Bus stop romance

The lady in the blue saree
Looked like a vanilla ice cream
Since I saw her in the bus stand
She  became my sweet dream.

Very soon our eyes met
I talked to her gently
With my trembling heart
Will she take it kindly?

She said she knew me
As I was the local star
But she feared to talk
Thinking I'd ignore her.

Could not believe my luck
I was in cloud nine
Just a few conversations
And she fell in line?

Where are you going
She asked me eagerly
As we got on the same bus
And sat together closely.

Knowing our destination was same
My head began to toss
My love vanished quickly
When I learned she would be my boss.


Picture taken from net

Surgical strike and the aftermath

Shattering the myth of possible nuclear conflict, India broke her "strategic restraint" on 29th September when Indian soldiers crossed the LOC for surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied territory. India claimed that Indian soldiers had been able to destroy 7 launch-pads for terrorists at a stretch of a 250 km arc along the LOC, killing 30 to 40 terrorists and their handlers. This bold step to avenge the dastardly killing of 20 Indian soldiers and maiming of 18 more in Uri has caught a lot of people off guard.

Initially, Pappu praised Modi, but later on noticing Modi's growing popularity, he cringed, and made some ugly comments. A few people like Kejriwal, Chidambaram etc suddenly became doubting Thomases and questioned the veracity of India's claim about the surgical  strikes. Arvind Kejriwal became so famous in Pakistan that he could easily open a branch of his party in Pakistan with the name of PAAP (Pakistan Aam Admi Party). These guys probably have fallen prey to Pakistan's incessant denial and the propaganda-war against it.

Now to expect that Pakistan would admit the surgical strikes on her soil was absolutely foolish. Because, firstly it would be tantamount to admitting the presence of terrorist groups on her soil, which India has accused her for long. Pakistan, so far, has been denying the charge assuming that everyone is fool. So, there was no chance of her owing up the charge of harbouring terrorists.

Secondly, so far, we have heard hundreds of times the boastful claim of Pakistan military that India could never cross the LOC. If they dared to do that they would face a befitting reply. The military Generals bragged that the Pakistani army was fully capable of defending every inch of her soil. Admission of the surgical strikes would have destroyed the fictitious claims about Pakistan army's capabilities.

Unlike India, there is an undercurrent of supports for the army from the general public  in Pakistan. The political leaders are seen as the people indulging in only corruption and nepotism, forgetting the welfare of the public. For example, Asif Ali Zardari was known as Mr 10 percent. The recent Panama papers leak has exposed Nawaj Sharif's unaccounted wealth. In addition to this, General Raheel Sharif has gained great popularity after  a successful operation, named as Zarb-e-Azb, on Pakistan's western border against the terrorists. Combination of all these factors has made Raheel Sharif over-confident and over-ambitious. Either he has been plotting a coup, or he wants an extension of terns for another 2 years. Accepting the surgical strikes would have rudely awakened him from his sweet dreams.

Accepting it would mean that Raheel Sharif has to take some kind of retaliatory action against India to maintain his popularity. He wouldn't like himself to be seen as a nincompoop General who clapped at enemy's valour instead of taking action.

Now what kind of action Pakistan can take? Can they afford an escalation because India is both militarily and economically superior to them? A war will very badly hurt Pakistan's economy, as Pakistan is at the moment struggling with an astronomical amount of foreign debts ($50 bn is going to mature in 2016).

Pakistan's nuclear capability is a very big question mark. Even if she possesses some kind of nuclear arsenal, there is a very little chance that she will be given any chance to use it. So, war is virtually a no option. Thus we can understand why Pakistan vehemently denied the surgical strikes and waged a propaganda war against it.

But it's really sad that a section of politicos in India began to question the authenticity of the surgical strikes! People like Kejriwal even wanted the army to bring the video in public domain. Doesn't he have any idea that this would thoroughly expose Indian army's strategies? How come this guy became the CM of Delhi?

The ruling party BJP has been accused of doing politics with the issue. Yes, they deserve credit for the tectonic shift in India's policy in dealing with terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil. Also, it's hard to refrain from gaining a few brownie points in the season of upcoming elections. But Ideally, the BJP should not take credit for the bravery shown by the armed forces. There is every chance of some major terrorist attacks in near future. If any such event happens, will the BJP take the responsibility for that, or will they blame the intelligence agencies?

Strangely, the Congress has been digging up embarrassing moments to show that in their rule, too, there had been instances of surgical strikes. For example, today I saw Sanjay Jha boasting of Operation Ginger. Come on Sanjay, that was nothing to boast of because it was nothing short of a war crime.

To expect that the surgical strikes would stop Pakistan from sponsoring terrorist activities in India is also not correct. The raison d'etre of Pakistan is anti-India activities. They will not learn lessons so easily. The surgical strikes should be seen as a beginning and not the end.

Finally, this should not be a one-off incident. Yeh dil mange more such strikes.

Pictures taken from net

Kashmir and internal politics of Pakistan

From the point of view of the separatist leaders, they are doing their job by obeying faithfully every direction coming from their Pakistani paymasters. Indian security agencies are doing their job by curbing the rebellion. Unfortunately, the real loses are the gullible people of Kashmir, who are dancing to the tune of the Hurriyat leaders. They are not applying their mind to understand the simple truth that by listening to the orders of the separatists, they are not going to  get "azadi", but are definitely ruining their future. This is the message the mainstream political parties should convey to them loudly.

The problem might have originated because of the internal politics of Pakistan. General Raheel Sharif, who is a four-star rank army general, currently serving as the 15th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army,  will retire as Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan) in November 2016. Maybe he has become ambitious. Maybe he wants to do a Parvez Musharraf,  the mastermind of a Kargil infiltration that brought India and Pakistan to a full-fledged war in 1999,  who after months of contentious relations with the Prime Minister Sharif, staged military coup d’état that allowed him to seize control of the government. The military establishment in Pakistan has been instrumental in fuelling the current agitation in Kashmir. The PMLN has no other option but to occasionally issue some statements supporting the current agitation that has been continuing for 64 days in Kashmir.

Pakistani leaders make tall talk about Kashmir. Some say it’s in their jugular vein. Some say it’s their lifeline. Some say that they will never forget Kashmir. Some say Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of the partition.  But in reality, they mean nothing. They know very well that they will bring only destruction, maybe to the extent of annihilation, to their country if they try to wage another war with India to snatch Kashmir. Kashmir has become a useful tool of doing politics in Pakistan. Whenever the incumbent government fails to deliver on governance or gets itself mired in corruption, it takes the easy route of diverting people’s attention by raking up the K-word, which sounds very sexy to ears of the audience in Pakistan.

And we should not forget the military in Pakistan, which probably has the ultimate say in any matter in Pakistan. Pakistani army officers have gained enormous wealth by keeping the jihad factory running and keeping the pot boiling in Kashmir. Currently, the position of Nawaz Sharif has become vulnerable after the Panama papers revelations. The leaks reveal that three of his children own offshore companies and assets not shown on his family's wealth statement. The companies identified so far include three British Virgin Islands-based companies Nescoll Ltd, Nielsen Enterprises Ltd and Hangon Property Holdings Ltd. These companies have been used to channel funds to acquire foreign assets, including some apartments along Park Lane in London's Mayfair area. Maybe Raheel Sharif sees a good opportunity to topple the government and usurp power. From the comments posted in various Pakistani websites, it’s not to be missed that the military gets strong support from a section of the Pakistani people. Therefore, Raheel has started trouble in Kashmir to gain his popularity in Pakistan.

But, why should the people of Kashmir bring unbearable miseries to them by using themselves to be used as a pawn at the hands of politicians of Pakistan. The message should be loud and clear from New Delhi that they will never get "azadi". Wage a propaganda war in Kashmir. Make them understand that they are currently under a spell which has brought only doom to them.

Pictures taken from net

How logical is banning commercial surrogacy?

India’s government has cleared the way for a measure that would ban all commercial surrogacy in the country, allowing only close family relatives to become surrogate mothers. The proposed measure is a blow to the thriving but unregulated rent-a-womb industry that many activists say is exploiting poor women. 

Read https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rent-a-womb-industry-in-india-may-be-shut-down/2016/08/24/39684d60-79e3-42c9-893d-9ff5998ce179_story.html


The blanket ban on commercial surrogacy is very difficult to understand for me. Exploitation of poor women is cited as the prime mover behind the proposed ban. Is that a valid reason? The logical step should have been to prevent the exploitation, to plug the loopholes in the law, and not banning the entire thing. Exploitaion is everywhere. For example, BPO workers are being exploited by their employers. So what the government should do? Should they ban the entire BPO operation, or should they increase the minimum wages?

Surrogacy is a great scientific achievement, and Indian people should not be denied the fruits of it. Finding close relatives, who have already become mother, for becoming surrogate mother, that too without any commercial consideration, will be extremely hard to find.

This surrogacy business has been very good for earning revenues in foreign currencies. In the past decade, India has emerged as one of the top destinations for childless couples from around the world who pay impoverished women to give birth to have their children. India and the United States are among a handful of countries where the practice of in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer is allowed. According to one estimate, at least 40,000 surrogate babies were born in the past decade. Many foreigners came to India to hire surrogate mothers for prices that could range from $8,000 to $40,000.  Also, as more and more wealthy Indian people have been getting into it, it has been a good means of economic justice. It's true, the poor women have been exploited. The middle men were taking the bulk of the money. But isn't that the case every where? For example, if the farmer gets rupees 4 per kg  for a produce, the market price is rupees 16. However, I  am not defending the exploitation. There has to be some mechanism to ensure that the surrogate mother gets at least 50% of the total money.

If the proposed bill is passed, there will be two possibilities. First, the entire business may go underground, thereby letting the law enforcement agencies having a field day to earn black money. If the the law enforcement agencies do their job honestly, then the business will go to other countries like Thailand, Georgia etc. Huge flow of Indian currencies to foreign countries is definitely not a good idea.

Lastly, I think this proposed bill is very unscientific and regressive in nature. It might have come out of the brains of some "gau rakshaks"!

Pictures taken from net

Ten reasons for Kashmir to be part of India

We have been witnessing a spate of violent activities in Kashmir since the killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. To our utter disgust, we have found a handful of pseudo-intellectuals of the likes of Arundhati Roy, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Prem Shankar Jha etc coming forward in support of the separatists. But, I can't see any justification for "azadi", and the following are the reasons for which India will never let Kashmir secede:

1. Historical reason : I am sometimes amazed to note the audacious claim of the separatists that Kashmir has been historically attached to Pakistan. The problem with the Paki-lovers is that their beloved country was herself born in 1947. They should know that Kashmir has a history of thousands of years. Originally, it was the land of Hindus, where Buddhism, too, flourished. It's true that rapid islamization took place between thirteenth to fifteenth century, but that does not take away the rights of the Hindus or Buddhists or Sikhs to live there. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kashmir

2. No relevance of the UN resolution : I don't know what was in Nehru's mind when he took the matter to the UN! When the Indian force was on the verge of striking a decisive win deep inside Pakistan, and settling the things for ever, this traitor took the matter in his own hand. Sometimes, I tend to think that some Muslim blood must have been flowing in his veins! Anyway, the conditions set for plebiscite were never met by Pakistan. After the conclusive victory in 1971 war, both countries signed the Simla Accord in 1972. Since then if anybody talks about plebiscite, we have to dismiss that as bunkum. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simla_Agreement

3. Accession of Kashmir was legitimate : The maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh lawfully signed the instrument of accession with India in 1948. Initially, Kashmir  wanted to remain as an independent state. But after the invasion of tribesmen sent by Pakistan to forcefully conquer Kashmir, the maharaja quickly understood that believing Pakistan was like kissing a venomous cobra. So, he chose the right path. It's true that some of the conditions have been diluted over the years by New Delhi. But that was required for the welfare of Kashmir, and everything was done lawfully.

http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/documents/instrument_of_accession.html

4. Religion cannot be the reason : India harbours the highest number of Muslims, after Indonesia, in the world. They live here peacefully and their rights have been guaranteed by the Constitution of India. An ex-prime minister of India went to the extent of saying that the minorities in India have the first right to the resources of the country. Clearly, religion cannot be a valid reason for Kashmiris to seek freedom.

5. It will create a very ominous precedent: If India somehow succumbs to the pressure, and let Kashmir secede,  it will be the death knell for the idea of India. The insurgents in various other states will be emboldened, and intensity their activities with double vigor. Some idiots think that Pakistan will stop encouraging anti-India activities from her soil once it snatches Kashmir. It's absolutely balderdash. The raison d'etre of Pakistan is anti-Indian activities. Pakistan will shift her attention else where in the country. There are various districts in West Bengal  and Assam where the Muslim population has risen around 50% mark due to, mainly, infiltration. These places will be the new targets of Pakistan.

6. India cannot succumb to jehadi pressure : Any body having inside knowledge of the Kashmir happenings should be aware of the fact that the so-called freedom movement in Kashmir is nothing but jehadi experimentation funded by foreign countries. The stone-pelting youth of Kashmir are blinded by their hatreds towards Hindus due to jehadi indoctrination propagated day in and day out from the local mosques. Many people don't know that similar hate factories are operating in various other places in India, too. Anyway, the world has univocally said NO to the jehadi menace.

7. Control of the rivers: If a rogue country like Pakistan gets hold of the rivers, no body knows what the fanatics would do with them. We cannot let the highly productive state like Punjab at the mercy of Pakistan.

8. Kashmir is a very important military strategic position : If India loses Kashmir, she will lose a very important strategic position, and will be vulnerable to attacks from her enemy countries.

9. A source of revenue : The paradise on earth attracts milion of foreign tourists every year. This means billions of revenue in foreign currencies.

and finally,

10. India has invested a lot: A lot of money and manpower have been sacrificed over the years. These can't go down the drain.

So, dear separatists and their pseudo-intellectual supporters, don't even think in your wildest dream that India will hand over Kashmir to you in a platter. You have to annex it. But you have already waged 3 full-scale wars and a despicable invasion of Kargil in 1999. Each and every time you have met with crushing defeat. If you dare to do it again under Modi's rule, I am sure you will learn the lesson of your life. Maybe this will be the last war and last existence of Pakistan.

Pictures taken from net

Kashmir: What is the solution?

The madness of the mullahs has been continuing unabated for the last 45 days in Kashmir. Clearly, they have been under a spell, which is preventing them from differentiating between the good and the bad. The spell has been cast by the false belief in supremacy of Islam. The supremacist zealots think that the mythical magical power of Allah will help them create a Darool Islam in Kashmir. They have the firm belief that the Kafir Hindus will be defeated in the end. This keeps them acting like insects in front of a fire.

The Indian security forces have been doing a great job despite facing a very hostile situation. They have been maintaining self-restraint even in the face of utmost provocations. The separatists have employed the nefarious design of putting children of tender age in front of their so-called resistance marches. They want to discredit the security forces. They are not only pelting stones, but also waging a media war. Some of our anti-national fools have toed their line without understanding anything of the complexity of the problem.

However, I am afraid that I don't have a word of praise for the Mehbooba Mufti government. They have been very indecisive about their course of action. There has been virtually no governance in the last 40 odd days. The attendance in the government offices has been less than 20%. Schools and colleges have not been reopened. There has been no effort to arrest the stone-pelting rowdy elements. She is giving nothing to herself to bargain with. The main opposition party, NC, has taken a hard anti-national position. But, I don't blame them, as some of the recognised parties have to take the anti-india space.

Kashmir is the battle that India cannot lose. Losing Kashmir will surely accentuate the disintegration of India, and again we shall be subjected to slavery at the hand of our enemies. Even though, the opposition doesn't seem very scary at the moment, we cannot take them lightly. We have to learn important lessons from the history. I am quite sure most of the readers don't know that there had been innumerable unsuccessful attacks on Indian borders states before the successful invasion by Muhammad Bin Qasim. In fact, Bin Qasim himself had made two futile efforts. So, we have to keep winning this war at any cost. Any cost means any cost. I don't care if we have to use nuclear, biological or chemical weapon for this.

The best solution to Kashmir problem is to end the special privileges of the state and integrate the state with India as any other normal state. Okay, I admit this won't be easy. There will be humongous internal and external pressure. But those are the champions who can withstand pressure. India should simply copy what China did to Tibet.

Pictures taken from net

Film Review : Sultan

I had been a die-hard fan of cricket, who had devoted (now it seems wasted) hour after hour of precious time practicing, playing and watching the game. Literally, I ate, drank and slept cricket. Hansie Cronje was a god-like figure for me. But when the God fell from grace, my disenchantment with cricket began to start. Post-IPL, it was complete. Nowadays, I hardly watch cricket. Now, I am a fan of wrestling,  to be specific WWE. John Cena is my hero. As a wrestling fan, there was no way I could miss the movie "Sultan",  an Indian sports-drama film directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films banner, featuring Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma as the main stars.

First, let me narrate the story in brief. Just when the sponsors of Aakash Oberoi's (Amit Sadh) brainchild Pro Take Down League, similar to the  MMA type competition, had been contemplating pulling out because of its continuous business failure, Aakash's father gave him the idea of bringing an Indian face. And who could be better than the Olympic gold-medalist Haryanvi wrestler Sultan Ali Khan? Though disappointed by Sultan's present middle-aged, pot-bellied appearance, a drowning Aakash had no option but to catching at straws. But Sultan, who had been working as a government employee, and collecting funds for establishing a blood bank, was in a no mood to get back to the ring, even if the offer was too lucrative. Frustrated Aakash contacted Sultan's friend to know the reason behind Sultan's stubborn refusal.

Sultan's friend Govind tells him the entire story of making of a world-class wrestler from a simple, down-to-earth, son-of-a-farmer village lad. Aarfa, played by Anushka, was his dream girl. Aarfa, a state champion wrestler herself, was dreaming of becoming a Olympic champion. She spurned Sultan's proposal with disdain. This had shaken Sultan's conscience, and he too decided to become a state champion. After a hard work, he achieved his goal and won his ladylove's heart and married her. Eventually, both of them got Commonwealth and Asian games gold medals. But just before the Olympic games, Aarfa became pregnant, and she chose to sacrifice her dream in favour of her child. Sultan went to Olympic, and won the gold medal. This success went to his head, and he became arrogant. Just when Aarfa was ready for her delivery, Sultan went to the world wrestling championship despite Aarfa's earnest request to stay with her at the crunch time. Sultan won the competition, but Aarfa lost the child because the village medical infrastructure didn't have the rare O negative blood group, which Sultan had and he could have saved the life, had he stayed. Disenchanted and dejected Aarfa left Sultan, and Sultan struggled with himself everyday to find the purpose of his life.

On Govind's advice, Aakash somehow managed to convince Sultan that only wrestling could give him a new lease of life. Sultan decided to join the league. You should see for yourself how he manages to win his self-esteem and his wife.

Except for the meteoric rise part of Sultan from nowhere to champion only in a month, the story is quite realistic. India does have a good sporting infrastructure for wrestling, and has been producing good wrestlers over the years, including Olympic medallions like Sushil Kumar, Yogeswar Dutt etc. When WWE is a world wide success, there is no reason why a similar type of competition cannot be a hit in India. Besides, the story gives some very strong message against male dominated society. Women are shown in a positive light in this movie. Peace and harmony between communities are shown.

Salman Khan is generally not considered as a very talented actor. But let me tell you that he was perfectly suited for this role. He might have used a very bad example to describe the agonies he faced during training, but the good work he has undergone was showing in the movie. So far, I had no special superlatives to speak about Anushka. But after watching the film, I must say that she has done a terrific job as an actress. Also, she looked lovely in the film.

I am totally unimpressed by the music. So many songs, most of which were not pleasant to ear, were not at all required in this type of films.

Overall,  I give  a thumbs up, and my rating would be 7 out of 10.

Pictures taken from net