A sublime paradox!

1. In Manipur.

    Irom Sharmila was the darling of her people when she fasted for 16 years against the imposition
    of the 'Armed Forces Special Powers Act'. There were threats from extremist groups that she'd
    be killed if she called off her fast! Ever since she'd called off her fast and married her friend,
    Desmond Coutinho - a British national - the very same people who'd worshiped her have thrown
    her off from that perch.

    She has begun her election campaign, riding her bicycle and organising small roadside meetings -
    the crowds are hardly any - to whip up a new political ethos, she says. It's hoped that her efforts
    will gain momentum and her meetings will attract more crowds as the election heat picks up. Hope
    it does and I shall pray for her victory.

    My doubt is, Did her folks want her only as a suffering mascot for their selfish reasons? Is she 
    unacceptable to them when she leads a normal life like them? How cruel!

2. The Bureaucratic Thinking.

     The Indian bureaucrat's thinking that he's above reproach is once again out in the open, this time
     in Kerala. Discontent has been brewing among the IAS fraternity for the last few months in the
     manner in which the Vigilance department, under Jacob Thomas, has been seeing a few of them
     for their omissions and commissions.

     The latest flash point is its decision to arraign additional chief secretary, Paul Antony, as the third
     accused in its probe against CPM leader, EP Jayarajan, for showing favouritism by appointing his
     kith and kin in governmental positions, overlooking merit and criteria! The IAS officers plan to
     go on mass leave on Monday and as a run up to it, have submitted their leave applications to the
     chief secretary to the government of Kerala.

     My doubt is, Once the bureaucrat is a party to a decision, how can he absolve himself of the
     error in the decision? How long can he insist that his boss and his subordinates are the only
     ones responsible?


Tailpiece.

Achu, Lekha and Rema had left for Tirur by a half past 9 to fetch the gold ring that Ammu is gonna slip onto Midhun's ring finger on their engagement day and were back by lunch time. So, that's yet another job done. Rema and Achu returned to Palakkad by a half past 5 and called up to say that they'd touched base by 8!
  

Are the Spaniards more family oriented than us, Indians?

I was always under the impression that we'd a rich cultural heritage and a robust value system rooted in family ties and camaraderie. The joint family system still exists in many parts of the country underlying the fact that an average Indian gives great importance to relationships. Paradoxically, even the so called honour killings one hears of in certain parts of the country flows from the strong family bonds that exist!

The joint family system, however, has been disintegrating steadily and nuclear families have become the order of the day, perhaps, highlighting the increasing influence of the factor of selfishness that govern us which doesn't favour providing help to one's siblings that aren't well off...... Sad!

I'd come across a very interesting article recently about the manner in which the elders are looked after by their young ones in Spain and I believe that there're lessons for us to emulate in the increasing trend of dumping one's elders into old age homes, in India.

The Fact file.

     (a) Population of Spain                               46,064,604(As of 2016).
     (b) No of people aged 100 yrs and above       > 17,000.

A few more interesting information:-

         * Most of the 100 yrs and above category of people showed a zest for life and an interest in
            pastimes from amateur dramatics to playing the piano.
         * Majority of the elderly people are surrounded by family or have loved ones calling in on
            them daily, showing how Spain continues to be a close-knit society where family ties are
            of paramount importance.
         * When questioned about their most vivid memories, many recalled the Spanish Civil War
            from 1936 to '39 that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths followed by the 36 year
            dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
         * Tips for long life ranged from a spoonful of honey a day to a regular intake of 'gazpacho' -
            a traditional cold Spanish soup from tomatoes and cucumbers!
         * Also, inhalation of the 'pine resin' keeps the common cold and and the breathing difficulties
            away(The lady of the house puts a jar of the resin under the bed of the sick!)


Tailpiece.

And all this while, we took pride in the fact that we're the most family oriented in the world! We'd better learn from the Spaniards, a lesson or two on this aspect!

PS.
The brilliant actor, Om Puri, is no more with us as he passed into the mist of time this morning. I remember seeing the movie, 'Ardh Satya', years back and being deeply disgusted with the system and empathised with Sub Inspector Anant Welankar on his helplessness and anger from within! So convincingly had he portrayed the character that it has been indelible even as I write this.

RIP, Om Puri! My tears and prayers for a great actor and here's wishing that your family has the strength to tide over these difficult times.

Mesentery - the discovery of a new organ in the human body.

A new organ has been discovered hiding from plain sight inside the human body. It's called the 'mesentery'.

The Highlights to the Discovery.

  * J Calvin Coffey, a researcher from the University Hospital Limerick in Ireland, first discovered
     that the mesentery was an organ.
  * One of the earliest descriptions of the mesentery was made by Leonardo da Vinci and for centuries
     it was generally ignored as a type of insignificant attachment of the intestine to the abdomen.
  * Over the past century, doctors who studied the mesentery assumed it was a fragmented structure
     made of separate sections, which made it pretty unimportant.
  * In 2012, Coffey and his colleagues showed through detailed microscopic examinations that the
     mesentery is actually a continuous structure.
  * Over the past four years, they've gathered further evidence that the mesentery should actually be
     a distinct organ and the latest paper makes it official.

The Aftermath.

  * It's the beginning of a whole new field of medical science that could improve our health outcomes.
  * When approached like any other organ, abdominal diseases can be categorised in terms of this
     organ.
  * The next step of the researchers is to identify its functions.

In other words, the mesenteric science is in the making!



Tailpiece.

The Instagram users have an edge. Access to key information for its users, before the others, is its mantra. The network, now owned by Menlo Park, California-based Facebook Inc, was created in 2010 as a mobile app for sharing photos and videos.

Social media in yet another avatar, huh!

A profound statement and a collection of short stories.

The Profound Statement.

                                    When I got enough confidence, the stage was gone
                                             When I was sure of losing, I won
                                       When I needed people the most, they left me
                               When I learned to dry my tears, I found a shoulder to cry on
             When I mastered the skill of hating, someone started loving me from the core of the heart 
                     And while waiting for light for hours when I fell asleep, the sun came out.
                    
         That's life. No matter what you plan, You never know what life has planned for you.....Success introduces you to the world.....But failure introduces the world to you......Always be happy! Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, God smiles from above and says, "Relax sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end....!"


8 Short Stories with Beautiful Meanings.

    (a) Those who had coins enjoyed in the rain. Those who had notes were busy looking for shelter.

    (b) Man and God, both, met somewhere. Both exclaimed, "My creator".

    (c) He asked, "Are you Hindu or Muslim?"
         The response came, "I am hungry".

    (d) The fool didn't know it was impossible......
          So he did it.

    (e) "Wrong number," said a familiar voice.

    (f)  What if God asks you after you die, "So, how's heaven?"

    (g) They told me that to make her fall in love I had to make her laugh.
          But every time she laughs, I am the one who falls in love!

    (h) We don't make friends anymore, we add them nowadays!


Tailpiece.

Amen! 

A barbaric, dirty mindset!

The Sad Story from Bangalore.

On new year's eve, celebrations had turned into a nightmare for the women among the revellers, out on MG Road and Brigade Road in Bangalore. Eyewitness accounts are increasing about how a large number of women were molested that night. Tragically, the incident occurred despite the presence of around 1,500 police personnel deployed in the area in anticipation of a large gathering of revellers!

It means that the police were ineffective and had become mere bystanders and what's pathetic is that they've come out with statements like, "Women are always molested during such celebrations!"
Simply not acceptable. Period!

The response by the state government should have been to make swift arrests, file clear charges and and provide all support to the women. The main close circuit television cameras - the police claim to have installed in the area for the purpose - would help in identifying the molesters. The police failed miserably in these measures and it was expected of the Home Minister to take them to task and get them to do their work. Instead, he's been giving lectures against western culture and dress and sends a horrid message, "These kind of things do happen". What does one say about G Parameswara, the Home Minister?

Doesn't the blighter have a mother, a wife and daughters or daughters-in-law? Would he have sung the same tune had, god forbid, something of a similar kind happened to any one of them? And if he stands by his statement then why is he running away from the media? He should be man enough to stand by his words.

This problem of mindset is not limited to Bangalore, alone. To my mind, it's a pan Indian problem. We need to respect our women!

          *                                     *                                          *

The Battle for the Cycle.

I've been following the 'tamasha' that's going on in the Samajwadi Party, in the run up to the UP elections. Each of the warring sides must be having genuine reasons against the other for the sorry impasse. Why do they forget a few simple rules?

      (a) Was a fight between the father and the son required? In our cultural context, such a
            disagreement is heavily loaded against the son.
      (b) This is what happens when the complete family is inducted into the political party.
      (c) Don't these guys know that the party can only put up a good show in the forthcoming
            Assembly elections if it stayed united?



Tailpiece.

Sad! Power and pelf spoil the most sacred of relations!!




    

Doing up the little things.

The day had begun with a bang when Lekha's assistant Preetha had rung her up to say that she was down with a bad cough and cold and that she wouldn't be coming for work today. Lekha, herself was recouping from a cough and cold and she'd to shoulder the additional responsibility, as we're having Aniyan and Usha ammayi to lunch. They'd gone to look up their daughter at Kozhikode and were returning to Kidangoor, after a quick 'darshan' of Guruvayurappan enroute and hence, the break.

Jitesh had reached by about a half past 9 to continue with his work. He'd misplaced his box of 'bits' and the first half hour went past, with him looking for that box but it turned to be an exercise in futility. I was only bothered about his work getting affected, without it, but he managed it beautifully. Our guests came in by 10 and Aniyan wasn't pleased about the way things were. We couldn't have told them not to come by because our maid was absent or for that matter, because the repair work was going on. Any such advice was liable to be misconstrued and we'd refrained from it by promising ourselves that we'd do the best within the circumstances!

Finally, we've enhanced the security of the house by putting in locking arrangements in a few cupboards and cabinets. The joints of the truss work - liable to rust, while a few exposed to direct weather, had already rusted - have been scraped with sand paper and a coat of primer applied. Nandan, who'd done the woodwork in the house, at the time of commissioning, was overseeing the serials and therefore, knew the inside out of things!

Aniyan and ammayi left for Kidangoor, a trifle after lunch. I was busy holding the ladder for Jitesh to do the work atop on the trusses and hence, had to have my lunch after them. The idea was to ensure that Jitesh's time wasn't wasted and he left after 3, after completing all the work.

The walk in the evening was nice and I'd picked up a few sundries on the way. Everyone whom I met, wanted to know as to how we'd spent the new year's eve and my answer that we'd spent a quiet evening watching television and catching up with friends and relatives over the telephone, mostly elicited a disappointed 'Oh'...........was that an expression to say as to how boring a guy I was, I wonder!


Tailpiece.

Another of those quiet days!

The doubts that creep into my mind.

I'm gonna talk about the doubts that have crept into my mind on the first day of the new year. I wonder as to why they're happening, why they should be happening and is there any necessity at all to initiate this because the disruption - in the first serial - is gonna create problems to the common man:-

  (a) Agitation in front of central government offices.

        The Congress party is poised to stage a country-wide protest in the backdrop of the 'cash crisis'
        following the demonetisation exercise of high denomination currency notes from tomorrow.
        Accordingly, the party workers are going to stage 'dharnas', in front of central
        government offices, in all the 14 districts.

        To my mind, the demonetisation cannot be rolled back with the stupendous amount of work
        that has gone on thus far and I don't think anyone has any doubt on that. So, what's the need
        to go into such an agitation mode instead of helping the common man to tide over the crisis?
        And the paradox is that their leader, Rahul Gandhi, has gone on a week's holiday somewhere
        abroad! If the problem was so serious, he should have been here, monitoring the entire range
        of agitational activities.

  (b) A Keralite takes over Kyrgyzstan's top military post.

        A Saudi-based entrepreneur of Indian origin has assumed a top position in the defence
        department of Kyrgyzstan, when he was appointed a Major General by the country's defence
        minister. Sheikh Rafik Mohammed had worked as an adviser to the former president, Bakiyev.
        His curriculum vitae says, "Rafik had left Kerala at a young age and he could complete only
        his primary school education. He went to Bombay where he learnt all the tricks of business and
        from there to west Asia. He has worked in UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan. He's a
        Kyrgyzstan national".

        While feeling glad that a Keralite has done well in another country, the cynic in me asks as
        to how a person with such a background can assume a post in the defence department where
        he'd be privy to the nation's top secrets? 

  (c) The ongoing borrowings of the state road transport corporation.

        A new month has started and the state road transport corporation's management along with
        the transport minister is running around for ascertaining the source from where funds can be
        borrowed to pay the salaries and the pensions. This sort of emergency survival cannot go on
        and on. The well meaning CMD had said that free passes for students must cease and the entire
        lot of politicians reacted to the idea as unthinkable - fearing the wrath of the student
        organisations!

        A committee has been appointed to suggest remedial measures to save the organisation.
        What prevents them from taking a leaf out of the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation -
        the only one to be running profitably in the country - and take tough decisions is what that
        beats me! Retrench the additional workers, efficiency to be the major criterion and reduce
        excess flab and stop unnecessary concessions are a few measures to bring life to a dying
        organisation! I 'm sad that the student organisations have not shown maturity in thought by
        giving up the 'free rides'!! The saddest part is that no one seems to bother.


Tailpiece.

It's the beginning of a new year. Let's all promise to follow healthy practices for the overall good of the country!