2010: A controversial year

2010 will always be remembered as the year that exposed the much respected Indian democracy. It exposed the dirty nexus between politicians,military, media, beareacracy and the corporates.  Radia Gate is just a tip of an iceberg.

This year also saw some great sportings feats  like 200 runs in an ODI inning and 50 centuries in Test career by Cricket Virtuoso Sachin Tendulkar, Indians some how managed  to keep Test Rank 1 against all odds, Australia is fighting so hard against their colonial masters and an Australian is making life hell for almost all the diplomats by much publicized and highly required leaks. India as a democracy has "survived" yet another disturbing year despite of strong corruption charges against the current UPA government. Ayodhya verdict  was another landmark judgment that exposed the ideology of so called left liberals and secularists. I have never seen people changing their positions within few hours after the judgment. This year will also be remembered  for Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, and Gagan Narang apart from other great athletes who showed their mettle in CWG and ASIAD. 

On a personal front i completed my first year of wedding life and this was a great achievement for me. Thanks a lot Pratiksha for making my life sweet and beautiful.

I wish next year to be free from corruption, riots, wars and calamities. Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Book Review [34] : Hegemony or Survival

'Hegemony or Survival' by Noam Chomsky is a nice analysis of US "war on terror" since the days of President Wilson. Noam Chomsky in his own style decimates the moral foundation underneath the bloody wars in the "service of mankind". But sometimes he loses almost everything and tries to depict an oversimplifying picture of major world crisis. For him  US is the bad guy and whoever opposes US is the nice guy without any exception whatsoever. 

You can not defeat the evil without fighting using all the means you have at your disposal. This is your right as well as moral obligation. The mess of our modern world is the legacy of the western renaissance. The once mighty and well advanced African civilization of Carthage was destroyed to dust by the mighty Western Roman Empire. The once mighty  Persian empire of Asia was destroyed to dust by the young Greek, we call him Alexander The Great. When some one from West conquers the world we call him Alexander The Great but if some one from East conquers the world we call him Barbarian like Xerxes or Ghengis Khan. The differencebetween Alexander and Ghengis Khan is same as the difference between Bush and Laden. We call one a terrotist and other a proponent of infnite justice. As they say we live in interesting times. We live in time when ego of only super power on earth lies in destroying the least powerful, least educated, most corrupt and most poor nation in our world. They call it a wise war now and we are fine in supporting it. Overall this book is a nice book and after reading chomsky i will say if you have read his one book assume that you have read him all.
Highly Recommended (8/10)
P.S. Kabul is near to Delhi than Bangalore.

No one is a holy cow here

19/11 is a day that has changed the face of Indian Media, forever. The so called last bastion of Indian Republic is under sever fire after the expose by Open Magazine. I don't know whether the tapes are authentic or fabricated but the boycott of this news by entire English media fraternity raises a lot of unanswered questions. I am a regular viewer of NDTV and CNN-IBN and some times i really ponder about the immense power these guys have at their disposal. These guys can make any party, organization or person look silly if they wish. This power is very dangerous as there is no guarantee that these media houses and these journalists follow the standards of journalism. And by sheer virtue of this power they can intern dictate policies and terms. I always thought that the NDTV is bit inclined towards Congress and CNN-IBN is not to different. CNN-IBN top anchor has coined a term "Internet Hindus" to call those internet savy Indians who persistently attack CNN-IBN and NDTV for following double standards in their reporting and their shows.

                               I am not a member of BJP or CPI or Congress and neither  i vote (because i don't find any candidate worthy of my vote) but i was shocked to see the one sided coverage of CNN-IBN and NDTV during assembly election in Gujarat in 2007. These channels were openly campaigning with congress against Narendra Modi. This was totally against all the standards of journalism. The coverage of Ayodhya verdict by NDTV was highly biased although CNN-IBN did a balanced coverage. Media persons can have ideologies but that ideology should not in any way impact their job of fair and true journalism. NDTV and CNN-IBN are perfectly fine to have ideologies but they have no right whatsoever to impose them on their viewers.

The tape controversy is nothing but a tip of the iceberg and i won't be surprised if this controversy is skirted  in a day or two as these media houses in particular and all in general are very very powerful. 

P.S. I have tweeted to Sagarika Ghose, Vikram Chandra and Rajdeep Sardesai that why CNN-IBN is not reporting Barkha Dutt - Nira Radia tapes but so far got no reply. CNN-IBN and NDTV has lost be as a viewer, switch back to Doordarshan :)

Book Review [33] : Autobiography - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Dr. King(1929-1968) was the one of the greatest apostles of non-violent struggle against the unjust laws and played a key role in civil rights movement of USA. It is hard to believe that pathetic racist laws such as different schools for blacks and whites, different churches, clubs ,different seats in buses etc were prevalent in USA even in 1960's. But the Blacks never lost the hope and under Dr. King they were able to win back their rights after more than 400 years of serfdom. Freedom is not given, its always taken. His dream eventually came true (although symbolically) when Barrack Obama became the president of USA in 2009. USA has made great strides in abolishing almost all racial barriers among different racial groups and it has to be commended for this. As an India, i feel enormous shame when i still see the same caste system is still prevalent with almost same vigor in almost all the villages of India. If Gandhi can inspire some one too distant in space and time why we are not getting inspired. Has the paradise been lost forever or still we have some bits left? The best time for justice, freedom and peace is always now. Its better to die on the roads, jails, fields of India fighting for justice than to make a butchery of our conscience. 
Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Review [32] : No god but God

'No god but God' is a story of the evolution of Islam since the first revelation in a small cave at Mt Hira not too far from the thriving "Pagan" city of Mecca in 610 AD. This book talks in detail about the first 100 years of middle east from the Battle of Elephants in 570 AD, the evolution of Sufi thought, the Inquisition and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and Wahhabism.  It asks very fundamental question about the socio-economic basis behind the evolution of this great movement. 7th Century Arabian society was a very primitive society with very primitive laws and rules compare to the highly sophisticated Byzantine, Sassanian and Indian civilizations still it managed to defeat all these civilizations and was able to conquer entire middle east, parts of Pakistan and north Africa in a span of just 50 years. Persian history is an apt manifestation of the Tragedy at Karbala. Around 330 BC, a young prince from a tiny Kingdom of Macedonia decimated the mighty Achaemenid Empire and after 100 years a primitive society of Arabs destroyed the mighty civilization of Persia. The Zoroastrian culture and religion disappeared from Persia like column of smoke in mighty winds. When ever Persians think that they are going strong, they go straight in a deep gorge. It has happened in 330 BC, 650 AD, 680 AD. So their mourning to celebrate the martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala has a deep rooted anguish. I completely believe that Islam is nothing but Arabic imperialism in the guise of religion. Why Arabs always try to impose the archaic and barbaric laws of 7th Century Arabia on the converts from highly advanced societies of India, Iran and middle east?The only tragedy with this great religion of Islam is that it had evolved in a wrong society at a wrong time. This religion should be read and followed only after separating the politics and culture of 7th century Arabia and if its not done then no one can stop the spread of Wahhabism and Talibanism in any society. Amen.
Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Review [31] : The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order

Samuel P. Huntington's "The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order" is an extensively researched work on the fault lines across various civilizations. I bought this book almost 2 years back and never got a chance to go through it until last week. Its a must read book for any student of world politics.
                                People lose a set of identities to get new ones. Take the case of India just before 1947 citizens of India on the other side of current border were proud of India but only one date made them ardent Pakistanis and they fought 2 major wars, 2 minor wars and consistent proxy war in a normal life time of a South Asian native. This is too much for countries having almost everything in common except majority religion. In way its a manifestation of the civilizational conflict war fought between Qasim and Dahir in Sindh 8th Century, Mahmud Ghazanavi and Rajputs in 11th Century and between Ghurids against Rajputs in 12th Century and ultimately resulted in a period of relative "peace" under Islamic rule of the subcontinent for more than 600 years. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Muslim minority in India are legacy of that 600 years rule. This is strikingly similar to the story of Yugoslavia. Kosovo is Pakistan and Bosnia is Kashmir and India is Serbia. Serbia was under Turkish rule for more than 500 years since 1389. The entire disintegration of Yugoslavia took place along civilizational lines i.e. Croatia, Slovenia: Western Christianity; Serbia, Montenegro: Orthodox Christianity; Kosovo: Islam and Bosnia is divided among Serbs, Croats and Muslims. Orthodox Russia supported Serbia; Germany and west supported Croatia/Slovenia; Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and USA supported Bosnian Muslims. Bosnia and Kosovo are nothing but legacy of Turkish rule or the remnants of Turkish civilization in Balkan. This book talks in detail about the decline of Western civilization and rise of South Asian and East Asian civilization.
                              The Chinese and Indian civilization will be able to rise rather spectacularly but this can not said about Muslim civilization as it lacks a core state of that civilization. Western Civilization has core states in USA, France, Germany and UK, Chinese civilization has core state in China, Indian civilization has core state in India, Islamic civilization lacks a strong core state almost all the Islamic states are more or less at the same level. Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Turkey have potential to become one. Pakistan is ethnically and linguistically divided state and has been a torn state since Independence. Indonesia can become one but it will not be accepted by middle east countries because of distance and culture. Iran can not become because its Shiite state. Turkey looks more formidable but its more inclined to be a part of EU than to become leader of Arab states although the recent trend shows a clear tilt of Turkey to become leader of Islamic civilization. Core state is very necessary for the survival and glory of Islamic civilization and only the core state has the power to mediate and control fitna and wars in Islamic states.  This book is too good and i strongly recommend it. 
Highly Recommended (9/10)

Islamophoebia

People are making a lot of noise against the veil ban in France but why  these same people don't  make noise against the oppressive regime in Saudi Arabia and many Arab countries. Maldives is such a tiny country, known for exotic islands but no one makes a noise when the new constitution of Maldives defines citizenship on this basis of Islam. I don't know which direction we are heading on. The recent attacks on Sufi Shrines in Pakistan is a blatant attack on Islam and its not even on the agenda of so called proponents of the theory of Islamophoebia.  I simply do not understand why we concentrate on trivial issues and lose out the major ones. Someone in Denmark draws something and we are on streets in thousands and may be in millions but why we are not on streets when some one bombs the 1200 years old shrines. Before pointing fingers on France, Switzerland or on Belgium we should first look at our record. Its thousand times more inferior than those European countries.

A very happy Vijayadashmi to all of you, lets start a crusade against the Ravans of this epoch. Lets atleast try for some sanity.

Judgement Day

Babur was a invader and no one should deny it. He constructed a Mosque at Ayodhya either by demolishing a standing temple or on the ruins of an ancient temple in 1528 or so. Muslim kings of medieval period had a history of demolishing temples, churches or converting them to Mosques, Temple of Mount, Kashi Vishwanath, Hagia Sophia etc. This list is never ending. Now the point is whether we use this modern century to settle scores of the past or to reconcile and make a better world where no one can destroy any temple, church, mosque etc. Historical injustices take the strength of civilization to endure. The monuments erected by invaders are symbols of defeats and will remain our symbols of defeats irrespective of the religious allegiance of the invaders and the monuments destroyed by invaders will remain symbols of broken pride.

Now the point is we live in a Secular Democratic Republic of India and if we call ourselves Indians and enjoy the immense freedom it gives then we should also abide by the law of the land and its constitution. Another thing is if we accept historical injustices meted out to dalits by the upper castes since time immemorial and can easily accept the concept of affirmative action (by making special provision for them) then why do not accept the injustices done by those invaders. Alexander, Seleucus, Babur, Ghori or Gazni can never be heroes for Indians irrespective of the faith practiced by them so we should not define heroes/villains by their faiths. Iran still considers Saudi Arab as its enemy because of the deeds done by Saudi Arabia in 7th century AD although they share the same religion although different sects. The gory side of Pakistan is that Pakistan considers Ghori and Gazni as its national heroes and thats very shameful. The same invaders first pillaged and plundered Pakistan before setting their feet in India. I don't believe the theory that  the entire population of Pakistan is descendants from those invaders. It simply can not be true. The population of Pakistan is more than the population of all those invading countries combined together. 

If i convert to Islam, will i stop considering Prithviraj Chauhan as a hero of India since he fought against a Muslim invaders? I will definitely not. Can Latin America forgive the Spain for all the crimes committed by Spain during colonial time because Latin American has become Christian? I bet not. These are inconvenient facts but we need to accept them and move forward with out heads high. Do not let them say "India by definition is a myth".
We should accept the judgment of High Court and we all should keep our held high. Its better not to have any monuments associated with invaders in this country. Amen.

Kosovo or Kashmir

Last month International Court of Justice endorsed the unilateral declaration made in 2008 by the tiny Republic of Kosovo. For Serbia, Kosovo has always been the cradle of her civilization. Serbs still celebrate the epic battle fought in Kosovo against the invading army of the Islamic Turks in 1389. Prince Lazar died fighting and Kosovo and rest of balkan peninsula was open for Islamicization. Although Serbs were able to reconquer Kosovo in 1912 but they had to return the favor in 1998 because of the delusions of grandeur by Slobodan Milosevic. Demographically speaking Kosovo contains more than 90% Albanian Muslims and only 4-6% Serbian Christians, but the demography was quite different in 1912 when Serbs made more than 25% of the Kosovo's population. The mass exodus of Serbs because of the hostile attitude of Islamic Albanians (fueled by the neighboring country of Albania) in Kosovo and high birth rate of Albanian Muslims changed drastically the demographic nature of Kosovo. Kosovo became a tinderbox of Balkan and Milosevic used it "beautifully" to destroy the Beautiful Federation created by Joseph Tito. Lots of Albanian Muslims were massacred in the bloody wars of 1990's. In the end Serbia lost everything and Milosevic had to defend himself in the International Court of Justice for "his crimes against humanity".

The case of Kosovo is strikingly parallel to the case of Kashmir and India has to tread very carefully. If we want to save the federation of India then we must not in any case allow anyone to settle scores of history in 2010 India, but the people should also acknowledge the treatment meted out to Hindus post 1192 AD including the destruction of temples else we will never be able to reconcile. Change of religion should never mean change of nationality or loyalty. Amen.

Law of Universalism

I hate to be politically correct and i believe its a sin against truthfulness to be a politically correct individual. Almost a decade has passed since 9/11, i have become an Engineer, India has become  "an exciting story", Iraq has become a country without a nation, Afghanistan has not moved a bit, Pakistan has committed almost every possible sin, World has become more unsafe and we as a nation has become more intolerant and deeply unsecular.

                                                  Sometimes its very difficult to understand (atleast for me) why people can even think of burning a book respected by millions of people world wide and throughout ages and on the top of that why people burn flags of countries inhabited by millions of people. I have seen protests on TV, people burning flags of US in thousands when provocated by nobody Jones. There is something deeply wrong some where. I have read somewhere long back and now i am a firm believer of that "Hate hurts, harmony works" but by burning national and religious symbols we can only perpetuate the so called "Clash of Civilizations" since the days of First Crusade. One should apply the same laws to others that one can apply to one self and if people feel proud in burning flags of other countries then they should be ready for its repercussions as we all are made up of same  ingredients.

When people desecrate religious place of some community then they should feel that their religious places have also been desecrated and it happens all the time. How many Hindu temples we know in Pakistan? There were innumerable temples some centuries back. People should think why minorities suffer in Islamic countries. Why non Muslims don't have a right to build a temple, synagogue or a Church in Saudi Arabia but the same Saudi Arabia can finance building of many many Mosques in other countries? This does not look correct to me logically. Why minorities in Pakistan as well as in Bangladesh have been shrinking in numbers since 1947 and why they are increasing in India, USA, UK and other European countries? Something is wrong some where. Here i am not saying that India treats its minorities in 100% correct way but it treats them well compare to almost all other Asian countries and even better than France. Its difficult to understand why countries like Maldives and Malaysia define citizenship on the basis of religion. No one even wants to discuss these things. I want to know why. US was damn wrong when it attacked Iraq and Afghanistan and killed thousands of innocents but those people were also wrong who did 9/11 or who killed Daniel Pearl or who did 26/11 and the list goes on. Eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, it was true in the beginning and its true even now. Why we didn't protest when Muslims were massacred in Gujarat after Godhra train burning? Why we protest when someone make cartoons or some make fun of our religion and why we don't protest when some uses our religion to fulfill his/her ulterior motives. We don't need to protest again some nobody burning holybook or holy symbol but its our right and responsibility to protest if some one is using our religion to complete his/her evil designs. The same rule applies to Media as well. Our media does not leave any chance to castigate Modi or BJP and it goes full throttle if any bad thing happens to minority community in Gujarat and else where but the same media is conspicuosly silent on the Deganga (a place not too far from Kolkata) riots. Many temples have been desecrated in last few days and scores of Hindus have fled for this place. Situation was so grave that Army was called few days back but our media is damn slient. Thats not good for we as a nation and we as Indians. As President Obama says that "Any radical act accelerates the recruiting process of other radical groups", so we should remain careful.

And i end my post by famous Urdu lines:

Uski woh jaane uske pass wafa thi ki na thi, Tum faraz apni taraf se toh nibhate jaate

Happy Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi to all fellow Indians and others.  I will be back :).

And we celebrate our Independence Day

This is Neeraj Jadaun and if you are reading this then you love India. 64th Independence Day is bringing a lot of challenges for Indian democracy as well as India as a nation. Lets wish the downfall of every negative energy encircling that beautiful country, we call India. I have nothing to offer but honesty and integrity on this auspicious day. Let them say "Patriotism is last refuge of scoundrel', better be a scoundrel than a fifth column :). Wish you all the best in your missions, Mr. Scoundrel :).

And Miles to go before i return

Its been a long hiatus after the last post. Sorry for this as i am completely engrossed and consumed by my work that i can not help it. Hope these busy cycles will fly in some time. Till then stay hungry and stay foolish :).

19, 191 KMs in 130 hours

June 2010 witnessed my Indian marathon wef 23rd June morning from Bangalore to 28th June, covering about 19,191 kms on Indian territory by plane, train, bus, cab, motorbike, Bolero etc. And in this i all covered Patna, Bhagalpur, Kanpur and New Delhi. Great journeys need great inspirations and for me to attend the wedding of Avimeha was like a wild goose chase and was immensely satisfied in the end after seeing them married (after having many years of committed status). The wedding was arranged in a beautiful was and i was very touched to feel the family like behavior of maternal uncles, Nanaji, brother of Aviral and brothers of Meha. And in the end the "Bhagalpuri Chadar" was much appreciated by my mummy and grandmother. May the couple live their entire life in eternal bliss.

I have heard many times from my friends from Bihar that most of the people in Bihar don't follow railway norms and i was quite horrified to see that in reality. When i was returning with Barat from Bhagalpur in 3rd AC, it was horrendous to see the great mob in that compartment. I can not expect this thing even in UP, no need to bring the case of much 'civilized' parts of the country. Overall the journey was quite good and i never felt cheated while traveling through the length and breadth of Bihar.

FIFA World Cup here it starts

Worlds greatest fever of 2010 is reaching its crescendo and one hardly doubts its intensity. My interest in Football started in 1996 when Germany won the Euro Cup and it has never looked back ever since. I still remember Davor Suker winning the Golden Boot in 1998 World Cup. I supported Germany like anything in last two World Cups. In 2002 Oliver Kahn defended Germany like the great rock of Gibraltar but was not good enough against the mighty Brazilians led by Ronaldo. Zinedine Zidane played his last World Cup (2006) like a man enjoying his dream, but unfortunately for him and for France, Italy won the Cup in a reverberating shoot out . I   still remember going for a job interview in a German firm (a day after Michael Ballack's men were sunk by Italia in semi final) but those Germans took that easy else i might had been screwed. I only follow two major tournaments FIFA World Cup and Euro Cup so sometimes i become quite unaware of the composition of the teams.

             19th World Cup has started yesterday in Republic of South Africa. As always i will support Germany, Argentina, Italy and Spain. Argentina always has had great teams but they have not won a  world cup in last 20 years while Brazil has won twice, and Germany, France and Italy one each. Absence of Michael Ballack will seriously hurt the chances of Germany while France is deprived of all the great old horses, same is true for Brazil. Italy, Argentina and Spain are more balanced than their counterparts. Lets hope that the best team wins the cup.

                     Finally, i would l like to say that Republic of South Africa has arrived on a world stage like a giant. Out of BRICS countries, China has hosted 2008 Olympics, South Africa is hosting current FIFA World Cup and Brazil will host 2014 FIFA World Cup. India is nowhere in the picture and we should not be satisfied by hosting substandard Commonwealth games or local World Cup of Cricket.

Book Review [30] : The White Tiger

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is a book that i hated to read (as i rarely read fiction) but because of Aviral's visit to Bangalore this Sunday and Saugata's recommendation, i started reading it  yesterday around 12:30 PM and by 9 PM i was able to finish it off. In between these we traveled for 2 hours and lunched for 20 odd minutes. This book is a very high speed flowing book that you can read it in a fish market without any disturbance. No other book can suit super fast Indian. This is a story of a chasm and a hope. This is a story of Balram Halwai's struggle to jump from the dark India to the "Shining India" and he did it in such an awespiring way.

I have read it some where that "Before making any statement about India please keep in mind that the opposite is also equally true". So if you find Indias running BMWs, Ferraris, Mercedez etc then you can also find with an ease Indians running bullock carts (Index of ancient India), rickshaws (Post Mughal India) etc. If you find Volvo to cater the needs of metropolitan Indians then at the same time you have horse carts, tractors and 1950 odd made buses to cater the needs of people living in Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal, Bihar and elsewhere. This is a chasm that's it also impossible to surpass and yet it lives on and on. Government shows all types of stats to prove that India is growing but as a matter of fact it has not grown even by a bit.

I will give you a simple example of my village although generalizations are very dangerous but still they give some part of the big picture. My village is one of the most backward villages of Bundelkhand. In last 20 years literacy rate has grown, the income has increased, people don't die from trivial diseases but the standard of living has remained the same. The upper class families were able to give good education to their children while the lower class families did not even try. All the people of my age group (late 20s) are either watchmen or laborers in big metros. Earlier they were able to sustain in village itself but because of the influx of capitalist good like (TV, mobiles, bikes etc) their expenses have increased. These guys are working in big cities and living at the fringes but they are making Capitalists people rich by buying their products (shampoo, soaps, creams, mobiles, TVs and bikes). Instead of investing this money in educating their children these guys are wasting it to enjoy the "pleasure" of 21st century. This is a sorry state of affairs and a vicious cycles which is very difficult to break unless you become Balram Halwai or some great men. I will not recommend this book to serious readers but if you are traveling then this book is a good companion. Yesterday was by birthday :).

Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [29] : Nine Lives - in Search of the Sacred in Modern India

                                   In last few weeks i finished yet another book by William Dalrymple. Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in modern India is the latest work by him.

He writes very emotively about various faiths and faithful spread across the breadth of India. I found this book a product of a confused mind. Its hard to believe that the author of From the Holy Mountain and The Last Mughal can write such a book. He started well with the story of Jain faithful who is going to have her last rites (known as Santhara, a slow peaceful death) , then he wrote about the Theyyam (religious rite of Kerala accompanied with vigorous dance and music). After that he lost his way and started to write the story and behavior of various faiths and cults. I don't know why he has missed Islam and Christianity in his book. I have no idea why he has included the story of Lal ShahBaz Qalandar in this book. That site is in Sind, Pakistan and its not even part of the disputed territory of India. May be William Dalrymple is still living in the fantasy of British India.

Time Pass (5/10)

None of the fathers had a better son

Last week i was in my village, known as Naurejpur in Jalaun (part of erstwhile Bundelkhand). This visit was my first visit to my home in 2010. Nothing is greater than the loving affection of mother, siblings and grand parents. Although in midst of infamous Indian summer with mercury playing with an healthy average of mid 40s, the serenity of village life has not lost its healing touch. Although i did not get enough chance to visit my farms and public buildings still the very thought of it is like nirvana. I always think to retire some day (10-15 years down the line) and to live life close to nature. Some times I think of starting a school and scholarship but become scared of my habit of frequent boredom. I never felt occupied in my entire life by a single type of work. But as they say some goals are so worthy its glorious even to fail.
                   Now i am back to Bangalore and to my job, and again become a part of millions of life making jobs tougher/messier (or simpler) to billions of people. To be very frank to my soul, i hate the entire corporate world, i hate money and the attachment but its difficult to prove whether i am not suffering from "Grass is greener on the other side syndrome". Last 18 months has made a traumatic impact on my life, personality, thoughts and some times i think that i have lost some part of my audacious nature. These thoughts have been lingering in me since the inauspicious early hours of 7th Dec 2008. Responsibility makes a person more humble and polite. Now i can feel the essence of the scene from "The Magnificent Seven" when Bronson tells that the Parents of those village kids are not coward but they feel responsibility towards their wives and children.

My father used to sing these lines ( from Ek Fool do Mali) when i was fledgling kid
Tujhe Sooraj Kahoon Ya Chanda,
Tujhe Deep Kahoon Ya Taara,
Mera Naam Karega Roshan,
Jag Mein Mera Raaj Dulaara

I don't know whether i can fulfill these lines but i will try to live up to them. Around 4-5 years back, one of my friends asked me "what do you want to have".
I replied him on the spot, i want to hear the the following line from my father before i die "None of the fathers had a better son". Unfortunately i could not die like Hector before the eyes of his father Priam.

Yet Again Dismal World Cup Campaign

As i write, India is slowly moving into very regular gloom of defeat and despair. Its very sad to see the defeat of such an immensely talented Indian team. Unfortunately, in the last 2 years since 2007 revival, we have not seen high quality consistent performances from youngsters. Indian players are highly inconsistent and when you see an youngster losing a lollipop catch then you have some serious issues in the team. Intensity of Chennai Super Kings in IPL was 100 times greater than the intensity shown by team India. I hate to say but now it seems like players play only for money. 3 years back, i had some high hopes from Team India in 2007 regular world cup when Team India was knocked out from the preliminary stage only. Team India needs to seriously look and fix the much conspicuous flaws in the system. World Cup 2011 is not too far and it will be real shame to lose that in initial rounds. That will be a real disaster and can even cost players their careers.

"Nothing is lost except love, honour, pride and cup. And all these are renewable things".

The Ghost of 26/11

I am very happy after hearing death sentence to Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab. Its a pity that a 20 years old Pakistani could make a mockery of India with such an ease on 26 Nov. Death to Kasab can only give us a false sense of security and achievement. The real job is to decimate the entire terrorism industry and we have not even started. I will be the happiest person on earth, the day when all the terrorists camps in Pakistan, India and elsewhere will get their death sentence and the day when all the criminal cases will be decided within a year or two. Amen.

Hammirdeva Chauhan

Very few people know the name of Hammir Deva Chauhan, the indomitable Rajput ruler of Ranthambhore and a direct descendant of legendary Prithvi Raj Chauhan (the ruler of Ajmer, Delhi and surrounding areas). He ruled for 19 years over Ranthambhore from 1282 to 1301 AD. Hammir gave refuge to two Neo-Muslim Mongols nobles who were chased by Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316) of Delhi sultanate. Alauddin asked Hammir to give him these two fugitives but Hammir refused because of the custom of Rajputs (Sharnagat ki Raksha). The initial attack was repusled by Hammir and a commander of Delhi sultanate Nusrat Khan was killed. 

Alauddin then himself commanded the army and sieged  Ranthabhore for many days. Finally Hammir Deva Chauhan came outside of the fort and fought chivarously. The rajput ladies inside the fort committed Jauhar. When the end was near Hammir Deva Chauhan beheaded himself and dedicated his head to the Shivlinga. 

Ranthambhore was captured after a bloody massacre. The Muslims refugees were brought infront of Alauddin. Alauddin asked them what is their last wish, the fugitives replied that they want to kill him and make son of Hammir Deva, the king of Ranthambhore. After saying this they all committed harakiri.

Such was the chivaloury of the Rajputs these days. They never flinch from their duties irrespective of the price they have to pay. The list of these great leaders never ends and remember one thing these leaders belong to only one piece of land called Rajasthan. No other state of India has ever produced such a chain of great and chivalrous leaders:

Bappa Rawal
Nagabhatta
Prthviraj Chauhan
Hammir Deva Chauhan
Rana Kumbha
Rana Sangram Singh
Maharana Pratap


I am proud to be a Rajput of Chandravamshi lineage. This is a great honour as well as a great responsibility.

Book Review [28] : From the Holy Mountain

 From the Holy Mountain written by William Dalrymple is an elaborately written classic on the rise and fall of Christianity and Christian monastic order in the Byzantine, Ottoman and modern world. He follows the trail of famous monk John Moschos who wrote about the status of Christianity in the 6th century Byzantine world. 

Christianity as we all know was founded in the desert of Palestine in the early years of 1st millennium AD. It suffered a lot of persecution by "Pagan Rome" as well by Persian Empire. After being declared a sort of state religion by the Roman Emperor Constantine in early 4th century, this religion never looked back. The western Roman empire (with seat of power at Rome) was decimated by Germans in 476 AD. The eastern Roman Empire (also known as Byzantine empire, with its capital at Constantinople/Istanbul) carried on till 1453 when it was conquered by Ottoman Turks. Christianity in middle east flourished in the Byzantine empire period at the expense of Pagan beliefs and temples. A large number of monasteries were established with a great army of monks and saints. Alexandria, Edessa, Urfa, Constantinople, Asyut etc became great centers of learning. With the arrival of Islam situation changed gradually. 

Earlier Christians considered Islam as a heretic Christian sect but with the coming of Crusades in 11-12 centuries situation turned violent and clashed started to erupt between these two great religions. Ottoman Turks gave a lot of stability to the region but Christianity lost the status of state religion.The situation took dangerous turn when almost 1.5 million Armenian Christians were massacred by the "guiltless" Turks in 1915. The transfer of Greeks and Turks after 1923 declined the population of Christians in Anatolia to less than 1%. Anatolia (Asian part of Turkey) was the heartland of Christianity before the rise of Turks now Christianity in Turkey is as insignificant as a fly in a gallon of water and worse they are caught in the war between Turks and Kurds. The Turks are systematically destroying the ancient churches and monasteries in now an overwhelmingly Muslim land. 

After visiting Turkey, William travels to Syria and here he finds that Syrian Christians are living in quite comfortable situation in the reign of President Asad. The Syrian Orthodox Church is one the oldest Churches of Christianity and this church has no relation with  he Roman Catholic Church, same is true for Greek Orthodox Church. Lebanon is the next place to visit for William. The civil war has just finished and the war has destroyed the power of once powerful Maronites Christians. This war has witnessed one of the most gory display of brutalities and genocides. Still the thirst for blood is far from over. In the course of war about 30% of Maronites Christians emigrated abroad. The situation of Christians in Israel is only minutely better from their Muslims counterparts. The Jews settlers are systematically destroying the ancient churches and monasteries and building buildings for the settles by illegally occupying the land of Christians, by exercising their Biblical right of the promised land. Palestinians after living for roughly 2000 years were being made refugees in their own land. Egypt is the final destination for William. He starts with Alexandria. Gamal Abdel Nasser converted cosmopolitan city of Alexandria (founded by Alexander of Macedon in 4th century BC) from a Mediterranean looking city to an inward desert looking city by expelling its soul from the body. The city once dominated by Greeks now can count them using few sticks. Egypt is witnessing the rise of fundamentalism and once again Christianity is paying price.Their churches are getting attacked at a regular pace by the extremists without any help coming from the state.

The only country that looks promising to Christians is Syria but its only the matter of time for fundamentalism to take roots in this Levantine country. Time is not  too far when this great religion will be devoid from the status of a living religion in the middle east. Overall this book is a class work and should be read to salute the tolerant society of the past and to create one in  present and future. 
Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [27] : Among the believers - An Islamic journey

2001 Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul is a master of English prose. His travelogues are awesome piece of English literature. They give a glimpse of daily life of the people as well the history of the events leading to current situation. His 'India: A million mutinies now' is socio-economico-political survey of Nehruvian India.  I read this book almost 18 months back. In last week i read his another  masterpiece but this time its a survey of the condition of Islam among the converted people of Pakistan, Iran, Malaysia and Indonesia. Among the believers: An Islamic journey is a thought provoking book as it was written in 1979-81 but it seems that its written in the current era. Naipaul starts his journey in Iran in 1979 (just after the revolution) and travels across Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia in a span of few months. His perceptions and experiences of these societies and the inherent struggle between the culture and religion is worth experiencing.

Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad and so it has all the ingredients of Arabic culture. It was a phenomenal revolution in the desert life and for the people with no sense pf civilization. Prophet gave them a way out from the eternal darkness. He brought the idea of unity without any caste, money, language or region based distinction. It is an absolute concept in its pure form. The problem started  after the death of Prophet in 632 AD. Islam had to face its first great rival in the civilization of great Sassanian civilization. Islam overpowered that easily but in doing that it got a different version of its self. It is Shiite form of Islam that believes in the Shiite Imams. Almost all the Persians were converted to Islam (either willingly or by coercion).  But they were successful in giving Islam a great civilization in arts, music, science etc. Arabia gave religion while Persia gave Islam its true glory. Iran (aka Persia) even today has the same language that they used to speak when Alexander the great decimated them although they had to change the script because of Arab imperial master. But in all the last 1360 years Iran never accepted the Arab imperialism. 

Lets talk about Pakistan. Pakistan was a home to world's first great urban civilization 5000 years back. It was home to the great king Porus who was able to hold against the mighty Greeks. It was land where great Kushanas ruled, where great Buddhists monasteries and caves flourished. The ancient land of Hindus, Buddhists and Zoroastrians does not have any monument of that era and even if it has then its in great danger of extinction. The hordes of Mohammed Bin Qasim who decimated the power of Sindh is celebrated in that land. Pakistan has even named its missiles Ghori and Ghazni, the two notorious invaders who invaded Pakistan and destroyed and killed the people of Pakistan before then could get a foot hold into India. I can not understand how a country can glorify its invaders. This can only happen in subcontinent.   

People with no sense of history can not develop a civilization worth cherishing. Pakistan is suffering from that disease and if it really wants to cure itself then it has to learn from Persia. Islamization of a country does not mean destroying its old culture, art, monuments, music etc. But unfortunately its been happening in almost all the converted countries. Malaysia and Pakistan are prime examples. 

Every civilization is built on the ashes of others and this cycle is law of time. Be it Greek, Roman, Indian, Persian or Spanish but other ways are also possible. Civilizations can also co-exist and if this experiment was never done before then its worth doing now. The "Victory" of Islam should never mean the "defeat" of other religions. Amen.
Highly Recommended (9/10)

Indian Premier League: Part 3

Indian Premier League returns with a bang in India after a hiatus of 2 years.
It started with almost the same results. KKR dumbfounded all by winning first two matches and then losing miserably in last two matches. If i were SRK i would have removed Ganguly from the team after witnessing his disastrous performances in last few matches. Anyways KKR is gone case, a team can not win if its captain does not lead from the front. As far as other teams are concerned Deccan and Bangalore are looking awesome, Chennai and Mumbai are not too far behind. Delhi has enough material to knock out these four and i have no expectations from Rajasthan, Kolkata and Punjab. For Kolkata i can only say Kol never comes ;).

So far Kallis has been the man of the tournament and Gilchrist, Sachin, Jayasurya and Hayden are not far behind. I am betting for Mumbai Indians as always (atleast for the last 2 seasons). Deccan is my second favourite while my home town Bangalore is close third. Sachin has to prove that he could had been an excellent captain and he can prove that by winning this year IPL.

On a second note my friend Aviral met me today as he is in Bangalore for two days before going back to Indian School of Business to finish his ast 2 weeks. My other friend Saugata finished his inning with BT and going to start another inning in couple of days. All the best Saugata. I will miss your company atleast in BT.

Women reservation: my views

Dramatic scenes were produced by the honourable members of the upper house of Indian polity. The chairman had to ask 50 odd Marshall's to forcefully escort the belligerent "socialist" MPs from the Rajya Sabha. Some days back i saw the same scene (in Rome series) in which Octavian Ceasar asked his soldiers to forcefully pass few bills in Roman senate. The world has not moved a bit in these 2000 years. What these MPs did was shameful but what Marshalls were asked to do was more shameful. Unfortunately there were not many options for Mr. Chairman after having witnessed the brutal attack on 8th March 2010. Well, in these attacks and Marshall we are missing the whole point of reservation.
I totally agree with Yadavs when they say that this bill will deprive Muslims some say in our polity. Right now Muslim MPs are tiny tiny minority in MPs and by reserving 33% seats the Muslim men's chances of electing into assemblies will be reduced by 33%. Thats very true we do not have enough literacy among Muslim women and i strongly feel that Muslim women should be given some reservation within this quota (give them 6% reservation out of 33%, roughly in proportion to their share in population). This will help them a lot and will also help Muslim society in coming out from the humble state and will play a major role in implementing a uniform civil code in this country. But our constitution is vehemently against any reservation on the basis of religion so there goes my point as well as theirs.

Indian governments (past and present) have not done any effort to do an unambiguous and comprehensive socio-economic analysis of all the sections of Indian society. All the existing reports (Mandal, etc ) give conflicting data about % proportion of various sections of our society. Unless that is done,no one can justify reservation be it for SCs/STs/OBCs or for women. Still i am happy that in fiercely patriarchal Indian society, Indian women now can get some thing, can make laws and can rule the country and can help in reducing or eliminating the female infanticide incidents (although Yadavs will wage their final battle in the lower house). The battle in Lok Sabha will be the mother of all battles.

Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion

After a long time, i am writing on politics. In a country of extremes and contradictions, faith and disparity, terrorism and Naxalism, its difficult for flesh and blood to remain impartial. Its a dangerous burden to be a citizen of the Republic of India. Sometimes i think its better to be citizen of Bhutan or Maldives as you wont be a prisoner of history, religion and "secularism". Recently Indian Media made a lot hue and cry about the plight of M. F. Hussain and his reluctantly acceptance of Qatar's citizenship.

Indian constitution provides two very important rights to Indian citizens. Right to freedom of expression and Right to freedom of religion. It has never said (as far as i know) which one is more powerful. If we talk about progressiveness of India we should always back right to freedom of expression against any other right or law. We have won our freedom because of this right and should always keep in mind that religion played its role in the division of the subcontinent. But we dont live in utopian society. Indians are religious as well iconic par excellence and no one has a right to offend the sensitivities of Indians on the ground of freedom of expression. I still do not know what one can get by depicting all those old Gods/Goddesses in nude/seminude or provocative posture. It does not make us any modern and still if this is the metric of modernness then we had already passed this state when Chandellas of Central India built those monuments of Khajuraho or when Vatsyayan wrote the eternal Kamasutra. Fida Hussain has not added any new bit to the existing Indian art by those paintings (Here i am talking about those select controversial paintings). He has only made the rift in the Indian society more wider. Still its a shame that we can not guarantee his safety in India. The country that has given shelter and life to Jews, Parsis, etc has failed to give room to one of her greatest icons. Its a real shame.

From Chepauk to Gwalior

May 1997, i was enjoying my summer vacation in sultry, sweating summer of North Indian plains in my ancestral village. In those days, TV was a luxurious commodity and electricity was a rarity. My father had a tractor and we used to use its battery to fuel our texla black & white television with shutters. My parents and grand parents had a knack of buying shuttered TVs. My oldest 1983 model 21' Beltek TV was one of the oldest in the entire officers colony of Atherton Mills, Kanpur and was responsible for fueling Ramayana revolution. The more moderate 15' Texla TV fueled the Mahabharatha revolution in my village. Sorry for digressing from the main point (although i want to give my respects to these artifacts as these are responsible for the making of what i am today).

So back to the summers of 1997, India was hosting first of the series of Independence Cups (later Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangaldesh hosted in 1997 and 1998). India started her campaign brilliantly and outwitted the fierce Astle fuelled NZL by Sachin-Sourav openers but Jayasurya single handled punctured the campaign. The last match with Pakistan was a do and die match for the Indians. This match was played at Chepauk on 21 May 1997. Pakistan started his inning and Saeed Anwar did the bulk of scoring, Kumble was taken for a fiercy ride with Anwar hitting three consecutive sixes and Indian bowlers gave the match to Pakistanis in last 5 overs.
India required 328 runs to win in the stipulated 50 overs and like in many more matches Sachin got out in the first overs, Ganguly did his bit of hitting but the load was shared by the fledgling shoulders of Rahul Dravid and mercurial Kambli. India was in the match till 45th overs and ultimately lost it because of so frequent lower middle order collapse. I broke myself into tears. This was the first time, India would not be playing semis/finals, in India. This thought was like a cancer and it continuosly pained me till India defeated Pakistan in the famous final of Dhaka.

Sachin finally erased those tearful memories by scoring world record breaking 200. Now i can remember Saeed Anwar for giving a chance to remember Sachin with more heart. ;)

Some lost test matches

In last 15 years, India has played a number of memorable test matches when i scan them i feel we have lost many matches from the jaws of win/draw. Here i am not belittling the tremendous performance by Team India against the South Africans at Eden Gardens the "Jerusalem of Cricket". One should bear in mind that only one Indian captain has ever won a test series against South Africans and he is quite unexpectedly Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Here i am enumerating a list of test matches in last 15 years or so that India should have won instead of drawing or losing them.

1. India - West Indies,Bridgetown, 1997
India lost this match quite miserably by 38 runs. India needed only 120 runs to win but bowled out for 81. Sachin still believes this match as one of the most depressing moments of his life.

2. India - South Africa, Johannesburg, 1997
This was a typical Dravid - Ganguly match. In a moderate scoring match they scored more than 50% of their team runs apart from taking few wickets. This was a great batting performance against the young pace battery of Donald and Pollock supported by Mcmillan and Klusener. India failed to get last 2 South African wkts and thus India had to wait an entire decade to secure their first win against RSA in 2007.

3. India - Pakistan, Chennai, 1999
Another depressing moment of Sachin's life. India was wonderfully well placed at 254/6 and needed 271 to win. India lost it by 12 runs and another Sachin's great innings was in vain.

4. India - Pakistan, Eden Gardens, 1999
India needed 279 runs to win the match and series but lost out from the strong position of 1 for 134 to 232 all out. Pakistan in its first inning was struggling at 26 for 6 but Moin khan saved them. Unfortunately Sourav Ganguly could not play Moin Khan's inning.

5. India - Zimbawbe, Harare, 2001
India succumbed to yet another humiliating defeat against Zimbabweans. India was comfortably placed at 197 for 3 but bowled out for 234. Zimbawbe won the match after a brief struggle.

6. India - Australia, Sydney, 2004
This was a glorious match and India had a rare chance to win her maiden series in Australia but a late declaration by Ganguly and a match saving inning by Steve Waugh denied a great series win. India was yet too close and yet too far.

7. India - Pakistan, Bangalore, 2005
This match turned the tide against Sourav Ganguly. India needed to survive few last overs to win the series and to draw the match but India again choked to bat through the remaining overs. Nail in the coffin for Sourav Ganguly.

8. India - South Africa, Cape Town, 2007
India needed score 250 odd runs in order to secure the first even series win against RSA. India choked from 2 for 90 to 169 all out. Ganguly and Dravid failed to secure India and thus lost a golden chance of winning a series in South Africa. South Africa needed just 211 runs in last inning and they did that against brilliant Zaheer Khan.

9. India - England, Oval, 2007
Dravid did not ask England to follow on and it played a major part in denying India a well deserved victory. This match will be remembered because of maiden test hundred by Kumble.

10. India - Australia, Sydney, 2008
This match had everything. I have never seen such an intense match before. India played against the 13 men on the field throughout 5 days with sheer grit and determination, But in the end Bucknor was too much for Indians.

India should have won at least 50% of the above matches. Signing off Amigos.

Last mail to my college batch group

I was reading through my old mails and i got this one. Its very interesting read and its dated 26 May 2004 and refers to my dangerous friend. My friends can guess him easily. I have no edited the mail so you will find barbaric english. Hope you won't mind.
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Dear friend,

There are many reasons to satisfy anybody.But it is against the principle of ethics or simply against my principles that for sake of my entertainment I tease some other person.

Whatever be the reason.As far as arrogance is concerned there is no body in the world who can overpower it. I have born with this arrogance and i will die with it.i think it is clearly understood andyou know that i never reconsider my decisions. so as far as joining the group is concern i will never join it either you leave or not. I simply talked to you during our tour because without doing that our tour would not have been possible. And as far as friendship is concerned may be I am a poor manager of friendship but as far as i have explored myself i am proud to be Mr. Neeraj kumar Jadaun and i dont care about any body.I never make compromise whatever be the circumstance.

main jitna sudharne ki koshish karta hoon utna koi phir muhje pichhe la deta hai. I have decided so many time to not to abuse but it.........

and about group we can learn a lot form it but it was again not possible.
The above mail was a reply to the following mail from my "friend"
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Hi Jadaun,

Let me tell u one thing ........ I created the poll when u were in the grp. So there is no point saying
"Sale samne kuch nahin aur piche sher". I will always considered u as my frnd till the time when u come and say to me or convey me in some other way that u don't consider me as ur frnd but instead u treat me as a foe. I promise u Jadaun u'll find a different S*** in me. I only crack jokes or do this teasing for fun. There were plenty of times when we didn't talk for a long time but still managed to patch up. The same is not true with G***. Still, I sometimes tease him.
Only for fun and not with some bad intention. Now the question comes why do S*** tease Neeraj Kumar Jadaun. The amount of arrogance in u is the reason.

To hell go K**** and all ........ I don't give it a damn ....... nobody can do anything for me because
they don't know under what circumstances I am going on. I am not writing this for making u sentimental. I always knew that this kind of thing (G**** or C******** passing my mail on the grp to u) is going to happen. Mere paas gairat hai Mr. Jadaun .... aur yeh tum dekh loge. I also have lots of work to do and cseitbhu2005 is the only only way I can entertain myself.
Let it be a secret. I am unsubscribing frm the grp and u may join it now. Its all up to u. One thing more ........ I never thought bad abt anybody ....... maine yeh sikha hai Mr. Jadaun.
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In the foot steps of Alexander

First time when i ventured outside "Jambu dwipa", my manager gifted me few very good DVDs. Last weekend i got a rare chance to go once more through them.

In the footsteps of Alexander (1998)
This is the search of the trail of Alexander the human by Michael Wood. I have been a big time fan of Mike since the great "Story of India". He is simply superb in history telling and one of the legends in his own. This particular series starts with the start of Alexander (356-323) from Macedonia, his great conquests against the Darius The Great of Persia first at Issus (333 BC) and then at Gaugamela (331 BC). The divine Persian king was taken aback easily. Alexander got the first real taste of of Asia first in Central Asia and then in Indus India. King Porus would have done the impossible if his elephants did not betray him. The battle of Hydasphes (326 BC) enjoys a sort of cult following among all the military circles.
Its hard to believe that a man of 30 years can win almost all the known world of that time and can only be defeated by the betrayal of his own army. This series is thoroughly enjoyable
although you can not see much of India in it. Mr. Wood has shown mainly Afghanistan and Persia in his 4 hrs series.

Last year my manager sent me picture of only available mosaic of Alexander. Its here for reference.

Alexander is shown here fighting against the Persian army under Darius the Great. This mosaic is in Pompeii (Italy).

The week so far

For the last one month or so i am totally engrossed in my studies and work, and not getting enough time to write blogs. Last 10 days or so has been phenomenal in all the aspects of life, be it politics, environment or sports.

I am still not able to reconcile myself with my last post about Mr. Basu after reading a lot of articles with different perceptions. Some says that he actually robbed the Bengal of its entire generation of intellectuals and left a wasteland out of something.
A lot of controversy was generated by India and Pakistan media after the so called "snubbing" of Pakistan Cricket Players by IPL's team owners. I do not know where Indian government is coming in picture, its prerogative of the team owners whether to choose Pakistan players in their teams or not. If you take my view, i can not understand myself cheering these players after experiencing horrendous 26/11. It will tantamount to spitting on the faces of dead 26/11 martyrs. I will say break every relation from Pakistan and let it die its natural death. It will be against the Law of Natural evolution if we help Pakistan at this point of time. After all they did not ask India before creating Talibans or Let or Hizbul. To me "Aman ki Asha" is the biggest joke of 2010.

Lastly the blunder done by Dr. Pachauri led Nobel Prize winning IPCC in estimating the timeline of the melting of Himalayan Glaciers. Dr. Pachauri owes a serious apology to Mr. Raina for calling his research about Himalayan glaciers a "Voodo" science. I do not know now who is more deserving Mr. Obama or IPCC led by Pachauri.

Last weekend i went to summer resort of Tipu Sultan i.e. Nandi Hills. It was a good experience to feel the remaining atoms of Tipu there.

Death of Marxist Patriarch: Jyoti Basu

When Soviet Union collapsed with the fall of Berlin wall, it was said that the days of socialist dream is over (China's communism is a tailored version of Marxism, known as Maoism in contemporary world). But Jyoti Basu helped India's left to retain control of the most intellectual state of South Asia.
I don't give a damn to Indian communists but its a fair statement when i say that the Indian left has not been given due recognition. The land reforms in Kerala and West Bengal were path breaking in their own. Kerala is able to make giant progress and i attribute this to the presence of strong opposition party ( in Congress and vice versa). West Bengal has been ruled by Communists for almost 4 decades and an absence of a strong united opposition was deeply felt many a times. The current jangalmahal movement is grown because of absence of strong opposition. Indian National Congress behaves in a way that it was the only party that won freedom for India. It easily forgets that the members of left, right, centre parties that time were member of Congress as well. Jyoti Basu and M N Roy also played a great role in serving mother India and they should also be given recognition.
I don't know the future whereabouts of soul (I doubt whether it does exist) in Marxist ideology but i offer my deep condolences to the sorrowful family. Jyoti Basu was a giant among all his contemporaries. I rate him as good as Bajpayee, Manmohan Singh, Indira Gandhi in 60 years of our republic.

2010 AD

I am becoming regularly irregular in posting articles, may be its related to the loss of bachelorhood.

3 Idiots (2009) Well i gave my adieu to the last year by watching 3-Idiots. Amir Khan rocks yet again although Raju, Vidhu and Amir would have done much better by accepting that the movie was based on 5 Points someone. Anyways its a must watch and reserves 9 points instead of 5 points. 9/10.
Invictus (2009)
This one is story of making RSA an umbrella nation after long decades of brutal apartheid. Morgan Freeman looks exactly like Nelson Mandela and he acted superbly. 7/10.
District 9 (2009)
This is a sci-fi movie and it features in imdb top 250 list. To me its not worth it. Its an age old concept and does not deserve anything. 5/10.

So far 2010 has been great for Test series. Series in Australia and in RSA are providing us glorious matches and lets see now who win in this year T-20 or Test or ODI.
Things are not so fine in Down Under and Indians there are facing the brutality of "White Australians". I feel so right about this cartoon.