This probably is the shortest blog post that I would ever post for this. First things first... not good on my part that I couldn't take time out to post more for my blog... but here is the part why I came here...

I wanted to share a hunch that I have... regarding this US Elections 2008. I don't know if the 'Bradley Effect' will play its role and would transform and rename itself into the 'Obama Effect' or not... but... even if he wins the elections, I am really skeptical about him completing the term... I know that all this is a big conditionality... a big 'If' but... I still wanted to put my hunch and share it... before their D day... don't know if it would be a 'Bradley Effect' that would stop him or may be some Neo Nazi group or a racist group or a KKK or what not... but... I feel it would be a real miracle if he gets into the Oval and also sits there for the entire term!

Well... why... one might ask... C'mon folks... we are talking about the country which proclaims itself to be the messaiah of democracy, of equality, of freedom of everything... but... no non-white has ever reached a commanding position in that country... neither did any other 'minority' section... be it a Hispanic or a woman... and I still remember reading somewhere that Kissinger was the best person who has never gotten to sit in the Oval office... and the reason being that he was not a 'born' American and that he is not a Christian nor does his roots belong to Europe/UK... he is a Jew with roots in Israel!

Now as their history reckons... I am reminded of Faiz... and his lines... Hum Dekhenge!!!

Next one after their tryst with their destiny is done and dusted!

A ***** General, A Gorkha, And A True Indian

‘… Your airforce has been destroyed. You are surrounded on all sides. And if you don’t surrender, you will be killed unmercifully’ the voice thundered. These were the chilling words that I first came across when I was a kid and when I saw some video on air from the Films Divisions archives. I was so awestruck with that video and that person who said those words that I always wanted to get hold of that archive and record that address for myself to listen to. If that was the impact that speech had on me, I can but only imagine the impact that address would have had when it was originally aired… on All India Radio, way back when I was not even born. It was over a generation back! That original address would, I am sure, have given chills down the spines for the people it was meant for, serving its purpose. That was the first time that I have ever come across a picture and the name of this person. My first impression on him… he too had a long nose like me and he too is an Arian like me (am not trying to compare myself to this legend and neither am I trying to belittle him by comparing him with me, but, I seem to come across and have a liking to read about the persona of these people with long pointed nose… more about some more long nosed people some other day, may be), a fair complexion, trimmed moustache and an impeccable smile. I am talking about Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, the first of the only two Field Marshals of India till date. A Five Star General from Indian Army and the eighth Army Chief of Indian Army.

The more I started to read about this person, the more I started admiring him. Let me share some aspects or tit-bits of this person, which I have always been fascinated about:

He never budged down in front of any politician or any babu. It was only his faith, conviction and his caring about his people that would have changed any decision he wanted to take… no one else! There is this story about he being summoned by the then PM into a cabinet meeting where they were discussing the biggest problem of the day. There were at least 4 CM’s who have sent in telegrams that they were no longer in a position to absorb the mass exodus of refugees into their states. The entire cabinet, in one voice wanted some action to be taken (read: WAR). The PM briefed him about the background and the entire situation (with details that he did not have as he was privy to most of that information already). The long nosed PM asked him… ‘So what are you doing about it?’ And this man, with his cool smile, just said: ‘Nothing’. A pause and he continued, ‘It has got nothing to do with me. You did not consult me when you allowed our BSF, CRPF to encourage the Pakistanis (read: people of the then East Pakistan) to revolt. Now that you are in trouble, you come to me. I have a long nose. I know what’s happening’. He then asked her what she expected from him. Mercurial as she was, she said ‘I want you to enter Pakistan.’ To that he responded ‘That means war!’ This was a conversation in early 1971. This was what he himself shared with the world. Indira was stunned and puzzled. The reasons that he did not give to the cabinet, but only to her was that his armored division and two of his infantry divisions were away, in Jhansi and Samba sectors. If was to be declared right at that point in time, those three divisions should come back to the theatre. It meant that all the rail wagons of that time would have to be diverted to get them along with blocking the roadways. Even if the government of the day was ready for that, it meant that the railways would have to carry the army and all the harvest of the year from the Gangetic belt from Punjab to UP would not have any means of transport and without moving them to the godowns, the harvest of the year would have rotten. Besides, by the time the forces were moved to the theatre, the monsoons would have started. And monsoon in East Pakistan and the North East of India is to be faced to believe. When it rains, it pours. Even till date, starting from Bihar, Bengal to the ‘Seven Sisters’ and not to mention Bangladesh and Burma, this entire region reins in floods, without fail. Had it been some other person at the helm of Army, not to demean any other Generals who came before and after Sam, they would probably have budged to that demand, c’mon if the entire babudom and the cabinet and 4 CM’s wanted it, you need to be very strong to go against the tide. But we are not talking about anyone else. We are talking about Sam. After that meeting ended on that note, when the cabinet has left the room, and he was about to leave, Indira Gandhi asked him to stay back. The purpose was to know what was running in Sam’s mind and why he had to put his foot down firmly. But Sam, being proactive, asked, ‘… may I send you my resignation on grounds of health (mental or physical)?’ This took her aback and she rejected that idea of Sam’s resignation. And this, we are talking about the person whom Sam himself has referred to as the most short-tempered woman he had ever come across. Theirs was the best team that led India to its proudest military moment and got the Indian Army to its zenith.

Another story also is about this time. This war took just 13 days and the Indian Army was knocking on the doors of Decca (that was how it was called at that time, not Dhaka). But it was December and not before the onset of monsoon. Thank God and Sam that we didn’t do that mistake of starting the war any other time than in December 1971. OK, coming back to this story, we were in Decca. Sam has addressed the Pakistani Army and the entire East Pakistan through that AIR address asking the Pakistani army to surrender. After that, everyone, press, people, politicians and not to forget the babu’s have all assumed that Sam will personally go and accept the surrender by the Pakistani army at Decca. After all, over 93,000 troops, one of the largest ever in this world, were going to surrender. Sam just laughed at it. It was Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Arora (referred to as Jaggi by Sam) who accepted that surrender of the Pakistani army, which was represented by the maniac AK Niazi. Later Sam clarified that he would have gone to accept the surrender if it were the chief of Pakistan army that was surrendering, but to accept the surrender from Niazi, who was in-charge of Pakistan’s Eastern Command, would be demeaning his stature. It was. How many would have understood that logic all by themselves? He got elevated to the rank of Field Marshal for his leadership role. He commented on this, ‘While Jaggi did all the work, I got the baton’ with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

Well, I chose these two instances to highlight the fact as to how logical was Sam, not to forget the ‘think and understand from all angles before you decide’ and ‘think logically, think with past and present in mind and also the likely impact of your decision’ aspects of this person.

There are some specialties to Sam… vast experience, of being a part of 5 wars (three Indo-Pak wars, one Indo-China war and also the WW II), the first Field Marshall, a five star General, a person who had a ‘love hate’ relationship with the political class of the country, a people’s General and last but not the least, a smiling and humane General. He was so humane that he never ill-treated his enemies too. There was this story about him, when he went to Karachi after India won the war, there were some people who just came and touched his feet. Sam was surprised at that and asked as to why they are doing that. In response, they said, ‘it was because of you that our children are alive. They have surrendered to your (Indian) army and we get letters from our children that they are being treated well, you have provided them Quran Sharif as per their request and no one is ill-treating them’. Years before this, actually when everything started, in 1947, Jinnah had offered him a good rank and a nice position if he chooses to join the Pak army instead of Indian. He was acceptable to an Islamic Pakistan, after all Sam is not a Hindu; he is a Parsi (something like what Jinnah’s daughter’s family, the Wadia’s of the Bombay Dyeing were). Sam did not accept that offer. Years later, Sam was asked this question ‘what would have happened had you accepted that offer by Jinnah and joined Pakistan army?’ to which pat came the reply ‘The result of the war would have been different’. How true! Though his dedication towards the country is unquestionable, he also had friends in Pakistan and he was proud of it. After the first Indo-Pak war, he told Nehru that Ayub Khan can do what he would like (in Pakistan) and at that time, what Nehru did was unquestionable in India. ‘Can we sort it out?’ asked Sam indicating that Kashmir dispute can be solved if his personal rapport was what it needed to solve it. He had created enemies thanks to his trait of speaking his mind out. He took Krishna Menon, the defense minister of India at the time of Indo-China war. He was totally sidelined as a result, in 1961. Nehru soon realized that Menon’s policies were not right and sought his resignation. After that, he sent Sam to the Eastern front for fire fighting. Immediately, after reaching the Eastern Front, Sam sent out a message that there will not be any withdrawal without any written orders and also that the written orders would never be issued. In other words, he meant that he wouldn’t mind dying than to withdraw or surrender. This, he said to the totally outnumbered and demoralized Indian Army of the day. These words worked magic on the troops and they rallied around Sam and gave their best shot. Compare this with the ‘My heart goes’ address of Nehru to the Assam and Arunachal people after the Chinese invaded those territories where people were confused if Nehru was going to surrender based on the way and the wordings of the address.

There was this saying in the Army that no one who worked under and with Sam ever had to worry about any injustice, for; there were no losers under Sam’s command. If there were any cases that were brought to his notice, Sam used to check and find out any reason, however trivial it might, to save that person, believing in natural and liberal justice system. But at the same time, Sam never tolerated any injustice by his people. There is this story about a General who was being court marshaled for misusing Army funds. The case came up to Sam. Sam just read through the entire case and made one statement to that General. He said, ‘your chief is not only accusing you of being dishonest but also calling you a thief. If I were you, I would go home and either shoot myself or resign. I am waiting to see what you will do’ and he postponed the hearing for the next day. The accused, so ashamed of this, quit the Army by the next day.

Everyone knows that Sam was the product of the first batch of pass outs of the IMA, Dehradun, that he was awarded a Military Cross by his superior, one Major General Cowan, who spotted him after being hit point blank in stomach, took out his own Military Cross and pinned on Sam and said ‘A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross’, not knowing that, contrary to his thoughts, Sam would survive, to reach the heights that everyone who dons an olive dress or any other service dress would aspire to. Everyone knows that he came from the Gorkha Regiment and that headed the infantry division and a command before he became the Chief. That he was born in Amritsar in a family where serving the Army was never heard of. He was awarded with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushans while serving and that he became the first Field Marshal of India just about 15 days before he retired. But not many know that he had a great sense of humor.

He was known to have challenged, in lighter spirits though, the power of Indira Gandhi. He is known to have said ‘… don’t you think I would prove to be a worthy replacement? You have a long nose and so have I. I don’t poke my nose into other people’s affairs and you don’t poke your nose into my affairs’ when Indira Gandhi drew his attention to the reports that he might launch a coup against her after the ’71 war, for which she replied ‘No Sam, you can’t’ and then Sam responded with ‘what do you mean I can’t, do you think I am so incapable?’ and Indira had to change her statement and say, ‘not that Sam, I meant you wont’ and he wouldn’t. He believed in the principle that it is his job to fight, to win and not to run the country. He said ‘I don’t poke my nose in other people’s affairs’ and he did his own work, at the same time not letting others poke their noses into his affairs of running the Army.

He was so close to his people, the Gorkha Regiment that he is quoted to have said, ‘If someone says that he doesn’t fear anything, then, either he is lying or he is a Gorkha’. He was a true Gorkha and would remain one, someone like the Lawrence of Arabia, born a Parsi in Punjab to being ‘born again’ as a Gorkha.

He probably was the last of the military leaders who have and will remain captured in popular imagination. They simply don’t make generals like him anymore I guess!

This one is for Sam Bahadur: April 3, 1914 – June 26, 2008.

Responsible Nuclear Power - India

I read Raj Chengappa’s book sometime back where he was talking about a single teacher school’s principal who was born and brought up in the same small village in Rajasthan where he was teaching. One bright May morning, one officer from the Army drove to his school and requested the principal to teach his kids outdoors for that one day. He did not give any reason for that request. But, the school principal smiled and said, “Don’t worry… we know you are going to do another test. We are fully behind you!”

That school principal guessed and knew what the ‘so called’ most sophisticated intelligence network, that boasts of being “An Agency unmatched in its core capabilities” (as per their ‘Vision Statement’) had a tight slap in its face… left them puzzled and clueless… after all they had dedicated satellites monitoring this part of the earth on a continuous basis! This was one of the worst debacles of this agency, and I am not talking about some unknown or toothless organization, I am talking about the one and only CIA… the same CIA which has its own parallel rules which are unknown to many, which has a budget to match that of some of the third world countries, which has its own network of amongst the best satellite and computer systems and last, but not the least, it is the back bone of the only super power of this planet.

And that event that I am trying to point out happened on May 11, 1998, when The Buddha ‘Smiled’ again, but this time he showed some ‘Shakti’… yes, I am referring to the day when someone who was one of the best orators I feel I have seen (alas! Not any longer… age overpowered his abilities), Vajpayee, declared "India is now a nuclear weapons state" denoting the Shakti (India’s five explosions conducted, three on May 11 and the other two on May 13, were referred to as the Shakti series), and at the same time, he said, "We have the capacity for a big bomb now. Ours will never be weapons of aggression" denoting the peace that The Buddha lived and taught. The place, if you still didn’t get, Pokhran.

India is the only nuclear power (even if you include the covert nuclear nations like Israel, South Africa, Libya which would never go public as they are better off that way; and North Korea, the blackmailer # 1) to have a ‘no first use’ policy. Even the only super power never vowed not to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear weapons countries and that too they never promised that they would not be the first country to trigger the nuclear button. Compare it with India! India declared a unilateral moratorium on testing, which declared a ‘no first use’ and ‘no use against non nuclear powers’ (though the only wars that we had till date were against Pakistan and China). In fact, not many people are aware of the fact that in 1998, India actually made equipment ready for six tests. At the end, India tested only five of them and the sixth was pulled out and taken back under the orders of the then Atomic Energy Commission chief R Chidambaram. It is interesting to know the response he gave when he was questioned by the media. He said that his team has got the desired results with just five blasts and he shot back, ‘Why waste it?’

That is India, the sixth and the most responsible nuclear power on the face of the earth, which way back on Buddha Poornima day (May 18) of 1974, gave the term ‘Peaceful Nuclear Explosion’ much fame and is referred to as the Smiling Buddha. Way back in 1974, the government of the day headed by Indira Gandhi (who, ironically was referred to as ‘Shakti’… (Goddess of) Power and also the name given to the 1998 series of explosions by none other than Vajpayee… though he detracted from that later) claimed that this nuclear power would be used to ‘move heavy earth’ apart from producing nuclear power (though the western media commented that those heavy earth for which India did test was located in Pakistan).

And do you know what was the nuclear doctrine of our dearest neighbor? Sample this: “If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own. We have no other choice.” This was ZA Bhutto in 1965, long before he became the head of that country. He was destined to be the iron man of Pakistani history, which he never was meant to be. He was shrewd enough. He knew that he did not have the resources, technology or, most importantly money to build a nuclear bomb. You know what he did? He painted Pakistan’s bomb ‘green’… literally. He termed it ‘The Islamic Bomb’. He actually never ever attempted to get separated from that concept… literally till his last breath. He took pride in giving his country’s nuclear ambitions a religious color and as a clash of civilizations. After his country lost the third misadventure with India and lost a part of its own part (which declared independence and came to be known as Bangladesh), and after he was forced to come to the picturesque Shimla for a peace deal, well, he didn’t have much choice, did he? After all, India recorded such a thumping victory that it ensured a place for itself a place in the human war record books by capturing 90,368 POWs (more than what any of the countries captured in either of the World Wars) and ensured that its neighbor’s misadventure resulted in dividing that country and getting independence for a third of original Pak territory. This was the price that Pakistan paid for crushing its own people, their ambitions, and their voice; for being the aggressor and for all the misadventures against India under the leadership of one Gen. Yahya Khan, Lt. Gen. Niazi and, of course, ZA Bhutto. Even after such a disgraceful dethroning and fall from public grace (of being the unquestionable leader to being tried for treason and being sentenced to death), he never quit his obsession of coloring his nuclear ambitions green. Sitting in his prison cell, in 1978, (after the Buddha smiled on India), he thundered, “We know that Israel and South Africa have full nuclear capability -- a Christian, Jewish and Hindu civilization have this capability ... the Islamic civilization is without it, but the situation (is) about to change.”

Though there is no solid proof to establish this, there are claims, not just in India (well, you might think that I am claiming this as I am an Indian), but is also a known fact in the Western nuclear dossiers and world nuclear chronicles that petro-dollars and generous Sheiks who got carried away with this ‘Islamic bomb’ concept were always there. There were so many shady money deals, smuggling of designs, maps, and most importantly nuclear material itself that went into their bomb that concluded in the long Pakistani chronology of nuclear ambitions on May 28, 2008 at Chagai Hills and the times beyond that till date. And, all those involved in that Pakistani nuclear program including the ‘Father of Islamic Bomb’ and the now much disgraced, house arrested and tainted A Q Khan were very intelligent people. They should be given their due credit for that. After all, Pakistan also has people with a good amount of intelligence. Well, all the ‘Made In China’ and the ‘Made in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea’ labels were taken off and were disposed off intelligently so that they were not found anywhere in the vicinity of the Chagai Hills nor near any of the missile ‘testing’ stations that preceded and followed those blasts which were declared to the world by the then PM of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. Incidentally, Nawaz Sharif also fell to disgrace, just like ZA Bhutto, for another misadventure against India in Kargil. But that’s for another day.

There is no wonder what Pakistan’s declaration of barging into the nuclear six was: “Today, we have settled a score and have carried out five successful nuclear tests.” There is one unanswered question here: Pakistan claims that this was done in reaction to India’s tests conducted a fortnight earlier. Is it possible to do that at that short notice without preparing for these for ages? It takes at least a month’s time to even unpack and assemble a weapon. There is a theory, which many strategic affairs experts agree that had India not tested its weapons in 1998, Pakistan would never have come out of the closet to show its ugly face. For India it was nothing new. Lets face it; India never broke any law by testing. India has been a nuclear power from 1974. Not from 1998. It is understood that India did not test it before 1967, at the same time; India never signed NPT as a non-nuclear nation. Neither did it sign the CTBT. India never smuggled designs, equipment or fissile material nor did it have a great friend like PRC or DPRK. India did it on its own strength. India is a responsible state. Not a country which still is a haven for all militancy that this world fears. It is still not hiding any Arab Sheik who was disowned by his family and who is amongst the most sought after person in this world, in its porous mountain regions. India never is a part of the ‘Golden Crescent’ (collective name for Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan for their illicit opium cultivation and export).

One cannot compare these two countries, though Pakistan always would try to do that to earn the ‘poor me’ sympathy. Comparing Indira Gandhi with ZA Bhutto; comparing Nawaz Sharif with Vajpayee; comparing the likes of Abdul Kalam, Raja Ramanna and R Chidambaram to the likes of AQ Khan and Samar Mubarakmand or for that matter comparing India with Pakistan will be a grave mistake! It is like comparing an MK Gandhi or a Martin Luther King to someone like a Hitler or an Osama. One is the zenith of peace and responsibility whereas the other is the nadir of terrorism and irresponsible behavior.

And, please! No one in his/her senses would and should see Indo-Pak relations through the prism of clash of religions and civilizations. After all, India is home to the worlds second largest number of Muslims, next only to Indonesia and Indian Muslims are as much patriotic, if not more, as any other Indian. And India is the only nation on the face of this earth, which was never an aggressor, it never initiated a battle and the world history from the time it has been chronicled can vouch for this statement. And despite these facts, India still exists, and proudly, from times immemorial and it always shall… God willing!

Where It Starts

Where do I start? Well... the reason for me to start this blog actually is due to my pursuit of finding who am I? Or for that matter... who are we?

The answer to that, though looks simple at the first go, is not as simple as it looks on its face.

One simple answer is...

I am Sridhar, a typical Hyderabadi, born and brought up here. I share my birthday with events like the day when one of the cannibal dictators of Africa was deposed, the day when one old and weired haired guy proposed a theory called 'Relativity', the same day when a lanky president of America who's definition of democracy is widely quoted (though not followed to the 'T') gave his last speech before being shot dead and the day when Apollo 13 blasted off the earth. I lived all my life in this wonderful place Hyderabad that I rather call home. I was born to a Hindu couple who never went beyond their HSC exams, who went against their families and had an inter-cast marriage about 40 years back. I studied commerce and International Trade, bachelors from Nizam College (some of my friends say that this term 'Nizam' is so much into my nerves and blood that I keep boasting about it at the drop of a hat) and my MBA from Badruka, a place where I came across my most revered professor who taught so much of worldly wisdom. Then, I worked in varied fields from a bank to an online gaming company and now with a software company... worked as a banking executive to doing online marketing to training to being a business analyst.

But that is the simple answer for it. This thought actually made me sit back and try and find answers... guess by the time I find all the answers, I would not be here to read it completely... that is my strong belief about this! O.K. now coming to the deeper answer that I am looking at...

There was a mail that one of my ex-colleagues' forwarded me... don't remember the exact wordings, but the zest was something like.... 'isn't it too much of a coincidence that there ours is the only planet (as far as we know today) that was chosen, where, everything is in perfect symmetry and harmony? How come there is optimum temperature to allow life in the first place? The various life forms, climatic cycles, water, carbon in the right proportions... what not? Is it just a coincidence or is someone playing a game and might end the game the moment s/he thinks that the game is going out of control'... I mean we, humans are trying to take control of, trying to take charge of things and trying to play God. 'Trying to play God'... such a funny and absurd phrase! Can we ever... ever even come closer to that (most magical and beautiful creation)?? NO! But still... we are hell bent on proving our stupidity, of aiming to play God! And by using the term 'Trying to play God', I do not have any intention of talking about cloning or any such thing... not now... but much more basic things... who is a human to alter the environment and the face of this planet in so bad and selfish ways that so many of the species get wiped out of the face of our planet every year... extinct... forever! If not for us humans and our needs, there wasn't any need for coining the phrase 'global warming' (unless earth, due to the pull of the Sun gets closer and closer and eventually evaporate... which eventually is what earth's fate unless any meteor or an asteroid strikes us). But for human greed, the last major species extinction would have been the famous one... that of the dinosaurs, thanks to a meteor or something similar. Not the extinction of those every year in the Amazon or the forests of Indonesia or Africa thanks to deforestation. Yes, there are genetic reasons, agreed, but most of them are gone... forever... thanks to humans and their greed. And without this human greed taking the shape of global warming, we did not have a reason to rethink about the term 'perennial' as used in perennial rivers... be it the Brahmaputra, the Amazon, or for that matter the Holy Ganga! All the El-Nino's and unseasonal rains and a clear and present danger of cities like NY or Mumbai or even countries like the Maldives and most of what we know as Bangladesh resting under the sea/ocean bed. Imagine the most famous and biggest glaciers in Antarctica or the Arctic circle or for that matter our own Himalayan glaciers that mothered The Ganga, Brahmaputra, Sindhu, Yangtze, Huang He and so many other rivers, which until now were perennial might never flow and might face the fate of Saraswati, the 'mythical' third river in the Holy Trio... Triveni (collective name for the 3 rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati according to the Hindu mythology which converge to form the holy Sangam).

Think for a moment... do we... humans have any greater right on this planet and its resources than any ant or a fish? If the answer is 'Yes... we do... we are the chosen ones... the most intelligent species on this earth' then how is it that we ignore the responsibilities that generally come as a bundled deal along with any right? Is this a mark of supreme intelligence or a mark of stupidity? Isn't it unfair? Not just to our future generations, but, to the other species on this earth who have the same right on this earth like we do!

I have recently come across this conversation in one of my favorite comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes:

Calvin: Where are all the animals supposed to live now that they cut down these woods to put in houses?

By Golly, how would people like it if animals bulldozed a suburb and put in new trees?!?

It took hundreds of years for these woods to grow, and they leveled it in a week... its gone!

After they build new houses here, they'll have to widen the roads and put up gas stations. And pretty soon this whole area will just be a big strip.

Eventually there won't be a nice spot left anywhere!!

I wonder if you can refuse to inherit the world.

Hobbes: I think if you are born, it's too late!!!

Is this what we are going to inherit? If this made you think even for a jiffy, it serves the purpose!

Another day, another thought in search of... myself!