Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Back at 'The Quarterdeck'!

The day had begun on a leisurely note. It looked to be a wet day but Madhavan had washed down the Chevy and she looked great! The forenoon passed in light hearted banter with mom and my sister. Since the weather threatened to look ugly, we set off towards Guruvayur by 2 PM. The traffic was quite less comparatively and we could reach 'The Quarterdeck' by a half past 4.

The process of opening up the house and getting things down to the usual level did take time but was achieved so that I could go out for my customary walk, armed with my favourite umbrella. Lekha had given me a list of grocery to buy and on return, I was carrying a fairly heavy load! Thankfully, the rains held and it was a dry run, so to say.

Back at home, after the customary walk, I'd positioned myself in front of the television set to hear Arnab Goswami at 9. I'd like to share a few things that passed through my mind while watching the news programme:-

    (a) The continuing violence in Kashmir over the killing of the Hizbul militant, Burhan Wani, last
          Friday by the security forces has to be contained forthwith by the government. The guy should
          not be allowed to be made an iconised martyr since he has been responsible for the deaths of
          so many innocent civilians. On the premise that his friends and followers might exploit the
          sentiments of the youth by misusing the social media, it has been rightfully switched off. The
          use of the cellphones is also being kept under vigil. His body must be given the quiet burial
          that it deserves. My prayers and salute to the security forces for their sacrifices.

    (b) Controversial Islamic preacher and televangelist, Zakir Naik, had earlier cancelled his return
          to India once he realised that the heat was on him for motivating the perpetrators of the Dhaka
          massacre of 01 Jul. His political contacts have been exposed by now, who have formed a
          forum asking the government to leave him as he's harmless(?). Video grabs show him to be a
          virulent hate guy.

    (c) An arbitration court of the Hague had ruled that China has no historic title over the waters of
         the South China Sea and therefore, concluded that it has breached the Philipines' sovereign
         rights by carrying out calibration of its civilian aircraft on two new airports in the disputed
         Spratly Islands. China has decided to pooh pooh it, for the time being but is definitely bothered
         about the fallout.

    (d) Recruitment of young people into the dreaded IS outfit from the Muslim population of Kerala
          is definitely a cause for concern. They're lured into the trap by false propaganda and once
          having got into the organisation realise their folly but by then, it's too late for retrieval! This
          trend needs to be arrested forthwith, with ruthlessness.


Tailpiece.

A great weekend of interaction! From Guruvayur to Palakkad to Kovalam and return, I'd clocked a distance of 874.7 kms in all. And it was nice to come across a wide cross section of people!!

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