Bengal Needs Change...

The elections are on 27th April and the verdict is already out....Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress looks likely to form the government after 34 years of Communist Rule.34 years is a longtime and at least in Bengal its showing.

The roads look like a stone littered shard of walkway thatz likely to break life or limb at any moment!Industry-all units shut and highrise apartments taking their place,traffic so murderous that venturing out of your house without insurance is an insanity!

The Royal Bengal Tiger has been mewling for the previous 5 years.But if you think that the alternative is something to get excited about,you have another thing coming.

Leaving behind grease paint and the arc lights a horde of actors have taken on themselves the burden of leading Bengal from Darkness into Light(lines from either De Rozio of Rabindranath Tagore).In this time of change the new leadership hardly has any known leadership skills other than the oratory of Mamata Banerjee.

I would be surprised if the new rulers of Bengal can last the next 5 years.There is no seasoned administrator and I expect more vendetta(that would probably put the Sicilians to shame),filling of party coffers and a general air of utter confusion.

I am tempted to look back on the illustrious history of this Great State but I will not allow any undue expectations to myself least I feel more disappointed than when I am writing this piece.

I hope to read this after 5 years and be Positively surprised!!

The Life of Benjamin Button...

In my next life I want to live my life backwards.You start out dead and get it outta the way.Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better everyday.You get kicked out for being too healthy,go collect your pension.

And then when you start work you get a gold watch and a party on the very first day.You work for 40 years until you are young enough to to enjoy your retirement.You party,drink alcohol,and are generally promiscious.

Then you are ready for high school.You then go to primary school,you become a kid,you play.You have no responsibilities and you then become a baby until you are born.

Finally you spend your last nine months floating in a luxurious spa like condition with central heating and room service on tap and large quarters everyday and then VOILA!

You finish off as an orgasm.

-quote attributed to Woody Allen

Of Candlelit vigils and Anna Hazare

I appreciate and support the noble thoughts of Sri Anna Hazare.This respected Gandhian and social activist is doing what he can in his own inimitable way.ARE WE?

I say NO for myself.I seen  two injustices a day on my travels around the city.I close my eyes,feel remorseful and move on.How much further can we move on?There comes a time in Life when choice is no longer a matter of principle its a necessity.Enough jokes abound on how the powerful exercise power and the"common man" the exercises the power to bear the excesses!

The power within us still lies dormant but I see a re-awakening in the Nation and its exciting.Let us not forget Dr Binanyak Sen  facing life imprisonment for sedition,all this by a man who did not care to get rich and work work with the poor tribals in Jharkhand!

Aren't more dangerous specimens running around free in our cities!!!

Its difficult for honest men to be rich - Mahatma Gandhi.

I salute the vision of the Mahatma and the truth of his words spoken 60 years ago on the dawn of India's Independence.

So India win the World Cup...but?

Congratulations to Mahendra Singh Dhoni&the team.

But as I write this I strangely feel no sense of triumph that i felt as a 12 year old in 1983 when Kapil's Devils beat the West indies and I ask myself WHY?

Has life become so fast that we have started living not in the present moment but always in the future minute to come?Has Nationalism been replaced slyly by the marketing gimmicks that tends to exploit every moment of joy as an ode to a particular brand or product?The placards for 4s waved by spectators carry logos of one firm or the other.

I feel I am on the crest of a wave that moves ever forward like the one that hit Japan,only this wave is one of innocence lost of an opportunity that seeks to exploit every moment for all thats worth.

I try to feel a sense of utter Joy at this historic moment but alas my mind is already seeking a new point in time to celebrate...it does feel like Paradise lost.

Arthashasthra

I have lately been reading the eponymous book by Chanakya written some time in 360 B.C.For those not familiar this was the person thrown out by the ruling king of Magadh and Chanakya vowed to defeat him with knowledge rather than force to prove that Knowledge was the greater power than brute force.

He installed Chandragupta Maurya and wrote the treatise that covered everything from Finance, Law ,War,Corporate Governance to Recievables Management and Mathematics.I admit that I have read more Tzung Tzu's,"Art of War" than any Indian book of ancient wisdom.

For all the public school educated Indians I highly reccomend you read and if you are illiterate in Sanskrit at least a good copy in English will do.I too need to delve deeper and analyse all the writings before I can present a coherent view but leave you with a few quotes...
-We should not fret for what is past,nor should we be anxious of the future,men of discernment deal only with the present moment.
-Test a servant while in discharge of duty,a relative in difficulty,a friend in adversity,and a wife in misfortune

More when I myself understand the Nitis

The Roopkund Trek....Mystery Mountain Trishul

Trekkers are a bit predictable when they describe the Roopkund trek. They talk about the vast greenery of the twin meadows of Ali and Bedni Bugyal. They talk about the thrilling climb over snow to reach the skeleton lake of Roopkund. Some of them also mention the trek through the oak forests near Wan and a few go on to talk about the climb to Junargali (a ridge beyond and higher than Roopkund). Frankly, very few actually describe the Roopkund trail for what it is worth.

Trishul. There are many unique things about the Roopkund trek. For example, the twin meadow of Ali and Bedni Bugyal is the largest high altitude meadows in our country. On your trek you are going to be in the meadows for two and a half days – a fact that is missed by most. Two and a half days spent in meadows is a lot of time and unique to any trek in our country. Each of those hours spent in the meadows is going to be a treasured moment of your life for many years to come.

Talk about the oak forests above Wan. What most don’t know is that the oak forests are the densest in this part of the country. Vertically they stretch for over 3,000 feet. These protected forests are virgin and largely untouched by mankind. Each of the oak trees in the forest is over five hundred years old.

Everest is tall and mighty but Trishul takes your breath away by its sheer beauty.It is also one of the most mysterious mountains in India and the few villages on the way hav so many fables of spirits and demons and the strange sounds heard on this mountain that till this day haven't been explained.

 Again, not all treks present such a magnificent adventure on snow as the Roopkund trek does on its final climb to Roopkund. The setting is truly alpine and the thrill high. Few who get a chance to climb to Junargali find the experience so moving that they break down in tears. I did too.

So here’s my reason to do the Roopkund trek: Experience a trekking adventure that touches the core of your heart by its sheer intensity and thrill. It is an adventure that is rare on most treks.

JUST DO IT!

The Covenant

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I all alone beweep my outcast state
Bare ruined choirs where once the sweet birds sang,

Roses have thorns and silver fountains mud,
Like all the waves make towards the pebbled shore
where the yellowing leaves,or few,or none do hang
Not Mine own fears nor the Prophetic Soul

Of the wide World dreaming of
Things to Come...