A Police Story

{Short story submitted to Write India...the words in bold below was the subject provided- maximum limit 2500 words}

What the hell is going on between my husband and that bitch?' Maya's patience was at its lowest ebb and she was ready to burst.

 Sanjay knew that she was serious. 'Look, Maya. There is nothing going on between the two of them. Just a little bit of healthy flirting, I'd say.'

 'Flirting? Healthy flirting? Really Sanjay.' she rolled her eyes in disgust. 'That's what you men call it? There is nothing healthy about flirting, Sanjay, not for a married man.

 Healthy flirting is a term introduced by perverted men who want to lend legitimacy to their extramarital dalliances. Flirting invariably has a sexual connotation to it.' She got up from her seat and walked around the room gesticulating and muttering something to herself. Suddenly she stopped, turned back, looked at Sanjay and asked, 'Did my husband sleep with her? You are his friend. Did he ever tell you anything about it?'

 

Sanjay could not answer; for a moment he really wanted to tell the truth. He looked around the room, the party hall, people chatting and tinkering glasses on the trays being picked up and emptied in no time. Maya, was not enjoying the party neither was he and nor was Hari.

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Sanjay and Hair were friends from the police training college. As was customary after the training to undergo IQ test, Hari had got into the crime bureau while Sanjay had to report to Thane Police station. Inspite, they continued their friendship, with occasional meetings. Soon, they both got married, with Sanjay found solace in Shwetha, a police constable, while Hari got hooked with a rich family in Maya, that garnered the top story slot in many a private magazines. Maya, was quite possessive of her husband for Hari happened to be a tall, well-built compared to Maya who was dark.

 

 Shortly after the 26/11 tragedy, the Mumbai police and crime bureau had merged to form a special cell for investigation against terrorism, Sanjay was picked up due to Hari’s recommendation for Hari was already assigned to lead a unit operating from Ghatkoppar (Mumbai city was divided into 12 zones to combat terrorism).

 

Sanjay belonged to Ghatkoppar and hence, growing up in the city, he was quite aware of the landscape and demography of his territory. Hari had called in Sanjay to his room prior to his induction and gave a brief explanation, their unit now was embroiled in.

 

When Sanjay had reached his room, Maya who was about to leave seeing Sanjay inquired

 

“ Today also late night discussion” . Sanjay smiled and found Hari, browsing on the net.

 

“ Hi Sanjay, No time for pep talk, but still how’s Shwetha”

 

“Doing good. What is it so urgent”

 

“You know about our unit and now we are in a deep shit. A few days back, a truck had banged on to a bakery shop in Bandra, which was not disclosed to the media. The truck was carrying 30 numbers of ASVAL type guns, the Russian firearm. These are special ones that are available in parts and assembled”.

Sanjay showed keen interest although he was not aware of the guns, but the particular one was issued for the top level security groups of the country and requires special methodology for assembling the parts.

 

“Immediately, our Bandra unit had sprung into action and involving RAW, the guns were tracked to Kurdistan, where civil war was ongoing. These guns had crossed to India, for don’t know the purpose” Sanjay kept his eyes firm on Hari.

 

“The guns were collected from Ghatkoppar based on the truck sighting by various witnesses” Hari had mentioned it quietly fearing the walls around him, while Sanjay could not digest what Hari had just said.

 

“I was going through the events in the past one week and two events that took place here in Ghatkoppar caught my attention. A religion for all conference conducted by Dr. Salahuddin Mohammed and a Magic show performed by Jabber. We need to investigate”

 

Dr.Salahuddin, a historian from Indore, was over an year in Europe, finally reached Mumbai to discuss the subject of secularism.  Jaber was a great magician who used to perform around the world; both were renowned figures. Why the hell they took up ghatkoppar Sanjay thought.

 

Next morning, the team was in the Ghatkoppar Sri Sai hall to meet the program organizers and in search of missing links from the location. Hari was discussing with Archana, the chief organizer of the event who happened to belong to worli.

 

“Mr. Hari, we are free to discuss anything on this event but could you let me know what’s the serious concern you are having” the tall long haired dimpled smiled Archana was curious

 

“Archana, we need to talk. Can we meet outside like for a cup of coffee. This is my card, let me know”

 

Hari moved to Sanjay and took hold of his hand. “We need to keep a watch on Archana”

 

“Why, she is just an organizer” Sanjay was puzzled.

 

“Simply because, their group was responsible for organizing both the events”

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Maya was on a purchasing spree for her sister’s wedding was approaching and Hari was not available. Never marry a policeman Maya thought

 

 Coming out of the mall, with her new outfits, she decided to head straight to POUSH, a restaurant. Seated on the table, she didn’t notice the waiter for her eyes were fixed on the table near the window, where two people were engaged in a deep conversation. She immediately picked up her mobile and dialed Hari. The call was cut abruptly.

 

“So , this is what you want from me” Archana took a sip from the orange  juice, popping up a smile to Hari. “You want to organize a police academy’s program. I invited you to my favorite POUSH just to talk business in these afterhours.”

 

“My work begins now” Hari replied

 

“All right, I don’t mind helping you with the discount but we take care of everything from hotel, flight expenses, particularly for your seniors to attend, food, logistics for your instruments and decoration, basically everything”

 

“Can I meet your department in charge” Hari had put it keeping his eyes fixed on her.

 

“Why do you want to see them. Never before our customers have contacted them”

 

“Basically, we are performing without knowledge of our immediate seniors. So, any leak of information would stall the process as such. I just want to know whether there are any police rats in your team”

 

Archana burst out laughing. “Ohk, we are having an office party tomorrow. Please do come . I will introduce you to them”

 

Sri sai hall was completely decorated and lots of guests were pouring in that night on the success of the two events. Maya had accompanied Hari to the function inpsite her sister’s wedding date was in a couple of days. Ever since she saw her husband and Archana together, she had restless nights. She even found some disturbing messages on phone which forced her to get details of Archana through social sites and found out that she had a break up , through a common friend in facebook, and that her tag was “Single willing to mingle” which made her more furious. Besides, Hari was reluctant not to take her for the party which confirmed her worst suspicions.

 

As soon as Maya was seated in a table, Hari slowly moved to Archana and was busy, even did not have time to introduce her to Maya.

 

“Sanjay, I am asking you. Did my husband sleep with her”

 

“ Maya, let me tell you something. Your husband is a true professional. Don’t ask me more”

 

Sanjay dodged her questions and then walked over to Hari, who had just finished conversing with Archana.

“Sanjay, the guy over there is Naroben” Hari pointing to a fat, spectacled man in his suit, that seems to be tailored just to hide his stomach” He is the owner of the logistics system , that was responsible for the providing the truck. Bandra unit earlier had given me details on him. We need to keep a close watch”

 

All this while, Maya was getting more irritated. In two day’s, it was her only sister’s marriage. Her husband, who is supposed to be helping her parents around for the event, was busy flirting. out On seeing her husband moving closer to Archana she became furious, and in a quick move she gave a push to the waiter , the tray of glasses from his hands falling on Archana, making her shriek and slowly Maya walked out of the hall.

 

Hari had already instructed Sanjay to create some commotion when the glass tray had fell on Archana. Seizing this opportunity, he purposely slammed on Naroben, who stood close to Archana as his mobile fell on the floor, with the battery coming out. Hari, took out the sim from the mobile and connected to a potable sim connector, where in all the details of the sim (both calls and messages) are transmitted to the remote central unit of the special cell in Mumbai. Naroben was busy with Archana, when he noticed his mobile missing. It took 5 minutes to transfer the data from the sim, owing to the high radio signal availability in the hall, and slowly Hari pushed the mobile to the corner of the hall.

 

“Sanjay” Hari keeping his hands on Sanjay’s shoulder” We need to wait till Madan, who heads the decoding section, gives us some information on this sim”

 

While both of them waited in the car, Hari’s phone rang and he picked it up. It was Madan. “Just a few phone calls Hari, but just days before the truck incident, there was a message saying the CODEC will contain the instruction”

 

” What is this codec”  

 

 Sanjay immediately googled for the term codec. It is a device capable of encoding or decoding a signal as was mentioned in google.

 

Oh god, this is going to be a nightmare Hari typed  codec, gimme details in his mobile and sent it to his wattsapp group that had all the listed members of the special cell of Mumbai. Hari was feeling something missing when all of a sudden he turned to Sanjay and inquired

 

”where is Maya”

 

Maya had reached her residence and she was packing her things to leave the very moment. She had to avoid her parent’s call, for the marriage was near and she was not available for the function. On a last thought, she thought she would wait for her husband, whom she loved so much, but the thought of him having an affair made her frustrated. Hari came in late, although he was not surprised to find Maya in the house. He would have been had she not been there.

“I am sorry, I was busy during the party” Hari, keeping his eyes on the watts app group ,looking for a breakthrough. Maya was awake, but she kept her eyes closed at the same time caught attention of her husband browsing the mobile. Must be that bitch she thought

 

As soon as Hari had gone to the washroom, Maya jumped out from her bed and looked in the mobile. Seeing the message, she became all the more angry and as Hari came out, he found her with his mobile.

 

“What are you doing? Give my mobile back “ Saying that Hari grabbed the mobile from her.

 

“You are a cheat. What relation are you having with Archana” Maya roared

 

Sanjay had already informed Hari of Maya’s reaction in the party.

 

“What relationship are you talking about. You don’t believe me” Hari looked into Maya’s eyes without fluttering

 

“Liar, now you want to buy a vanity bag for her since it got damaged because of spillage in the party right”

 

“ What nonsense are you talking” Hari kept browsing his mobile for the latest update

 

“Then why you want to replace her codec vanity bag with a new one and you ask details on the brand to your friends”

 

For a moment Hari could not stop gazing at Maya, stunned at her ability to grasp minute details of a person. Codec is the vanity bag Archana was carrying. He really felt like hugging Maya but at that moment , he wanted to narrow down Archana.

 

Can we meet tomorrow, quite urgent Hari typed and sent to Archana.

 

“Yes and thanks for the help” Hari smiled at Maya and walked out of the room leaving her astonished and angry.

 

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“This is a good vanity bag, what about the one you had in the party” Hari took Archana’s new vanity bag

 

“oh freak, you are noticing everything. This is why you called to meet me urgently”  Archana laughed.

 

“By the way, that’s the one the magician Jaber took from an empty box and presented to me before his show. In fact, as soon as I got it from him, there was demand for the bag including Narobenji, minister ji took it away and gave it back later”

 

Oh my god Hari was getting the picture clear.

 

“So how does this magician bring all his goods” Hari inquired

 

“Not all, he brings the items in boxes and they assemble here. You can’t believe it. The weight of the goods he was carrying was more than 800 kg. But, he is a wonderful magician, world famous” Archana was lost in her thoughts.

 

“Do you keep the list of the goods”

 

“ofcourse, we do”

 

“Thanks Archana, you have to come with us” Hari spoke in a raised voice

 

“Anywhere dear, anywhere with you” Archana kept her salacious look

 

“ Sorry, I meant with us” as Hari pointed out to his back, Sanjay and shwetha ,dressed in police uniform, came and sat next to the table. “ We will take some time. Please co-operate” Hari smiled but it did not go well with Archana.

 

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 Maya was not feeling well in spite her sister was getting prepared for the function. She knew that as soon as her sister’s wedding got over, she would have to announce the sad news to her parents. She could not continue with Hari anymore. The groom entered the hall with their relatives when Maya’s father introduced her to them. As soon as he saw Maya, he was ecstatic.

 

“Didi, we are really proud of Hari bhai”

 

Maya stood puzzled. Groom’s father, who happend to be an IAS officer shaked her hand “ We are really proud to say that our son has an alliance from the same family as of Hari. He is a genius of all sort”

 

Maya stood frozen not able to digest what he just said; when her cousin brought in the newspaper and as her eyes browsed through the news, she could not hold back her tears

 

” Sri Sai hall closed down by special cell team led by officer Hari. Investigations point to guns trading with involvement of outside terror groups.”.

A short Story

Short Story (2500 words) submitted to Ashwin Sanghvi- Times of India

I never wanted to become a professor in life not even in my wildest dreams, but this impaired society and the tragedy that had struck me, forced me to be one. I stood in front of the college, the name board “st. Christ College of Engineering” the splendor had receded over the years. I looked across the road, where stood a reclusive tea stall. The signboard seemed newly painted. I went directly to the tea stall. Cigarettes and pan was hanging in front, with the poster of a hindi film. A few people, seemed college students, were smoking in a shed adjacent to the stall by a door.

5 years back, memories remained fresh. I still remembered during my college days, in spite all the facilities like canteen, bakery shop present inside the college, we had found it amusing to be in the tea stall; the fun really started when the juniors had joined so for the next few weeks, our cigarettes and juices had sponsors.  Our girls too joined us during the breaks and from there we take decisions on which movies was worth watching.

“What do you want” a voice interrupted me as I turned around to see the inadvertent face, I was expecting. Managal owned the tea stall and had no much change expect his receding hairline and graying on the side but one could clearly figure him out.  

Mangal looked straight into my eyes and seemed lost in thoughts to identify the face for sure he must not have forgotten.

“I know you before. Did u study here “ mangal inquired with his eyes piercing

“Yes, Abhijeeth Singh. B.Tech mechanical 2010 pass out”

Mangal, in a sudden sprout of action, grabbed my hands and completely in deference, pushed out words” How can I forget you Abhi..always ever since you left this college, I  always prayed for your well being..”

 I slowly took out my hands and replied unrequitedly  

“I have not forgotten either”

I walked away leaving him confused and stepped into the college, after a gap of 5 years. My first plan was executed.

I presented the appointment letter to the principal Mr. Hegde, who over the years had not changed except that his moustache now seems to grow at a faster pace.  Since, my time I have heard students say that he roams around the college even at night to ensure all’s well.

“I never had expected you would want to come back into this college. But you had your masters with a good grade and being an ex-student, the management decided to take your services”

“Thank you sir, and believe me I have come here to teach” My mind filled the rest of the statement TEACH THEM.

“All the best” Hegde gave a warm shake and I got up to leave, when he inquired

“ What was her name”

I didn’t turn back but with my eyes on the door “ Nithya “. The very mention of her name had brought tears in my eyes and as I walked out of the room without turning back; I had rushed into the toilet and throughout my journey till the door step of the college ,I had suppressed my emotion, I had let it out fully aware that the toilet was empty. I cried.

I never went to my department for my next duty after joining was to meet the HOD of mechanical section. I started walking around the college and I happened to find out the backyard wall, which was completely in a tattered state during my years, now was rebuilt and stood firm. “ Have they changed” my mind wandered as I walked to the canteen. That contained beautiful memories of me and Nithya together for it was where we first met each other , the new girl from IT department 1^st year and she had no change to buy something to quench her hunger(for she had been dropped in her college by her father with a 1000 rs note). She wanted to ask her colleagues but before that I already ordered, and asked the canteen boy to move the plate to her, she did not want to accept but her hunger took the toll and that began our friendship, and as an year passed by dating and by third year we were deeply in love. Ravi , the canteen boy who was there and one of the messenger in our romance , although failed to understand me.

I met George, one of my classmate who recommended me to take up the job fully aware of the tragedy. He was happy to see me back after a few years and hugged me; he was a supporting staff in the mechanical lathe workshop. I informed my status as professor to my WHATSAPP group , and received a lot of congratulations.

After a chat with the HOD of mechanical department, I decided to hit the classes and being a professor was not my taste but I did have plans in my mind. As I entered, the class room, I did not notice the students that stood up to greet me, but the classroom which had not changed after all the years, the very same posters and very same outlook.

“Good morning, I am your professor for thermodynamics and fortunately I am one of the ex students of this college. So, I think the best person, who can understand your emotions is me and I hope you all co-operate so I don’t disturb you much” There was a smile on their face and as I turned to the black board I said spontaneously” I will not be here for long”

I took room near to the college where there was a dormitory for the day scholars and the students were surprised to find a professor take up a room in there. As soon as I finished my dinner, I walked up to the backyard of the college. It was pitch dark and there were a few rooms that were lighted inside but I kept moving around keeping a close watch on the tea stall as well but to my dismay I could not find anything.

A few days had gone by. I was busy in the mornings for the preparing classes, as the previous nights I had less time to focus due to my night patrolling. That night after the dinner I was getting my torch ready when I decided to let my mind wander for a moment. I saw Nithya lying in a pool of blood at the backyard of the college, stabbed from back,  by the time we(my friends along) had reached up.I took her on my lap, when in an intermittent voice, she pronounced “ All star” and pointed towards the college. As she passed away on my lap, I didn’t know who had picked me from there and how I had reached the hostel. I did go through a very bad phase. All the years, I tried to recollect the words and finally I understood; it was the same All star tea stall in front of the college but her pointing towards the college seemed a mystery. Suddenly, I woke up from my dream and looked into my watch, it was late and I moved out of my room when I heard some students walking past by murmur” It is there tonight”

I ran downstairs and started running towards the college and in the midst of darkness no one noticed me. The tea stall was lighted today and i slowly went past the tea stall into the shed and hid in the corner, which I am acquaintained with, as of our bunking location from college. I I remembered an incident prior to Nithya’s death.

Nithya, had the habit of working part time in a local daily newspaper. She used to write articles and basically she was interested in highlighting the social evils engulfed in the society, typically influenced by films. Once we had gone to meet a lady, who stayed a few miles away from the college. I was surprised to see a small hut built of hay and leaves. When she had called out loud by her name Ayesha, a lady came out with a disgusting look in her eyes.

“No madam, iam not interested in two some” she yawned. “Already, I had enough with these college students, who come three and four together”

 I was surprised to hear it from the lady that I decided best not to stay around here and leave Nithya for dealing with her, for now I understood her intention to interview a prostitute. After a few moments, she had come back and looked sad. I asked her the reason but she never said and asked me to drop her back in her hostel. Later, after the incident, I went to the lady as I wanted to know what the lady had said that made her worried, but to my surprise , she was dead. An old lady came up from her hut and shouted at me” are you from the college. The same guy from the college killed my daughter”. I was going through her words when suddenly, heard some voices from outside the shed at the entrance of the stall.

“It is here, the kid will come and collect it.” the voice sounded strange but familiar, and the person receiving a small cover was none other than the stall owner Mangal. What was that in his cover and I was confused whether to barge in when I heard the voice again “  Three days after at the same time” .I looked my watch, it was 12 pm.

The next day, after a morning seesion, I rushed to the toilet, to find some students sharing and distributing something inside the cabinet. At first, I thought it must be some blue film CD, but I noticed a packet cover, the very same type carried by Mangal yesterday night. I jumped onto one of the student, whose name happened to be Ankhith.

“Show me what you have in your hands” I grabbed him and made him open the cover to find a white substance ; suddenly I got a few punch from the back that put me down, but I grabbed the leg of ankith and cried loudely” Who gave you this”  Two, three students started jumping on me, but I never released his leg and I cried out loud for anyone to rush in and to my delight a few lecturers came inside. The police was called in immediately and they confirmed that it was drugs, and as per their report there was a big drug mafia , that had vested interests in the college. I knew where to start and the quest for revenge embroiled me; I decided to take them directly.

I waited patiently that night inside the shed on the corner focused on the door for I knew the time. I saw Mangal coming in from behind as I felt a hunch. I observed him carefully as he walked to the door between the shed and stall. I knew that the time was running out but suppressed the urge to check my watch. I was sure that I would be able to grab the guy who delivers the packet and who picks it up; Probably one of them will have to give me an answer on Nithya.

“There was a problem inside the college yesterday” a new sound but seemed familiar.

“ I know for it was me who made that blunder” . It was him, the very same guy whose sound I had heard yesterday. I took a deep breath and started counting in reverse under my breath. “ten,nine,eight seven.. and with all the might I jumped out with a stick I had hidden inside my pant. There were three people there as expected and stood frozen for a moment on finding me inside. Mangal rushed to me. I hit him straight on his head, but by that time, the strange guy who was in his helmet had already grabbed a gun and fired at me..I knelt down and with that he started the bike and asked the ordered the other guy to hold me. In the light, the guy who came to grab me was none other than the canteen boy Ravi, the messenger for drugs inside the campus. I tripped him down and threw the stick at his master, as it hit his gun and whisked away from him. Seeing to grab this opportunity, I jumped immediately to grab the gun and one shot on his leg, who had already gone a few distance on the bike, as it crashed on to a tree nearby. I pointed the gun to Ravi and slowly moved to the bike.

With strong hand on the gun, I removed his helmet and finding the most unexpected person incensed me further, it was george or George Allistar. As the name puts in, Nithya had pointed her finger at george who was standing beside me for she used to address him by his surname . I caught him on his neck and wanted to kill him but hesitated to know what happened to Nithya. George looked into my eyes for he was able to breathe properly once the helmet was removed and petulantly started speaking

 “I am not alone. You cannot imagine the people tied to this string. Nithya knew it because her friend’s boyfriend Ramesh had died due to over dosing. She came to know about this from Ayesha, the prostitute who used to provide drugs to the students outside the campus and also about Ravi, who helped us inside.  She had come that night to catch me red-handed with a few snaps, but we were already ready for her and I had to do that”

I cried empathetically

“George Allister,you bastard, How come you be in this shit?

He reiterated “I told you it’s beyond your imagination”.

Suddenly, a speeding car stopped by and as I turned back, from the half open windows a gun stood out followed by the shot . It hit me right on my chest and as the car came below a street light, I could see the thick moustache and face became visible. “ Mr Hegde..” I cried out loud and pulled the trigger on George at the same time. he deserved nothing short. Both Mangal and ravi had escaped and the car drove off. I put my hands into pocket and grabbed my mobile, which I ensured was in record mode all this time. I sent it to my whattsapp group and slowly typed in the message.

they r responsible..Hegde, Ravi, Mangal.. and many more

I closed my eyes as soon as I was able to hear the send message ring, and  I could see Nithya standing there , smiling with her hands stretched ready to grab me in her arms.

Sitaram yechury and Kerala unit of CPI(M)

I too am a fan of sitaram yechury, used to read his articles since my college when he was writing for the Hindu. He always had a very special place in the Hindu owing to the bond he shared with N ram, the then editor in chief of The Hindu.

I read from  various papers that Yechury had a disagreemnt from the kerala unit and they wanted S Ramachandran Pillai to be the secretary. Although, cpim has claimed all these gossips as baseless, but let us assume, if there was a tussle for the general secretary position in CPI(M) and let us assess the political stand why the kerala unit had taken this stand against yechury.

Left is completely demoralized in west Bengal. Only an alliance can save them now from the total loss they are incurring in Bengal in spite 27 years of a strong bastion in Bengal. Now a revival is required. Back in 1967, when the congress had the upper hand in Bengal, there was a split in the congress and under Ajoy Mukherjee, a congress veteran, a  new bangla congress was formed.   CPI(M) then aligned with the congress and resulted in a united front government with ajoy Mukherjee as Chief minister and Jyothi basu as the Home minister, the first stepping stone for the left in the government formation. After siddharth ray’s tenure and the emergency period, the left never gave up Bengal until Mammata Banerjee had routed the CPI(M) in 2011.

This history needs to be re-enacted in Bengal for the left to get back all their efforts of hard work to shape Bengal society, which now seems to be under threat by Trinamool’s , what left terms as goonda raaj. An alliance between the congress and CPI(M) is already being plotted in the next year’s state elections. As the left seems to be going along with the congress in the Rajyasabha to counter BJP, there seems a ground preparation going on for this unholy but practical union.

Kerala has a different picture to tell. The rise of communalism to an extent is curbed by both the major parties congress and CPI(M), who lead the two fronts  in the state and directly pitted against each other. BJP is attacking the left to unseat the left from the main political rival to congress, who already is secured with the caste and minority votes in their pouch. If elsewhere a union is formed between the congress and the left, the news savvy kerala public , would believe that the vote would be for the same side of the coin.  Hence, the kerala unit clearly requires a person at the helm, who is firmly against a congress-left alliance.

The picture is very clear although it is an internal ruckus and the media is portraying VS achutanandan, as the prime factor , the reason for kerala CPI(M) official faction’s allegiance to comrade SRP. But the media should know that it is more than just this small issue.

Why I named my son Vasisht..

Vasisht, as per mythology, was a sage considered as Maha Guru (Master), a master for all the humble who are ready to accept divine knowledge and who are true to their motives and intentions. In fact, the epic Ramayana identifies sage vasishta as the mentor of Rama and Laxmana. One of his greatest philosophical statement was that the habit of laziness is a disease that is responsible to bring unhappiness in a man`s life.

Around India, we could find a lot of temples with embodiment of the great mythological characters that have lived through the golden epics of Ramayana and Mahabharatha. But there is only one temple in India , which has the deity as the embodiment of the divine potential of sage Vasishta.  This temple located in Arrattupuzha, kerala and is dated back 3000 years old. There is a very popular temple festival called Arattupuzha Pooram, associated with the temple,  and as per tradition it is believed to be a conglomeration of gods where in Deities from the neighborhood shrines appear on caparisoned elephants lined up in a row. Their staging resulted in a spectacular show along with the fireworks. The tradition puts it that the deities appear together to commemorate sage Vasishta, as respect to the most privileged master and has been a part of the temple activities  since its formation.

I come from arrattupuzha. I have wondered on the effort taken by the villagers to ensure that this age old tradition is maintained for all the 3000 years the event is celebrated. Irrespective of the religion, the event has also become a source of living for many in form of festival lighting in the area, drama competitions that has become a part of this festival, small scale industrial units, caparisoning the elephants and the embroidery work associated and much more. One could feel the immense respect of human beings to each other to celebrate a festival , which neither has any historical importance like the victory day in France or geographical importance like a formation day of a nation. It is just a village event nothing more and it is the group of villagers’ responsibility to make it successful.

I named my son Vasisht, as a commemoration to all the people who had contributed to the success of this traditional event that was effervescent and resplendent during the 3000 years of its history.

India and World cup 2015...

Let me tell start with a story. A crow was sitting on a tree, practically doing nothing. A rabbit passed by under the tree. He saw the crow sitting on the tree and asked the crow “ Well, I love the way you are sitting doing nothing. Can I do that too” . The crow replied” Why not. Join me . You can sit under the tree relaxed”.  Rabbit sat there for a few minutes , when a fox came by , and one look on the rabbit under the tree, pounced on it.

Moral of the story: In order to sit simply, you should be sitting at the top.

Recently,  Virat Kohli and Steven smith has come up against the pitches in Australia. The pitches were flat and hence the bowlers had a very tough time in those pitches. The test series is followed by a one day series with England and definitely the pitches shall be once again under scrutiny.

Fist thing, India should understand is that Australia really needs to come back into the cricketing proficiency and this is possible only if they win the world cup. After 2007 world cup, Australian cricket saw some of the great legends that have ruled the pitch retire one by one. This includes Ricky ponting, Adam gilchrist, Mathew hayden, Symmonds, Macgrath and this really created a dent in Australian cricket for some time. This was clearly obvious in the 2011 world cup exit to the ultimate winners India in the quarter final,  although Australia had defeated India previously when they had played in the sub continent in 1988 in spite of a strong , rejuvenated Indian team.

The Sheffield Shield, Australian domestic cricket, has long been considered the best domestic competition in world cricket that produced champions such as Warne, Steve and Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath in the 1980s and '90s. However, the ailing format of the game and declining interest in cricket in Australia is a serious concern for the board that is in fact eroding Australia’s status as a cricketing superpower.  The reason why Australia has sticked to injured Michael Clarke to lead the team shows the desperateness of Australia to bring back their lost glory or spell doom to cricket in Australia.

It is also to be understood that MCG (melboune), Adelaide Oval and SCG (Sydney) are the grounds where the final, semi and the quarter finals of world cup 2015 are scheduled. Australia will be putting their 100% effort this 2015 to bring the cup back to their showcase.

Looking in a broader point of view, Australians really wanted to know the depth of Indian batting in the recent concluded test and going to start one day series thus providing flat pitches. However, I am sure the relaxed attitude of Indian batsmen will not be there the day the world cup matches start for the pitches will definitely give surprises and nightmare to Indians as well as rest of world batting giant. I hope India does not sit comfortably as the rabbit in the story above to be devoured. Hope the 2007 World cup exit in the first round be a lesson for them.

Cristiano Ronaldo

How could a jury say Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world.  Just because he has won UEFA championship league for real madrid. That’s not fair cause the Real Madrid has Karim Benzema, Rodriguez , Angel di maria all world class players to support him. What Ronaldo is doing is just finishing the business.

The so called world class player has played three world cup and has scored just 3 goals. A world class player need to be identified by the way he brings the team through the qualifying stages to ultimately the pinnacle of glory i.e the world cup or even the Euro cup. Achieved by Diego Maradona in 1986 or to an extent Roberto Baggio in 1994 world cup (although Italy lost in the finals), or Marco Van Basten for Holland in the 1988 Euro cup, such examples need to be set as the benchmark while  considering  the question of a world class player. Cristiano Ronaldo has not reached up to the expectations of such genuine gems of world football.

The Bus Journey and MODIfication..

There is a scene in the movie, Rajanikanth starrer,  Shivaji. Rajanikanth calls up all the Chartered accountants of the business firms across Tamil Nadu (or India..i don't remember)  for a deal and asks them to reveal all the details of  black money stacked up by the firms. Majority of them refuse and Rajanikanth , in response, offers them a discussion in an adjacent room, where he unleashes his hired goons to beat them all up and agree to his demands. Finally, we see all the CA professionals lining up to help Rajanikanth…

Recently, our PM, proabably inspired by this movie, have asked the bank chiefs to travel in a Volvo bus from Mumbai to Pune where the PM will meet them at a retreat to brainstorm and prepare a blueprint for an action plan to reform the banking sector. This comes shortly after RBI governor Raghuram’s word of caution on Modiji’s “Make In India” policy. Dr Rajan said that 'Make in India' assumes an export-led growth path similar to that of China and it should rather be largely 'for India'. This actually equates to increase in absorption of goods by the domestic population and make possible larger supplies of goods, which in fact requires an increase in the purchasing power of the domestic population, which can only be attained by efficient redistribution of income. Although, Raghuram Rajan did not exactly opend the doors for a socialist thought, but clearly the word of caution contained to avoid an export led growth pattern.

Now, our PM must interfere for all his business adversaries are awaiting the real estate plan of “Make In India” to go on floors along with the overseas financial support. But such a statement from the RBI governor would send wrong signals in the market and fruition of the project would be a distant dream.  Thus the bus ride has come into picture and participants for the bus ride are none other than Raghuram Rajan, and major commercial banking chiefs , who are lend sharks to the hidden real estate plan of “Make In India” campaign. By the end of the journey and when they reach Pune, I am sure they all would have been MODIfied..