Incredible India - Amritsar!

I went to Amritsar with a backlog of impression created by Bollywood movies .... tall strong punjabis, who for no rhyme or reason break out into a bhangra, call everyone "Pappi" and make chaas in a washing machine....

While I am sure there are remnants of these in the Punjabi culture as well I got introduced to a different side of Punjab... the spiritual and emotional one....we covered Wagah Border, Jallianwala Bagh and Golden Temple at Amritsar.....

Wagah Border was crowded... one would expect to see very little activity in an Indo-Pak border but there were millions of shop keepers, flag sellers, policy, trucks, tourists... all jostling to get to a glimpse of the Pak border and in the case of shopkeepers to sell memorabalia....we walked through the cordon of security...it was a long walk.. interrupted by policemen on horses.... who checked everyone... and then a walk to the actual "venue" .... the border that i.... the place was packed.... As I was India I was made to stand with the crowd... my friends who were foreigners were made to sit in a separate enclosure... for fear that they would be lynched perhaps.... as soon as we entered I could hear bollywood music playing.... and that was enough for the crowd to go crazy... ladies flowed onto the road and started dancing... to be only encouraged by the border security force... and when the actual ceremony began everybody starting screaming "Vande Mataram"... and I could see and sense a swelling of national pride... I joined in too!!!! and there started the attempt to drown out all noise from the Pakistani side.... we screamed, clapped, stomped, shouted, sang... all in an effort to drown out the Pakistani side... and we succeeded.... after all they had only about 4 visitors and we had 400 visitors.... so do the math people.... at the end of it the ceremony was extremely respectful when the flags lowered ..... although I just could not understand the rationale for so many of our soliders to keep marching up and down and stomp their feet on the ground... and they did it so many times.... I felt bad for the ground since they were not gently at all....

Next stop was the Jallianwala Bagh the next day... it was not in my itinerary but I requested to see it .... and it was easily the most touching part of our trip... the site where General Dwyer stood and ordered his men to kill unarmed people is marked prominently.... and there are some walls which still have bullet marks and the Government has indicated it in a square white box...... I strolled around... knowing the weight of history that this place carries..... I tried to come to terms with this part of my history... this place that turned the freedom struggle on its head in India.... i read testimonies of people who were there that day... and as much as I could hold back I did.... but my foreign friends actually cried.....we walked past another wall.... and a mother was explaining to her 5 year old son about what happened in the place and the reason for the bullet marks.... her son turned innocently and asked "where is the person who killed all of these people?".... he is dead, replied the mother..... somehow telling the son, dont worry, nobody will harm us now....

We finally went to the most enduring picture of Amritsar.... the Golden Temple... built with 10 quintals of gold it was again a seat of tremendous political and religious upheavals... as soon as I entered the place I wanted to know which structure had been destroyed in Optn Blue Star... my guide pointed it out to me... but in a hushed tone told "we dont talk about it".... i got my cue.... we walked around the marble courtyard... checked out the volunteer kitchens where oridinary people make food for even more ordinary people.... I witnessed jalebi making session... and then was told by an elder punjabi person (whom people called pappi) to eat the Jalebi... I protested saying I was on a diet... and he told me in a very grandfatherly way to shut up and eat.... for some strange reason I completely felt at home.... I was not offended... I liked him taking liberty with me....made me feel like I belonged.... even if this place was miles away from my own home....

Amritsar didnt disappoint me.... I think I was disappointed only because I had not come to this place for so long in my life....

Incredible India - Jallianwala Bagh!

Incredible India - Wagah Border!

Incredible India - Delhi!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

So now Team Anna is going to control our foreign policy as well??? Wow....

lots of things happening in life... some good, some crazy, some really crazy....

So Christy and Baby George called me up.... they were prodded by my sister to congratulate me.... Christy was perfect...except he didnt know what he was congratulating me for... and Baby George started off grand... "Congra......" he grandly said...and then he let it trail off having forgotten what he was supposed to say to me....

And then both of them forgot to wish me on my bday..... but Baby George was highly enthusiastic and screamed Happy Bday!!!... my sister was surprised and asked him who he was wishing.... after a little doubt he clarified.. "Vava aunty"... yayay.... that made my day....

Somethings in life are indeed free and more precious....

I miss my nephews....

There are just some people who will always remain where they are....

Hi World... I have been missing in action for a while... well many reasons for it... some good some bad... all in all, zero sum game...

one of the things I dislike is to go for formal parties where everyone is "smoozing" around...you know the type of party where there is a lot of air kissing and no meaningful conversation.... it is about everything and nothing at the same time.... almost without fail the conversation starts with 'oh the markets have been brutal today'...... which most certainly makes me scramble to safer pastures... not for anything but the fact that it is such a boring topic to discuss at night.... but that is the pitfall of a corporate life... it is all about externalities... the show and show off of it....

In other news I am actually worried about this government... I mean I believe in the policies of the Congress party.. and think that Congress is the only viable option right now... but the way the Government is scrambling from one crisis to another is really worrying..... it seems as if the Government does not have a head... it is moving all around in the hope of finding its head.... I am really worried... will this bring back communal forces in our country??? will this boost the support for BJP?? I sure hope not..... as I keep saying.. given a choice between a corrupt but trying not to be government and a government which sponsored killings... I would very happily choose the former.... to think the BJP is going hammer and tongs at this government when its own stable is far from clean... and added to that they fete Modi as if he is the answer to all our prayers.... yes, he might be a good administrator ... but that does not make good the wrong he connivived to do in Gujarat... the fact that he advised the Government machinery to keep quiet when law and order was at its worst is a sign of an oppportunist government ... not a good government....

Few reasons why I hope Modi will never make it to national stage..... first off, he does not have global appeal... can you imagine Modi being acceptable to a group of malayalis? or him understanding what Kerala wants... Modi appears too much of a Gujarati...he keep extolling the vitues of Gujarat and how much progress there is... but the fact of the matter is that Modi already had a good thing going when he started out... he inherited a state which had surplus and a business community which was good at making money.... would he have the same success rate if he were to be given a state like Sikkim... that is the challenge.... and that requires a lot of knowledge about India... which I genuinely dont find Modi having right now... and finally, the blot of the riots will never leave Modi... he is always going to be the person who ensured that helpless women and men were killed by certain miscreants only because it suited him politically... I cannot forgive a man who did that... I sure hope India never does... if he were to become PM, then like the British would say "God save the country"....

It actually works!

I am sorry

One of the recent incidents in my life opened my eyes to how prejudiced I am even though I put up a facade ....

It was a tough negotiation that I had to attend... for a personal matter...and hence didnt have all the confidence that comes with knowledge of law... it was for a purely personal matter and I knew the other side was going to negotiate hard... I checked around... and I was told by several "experienced" people that I should not go alone... why???... "cos you are a woman" they lamented.... so? ... "nobody would take you seriously then"....ok... "you should go with a man - optically that will make the other side feel that you cant be taken for a ride"...

I started asking for some "male" presence to take along for my meeting... I pleaded with my cousin, my friends and every conceivable trustworthy male.... since it was last minute many were unable to attend..... I was distraught.... and scared.... what if I am not able to handle myself....what if the other side chews me up and spits me out..... and looks at me and says "ha, you, a woman, could even think of speaking like this?"... and I would walk away with tears flowing... yes, I am very bollywood in my thinking...

Till a (male) friend asked me.... you are a lawyer in the top law firm of the country... you do this for a living... and you are scared of negotiating??? and that too in Mumbai??? Who told you such nonsense...

And now comes the time for me to say sorry.... Sorry that I believed people who sought to scare me ... who sought to make me believe that I would be handicapped if I am a woman....that I am not as good as a man even if I am more educated ....

I am sorry God for not believing what you have created... for not believing in the talent that you have given me... for undervaluing me..... Really Sorry....

It is sad but true that sometime people who are closest to you are likely to be most jealous of you....

I sometimes get irritated with questions... some questions just make me want to throw the candle stick (if it is nearby) at the person....some of these questions are:

a. Where are you going?
b. Who are you going out with?
c. How much do you earn?
d. Whose party are you going for?

Everybody loves a sacrifice

Its amazing how people in this country loves a sacrifice... take Mahatma for instance... he developed a cult status on account of his many fasts.... and then there was the supreme sacrifice made by Sonia Gandhi when she declined the PM post... well I would have thot it was politically astute for her to do that ... but people hailed her as the next Mahatma... and then there is the latest - Anna... his sacrifice of food has set affluter a million shouts ... and people are ready to die to ensure that this mans sacrifice is not in vain...

What is it with India and sacrifice?? an individual is elevated only if there is a sacrifice...

Hazare ki hazaron kwaeishein aisi .... Seriously will the demands never stop?

Ohhhhh my world!!! What in the bl$#@% hell is happening... the whole country is going crazy about this "Anna fast"..... and slamming the government for showing the undemocractic side... let me put some facts straight...

a. Anna was not restricted from protesting... he was restricting from attempting suicide... now in a democracy every government has the right to stop any activity if that will lead to mass hysteria... and unproductive disruption....

b. Anna and team were given the right to give their view point... their demand was for a joint committee to draft the bill... which the Government honored... and took their view point... now why are the demands increasing...

c. Once you have given your view point then leave it to the highest authority in the country, i.e. Parliament, to decide on the law... why highest you ask? because you and I voted for such a body.... and if you dont trust the very body that you voted for then please change it....

d. Is it democracy to demand that only your draft is right....if 10,000 people out of a billion people say it in a concerted manner, does that mean it is right??? So if I dont listen to your demand, then you force me to meet your demands by fasting??? Is that democracy?? To force me to do what you want?? who is being autocratic here???

e. What is Anna's cause?? Is it crusade against Corruption?? if so the whole country is one on this... but if your movement is against the government then sorry nobody is behind you... Anna fighting against the Government is like India fighting against itself...

f. Lastly, the opposition has conjured up images of emergency.. .and called it the second freedom movement... pleaseeee... freedom from what?? freedom from the Parliament which is sitting in session for you?? freedom from the very people you have voted??? this is not some alien force that you are fighting against... the Government is government of the people, by the people, for the people.... and if you dont like it change it next year...

Why are we confusing issues??? Corruption must go... but the Parliament must not.... Anna, Manmohan, Sonia, Advani will all go... what will and should remain is the Parliament....

There is something so disturbing about finding an alien thing in your backyard... so as much as there was expectation that oil would flow into Mumbai today I saw it live and felt completely disgusted..... it has reached the shores and honestly I didnt see any official machinery around to prevent it...

As they say... this is probably the best India can do ... I mean in the middle of crimes, 2G scams, polticians who have to be protected where would the officials be bothere about protecting the environment.....

To think, a city as big and rich like Mumbai faces this threat... what hope is there for other cities....

London burning... me hurting...

Such is life....