My Musings

Musings....... The moves of our Central Government should be sans doubt. When our Prime Minister hoists the National Flag at Red Fort, on 75th Anniversary Azad Hind Government of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, it was seen with suspicion by many a political analyst and opposition parties. Not to doubt, Netaji is an unforgettable freedom fighter and legend. He has been honoured and given his place in history by successive governments and has his own clout in Indian History. Netaji's defiant patriotism made him a hero in our country, however his means were ambivalent, for eg: his attempts during World War II to rid India of British Rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, left a doubtful legacy. Netaji was President of Indian National Congress during the 1938-1939 period and was succeeded by none other than Rajendra Prasad. Later due to ideological differences with Mahatma Gandhi he was ousted from INC in 1940. In 1941, he arrived in Germany with hopes of a German inv...

Musings....... I was left flabbergasted by recent news that the National Registry for Citizens (NRC) was being extended to Tripura. This is when the NRC mandate in Assam, where it was first introduced is in question itself.  The point of contention is the famous Assam Accord of 1985 by which all persons entering India from newly formed Bangladesh were to be considered illegal migrants. This meant all those who came after 1971 were to be deported. The NRC intends to deem all persons entering India from Bangladesh as Illegal Migrants which means displacement of people who have made India their home. This comes close in heels of the Union Government introducing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2016, by which minority migrant communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan be given Indian Citizenship. This includes Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Parsis, Sindhis and the like.  The community missing from the list is obviously the Muslims. The underlying ba...

Musings....... Nadia Murad is a Yazidi-Iraqi human rights activist. Nadia was born in the Village of Kojo in Sinjar District of Iraq. At the age of 19,  her town in northern Iraq was rounded by ISIS fighters, killing 600 people including Nadia's brothers and stepbrothers - and taking her hostage. The date was 15th September and hence started a 3 month ordeal for Nadia as an ISIS sex slave. That year more than 6,700 Yazidi women were taken prisoner by the Islamic State in Iraq.  Nadia was held slave in the city of Mosul, beaten, burned with cigarettes and raped while trying to escape. Finally she was able to escape when her captor left the house unlocked. She sought refuge in a neighbouring family, who was able to smuggle her out of Islamic State controlled area, to a refugee camp in Duhok, Northern Iraq. The YAZIDIS or YEZIDIS are a Kurdish religious minority, indigenous to a region of a northern Mesopotamia ( Ezidkhan) who are strictly endogamous. Their religion, Yazi...

28th September 2018 Musings....... The Indian Judiciary- read the Supreme Court seems to be on fire these days. A bouquet of landmark decisions within a few days seems to have taken everybody by surprise. It does seem our Chief Justice wants to make his exit before retirement a memorable one.  From decriminalising homosexuality and adultery, to the Aadhar - Babri Masjid verdicts the court seems to have projected an image suitable for a forward looking society, fighting for equality and justice and rightly so.  All the judges involved, in these judgements are legal luminaries,  I should add, who are the best of their trade at present with great credentials. Their job of creating a just and forward looking society by eliminating archaic Victorian era criminal procedures are commendable.  However, as a citizen of this country and a devotee I beg to differ on their latest judgement on the Sabarimala women entry issue.  The court here seems to hav...

21st August 2018 Musings....... Unprecedented is a word which aptly describes the condition of Kerala for the past week.  The Merriam Webster Dictionary says the first knows use of the word was in 1641. It goes on to describe synonyms for the word- fresh, novel, strange, unaccustomed, unfamiliar, unheard-of, unknown, and New completing the list. What Kerala experienced was in no way fresh or novel, but it was defiantly strange, unheard-of, unfamiliar, unknown and unaccustomed. The reverberations of which will be felt for months even years to come.   The scientific explanation for KeralaFloods 2018 given by our highly reliable (pun intended) weathermen {or weatherperson as a matter of fact - don’t want to be heckled by feminists, hence the gender neutral word} is two things-  1)The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) also known as the Indian Nino, is an irregular oscillation of sea-surface temperatures In which the western Indian Ocean becomes alternately warmer and cold...

17 June 2018  Musings....... Well as promised in my previous flirtations with writing, I have decided to keep to one topic. What has fascinated me for sometime now are the words Cryptocurrency. I have been hearing this word from the beginning of 2014, however had no idea about what it is or how it works. Another word I have been hearing for sometime now is Blockchain.  I read somewhere recently that The World Economic Forum report from 2015, predicted that by 2025 ten percent of global GDP would be stored on blockchain technology.  So what is this blockchain and how will it be influencing our lives in the near future?  A blockchain is a continuously growing list of records called BLOCKS which are linked and secured using cryptography.  Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block ( a cryptographic hash is a mathematical alogarithm that maps data of arbitrary size to a bit string of a fixed size- a hash- and is designed to be a o...

5 May 2015  Musings....... Politics of the Hindu Right - Communal polarisation with corporate driven economic development. Aache Din aa gaye......... Food for Thought....... RC

Musings....... When the Supreme Court of India strikes down the NJAC Act, it comes as no surprise.  The surprise on my part is when there was a huge hue and cry regarding the Apex courts decision. What we should not forget is that a liquidated Judiciary is a threat to democracy. I hope no one will disagree that judiciary should be insulated from political interference. Coming to the Act per se it is highly inadequate and unsatisfactory. The inclusion of the Union Law Minister and two "eminent persons" appointed by the government is unacceptable. On top of that giving veto power to two members on all decisions is like handing over the judiciary to the political executive. Our constitution was based on the Doctor of seperation  of powers. If this law had been passed it would have been a case of clear cut encroachment on the part of executive on the judiciary's forte. The verdict of the five member bench of Supreme Court is hence timely. If the civil society still fe...

27th August 2018 Musings....... "A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results". This quote I stumbled upon on twitter, made me thinking. How better the world will be if everyone thinks positive- we would have a socialist utopia. Talking of utopia, the international scene is as utopian since my last literary outing. In Venenzuela, Nicolas Maduro comes to power for a second time in an election boycotted by most right-wing parties at the instance of United States. The country is going through a huge economic crisis with even today's newspaper stating the price of coffee costing 1140 bolivar. In the month of June the inflation was 46,000 percent it seems!!  All these events started in 2014 since the oil crisis and price drop. The newly reelected president, an ardent supporter of Hugo Chavez has his hands full. The newly launched cryptocurrency in the country, Petro shows prom...

Musings....... I recently had the opportunity to visit the United States and the most striking among my travels was the visit to the Amish Village. Located in Pennsylvania state, the Amish village was something totally unexpected and created ample amusement and interest among us. It was nothing that we expected to find in the United States, the idea of which one gets through media and books as a post-modern concrete jungle. The Amish are a group of people who migrated to the states in the late 17th century from Germany and Switzerland fearing religious persecution. The history of Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists in late 1600s led by Jacob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. In the late 19th century, the Amish themselves got divided into the Old order Amish and the Amish Mennonites. The Mennonites integrated into the society and the old order retained its culture. In the early 18th century many...

Musings....... I would be lying to you all if I say that I had been busy since the last time I wore my writing cap, the real reason being lack of inspiration.  Writers block is something I have heard of but never thought I would experience it sometime.  I am not foolish enough to think of me as a big writer and all, however a writers block in my own way, probably contributed by my own fallacies. The next question in front of me is what to write on? Do I write on Politics where there is no dereliction of matter, or do I write on some other issue ?  I come to the conclusion that I should just blurt out whatever that comes to my mind. Just going with the wind would be an ideal euphemism in this context. As I write this Article the FIFA Football World Cup is underway in Russia. This is the 21st edition of the Football extravaganza. However the excitement has been subdued by the huge corruption scandal within FIFA and a shameful doping scandal on the host country Russia...

15 April 2018 Musings....... Today is Vishu or 'Bisu Sankramana' in Arabhashe dialect ( of Tulu and Kannada languages) and is celebrated in Kerala, Tulunad region and Kodagu in Karnataka. However, it is not new year for Malayalis as that falls in Chingam 1st which comes in August. Vishu literally means equal and signifies the completion of the spring equinox. This day marks the Solar new year and correspondingly is celebrated as Vaisakhi or Baisakhi in the Northern parts of India. Malayalis celebrate Vishu with the customary early morning temple visit wearing their Puthukodi (new dress) and the womenfolk prepare Vishu sadya which eventually culminates in a family get together. Though, nowadays it is instant Vishu with many ordering or getting their food from nearby hotels. However, the mood is bright as everyone savours a rich meal and a good afternoon sleep. This year we did not celebrate Vishu as it was our first Vishu without grandmother. She was with me last year this...

Musings....... 5th June 2015 What do you feel when something that has been the part and parcel of your daily life suddenly stops being so. Unless you are heartless you feel a tinge of sadness right, however irrelavent that something would seem to be. This was exactly my feelings while reading the Breaking news a couple of days back. My beloved Maggi is being banned!!!!! And the reason- LEAD. The Maggi who was my constant companion throughout my undergraduate days and who still continues to be a boon, that is until now has suddenly left leaving a great vacuum in my life........... Much to my frustration I also learn today that the culprit is not NESTLE as earlier promulgated but is SOIL. Heavy words like Biological Magnification don't give me comfort...... Lack of efficient regulation to stop the release of toxic effluents into water bodies is one of the reasons why heavy metals enter the food chain it seems. High time  to formulate the Industrial Policy that is the need o...

14 April 2018 Musings....... I was in New Delhi the day that Nirbhaya was brutally raped and murdered on a moving bus. I was in New Delhi when men and womenfolk from all strata of society took to the streets in disgust and anger.  Media had a field day or should I say “field month” with every minutest details of the incident being printed or played on television.  There were long processions and long marches towards India Gate - with and without candles.  The drama continued as the victim was flown to Singapore and the dead body flown back.  There followed political slugfest. The year was 2012 if I remember correctly. Now wait a minute folks.......does this all seem familiar. Yes it does.  The only difference being then  it was Nirbhaya and now it is Asifa. Cold blooded, cruel murder of an innocent 8 year old - raped and fed on.  Can u even come to imagine it.  What sort of animals can do that? Now again the media has a field day- which mig...

6 March 2018 Musings....... A lot of water has passed under Aluva bridge through Aluva river as they say in this part of the world since I last ventured on my writing endeavour. When I was writing my previous article, the National Congress was on the path of a comeback and we saw glimpses of a maturing leader in its new President Rahul Gandhi. A few weeks can do a lot in Politics is something I have heard of many times and am experiencing it now firsthand. The reason- well as the media puts it - a devastating result for the Congress in the recently concluded assembly elections of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya with a huge saffron wave engulfing it and the CPIM led Left front. I do beg to differ from the paid media and would like to put in some points in my defence taking into account each hill state. Let us first come to the beautiful state of Meghalaya. Thinking of Meghalaya a lot of memories come flooding into me. I go back to my school days and summer holidays when we went ...