Off to New Delhi.

Sleep was cut short thanks to the departure time of a half past 6, of the AI 830 to New Delhi. Got up at 3, washed up and went about my chores and I was ready by a half past 4, when we left for the airport.

Anish had brought his car as ours had a starting trouble. We brought up the rear among the passengers but entered the aircraft first as Maman was provided wheelchair assistance. Keeping my fingers crossed while egging him on during the journey.

Got seats 14 D to F since there were no passengers to claim the middle seat, we placed our hand bags in it during the flight. We reached New Delhi by a half past 9 and Munna chauffeured us around. Earlier, prepared the documents for handing over at the Logani’s in Khan Market. Lunch was at Karnataka Bhavan and I’d a masala dosa.

Dropped our mail for the Prime Minister at the PMO. Went to NITI Aayog but none of the people, whom we wanted to meet, were available on their seats. We then visited the Khadi Bhavan.

Returned to our guest house thereafter. Vandana gave us tea. Scientist Pamposh dropped by and we had a long chat. Dinner from Vandana which was lovely.

Slept earlier than normal.

Tailpiece.

Our dear Thampi sir, all of 85 years, passed into the mist of time this morning around a quarter past 8. Can never forget the new year celebrations of 2015 at the Somatheeram with him. After the evening, I’d forgotten my car keys there and he’d collected it to hand it over to me the next morning.

At Thiruvananthapuram.

Got up at 4, recited my prayers and went through the morning chores. Was ready by a half past 6, Kannan was available. We set off soon after, dropped off Rema and Karthika’s mom at the eastern entrance of the temple.

Reached Thrissur railway station half an hour before my train’s arrival. Had breakfast soon after boarding, chocolate around 11 and the banana at 12.

The train reached its destination by a quarter past 2, Anish picked me up in the Magic. Lunch, served by Girija and Sindhu as company.

Corrected two mail for our Delhi trip.

Off to Lekha’s appachi’s place. Sat with Mohan and Preeti for about half an hour reminiscing about Ammaavan and appachi.

Returned to the Foundation and headed for the Pallium to see Indirakkutty. She’s in a sad state. Sat with her for more than an hour.

Reached Maman’s place by a quarter past 8. A quiet and an early evening!

An alternate viewpoint (2).

...contd (2).

Machado was also one of the political architects of La Salida, the 2014 opposition campaign that called  for escalated protests, including guarimba tactics. Those weren't 'peaceful protests as the foreign press 

claimed; they were organised barricades meant to paralyse the country and force the government's fall.    Streets were blocked with burning trash and barbed wire, buses carrying workers were torched and peo-

ple suspected of being Chavista were beaten or killed. Even ambulances and doctors were attacked. 

Some Cuban medical brigades were nearly burned alive. Public buildings, food trucks and schools were

destroyed. Entire neighbourhoods were held hostage by fear  while opposition leaders like Machado

cheered from the side lines and called it "resistance".

She praises Trump's "decisive actions" against what she calls a "criminal enterprise", aligning herself

the same man who cages migrant children and tears families apart under ICE's watch while Venezuelan 

mothers search for their children disappeared by US migration policies.

Machado isn't a symbol of peace or progress. She is part of a global alliance of fascism, Zionism and

neoliberalism, an axis that justifies domination in the language of democracy and peace. In Venezuela,

that alliance has meant coups, sanctions and privatisation. In Gaza, it means genocide and the erasure 

of a people. The ideology is the same: a belief that some lives are disposable, that sovereignty is nego-

tiable and that violence can be sold as order.

If Henry Kissinger could win a Peace Prize, why not Maria Corina Machado? Maybe next year                they'll give one to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for "compassion under occupation". Every            time this award is handed to an architect of violence disguised as diplomacy, it spits in the face of            those who actually fight for peace : the Palestinian medics digging bodies from rubble, the jour-

nalists risking their lives in Gaza to document the truth and the humanitarian workers of the flotilla

sailing to break the siege and deliver aid to starving children in Gaza, with nothing but courage and

conviction. 

But real peace is not negotiated in boardrooms or awarded on stages. Real peace is built  by women      organising food networks during blockades, by Indigenous communities defending rivers from              extraction, by workers who refuse to be starved into obedience by Venezuelan mothers mobilising

to demand the return of children seized under US, ICE and migration policies and by nations that          choose sovereignty over servitude. That's the peace Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine and every nation 

of the Global South deserves.

....concluded.

Courtesy. Michelle Ellner

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the morning messages, switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the lamp in the puja room and opened up the house for the day. 

Lekha made our morning cuppa.

Walked on the road in front of The Quarterdeck and recited my prayers.

Bath followed by breakfast. Rema and Byja went, soon after.

Got reservation in the non-a/c chair car.

Did my packing. 

A quiet evening, yakkittiyakking.

An alternate viewpoint (1).

When Maria Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize, "Peace" has lost its meaning. 

I almost laughed at the absurdity. But I didn't, because there's nothing funny about rewarding someone whose politics have brought so much suffering. Anyone who knows what she stands for knows there's nothing remotely peaceful about her politics.

If this is what counts as "peace" in 2025, then the prize itself has lost every ounce of credibility. I'm Venezuelan-American and I know exactly what Machado represents.

She's the smiling face of Washington's regime-change machine, the polished spokesperson for sanctions, privatisation and foreign intervention dressed up as democracy.

Machado's politics are steeped in violence. She has called for foreign intervention, even appealing directly to Benjamin Netanyahu, the architect of Gaza's annihilation, to help "liberate" Venezuela with bombs under the banner of "freedom." She has demanded sanctions, that silent form of warfare whose effects - as studies in the Lancet and other journals have shown - have killed more people than war, cutting off medicine, food and energy to entire populations.

Machado has spent her entire political life promoting division, eroding Venezuela's sovereignty and denying its people the right to live with dignity.

This is who Maria Corina Machado really is :-

* She helped lead the 2002 coup that briefly overthrew a democratically elected president and signed 

   the Carmona Decree that erased the Constitution and dissolved every public institution overnight.

* She worked hand in hand with Washington to justify regime change, using her platform to demand         foreign military intervention to "liberate" Venezuela through force.

* She cheered on Donald Trump's threats of invasion and his naval deployments in the Caribbean, a

   show of force that risks igniting regional war under the pretext of "combating narcotrafficking."

   While Trump sent warships and froze assets, Machado stood ready to serve as his local proxy,

   promising to deliver Venezuelan sovereignty on a silver platter.

* She pushed for the US sanctions that strangled the economy, knowing exactly who would pay the

   price: the poor, the sick, the working class.

* She helped construct the so-called "interim government" a Washington backed puppet show by a             self-appointed "president" who looted Venezuela's resources abroad while children at home went

   hungry.

* She vows to reopen Venezuela's embassy in Jerusalem, aligning herself openly with the same

   apartheid state that bombs hospitals and calls it self defence.

* Now she wants to hand over the country's oil, water and infrastructure to private corporations. 

   This is the same recipe that made Latin America the laboratory of neoliberal misery in the 1990s.

....to be continued.

Courtesy. Michelle Ellner

Tailpiece.

Got up at a quarter past 4, sleep wasn't forthcoming. Switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the lamp in the puja room and opened up the house for the day.

Lekha made our morning cuppa.

Walked within the house due to the morning rain, recited my prayers.

Bath and breakfast. Worked on my laptop.

Rema and Byja arrived by a quarter past 11. A boisterous lunch!

Siesta.

The Asian Paint's technical team inspected the seepage on the roof. Remedial action will be taken from 05 Nov due to the rain and our forthcoming journeys.

Rema, Byja went for the 'darshan' in the evening.

A boisterous dinner followed by yakkitiyak. A late night.

   

Milestones.

Adieu Appachi 

Mrs Parukkutty Amma, Lekha's 92 year old appachi passed into the mist of time yesterday afternoon - around a quarter past 12 - at her residence in PTP Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram - due to old-age related illnesses. She's the wife of the late P Kesava Pillai, the chairman of KSEB during whose tenure the Idukki hydro-electric project was commissioned.

They have three sons who live with their families in Kerala.

She's the only sister, elder to six brothers - Lekha's dad was the second brother.

Saw her for the first time at our wedding on 16 May 1991 and was immediately impressed with her calm and efficient demeanour. She had a special liking for Lekha and me.

Adieu appachi! Our tears and prayers. We shan't forget you!!

Adieu Sasi

Commader KP Sasidharan passed into the mist of time around a half past 1, yesterday afternoon, at his residence at Nettoor, Maradu, Ernakulam. 67 year old Sasi leaves behind his wife, Chitra, Arvind and Anusuya. He's an alumni of the 52nd course, NDA.

My first tryst with Sasi was in Apr '91 when we were together at the DSSC, Wellington to do the 47th Staff Course. We got along well and we used to go for sailing on most Sundays, at the Pykara lake.

He was knowledgeable and was clear as to what he would do after leaving the IN. He'd the Master's ticket in shipping and acquired an MBA degree, as backups. We used to meet quite often either at his house or mine, on the Gorkha Hill, as Lekha and Chitra had also become good friends. His children, Arvind and Anusuya were fond of us! The two of us also used to be part of the same car pool - he owned a Fiat while I, a Standard Herald Cleopatra!

After the course, we used to meet occasionally as we were posted at different stations.

Can't believe that he's no more. 

Adieu Sasi! Can never forget those nice times that we'd spent together when you used to speak about your future plans. May Chitra and the children have the strength to tide over these difficult times.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the puja room lamp and opened up the house for the day.

Lekha had made the morning cuppa.

Walked on the road in front of the house and recited my prayers. Got ready soon after and was off to the LF College, next door, for the inauguration of its renovated library. The recent Vayalar Rama Varma award winner, E Santhosh Kumar was the chief guest. 

Skipped the lunch, went to the bank for the following :-

     * rendered my Life Certificate as part of the pension formalities

     * renewed my internet banking password

     * corrected the Bhim App anomalies

     * collected my updated passbooks

Meanwhile, Sukesan had collected my renewed driving licence.

A quiet evening.

  

Intense search operations on.

Two para commandos of the Army have gone missing since the 7th in the dense Gadool forest area of Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir during an anti-militancy operation.

The   communication with the two commandos was lost two days back. Repeated attempts to contact them on their handsets and track their movement through GPS have proved unsuccessful. They must have got separated from their team amid challenging terrain and poor visibility in view of inclement weather from the last few days.

A massive search and rescue operation has been launched jointly by the Army, police and CRPF men in the forest area, involving hundreds of security personnel to comb every inch of the forest area. They are also being assisted by sniffer dogs. Additionally, choppers and drones have also been deployed. The dense forest area is difficult terrain and connects south Kashmir with Kishtwar and Doda districts of Jammu region.

The Gadool forest area had witnessed one of the deadliest militant attacks in Sep 2023 which resulted in the deaths of Col Manpreet Singh, CO, 19 RR, Major Ashish Dhonchak, DySP of J&K Police Humayun Bhat and army jawan Pradeep Kumar.

My take

Have the militants changed tactics by shifting to jungle warfare?

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the puja room lamp and opened up the house for the day.

Lekha made our morning cuppa, walked on the road in front of our house, recited my prayers. Bath followed by breakfast. Worked on my laptop.

Lekha's appachi, Ammini Amma - all of 93 years - passed into the mist of time this afternoon, around 1200 hrs. 

Our visit to Dr Shenoy tomorrow has been rescheduled to Tuesday.

Have been invited to the inauguration of the renovated library of the LF College tomorrow at 1000 hrs along with Santhosh Kumar, the winner of this year's Vayalar Rama Varma award for his novel, "Thapomayiyude Achan".

A quiet evening.

Contronyms.

Contronyms (also called Janus words or auto-antonyms) are words that have two opposite meanings - depending on the context. In short, a contronym is its own opposite!

  1. Sanction. To officially allow or to punish for breaking a rule.

  2. Bound. Heading toward a destination or restricted from moving.

  3. Dust. To remove dirt or to cover with fine particles.

  4. Screen. To display something (like a movie) or to hide it from sight.

  5. Weather. To survive or endure or to be worn down over time.

  6. Left. To go away or to remain behind.

  7. Trim. To decorate or make neat or to cut off excess parts.

  8. Seed. To plant seeds or to remove them from a fruit.

  9. Clip. To attach firmly or to cut short.

10. Oversight. Careful supervision or failure to notice something.

11. Dusting. The act of cleaning or applying fine powder.

12. Off. Not operating (the light is off) or activated (the alarm went off).

13. Flog. To promote enthusiastically or to criticise severely.

14. Apology. A statement of regret or a justification for one's actions.

15. Strike. To hit forcefully or to miss completely (in baseball).

16. Fast. Moving quickly or firmly fixed in place.

17. Lease. To give something for rent or to rent it from someone.

18. Weathered. Strengthened by experience or damaged by exposure.

19. Pop. To appear suddenly or to vanish quickly.

20. Hold up. To support or lift or to cause delay or obstruction.

My take.

Interesting information.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all my morning messages, switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the puja room lamp and opened up the house for the day.

Lekha made our morning cuppa.

Carried out the usual Wednesday 'aarathi' of the house, walked on the road in front of the house and recited my prayers.

Bath, followed by breakfast of idlis and sambar.

Washing machinex of bed linen.

Worked on my laptop till lunch time.

Lunch; watched television followed by siesta.

A quiet evening.