Pawar slapped.
Only one slap? comments Anna Hazare.

Slapgate is dominating media and Parliament for the last two
days. There are different takes on the episode. BJP is talking with tongue in
cheeks. Anna has publically justified
it. In his opinion one slap is just too little for the injustice towards
farmers who were forced to commit suicide.
I am not in a position to digest this logic coming particularly
from Anna. Does he means to say that people are free to slap the FM for rising
prices or the HM for law and order or the PM for corruption all around. The
reasons seem to be good enough as far as he is considered. The other day he
said that people who drink alcohol should be tied to the tree and beaten. This
way there will be no end and one day each one of us will be slapping each
other.
He seems to have lost his way or he thinks he has remedy for
every ill in our society and his way is the right way. This is what happens we
put people like Anna on high pedestal. All said done he has little or no
knowledge of many complex problems of a huge country like India. India lives in
villages but Anna’s village Ralegaon Sidhi is not India. Those who called Anna
is above Parliament or who compared him with Gandhi should think twice. We have
still not forgotten ‘India is Indira and Indira is India” and the aftermath of
this in imposition of Emergency.

BEAUTY + BRAINS
=OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With due apologies to women in general and brainy and
beautiful female Verdurians in
particular I am posting this RRR. We have hundreds of examples of beautiful
intelligent women in every walk of life be it Politics, Glamour or Profession.
We had beautiful and a very sharp brained woman PM and we currently have a very
beautiful and sharp woman CM down south. We will leave other two women CMs for
obvious reasons. This only strengthened the point that women are also blessed
with brains in addition to beauty.
But here will talk of exceptionally beautiful women who were
blessed with brains also. It is generally believed that beauty and brains do
not go together and when they do it can lead to disaster, not all the time but
generally because once an intelligent women uses her beauty assets to further
her ambitions, anything may happen. We know that blondes considered beautiful
in western world are made fun of their brains. Beauty with brains has been
blamed for all havoc right from the times of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra II who
was accused and rightly for the assassination of her husband Julius Caesar. She also met a
very tragic end but that is history as told. The point is she used her beauty
to gain power.
Kaikai, the beautiful and most favored Queen of King
Dashratha also used her beauty and brains to get the Kingdom for her son
Bharatha. In the process, Rama was exiled and Dashratha died. It is another
issue that Bharatha refused to go her way.
It is common
knowledge that beauty with brains could reach their goals while beauty minus
brains is simply exploited. The peculiar example is that of Aishwarya Rai who
first used Salman Khan to further her career and then Vivek Oberoi to get rid
of Salman Khan and finally landed in Bachchan household as a Bahu by marriage
to junior Bachchan a few years younger to her. Poor beautiful Rekha had no or little brains and was
exploited by Bachchan senior only to land in a failed marriage ending in the suicide of her one/two
month old businessman husband.
Friends you may agree to disagree or give more such examples
of scheming brainy beauties.

COLORS OF LIFE-6. LOVE IS BLIND
This also relates to MDSIC and my final year of Intermediate
commerce. Bade Bhai Saheb, as you all know was my class and roommate. I think I
have told you that though he was two
years senior to me but we were in the same class from 6th class
onwards not because he was anyway less of a good student but because I took the
advantage of skipping 5th
class to be with him in the same school.
Now let me come to the subject. Ravindra and we lived in the
same neighborhood. He was the brother –in law of our Commerce Teacher to whom
his elder sister was married. As always happens a teacher can teach anybody on
earth but when it comes to teaching his ‘saala’, it is an impossible job mainly
because he cannot twist the ears of his wife’s younger brother. So very often
he would send him to our place for help and since he was one year junior to us
we were happy to help because it gave us some sadistic pleasure. He was a below
average student and was pursuing his Intermediate Arts.
Final exams were on and he came to us for advice how best to
secure good marks in Essay writing. We told him there were good chances of
pleasing the examiner if the essay started with some quotation in English by a
great person. We gave him some examples as which quotation could be used for
what subject and so on.
He took our advice for good. Next day he came to our room
and was looking in best of spirits. We asked him how he did in his Essay. He
very joyfully announced that he started essay with a very popular quote. And
what it was, we asked. “Love is blind” was his reply. And whose quote is it, we
asked. “Pandit Nehru”. And what was
subject of the Essay, we asked. “Bharat Me Badhati Jansankhya Ki Samasya”
(Problem of increasing population in India).
We laughed to our hearts’ content. Don’t you think he had
given the best quote?

WHY ARE WE AFRAID OF POLICE?
In Delhi, the Police Department has a Senior Citizens Cell.
Seniors who are living alone can register with them. The beat constable of the
area is expected to visit them routinely and help them in case of need. We are
registered with the Cell. The beat constable visits us at once in a while but
certainly to deliver the Birthday Greeting Cards for both of us. The beat
constables are transferred quite frequently and that is the reason so far in
last two years we have been visited by different constables. They are young,
educated and smartly dressed. Mostly they are in a hurry as they have lot of
other work to do but once in a while they agree to share a cup of tea with us.
While the tea is getting ready in the kitchen by my wife I keep talking to them
about their families and life in general. We are happy when they leave with a
smiling face.
That brings me the topic ‘why we are afraid of police’? It
is said that ‘police kin a dosti achchi na dushmani’ (Neither friendship nor enmity
with a policeman is god). If you are friendly with them they may use you and if
have enmity with them they may harass you on flimsy grounds. We lived with this
saying through our life. Fortunately or so we had no one in the police
department from our family and therefore could not have a fair idea.
One thing was always certain. We were afraid of policemen.
Mostly rightly because we jumped the red lights at traffic points or did not
have driving license or vehicle papers in order or played cards during Diwali
or had booze in the parks or did many such things. We were not afraid of being
legally punished but of the amount we will have to take out from our wallets to
avoid legal punishment. We were afraid of them for no reason also. We always
saw a policeman as an essential evil that harassed innocent people and sided
with the influential people. We saw them as hand in gloves with the thieves or
robbers. We were told they had a share in the loot everywhere. Most of these
policemen were shabbily dressed, pot bellied and foul mouthed. In short they
did not incite confidence.
I think if more and more educated and people came in the
police department and they are trained properly, we may see a sea change in our
life itself. It is not that ail policemen are corrupt or uneducated or did not
come from good families but it is the training and work environment that has
not helped them to be a good citizen and such people were put on the roads to
teach the laws of good citizenry.

COLORS OF LIFE-5. TO SIR WITH LOVE.

“Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshwara,

Gurur Sakshat Para Brhma, Tasmye Shree Gurve Namah”

With these sacred feelings I resume to write a few lines about my respected ‘ Sir’. I enrolled for my Intermediate, in Moortidevi Saraswati Intermediate College(MDSIC) run by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain Trust( Times of India Group) primarily because it was the only college offering Commerce and also because the institute was considered to be the best in the district. It had the distinction of 100 % success rate in Board Exams with many making to the merit list. It had well laid out complex with play ground of its own. Financial aid was available to poor students in form of uniform, books and admission fees. Additionally it was administered by Shri Ram Narayan kela, Principal , whom we affectionately called ‘ Sir’, known for his efficiency, administrative skills and impressive educational background.

As a student of course ,pretty soon it became quite obvious to me why it was considered the best. Discipline was the name of the game. The Principal was a disciplinarian to the core not only for the students but for the teachers too. The teachers were supposed to reach school at least half an hour before the scheduled time, sign the attendance register and ensure that the students behaved themselves.

Students were supposed to reach school 15 minutes before the scheduled time but in no case after the Main Gate was closed. He would place himself on a chair at the Main Gate with a Newspaper or a book in his hands. As was the custom, each student would touch his feet and silently walk to his class. Late comers would be detained at the gate, made to do some sit ups and then allowed to go to class with a promise for not to come late again. Habitual late comers were sent back home. It was heartening scene to watch the parents returning with the student, apologizing profusely. The net result was almost all students reached school well in time.

Another was about uniform. We had those Khaki shorts/pants with white shirts as uniform. The uniform had to be neat and clean, all buttoned up and no button missing, shoes properly polished, nails trimmed and hair cut, oiled and parted. Students not conforming to rules were sent back.

The town was not big then. Sir was a known figure. With his tall figure, flowing long beard, white kurta and dhoti, he could be easily spotted easily. Sir’s writ was not limited to the school walls only. He could easily recognize his student and reprimand him if found eating Chat at some stall or doing any such thing not worthy of being the student of his school.

Same thing applied about watching movies in the only movie theatre we had in the town. It was not that we did not or could not watch movies but there always was the fear of being watched by Sir. Movies, smoking, drinking and cards were strict no and considered sinful.

There was a soft side of Principal Sir too. He never used a stick or beat any student. His eyes said everything. He was very helpful too. Poor students were helped with monetary help in forms of books etc. Below average students were given extra tutorials after the school. Bright students were encouraged and rewarded with books and testimonials. A few of us were even allowed to teach the junior classes in the absence of the teacher.

It goes to the credit of Sir that students did shramdan (donation of labor). We used to clean the play ground and move the bricks and other construction materials to the construction site. Though there was no way we could refuge but the way we were asked and motivated to do such jobs was always a pleasure and satisfying experience.

It was said that he did have a family but they did not live with them. His wife probably could not coup up with his dedication for his work at the school that went from Primary School to become an Intermediate College in the district because of his untiring efforts and commendable results.

He was also closed to the trustees of the school. He would, as the students from the family informed us, spend his evenings with the elders of the family. His meals also came from there only. The one secret about him we could never digest was his love for Movies. He would almost watch every movie with the elders of the family in the late night shows, as informed by the students from the family.

It was our final year and exams were round the corner. The day of reckoning came when one fateful night we went to watch the late night show and saw “Sir’ sitting in the balcony during the interval. He too probably saw us. We slipped in the darkness after the interval. We were scared to go to school next day but there was no option. Nothing really happened. Ay the prayer assembly, he was there as usual. Again as usual, we waited for his speech. He told us about the coming exams and how we should use our time to secure maximum marks. He ended with saying that he was pained when he saw some of the bright students watching movies and advising that we should not be over confident.

Such was my Sir. You were as human as anyone else but there was something special about you. We are proud of you. You made our life.

CALL FROM VAISHNODEVI

CALL FROM MA VAISHNODEVI

The Call of Mata... The journey to the Holy Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji starts with the Call of Mata. It is not only a belief but also a strong experience of one and all that the Divine Mother sends a call to her children. And once a person receives it, wherever he is, is bound to visit the Mother to receive Her unbounded love and blessings. A popular slogan in the local folklore beautifully expresses it- Maan Aap Bulandi - which means that The Mother Herself Calls! It is also a matter of experience by almost all those who visit the Holy Shrine that upon the Call of Mata, a person needs to just take one step and leave the rest to Her and his journey gets completed with Her divine blessings. Simultaneously, it is also believed that unless there is a call or Bulawa no one can visit the Shrine or have Her blessings, howsoever high or mighty one may be.

The belief is true as experienced by us. We have been thinking of paying a visit for quite some time but considering the rather difficult journey, kept on postponing it. Finally we decided to make it and in on September18 called the travel agent to book our tickets from Delhi to Jammu for October 19 and return on 21 by Delhi Jammu Rajdhani. He informs that while tickets on 19^th are available but return tickets are not available until end October by Rajdhani. We asked him to check other trains and he replied in negative. We therefore decided to postpone it for next year. After about 10 minute the travel agent called to say that tickets are available on 22^nd October by ‘Duranto” a train recently started by the Railways of which he could not recollect then. We confirmed our acceptance and the tickets were delivered next day. We take it as a ‘CALL FROM THE MOTHER’. Others too must be having similar experiences that establishes this belief and makes stronger.

We, myself and my wife boarded Rajdhani on 19^th October evening at 20.40hrs and reached Jammu at 0530 hrs on 20^th. A bus journey from Jammu took us to Katra in about 2 hours. We checked in Hotel Bhawani International, had our bath and breakfast and proceeded on our journey. For the benefit of those interested I give below the details.

1. Got ourselves registered at ‘Yatra registration center’ (a must).

2. Took auto to Banganga, got our Yatra slip stamped.( a must within 6 hrs of issue of yatra slip)

3. Hired pony at Rs 520/ each after some bargaining for the uphill journey of 13 Kms. (Though there are fixed rates but I am not sure if authorities are in a position to enforce them) Pony ride while going uphill is not as bad as the ride coming downhill. In any case it is tiring for seniors like us. There is Pawan Hans Helicopter service from katra to Sanjhhi Chhat but that is quite expensive. We were told that cable cars are likely to be built in near future.

4. Uphill journey started at 1220 hrs. and we reached the Bhawan (Holy Shrine) at about 1500 hrs.

5. Generally there are 25000 daily visitors at an average during this time of the year. On peak times the numbers go up to 40000.

6. We wanted to attend the Aarti at 1800 hrs (Aarti is done twice a day once in the morning immediately after sunrise and the other in the evening immediately after sunset). We were lucky to be among those admitted for the Aarti. The Aarti is relayed live on Shradha Channel. Phone, camera, knife, pen, belt, leather purse, shoes etc are not permitted inside the Shrine and therefore must be kept in the locker provided by the Board free of cost.

7. After the Aarti we were guided to proceed to the Sanctum sanctorum through a 200 meter long tunnel have the darshan of the Holy Pindies in rock stones 1.Mahakali in black at the center, 2.Mahalakshmi in Yellow tinge at the right and 3. Maha Mata Saraswati in whitish tinge at the left. Black is the symbol of Tama, Yellow the Rajas and white the Satva. It is interesting to know that these are no Murties as such. Besides entry from the front is limited to non-peak months of Jan and Feb when the visitors are not more than some 8000 daily. The cave is narrow and it is difficult to handle if visitors are pouring in. For peak times the tunnel is used.

8. After the Darshan ‘Prasad’ is handed over and visitor are guided to visit the Shiva cave also located just a few steps below.

9. It is desirable to visit the Bhaironath Temple situated at the hill top just 1.5 km uphill. We hired ponies again for return journey to Katra via Bhaironnath Temple at Rs 700/- each. At about 9 PM and reached katra Hotel at about 12 mid night. Complete details are available on www.mavaishnodevi.org. Credit must go to the Shrine Board for managing the whole affairs in very proficiently. The roads are well lit to handle visitors 24x7. There are resting places and food joints at every 2 km.

10. Next day we left for Jammu in the afternoon and checked in Neel Top Hotel in the city. In the evening we visited Raghupati Temple. Jammu is known as a city of temples. There are 8 big and small temples.

11. Next day we visited Amar Mahal, the official residence of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Karan Singh who mostly lives in Delhi. Jammu and Kashmir was founded by his great grandfather Maharaja Gulab Singh in the 17^th centuary. Part of Amar Mahal is converted into a museum depicting the Kangra Art Paintings and other paintings of the Maharaja. One part is converted into a 5 Star Hotel.

12. We took the evening train nonstop ‘Duranto’ to Delhi that brought to Delhi early next morning.

The Shrine is situated at about 1900 meters height above sea level. The scenic beauty is worth remembering. During the night throughout the return journey the whole atmosphere looked like someone had sprayed some perfume which was nothing but the enchanting scent of Rat Ki Rani. This plant flowers after sunset and the scent can be felt in the night. That is why it is called Queen of the Night.

HP LAKHERA @

CITY OF BELIEVERS WITH A DIFFERENCE

CITY OF BELIEVERS WITH A DIFFERENCE

Some of us Delhites are believers with a difference.

1. We believe in the maxims that if you have it, flaunt it. We live in the Political Capital of the country and everybody is somebody here and you are not somebody you do not belong to this city of ‘carpet beggars’. We drop names at the drop of anybody’s hat. ‘Don’t you know me?’, ‘Don’t you know who my father is?’, ‘Phone lagaoon kya? (Shall I call my contact)?’ We use all such phrases whenever caught up in any wrong doing. We are power brokers and can fix anything.

2. We believe in settling our scores by equal opposite reaction starting with fist fights to pulling out the gun. We have proved to the whole country in particular and the world at large that we do not keep issues pending. We believe in instant justice, justice to ourselves. We do not hesitate to pull the gun and kill the toll booth attendant because he asked for Rs 27/- as toll tax. You would like to call it ‘road rage’ but we call it ‘right of way’.

3. We believe in show off. Our penchant for show off is reflected in our huge wedding pandals, big cars and farm houses. Above all what use having money if it cannot serve you? We do not mind firing guns when we get high and care a hoot as to who is injured or killed.

4. We believe that women are an object of pleasure. If we like someone we want to have her and that is all. Our youths have exhibited it many ways: teasing, kidnapping, raping in movies cars and even killing. We have made some 100 localities in Delhi not safe for women as also confirmed by the Police.

5. We believe that we belong to Delhi but Delhi does not belong to us .Like many other Delhites , we came here from other places. Those of us, who came from the other side of the western border after partition in 1947, have seen bad days and today through our hard work we have achieved tremendous success in trade and business. We have every right to party hard too. However we make sure that we are seen with right people in a party. To quote Suhel Seth:

“ In Mumbai, the people you invite are normally the people you care about, and then you keep inviting them for the rest of their (and hopefully your) life. Whereas in Delhi, they follow the Telephone Directory syndrome; keep changing the list based on who is becoming more important. The worst sufferers are retired bureaucrats: one day they are Lords, and immediately on retirement, they are treated (and told) as paupers

In Mumbai, people talk to you at parties. In Delhi, they look but rarely talk –they look over your shoulder to see who’s coming and how relevant that person is. In Mumbai they look you up and down, in Delhi they keep looking up because they know the tragedies that abound beneath. So the next time you feel you are being used as a crutch, knock your head and you will realise you are in some Delhi party.”

6. We- rich, neo-rich and not so rich, believe that though we are in minority as against the vast majority of poor Delhites. We believe that this majority should elect some of us as their representatives to think about their good if we feel necessary. Charity begins at home and once elected it is but natural that we recover our expenses and make our future secure.

7. We believe that no sacrifice is big enough when it comes to getting our work done. It includes buttering, sycophancy, opportunism, bribes, back biting, kidnapping, killing and what have you. The important thing is the bottom line- the end and not the means.

8. We believe that we have the best physical features. Above we are the descendants of the Aryans. We are fair in color, tall and handsome. We are the original metrosexuals. Our women are hot and sexy but that does not give the upper hand. We oblige them by marrying provided their parents can afford our dowry demands. Here we do not believe in partiality even if the girl belongs to our own people. If we are blamed for dowry related killings, it is only because people do not understand the business of marriage.

9. We believe that Delhi is India and India is Delhi. Everybody south of Vindhyachal is Madrasi. Mangolian faced eople from some North Eastern States have strange social norms. Their women are of lose morals and therefore can be teased or bashed.

10. We also believe in ‘Shakti’ the Goddess of power, namely Vaishno Devi. Every year we visit the Shrine and pray to the Deity to grant us Dharma(Righteousness) Arth (Material), Kama (Contentment) and Moksha (Enlightenment). We do Jagaran (Nightlong worship of Shakti) with great pomp and show. We employ professional Bhajan singers and keep the loudspeakers at full volume for the whole night. Nobody dares to complain because they know we are engaged in Dharmik (religious) activities.

We believe in so many other things but that is for some other time. Fortunately majority of Delhiets do not believe in all the above. I am one of them. This is called ‘apane muh miya mithu’ (patting your own back) but then modesty is not the virtue of the majority. By Mata’s grace I have a little bit of Dharma, Artha and Kama. It is said that paying a visit to religious shrines and taking a dip in the Holy river cleans you of all the sins you might have knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly committed thus far in your life. I do not know if Moksha is possible in this life. Off I go to Vaishnao Devi. May be, just maybe, my prayer might be heard.

See you friends on 23^rd. Bye for now.

GOD MUST BE REPENTING

GOD’S MUST BE REPENTING ON HIS OWN SCHEME OF CREATION

‘

The trigger for this outburst is the never ending parking problems in our housing complex. Delhi Development Authority (DDA) never, in their dreams, conceived that the housing complex they were building for Middle Income Group under Self financing Scheme in 1982 swill one day be dotted by cars How would they imagine that one day there will be automotive boom in India and people will have huge disposable incomes ? Their imagination could not cross beyond providing scooter space for all the 400 flats plus a few sporadic cars both for owners and visitors' .In any case, owning a scooter or car then was rather impossible dream as Bajaj / Lambretta scooters or Fiat/ Ambassador Cars were on more than 10 years’ waiting list). Today almost every household owns at least one car the situation further deteriorated started when households started owning more than one car. It was further complicated by bigger SUVs replacing old Maruti 800/Santro/ iTen or similar small cars. It is time for Scorpio/ Innova, and similar big cars.

Let us examine what went basically wrong and who is responsible for it. Since there are more people who believe in God’s Scheme of Creation and not in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, we would go by what the scriptures say.

1. Geeta 3.10

Sahayajnaah prajaah srishtwaa purovaacha prajaapatih;

Anena prasavishyadhwam esha vo’stvishtakaamadhuk.

(The Creator, having in the beginning of creation created mankind together with

Sacrifice, said: “By this shall ye propagate; let this be the milch cow of your desires (the cow which yields the desired objects)” First God created Brahma and as asked created mankind and instructed them to re-create till further instructions.

2. Holy Bible. Chapter One.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ...........God created man in His own image…man and female……………………………God said to them “Be fruitful and multiply……………………….And on the seventh day God ended His work ….and He rested”.

1. We all know that before taking eternal siesta, God stopped creating land but asked His creation, male and female to multiply. Humans took the command very religiously and engaged in multiplying themselves .The density of population was bound to increase. Coupled with this is the decline in mortality rate due to improved medical treatments. Medical science collaborated against Him. They have added to the chaos by having test tube babies and surrogate mothers. Now there are more births and fewer deaths. Average life span has increased and now men at 80 and women at 60 can become parents. Some religions allow up to 4 wives. This has created imbalance.

2. From the very beginning when humans graduated from nomads and vagabonds to some sort of stability by living in settlements, they also learnt the art and science of marking their territories like other animals. They were fully aware of the paucity of land, at least good land, and grabbed as much as they could for housing and cultivation and later on for every conceivable economic activity.

They built some fencing around it and became the owners with notices like ‘NO TRESSPASSING’ or ‘KEEP AWAY FROM MY PROPERTY’. This was not ordained by God. He had provided them with enough land and food in the hope that it will suffice for a Kalpa or Yuga. His calculations have all gone wrong.

3. Another thing that has gone against His Scheme of Creation is the love of people for big and bigger possessions. Gone are the times when small was beautiful. Now bigger is beautiful. Bigger Cars, TVs, Refrigerators. To accommodate all these possessions humans need bigger houses, which again means more pressure on available land? Though God might have thought about this but He did not do much to stop it. He probably thought his creatures will behave themselves and live in peace with each other. He provided more than enough natural resources for them. How wrong was He?

4. He asked them to multiply and blessed them with Passion(Kama).He should have known that Passion gives rise to desires and more desires, Greed(Lobha) and eventually non fulfillment of desires leads to Krodha ( Anger). He made humans with all these attributes. He could have foreseen the resultant violence. From the very beginning might became right. At that time it was physical supremacy now it is power, money, contacts and many such things. In order to prove his/her supremacy more land was required to be grabbed.

5. Joru (Wife/female partner) has always been the cause of conflicts not only among in humans but in all animals. So has been Jameen( land). For humans one more thing can be added and that is Jar (Jewellary/ material). Thus these three ‘Js’ jointly or severely or in any combination or order became the root cause of human conflicts. Once you have a wife and some possessions you need a house and, your guess is as good as mine, for a house you need land.

6. There were times when humans lived in bigger houses with bigger families. Now people live in smaller houses/flats with smaller families. Families have disintegrated not the job of multiplying. Population is growing at the speed of light but land remains what it was. Humans tried to solve the problem by reclaiming land from the oceans and hills. Houses have gone vertical as there is no scope for horizontal growth. All this too, self destructive as it is, has not and cannot solve the problem of God’s bad planning.

One can possibly go on and on to prove that the Almighty should or could have put a rider(Not that humans would follow volunatrilly) on the order for multiplying when he was sure that no more land can be added. He is trying to balance the population and available land by imposing those natural calamities like floods, draughts, fires, tsunami, food poisoning, AIDS, dengue, chickengunia, mad cow, bird flu and what not. Humans are also contributing by wars, terrorism and the likes. The problem remains THE PROBLEM.

BUT WHAT IS FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG CANNOT BE CORRECTED.