Purely random things

Purely random things

Below are 2 groups of vegetables/ spices etc. Can someone tell me what is common or different about the 2 groups ? Please leave your answers in comments

1. Potato, tomato, green chillies, cauliflower, cabbage, apple, onion, garlic
2. Sugarcane, karela/ bitter gourd, mango, pepper, banana,  ginger, tamarind, gooseberry/ amla.

When taking a flight do you feel drowsy for a few minutes just after take –off ? I do and so do a lot of people whom I have asked this . The reason is that shortly after take off , the plane makes a very rapid ascent. This drains the blood from the brain and towards the lower part of the body causing a very short period of  black-out or unconsciousness. As the plane levels off (usually 25 to 30 thousand feet) , normal blood flow resumes to the brain and we wake up. Fighter pilots and astronauts face the same problem but in a much more severe degree.

The english media in India refers to the BJP and its associated  groups (RSS , VHP etc) as Saffron parties. The reference to the colour is taken from the Hindutva cause and the   colour saffron which is considered to be the holy colour for Hindus. This is incorrect or at least inexact. The holy colour of Hinduism is known as “Bhagwa” (derived from Bhagwan) and is closer to brick red than saffron. If you see  pictures from the Kumbh Mela , you can see a lot of sadhus in this Bhagwa colour. Saffron is considered auspicious in hindusim but it is not the holy colour.

We have all heard of the Bhagwad Geeta. Ever wondered what this word Bhagwad means ? It’s made of 2 parts Bhag (from Bhagwan) and Vad ("said" . Vad is the Sanskrit root for the verb “to say” ).. So the literal translation of Bhagwad Geeta is the Song that the Lord (Krishna )  sang. In some English translations one can sometimes see the phrase “The Celestial Song” .

Cause and effect: No sneezing matter !

Cause and effect: No sneezing matter

I am one of nature’s logical types. I have a strong belief that anything that happens has a cause, a reason , a logic behind it. And sometimes it is funny.

As a part of my MBA I had to do a summer internship in a different city. I was staying in a hostel which was  a very old bungalow. It had a number of rooms, large and small and a huge drawing room. The doors were at least 7 feet high. It was a typical colonial/ Raj era bungalow, some of which still survive with the railways and the army.

 I shared my room with another MBA student from  a local school. Since he was a local , he had many friends and would return very late at night and go straight to bed. Now in those days there were no mosquito coils and repellants. Each bed was provided with a mosquito net.

After a few days, I noticed a peculiar routine with my room mate, Ramesh. He would come late, quickly change into night clothes and go to bed. The bed would creak a bit as he got in and lay down. After about a minute he would sneeze twice and then go off to sleep. This was an unfailing routine. Always 2 sneezes, not one or three. Always a minute or so after he got into bed. Needless to say, it was very intriguing.

So one weekend I set about trying to solve this mystery of the double sneeze and it did not take long. The mosquito net over Ramesh’s bed had acquired a lot of dust. As he got into bed , the bed got a little jolted and some of this fine dust rained down on Ramesh. This dust spray caused him to sneeze. Once he was already in bed no more jolting , no more dust spray and no more sneezing. That in any case was my deduction.

Now how does one confirm a deduction ? I this case I did it by the inverse route. I took out the mosquito net and dusted it thoroughly and I put it back. That night Ramesh came late as usual and immediately went to bed. But no sneezing !! Not even one. Voila !!

And the same thing happened on subsequent nights… no sneezing !! So after a week of the no-sneeze period I asked Ramesh if he had noticed that he had stopped sneezing. He had not noticed but when I asked him he agreed that he had indeed stopped. I then explained the cause-effect scenario to him.

The amazing Swiss

The amazing Swiss

I spent a few months in Geneva some years back. Among the lesser known facts about the Swiss and Switzerland.
The principal social concepts are cleanliness, neatness and order. Switzerland is squeaky clean ..much cleaner than neighboring Germany or France. Most of this adherence to cleanliness and order is self-regulated.
You will rarely find littering anywhere .. be it city or countryside. Residential areas follow strict waste segregation with as many as 5 categories of waste.. all wonderfully colour coded. In every office you will find a box where people drop used batteries (dry cells/ flashlight batteries). The Swiss claim that they re-cycle 70 % of batteries… and I utterly believe them.
The Swiss love their quietness. Windows in Swiss houses have “shutters” mostly in steel ..in addition to the normal glass windows. These are called “Store” in Switzerland and are like the rolling steel shutters we see for shops in India. Some may be hand cranked and some motorized. Come 10 pm , by some unwritten but inviolable law, millions of windows across all Swiss homes get Store-d. After that no loud music or talking. Most apartment complexes also advise you not to run the washing machine after 8 pm , in order to not disturb the neighbors. If you hear anyone talking loudly on the mobile phone, you can be sure it will NOT be a Swiss citizen.
Dogs: In keeping with the Swiss social concepts, dogs in Switzerland do not bark. They are trained to be non-barking . If you have a dog that barks and do not send it to an obedience school, the neighbors are most likely to complain to the civic authorities who will then fine you and force you to send the dog to an obedience school. Of course , in true Swiss fashion, an obedience school has to be certified by the government and the dog-trainers have to receive a diploma recognized by the government. Trains allow small dogs free and for half-fare for larger dogs.
Nuclear shelters: Swiss law requires that all residential building should have nuclear shelters. Buildings that did not have shelters when the law was passed are required to contribute to building community shelters. Typically the shelters are in the basement of houses and apartment complexes. In many cases the basement also has the apartment’s common washing machine and clothes drying lines (no where in Switzerland will you see laundry hung out to dry in public view.) Now here is the clincher. In the event of a nuclear attack , while the rest of the world will be getting fried, the Swiss will be walking around in clean, freshly laundered clothes !!
Neutrality.The principal of political neutrality , especially in case of wars , is enshrined in the Swiss constitution. It has served the Swiss well. They managed to stay out of the 2 world wars and also gained handsomely with lot of money (legal and illegal) flowing into Swiss banks. Switzerland is one of the very few countries which still requires 2 years of compulsory military service for all adult males above 18… and then one month every alternate year till the age of 40. The one months service is paid for by the employer. There s a joke going around. What is the standard issue weapon for the Swiss Army ..? The Swiss Knife !
For many years Switzerland did not join the Schengen scheme (an alliance of 20 plus European countries that allows free movement of people on a single visa) . Then in 2008 or so the Swiss joined Schengen. Ever since there have been complaints of rising crime rates across the country, especially theft and burglary. It has been attributed to the people coming in from east European countries like Poland and Romania. And the Swiss police have no experience in dealing with crimes. All they had been doing till 2008 was managing traffic !!

IPL 2013 and the Theatre of the Absurd

IPL and the Theatre of the Absurd

Mr Tawde of BJP in Mumbai has opposed the holding of matches in Pune and Mumbai. He says that since the state is currently facing the worst draught in 30 years, the use of water to maintain the pitch/ ground is wasteful.

He has a point, but coming from the MLA of a party whose President Mr Gadkari was recently exposed in a series of murky deals, some of them allegedly involving illegal exploitation of community water resources, it looks like a political stunt to get brownie points.

The Congress and NCP which are joint partners in the ruling coalition have predictably come with a response. They say that the grounds have to be anyway maintained (which is true) and that Mumbai and Pune have no water shortage, which is also true. But there is a problem here. Mumbai and Pune indeed have no water shortage.


What is not widely known however is that water for these 2 cities is piped in from dams built in surrounding areas. These dams have displaced tribals from their lands and they have yet to receive any rehabilitation support from the government. So the Pune and Mumbai aam aadmi showers at the expense of the tribals who have now become non aadmi s. (In a recent TV debate I saw Amartya Sen make this point. In India , the aam aadmi tag has been hijacked by the urban middle class from its rightful owners i.e. the poor in rual and urban areas.)

Please also remember, the NCP (through Mr Pawar) , has a huge stake in the IPL and he always has available the services of the pot-bellied Rajiv Shukla Congress Rajya Sabha MP.

Not to be outdone , the Sena (I don t know which one, Shiv Sena or MNS) has demanded than IPL should donate Rs 500 cr to Maharashtra for the draught. After all why should the Sena be left out when everyone is having a (cricket) ball !! I am sure this idea is receiving serious consideration from NCP. It has 2 advantages. The IPL can ask for (and will surely get) tax exemption and the money when allotted for irrigation can be pocketed by Congress/ NCP leaders. Even BJP might get a share considering the cordial relations between the heads of the 2 parties. Only the Sena will not directly receive any monetary compensation

Then there is the Srilankan player mess. People are saying don t mix politics with sports. Come on guys , be realistic. The successive heads of BCCI in the last 20 years have been all politicians& and the same for many other apex sports bodies ( remember Kalmadi ?). So how can one NOT mix politics with sports !!

The price of Indifference and an example from Karnataka.

The price of Indifference and an example from Karnataka.

Trashing politicians as corrupt and selfish is now a national past time for the Indian middle class. Not that our politicians are shining examples of honesty and competence. They are not. They are among the worst people you can ever think of.  But whining and complaining will not wish them away. But that’s what we do.. even result oriented  corporate go-getters become paralysed when it comes to doing something about politics.

Some of the best brains in India are trying to look for solutions, but no success so far… and no hope even remotely visible in the future. The way our political system has evolved it is now nearly impossible to get rid of the corrupt political class. Even a 100 well meaning Raul Gandhi’s and/ or  Narendra Modi’s will not be able to change the system. I may sound pessimistic, but if someone can tell me a way out I will be overjoyed and support that cause. The Lokpal Bill had some promise but when you ask a thief to pass the law , what can one expect !

So what  can one see happening for the next 25 to 30 years in India ?

• an annual GDP growth of 5% which will generate just enough surplus (which politicians will dole out ) to keep the poor from starvation and revolt.
• The BPL population, as currently defined ( income of Rs 30 approx per person per day) may shrink by 2 % per year.
• We will still be a “poor country” , nowhere near even middle income countries.
• this rate of growth will also provide huge monetary rewards to the political class and bureaucracy.
• Inflation in near double digits… the middle class / urban poor will get squeezed.
• Infrastructure improvement will move at a snails pace. Our large cities will become increasingly difficult and unsafe to live in.
• India will have the world’s third largest number of billionaires, most of them as a result of crony capitalism. If the “black money” billionaires are included (read politicians), we  may be second largest.

And all this will happen while we keep chanting “India is the World’s largest democracy.”

The only one thing that can upset the above scenario (it is a very low probability, but nevertheless good wishful thinking) is that the growing middle class may create a new , less corrupt political order. I give this event a probability of 5 % or less.

So clearly the  middle class will suffer a great deal. Now let us look inward. What have we actually done to change things. Have we encouraged our children to join politics ? No. Have we ourselves done it ? No. So, clearly ,  bad governance/ corrupt politicians  is the price we pay for indifference.

On the other hand look at the people who are in politics, an example form Karnataka. The Congress (and other parties too ) is distributing tickets for the upcoming assembly elections. . The crowd outside the Congress office is so large that the police has to be called in to control it. Ticket aspirants have hired people to shout slogans in their support. Existing  and aspiring MLAs who have been denied tickets are threatening to turn rebel. In short these people are very focused and very motivated. The rewards maybe uncertain but can often be huge, and that’s what drives these people.

What do you think of this ? STOP DE-HINDUISATION OF INDIA - BY J.G. ARORA

                               

I am copying a forward I received from someone. It seems to be from the RSS magazine. I am not the writer of this, nor do I agree with any of the thoughts presented. At this point I just want to say that not only has Arora got a sick mind, he has go his facts also wrong. Just sharing for comments.. my own response I will put in a separate post.

STOP DE-HINDUISATION OF INDIA -
BY J.G. ARORA
jgarora@gmail.com

Organiser, New Delhi: December 23, 2012

Though as per Mark Twain “India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition”,a unilateral war is being waged by anti-Hindu forces to wipe out Hindu religion and Hindu civilization the way other native religions and civilizations have been destroyed in the world.
Bharat Varsha, comprising the entire Indian sub-continent, used to be Hindu land with zero Muslim population till Muhammad bin Qasim’s Arab army attacked Sindh in 711. Despite the heroic defence of their motherland during repeated Muslim attacks over the centuries, Hindus lost Afghanistan in 987, and present day Pakistan and Bangladesh to Muslims in 1947.
But shockingly after 1947, Hindus are fast losing ground both in population percentage and in territory to anti-Hindu forces in truncated India, their Punya Bhumi (sacred land). In six decades since 1947, Hindus have lost more than what they had lost during twelve centuries of foreign invasions before 1947.
During 1989-90, Hindus faced genocide and eviction from Muslim majority Kashmir to become refugees in their own country. Moreover, because of massive infiltration from Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hindus are losing ground as mini-Pakistans and mini-Bangladeshs are being planted on Indian soil at several places.
Many Hindus apprehend that because of higher Muslim growth rate and Pak-Bangla infiltration, Hindus in India will be outnumbered by Muslims in a few decades, and face the misery undergone by Hindus in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh which too used to be Hindu lands.
Hindu heritage is being hammered and erased every day in secular India; and the Union government’s affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in September 2007 rejecting the existence of Bhagwan Ram and Ram Setu de-legitimized Hindu faith itself.
Though the said affidavit was withdrawn after protests, it conveyed a malicious message.
Main reasons for dismal Hindu plight, and its solution, are briefly narrated below.
Outlandish ‘secularism’
Logically in 1947, on India’s partition on religious basis and creation of Pakistan for Muslims as demanded by Muslims, truncated Bharat should have been declared a Hindu republic to re-assert its Hindu identity. However, an outlandish ‘secularism’ was foisted on Bharat where anything which is anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim, divisive, sectarian, and even anti-national is ‘secularism’.
Helped by this spurious secularism, with each passing day, India is being made more Islamic and more Christian and less Hindu.
Though a secular country cannot reward or punish its citizens on the basis of their religion, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that “Muslims must have the first claim on national resources” at National Development Council’s meeting on December 9, 2006.
Though Constitutionally, all the citizens are equal before law, and though the terms ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ have not been defined in the Constitution, Central government and several State governments have provided for special scholarships and schemes, free-ships, incentives and loans for non-Hindus under the pretext of minority welfare.
In no other country in the world, majority community faces such blatant discrimination; and minority community gets such special privileges as in India.
Just a few examples of havoc brought by this phony secularism are given here:
Genocide and eviction of Hindus from Kashmir; countless Pak-Bangla terrorists and infiltrators planting mini-Pakistans and mini-Bangladeshs on Indian soil; global missionary organizations Christianizing India; government control over Hindu temples whereas no mosque or church is covered by such control; special privileges to non-Hindus under Article 30 of the Constitution; special rights to Muslim majority Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370; special benefits conferred upon non-Hindus by many State governments; de-Hinduisation of education and history, and banishment of Sanskrit from education; and provision of Haj subsidy though none of 57 Islamic countries gives any such subsidy are just a few perversities of secular India.
And all self-proclaimed ‘secular’ political parties keep on inventing schemes to safeguard minority community’s votes. Just to cite one example, after coming to power in 2011, West Bengal Chief Minister has announced a number of schemes for the exclusive benefit of Muslims. She has announced the setting up of a minority department in every district, a separate employment exchange for minorities, a new 'Haj House', a new campus of Aligarh Muslim University in West Bengal, and new Industrial Training Institutes and polytechnics for minorities.
Moreover, apart from announcing scholarships for minorities, she has declared a monthly honorarium of Rs. 2500 to each of about 30,000 Imams of West Bengal.
And similar pro-minority schemes have been launched in many other States.
It is no surprise that weird secularism being practised in India has produced Indian Mujahideen and SIMI which want to establish Muslim rule in India.
Conquering India by infiltration
Central and State governments, main stream media and major political parties are silent spectators when India is being grabbed and conquered bit by bit by Pak-Bangla infiltrators every day without weapons and without war.
Both Pakistan and Bangladesh (which used to be Hindu lands) have been declared as Islamic countries, and have driven out most of Hindus and Sikhs. However, most of Indian Muslims who had demanded Pakistan and exchange of population did not go to Pakistan. Rather, the present percentage of Muslim population in India is much higher than that in 1947.
Pakistan’s army which is anti-Hindu and anti-India actually rules Pakistan; and nurtures terrorism. In their bid to dismember and bleed India through “a thousand cuts”, Pakistan and Bangladesh have sent countless terrorists and crores of their nationals into India to plant more Pakistans and Bangladeshs on Indian soil.
Despite the Supreme Court’s judgements dated July 12, 2005 and December 5, 2006 to deport infiltrators, the government has done nothing in this regard though “demographic conquest” of any territory is the permanent conquest. Rather, Pak-Bangla nationals are infiltrating into India every day.
And instead of being deported, infiltrators have been given voting rights; and they enjoy a decisive role in a number of assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies.
NGOs and conversions
If Pak-Bangla combine wants to Islamise India through terrorists and infiltrators, missionaries want to Christianise India through unlimited foreign funds.
On 7th November, 1999 in New Delhi, Pope John Paul II gave a call to convert Asia to Christianity as follows:-
“Just as the first millennium saw the Cross firmly planted in the soil of Europe, and the second in that of America and Africa, so may the Third Christian Millennium witness a great harvest of faith on this vast and vital continent.”
Hindus in India and Nepal are special targets for this ‘harvest of faith’. And in 2006, Maoists, missionaries and Pakistan’s ISI have divested Nepal of its Hindu identity.
Having conquered North-East India, many global missionary organisations are sending huge funds to NGOs in India for converting Hindus to Christianity through fraud and allurement.
And Joshua Project is a war-like project to invade and Christianise India. All over India, Churches are being built even in remote villages to Christianise the local populations.
Most dangerous falsity
The most dangerous falsity propagated by many Hindu religious leaders is that all religions are the same and deserve same respect (sarva Dharma sam bhav). This absurd declaration betrays ignorance about Hinduism; and also about other religions. This falsehood strengthens anti-Hindus, and facilitates fraudulent conversion of Hindus. Those claiming all religions to be the same are either ignorant or hypocrites.
Besides, unilateral Hindu slogans like “vasudhaiv kutumbakam” (entire world is one family) and “ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti” (‘truth’ is one but has many names) also suppress danger from anti-Hindu forces which are bent upon finishing Hinduism. As a result, de-Hinduised by ‘secular semantics’ and Macaulayan education, and ignorant of basic tenets of various religions, many Hindus are proclaiming that they respect all religions, and are being converted and married to Non-Hindus.
Moreover, internationally, India has been following the policy of unilateral magnanimity, instead of ‘reciprocity’.
Since no Hindu temple can be built anywhere in Saudi Arabia, there is no reason to allow Saudi Arabia to fund the building of mosques and Madrassas in India.
Way out
Fake secularism has brain-washed, intimidated and subjugated Hindus; displaced them from their roots, and made them self-alienated. Hindus’ hypnotic surrender before pseudo- secularism is leading to gradual liquidation of Hinduism and de-Hinduisation of India.
Fake secularism has made Hindus submissive and victims of discrimination. Hindus have to be liberated from this affliction; and transformed into a strong, united and formidable force.
Since bogus-secular India has been a disaster, it must be transformed into a genuinely-secular Hindu Bharat to give justice to all and to appease none; and to protect Hindu religion, Hindu heritage and Hindu identity of truncated India.
And there should be no apprehension, whatsoever, about Hindu Bharat. Since Hinduism is all-embracing, Hindu Bharat will give same rights to every citizen. In really secular Hindu Bharat, there would be one law and one nation; no distinction of majority and minority, and no discrimination against any community. It will also dismantle fake-secularism, and liberate the nation from Pak-Bangla terrorists and infiltrators.
Hindu Bharat will implement Uniform Civil Code as stipulated in Article 44 of Indian Constitution to make India a really secular and united country. Besides, since Article 370 has encouraged separatism and has resulted in genocide and eviction of Hindus from Kashmir, it would abolish Article 370 to bring Jammu and Kashmir’s complete integration with the rest of India.
And Hindu Bharat will remember M.A. Jinnah’s ‘Two Nations’ theory expounded in Lahore in 1940; and will prevent the creation of more Pakistans and Bangladeshs on Bharat’s soil.
All nationalist individuals and organizations should join hands to transform fake-secular India into a really secular Hindu Republic of Bharat by all peaceful, constitutional and lawful means.
No one can object to the concept of Hindu Bharat when all the 57 Muslim majority countries are declared as Islamic countries.
Sustained efforts to achieve the desired goal will certainly succeed as Atharva Veda proclaims, “Kritam may dakhshine haste, jayo may savya aahitah” (effort is in my right hand, and victory in my left).
Collected By:P.R.Malleswara Rao.

Dynasty and downfall !

Dynasty and downfall !

This comes after seeing the movie Agnipath.. the one with Hrithik Roshan.

History repeatedly tells us of the downfalls of dynasties. In the older times it was only the dynasties of kings that were in evidence. But nowadays we see political and business dynasties too. What is about them that makes them fail ? 

There is a lot of research , specially on business dynasties and one popular theory is that typically  it takes 3 generations for the rise and fall. The first generation creates it, the second sustains and the third helps it demise. Rather like Brahma , Vishnu and Mahesh. Some of the reasons recorded for the downfall are lack of professionalisation/ nepotism and  complacence.  Post independence we have seen many “reputed” business families go into oblivion. The DCM group, and Escorts group are well known examples.. but there are probably  many more. I saw an article sometime back which said it was the “curse of the sons” .. which meant that businesses had to be divided to keep the sons in good humour and thereby the companies lost significant advantages. The Birla family was cited as an example.  DCM and Escorts certainly fit this theory. As a counterpoint, the article noted, the TATAs had prospered because in the last 2 generations the head of the business did not have any children.

Indian business families, have not yet learnt to separate ownership from day-to-day control, something western business families have done.

Coming back to Agnipath.. it is a horrible movie. The story, if there is one, has so many flaws that it looks like a patchwork with millions of squabbling incidents. The performances, barring Rishi kapoor , are mediocre. The Amitabh Bachan version was much better.

So how is this connected to dynasties..? Because Bollywood is mainly a dynasty business. Unfortunately genes have a will of their own and oftentimes  the child of a good actor parents might not be able to repeat the performance. I have said elsewhere that Bollywood will continue to churn out mediocre stuff till we have Kapoors, Khannas and Malhotras running it. Add to it Khans too. In fact the only good hindi films I have seen in recent times have been by “outsiders” like Anurag Basu , Anurag Kashyap, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dibakar Banerji,  etc.

Without making this too long, let me just point out that dynasties in politics might even be the downfall of our country if we allow them to rule us.