The fable of the porcupine.

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realising the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen.

So they had to make a choice. Either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds and pains caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the warmth and heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

The moral here is that the best group is not the one that is made up of perfect friends, brothers, sisters and relatives but by each individual learning to live member learning to live with the imperfections of others and yet admire the other person's good qualities.

May we find it better to be surrounded by warm pokes than be frozen in solitude.

May the purpose that brought us together bind us together and keep us healthy and strong enough to stand the storms, the heat and all the changing weathers and seasons of life, as God grants us the grace to share another year in this journey of life together. 

Capture the moment, live your life to the fullest and choose happiness in all. May God bless us all.


Tailpiece.

Got up a trifle late, went through our usual morning chores and were ready well in time. In between, had gone down to say my prayers, on the courtyard, as I wanted to meet up with the newspaper boy because I'd completely forgotten to tell him, last evening, about our return. He could fetch us only the Malayala Manorama, but it was something better than nothing!

Vishnu had fetched up by 12 o' clock to collect my signature. Had dropped him at the railway station to enable him to board the 1 o'clock passenger before getting a few things done. Met Gireesh and paid him the subscriptions for the dish TV, handed over the clothes to Roshni for dry wash, pulled out some money from the bank and picked up a duster from the department store.

It was yet another quiet day!

Welcomed the new year while watching the programmes on television!! 

I'm just crossing it.......

I am just crossing it and moving on, hope you too!

When I started using pen in my primary school and I made a mistake, I would try hard to erase it before submitting to my teacher.

Sometimes, I use chalk to clean my mistake but it later reappeared.

So I began to use saliva, it worked, but only to leave holes in my books. My teachers, then, used to beat me for being outrageously dirty, but all I tried to do was to cover my error.

One day, a kind hearted teacher who loved me so much called me aside and he said, "Anytime you make a mistake, just cross it and move on". He said further, "Trying to erase your mistakes would only damage your book to nothing".

I told him in protest that I don't want people to see my mistake.

My loving teacher laughed and said, "Trying to erase your mistake will make more people know about your mess and the stigma is for life".

Have you made some mistakes in life? Cross it over and move on. Don't expose yourself as a result of trying to cover your mistakes. Better things are ahead of you.

Strike out your 2019 mistakes and move into 2020 with a fresh note.

               Advance New Year wishes to all my dear friends.


Tailpiece.

Was woken up at 4 by Lekha and went through the chores with gusto. Sanil took another hour to get up and Lekha and I left for Kottarakkara, a trifle earlier, because we'd a few things to do. We first made it to the 'Nagaraja temple' followed by the Kottarakkara Maha Ganapathy kshetram for his 'darshan'. Sanil and Mini joined us soon after. We, then, went off to Letha's house to hand over the vessels in which she had prepared foodstuff, for us, on arrival.

We left soon after, went to my usual petrol bunk, topped up the Chevy with diesel and checked tyre pressure too. Sanil followed me on controls and later, settled at 'Diana's Kitchen' for breakfast. It's an all-women outfit and we liked the food and the overall ambiance, the service.

It was soon after this event that I'd decided to take the old MC Road for today's journey. Sanil was behind me. We peeled off for Angamaly, soon after Ettumanoor, while Sanil and Mini headed for Thrippunithura to spend the day with Rema, Padmakumar and Achu.

We'd lunch at the Saravana Bhavan short of the Paliyekkara toll. At the toll gate, our car's FASTag was not read by the reader as we tried to negotiate past - express toll gate - and we'd to do it at the adjacent track where my car's TAG was read and we could pass through.

Reached the National Supermarket, where Lekha had purchased some provisions. We were back at 'The Quarterdeck', after 10 days and the time indicated was a half past 3! The usual unpacking, washing machinex followed. The distance clocked, during this outing was 998.5 km!     

Control the mind and you control reality!

At 23, Julius Caesar was a junior politician on the way up.

But he had an advantage : confidence and brains.

Sailing across the Aegean Sea, he was captured by Sicilian pirates.

They demanded a ransom : 20 talents of silver.

(That's about 620 kg, worth about $ 600,000).

Caesar insisted the ransom must raised to 50 talents of silver.

(Around 1,550 kg, worth $ 1.5 million).

Now the pirates didn't know what to make of this.

Normally, their captives tried to escape as cheaply as possible.

They didn't understand what was going on.

But if he said he would double the ransom, why argue?

They let Caesar's men go back to Rome to raise the money.

No one had ever been ransomed for such a vast sum before.

He must be very special, he must be incredibly important.

That ransom demand put Caesar on the political map.

He had just invented the Veblen effect.

Although Thorstein Veblen wouldn't give give it that 

name for another 2,000 years.

The Veblen effect is when consumers perceive higher-priced

goods to be worth more, simply because they cost more.

Like Rolex, Cartier, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Louis Vuitton,

Christian Louboutin, Harrods, Cristal Champagne.

None of them are actually any better than the cheaper alternatives

but the price alone makes them seem more desirable.

Caesar had effectively made himself a Veblen brand.

He'd placed a value on himself greater than anyone in Rome.

But, as far as anyone in Rome knew, it wasn't him who had done it.

It was an independent valuation. So it must be true. 

And because Caesar was now so highly valued, his men had little

trouble raising the ransom money

They returned to the island and freed him.

But Caesar wasn't going to allow the pirates to keep that sort of money.

As a now important and famous man, it was easy to raise a force.

He hunted down the pirates and took back all the money, plus everything

else they pillaged, then executed them all.

So Caesar was now both very rich and very famous.

And in time, with that same combination of confidence and brains,

he became ruler of all Rome.

And he presided over the golden age of the Roman Empire.

Expanding it from Spain to Germany, from Britain to the Middle East.

Because Caesar knew that reality begins in the mind.

So the most important piece of real estate in which to

stake a claim is the human mind.

How you stake a claim in the mind is by creating a perception.

And how you create that perception is by controlling the context.

Control the context and you control the mind.

Control the mind and you control reality.

Tailpiece.

Our day had begun at 4, when Lekha's cellphone's alarm had gone off. Mini, Lekha and I were ready after our chores and set off at a half past 6. Lekha and Mini wanted to have a 'darshan' of 'Neelamperoor Amma' and it was ascertained that we needed to reach the temple before 9, after which it would shut down after the morning's proceedings.

By 8, we'd finished our breakfast at a restaurant off Thiruvalla but the unfortunate thing was that Lekha espied a hair on her plate, after finishing off the appams and stew. It was sad but we didn't raise a shindig because we'd a long day ahead; but I must admit that I did feel bad for her.

We were at the temple by a quarter to 9 and had a nice 'darshan' of the goddess. I always have a nostalgic feeling when I'm at Neelamperoor which is Muthachhan's birthplace and try to visualise my mom's younger days with her parents! We saw the three daughters of his elder brother - Maheshwari peramma at 95 (she's up and about and does her personal work without anyone's help), Gomathi peramma (at 93, she has been in a pathetic state. She subsists on plain water, makes a few sounds and looks at you without registering as to who you are) and Santha kunjamma(she's home bound and can hardly walk as her legs are swollen and is under ayurvedic medication). But weren't they happy to see us which has always been a special experience for me!

From there, we'd gone to spend time with my cousin, Girija who'd recently lost her husband. She and her daughter, Sri Rekha stay in a massive house enroute to Alappuzha town from the Thanneermukkam regulator. We were seeing Girija - the eldest daughter of Appukkuttan kochachhan, dad's immediate younger brother who'd passed into the mist of time comparatively young at 52 yrs of age - after her marriage in '85 and her daughter, for the first time. Each of us were busy with our lives and didn't have time for each other......the sad truth!

We were back home by a half past 5 and I was happy that we could do all the things that we'd planned to do during the last 10 days.

And tomorrow's gonna be an early and a long, hectic day!    

Friendship should be like 220 and 284!

Mathematician Ramanujam didn't have any close friends and someone asked him the reason. He replied that although he wanted to have close friends but nobody was up to his expectations.

When pressed how he expected his friend to be, he replied, "like numbers 220 and 284!"

The person got confused and asked what is the connection between friendship and these numbers.

Ramanujam asked him to find the divisors of each number.

With much difficulty, the person derived and listed them as,

220 - 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55, 110, 220

284 - 1, 2, 4, 71, 142, 284

Ramanujam then asked the person to exclude the numbers 220 and 284 and asked for the sum of the remaining divisors.

The person was astonished to find,

220 - 1+2+4+5+10+11+20+22+44+55+110 = 284

284 - 1+2+4+71+142 = 220

Ramanujam explained that an ideal friendship should be like these numbers, to complement each other. Even when one is absent, the other should represent the friend!

To all my 220s and 284s........

Interesting!


Tailpiece.

Got up at the usual time of 6, went through the chores and could kick off for Ayoor only by 9. I took the road through Odanavattom and Veliyam and we were at Sanil's house after about 40 minutes. Ayoor amma was sitting at the cosy sit out and wasn't she thrilled seeing us? Interacted with Sanil's brother, Anil, his wife, Sheela and their daughter, Anjali. At 85 yrs, Ayoor amma is alert, pleasant and full of beans! We left after about an hour or so and after pulling out money from an ATM at Kottarakkara, were back at Raj Nivas by 1300 hrs. Benoy, my chauffeur, came by soon after and after a quick bite of lunch, took off for the meeting of the staff members and the training faculty of the JSS (Kollam) at the Sopanam auditorium at Ashraamam.

The interaction was spread over two hours and I must say, that I did learn quite a bit about the people who are part of my team. Spoke to them about what I needed from them.

We wound up by about 1700 hrs and Benoy had dropped me at Varadamma appachi's house at Kavanad. The lighting up of her face, on seeing us, was priceless. Sanil, Mini and Lekha fetched up soon after, along with Unni chettan, my cousin. The interaction was great. After about an hour of interaction, we took leave of Appachi - at 86 yrs, she is sharp, witty and full of beans!      

Do recognise the people who pack your parachute.

Air Commodore Vishal was a Jet Pilot. In a combat mission his fighter plane was destroyed by a missile. He, however, ejected himself and parachuted safely. He won acclaims and appreciations from many.

After five years one day he was sitting with his wife in a restaurant. A man from another table came to him and said, "You're Captain Vishal! You flew jet fighters. You were shot down!'

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Vishal.

"I packed your parachute", the man smiled and replied. Vishal gasped in surprise and gratitude and thought if the parachute hadn't worked and, I wouldn't be here today.

Vishal couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. He wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said "Good Morning, how are you? or anything because, he was a fighter pilot and that person was just a safety worker". 

So friends, who is packing your parachute?

Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.

We need many kinds of parachutes when our plane is shot down - we need the physical parachute, the mental parachute, the emotional parachute, the spiritual parachute and the financial parachute. We call on all these supports before reaching safety. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.

We may fail to say hello, please or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment or just do something nice for no reason.

As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognise the people who pack your parachute.

I just want to THANK everyone who packed my parachute one way or the other - through your words, deeds, prayers.


Tailpiece.

The day had begun at 4, with Lekha's cellphone alarm going off. We - Lekha, Sanil, Mini and I - went through our chores and kicked off for Thiruvananthapuram, on the dot, at 7. The traffic was manageable, we stopped short of Kilimanoor for a snack and a cup of tea around a quarter to 8. Reached Indira kunjamma's house by 9 where Kripa-shankar and Reshmi were waiting for us. The youngster has become quieter but was quick with his repartee.

After breakfast, barring Sanil, we pushed off to the Foundation where I'd handed over the scrutinised proof to Maman. Got the good news that Chambu had picked up a job. Lekha and Mini, took off for the Padmanabhaswamy temple but since it was crowded, they'd gone across to the Attukal temple!

We, then, went across to the Poojappura traffic circle where frantic preparations were on to install Muthachhan's statue and I'd the privilege to meet up with the sculptor, Sidhan. After discussing about the related programme, I'd returned to Indira kunjamma's house where a quick lunch was served.

Our next stop was at Paravoor where we spent about 45' with Kurup kochachhan. He remembered me through his bouts of forgetfulness! When I took leave of him, he asked me as to whether we could stay some more time with him and we just complied with that directive of his! And he looks sweet and quite okay. The male nurse, Vijayan Kurup, tends him well.

We were back at Raj Nivas by about a half past 5 and it was a quiet evening thereafter.   

  

The world will never be the same again!

Three technologies, which could change everything (and that means everything), had three defining moments in the 2010s. The advancement meant that the world will never be the same again.

Mankind has always been fascinated by intelligent (and self-aware) automata. It has wanted to capture the stars forever and it has been fascinated by ways to overcome death. History will remember the decade of the 2010s (2010 - 2019) which will end soon, as the one that saw all three move from the realm of science-fiction to science.

From the perspective of high science (and not technology), it's difficult to imagine anything as significant as these three.

 * One, machines that can think (although we are still some time away from those that are self
    aware).
 * Two, the colonisation of space.
 * Three, extending lifespans to 100 yrs, maybe more.

As mankind enters 2020, it has made huge strides in the first, artificial intelligence; put in place the building blocks of the second (commercial space travel is now a given ; it's only a matter of time before the first human settles on Mars) ; and discovered CRISPR - Cas9, a technology which, if it is allowed to progress towards its logical denouement, will mean the next generation (if not this one) could live into the 100s or even beyond.

Note. Adapted from the net.


Tailpiece.

Had got up at 6, lit up the lamp, switched on the devotional music and opened up the house. Sanil and Mini returned by about 8 and the solar eclipse - though partial - was on. Though there was sunlight, a dullness in the light was palpable.

Benoy had fetched up with the vehicle by about a quarter to 11. We set off soon after, but the traffic at Pallimukku hindered our progress. We reached Alappad by about 20' to 1 and quickly began the proceedings. The President, Celina and the other members of the panchayat, along with the trainees, were explained the details of our training that's gonna begin from next Monday, onward!

It was, incidentally, the 15th anniversary of the tsunami that had uprooted many lives in this sleepy coastal hamlet. Spoke to them from my heart.

Celebrated Padmakumar's birthday by cutting the cake that I'd bought on my return trip on Lekha's prodding. Unni chettan arrived at the right time to be part of the celebrations!  

Why do people stay stubborn on certain beliefs?

Since people are divided on current affairs, this may help make sense of why people do what they do!

Why people stay stubborn on certain beliefs?

Some scientific facts :

Every single person thinks that he analyses every single issue logically, that nothing can influence him. But that is not true.

Secondly, modern psychology proposes an idea called social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory  puts forward a concept called symbolizing capacity. Whatever we see and read from childhood; our brain shall make into cognitive models for future references. These models will influence our capacity in taking decisions. Another concept is cultivation theory. A person reads stuff ( even if that is factually incorrect) on similar themes consistently, it eventually becomes reality for him.

There is a cognitive bias called 'Confirmation bias'. We will only accept news/analysis which is in line with our fundamental thoughts. We will only try to read based on this.

Another cognitive bias is called 'Backfire effect'. Once something is added to your collection of beliefs, you protect it from harm. You do it instinctively and unconsciously when confronted with attitude-inconsistent information. Coming or going, you stick to your beliefs instead of questioning them. When someone tries to correct you, tries to dilute your misconceptions, it backfires and strengthens them instead. Over time, the backfire effect helps make you less skeptical of those things which allow you to contain seeing your beliefs and attitudes as true and proper.


Tailpiece.

A quiet Christmas at home! Yet another occasion to get in touch with folks after what seemed a long time!!

A little girl's maturity!

A nice message that I'd received!


On a flight to Kuala Lumpur recently, I noticed a young girl of seven request the stewardess for an orange juice. The stewardess was probably over worked and responded quite curtly with 'I'll come by later if I remember'.

The young girl smiled and got up to follow her to the galley. I noticed that she came back after a short while with a glass of orange juice.

As she was seated by the aisle next to me, I struck up a conversation with her. I asked her what she did when she went to the galley! She said she offered to help the stewardess if she had too much work. The stewardess apparently hugged her and appreciated her offer and gave her the orange juice. So, I asked her why she did that.

Her response was absolutely magical!

She said, my mum always tells me that when people are upset, it has more to do with them having to carry the world on their shoulders. During these moments, she says, I should help offload the world from their shoulders.

I wish I had her wisdom when I was her age. Our parents probably tell us the same version, but very few implement it like she did.

So a little help is all that is needed!!

It could at times just be a smile a hug or a compliment also.


Tailpiece.

Had got up at our usual time. Mini lit the lamp in the puja room and I'd opened up Raj Nivas and put on the devotional music. Lekha and Mini had gone to the 'Thrikkonnamarkodu devi kshetram', nearby, for 'darshan'. Sanil had dropped them at the temple.

Benoy and Sasi, my director had fetched up at a half past 10 and we proceeded to Ivarkala, where I was given the honour to get the 'making-of-cloth-bags' - the trainees on completion of a three months' training will, form clusters of three or four and set up small scale manufacturing units, to make bags, which will be passed on to people to prevent the use of plastic bags - going. Returned after the short ceremony by about a half past 2. Enroute we'd prayed at the Mannadi devi kshetram which was Veluthampi Dalava's - one of Kerala's heroes during the war of independence with the British - most preferred goddess.

Sanil and Mini have gone across to Kollam to be with his mother and the youngest sister-in-law. Will return tomorrow evening.

These, too, had happened!

While we were fixed on CAA riots.

  1. US dilutes Iran oil sanctions. India to go ahead on Chabahar port work. Foreign Minister
      Jaishankar in Iran.

  2. India - Iran will trade in INR to save lot of our FOREX reserves.

  3. Biggest train bridge approved that will reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal from
      600 km to 40 km.

  4. Inland water transport extended to reduce logistic costs.

  5. Petrol price reduced in India as Saudi/UAE decide to help India.

  6. India adds stealth force to our Mountain Corps, strategically important for mountain warfare
      with the Chinese.

  7. India jumps in electricity accessibility ranking from 99th to 26th, a huge movement of 73
      positions.

  8. 14 Special Economic Zones being set up in nextsix months to boost Make in India and exports
      to create more job opportunity.

  9. Hyundai to set up new plant in Madras for local manufacture of their very efficient electric car.

10. Flexi fare in some trains to be removed starting Apr '20.

11. GST collection rose from Rs.85,000 crores and last month it crossed Rs.1,00,000 crores, 95%
      of input credit is cleared within next month and compensation to states for shortfall has reduced
      in last three months. No state is now against GST since it has released lot administrative pressure
      from the state governments.

12. Opening of the airport in Sikkim is considered one of the best in recent times by international
      aviation teams.

13. Statue of Unity became the biggest attraction for Indian and Global tourists! In the first week of
      December it earned revenues of Rs.2.1 crores in ticket collection alone!

14. Bombay local train network will be completely revamped in the next five to six years.

15. Foreign enemy property is going to be auctioned soon. Government expects to fetch revenues in
      excess of Rs.1 lakh crores!

16. Indian Army destroyed several terror camps, a Battalion HQs, damaged a Brigade HQs of
      Pakistan Army resulting in dozens of Pakistani casualties.

17. India tested successfully the nextgen Pinaka Missiles with range of 90 km!

18. India tested modified Akash supersonic missiles fitted with indigenous ramjet engines placing us
      in the top three nations!

19. Modi has supercharged Make in India programme by placing orders for 83 more Tejas Mk 1A
      aircraft and promised an additional order of 200 aircraft if HAL/ADA develop AMCA with 6th
      generation features powered by indigenous 120 KN jet engines by 2024!

20. India's entry into UNSC is closer than ever with all four permanent members and 10 out of 12
      non permanent members supporting us. This support is the highest so far!

21. Finally, Pakistan's judiciary and Army are at loggerheads and a massive political change is soon
      expected there!

Our media does not tell you these but will speak only about crime, dirty politics and not about the above achievements of the government.


Tailpiece.

Got a call from Rema, by a half past 6, that they had reached the shore of the river Pampa (actually, reduced to a pathetic rivulet now. Earlier, the pilgrims used to bathe in its abundant waters before trekking up for the 'darshan') after the 'darshan' of Swami Ayyappan! That was good news.

Benoy had fetched up by about a half past 10 with the Toyota Qualis and we set off for Neendakara, the coastal hamlet, soon after.

It was a gathering of two groups of trainees - the beauticians and the tailoring lot. The computer lot had got the timings wrong and so, they were late but could meet Ann, their trainer! It was an interesting interaction and I have asked them to offer suggestions regarding addition/deletion of topics in the syllabus. Hope they give me this feedback, soon.

Returned home by a half past 3. After a short snooze, heard from Mini and Sanil about their Sabarimala trip - they'd returned by about 1400 hrs. Both complained about body ache but what's worrying me is about Mini's right ankle that has a history. Hope it's not got aggravated!    

Christmas vs X'mas.

Did you know that there is a great difference between the word, Christmas and the word, X'mas?

Christmas is the combination of two words : Christ and Mass.

Before Christ was born, 25 Dec used to be a Pagan's day for sacrifices. Later, in the year 533 AD, Constantine, the then head of the Roman Church which is today the Roman Catholic, changed the day from pagan's day of sacrifices to the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. He called the day THE MASS FOR CHRIST ie. CHRISTMAS.

1. Christ, in Hebrew, means The Anointed One or The Chosen One.
2. Mas in Greek means A Big Gathering of People.

Thus, Christmas means The Gathering of Christ's People.

So then, where did the word X'mas come from?
Beware!!
It's believed that after the "day of the gathering of Christ's People", Christmas became famous and respected worldwide. Atheists and Antichrists decide to change it by removing the name "Christ" and
replacing it with an "X" to mean 'there is no Christ".
X'mas changes the meaning to "there is no Christ's Gathering".

So, next you want to wish someone, say "Merry Christmas" and not "X'mas".
X is iften used to designate a person, thing, factor, whose true name is unknown or is withheld.
It's used to take out, excise or cancel words.
"X" has nothing to do with "Christ" "The Anointed One", Don't replace "Christ" with "X".

Therefore, do not use X'mas but Christmas.

You might have made that mistake last year by wishing people X'mas instead of Christmas. Our Father in heaven is a lovely and forgiving Father as well as merciful. Please share to help correct the error.

God bless you as you prepare to celebrate a Merry Christmas.


Tailpiece.

Got up late by about half an hour as it happened to be a Sunday. Rema-Padmakumar and Mini-Sanil Kumar had started from Thrippunithura to be at Pandalam for the afternoon prayers and food at Padmakumar's nephew, Santosh's place and then, proceeded this way. Rema and Padmakumar were dropped at his place before Sanil drove into Raj Nivas by a half past 3. Earlier, we had Subi, home for lunch and he was leaving for Saudi to join work after a month's leave!

After sunset, the four of us had gone across to Padmakumar's place for the 'puja' connected with the flagging of the Sabarimala trek - Rohan, Ayush, Yash, Santosh, Manoj, Mini, Sanil, Rema and Padmakumar left by a quarter past 10. A light dinner was also arranged for all of us. I'd helped guide the puja with my 'periya swamy' (senior trekker, having completed 18 visits to the shrine, on the trot from '89!) status.

Lekha and I returned to Raj Nivas by a half past 10. It was nice to interact with Pidavoor Amma, Bharathi chechi and Preetha.

And lest I forget, today is 22 Dec which is the day of the Winter Solstice and it has the shortest day and the longest night!   

A timely and interesting articulation in the present times!

                      THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES

The Indian Republic Faces an Existential Threat
By Jay Bhattacharjee

The wide-spread political agitation and violence that the country has seen in the last few days, after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) 2019 by both houses of Parliamentand its approval by the President, took many ordinary citizens and even sophisticated analysts/
commentators by surprise. While some protests were expected, the scale and intensity of the reaction were clearly not envisaged. The state security machinery, starting with the police forces, was caught unprepared. The BJP-NDA parties, too, appeared to be in a state of shock and disarray, as the protests increased in intensity.

The only socio-political elements that were not caught on the back foot were the very ones that were igniting the wildfires and disseminating the virus throughout the country - no apologies for mixing metaphors. The Congress and its motley allies had obviously been preparing for this conflagration most meticulously. The foot soldiers in this semi civil-war scenario were also pumped up and raring to be let loose at the appointed times and places. The religious sanctuaries that indoctrinated and trained the rabid mobs and inspired them were very much at the centre of the events.

It should be pointed out that this writer, in the good company of some fellow-commentators, has been studying and assessing the present existential threat to India for a fairly long time and is not at all surprised by the incendiary (literally, in many cases) unrest that the countryhas seen in the last few days and will possibly continue to witness for some more time.

Ever since the tsunami of 2014, when the genuine Indic forces captured the seat of power in New Delhi for possibly the first time in history, I have advocated that a vigilant watch must be kept on forces that are basically inimical to our ancient society and civilisation. When the 2019 elections confirmed the pole position of the Indic forces in Raisina Hill, I ventured to point out that there was no room for complacency and sentinels must continue to maintain their guard (i), (ii), (iii).

Before we go further, it will be apposite if we spend some time on understanding the basic facts of the CAB, which has now become the Citizen (Amendment) Act (CAA). The salient features of the CAA are so clear and transparent that readers should reflect deeply about the total deception and dishonesty of the agent provocateurs who have tried to set the country on fire. The sad truth is that they have actually managed to pull the wool over the eyes of many Indian citizens, who have not had either the time, patience or even the interest to get a grasp of the subject.

As far the mainstream English media in India is concerned, their stand has been based on a deliberate misinterpretation of the statute. The same is true of many journals, newspapers and electronic media in the West. The roll call of dishonour in our country includes the usual suspects, ranging from The Hindu, The Times of India, The Indian Express, The Telegraph and their sister publications in Indian languages. The Western bandicoots  comprise The New York Times, The Economist and (you guessed it), the ever-execrable BBC.

I would, at this stage, like to briefly summarise the key and salient features of the CAA, although I feel that many readers are already familiar with what I will be spelling out :

 1. It is a legislation that is specifically meant for religiously-persecuted minorities in our three
 neighbouring countries, namely Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The specific wording of the
 law on this point is as follows : "Any person belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or
 Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan and who has entered into India on
 or before the 31st day of December 2014 and is staying here to safeguard their lives, shall not be
 treated as an illegal migrant".

 Yes, Muslims are not covered by this provision, simply because Muslims in these three countries
 are not subjected to religious persecution. One doesn't have to be a quantum physicist to understand
 this point. Putting this in another perspective, those who demand that Muslims should be brought
 under the purview of this law are clearly deranged or perverse or both. The fact that some high-
 decibel opponents are now being over-smart on this point and asking for Shias and Ahmediyas to be
 bestowed the label of "persecuted" is clear proof that the entire opposition to the CAA is ersatz and
 manipulated.

 Furthermore, Muslims from the three neighbouring countries, who face some other form of
 persecuition/bias, can always seek entry into india under other existing laws on this subject. If
 eligible for entry into India, they can subsequently apply for citizenship under the naturalisation
 provision in Section 6 of the Citizenship Act.

 2. The mullahs in the mosques and the secularists in their pulpits (ranging from watering holes of 
 the India International Centre to other war fronts like JNU, Jamia Milia et al) are frothing that the
 CAA is against Indian Muslims. Surely, this should rank as one of the most grotesque pieces of
 distortion that one can possibly think of. Indian Muslims are already citizens of this country, having
 been born here and there is no question whatsoever of their being asked to go through a citizenship
 acquisition process because of the CAA.

 3. Another point that is being harrumphed by the Muslim spokespersons, the mullahs in the mosques
 and the secularist-storm troopers (SS) is that Shias, Ahmediyas, Hazaras, Balochis and Rohingyas
 should also have been included in the CAA, if the intention is to provide succour to voctims of
 religious persecution.

 It must be categorically pointed out to the disinformation brigade that all these groups are Muslim
 ethnic groups. They do not fall under the category of separate religions anywhere in the world.
 Since they are Muslim, they obviously do not qualify as minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and
 Afghanistan which are Islamic countries by law. Therefore, it is not possible to include those
 Muslim groups in the CAA, since it is specifically structured for religious minorities in those
 countries.

 4. The false-flag argument on the Balochis and Rohingyas is even more glaring and therefore,
 simple to repudiate. The Baloch people do not want to immigrate to india but are fighting for an
 independent Balochistan. The Rohingyas are in a class of their own. They have a dismal record of
 targeting other minority groups (including Hindus) who stay in the Rakhine region of Myanmar.
 Their terror record is long and well documented. Therefore, to include the Rohingyas, who pose a
 clear security threat to the country, under the CAA, would be a suicidal decision for the Government
 of India.

 The CAA, as laws and statutes go, is a very clear and uncomplicated piece of legislation. It has little
 ambiguity and scope for multiple interpretation. Despite this simplicity and transparency, what we
 have seen in the last few days is a Machiavellian and insidious exercise of distortion and perfidy.
 The forces that did it and continue to do so are agents of instability and disorder as far as the Indian
 Republic and its venerable civilisation are concerned. What is being perpetrated is an attempted
 coup d'etat and nothing short of that. The speed with which the conflagration has spread to various
 parts of the country (and among various social groups) clearly point to this strategy.

This brings me to the core issue that needs to be understood by my readers and, if I say so, by the thinking segments in our country's population. This is the role of disinformation and agitprop in
bringing about socio-political instability and unrest in democracies by forces opposed to civic society and equality. I propose here to give detailed accounts of actual episodes in the recent past where democracies were systematically undermined and derailed by elites and oligarchies that were bitterly opposed to the legitimate governments of their countries.

The first episode I will deal deal with is the notorious "Zinoviev Letter" forgery used by the British Conservatives in the 1920s to destroy the electoral chances of the Labour Party for many decades. Despite repeated assertions by independent observers that the letter was a fabrication by the Tories, the British establishment maintained the fiction of a great Soviet conspiracy to plant the Red flag in Buckingham Palace. It took more than forty years for the truth to emerge incontrovertibly - the whole exercise had been planned and implemented by the British secret service and their henchmen in the Conservative party.

In this sordid episode, the parallels with the current Indian scenario are most interesting. In January 1924, the Labour Party formed a government in the UK for the first time, although it was a minority government, dependent on the support of the Tories and the Liberals. For a variety of reasons, the Labour government collapsed and a new election was scheduled for late October.

Just before the election, the rabidly reactionary rag-sheet, The Daily Mail published a letter purportedly written by a senior Soviet functionary, Grigory Zinoviev, to the Central Committee of the British Communist Party. It contained inflammatory passages that advocated armed revolt in Britain. The damning forgery put paid to the electoral prospects of the Labour Party and the Tories decisively won the elections in late october 1924.

Readers who are not fully au fait with this historical episode will find it very interesting to go through the following articles that give details about a disinformation campaign that changed the political scenario in an advanced European democracy. The parallels with what the destabilization forces are doing in india today will be glaring.

A much more tragic and poignant episode was the alleged Tukachevsky letter, a meticulously planned campaign by the German secret service in the 1930s to convince Stalin that the Soviet general staff was in collusion with the Nazis and plotting against Moscow. Now, Joseph Stalin, the role model and intellectual predecessor for Messrs. Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury et al, was a notoriously suspicious and distrusting megalomaniac who wanted to entrench his position in the Moscow power structure. When the respected Czecchoslovak President Dr Benes forwarded to Stalin what he thought was evidence of treachery in the highest rungs of the Soviet Army, he unwittingly helped the latter to unleash the Great Purge. In one fell sweep, this decimated the armed forces of the USSR and handed Nazi Germany its greatest unarmed victory.

Thousands of senior Soviet officers, starting with Marshal Tukachevsky himself and key Generals and Colonels, were dragged to face hastily-assembled firing squads. Many died chanting the Internationale. When the blood-letting ended, it turned out that Stalin had exterminated more Marxists than the trio of Hitler, Himmler and Kaltenbrunner put together. The popular perception was that the whole thing was a plot by forces that wanted to weaken the Soviet Union and the letter was a forgery. However, the wily Georgian dictator's propagandamachine drowned out the protests. it is only after the war that secret German archives clearly showed that the operation was planned and implemented by the Abwehr and the SD gang of Canaris and Heydrich, who duped Dr Benes to act as a conduit to Stalin.

Here too, the resemblances with events in our shores are uncanny. From dislodging an Army chief who was proving to be uncomfortably principled (and dismantling a highly-successful covert agency only because he had set it up) to hounding a military intelligence officer, all was par for the course for our desi maestros of destabilisation. The near-sabotage of the Rafale deal with highly-questionable techniques of fabricated data and facts reached a crescendo only a few months ago. The SS (secularist storm troopers) brigade, the Lutyens Zone and Khan Market gangs, not to mention masjid-church forces lost out on all the battles that they had initiated since mid-2013, when the battle for the 2014 elections started.

Let me sign off with my take on the anglicized, westernised, deracinated Indian elitethat comprises the Shashi Tharrors, the Ramachandra Guhas, the Abhishek Singhvis and the Kapil Sibals of the world. Their entire guerilla campaigns remind me of their roots - the salad days they spent in Delhi's St. Stephen's College, the pathetic little copy of Cambridge and Oxford that the Anglican padres constructed in the arid dust of Delhi in the early years of the 20th Century. If ever there is a world competition in pretentiousness, make-believe, ersatz posturing and chicanery, the inmates of this institution (Stephanians, as they label themselves), will walk away with most of the prizes. As the streets of Delhi and a number of other cities burn, these saboteurs (no other word suffices) gorge on their kebabs and their prized liqueurs.

The French Republic, too, had its version of enemies within the gates, when it succumbed to Nazi Germany in 1940. The principal offenders were the members of the Paris salon crowd that was never fully at home with Republican France even 151 years after the Revolution in 1789. One of the most notorious collaborators ofthe Nazis and the Gestapo was Robert Brasillach, whose antipathy to republican values outweighed his intellectual and literary skills. When he was sentenced to death after the liberation of France, his sentence was sent to Charles de Gaulle for confirmation, along with a petition by many writers and scholars asking for clemency and the commutation of the sentence. The great de Gaulle refused, on the grounds that "intellectual crimes" are as toxic and heinous as military and political crimes.

My take.

A poignant article by the author. The prosecution rests!


Tailpiece.

Our first full day at Raj Nivas. Got up on the dot at 6 AM. Lit the lamp in the Puja room, put on devotional music on television and opened up the house, strictly, in that order. Lekha had gone to the Kottarakkara Maha Ganapati kshetram and to buy grocery and returned after two hours; Sreekumar was the sa'arthi. Meanwhile, I was involved in a bit of spring cleaning in the house and streamlined things further; it's a continuous process till the last day that we are gonna be here.

Meanwhile, there was a continuous stream of people who'd dropped by to say their hellos and love. Soman, from the telephone exchange, got our landline going by lunchtime. Mini and Sanil reached Rema's place at Thrippunithura by 1700 hrs....they'd started their drive from Bangalore at 0600 hrs. There was heavy traffic on the roads; probably, people going home for Christmas.  

At my parents' place.

The day had started at 4 AM, when Lekha's cellphone's alarm had gone off. We went through our chores and try as much as we could, it was a half past 6 when we had hit the road. There were many buses ahead of our car and therefore, could follow those speeds and hence, reached the Paliyekkara toll earlier than usual.

The FASTag stuck on my car's windshield was called to perform and it did so with clockwork precision. The queue of vehicles, however, was long because there were many FASTag attachments that had misbehaved, a few of the motorists were furious that they'd to pay from their pockets and sorting out rising tempers took a long time resulting in the lengthening of the queue!

Called up Abu and thanked him for the installation of a glitch-free FASTag and wasn't he thrilled?

Shared a 'combo' - the plate consisted of a masala dosa, an idli, a medu vada, upma and a sweet pongal - with Lekha and a single plate was more than adequate for the two of us. Felt light, too, as we left the Ananda Bhavan!

The bottlenecks of Idappalli, Palarivattom, Vyttila and Kundannoor were thankfully, less in density in traffic. So, Kochi was passed without having to wait and the time was a trifle past 10. The sky was overcast at most of the places and my cousin, from Thiruvananthapuram, reported heavy rain there during the period.

Our lunch was at the Shilpa Residency which was again a light vegetarian meal on a 'thaali'. half an hour later, we were at Lekha's elder sister's house near the Ganapathi kshetram. We collected the ingredients for our dinner and left for Raj Nivas by about 1500 hrs. Enroute, I'd met our dish TV guy and ordered the recharge of the system....we wanted the television 'live' for the evening and through our stay of ten days.

We reached the house by a quarter to 4 to a light drizzle and the distance that I'd clocked was 260 kms.

The caretaker got us our evening cup of tea, on the dot at 1600 hrs. Unnichettan and Subhash were our first guests in the evening and it was nice to catch up with them from where we'd left last.

It was nice to be back at my parents' place and I'd a fairly long monologue with my parents, outlining
as to what we were gonna do over the next 10 days. A few call ons that were a must and also to catch up with the activities of the JSS, Kollam and meet up with the staff and the trainees in various disciplines.

The highlight of the evening was when a carol singing group had come by, seeing the house active and they sang a nice hymn that I am fond of. Bade them bye after Lekha had ensured that each of them partook a piece of cake from her. Hope to see many more of them over the coming days!



           *                     *                       *

                                     A SHORT STORY

A donkey was tied to a tree. A demon came and untied it. The donkey ran into the fields and was destroying the crop. The farmer's wife saw this and shot the donkey dead.

The donkey's owner was upset so he shot the farmer's wife. The farmer came back to see his wife dead, he went and shot the donkey's owner. The wife of the owner of the donkey asked her sons to go and burn the house of the farmer.

The boys went late evening and carried out their mother's orders happily, assuming that the farmer too would have been burnt with the house. Sadly for them it wasn't that, so the farmer came back and shot the wife and the two sons of the owner of the donkey.

Remorseful, the farmer asked the demon why did all this have to happen?
The demon said, "I did nothing, I only released the donkey, but, all of you reacted, overacted and released the inner devil".

Did you get it?

The devil doesn't do anything but wake you up by triggering the ego in you that turns into evil intent and goes harming others.

So the next time before replying, responding, reporting, rebuking or avenging a revenge, stop and think. Be careful. Many a time what the devil does is that it just releases the donkey in us.


Tailpiece.

And boy, weren't we dog tired at the end of it all!?

I love my India!

I'm gonna reproduce the gazette of India dated 12 Dec '19. It encompasses the CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT!

An Act further to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
    (2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the
          Official Gazette, appoint.

2. In the Citizenship Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act, in Section 2, in the sub
    section (1), in clause (b), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
      "Provided that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian
        community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who entered into India on or before
        the 31st day of December 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central Government by or 
        under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section (3) of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920
        or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made 
        there under, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this Act".

3. After section 6A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-
        "6B. (1) The Central Government or an authority specified by it in this behalf may, subject to
          such conditions, restrictions and manner as may be prescribed, on an application made in this
          behalf, grant a certificate of registration or certificate of  naturalisation to a person referred to
          in the proviso to clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2.

          (2) Subject to fulfillment of the conditions specified in section 5 or the qualifications for
          naturalisation under the provisions of the Third Schedule, a person granted the certificate of
          registration or certificate of naturalisation under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be a 
          citizen of India from the date of his entry into India.

          (3) On and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, any
           proceeding pending against a person under this section in respect of illegal migration or
           citizenship shall stand abated on conferment of citizenship to him :

                Provided that such person shall not be disqualified for making application for citizenship
           under this section on the ground that the proceeding is pending against him and the Central
           Government or authority specified by it in this behalf shall not reject his application on that 
           ground if he is otherwise qualified for grant of citizenship under this section :

                Provided further that the person who makes the application for citizenship under this 
           section shall not be deprived of his rights and privileges to which he was entitled on the date 
           of receipt of his application on the ground of making such application.

          (4) Nothing in this section shall apply to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or
          Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and the area covered under "The
          Inner Line" notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873

          4. In section 7D of the principal Act :-

              (i) after clause (d) the following clause shall be inserted, namely :-
                   (da) the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder has violated any of the provisions of this 
              this Act or provisions of any other law for time being in force as may be specified by the
              Central Government in the notification published in the Official Gazette, or" ;

             (ii) after clause (f), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely :-
                    "Provided that no order under this section shall be passed unless the Overseas
             Citizen of India Cardholder has been  given a reasonable opportunity of being heard".
  
          5. In section 18 of the principal Act in sub-section (2) after clause (ee), the following clause 
          shall be inserted, namely :-
              (eei) the conditions, restrictions and manner for granting certificate of registration or
          certificate of naturalisation under sub-section (1) of section 6B;"

          6. In the Third Schedule to the principal Act, in clause (d), the following proviso shall be
          inserted, namely:-

                      'Provided that for the person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or
          Christian community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, the aggregate period of 
          residence or service of Government of India as required under this clause shall be read as
          "not less than five years" in place of "not less than eleven years".


                                                                                                                             Sd/-
                                                                                                                        (Dr G Narayana Rao)
                                                                                                                        Secretary to the GoI 

Now, to all the people and the luminaries (?) who have been rioting on the streets of certain parts of the country - supported by many of the opposition parties - May I ask the following questions:-

   (a) What's anti-Constitutional in this Act?
   (b) Where does it shed the secular spirit of the nation?
   (c) It can be safely surmised that those who continue to misbehave on the streets:-

           (i) haven't read the Act.
          (ii) having read it, haven't understood its meaning.
         (iii) are being driven by divisive forces who are keen to see this nation in bad light.

You must understand that you have a Prime Minister who has won by a handsome mandate from the people of India just about six months back. You fought the battle of the ballot by forming alliances and got decimated in the bargain. Is this your way to get back at him?

What about the poor policemen who have been attacked by the so-called-students - to me, from the screen shots shown on news channels, they're plain goons.

Sad! 

I love my India. It breaks my heart to see hooligans and anti-nationals trying to script their form of protest in the most horrible manner. 

May I request the opposition to be more responsible. This cannot go on and on, especially for no rhyme or reason!

And the 'NRC Bill' is not even drafted!


Tailpiece.

Another usual day. Skipped the morning walk as I'd woken up late. Lekha had gone to the Guruvayur temple as part of her weekly tryst. The Quarterdeck was progressively shut down by evening!




  

No competition in the course of one's Destiny.

I was jogging this morning and I noticed a person about half a km ahead.

I could guess he was running a little slower than me and that made me feel good, I said to myself I will try to catch up with him.

So I started running faster and faster. Every block, I was gaining on him a little bit.

After just a few minutes I was only about 100 feet behind him, so I really picked up the pace and pushed myself. I was determined to catch up with him.

Finally, I did it! I caught up and passed him. Inwardly I felt very good. "I beat him".

Of course, he didn't even know we were racing.

After I passed him, I realised I had been so focused on competing against him that.......

I had missed my turn to my house,

I had missed the focus on my inner peace.

I missed to see the beauty of the greenery around,

I missed to do my inner soul searching meditation and in the needless hurry, stumbled and slipped twice or thrice and might have hit the sidewalk and broken a limb.

It then dawned on me, isn't that what happens in life when we focus on competing with co-workers, neighbours, friends, family, trying to outdo them or trying to prove that we are more successful or more important and in the bargain we miss on our happiness within our own surroundings?

We spend our time and energy running after them and we miss out on our own paths to our given destination.

The problem with unhealthy competition is that it's a never ending cycle.

There will always be somebody ahead of you, someone with a better job, nicer car, more money in the bank, more education, a prettier wife, a more handsome husband, better behaved children, better circumstances and better conditions etc.

But one important realisation is that You can be the best that you can be, when you are not competing with anyone.

Some people are insecure because they pay too much attention to what others are, where others are going, wearing and driving, what others are talking.

Take whatever you have, the height, the weight and personality. Accept it and realise, that you are blessed. Stay focused and live a healthy life.

There is no competition in Destiny. Each has his own.

Comparison AND Competition are the thieves of JOY. It kills the JOY of Living your Own Life.

Run your own Race that leads to a Peaceful, Happy Steady Life.


Tailpiece.

The morning walk was nice. Since it was a Wednesday, the 'aarathi' of the house was carried out. Lekha had gone to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram for her weekly tryst, at 9 AM and Hamid was the 'sa'arthi'.  

Fun with puns.

How English and Englishmen make fun of each other.

Enjoy the fun and the pun.

  Q.  Can February March?
  A.  No. But April May!

  Q.  Did you hear about the painter who was hospitalised?
  A.  Reports say it was due to too many strokes!

  Q.  Have you heard the joke about the butter?
  A.  I better not tell you, it might spread!

  Q.  How do you know that carrots are good for eyesight?
  A.  Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?

  Q.  Music Teacher. What's your favourite musical instrument?
  A.  Kid. The lunch bell.

  Q.  What did the triangle say to the circle?
  A.  You're pointless!

  Q.  What do you call a ghost's mom and dad?
  A.  Transparents!

  Q.  What do you call a group of men waiting for a haircut?
  A.  A Barbercue!

  Q.  What do you call a person that chops up cereal?
  A.  A cereal killer!

  Q.  What do you call a South American girl who is always in a hurry?
  A.  Urgent Tina!

  Q.  What do you call two fat people having a chat?
  A.  A heavy discussion!

  Q.  What kind of emotions do noses feel?
  A.  Nostalgia!

  Q.  What kind of shorts do clouds wear?
  A.  Thunderwear!

  Q.  What's easy to get into but hard to get out of?
  A.  Trouble!

  Q.  Where do the boats go when they get sick?
  A.   The dock!

  Q.   Who cleans the bottom of the ocean?
  A.   A Mer-maid!

  Q.   Why can't a leopard hide?
  A.   Because he's always spotted?

  Q.   Why can't your nose be 12 inches long?
  A.   Because then it would be a foot!

  Q.   Why did the barber win the race?
  A.   Because he took a short cut!

  Q.   Why did the boy tiptoe past the medicine cabinet?
  A.   He didn't want to wake the sleeping pills!

  Q.   Why did the tomato turn red?
  A.   It saw the salad dressing!

  Q.   Why did the tree go to the dentist?
  A.   To get a root canal!

  Q.   Why don't you see giraffes in elementary school?
  A.   Because they're all in High School!

  Q.   Why was the Maths book sad?
  A.   Because it had too many problems!


Tailpiece.

The 'hartal' called by the Joint Action Council of 33 small parties had shut down the state all through the day, despite the government and the police saying that it wasn't right. Consequently, our maid, Beena had called up Lekha early in the morning to say that she would not be coming for work. It was Lekha's show all the way!

Today is the 1st of the Malayalam month of Dhanu!

  

The wonderful English language!

The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals.

We are all familiar with a
Herd of cows,
Flock of chicken,
School of fish,
Gaggle of geese and a
Pride of lions.

However, less widely known is :
A Murder of crows,
An Exaltation of doves,
And, presumably because they look so wise :
A Congress of owls.

Now consider a group of Baboons.
They are the loudest, most
dangerous, most obnoxious, most
viciously aggressive and least
intelligent of all primates.......

And what is the proper collective
noun for a group of baboons? Believe
it or not........A Parliament!

YEP........A PARLIAMENT OF BABOONS!

Pretty much explains everything doesn't it?



Tailpiece.

Another ordinary day. Went to town around a half past 10 to convert talk-time to broadband-time on the dongle and the company said that it was not possible! Instead the youngster taught me as to how I could use up the talk-time after downloading yet another App. Bought a few things before getting back. The auto rickshaw that I'd hired from our stand was driven by Edwin, who was working in an eatery run by four Indians at Bahrain, while staying at Sharjah. Between them, each gets a six-month break and he was on a break that will end on the 5th of Jan. He was driving his dad's vehicle just to beat the boredom and to allow his dad to have some rest. A nice youngster - all of 26 years - brought up with the right values! I salute his parents and he's their only son.

 

A heady mix!

Reminiscences of a man in uniform.

What is Army?

Army is :-

When a cold and shivering jawan gets you a cup of hot tea on a patrol break at 13,000 ft.

When your sixth sense tells you there is something wrong with a guy at 50 metres.

When you meet with an accident and the first thing you check is the serviceability of your legs.

When you speak the language of your boys.

When you sit from dusk to dawn in an ambush on Valentine's day, you know army is giving you the
red rose.

When you are a master at pump stove, lanterns, solar lights, bukharis and travelling in trains without
reservations.

When you know more about cramps and cold injuries than your average doctor.

When a girl in the pub is indicated by clock-ray method.

When only your sahayak can dig out the thing you want from your rucksack.

When your pain submits to your will.

When you find it funny when your relative says he's going on a holiday to a hill station.

When your profession is a matter of discussion during marriage proposals.

When you do not believe in ghosts but do believe in Peer Baba and other high altitude babas.

When you know the real meaning of camouflage, in field, in parties, in unit routine and in your own house.

When you can live anywhere, with anybody, on anything nature can offer.

When you know this LMG will be resited by everybody up the ladder, till it comes back to where you had sited it initially.

When somebody asks, "Do you play Golf?" and you look at the brass on your shoulder and say "Not yet".

When you are the biggest consumer of foot powder, DMP oil, water sterilization kit, ORS packets and Meals-Ready-to-Eat-in-the-Army.

When you give it all that you have got and some more.

When you are the only one to get trained in bayonet fighting. And expect it to happen.

When your girlfriend thinks you are Rambo, Commando, Gladiator and Braveheart, all rolled into one. Your Commanding Officer, by the way, thinks you are none.

When the Politician and the Bureaucrat state, "What is so special about the Army", without realizing that an Army-man can do their job, better than them, but they cannot do an Army-man's job and it is the same Army-man who bails them out whenever they fail.

When you get lost in a multiplex with signboards but are at ease in a jungle with a compass.

When you can die for, what you've lived for.

That's the great INDIAN ARMY.......People call it ARMY, We call it LIFE.

This is what is meant by being, "Unashamedly sentimental".

     *                       *                         *

I've become a great fan of Wheelchair Basketball, of late, because a classmate of mine, Captain Louis George, IN is the national women's team's coach! Our class has adopted Ishrat Jahan from Kashmir!! Pinpointing her location at Anantnag, in Kashmir and making it possible for her to attend the coaching session in Madras - prior to the recently concluded Oceania Championship at Pattaya, Thailand - was thanks to the painstaking efforts of Colonel Isenhower, who is yet another classmate of mine.

SPORT CLASS

In wheelchair basketball, all players are classified accordingly to their level of injury/ability to move on the court.

The players who are agile and are able to perform all duties well - catching, bending, throwing etc get a classification of 4.5.

The lowest classification is 1.0

Spinal cord injury players are generally low classification players.

Players who are amputees are generally 4.5

During a match, the total classification of all the playing five should not exceed 14.0 points.

So classification points could be :-

1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0 or
4.5

Spinal cord injury players are normally 2.0 or below.

Other injuries could be single leg amputee, double leg amputee, amputation below the knee, amputation above the knee, polio, spinal bifida, spinal cord injury etc.


Tailpiece.

A quiet Sunday. Lekha and I had gone to the super market, nearby, to purchase grocery just prior to lunch.

Memorizing Sanskrit Mantras Makes You Super Intelligent.

Don't teach us Ba Ba Black Sheep, Teach : Vakrathunda maha kaaya........

Western researchers reveal why children who memorize Sanskrit 'mantras' become super intelligent as they grow up.

Neuroscience shows how rigorous memorizing can help the brain. The term 'Sanskrit Effect' was coined by neuroscientist, James Hartzell, who studied 21 professionally qualified Sanskrit pandits. He discovered that memorizing Vedic mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function, including short and long-term memory. This finding corroborates the beliefs of the Indian tradition which holds that memorizing and reciting mantras enhances memory and thinking.

Dr Hartzell's recent study raises the question whether this kind of memorization of ancient texts could be helpful in reducing the devastating illness of Alzheimer's and other memory affecting diseases. Apparently, Ayurvedic doctors from India suggest it is the case and future studies will be conducted, along with more research into Sanskrit.

While we all know the benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices, the findings of Dr Hartzell are truly dramatic. In a world of shrinking attention spans, where we are flooded with information daily and children display a range of attention deficit disorders, ancient Indian wisdom has much to teach the West (and their 'modernised' intellectual serfs in the East). Even introducing small amounts of chanting and recitation of the common Sanskrit mantras like 'Gayatri Mantra' daily could have an amazing effect on all our brains.

        *                          *                             *

A Military Trivia

Who was Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros?
Unfortunately, most of us may not have heard of her........she was

 * a Swiss child of a Hungarian father and Russian mother.
 * a painter, a dancer, an artist and a student of Hinduism.
 * a love struck teenager who eloped to India.
 * a polyglot fluent in English, French, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, etc.
 * wife of the GOC, Delhi at the first Republic Day parade.
 * author of "Saints of Maharashtra" and sadhvi of the Ramakrishna Mutt.

She was born on 20 Jul 1913. Her father fought in the Hungarian army in WW I and was later a
professor of sociology in Geneva. Her mother had been a student of her father and was later a teacher at the Rousseau Institute. As a 16 year old, the precocious Yvonne met a handsome cadet of the Royal Military Academy while holidaying at Chamonix. She followed the cadet to Sandhurst and realised that he was an Indian. Despite parental opposition, she came to Bombay and then to Auranfabad and married Capt (Later Maj Gen) Vikram Khanolkar!

But the reason that Indians should know about Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros (aka Savitri Khanolkar after marriage to Maj Gen Vikram Khanolkar) is because of a task that was given to her by the Adjutant General of the Indian Army - Maj Gen Hira Lal Atal. He had asked her to design gallantry medals for independent India. It was she who designed the Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Keerti Chakra, Indian General Service Medal, etc.

Incidentally, Savitri Khanolkar's daughter, Kumudini got married into a much decorated military family. Savitri's son-in-law Lt Gen Surinder Sharma, PVSM, AVSM became the Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army. His younger brother General VN Sharma, PVSM, AVSM was the Chief of Indian Army when Savitri died in 1990. Their eldest brother, Major Somnath Sharma had died in battle while fighting infiltrators at Srinagar airport in 1947. He was the 1st recipient of the Param Vir Chakra designed by his brother's mother-in-law!


Tailpiece.

An uneventful Saturday. Around a half past 6, a tearful Girija, my cousin called up to say that her husband, Venugopal passed into the mist of time in the wee hours of the morning. She'd lost her brother-in-law - differently abled since birth - 50 days back. Venugopal was dull ever since!

FAQs regarding CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill).

I thought I must remove doubts that many people might have regarding the just-passed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) passed by the Parliament. Here are a few frequently-asked-questions (FAQs) 
and their answers.

 1. Does the CAB affect Indians (Hindus, Muslims, anyone)?
    No. It has nothing to do with Indians in any way.

 2. Whom does it apply to?
     Only to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Chtristians from 3 countries - who are facing
     religious persecution - in those countries and who are already in India before 01 Dec 2014.

 3. Which three countries?
     Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

 4. In what way does it benefit Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Christians from these three countries?
     Their residency requirement has been reduced from 11 years to 5 years. They can claim
     citizenship as a right under this law.

 5. Does this mean that Muslims from these three countries can never get Indian citizenship?
     No. But they will go through the usual process of acquiring citizenship through naturalization
     rules......11 years of residence etc..

 6. Will illegal Muslim immigrants from these 3 countries be automatically deported under this 
     Bill?
     No. The usual process applies. Their application for naturalization may or may not be granted
     depending on their eligibility.

 7. Can Hindus facing persecution in other countries apply under this law?
     No.

 8. Does this Bill apply to other forms of persecution - political, racial, sexual etc?
     No. The Bill is very specific in its intend - Hindus....religious persecution....3 countries.

 9. Why only these three countries? And why only religious persecution of Hindus?
     These 3 countries have a track record of pervasive, systematic and institutionalised persecution
     of Hindus.

10. What about Sri Lankan Tamils?
      (a) the war has been over for a decade now.
      (b) There never was any persecution on religious lines. It was on racial lines.
      And for over the decades of civil war, the Sri Lankans have put an end to institutionalised
      discrimination of Tamils.

11. Doesn't India have an obligation under the UN to take care of refugees?
      Yes, it does. And it is not shying away from it. But it has no obligation to offer citizenship.
      Each country has its own rules for naturalization. India is not going to turn away other refugees
      under this law. It will play host to them under the UN rules, in the implicit expectation that some
      day they will return to their homelands when the conditions improve.

12. Why shouldn't Baluchis and Ahmediyas in Pakistan, Rohingyas in Myanmar not be
      considered for this kindness?
      They will be considered under the existing laws, not under the special category.

Note. Thus we find that it does not affect anyone of us within India but agitations, egged on by certain mischievous elements, continue. Governments of non-BJP states pass resolutions against the CAA in their Assemblies. If it's not affecting anyone, why are we fighting against it? A mischief in the making?


Tailpiece.

It was another quiet day when we went about doing our usual work. Sorted out a few problems for people whom I'd promised. Glad that I was able to do them!
     
     

Where has all the money gone from the system?

At the moment, it does look as if people are waiting. Waiting to Individual spends over a certain amount now need an identifier - PAN or Aadhaar.

What's happened to the Indian economy? From an aspiring 10% growth, we are struggling to do half of that. The mood is down. Consumers are not buying. Household savings are at a low. Corporates are not investing. Gold prices have fallen. Real estate is still comatose. Just the stock market has the steam to keep rising higher. Clearly, there is something deeper to this story - what's going on with the Indian consumers, savers, investors and entrepreneurs? And why is the market up, when data on consumption, spending, confidence, jobs and growth shows only gloom. On one side, the reasons for this skid off the growth path are said to do with demonetisation, a botched GST, the persistent bank NPA problems, the shadow banking mess and hardening of rules. The other argument looks at this being a result of an attempt to switch the Indian business model towards formalisation. Whatever may be the reason for the skid, the result right now is a slump in the mood of the economic participants.

One way to look at the problem from 30,000 feet and connect the macro dots and the other is to try and stitch together a narrative based on conversations, interactions and stories gathered over a few months. One such story that has begun to emerge out of such conversations across a wide spectrum of stakeholders is this : a part of the discretionay spend in India has been linked to non-tax-paid money since most Indians do not see the sense of paying the government a share of their incomes (the number of individual taxpayers remains at a tiny 8 crore out of a population of 137 crore) and have found plenty of ways to stay out of the tax net, including multiple PANs, benami properties, cash payments for high-value goods like cars and so on. A large part of the circle of cash has been anchored in real estate - that was both the sump as well as the generator of more non-tax-paid cash and would lead to more discretionary spend in cash. The crackdown on corruption by the Narendra Modi government has created a strange situation where there is a circling of the cash economy using a multi-pronged approach so that cash and its use will come into visibility, but the root cause of cash - corruption - is not yet in check. The rates for violating a rule have actually gone up rather than down, rent seeking rates are up, the cash component in property deals is up rather than down (but it must be said that the availability of all white deals has improved) and the municipal, police and government corruption has not abated. So cash is still getting generated but its use is now in question.

People with cash need to either spend or invest. But spends over a certain amount now need an identifier - PAN or Aadhaar - and while multiple PANs are still there, the tax-PAN-Aadhaar link makes it more difficultto use them. Benami large-ticket purchases in cash have not disappeared but are getting more difficult. People with cash seem to be responding with either reducing the value of their purchases or simply delaying it. If you can't spend, then you need to invest it. Cash can go into gold or real estate, but even gold purchases over Rs.2 lakh need a PAN. Real estate is the last surviving sump of cash - this is one asset whose ownership is not linked to Aadhaar all over the country - but there has been an increase in the scrutiny in this space as well, especially with the Benami Transactions Act getting teeth. But the slump in the sector makes real estate a poor investment for those wanting to rotate their money. Also deals over Rs.10 lakh need a PAN card. Again, the PAN , tax, Aadhaar link makes using multiple PANs difficult, though not impossible yet. So, is the money going to the stock market?

Markets rise when investors put more money into it than take it out. The high valuations point to a thick pipeline of institutional and retail money through SIPs and a part of the real estate money that got tired and has begun to shift to the market. This money is now a part of the formal economy. And this money is hungry for an investment opportunity - look at the over subscription of the IRCTC issue, in particular and most other IPOs getting the money they need off the market.

But there is still plenty of money waiting on the side. What happens to the cash money? Will it come into the system or keep waiting? At the moment, it does look as if the people are waiting. Waiting to see the old way come back where the circle of cash can resume and in the meantime they are just sitting on cash. While holding cash, they worry about the Rs.2,000 note that could get replaced by the Rs.1,000 one anytime. That they will find a way to convert that useless into a useful note one more time is sure, but the effort and cost is getting tiring. If the old way does not return, then this cash will have no option but to come back into the system through consumption and investments. Which will happen first is possibly the question on which India's future as an economic power depends. Will this government be able to kick-stsrt consumption to tide over the current slump and rekindle the economy, hold on to power for the cash economy to give up or will the push back against formalisation find a political voice. I had thought that the 2019 election was that moment where the politics was going to define the economics, but it seems the wait is still on for the cash-wallahs on a political change that will bring back the cash way.

Monika Halan is consulting editor at Mint and writes on household finance, policy and regulation.

My take.

An interesting articulation!


Tailpiece.

The morning walk was refreshing and nice. Lekha had gone to the Guruvayur temple as part of her weekly tryst by about a half past 9. Couldn't make much headway regarding the perusal of the draft biography!  

Emotional education.

An emotional education may require us to adopt two different starting points. For a start, how we are taught may matter inordinately because we have ingrained tendencies to shut our ears to all the major truths about our deeper selves. Our settled impulse is to blame anyone who lays our blind spots and insufficiencies bare, unless our defences have first been adroitly and seductively appeased. In the face of critically important insights, we get distracted, proud or fidgety. We may prefer to do almost anything other than take in information that could save us.

Moreover, we forget almost everything. Our memories are sieves, not robust buckets. What seemed a convincing call to action at 8 AM will be nothing more than a dim recollection by midday and an indecipherable contrail in our cloudy minds by evening. Our enthusiasms and resolutions can be counted upon to fade like the stars at dawn. Nothing much sticks.

It was the philosophers of ancient Greece who first identified these problems and described the structural deficiencies of our minds with a special term. They proposed that we suffer from akrasia, commonly translated as "weakness of will", a habit of not listening to what we accept should be heard and a failure to act upon what we know is right. It is because of akrasia that crucial information is frequently lodged in our minds without being active in them and it is because of akrasia that we often both understand what we should do and resolutely omit to do it.

Alain de Botton
The School of Life : An Emotional Education.


Tailpiece.

Got up a trifle late by a half past 5, went through the chores and was out of the house, for my walk, by a 5' past 6. Lekha had gone to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram by about a half past 9. Are the auto rickshaw drivers, of our stand, resentful of the fact that we only call for either Hamid or Sijo, to run our errands?

The draft of Muthachhan's biography, in English, reached by speed post this morning for corrections. I've got three days to do it.

Onions, yet again!

                                   NO ONION MONTH

The Japanese have a tradition wherein for sometime they stop consuming anything that has witnessed an unprecedented price hike.

This leads to a fall in the prices of that commodity.

We should also either completely stop or minimise consuming onions just for a month or 15 days.

This will have a demoralising effect on the hoarders of onions.

Not only that, it will also bring down their prices within one week or ten days.

It's a matter of Demand and Supply!

Spread the word to as many people as you can. Let's see if this small initiative of yours can help bring down the prices of onions.

          *                       *                        *

An English Translation Of A Tamil Onion Story

An onion, potato and tomato went to the beach. Potato went too far in and drowned.

While returning home, with tears in their eyes on the loss of their friend, the tomato was run over.

Now only the onion was left with tears and God, happy with his devotion, gave him the 'boon' that anybody present when onion is killed, will also cry.

That explains one part.

Soon people started to heat the onion before cutting and did away with tears.

God got angry and said that in future, people will cry even when they buy onions.

And that, friends, is why onion prices are high.

           *                        *                        *

Interesting Information


Do you know that a simple "hello" can be a sweet one?

I received one recently from my friend, in a mail she sent to me. Here's what she wrote :

    H = How are you?
    E = Everything all right?
    L = Like to hear from you.
    L = Love to see you soon!
    O = Obviously, I miss you.....

So, HELLO!

It has made me smile every time I say hello since then......

             *                          *                            8

How many of these did you know....?

 (a) Babina.              British Army Base in Asia.
 (b) Mhow.               Military Headquarters of War.
 (c) Ambala.             Army Maintenance Base and Logistics Area.
 (d) The Mall.          The Military Administrators Living Line.
 (e) Mess.                 Members of Equal Social Status.
 (f) Yo L camp.        Young Officers Leave camp. As young British officers used to spend their
                                  leave instead of going to Goddamn sick place called London.


Tailpiece.

Today is 'Thrikkarthika'. Ramesh was the first one to knock at the door, to hand over the 21 earthenware lamps. Had gone to the town to buy grocery and fruits. The gas was delivered by lunch time exactly, 24 hrs after Lekha had booked for the replenishment! The lamps were lit up in the evening, 15' after sunset! 'The Quarterdeck', with the lamps lit, looked nice.

An interesting articulation!

A friend of mine had forwarded this articulation which got me thinking......

                        TO BE A SOLDIER OR A CRICKETER?

                           Colonel PS Sangha, Vir Chakra (Retd)

I have a course mate from the Army days who gave me some surprising news. In his younger days he had played cricket for the Services at the Ranji Trophy level. His younger brother, a civilian, was also a cricketer and played one Test match for India. The news was that both these guys were on the pension roll of the BCCI. My friend, who had played more than 25 Ranji Trophy matches, was getting Rs.15,000/- per month as pension and his brother, with his single Test match was getting Rs.3,75,000/- per month. In addition, the BCCI has given a lump sum going up to Rs.1 crore to ex-Test cricketers to help them in their sunset years. Well, I thought that this was indeed a grand gesture of the BCCI to recognise their effort........

It got me thinking on the value system that prevails in our country. I was a soldier in the Army for close to 29 years before I called it quits. During this period I fought in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and was awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry. This is the third highest gallantry award after thr Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC). The government gives a decoration pay while in service and later as part of the service pension. It started at a low amount which increased with each pay commission. At present I get Rs.3,500/- per month as the decoration pay. For a MVC it is Rs.5,000/- and a PVC gets Rs.10,000/-......

What set me thinking is the value put on a soldier's life.

Most of the gallantry awards are given posthumously. So the awardee is already in the happy hunting grounds and his heirs are left to handle the situation. The dead soldier's family gets a lump sum amount of a few lakhs from the group insurance fund and the pay/pension. All this is a pittance compared to the BCCI dole to ex-cricketers. I remember getting Rs.25,000/- in lieu of 5 acres of land from the Punjab Government for my gallantry award. Compare that with the lakhs and crores you can make for getting medals in Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The conclusion is that a soldier's life is cheap.........

Which brings me to a comparison between a soldier in the battlefield and a cricketer on the pitch. Both face projectiles of differing variety. For the cricketer it is a red/white ball which could be coming at you at a speed close to 150 km/hr. For the soldier it can be a bullet, a bomb or a missile travelling at speeds beyond the speed of sound. The cricketer can hit that ball for a six or just duck under it, or at worst, get hit on the well protected body. The soldier can just pray that the bullet, splinter or missile misses him.....

Both the soldier and the cricketer are doing something for the nation. The cricketer on losing a match just says, "It is only a game". The soldier just cannot think or afford to lose in the battlefield. Also consider that as a cricketer you can get a "Bharat Ratna" for your outstanding achievement. But Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw has not been given that honour despite leading the Army to its greatest military victory which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh........

I sometimes wonder what would be a greater catastrophe to the Indian psyche : losing a cricket match or losing a war to Pakistan?

It makes you think : To Be A Soldier Or A Cricketer????

Tailpiece.

The morning walk was nice. Our dhobhi, Selvam, is convalescing from a minor surgery back at his home town. Clothes had accumulated, over a period, for pressing. Today, his nephew had come by to finish up the backlog.