturday left for People’s Democratic Republic of China on a five-day official visit to attend the closing ceremony of Beijing Olympics-2008.Prime Minister Prachanda was welcomed at the VVIP of the Central International Airport in Beijing by the Vice-Minister for Population and Family Planning of China. This is the PM’s first international visit.

2. NEW DELHI: Nepal's new Maoist PM, Prachanda, has made his choice clear. Within a week of taking office, he is breaking bread with the Chinese leadership at the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, preferring it over meeting the Indian leadership in New Delhi. (Source : Times of India).

3. End of August: Bihar’s sorrow kosi floods North Bihar due to breach in embankment in Nepal.

4. Second week September: - Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda makes his first official international visit since taking office last month with a trip to India after saying treaties between the two countries should be reviewed. Accompanied by cabinet ministers and business leaders, Nepal's new prime minister is in India for what is termed a "goodwill" visit.

5. NEW DELHI: In the aftermath of the Kosi flooding that has left millions of people homeless in India and Nepal, prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal `Prachanda’ has said he favoured the idea of setting up a high dam on the river Kosi to regulate the flow of water. Mr Prachanda conveyed his affirmation for the hydel power project in a meeting with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at a lunch hosted by JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav.

6. Water resources management was on top of the agenda during bilateral discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr Prachanda. During the meeting Mr Singh extend Rs 20 crore as immediate relief for flood victims in Nepal.

7. India and the now defunct royalist government of Nepal saw the Maoist insurgency, led by the man who is now prime minister, as a common security challenge. That might be one reason why Prime Minister Dahal is calling for an end to recruitment of Nepali Gurkhas into the Indian Army. The Gurkhas have had a reputation as fierce warriors here since the early 19th century, when they were contracted by the British East India Company. There are about 40,000 Gurkhas serving in the Indian Army and paramilitary forces. Indian military officials say, even if Nepal takes the unlikely step of banning service in the Indian military, it will not significantly affect the force, which has more than one-million personnel under arms.


So my unambiguous assessment of the breach in Kosi embankments is that it was bound to happen in wake of the events in Nepal. The problem is our so called brilliant bureaucracy didn’t foresee it coming or they were too much looking forward for the FLOOD RELIEF PACKAGE BONOUS. For it is no hidden fact the industry of providing relief is quite profitable. And of course the State has an agenda to save the poor.Save the poor when they are only in dire state and not before it.

Other indicators were the regular cry of our neighbours to change a half a century old friendship agreement which was done with a Monarch. Can somebody question our extraordinary MEA what they were doing about it? The culprits covert and overt both must be brought to the punitive end of Law.

Lastly I do see the worst nightmare of INDO NEPAL friendship coming true. As Nepal gets closer to China Indian Army may end up loosing The Nepali Gurkhas. Whatever has to be done by our excellent foreign policy makers it must be done now.


Note: - Built Up to the visit has been picked up from various sources.

WATCH THIS VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUYkE-DkZ0k

CARRY ON INDIA

Advice and sermonising being our favourite past time and when you have incidents like Delhi 13 Sep 09 the nation with a national obsession of critisising has got a great topic to discuss this weekend, I presume. With scotch on the rocks we will call it a Government failure an Intelligence failure a Policing failure and ask for the top up. So cheers! For after they are done for the day they will move in to their cosy warm beds and sleep sound.
For they would not have lost their only bread earners ,for they who live in a climate control world it doesn’t matter what the common man is going through in the streets. On their Plasma screens they will have a firsthand experience of so called terror in Delhi. The problem and sad part is, it even doesn’t matter for the common man now. For either he has to busy struggling to survive or he has joined the bandwagon of people racing to reach the same climate control world where temperature is 18 degrees throughout the year as if they are in London.
So the great nation can relax as for now and in future can say we assimilate people who invade us. We the great civilization like our previous invaders Greeks, Mongols, Turks, Europeans assimilated in our culture. Probably we are trying to assimilate likes of Osamas. Sare Jahan se Achaa………….
No need to appeal to the people for our democratic setup is so strong that if Osama stand in election today I guarantee 110 % he will reach the parliament .Oh please do stand in election Mr Dawood And Mr Osama. We do need a change.
Last I have a request to these Terror cells please target the PEOPLE who matter to the Government and not the Insects and Rodents on the street. Yeah I missed The Great INDIAN YOUTH, The GEN NEXT and what not, GUYS LETS GO AND WATCH ROCK ON in PVR.

OUR MOHD BIN TUGHLUQS

Muhammad Tughluq was a medieval Indian scholar and a learned man. He knew logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and physical sciences. He was also a calligraphist. He had knowledge of medicine and was skillful in dialectics.He has been described as an "amazing compound of contradictions". He is one of the most striking figures in medieval India. He was a man with ideas far beyond his age however we remember him more for his blunders.
We also have lot of Tughluqs around us.The less I quote here is better but I will ask the reader to use his imagination and put it in Indian perspective.Lets' take our Government and its much propagated NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme).The result could be contrasting and corruption exponential.Lets' not forget THE AMARNATH ROW.
At all levels we have our Tuglaqs be it Panchayat, Block,District,State. Try reading it with any organisation as a model and you will have ample example to quote.

WE HAVE LOST OUR NORTH STAR

'Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji "Sam Bahadur" Jamshedji Manekshaw MC (April 3, 1914 – June 26, 2008) was an Indian Army officer. In a long career spanning nearly four decades, Manekshaw rose to be the 8th Chief of Staff of the Indian Army in 1969 and under his command, Indian forces concluded a victorious campaign during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971'.This is extract from wiki search however I remember Sam Manekshaw as the person who took our Passing out Parade salute in Indian Military Academy in December 2002.I look at him as a General who was extraordinary.He will be a case study and part of all promotional exams to come.
I remember when he had stood the entire parade and did not sit down even with his failing health.I remember bits and pieces of his speech where he had urged the passing out coursebook serve the nation with honour and dignity.The charm and glow on the face of our Field Marshal could not be forgotten and neither can we forget his infectious smile and great humour.
Today Indian Army has lost its North star. SALUTE AND FAREWELL FIELD MARSHAL

WHAT CAN I DO ?

Somewhere I read it "If there is something wrong those who have the ability to do something must do someting".But then this is not what we generally do.The idea seems more or less utopian.People who try such things are often branded anti establishment.Governments call them Extremists,Naxalites,Insurgents,Rebels so on and so forth.Those inside the system who try there hands out are labeled Freedom fighters.Don't take it literarily but thats what they are called and then those who try to blow the whistle are generally sidelined.
I have to decide sooner or later where I stand? This is for my future reference because i was once told 'Try to implement change only when you can till then observe and make notes'.

WHERE IS OUR HOCKEY?

Last sunday was branded super sunday by Media why because there were two Finals of cricket.India Vs Australia and India against South Africa for U19 World cup.Fine but there was another important match Indian hockey team fighting it out for Olympic birth in Chile.It was really sad that the match was not covered by any sports channel.While our national broadcaster can telecast the feed with delay from ESPN or Nimbus but won't make an effort to show even the recorded version of Hockey.DD is like a whore run by babus who are ready to lick the bottom of Media giants and even ready to twist arm by bulwarking Laws when it comes to making profit by telecasting cricket.But they won't do the same for our National Sport.It's pretty sad affair that a national broadcaster had to jump in to the bandwagon of private ones. How the hell are we going to motivate young kids to take on Hockey?Any takers?

Do I rhyme?

You don't fall in love by chance you choose,
It's a decision made over time.
Do I rhyme?
Well lately I fall in love daily,
mostly it's love at first sight.
Or a bright strike.
I concentrate and realign,
For every shot I take.
Some time I hit and more often than not otherwise,
Do I rhyme?
Certainly not you will exclaim
But here I will proclaim
It's not what you think.
I love my win.
Birdies and a pars are what I crave for,
For that's what I am talking about,
For here I am waiting to get a perfect score,
and a girl next door.
Both are hard to come by
Don't ask me why?
Now do I rhyme?
Well I'll take my chances with my Golf rather than my heart.
Who cares if I rhyme.

MY ADVICE TO OSAMAS

Like every body I have less opinions and more advice to give. Sermonising is one of our favourite past time after all we belong to land of mystics and snake charmers. I was thinking everybody keeps advising the Government, security Forces, Political masters but what about the Terrorists .So I took upon myself the daunting task though a bit risky I presume .So without wasting any time here for you My dear Osamas.
. Why kill innocent people? That doesn’t make you popular. Try targeting the big shots. It will have more media coverage and more propaganda effect.
. Why target the security forces? Why don’t you target those whom the security forces are most of the time deployed to protect? Yes our political masters. One or two efforts were very fascinating and gutsy. Hats off to you guys!
. Why fight for religion? Fight for poverty, you will have more lieutenants than ever .You will have wider appeal.
. Why highjack a plane? Try high jacking the intellect. That will be more demanding and of course heroic.
. Last but not the least do open a consultancy like all big multinationals after all a bit more money isn’t going to hurt.


Note for cyber crime experts: The ideas expressed are just trying my hands at pun. And of course the advise are as valid for people like Raj Thakery.

A CLOSE SHAVE

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

I was travelling down to the Border town from Thimphu for my official work a few days back.The temperature in north India was pretty cold whereas it had not snowed in the hills facing the Duars .Its a perfect situation for dense fog.So after our fill at Takhti (a beautiful Cafetaria on the road) we moved on.The visiblity thereafter was hardly 2-3 metres.All vehicles were willing to give pass and follow the tail lamp of the vehicle ahead. Some where down the road my driver let the vehicle ahead of us move on.So we were left to ourselves.Both of us strained our eyes to keep track of the road.Every curve appeared to be the longest one.It was also getting dark pretty fast.At around five it was pitch dark and then it happened.Suddenly I felt a jolt as if I was thrown over.The left wheels of our gypsy had fallen in to the drain towards the brest wall of the road.Had the driver been not attentive in keeping himself close to the wall we certainly would have fallen deep down .Such incidents keep happening.It is said by wise men that at such close moments you live your life.Such moments make you man.Well that certainly would be true for after the incident i was pretty calm and rationale.I who usually would loose my cool at subordinates was very calm and supportive of my driver.After we were pulled out of vehicles by the local bhutnese people.With some muscle power and lever work we managed to recover the vehicle and drove the rest of the way at the second gear.The vehicle was not turning well to the right something was obstructing it.I was even willing to drive as i saw the driver was aghast and lost.Probably that was due to my Military training.Whatever but later on i realised i loved it. But if you ask me do I want to be so close?No is my answer.

THE CARROT

It's red it's beautiful and is shown more often than given.I am talking about the super sweet vegetable fruit called Carrot.The vegetable has many usage in Indian Cuisine.It's for everyone ,rich, ultra rich ,poor ,ultra poor, Bureaucrat,Politicians,and we soldiers who unfortunately get it in ration.
let's begin from top.You will be made constitutional head of the state.What a sweet Jagar ka halwa with rich cream as dividend.Truly the puppet culture in India has died because of this carrot only.Hats off to the British colonisers who first thought of this as a tool of Governance.Rai Bahudurs and sir so ad so are the legacy which they have left for us.
Why else in earth we should have some obscure politician as Governors or High commissioner to a commonwealth?I think its a fruit by which you can curb bitter taste.It is used to keep the dissatisfied the rebels the outspoken in good books.We all have seen stalwarts axed some time or the other.This happens when the individual does not succumb to the temptations of the carrot.
Moving down you have promotions and postings and what not.still down the ladder you have leave as leverage.Well the vegetable which was to be used to give flavour and colour has surely got rotten.I think its time to give way to clean green vegetables like spinach.For we all will be given the carrot one time or the other.
Au revoir

A YEAR AFTER

A year after i started swinging the club.Time flies.It seems it was yesterday when I first went to the Golf Course.They guided me and the Guru Mantra was GAP.Not the apparel brand but acronym for grip alignment and posture.I wanted to learn fast and start playing on the course.I did but with flaws as it happens with amateurs.Since i landed on to the course and as here in Thimphu because of small population the game got you in to golfing circles.From the first tournament where i qualified for the second round to the last where i could not i learned a lot.For the game teaches patience but i dont know how much it has helped me?
Few days back the pro coach gave me few tips and changed my grip The alignment and the posture.There i was back to square one.So the lesson learnt is learn the correct thing in the first go.Happy golfing.

A TREK TO TIGER'S NEST

My friends Abhishek and Deepak obliged to take out some time from their busy schedule and landed in Thimphu.Usually to visit western Bhutan one requires a week or say 4 to 5 days.One comes here to relax and not otherwise.They gave me two days in toto.I as a good host let them relax the first day and took them around Thimphu city.Now one had to offer them what is best here in one day.So I decided to show them Taksang Monastery.That is the most important monastery in Bhutan.legend has it that Guru Rinpoche (Precious Master), the father of the Bhutanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism, arrived in Paro Valley more than a millennium ago on the back of a legendary tigress. He meditated for three months in a cave where a monastery was later built and called Taktsang Lhakang or Tiger's Nest.
Due to a late evening in the bar we started as usual 'late'.By the time we reached the base in Paro it was noon.Now the expected time to trek up to the the Monastery is two hour plus and for people new to trekking three hours.We had no choice we had to do it within the time frame of maximum three hours.Since it was winters by four it gets pretty cold and chilly here.So we set out at the earnest.Abhishek had a problem with breathing so he gracefully opted out.Now it was left to three of us me my driver and Deepak.To strat with Deepak did pretty well.But half way on he was exasperated.Thanks to sepoy Mishra he pulled and motivated Deepak while I set the pace.It was warm sunny day and the Paro valley looked golden.Paro chuu (river) was like the silver serpent.It was majestic sight which encouraged us to climb faster. We had our moments of tiredness but we tugged along.Deepak specially was great sport.We managed to climb in one and half hour.An achievement since he had no trekking experience.We were back by three O'clock.Thankfully for Abhishek also as he waited down at base for three long hours.A trek to tiger's nest was a fulfilling experience as we checked our endurance after a long time.It reminded me of my days as cadet at National Defence Academy.Thankfully we were not carrying backpacks and rifles.The feeling of doing the climb was overwhelming.The Taksang is aptly named.
We were quite hungry so to end we stopped at one of my Bhutnese friend's place in Paro for Noodles.Truly a day to remember and blog.

THE HUNT FOR GREENER GRASS

NEITHER I AM HERE NOR I AM THERE
Beware that's the fate most of us at one time of the life or the other face.For the sake of clarity we all want greener pastures at least I want that.Presuming there is nothing wrong with it.Or is it? I Am here in one of the God's own land but my heart is filled with thoughts of things that i miss.When I am here in unit I want to be at home. At home I want to be with friends and feel miserable.So Neither I am here nor there.
Keeping the list going I want to do soldiering and then i want to have a comfortable time.I want to have financial freedom and at the same time seek true happiness with lots of money.Whatever that is?I want to be cool and calm and at times want to be aggressive.Anybody going through this page would feel how confused the person is.I agree it's really confusing.So the Grass is greener on the other side of the fence.That's what the wise men said.But still i crave for the grass across the fence.Not satisfied with the logic i saught an interview with HIM.I dreamed I had an interview with God.“So you would like to interview me?” HE asked.“What questions do you have in mind for me?”I was ready as Karan Thapar would be.“What surprises you most about humankind?...”God answered...
That they get bored with childhood they rush to grow up and then long to be children again.
“That by thinking anxiously about the future,they forget the present,such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”
"That they live as if they will never die,and die as if they had never lived.” Continuing the dialogue I asked... “As a parent,what are some of life’s lessons you want your us to learn?
”God replied with a smile To learn you cannot make anyone love you.What you can do is let yourself be loved.”“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most but is one who needs the least.” " To learn how to forgive to learn how to love others and to learn that I am here always"
And i woke up I hope.

WHAT'S IN THE STORE

Welcome 2008.Now the question is what is in the store for us?Well by us i mean what's there for me and you personnaly?What's in store for our family?Last but not least what's there for us as society or as a country?Personally as Bejaan Daruwalla would say You will have Blah Blah Blah......of which one can't make out head or tail.Then of course he has his name Bejaan and plus he is Daruwalaa too.No fun intended. But i am no Nastrodamus or the astrologers who eat up lot of spectrum on the idiot box these days.Though everybody has right to speculate it might have some logic who knows.
I start with me 'Thou shall tend to make less and spend more ofcourse the Dime','One will move from place A to B'ofcourse i am due for my posting.'You might grow socially'I dont know seeing the previous two predictions i should hope for the best or otherwise.The list can go on and on.
Cutting the long list short i move to you. If you are an investor in stock market make hay while it shines.Not the sun but the bullish market.For other sector updates do read Economic times.Inflation will drive the expenditure so spend .If you are in private sector your salary will grow at least at 14 %.If you are with the Government you will have to wait for the 6th pay commission or the Elections which ever happens soon.So all those looking forward for it pray for Karats to pull some strings.
In tune i move on to the larger sector widening my horizons.Politically the country will be in state of flux like the last half century.We shall have elections and some constitutional interventions.Though one hopes for the devine one.On the security front The government will spend more and people will be more insecure than ever.Not even the security forces would be spared in the hinterland.We shall hear lot about Laskars,the maoists,the caste heralders and the religious zionists.You while reading it may tend to brand me pessimist.We shall talk again on the issue sometime later.Oh i forgot The Global war on terror would continue.Moving on to Sports. Olympics does that ring some bells.Medals tally!My safest bet would be on shooters and Archers and women athletes .On cricket on foriegn soil we would be routed at home we would flourish.On hockey well it would be some time before we have some other movie coming like chak de .Don't hope for more and pray India qualifies for the olympics.Though personal brilliance in sports would make headlines.Of all what i have written i have not touched the issue of Global warming and Natural calamities as it is it would be on News quite often.
After all these we still hope for a wonderful 2008.So keeping in tune and style here is looking at you kid A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.