Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas time.

Ganesha chathurti is supposed to be the most prominent festival in Goa. Diwali with its ‘Aakaash kandils’, ‘Diyas’ and ‘Lakshmi pooja’ in business establishments, makes its presence felt. But nothing like Christmas to fill the air with festival atmosphere. Went out for a stroll in the evening to get the Christmas feel and brought back a bit through these pictures.

My neighbour Mendonca's apartment



Ponda church



'Nativity' scene created by the local catholic youth.



Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Samrat vs Sunburn

Samrat Sangeet Sammelan
16. 12. 2011 to 18. 12. 2011
Location : Aguiar Grounds, Tisk, Ponda , Goa.
Three sessions of classical music every day.
Vidwan Hari Kumar - Violin
Pandit Yogiraj naik - Sitar
Pandit Vijay karapurkar - Vocal
Ustaad Arshad li khan - Vocal, so on and so forth.
Entry to sammelan - Free
Arrangements - to seat five hundred
If you feel hungry - Batatawada and tea available on payment.
Average attendance noticed per session - one hundred.

Sunburn Music festival
27.12.2011 to 29.12.2011
Location : Candolim beach, Goa
Never ending session of senseless music and mindless dancing starting 9 Pm daily.
DJs - Ma faiza, Funk agenda, Jalebi cartel, Pearl , so on and so forth.
Entry to festival - Rupees Seven thousand + taxes. (Up to twenty thousands in black market.)
VVIP table - 3,43,850 (six people, three days)
Arrangements - to accommodate twenty five thousand.
To quench your never ending thirst - whisky, vodka, Wine and champagne (two bottles each- free for VVIP table)
Average attendance last year - per session- fifty thousand
Expected this year - eighty thousand.

Just an observation. I am not trying to say anything. Infact, I do not know what to say. Can you?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Pondadalli Manju - Fog In Ponda

This year winter just peeped in for a few days during mid November and disappeared giving way to a very humid and cloudy weather which lasted nearly two weeks. Since the last three days there were some signs of winter returning to Goa and I eagerly awaited its return. I feel happy and relieved when the seasons arrive on time. The way we are abusing the nature, I am always worried that the natural elements may one day decide to teach us a lesson and totally desert us.

There was some fog yesterday and I saw dew drops on the leaves in the morning. The weather was not very cool but not hot either. There was some hope. Today when I opened the door early in the morning, there was dense fog and the outside felt so good that I just could not stay indoors to carry on with my exercises. As soon as it was light enough, I stepped out with the camera in hand. I was not sure that this weather would be there the next day and wanted to make the best of it when it lasted.

As I turned round the corner, I saw my neighbour’s house, which I see dozens of times every day (wishing he had painted it something more pleasant than bright yellow) looking cooler and better, its brightness subdued by the fog in spite of being in the direct focus of the bright street light.



I headed for the hill side on the out skirts expecting the usually pleasant surroundings to be even better and I was not disappointed. I walked along enjoying the tingling feel of the fog on my face and taking in the new look of the old sights stopping now and then to appreciate nature’s magic. Bushes and trees which I see day in and day out appeared to have changed themselves for the better and clouds seemed to have come down to rest on the tree tops.





If this was the feeling, I wondered, the presence of a little fog on the drab country side of Ponda brought about in a person like me, what could have been the effect of the sight of real dense fog over the bountiful nature around Madikeri on a poet like Sri Rajaratnam? No wonder Sri Rajaratnam’s poetic heart came out with ‘Madikerili Manju’ on beholding the sight of clouds hugging the earth in Madikeri. Please, have no fear. I have no intentions of trying to imitate the great man and composing ‘Pondadalli manju’ for my next post.

Sri Rajaratnam is one of my favourites and his ‘Madikerili manju’, beautifully sung by Sri. Mysore Anantaswamy is always at the tip of my tongue. Remind me about it if and when you meet me next and I can sing it for you on the spot making you wish that Sri Rajaratnam had never visited Madikeri.

I continued my walk looking here and there and caught the sight of the usually invisible spider webs decorated with minute dew drops. Poor spider, it cannot come out and enjoy the sight. But I could and I even got some pictures. The spider remained immobile at the center of its web, hungry and waiting for its pray unmindful of the excitement it had created in me. A ‘Sthitapragnya’. I mean the spider. Not me.







I walked around the place, incidentally a hill side which is being cut and converted into housing plots and was turning back after my knees made their presence felt when I caught sight of this migratory egrets which visit Goa every year. I do not know where they come from or where they are going. I only know that they like to land here for some time during mornings and evenings to rest on the trees and search for some insects on the ground. I am glad that they visit us every year but feel sorry that they will have to rest on Syntex tanks on rooftops and search for insects in the garbage bins if they decide to land here in the coming years.My camera managed to get few pictures in which one can recognize the birds and as I moved a bit closer for a better frame, one of them took wing and the next second all of them were gone.








The fog was clearing and the sun was coming up making the weather hot and taking off the magic of the fog. I could see everything clearly in the harsh sunlight and I realized that I was in the same old dirty world that we have created and not in some piece of paradise as it momentarily appeared to be and I returned home feeling like the lame boy in Bommanahalliya kindarijogi who had a glimpse of the paradise inside the mountain but had to return because the cave doors closed before he entered.



Note: Madikerili manju , meaning fog in Madikeri, is one of the poems in the collection ‘Ratnana Padagalu’ by Sri G P Rajaratnam. Sri Rajaratnam is said to have composed the poem inspired by the sight of thick fog in Madikeri, Coorg, Karnataka. It has been put into music and sung beautifully by Sri Mysore Anantaswamy.

Bommanahalliya Kindarijogi is a classic poetic work by Sri K V Puttappa. He is said to have been inspired by Browming’s ‘Pied Piper of Hamlin’ and written this poem.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Corruption wins

Sri Sriramulu won the ‘Bellary rural’ assembly seat with a very wide margin. I felt very sad. I have nothing personal against Sriramulu. I feel sad because his win is the thumbs up sign for everything that is wrong with us today. Thumbs up for political and social degradation. He is a close associate of Reddy brothers. He has been indicted in mining scandals. It took a lot of effort for BJP to make a show that it is against corruption and push Sriramulu out of cabinet. But the society has hoisted him up on its shoulders. A slap in the face for people trying to cleanse the system.

This shows that in the fight between money and morals, money wins. In Bellary if Reddy brothers made thousands of crores by illegal activities, there were lakhs of other people who made between them hundreds of crores, tens of crores, crores, lakhs, thousands and hundreds etc etc depending up on their position and capabilities. All by the same illegal activities. And these lakhs of people are the voters. Unfortunately, for majority of these voters the illegal activities are the livelihood. They had to decide between anti corruption and empty stomach or pro corruption and full stomach. They decided for a full stomach.

Very unfortunate but that is how it is.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

An Explanation

On an impulse I wrote the last piece about Sri Pawar having been slapped and kept thinking about it afterwards. I had given my own reasons for Mr Harvinder’s actions. How can I attribute reasons for the action of a person I do not know about? I had sort of justified his slapping Mr Pawar. Was I right in doing so? The thought kept bugging me. Of course, it was my view. Only few of my friends read what I write. And none of them take me seriously. So, it was OK. But still.

In the Sunday columns of The Times Of India, I read Shobha De’s ‘The slap that shook India’. Almost same as my post. I feel easy. Right or wrong, it is nice to know that there are many who feel the same.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Mr Pawar got what was meant for all politicians.

All the front pages today are carrying the news of Mr Harvinder Singh slapping the union agriculture minister Sri. Sharad pawar. Everyone whose words find space in the news columns condemned the act outwardly, probably feeling within themselves - “serves him right”.

Congress, as expected, blamed BJP for the incident. These parties can use any incident to blame each other and can talk with equal irresponsibility. I better not put a strain on my keyboard typing about their ways.

I am sure that Mr Harvinder only wanted to demonstrate his anger at the way the politicians are running, ruining rather, the country and did not have any intention of really harming Sri Pawar. He did have a dagger with him which he did not use. I am also sure that there was nothing personal in the act. He was probably angry with the present situation in the country and since it is the politicians who are running the country, he obviously (and correctly)held them responsible for everything bad. He probably wanted to slap one of the clan to demonstrate his feelings. He made an attempt on Sri Sukhram and failed. Since his teachers had taught him to try and try again to succeed, he tried again and succeeded in the second attempt.

I am not justifying slapping a people’s representative but I will be lying if I say that I have never had an urge to do the same. Three things have prevented me from doing it. 1. I do not follow up on my urges seriously. 2. I have some inhibitions (and unfortunately do not have a deranged mind which can overcome them). 3. I do not have enough guts.

The NCP in Maharashtra called for a Maharashtra bundh. Where is the connection? Why bundh in Maharashtra or anywhere else for that matter if someone slaps Pawar? Just because NCP can enforce a bundh there? These political parties act whichever way they want taking the ordinary citizen for granted. One very valid and solid reason to slap a politician.

Anna Hazare on hearing about the slapping is said to have reacted with
‘Was he slapped?’
‘Was he slapped only once?’
Though I do not attribute much to his utterances after he started uttering through his ‘topi’, I would click on ‘like’ for this one.

On hearing about the incident, Mr Pranab mukherjee is said to have exclaimed ‘where the country is going?’
We have no idea Mr Mukherjee. Really. You are the leader and we are going wherever you are taking us.

Monday, November 21, 2011

GMSLS Yatra - Clarification.

Sorry, I made a mistake about the Lok Samruddhi Yatra. The congress’s GMSLS yatra is not over. The congress bigwigs had just travelled from one end of Goa to the other end to begin the yatra from the other end! Now they are walking around in every constituency with the congress tricolor scarves around their neck, supporters at their back, creating road blocks and being a perfect nuisance to public.

Meanwhile one bigwig opened his mouth to make it clear for stupid people like me why the GMSLS yatra is named so. Goa - because it is in Goa, Mukti Suvarna Mahotsav - as it is a tribute to the freedom fighters who laid down their lives for the freedom of Goa (which our leaders are enjoying now). Lok Samruddhi - because the yatra is a tribute to the progress and development brought about by the congress.

If you, with your one track mind is wondering if it is the Progress in the quantity of corruption and development in the number of illegal mines, it is not so. This progress and development to which the yatra is a tribute to, is in the master plan for the next 25 years which congress plans to bring into effect if elected to power in the coming elections!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

King Of Good Times and Goa Mukti Suvarna Mahotsav Lok Samruddhi Yatra

I had to go to Bangalore for a day to attend a family function. The travel options were,
1. To travel by bus, up and down, two nights, twelve hours each way, to be in Bangalore for twelve hours - very tiring and not worth it.
2. Travel by air, up and down, paying about ten thousand rupees - very expensive. (and the journey from B’lore air port to home - not less tiring)

I had given up the idea till my brother in law very kindly offered his frequent flier miles. If someone else is paying nothing is expensive and I was booked on Kingfisher - King of good times - up and down.

‘Kingfisher cancels fifty flights’ - front page news four days before my departure.
‘Actual cancellations were 169 flights, not fifty as claimed, Kingfisher in trouble, owes huge amount to oil companies and airports’ - three days before my departure.
‘Oil companies refuse to supply fuel and airports refuse landing permits unless the backlog is cleared. 150 pilots resign from kingfisher for non payment of salaries, more flights being cancelled.’ - two days before my departure.
‘Banks refuse to bail out Kingfisher, top management to meet bankers today’ - the day of my departure.

The proverb in kannada, ‘paapi samudra hokkaru monakaludda neeru’ - which can be translated as ‘the sinner finds no more than knee deep water even if he gets into the sea’ - explained my situation adequately. It is difficult to explain a proverb but it means, roughly, If you are not destined to get it you will not.

I was in a dilemma. To go or not to go? Something like ‘to be or not to be’. Shakespeare I think. I am not sure. I could have asked Jeeves but he is not with me. Works for someone called Wooster.

Since the tickets were non refundable we could not cancel the tickets, call off the trip and be peaceful. But what if the flight is cancelled at the last minute? Of course I could simply return home after a futile trip to the airport and I only lose taxi fare. (Cannot be as shameless as to ask my brother in law to pay for the taxi too). What if I reach Bangalore and my return flight is cancelled? Would cause quite a bit of inconvenience. Should i anticipate flight cancellation and book a seat on the bus too? Many such thoughts kept rolling around in the mind. Mind was agitated.

I was checking the Kingfisher site for flight status every hour for three days and it kept saying that the flights were as scheduled.

The flights did take off and I made my trip successfully - even got a very decent vegetable sandwich during the onward flight. Free. Nice taste - Kingfisher class. No sandwich on return flight but it was OK. It was at six in the morning, I would not have eaten one at that time anyway.

Since Kingfisher affected my life considerably for nearly a week I kept watching it. Right now the company is asking the banks to release 800 crores to tide over the crisis and the banks are reluctant. I was happy that our banks are cautious while lending money and are keeping our money safe. The overall loss to Kingfisher till date is about 8000crores. Let Vijay Mallya lose his money. He has plenty.

Today I read that the banks have a 27 percent stake in the company. If that is so, their loss is twenty seven percent of 8000 crores. More than 2000 crores of bank’s, that is MY money. Shock. One report says that the exposure of the banks could be as high as 6000 crores. So, it is WE who are losing the money. Not Mallya. He is running his airline king style with our money and losing it! His money is safe in barrels of Kingfisher beer. And the bankers whom we thought are safeguarding our money have been pouring it freely into Kingfisher. 6000 crores are gone and they are now showing their concern for 800. ‘Saabi ne hodamele gaddakke attarante’. Another proverb in kannada. This is what I understand.

If there are any economists reading this please say I am wrong. The nice vegetable sandwich is giving out a very bad aftertaste after four days.

King of good times is having a bad time.

But it is worse for us.


"G M S M L S Y"

Advani is on a rath yatra again or is it over? The ‘Jan chetana yatra’.
When BJP is running a yatra how can the congress keep quiet? The Goa congress party decided to have its own yatra.

“Goa mukti suvarna mahotsav lok samruddhi yatra”. Oh god, it is surely bigger than ‘Jan chetana yatra’. You can’t even say it in one breath. The yatra started and was over by the time I read the name fully. What did it mean any way? I could make out that it had something to do with the golden jubilee of Goa liberation - hence the ‘mukti suvarna mahotsav’. But what is ‘lok samruddhi’? As far as my knowledge goes samruddhi is ‘plenty’. Is lok samruddhi -‘plenty of people’? Or ‘plenty for the people’?

If it is plenty of people it is not good news and if it is plenty for the people what is plenty? As I see, only two things are plenty in Goa right now. One is illegal iron ore and the other is Garbage. Both not to be shouted about in a political yatra.

So what is this ‘Yatra’ about? If any big mouth politician opens his mouth I will let you know.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Kejrival And Kiran Bedi

I said that I am only an observer of ANNA movement without any involvement. I try to ignore the trivia associated with it but the news papers do not allow me to remain quiet.

One important factor associated with the ANNA movement is the TEAM ANNA which I believe was founded by our media. Now the media is trying to smear the faces of the team members with muck and dismantle the team. The team is said to have contained 21 members out of which five were very visible. From that five, three are gone now and two are remaining.

Kejrival and Kiran Bedi.

If I believe the reports in the papers, Kejrival has started talking through his hat and may shortly lose whatever credibility he still has.

That leaves Kiran Bedi who I thought was straight but the media says it is not so. I would not have believed the reports if she had just kept quiet.

She is busy covering herself up with:
“I was entitled to it and it only benefited my NGO. No personal gain.”
“It was my travel agent who managed it”
“I will refund the amount” and the latest
“I did not actually handle cash” - which sounds more like Bill Clinton’s defence in his (in)famous case.

She was SP or IGP or some such thing in Goa when I arrived here nearly thirty years back. The news papers were praising every action of hers. I kept reading good things about her after she went to Delhi as Commissioner and then to Tihar as chief. I had a very good picture of her in my mind. I will have to redraw the picture. Very disappointing.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Anna again.

Remember the epic serial Mahabharat? The story was being told by ‘Time’ and the episodes began with the words “mai samay hoon”. We were seeing Mahabharat as time saw it - without any involvement. I am seeing Anna Hazare’s anti corruption movement as time saw Mahabharat - without involvement. I form my own opinions and put them here sometimes just to get it off my chest. In my opinion Anna is OK, his close associates are getting carried away by the importance and the movement is not likely to make any difference to us. I have been reading about the movement and people involved in it, in many papers and magazines, but the editorial in today’s Navhindtimes is almost what I feel. If interested, please go to www.navhindtimes.in, click on ‘epaper’ below the title, and see the article ‘Lord anna and the presiding priests’ on page eight.

I said my feeling is that the movement is not going to make much difference. That is mainly because of my pessimistic attitude and also because of my belief that all of us are corrupt someway or the other. To fight corruption we need to fight against ourselves and there is little chance of winning when one is fighting against oneself.

The supreme court banned mining activity in Bellary, Karnataka, because of the large scale irregularities involved. Illegal mining in Goa is said to be greater than or equal to Bellary. Justice Shaw commission is going over mining in Goa with a magnifying glass and indications are that it will recommend banning mining activities till things are set right. Last week there was a huge rally in Panaji, arranged by people who are involved in mining activities. Owners, transporters, workers and people involved in associated businesses. The demand was 1. not to stop mining activities and 2. to overlook or abolish some of the rules and guidelines which hinder mining. In other words, allow illegal mining and associated corruption.

I am sure at least fifty percent of those who attended this rally also attended meetings and marches held at the height of Anna movement for Lokpal. Got what I mean?

We are not against corruption if we are the beneficiaries. So, Lokpal, strong Lokpal, weak Lokpal or no Lokpal are all the same.

I rest my case.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Just Saying Hello

Nearly a month since the last post. Did not come across anything worth mentioning except that I was woken up by a patient on three successive nights at 1 am last week, demanding a painkilling injection. My crime was that I had removed a tooth (and incidentally quite a bit of the jaw bone) that was bothering him for months. (Pity the dentist or the patient?). Did not write about it as I did not want to scare people (and cut my own leg).

Was waiting for something pleasant to say hello with, when I came across this rose which had bloomed last night. So, here I am saying hello and still there. Bye till I find something interesting.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Simple Pleasures

“Chinna chinna aasai”- I had liked this song from the tamil movie Roza which was a hit, had written down what I thought was the lyrics and had tried to sing the song when there were no one within hearing distance, without knowing what exactly it meant. But I had a vague idea what was being conveyed.

It was about small or simple pleasures in life.

I am lucky to be able to enjoy a few simple pleasures and one of them is the sight and smell of flowers that grow around my house.

The Parijata (night Jasmine)plant, which my wife brought from Bangalore and planted, is now a small tree and has reached our balcony.

We have managed to coax the jasmine creeper to climb up and I intend coaxing it further and making it climb on to the terrace. The creeper is in the process of crossing the balcony and these days there is always a flower or two near the balcony.

Late evenings when the Parijata blooms, the balcony is flooded with the fragrance but the solitary Jasmine works hard to make its presence felt too.

I love to stand there and enjoy the sight of these flowers and the combined fragrance.





I am not overtly religious but I do carry on the tradition of lighting a lamp and placing a few flowers on the idols and photographs of deities that we have with us. Till we shifted to this house our gods had to manage with flowers grown by the roadside or those with in arms distance from the road in my neighbour’s garden. I had no intentions of depriving the owners of their rightful share and was content with what was within my reach and so were our gods. I never resorted to using a stick or a wire hook to claim what was morally not mine. But that is another story. After we shifted here we have planted plenty of flowering plants and I get many varieties of flowers in good quantities.

I love the sight of flowers collected in the mornings for the purpose and it feels good to see the gods adorned with those flowers.





Talking of which, reminds me of DVG.

Gidadi nagutiha hu prakruti sakhanige chanda
Madadi mudidiha hu yuvakange chanda
Gudiyolu koduva hu daivabhaktage chanda
Bidigaasu hoovalage mankutimma.

Which I can roughly translate as

The nature lover likes the flower smiling on the plant
The young man loves the flower in his wife’s hair
The devout cherishes the flower adorning the lord
But the flowers only mean a few coins for the lady who sells them.

I have been able to experience and enjoy the first and the third.

As far the second, when I was a young man, I neither had flowers growing nor the sense to buy and put them in my wife’s hair and enjoy the sight. (and I keep hearing about that lapse even after twenty five years.) Now we have lots of flowers growing but I am not young and my wife does not have enough hair!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Bird Video


I managed to use the ‘motion picture’ facility in our camera for the first time and succeeded in getting not just a blur but a picture in which one can differentiate between the bird and the Banana. The base of the fridge was not intended to be shot but entered the clip on its own will. This is a trial to see if I can attach the video to the post. Following is the caption, bit lengthy.

Sometime back I had written in this blog about the bird (red vented bulbul) which visited our kitchen everyday for its share of banana fruits. It used to perch on the window of the kitchen every morning and afternoon, chirping incessantly to inform us that it was time for its meal and we better move out. If we remained there, it used to fly away and return after sometime with louder chirping demanding to know what business we still had there. But it never came in when one of us were there.

All of a sudden it stopped coming and our bananas were not touched even though they were hanging in the same place and were of the same quality. The bird was being seen around the house but it never flew in for the meal. I thought that it was either fed up with the same fare every day or that it was a different bird not aware of the availability of an easy meal.

Now, after about two years, I noticed one of the fruits in the bunch partly eaten and the familiar beak marks. Then I saw the birds, two of them now, boldly flying in and out of our kitchen whenever they desired a snack, ignoring our presence. I do not know if they are a different bolder pair who heard about the bananas through the birdie grapevine or the same old Bulbul back with a bolder companion after deciding that same fare everyday is better than no fare at all.

Since they attack many fruits, I am forced to leave only one fruit hanging and take out the others. One of them flew away when I went near with the camera and the other remained to get the last beakful and flew out only after I went even closer.

Adding this after seeing the video clip on the post : Sorry for the bad video. I was expecting it to be better. Just as i saw it before uploading. It seems to have gone bad during transport. I have no idea how to make it better. Please bear.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Test Your Eyes.

My wife noticed this parrot (or the parrot like bird) enjoying the guava fruit in our neighbour's compound. It was a test for my eyes (with glasses of course) as well as my hand - to hold the camera steady at full zoom. Both the organs passed. it was a test for my camera too, to get the bird at about thirty feet and it passed.

Now, test your eyes with the first picture and if you fail, look at the second just below the vertical arm of the hanging electric cable. Go back to the first picture and try to find the bird in the same place with its tail towards me. if you fail again, get an appointment with the ophthalmologist.

PS : No commission has been promised to me by any eye doctor.



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

At The Ramlila Maidan

I am at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. There are lakhs of people. The atmosphere is charged. What excitement! What support! School and college students, Mumbai dabbawaalaas, Cine actors, traders and businessmen, advocates, doctors, senior citizen groups, you name them and they are there. There were people in fancy dress, people holding comic posters , music and dance. It was somewhat like Goa during Carnival. Only booze was missing. I got carried away. I shouted all the slogans. Even Bharat maata ki jai and Vande mataram - at the cost of inviting Imam Bukhari’s wrath and having a ‘Fatwa’ on my head. I had to display my support to Anna. But I was not sure what we were doing there. So I asked someone who had taken a break and was enjoying his free lunch.

He looked at me as if I was the ‘C’ in corruption. “We are doing something to kill the demon called corruption. Squash corruption into dust. It should not raise its head once again.”

“Which corruption?”

“Don’t you know corruption? Where do you live? Mars? Haven’t you heard of Kalmadi? Raja? Kanimozi? Hundreds and thousands of crores of rupees. Disgusting.”

“How?”

“By forcing the government to manufacture the ‘ Brahmaastra ‘ against corruption, the Jan Lokpal bill. It will kill corruption completely”

“But are you sure that you really intend eradicating corruption?”

“What do you mean? Why will we be here otherwise? We are fed up with corruption and we will surely eliminate it under Anna’s leadership “

“All types of corruption? At all levels?”

“Yes Yes and Yes”

I could feel all ‘Y’s capital, the way he said it. I should have understood the mood, enjoyed the lunch and carnival for some more time, and returned home after playing my part. But the cynic in me was fidgeting. So, I asked again.

“We are here to remove all corruption from our country. Rright? Now Let us assume that you have to get a residence certificate from the tehsildar. You have almost all the documents like your ration card, your father’s birth certificate, grand father’s death certificate, your school leaving certificate etc etc but you still have one or two missing without which you are not entitled to get your certificate. Do you want the clerk to insist that you produce them or accept a hundred or two as a token of good will and quietly type out the certificate?”

He looked at me piercingly. I continued at the cost of my head getting an entry and exit wound.

“With lot of difficulty you have purchased a small piece of land and intend starting construction of your dream house. Your plan is ready and is sent for approval. The municipal engineer has raised one hundred and twenty three objections. Would you rather erase the plan and comeback with one which sticks to rules than pay a few thousands of convenience fee to make the engineer close his eyes while he signs on your plan?”

“Hey, don’t spoil the mood by bringing up irrelevant topics when we are preparing for a long and tough fight with the government”

But I was in my pestering mood and so I continued without hearing the warning. “ You are a busy businessman and cannot keep track of all the business transactions. Some of the transactions escape your attention when you send your files to the sales tax or income tax or some other tax. But the official there somehow smells them out and pesters you for an explanation. Would you rather pay a hefty penalty than slipping a packet of grease to lubricate the palms of the official to make the file slip off?”

“Who let this fellow in here? Creating a nuisance when we are in serious fight with corruption. Kick him out of the grounds”

I was being kicked and pushed and I was trying my best to hold on to the Ramlila grounds. I was losing and I woke up.

“Why can’t you sleep on your side of the bed. You roll around like a child. Where am I expected to sleep” my wife managed to push me aside and regain her part of the bed.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Post for the day

“Nine parties call for nationwide agitation.”

“Varun Gnadhi calls for stronger Lokpal bill”

“Parrikar (Goa BJP leader) promises to pass Lokayukta bill within one month -if brought to power”

Opposition parties are keen on making best use of the situation. They will turn the agitation into a political tamasha and I can see calls for state bundhs and Bharat bundh coming. People are charged and will get carried away by “action”. Road blocks, rail roko, setting fire to buses will follow. A good movement will end up as a nuisance.

Anna Hazare, in his first televised call said “Let there be no damage to private or public property. Let there not be any violence. There should not be any inconvenience to public”. But these are sensible and very tame words. We are not interested in them. Hope Anna will not repent beginning this.


Two cricket jokes on SMS I liked.

“Annaji, thanks for taking the limelight away from the India- England series” - M S Dhoni.

“I will watch 'Lagaan' today. That is the only way I can see India winning against England.”

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Letter To Editor

Had to write this letter to the editor to get some of the irritation caused by the photographs of our political leaders speaking at the rally in support of anti corruption movement, out of my system.


It was disgusting to see our BJP leaders taking part in the anti corruption rally at Azad Maidan. What hypocrisy! I appreciate their guts making long speeches and promises against corruption while being part of the party which is famous for providing one of the most corrupt governments Karnataka has seen.

If they are sincere to the movement, they should participate only as citizens without mentioning their party. If they are sincere to the party they should issue a disclaimer stating that they are doing their best to get as much political mileage as possible out of the popular movement, and that their words should not be taken at face value.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Dane Dane Pe Likha Hai Khanewale ka naam


I planted a Chikoo (Sapodilla, Sapota) sapling in front of my house about four years back. It had a better fate than the other plants and now I can call it a small tree. Last year we got about half a dozen fruits. This year there were hundreds of buds. As they flowered and small fruits appeared I could not help hoping for a feast. The fruits grew in size and just as I put my tongue out to lick my lips in anticipation, the group of monkeys descended from nowhere and attacked the tree. They ignored our feeble attempts to shoo them off, bared their teeth, growled and intimidated us and proceeded to destroy the tree. They tore away the tender shoots, plucked the fruits, bit them and threw them down littering the ground and the ants had a good time for the next two days.



In spite of the attack quite a few young fruits remained and as they grew in size I felt that all was not lost. In my anxiety not lose more fruits to monkeys, I plucked a few which I felt were mature and kept them for ripening. They either shriveled and dried up or rotted. I left the remaining on the tree to ripen and vowed to offer half the yield to Lord Hanuman if he kept his troop away from my tree. He obliged. The young fruits were maturing and I had identified about a dozen as suitable for plucking soon but then every morning I found one or two of them hanging half eaten on the tree. I thought it to be some bird but one of my patients who saw the half eaten fruits said that it is the fruit bat’s work and advised me to pluck the remaining fruits before the bats finished them off.



This morning when I came out for my walk, I saw this fruit on one of the lower branches probably just after the bat had had its fill and left. By the time I returned from my walk the Bul Bul was flying around the fruit. When I came back with the camera the bird was not there but it was time for the wasp and fruit flies to fill their stomachs. The wasp remained on the fruit for nearly three hours. By afternoon the fruit was lying on the ground and the crow was pecking at it. I could hardly identify the fruit in the evening. It was a lump of red ants.

They say “dane dane pe likha hai khane wale ka naam” which I can translate as “Every grain bears the name of the one who gets to eat it”. My chikoo fruits have the names of monkeys, fruit bats, bul bul, wasp, fruit flies, crow and ant on them.

I plucked a few more this evening to try my luck and see if I can erase those names and put my name on them. If I fail again I will give up my claim.



After all, six species surviving on one fruit is better for this world than one species devouring hundreds.

No, the fruits are not sour. They are sweet, as honey. Really.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Kannada post.

Many of my posts in this blog are based on my experiences as a dentist. My cousin Brinda suggested, insisted, forced, got fed up and gave up her efforts to make me translate them to Kannada. I kept her suggestion in mind and have acted now. Hope she does not regret her suggestion.

If you understand the language and have patience to go through the piece, please let me know whether I can translate others, whether I should stick to English or stick to dentistry just as a profession to earn my bread.

Tried to post it on my kannada blog but transliteration is not co operating. Hence this. Please bear.







Friday, August 5, 2011

Sonia's Surgery

Sonia Goes abroad for surgery - hospital, ailment kept secret. Today’s front page.
Very sensible.

If our channels get a hint as to where she is or what is wrong, we will be in for an analysis of the situation which will go on for the next fifteen days.

We have already learnt enough anatomy and surgery thanks to Vajapayee’s knees, Manmohan Singh’s heart, Sachin Tendulkar’s shoulder and Amitabh Baccahn’s intestines.

We can do without dissection of more celebrity organs.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

New Karnataka CM - 'Vastu' compliant.

The new Chief Minister of Karnataka offered ‘puja’ and prayers to Lord Ganesh at his official residence this morning. Understandable. Later, his ‘Vastu’ consultant spoke and claimed that it was because of the alterations that he brought about in the residence of the new CM at his earlier residence in his constituency, (New CM was party president, then) that the BJP became a coalition partner in the JDS govt and then gained power on its own. He said that he had already made the BJP office in Bangalore ‘Vastu’ compliant and that the same will be done to the official residence of the new CM. He claimed that enough alterations would be done to keep BJP in power for the next 10-15 years. (Why not the next 100-150 years? - I wonder)

I had thought that the era of tertiary level of superstition ended with the exit of Yedyurappa, but no. We are in for much more. I hear through my extra sensory auditory senses that a ‘Vastu’ section is likely to be started in the Karnataka PWD and the CM’s Vastu consultant may be the Chief Vastu engineer (CVE for short) of the section. There will be all categories of ‘Vastu’ engineers like JE (Vastu), AE (Vastu), EE (Vastu) etc etc, all PWD works are to get OK from the respective 'Vastu' JE, AE, EE etc depending up on the category of work and if necessary the KRS and the Bangalore metro would be demolished and rebuilt after making the plans Vastu complinat.

The TV channels which have nothing better to do zoomed in for the ‘Puja’ and the interview of the ‘Vastu’ consultant and people who have nothing better to do watched and wrote about it.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

To - Day's Papers. 30th July.

To-day’s papers.

Justice Dinakaran

Yesterday I posted ‘Yevicol’ on my blog and this morning I read that justice Dinakaran has resigned from the post of Chief Justice of Sikkim. He was a close competitor to Yedyurappa in stickiness (and ‘stinkiness’- here you are Ravi!) grading.

UNVA

The US authorities have raided another university UNVA, in Washington. 90% of the students are from India and majority of them from Andhra. Something similar to Tri Valley. There was lot of shouting in the media when the students of Tri Valley were made to wear ankle bands to monitor their movement. And the media almost succeeded in making people back home feel that the university was the villain and the students - innocent.

This time the US authorities are being more cautious - the papers say. The Indian embassy has asked the US authorities not to ‘victimise’ students.

Is the Indian embassy being naïve or caring? Who is the victim? Students or the US government?

Everyone knows that the students of both these universities are not ‘victims’ but perpetrators of a fraud to hoodwink the US authorities and gain entry into the US. They were very well aware what they were upto.

They have soiled the name of the country and thanks to them all Indian students will be looked at with suspicion.

What they need is not sympathy but a kick on the butt.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

YEVICOL

ToDay’s news paper says that Yedyurappa has agreed to quit - at last. But he will be quitting on 31st, after another two ‘sticky’days. Since the time I started reading news papers I have come across quite a few ‘stickers’ sticking to their chairs. But this is one ‘Super sticker’.

In my profession, one thing that I hate is ‘Scaling’. What my patients call ‘cleaning’. This involves removing the ‘Calculus,’ commonly known as ‘Tartar,’ which gets deposited around the teeth near the gums. When I write the records after ‘Scaling’, I usually put the markings, + , ++ , +++ to indicate the toughness and ‘stickiness’ of Tartar. Hence forth I will write ‘Y’ to indicate something stickier than +++.

I also suggest that if the manufacturers of ‘Fevicol’ produce something better than ‘Fevicol’, they name it ‘Yevicol’ and multiply their sales.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Complaints And Compliments

“Hello doctor, how are you?”
A dark, short and fat fellow wearing a blue rain coat, hailed me in front of the agriculture section of the local co operative society. His face, most of which happened to be the nose, looked vaguely familiar. I felt that knew that face but could not place it. I had been to the society to buy some organic fertiliser for the okra plants, which were part of my wife’s latest kitchen garden project.

“Still practicing in that ground floor flat near Sesa quarters?” he continued. “I am your patient doctor. See, you made this denture. Must be more than fifteen years” he grinned to reveal his front teeth, “Still very good. Fits perfectly. I have no trouble whatsoever. Nobody can make out that it is artificial. I tell your name to everyone who has some dental problem. ”

I was very happy to hear that. It is not very often that I get such compliments and I gloated. i did not know how to respond to such praise.

“Thats good to hear” I answered politely, but swelling with justifiable pride within myself. “Nice of you to have mentioned. I am not in that old place now. Shifted next to the main road behind the Honda scooter showroom. Keep my number” I recited my telephone number and went towards the sales counter.

“That is the dentist. Very good doctor” I could hear the fellow telling someone who had turned towards us on hearing the conversation.

In a practice of more than thirty years I have treated thousands of cases. Majority of them just forget the teeth and the dentist - sometimes even the fee - once the treatment is over. Those who remember the treatment done are few and those who express their happiness (assuming that they are happy with the outcome) are fewer. I do not expect my patients to overtly express their pleasure even if they are happy with the treatment. It is fine if people are just satisfied with the outcome and pay my fee without a grudge. So, when someone remembers and praises the work, it does feel very nice.

As I made my purchase and returned to my scooter I saw the fellow who had praised my dentures, stopping briefly near the gate to exchange a few words with another fellow coming in and then ride away.

I was trying to find a way of securing the bulky bag of fertiliser to the scooter without the help of a rope but my mind was still occupied with the thoughts about this good fellow . It was in stark contrast to another case which I have not been able to forget even after many years.

Barve was the milk vendor who manned the Goa dairy’s milk booth near the bus stand. I had made a set of artificial teeth for him and since I knew that he had financial difficulties, I had charged him less than half of what I usually do. He had taken the dentures and had told me that he would pay me within a week. Having not heard anything from him even after months, I had tried to remind him over the telephone. His telephone had been disconnected. I tried the milk booth. It had been taken over by a new agent. It would not have been difficult to locate his house and visit him to get my fee but I did not feel like going to his house demanding money like a loan shark. In due course I forgot about it.

About a year later, one Saturday, when I had been to the market to buy our weekly quota of vegetables, I saw Barve bargaining with the fish vendor. He tried to duck and shoot out on seeing me but I managed to reach and confront him.

“How are you Barve? How is the denture? You never came back after you took it.”

“Good that I met you here doctor. I wanted to come to your clinic. I did not have time. You see the denture you made does not fit my gums at all. It keeps falling out again and again. I can’t eat and can’t even talk. Moreover it hurts the gums and the colour of the teeth you have put does not match my other teeth at all. In fact I wanted to come to you and ask you if you can take it back. I will come there sometime. It is of no use to me whatsoever.” I was taken aback. I did not know what to say or how to respond. By the time I got back to my senses he was not there anymore. It was the first time that someone had openly expressed dissatisfaction about my work and it hit me hard. Let alone getting my fee, I was actually glad that he went away without continuing his speech on the inadequacies of my denture. Few curious heads were already turned in our direction and I hoped that they did not catch the full conversation and that none of them recognized me. Ponda is a small city and I hoped that Barve does not meet any other prospective patient.

I was just thinking about these matters and was about to kick start my scooter when I saw the person who had just come in. The one with whom the unknown good fellow who had praised me, spoke at the gate. It was my friend Nageshkar, who sells stabilizers, batteries and inverters. Nageshkar’s family is in Ponda since ages and he seems to know every single person in the city.

I called out to him “hey, Mahesh, (his first name is Mahesh) who was that fellow you were talking to near the gate? The fellow with the blue rain coat?”

“Don’t you know him? He is Barve, who used to run the milk booth near bus stand. I do not know what he is doing now. Purchased a battery from me for his scooter and has not paid even after two years. Says that it never worked properly and he wants to return it. I Knew that rogue but still sold him the battery because sales were low. I am repenting now. I think I will have to write it off. Be careful with that fellow. If he comes to you for treatment better take your full fee in advance.“

I wish Nageshkar had given me this advice at least two decades before. It was too late now. Barve the master dodger’s compliments were as effective as complaints.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Monsoon Pictures

Yesterday it rained whole day and night. The sky was just starting to clear up with a few stars tentatively peeping out at half past five this morning. Everything was washed and cool and the outdoors was beckoning. There was enough light for me to differentiate between the road and the ditch. I decided to skip my exercise and go for a walk instead.

I went out carrying the camera along. I had not gone walking this rainy season. It was the same road which I see every day but how different it looked during monsoons! I can never stop wondering at the change the rains bring to my surroundings. It is a different world altogether - worth living in - not the one I am used to and the one that I live in! I say this at least once every year and put up few pictures to show what I mean. So, here I am at it again. At the cost of repetition.

The usual dusty road looks clean and the muddy sides, green.



These large leaved plants which grow in abundance hide the roadside garbage and the dirty roadside looks like a garden.



The drab hillside waiting to be cut into housing plots, like an animal waiting to be butchered, suddenly turns out to be - though temporarily- a piece of the western ghats,



And even the common place electric pole turns out to be a queen with a crown of green.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

MCSRDC

After completing B tech in electronics, my son has got a job in the ‘Mission Combat Systems Research and Design Center’ of one of the PSUs in Bangalore. I do not know what they do in MCSRDC. According to what I have read and heard about PSUs, irrespective of the purpose for which they are built, all that the employees of PSUs do is eat Samosas or bhaji (depending up on which day it is and supplied at subsidized rates by their canteen) and drink tea while participating in a hearty discussion on topics of individual interest or (after the advancement in the field of communications) participate in a discussion on the mobile or enjoy a cricket match or a movie on their laptops. I hear some PSUs have changed now and hope they really have. Whatever it is, the name of this center is very impressive and I imagined that it may have something to do with use of electronics in warfare. Rather, it was meant to do something about the use of electronics in warfare.

We, self and my son, were out on some errand and dropped in our friend Nageshkar’s shop. Nageshkar sells batteries, stabilisers and inverters and is rarely seen in the shop. He is always running about attending to his customers and keeps complaining about his running around. He was my neighbor and my morning walk companion. I see him less these days after I shifted my residence and switched to swimming to save what is remaining of my knees. We share similar views, he is as irritated as I am about unpalatable happenings around us, equally disgusted with politicians and is growing to be an irritated old man like me. I was glad to see him in the shop and went in for a short chat. He was reading the morning paper carrying photographs of our politicians protesting the recent hike in diesel and gas prices, waving their hands and shouting slogans, pushing push carts loaded with gas cylinders, burning effigies and in general creating nuisance and scenes on the streets with the hope of catching the ever obliging media eyes.

Having seen my son since he was a child, Nageshkar was happy to hear that he got a job, wished him well and enquired in what capacity he would be working in MCSRDC. I butted in to exhibit my ignorance and also joked “if an aircraft fires a missile and if it lands in Hyderabad instead of Islamabad, you know whose work it is!”

Nageshkar laughed and addressed my son. “Instead of Hyderabad, If you can really make a mistake and get the missile to land on our parliament while it is in session, I will put up your photograph on my wall and worship it everyday”.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Mysore - Himavatgopalaswamy Hill

In my last post I said that we were away from Goa for a few days. We made a trip to Mysore and back. I had no intentions of writing a travelogue again, the one I wrote about our US trip last year being enough of travelogues for me and everyone else but I found a few pictures of our trip in the camera and the temptation to bug others with them is too much to resist. I will shorten the torture as much as possible.

After many years, all of us in our family were in a position to take a week’s holiday together and decided to go somewhere out of Goa. We kept hearing people - our friends and acquaintances - going on tours and names like Singapore, Bangkok, Mauritius, Manali, Srinagar, Jaipur and Coonoor kept popping up during conversations making us feel that, being cooped up in Ponda, we were missing all the fun. So, we had to go somewhere. After considering Udaipur,Singapore, Malaysia, Kashmir and Kannur and rejecting all of them, we decided up on the time tested Mysore which has never disappointed us. Since we do not have a direct train to Mysore from Goa, we have to take a train to Bangalore and proceed to Mysore from there. We had thought of a pleasant holiday, I mean as pleasant as four of us (all adults. Children are no more children and have their own mind and can afford to act as it directs them) with different tastes and ideas could make it together and had no intentions of passing through Bangalore which was sure to be far from pleasant. So, we decided to drive to Dharwad and take the night train to Mysore.

We started on the morning of 5th June just as the monsoon reached the Goa border, and since it was a Sunday and there were not many mining trucks on the road to fight with, managed to reach Molem, the Goa border, without damage. From Molem to Anmod is the ‘ghat section’ and the climb starts from Molem. Anmod ghat is wonderful during rains. To see it in its full splendour one has to travel by train from Margao to Londa but travelling by road is rewarding enough. The picture below is just a sample bit.



The road from Londa to Dharwad (once upon a time)was a narrow but beautifully canopied stretch of road through the forests, till the mining trucks carrying iron ore to Goa from Hospet devoured it completely. It took the government nearly fifteen years to trace it again and now it is under reconstruction. Those who are unfortunate enough to have some compelling reason to travel to Hubli - Dharwad by road, take a detour via Khanapur which traverses through a very bad patch of about twelve kilometers to join the Belgaum - Bangalore highway at Kittur, by which time they would have exhausted all the curses they have in their vocabulary. I went by that road once last year and only because I had been reciting Vishnu Sahasranama all the time, managed to come out unscathed. We heard that the road to Dharwad via Dandeli and Haliyal is good though a bit longer and had decided to try that road. It is really good. There is not much traffic on the road and both the sides are densely wooded. The road is smooth though curvy and my son, who was driving, did his best to test the stability of our car and the stretchability of our nerves. He enjoyed himself while I got an ulcer or two. We made one brief halt for lunch and another to look at the Supa dam from a view point and arrived at Dharwad by three in the afternoon.



We rested for a while at our friend Sri Dhakad’s place in Dharwad and having consumed enough fats to last us the next three years through their very tasty Rajasthani dinner, caught the night train which deposited us at Mysore the next morning.
Mysore suites all tastes in our family and we usually spend time peacefully just eating and lazing around. However this time we decided to visit our family deity ‘Srikanteshwara’ at Nanjangud and a nearby hill called the ‘Himavatgopalaswamy betta’ (‘betta’ is a hill in Kannada). The last time I visited lord Shrikanteshwara, I had to stand in a jostling queue for nearly an hour (after buying the privileged hundred rupees ticket- Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati has taught profitable business practices to all other deities) before I came face to face with him. This time I had decided that if a similar situation prevails, I would offer my pranams from the outer precincts and turn back. Our association is long and I was sure that he would understand. It was a pleasant surprise to find the temple free of crowds and it was much more pleasant to find the surroundings clean and -very important- having a very much usable pay toilet and other facilities.



I said that I do not intend a long write up but the habit does not die easily. I will try to shorten the remaining part.

‘Himavatgopalswamy betta’, one hour from Nanjangud.

A deviation of about twelve kilometers from Gundlupet on the Mysore - Ooty highway.

The deviation bit - Horrible road, beautiful surroundings.

Buy a ticket at the forest guard posted at the base of the hill, who instructs you to be back with in an hour.

Reach the top expecting the tyres to burst anytime and once you have stopped being surprised at the tenacity of your vehicle which survived the road enjoy the exhilarating cool and misty atmosphere said to be so all through the year and hence the name “Himavatgopalaswamy’. (‘Hima’ is mist in kannada).

Splendid view as far as your eyes can take you.





Colourful temple, and a very good looking Gopalaswamy within.



The hill is in a protected forest area and one cannot stray away from the temple to explore the surroundings. One is not allowed to linger around and ‘picnic’ there. You reach the top, take a look and few photographs, offer your prayers to Lord Gopalaswamy and start back. We had heard that if you are lucky, you may see wild elephants roaming in the forest below. We halted at a view point on the way down and tried our best to locate wild elephants. We spotted them only after our driver’s experienced eyes caught them. You may see them in the photograph if your eyes are better than mine.





After a halt by the side of the road for lunch,



Returned to Mysore by three in the afternoon. A very good trip. I hear that there are many such places around Mysore and hope to visit them during our subsequent visits. please do not pray that i never make it to Mysore again.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Ah, Monsoon again!

Rains are here again. I love the rains in Goa and I consider myself lucky to be in a position to say so. I have a roof over my head that does not leak and I do not have to run through foot deep water to catch a bus or ride a two wheeler in pouring rain to reach my work place. I do not have to look for a dry spot in front of a road side shop to spread a cut open cardboard carton to sleep at night. I do not have to hurriedly spread a sheet of plastic to cover the wares that I have kept for hawking on the footpath as the drops start falling from the sky. I do not know if these people can love the rains. I feel sorry for those who suffer because of rain but love the season nevertheless. I thank god for keeping me in a position to do so.

This year we left Goa just as the demarcation between pre -monsoon showers and the monsoon rains disappeared and returned two days back to find the monsoon in full swing. It had been raining for five days and the branches of the plants next to our side walk had bent over forcing one to bend at the waist to reach the door from the gate. The cement floor was getting slippery threatening to break the back if stepped up on carelessly.

There had been a backlog of cases in the clinic and I remained indoors the last two days ignoring what was happening outside. Today being my half day I could survey around the house, clean the side walk, tie up the branches of the plants (with the help of my son who, for once, appeared to be willing), remove the dry leaves which had clogged the water outlets on the roof and then sit in front of our balcony to enjoy a hot cup of tea, enjoying the cool weather, watching the pouring rain. Feels very nice.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Medium of Primary Instruction

About a month back an old issue came to life once again. The issue of medium of instruction in primary schools. The Issue is not the medium instruction as such. It is the government aid given to primary schools.

In the beginning all schools which were eligible for aid got aid. Then the government decided that the mother tongue should be the medium of instruction at primary level and said that it would not give aid to English medium schools. That was about twenty years back. Schools which were teaching in English either switched to local languages (Konkani/ Marathi in Goa) or charged extra fee for English medium. This went on for nearly twenty years. This year suddenly there was a demand from a large section of the society that the government give aid to English medium schools also. There was also a section which opposed aid to English medium. Depending up on which side of the bread they saw butter, politicians took sides.

Arguments and counter arguments flew thick. Mother tongue supporters said that a child can grasp much better what is taught in mother tongue and so, teaching in MT forms a firm knowledge base and many more such things. English supporters said that our children are losing out because they are deprived of English which is absolutely necessary for future prospects and many more such things. After kicking the issue around for some time and passing it on to the ‘Center’ for views, the ruling party saw that there were more numbers behind English and announced that “after careful consideration of all aspects” it has decided to give aid to English medium schools too. The section of politicians who were against English medium - the ‘Bharatiya bhasha suraksha mandal’ decided to protest and held a ‘rasta roko’ and also called for Goa bundh on 6th june.

My view is that both the arguments are baseless. A child can learn in any language and can learn any language if taught properly at the appropriate time. My vision does not go far. But what I have seen near me makes me feel so. I learnt in Kannada medium till 7th standard and then switched to English medium. Whatever others say, I think that I am not bad either in Kannada or in English or in anything that I learnt using these languages. My sister learnt in English medium till 7th standard and learnt Kannada only later. She is better than me in both and everything else. My children’s primary education was neither in English nor in their mother tongue Kannada. They learnt in Konkani and are fine in Kannada, English and Konkani as well as whatever they learnt in those languages.

The whole thing was bugging me. The photograph of our leaders squatting on the highway blocking the traffic and the “Bundh”call, both of which I always hate, increased the irritation and I had to say something somewhere. So I wrote a letter to “Navhind Times”. I do not know if they were short of words today. They published it with a heading “Nuisance to Public”.

Nuisance to Public.

It was disgusting to see the ex chief ministers, sitting M L As, MP, and so called dignitaries and intellectuals posing proudly for the photograph while blocking the high way.
Blocking the road, (other than providing news coverage to these people), only causes hardships to citizens and nothing else. This is just a step away from acts like stone pelting, setting fire to buses and cutting railway lines and is a disgrace to any civil society.
These people who should condemn such acts are encouraging them.
It is a pity that our leaders cannot even think of better ways of protest.
Now they have called for Goa bundh on 6th June. Yet another nuisance. Where are our leaders leading us?

M S Raghunandan, Ponda

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Mango Season



Mango season is here again. The first few mangoes were seen in the market about a month back. ‘Mankurad,’ the most sought after variety in Goa was being sold at about hundred rupees a piece and there were people to buy it at that price! Some soul who longed for those mangoes but could not afford them, wrote in the letters to editor coloumn - ‘Mangoes beyond common man’s reach’- and suggested that the government regulate the prices! After about fifteen days the price came down to about five hundred rupees a dozen and the news papers announced “Goa’s famous Mankurad with in common man’s reach”. Five hundred rupees a dozen and that is within common man’s reach! I am way below a common man then. I should ask for a BPL (below poverty line) card from the government. After that I noticed a steady increase in the quantity of Mangoes in the market but still did not dare to ask the price.

Since last week there are hawkers selling mangoes in almost every street corner. In one corner I found a small boy (less intimidating) in front of a basket of Mangoes and hesitatingly asked for the price. It was two hundred rupees a dozen. My wife is very fond of mangoes and I had noticed her eating them with her eyes whenever we went to the market. So, I bought half a dozen mangoes.

Two days after that first half dozen the price came down to about hundred and fifty, and I purchased a dozen fruits from Sandeep naik. Sandeep is a vegetable vendor who shifts to mangoes in mango season. In a market full of sellers who try their best to attract customers, he stands like a ‘sthitapragna’ (he who accepts happiness and sorrow, ups and downs, alike and in general is not perturbed by anything) in the center of four or five baskets containing fruits of different sizes and different varieties. If enquired, he will point at the baskets saying “three hundred, two fifty and two hundred” or so. His price is fixed. No bargaining. If you bend over the basket he hands you a plastic bag and looks away. You may take half an hour to select the fruits you want. Once you have selected the fruits and put them in the bag you hold it in front of him and say how many you have picked. He will not even count them. He will nod his head, take your money and give you the change. He will not prevent you from selecting what you want even if you upturn the whole basket. Very much unlike the other sellers who shout at you and almost wring your neck if you try to displace one or two from the top and try to get at those placed at the bottom. His attitude suits me and I usually buy from him.

A dozen mangoes do not last long in our house and I had thought that if the quality of the Mangoes was good, I would go back to the market and buy another dozen. Just as I entered the house I saw two plastic bags full of mangoes placed next to the stairs. One of our neighbours, who knew that we were partial to the fruit and had been to the market before me, had found the price very reasonable, and had bought two dozens for us. A goodwill gesture for having removed his tooth free. We like Mangoes yes. But what to do with three dozens? It was nearing ten in the morning and I thought I will give it a thought after the clinic and went to attend to the first case. The first patient on my list, who owns a farm, entered carrying another bag of mangoes. Now we had nearly five dozens. As I finished the morning session and was about to close the door, a car arrived in front of our house. It was the driver of one of my friends carrying a box containing mangoes all from the trees in their huge compound and all of them ripened on the tree.

That evening, the old lady who stays next to our house slowly walked in carrying her quota. During Mango season, she sits in front of her house watching her tree, with a few stones and a stick at her disposal, waiting for the ripe mangoes to fall. She collects all the mangoes that fall from the tree and is aided by the stones and stick in keeping other contenders like the cattle, crows and the neighbourhood children away. Usually she has a heap of fruits next to her by evening. They are not dessert mangoes but the ones used for making mango curry. I had given her one guava fruit from our tree and she has free access to our hibiscus plants. The investment was bringing dividends. We could not refuse her hard earned mangoes.

I do not know in what ‘muhurat’ I purchased the first half dozen. Since then It is raining Mangoes in our house and there are heaps of Mangoes in all corners of our kitchen. Different qualities in different stages of ripening. Good ‘Mankurad’ just right to be cut and consumed are placed separately. Unripe ones are in another corner. Over ripe ones to be converted in to pulp or juice are in yet another place. The ones to be used in cooking are still in their bag. We have distributed Mangoes to whoever we could reach but still have about five dozens with us. There is a pleasant mango fragrance all over the house. In case anyone is intending visiting us these days, be prepared for Mango juice on arrival, mango pulp with rotis and mango curry with rice for lunch, and cut finest Mankurad for dessert.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Osama dead - My take

Osama is dead. America got its revenge. But the Taliban, Al quaeda, JEM, LET etc etc are all very much alive and kicking. The British danced in the streets because their prince got married. Americans are dancing because their enemy is dead. Both happenings are of no consequence to the society at large. Foolish people rejoicing over these things probably because there is nothing else to rejoice over.

Major beneficiary of Osama’s death - Obama. He got something to boost his image.
Next, the TV channels. They got something to keep the viewers engaged.
Third, me. Got something to write a few lines about.