I'm a Jonah for some!

We're just back from a party that was celebrating the 28th day of a new born baby. She's been christened 'Atulya' and she's simply cute and adorable. I wish the li'l one a wonderful future with all her wishes coming true as the years progress.

Atulya is the granddaughter of a friend of mine who's a classmate from school. We've been in touch for quite a while thanks to a chance meeting at Bombay about 10 years back and ever since, we'd effectively made up for lost time with at least once a week of 'hi and bye' conversations. My friend and his good lady used to feel let down if I'd not contacted them and would insist on knowing the reasons for my slip up. Since they're successful professionals in the civvy street, I surmised that it was their genuine need to be friends with us that made them feel possessive about our relationship and frankly, I basked in that glory(?)

However, all that changed sometime around the month of September last year. The communication had become infrequent and my own efforts at rekindling it were not quite successful. Since I got busy with my movement away from Delhi and other connected events, I did not pursue it further. So, it was a pleasant surprise when we got the invite for the celebration and their insistence that we should attend, backed up by numerous telephone calls.

And weren't they thrilled to see us, shown by their genuine expressions throughout the get together. During the course of our conversation and to my persistent queries, my friend spelt out the reason for their sudden hibernation. They'd decided - on their elders' advice - that we should be kept out of the loop of the impending childbirth as we'd no biological children and would not take kindly to that bit of news(out of jealousy, perhaps or a question of sour grapes - they didn't spell that out but left it to our imagination!). I've told in this forum earlier that I've the trappings of a good script writer and thus, mustering all the reserves of imagination in me, I've been asking myself since then as to why I or Lekha should feel strongly against the growing family tree of the others! The answer still beats me!!

So, it was with a deep sense of hurt, a badly bruised ego and bewilderment at people's perceptions that I'd returned from the party. My friend and family will be leaving for their foreign destination this weekend and have promised to restore our weekly communication from now on.

Sadly, I seem to have lost the inclination!

The end justifies the means - no way!

In school, during my final years and while at the NDA, I'd always put in my thought on this topic, rather vehemently, during the heated debating competitions. The argument was simple, if one achieves an end through unscrupulous means, the conscience - if one has it, that is - can never ever accept it! One may hoodwink every other for any amount of time but kidding one's conscience - no way!!

I'm referring to this theory of mine against the backdrop of the World Athletic Championship currently being held at Daegu in South Korea. And the specific event is the men's 100 mts. The reigning champion and the strong favourite, Usain Bolt, was out of the reckoning due to a false start. It has come to light that he was distracted by a fellow runner, adjacent to him(who went on to win the crown, I'm not quite sure!) resulting in the false start and the subsequent disqualification.

The winner might have got his 15 minutes of fame but at what cost? Can his conscience ever get over the guilt of having achieved something that wasn't rightfully his? Never!

Tailpiece.

Since I've quoted an athletic example, I'd like to share with you a very humorous incident from an athletic field, years back from school. The annual athletic meet of my school was on in full swing and the event was the 100 mts(seniors) where Dalbir Singh Chauhan(of class X belonging to the Ashoka House. I was from Prasad) was the hot favourite and the one tipped to win. The Ashoka House Master - a well meaning Maharashtrian gentleman - was the official timekeeper and hence stationed smack on the finishing line. As the race got off on predictable lines, so excited was the House Master that he was seen to be jumping with joy at Dalbir's performance and totally absorbed with the race like the rest of us.

The race was over and Dalbir had romped in first. He, naturally wanted to see his timing when the timekeeper realised that he'd unwittingly squeezed the stopwatch shut at 7.3 seconds at the height of his excitement. Unfazed, he restarted the watch and let it run to over 11 seconds saying that the then world 100 mts' timing was 9.9 seconds and Dalbir did not have the world class facilities to back him up, in the circumstances! In other words, it was his considered opinion that the timing had to be over 11 seconds! Dalbir, to put it bluntly, was crestfallen!!

I can still see Dalbir's fallen jaw at the ridiculous argument put forth by his House Master.

Where's the doubt?

I'm totally aghast at the politics being played out by Karunanidhi and his cohorts in clamouring for the release of the murderers of Rajiv Gandhi. Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan - all part of the heinous crime - have lost their plea for clemency from the President of India and are to hang on the 9th of next month.

While the 'apologists for pardon' concede that the three'd indeed done a dastardly crime, their recommendations are based on the larger sentiments of the Tamilians - wonder what that means? The guilty needs to be punished and there can be no soft approach. One can never forget the fact that Karunanidhi, the then CM of Tamilnadu, had refused to be part of the reception formalities accorded to the Indian Peace Keeping Forces returning from Sri Lanka in 1989. It seriously made one wonder, then, as to where this guy's loyalty lay!

How can one be so indifferent to the country's armed forces? Again, how can the same person be pleading the case of wrongdoers, who'd brutally snubbed the life of a charismatic leader? Would he've done so if he'd lost someone from his own kith and kin? And the timing is most important! Many of his close relations and partymen have been entangled in cases of corruption of unimaginable and staggering proportions!! The public attention and intense media scrutiny need to be deflected and hence this act.

A plain case of double standards!

Anna, the incredible!

Thank god the ordeal is finally over - he'd fasted for 288 hrs, on our behalf, to usher in a robust 'Janlokpal bill' to root out corruption that has seeped into every level of our society! I'd kept my fingers crossed about his health taking a turn for the worse because it was evident that he was punishing his system.

What makes people like Anna Hazare do heroic deeds like these with the least concern for their safety and well being? I suppose, in Anna's case, it's his commitment to the wellness of his countrymen which he's willing to attain even at the cost of his own life. A militaryman - who'd seen action in the Indo-Pak conflict of 1965 - he'd disciplined himself to attain the halo that's his today and rightfully, that too!

May god give him the requisite strength to bring about the change that the entire country seems to be yearning for. And as I'd said earlier, I'm simply glad that he has called off his fast and recoups his health at the earliest.

Thank you Anna for taking up the cause on our behalf. Thanks indeed!!

God's wonderful creation - dog!

I was touched by the heartbreaking image of the Labrador 'Hawkeye' lying sad beside his US Navy SEAL master, Jon Tumlinson's coffin. Incidentally, Tumlinson was one of the 38 killed when a helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan early this month.

I was reminded of Bruno, our pet Dobermann who used to be a tremendous source of joy for Lekha and me. Everytime, we went out of the house and returned, his welcome was unique, intense and spontaneous!

Dogs are definitely man's greatest friends!!

Tailpiece.

And a mother's prayer that I want to share,
"Well, your bag is packed
Your food is in the bag.
The shirt is tucked in
And I don't think it'll stay for long
But that's all right.
The teacher had better know that we tried.
It's time to get over there
And let the world know you've arrived".

A fond meeting!

During my recent trip to Madras, apart from the usual interactions with friends while fulfilling the parameters of official work, I'd the pleasure of spending a memorable couple of hours with the 86 year old Laila Samson, wife of the late Admiral Samson.

She's chirpy, so full of life and I must confess that I look forward to spending time with her. From the moment I enter her house, she pampers me and insists upon looking after me in her own inimitable manner reminding me of the wonderful times that I've spent with her and the Admiral at their Bandra home, years earlier! Her girlish delight in listening to as well as narrating anecdotes and the way she breaks into peels of laughter makes her charming company, always and everytime. I return rejuvenated and contended in that I've spent quality time with someone whom I'm fond of and mind you, every moment spent with her is education in the true sense.

Ma'am here's praying to God that he'd better be with you always and bless you with good health and happiness. Take care!

When distances and time didn't matter.

1. A wonderful journey.

I was to catch the early morning flight to Madras and had to kick off for the airport at 5 AM. My co-passengers were Varghese and Rattan Yadav. On passage, I'd the privilege of getting to know the two of them closely as they opened up about their personal details. Varghese had undergone a messy divorce, thanks to an overbearing mother-in-law but is now contended in his second marriage and to put it in his own words, their's is a family of his child, her child and their children. Rattan, on the other hand, was a contended man on his personal front with two young children!

2. My 'Rajnikant'.

On fetching up at Madras, I was greeted by an enthusiastic youngster 'Rajanikant' who was going to be my 'saarthi' for the duration of my stay out here and insisted on my addressing him as 'Rajani'. Since the main arterial road was jammed with vehicles, he took me on a circuitous route along the Mahabalipuram road which resulted in a 'Madras darshan' for me!

Thanks Rajani, you really made my day!