Adieu John Kenneth Galbraith

The famous economist and liberal John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15 1908 - April 29 2006) is no more. He was U.S. Ambassador to India from 1961 to 1963. He was also a gifted writer. It is impossible that one reads him and does not smile as he had a fantastic sense of humour. According to his obituary in CBC Kennedy enjoyed reading his writing so much that he insisted on seeing all cables he sent from India including those which had been sent to other officials. He was famous for his pithy quotes and sense of humour, take his attempt to describe trickle down economics: "If you feed enough oats to the horse, some will pass through to feed the sparrows".
Former Professor at Harvard and Princeton he is also well known for the many books he wrote. He is one of the few Americans who continued to be extremely popular in India. Maybe it was because of his Canadian birth. Call it the Commonwealth effect!! One of the articles he had co-authored along with Mohinder Singh Randhawa was on Indian Paintings.
For more detailed information on one of towering figures of the twentieth century do take a look at the Wikipedia entry on him.
I end my salaam with a few quotes from one of America's best known liberals:
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable."
"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."

Shankar Laxman of Mhow - Indian hockey's forgotten hero is no more

'Laxman was among the game's greatest. He was an epitome of courage and a role-model for others of his ilk. Unfazed by any situation, he had the ability to defuse any crisis. His team-mates were at a loss to know how his pads grew broader and broader as the contest wore on.' - Charles Cornelius , former Indian hockey player.

"No chest guards and pads in those days, just the pads and the stick"- Harbinder Singh, former Indian hockey player, quoted in an article by K Arumugam, Hindustan Times, May 2, 2006.

"...for Laxman, the ball was the size of a football. It was his afternoon of glory and fame" - Hockey Circle, Australian Hockey Magazine, referring to Laxman's performance against Pakistan in the hockey final of the 1964 Olympics, as quoted by K Arumugam in an article in the Hindustan Times, May 2, 2006.

Shankar Laxman - Indian hockey hero, goalkeeper and captain of the Indian hockey team in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics is no more. He died yesterday Saturday, 29 April 2006, of a heart attack at Mhow, the Cantonment town in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh. He had not been keeping well for quiet some time. A month or so ago people were shocked to learn that he was suffering from gangrene in one leg. He had got his toenails removed surgically. Doctors suggested amputation. He and his family members refused. They opted for alternative therapy. He was going to Ramesh Parmar, former cricketer and a healer who uses traditional herbal remedies. When I asked somebody who knew Laxman I was told that Dada, as he was known locally, was improving. Member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia had promised him all help when he had come to Indore to attend the One Day International cricket Match against England on April 15. It was a shock to learn that he was no more. It was strange to learn about the death of someone who lived not far away by seeing a flash on TV from a New Delhi based news channel's studio a few hundred miles away.

I had been hearing of Shankar Laxman since my childhood and was always in awe of him. A fortnight ago I had visited his house in the market place of Mhow and was told that he had gone to get herbal medicine applied on his leg. I was asked to come later. I could never go. Perhaps I was destined not to meet him.

Shankar Laxman was born on July 7, 1933 in Mhow. He was a member of the Olympic gold medal winning hockey team in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The other medals he won include the 1958 Asian Games gold medal (Tokyo), 1960 Olympics silver medal (Rome), 1964 Olympics gold medal (Tokyo) and the 1966 Asian Game Gold medal (Bangkok). He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1965 and the Padmashri in 1967. He was dropped from the Indian hockey team to the Mexico Olympics of 1968 and the decline of Indian hockey also began with that tournament. His opponents called him the Rock of Gibraltar. According to the manager of the silver medal winning Pakistani team of the '64 Tokyo Olympics Shankar Laxman was the sole obstacle between the Pakistani team and the gold medal. According to an article titled There cannot be another like him by K Arumugam in the Hindustan Times dated May 2 ,2006 Laxman was the first goalkeeper captain in the world. Arumugam mentions his stunning record. In three Olympic finals against Pakistan he conceded just one goal and in three Asian Games finals he conceded two goals. That makes it six matches and three goals. I also remember Indore's Mir Ranjan Negi, whose father was a schoolteacher in Central School Mhow. Negi was the goalkeeper of the Indian hockey team in the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games and he had conceded something like seven goals in that match against Pakistan.

Laxman had joined the Indian Army and was in the Maratha Light Infantry's 5th Battalion. He had retired from the Army as an honorary captain. As luck would have it one of the battalions posted in Mhow now is the 26th battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry- his funeral was conducted with military honours by this battalion. It was an emotional experience not only for the townspeople of Mhow but also for the Army. The Maratha Light Infantry could say goodbye to one of its most illustrious sons.

He had begun his sports career as a footballer. According to an obituary report in the Indore edition of the Free Press he was the captain of the football team of a village named Kodaria which is part of Mhow. It was only after he joined the Army that he switched over to hockey. The rest, as they say, is history. He had founded a club named Heroes Club in Mhow to popularise hockey. Young Brothers, Mhow's best football club, also benefited from his expertise. His expert comments given during the 1982 Hockey World Cup in Bombay (Mumbai) were much appreciated.

Laxman lived a quiet retired life in Mhow. He even ran a small rationshop to make both ends meet. The IHF and officialdom may have ignored him but he was loved by the people of this small town who were very proud of him and loved him dearly. For them, he was and will always remain one of the few genuine heroes that their small town has produced.
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Also see: Used and Abused - The Indian Goalkeeper by Sundeep Misra in Indianhockey.com, Sept 27, 1999

Evan's Song a day - for music lovers

Found this site while doing a google search for free downloads. Evan's Song A Day is an interesting site. Let me quote from the profile "Evan's Song A Day is exactly what it sounds like: Every weekday, Evan posts a downloadable song and writes about it. You'll find a healthy mix of new and classic tracks here. " Well, what are you waiting for? Click here and enjoy.

p.s. Evan's blogs also has links to some great blogs and readings on music.

Music lovers can also read the article
Top 5: The best of the music blogs by Julian McBrowne in about.com

Adieu Eachara Warrier brave hero and brave father

It is difficult to recognise true heroes amongst us. Prof. Eachara Warrier was one such person. This professor of Hindi from Kerala shook the conscience of the nation in 1977 when he took the help of the judiciary to try to find out what happened to his son Rajan, an engineering student from REC Calicut, who was picked up by the Kerala police. These were the dark days of the Emergency (1975-77) and it is said that Rajan had antagonised a politician by mocking him during a college function. What happened next is straight out of a nightmare. Rajan vanished. There were stories and rumours of torture and execution and secret cremation. His disappearance was a weapon to terrorise Kerala. Prof. Warrier continued to search for his son. He was told that there was no hope. But he refused to give up. The judiciary came to his help. The Rajan Case, as it is still known today, is perhaps the first human rights case which shook India. A court ruling forced K.Karunakaran to resign the chief ministership of Kerala. Inspite of all his efforts Prof. Warrier never saw the guilty being punished. It was as if everybody knew what happened but each one of us was too scared to talk about it. He even wrote a book titled Memories of a Father. The director Shaji Karun paid his tribute to Warrier when he made his debut film Piravi. It is about a father's search for his son who has vanished. A very moving film in which the father's character was palyed by the late Premji. A role which won him the national award for best acting. I remember meeting one of Premji's sons, an Army Colonel, some years ago. The details he gave me about Premji's life made me realise that not only did Premji play the role of a hero on celluloid he was a hero in real life too as he had defied many social conventions. It was also interesting meeting Sunny Joseph, who was Shaji's cameraman for Piravi, at the FTII Pune in 1991 and listening to him talk about Shaji's work with reference to this film. I also happened to once meet the son of a cop whose colleagues were those accused of having arrested and possibly killed Rajan. It gave me goosebumps listening to the story as told by a policeman's son. There was always unflinching admiration for Professor Warrier and the way he continued to fight undaunted by the pressures on him. I never met him during my infrequent visits to Kerala though I wanted to. But I was in awe of him. Very few people have the strength to take on the state and its apparatus.The 86 year old Professor Warrier may be no more but the way he fought will continue to inspire future generations.

I also read about the sad death of Ajit Lall, the father of the slain model Jessica Lall. Jessica Lall's mother died soon after her murder. Now her sister Sabrina who is spearheading the campaign for justice is the sole person left behind in this unfortunate family. But she fights on bravely. And it is her fight which has inspired Geetanjali Mattoo's father to also continue to fight for his daughter who was allegedly raped and killed by the son of a senior police official. The accused was reluctantly set free by a court becuase th prosecution is accused of having botched up the case. We also have the case of the late Nitish Katara's mother fighting to seek justice for her son who was murdered by the son of a politician. This accused person is also an accused in the Jessica case. A sad connection between two extremely sad and tragic cases.


A brief description of Shaji's film Piravi in cinemaof malayalam.net
Rajeev Srinivasan's article in rediff paying tribute to Prof. Warrier

Royal Mess

Son: Papa, papa, what is the meaning of the phrase 'royal mess'?

Father: When things are really screwed up we call it a royal mess son.

Son: As is happening in Nepal papa?

Father: I wish I knew son.

A room of her own.... Short Story

Another attempt at writing fiction. A short story titled A room of her own. Posted in Sulekha.com as a blog entry. Do take a look folks. And as usual, bouquets and brickbats expected.

Here are a few more:

(1) Pissing on the lawn

(2) The hunter and the hunted

(3) A birthday present from Papa

(4) The last day of leave

(5) The debate

(6) No medals for me...

Are scruffy people more eco-friendly?

During the sixties and seventies the scruffy look was the in-thing in the west. Prosperous young Indians also mimiced what they saw in movies and magazines. But these were limited to the westernized segment of society. Those who were affluent and could afford to cock a snook at convenional beliefs. Those studying in St. Stephens Delhi or St. Xavier's Mumbai. Those who knew what Woodstock was all about. Thanks to satellite television and the internet torn and faded jeans aren't the prerogative of kids from the affluent parts of society. Almost everyone wears them. But one can make out the torn and faded jeans which the rich wear from those which the middle class or the lower classes wear. The label says it all. Levis, Lees and Wranglers for the brat pack and desi brands for the Buntys and Bablis.

As the French saying goes, 'The more the world changes the more it remains the same'. Today we have milions of educated people who know what is harmful for the environment and what is not and who still end up committing acts of ecological sacrilege. Flying down to London for some shopping, using cars driven by fossil fuels for trivial tasks, maintaining lifestyles which depelte the earth of its scarce resources. I think it was John Lennon who had once said, "Never trust anyone who is above thirty, married and wears a suit." But nowadays even the eco-warriors wear suits shave daily, and use deos. In the cold countries of the west till a few decades ago most people would bathe once a week and would wear the same set of clothes for days on end. Even in India if I think of places like Kerala where people bathed twice a day and changed their clothes twice a day the lifestyle was still simple. One may have changed one's clothes twice daily, but it wasn't at all necessary that one ironed them unless one ws going for a formal occasion. If we were to take an Indian who wears an unironed tee shirt at home, we are looking at a person who is not consuming a few score units of electricity per year by this simple act. Multiply that by, say, four hundred million middle class Indians and the saving is awesome. A small act multiplied millions of times becomes a great act. Makes sense doesn't it?

Today television commercials motivate us to wear shirts which are whiter than white. The amount of detergents which must be consumed to attain this must be taking its toll on the environment. I guess nature would applaud if we avoided wearing white shirts. I remember seeing a British eco-warrior being interviewed on BBC television. He said that he has never got a suit stitched. According to him most of his friends have, on an average, something like 50 suits. Each suit costs an average of 500 pound sterlings. That comes to 25,000 pounds sterling. According to him this is a huge amount and if invested properly in a third world country it can make a serious difference in the quality of peoples' lives. What he said does make sense 25,000 pounds would come to around 1.75 million Indian rupees! And that is indeed a lot of money. And if used propery it can bring about a positive change in people's lives. This reminds me of a photograph I saw in the book titled The Best of Life, a rather scruffy looking Bob Dylan is quoted as asking, "Do you mean to say that all these people have come here to see me look clean?"

In a country like India the scruffy look may make others mistakenly think that one is not sufficiently well off. And that is the biggest insult for an Indian. But all over the world the affluent can convey the fact they are what they are even if they are not dressing as per expectations. In India we hae also seen the phenomenon of followers of different faiths and religions who live simply and do not leave much of a carbon footprint. Sackcloth and ashes is something we are used to seeing. But for many these acts of simplicity become rituals and they practice it without undersanding the significance. At the end of it all I would say that there aren't any answers which will satisfy everyone but one can take measures which contribute a drop here and a drop there.One can attain an inner composure which gives one the strength to cock a snook at conventions if one knows that by doing so one is making the earth greener and healthier. Occasionally wear that old shirt you always wanted to and avoid using the car every now and then and when you do these simple things take pride in the good you are doing. One must count the good that one is doing without getting a swollen head and without becoming arrogant.
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The article from BBC News which inspired this blog entry: Scruffy is the new green.
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Trying my hand at a short story.

I decided to try my hand at writing a short story on a theme which is common to all national capitals. Won't say much about it as that may spoil the fun. Here is what I rattled off on my keyboard and then uploaded. FWIW. Brickbats expected.
p.s. The title is The Hunter and the hunted.

Many new species discovered near Mount Everest.

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility - Rachel Carson author of Silent Spring.

Scientists from Conservation International and Disney's Animal Kingdom went on a two month scientific expedition in the Tibetan "Sacred Lands". These areas comprise the mountains of southwest China and Nepal. It also includes the "shadow" areas of Mount Everest. Their finds are extremely fascinating. These include: Giant hornets known locally as "Yak killers", a new species of grasshoppers in which the males ride piggy-back on the females, jumping "yeti" mice, Baby blue-faced blue golden monkeys, hamster like pikas that eat their own excreta for the nutrients in them, ten new species of ants, eight new insect species and a couple of new frog species. "Wow!" Is all I can say. Every now and then we keep hearing or reading depressing news from the world of nature, so every time we get good news we must celebrate. Let us hope that these newly discovered species stay safe from the most dangerous species on earth i.e. Homo Sapiens.
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Click here to read the report in LiveScience.com

Chandralekha - from CSW to teaching children

I read the story of Chandralekha the CSW turned teacher cum motivator in the Making a Difference column of Outlook - the popular Indian weekly. She is indeed a brave woman. To have been a CSW for twenty years and then beome a teacher and enrich the lives of others and to ensure that no more daughters of her village beome CSWs. To help the women of her village to form self help groups. Hats off to this brave woman. Read the full story here.

A Shakespeare play in seven languages

Tim Supple is directing the bard's A Midsummer Night's Dream in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi and Sinhalese. Check out this entry in my blog on sulekha.

The Indian Novel can survive without diasporic writers says Siddharth Shanghvi

The Indian Novel can survive without diasporic writers says Siddharth Shanghvi :
Check out this entry on my blog in sulekha.

Senior U.S. Govt. Official arrested for cyber-seduction

When Brian J Doyle,55, the Deputy Press Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security used the Internet and befriended what he thought was a teenage girl he did not know that he was heading for trouble. He was arrested on tuesday for using a computer to seduce a child and for transmitting harmful material to a minor. The teenager was actually an undercover officer and Doyle incriminated himself over a period of time through his words and suggestions. What is impressive here is the manner in which law enforcement agencies in the U.S. keep checking chat rooms for perverts who are looking for easy prey. Read the full report here.

Zhao Jing, Chinese journalist, hates Microsoft.

"It is so hard to be a free Chinese person. Damn Great Wall, damn Microsoft." - Zhao Jing. A message posed on his new blog. His blog on Microsoft's MSN Spaces service was shut down after Microsoft bowed to pressure from the Chinese authorities.
Article in the Sydney Morning Herald about how Chinese bloggers are giving a tough time to web censors there.
Article in the New York Times.

Harrison Ford hates the Internet

"Any kind of rubbish goes on the internet and it can have a f**king life of its own." - Harrison Ford.
And here is the report.

The 2006 Lulu Blooker prize.

What is a blook? From what I have read I gather it is a book which is based on a blog or a website. And Lulu is a firm which publishes blooks. Well, the results of the 2006 Lulu Blooker prizes (the first time these prizes are being awarded) are out and the winners are:
1. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell in the overall as well as non-fiction category.
Julie is an American cook and her blook is about her adventures in the kitchen.
2. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest in the fiction category.
3. Totally Boned by Zach Miller in the Comics category.
There were 89 entries this year including Belle de Jour who blogged about life as a prostitute and one by Russell Davies on "greasy spoon cafes". This is the report on the contest in BBC News.
The judges this year were author and activist Cory Doctorow , Robin Miller the editor-in-chief of OSTG - the online tech news publisher and Paul Jones the editor of ibiblio, the collection of collections.

Facing Water Shortages

As summer approaches so do water shortages. We in India have become used to this. I remember reading about a member of Parliament from the state of Bihar saying that everytime he flushed his toilet he remembered how difficult it was for the women in his constituency to collect the same amount of water. How many of us think twice before pouring a bucket of clean water into the WC when we flush it? I remember reading about a household in the U.S.A which had the following sign pasted above all the WCs in the house:"If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown flush it down." Can make one grimace. But it does make a lot of eco-sense. In this context it is important to inculcate some self discipline to maximise the use of what little water we have. I happened to read in a website that many parts of England are reeling under a draught and the water companies there have called upon people to impose self discipline and adopt measures which will help them maximise the use of each drop. A website named beatingthedraught has suggested some simple measures which can be useful for people everywhere. These include:
Turning the tap off while brushing teeth, taking showers instead of bathing in bath tubs - in India we can modify that to taking baths from water in a bucket instead of using the shower, fitting water saving devices in the cisterns of toilets, cleaning vegetables in a bowl instead of under a running tap, using the washing machine only when it is full, and using dishwashers only when they are full. The site also suggested washing cars with a bucket of water instead of a hose and using watering cans in gardens instead of using hoses. The upper middle class in India has most of the labour saving devices mentioned above and these suggestions could well apply to them also. Water conservation measures make much more sense in India as a large proportion of our population does not get sufficient water for itself. And our ever increasing population makes the scarcity of water even more acute. Jal hi jeevan hai (Water is life) goes a Hindi saying. How true.

Onions thrown at Union Agriculture Minister

A headline I saw in NDTV tells me that farmers in Nashik threw onions at Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar when he went there to address a meeting. The farmers are angry as the price of onions has plumetted from around Rs.400-500 per quintal (100kgs.) to Rs. 150 per quintal. Some farmers have even committed suicide because of their inability to bear the loss. We are so used to the death by suicide of farmers in Maharashtra and Andhra that it has ceased to affect us. Neither onions nor poverty can bring tears to our eyes. Not even crocodile tears.