I was taken aback when I was enlightened by wiki that Women’s World Cup Cricket (WWC) is older than Men’s World Cup Cricket. It started in 1973. Men’s started in 1975. Other infos are – India has hosted WWC, 3 times 1978, 1997, 2013. And Indian Ladies were runners up twice, 2005 and 2017.

If things go well, the way it is going now, Indian Ladies may have a shot at victory again this year. And if they win, this will be a “1983 moment” for Indian Women’s Cricket. I don’t think the team will welcome this tag. They rather have their own – 2022 moment.

And what a change in the standards of the game. In 2017 I did watch a couple of matches but the quality of the game was not that watchable. This year there is a new glow. And it’s not only India’s team, but all the teams. Significantly, the teams of Bangladesh and Pakistan are sharp and arrayed with talent.

Also, the Indian lineups top few batters average strike rate is above 90%. The bowlers, particularly the spinner economy rate is below 5. And the total scores in 50 overs are near 250.

Australians are, as usual, a cut above the rest, still, the Indian side is nothing to mess around. The class of players which now feature on the Indian team can put up a good fight. It’s refreshing to watch all teams with quality improvement in all departments – Batting, Bowling (spin, pace), and fielding.

India women are in the game with a rhythm of win-lose-win-lose. As they say, it is better to peak at the right moment. If you are old enough to recall the 1983 Men’s, India was in similar state – win some, lose some – but by quarter finals – in all those knockout matches, the Team had gelled into unbeatable “Kapil’s Devils.”

If “Mithali’s Devil’s” does the same, it will change the Women’s cricket scenario in India, in the subcontinent, and in the world.

One day, not too distant, we will see Mixed Cricket Teams, just like Mixed doubles of Tennis. What do you say?

Tyler Henry can contact the dead. His app: he scribbles on a paper to connect. As he scratches the paper with pen, making haphazard lines, there comes a moment where he nabs the remnants of the soul – like, some name, or a letter, or name of a place etc.. As he speaks those tidbits, the dead’s relative sitting across him, confirms and fills in the clues.

After couple of right Q&A hits, (and they are surprisingly all correct) a trust is established between Tyler, the Soul-Mobile, and the dead’s relative. Finally, and thankfully to end the show, the relative asks one final question to the dead, to which, Tyler, the medium, receives the reply and decodes the answer in his own words. A closure, as they say, is finally achieved.

This similar ploy is repeated episode after episode, 9 times. And surprisingly, one may find himself binging on these 45 minute clones. It could be because the production and filming is classy. The girly Tyler Henry has good teeth and his hair’s like an expensive wig.

The concept of the show looks like borrowed from the movie – Ghost – where the fantabulous Whoopi Goldberg did the same role but with laughs and humor.

Anyways, the catch of the story is the story of the dead, revealed in between scribblings and dollops of false laughs. And the answers transmitted back from the dead are pretty boilerplate – the death was easy, the soul is chillaxing. Upon hearing this, dead’s relatives are solaced. The Medium gets up and walks away – almost blowing a sigh of relief. Phew!

And that’s that. Repeat.

The Living die. That’s normal. The Dead remain dead. That’s normal too. But in all religious constructs, the soul has a fate. In one case, the soul gets another life, albeit after few days of partying around. In another case, the soul claustrophobic-ally awaits the Day of Judgment to finally arise out of the soil for a ticket to heaven or hell, God-deciding.

This show constructs a – New Kind of Life After Death. The Soul continues to remain a soul. Because, the deceased relatives get to converse after years and, in some cases, decades after passing. Well, if souls really lingers on, it better be an interesting afterlife. Besides, one can imagine a very crowded Soul-World.

Tyler, the Clairvoyant, finally earns enough to open his own arts studio on whose walls he pins his A4 size pages filled with dark haphazard scribbled lines. In the business of the soul everything has value, as long as one inhabits a body and knows how to sell his scribbles.

Its doubtful whether God will call your soul, but Tyler will, relative-willing.

The mini series – Bad Vegan – is anything but vegan. It is a story of a woman, who was doing good “strolling in the park” but one day decides to “stroll in the jungle.” But in the forest of our living we get a rude surprise:

Life is not vegan, and human life even less so.

Sarma (at first I thought she was an Indian, Sharma) has good credentials and goes into business and does well. She gets a good mentor and has goodwill which helps her raise money. But the partners she chooses spoils her show in such convoluted fashion over the years that, she, in the end, is on the run like a fugitive.

There’s a good saying, often overlooked by the gullible – Avoid bad company like poisonous snakes. I will rephrase it – Avoid company of people against who, you cannot control yourself. This is not “controlling others” but “controlling oneself against ill designs by others.”

Easier said than done.

The 4 Episodes will make you ask several questions, primarily – How can the cons happen, similarly and repeatedly? Is she not getting aware? And, if she knows, why doesn’t she call for help?

Nothing is new under the sky (or over it), except the painters mixing of the palette.

The story evokes many questions still one premise is key. That is, if “her-self” was in control in the first place, the con wouldn’t have sprouted at all. But once the germ is lodged, it will germinate, for the con will tend it and any disruption by others in the form of help or advice will be repelled, by the conned – and also by the con.

The methods employed by the con maybe old, still, the deployment of the con could be unique and idiosyncratic and will be a novelty to an unwary mind.

Also, there could be an alternate theory. What if, it was Sarma who initiated the con? She, with the accomplice can be alleged to have cheated the investors. But my question to that is – where is the glory? Sarma, in the end, was scraping the bottom. I would agree that, initially, when she was in debt, but not a debtor, she may have been affected by the word “debt” and this may have made her take a decision which was a subterfuge – that is – make relationship for money.

There is saying, probably true (I don’t know) that – If you marry for money, you will be made to earn every penny.

The story is exciting for the way it is narrated and unraveled. As Sarma narrates the show with her very easy and precise voice, more then her, the audience gets vary of the con. At every juncture of the con, the viewer will tend to scream out and hit their heads in pure obviousness of their disbelief. (Yes, I know, the words don’t make sense.) So, does the happenings in the story.

You will shout – Are you an idiot – on your TV screen. Sarma will unlisten you.

Rammohan Roy was one among several social reformers who rose to prominence with the coming of the British. He reached his peak performance with the coming of Lord Bentinck. With elaborate lobbying (probably, I guess), Rammohan got “Sati” outlawed in the jurisdiction of wherever The East India Company occupied Indian territory. Bengal Sati Regulation XVII of 1829.

I don’t think that Lord Bentinck would have asked if – Sati – was essential to Hindu Religion. The silent fact is – If its Religion, its essential. So why bother asking. If religious essentiality was the case, then, we would still be burning widows.

The above regulation casts some shadow on the present predicament. Is Hijab essential to Muslim religion? The answer should be – why bother?

Since when did the judges of India become Mullahs?

Why is the High Court judgement on Hijab discussing and passing opinions on whether the cloth is essential or not to Islam? Do they intend to interpret or amend the Koran?

The Hijab episode has cast some doubt on how the judgement of the land is derived. In the end, the judgement upheld the Hijab-Ban, but it could have arrived at the same place with head held high. Instead, the judgement chose evasion.

Some portion of the intelligentsia have been busy pointing out the deterioration of our justice system. This is the first time, I confess, such abjectness has hit me. The Judgement seemed atrocious even to a layman like me.

I find the word – Secular – problematic. The word is truly “neutral” so much so that its meaning and the connotations falls in-between stools. The word Secular is bland, thus directionless. It should mean – middle of the road – but it means – nothing.

For the people of India, we need a word which conveys the meaning of Secular, with some spice.

Secular in Hindi means – Panth Nir-Peksha. Meaning Religion Neutral. Meaning – one is free to practice whatever one wants, so long it does not interfere with non-religious matters.

This can be elaborated further. Panth Nir-Peksha means neither the government will use religion, nor the people will use religion – except where religion-specific needs are to be fulfilled -like religious places.

Indian Constitution English Preamble should be amended, replacing the word – Secular with Religion-Neutral. Then our intentions as a nation will be clearer.

In the recent ensuing Hijab incident some unusual divide happened. The court admitted, discussed and passed judgement on religion. After the High Court ruling – the ruling which, in my opinion is completely out of whack – it will be now challenged in the Supreme Court. If there is any wise judge there – this challenge should be thrown out of court, first day first show.

Navjot Singh Sidhu turned out to be a better comedian than Bhagwant Mann. If our Supreme Court ever sits on this judgement on the essentiality of religious practice, then, the Supreme Court will be even better comedian than NSS.

The “Slipper of Religion” should not be admitted to any secular institutions of India. Meaning – except where necessary for religious duties – in all other public places, aggressive and overt identification of any religion should be discouraged.

The Hijab case is a poor show of mediocrity, not expected from people sitting at high places of judgement.

You will not have corona only once. You will have corona many a times in your life
Corona may have come and gone in your life with you not even knowing
You technically don’t have corona if you don’t test for it
And if you test, you may suffer from perpetual corona
Vaccination is no guard against you carrying corona
If you have unexplained back pain, chances are you are carrying corona
If you are carrying corona, it is not necessary that you will feel sick
Your in-born immunity is your greatest friend against corona
Vaccination will help your immunity if your immunity can help you
Corona is intelligent and knows its virulence kills its vehicle, so it is toning down
Gradually the world will settle down with corona, just like cough and cold

If you die out of the blue, that shall be corona. So, choose to die by a better Corona.

Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain during World War 2, had read and reread Hitler’s Autobiography Mein Kamph several times to know his thoughts. Several politicians who were peer of Churchill were pacifist and rooted for alliance and treaty with Hitler. Churchill remained adamant and bet on Hitler to renege on every agreement. Churchill’s bet paid off.

Both Churchill and Hitler had one thing in common. They wrote about themselves. Hitler did it once but Churchill was more prolific. Hitler wrote before the war. Churchill, before, during and after the war. They both had a sense of History and they both lived by it – quite literally.

Books on historical figures drive the readers to take sides. So, Hitler is always the villain and Churchill is always the Hero. Together with these, Roosevelt and Stalin were also heroes. Later Stalin was degraded to the level of Hitler. History settled on 50/50.

As times passed, books did appear deriding Roosevelt and Churchill, and attempts at reinstating Stalin. Most were done by western writers. There has been no attempt to reinstate Hitler still. This does not mean, Hitler is “unreinstatable.” [perfectpullquote align=”left”]The passage of time will wear off the weight of History for the rethinking on Hitler to begin.[/perfectpullquote]

For one character to become a bane of History is too much an overestimation. There are already literatures and many reasons available which presaged the rise of such a character and such a war.

Reinstating Hitler does not mean cleaning him up. There are several books on Stalin which draw out the good, bad and worst of the man. These are not excuses, but patterns of life worth knowing.

Similarly, there are several things that happened in Hitler’s time which were pretty futuristic. Rocket technology for one. In fact, the Nazis, who were involved in rocketry which devastated Britain, were spared after the war and given jobs in the US to develop missiles which they did with lots of success. Also, nuclear technology, which Hitler was aware, but he never showed any taste for Mass destruction at scale. Jet engines which were later developed for supersonic flights had the genesis in Hitler’s Luftwaffe.

I believe, when Churchill read Mein Kamp he understood what he and the world was up against. For Mein Kamp is a difficult book but not all that bad. It is a rant at some places but pretty logical in some. People avoid mentioning it because they are afraid to be identified with it. But many times its necessary to read the mind of an adversary and gauge the potential of his thoughts.

Not only the book is important for the writer, but, also for the readers, to who the book is addressed. Hitler got visibility, first by burning the Parliament and then parleying his notoriety with a book – where he said what all he was going to do next and he got out of jail and followed all the bullet points of his book. Churchill was one of the very few who got him and knew the storm was coming – for he not only may have read the book but saw through the book, the circumstances created to give Hitler’s book a life.

It takes one to know one.

One may dislike Hitler’s system and yet admire his patriotic achievement.

~Winston Churchill, in his book Great Contemporaries

It was towards the end of last century I was in Calcutta and a colleague called me on my 16 rupees incoming mobile and asked if she can use one of my free airline staff ticket to ferry her boyfriend. Very graciously, I said, Yes! It was illegal, and surely, we were all discovered and there were some inquiries etc.. Well, the story passed over my head.

Towards the end of my stay in Calcutta at the start of the new century, another colleague started pinging my pager. Yes, now I was on pager because that 16 rupees incoming mobile had drowned me in debt in the bottom of the Hooghly.

This “idiot type” chain-smoking colleague, the son of a philandering airline pilot, was adamant to invite me to “Scoop,” an idyllic ice-cream joint near an old Calcutta river. He said he had invited a couple of his colleagues, which later turned out to be mainly air-hostesses. I have interactive problems with girls as I’m more prone to deep isolated living. Nevertheless, his constant entreaties made me concede. Besides, I loved “Scoop,” particularly the scenic views surrounding it.

The evening came and went and I had scoops and double scoops and probably some more. After all, it’s not many times that anyone has given me a treat. Besides, a captain’s son could definitely afford the costly get together.

( Out of almost 30 years of me paying for others drinks and dinner, there has been only one colleague who treated me and insisted of paying the big bill each time. Ironically, he is a much reviled, Sindhi.)

Towards the end of the junket, the “idiot-type” chain-smoking colleague pulled me aside, to the far end of the crowd and whispered, in a very polite and gentle manner, that – unfortunately he has got only 100 rupees but the bill is some 3000 odd rupees. I, being an enthusiastic double idiot, definitely paid. But the credit of the outing with the girls was all his. It took me some time to realise that I was set up – hoodwinked by someone who everybody in the workplace considered an idiot.

Recently in my blog (here) I have written about an ongoing scam done by Indians, which even found space in the New York Times (here). Most of the scammers hitting America are sitting in Calcutta, Salt Late. I had lived and schooled in Calcutta and learnt swimming at Bidhan Nagar Swimming Association, Salt Lake. The scam done from the same city and same place is like my house raided.

Also, it brought back many memories of me being scammed in the same city.

Nearing Y2K a strange colleague joined our workplace. At that time most of us were young with some lots of hair on our heads. But this guy wore a wig. And, later he “wigged” me too.

This is how it happened.

The new “wigged” colleague was a scam-master. He spoke on the phone to people in multiple voices. He had solutions to everything. He found out the needs of people and the company and he fulfilled it. He had the energies. If the company needed a transport organization to ferry airline crew, he created it. Got some ramshackle cars from here and there and got a company going. I needed a bed, he got me. I needed a TV. He got me. And yes, I did pay pretty high.

As these were happening, another colleague sold me his old Maruti 800 for 1.15 Lakhs. That 1988 model jalopy was sick and repair-ridden. But it did some tricks which I was unaware of that time. My car, my 16 rupees incoming mobile and my job, which was rated high at that time, along with my big spending, was my status symbol in Calcutta. Girls of the workplace fell for me. Two of them were daughters of big shot airline pilots. One of them indirectly proposed to me. But I knew my reality.

Oh! how I wish I would have been a scamster. Today I would be flying the big jets.

Instead, I’m still single and scam-prone. But anyway, there is more to the story.

One day in a fit of alcohol I drove my car atop a road-divider. The ensuing fuel leak made me abandon the car on the side of the road near Science-City, Calcutta.

Who do you think will help? Yes, the Wig colleague.

But, he did not give it for repairs. Instead, he pawned my car to a car mechanic with who he was indebted to and expected me to clear his debt. As I came to know later, the “Wig” had scammed many and owed lots of money. Days passed without me getting the car back. Finally he was forced to take me to the spot where my car was and I came to know the bother. The mechanic refused to release the car till he was paid what money he gave to the “Wig.” I don’t remember clearing any debt but I did pay for the repairs and finally got my car out.

Things which reach a boil has to finally settle down or spill over. If corrections don’t come via growth of sense, they come via onset of bad finances.

For me, it was the latter. I’m allergic to some food, dust and good sense. The old car for which I had shelled out over a lakh, I sold it back to the same person for a pittance – rupees 10,000. Today, when I look back, I see that, had I invested another lakh, which I had, I could have got a brand new car.

But, alcohol and bad sense do not beget new cars. It gets you overpriced old cars and two cows, one is behind the wheels. The other cow story I leave for another day.

Scams are not only what others do it to you, but more of what you do it to yourself.

This 2 hour movie is 6 distinct stories. The first story begins even before the starting credits and immediately grabs the interest for the novelty of its plot. The remaining 5 will not disappoint too.

It’s Spanish subtitled in English. The meter of spoken Spanish is fast and may distract the listener from watching the subtitles to read, but a bit of assertive focus by the viewer will help the read.

The production value of each of the stories is very high. The pace of the screenplay does not falter in all 6 of the stories. The picturization and music supports the screenplay. Some of the background music is very catchy and I used the app Shazam to capture it. And finally, if so much of the movie is good, can acting be far behind.

Spoiler alert – The movie endings are abrupt and cathartic.

A cartoon was recently posted in The Print, a shot of that is posted here:

The words of Vivekananda, in the cartoon above, is an understatement. If Indians today, particularly those nationalistic kind, happen to read Vivekananda and understand his views on India and Hindus, they will not like it one bit and may campaign to rub out all SV Roads in India.

Vivekananda’s views on Hindus are pretty contemptuous, if not insulting. The only redeeming factor is, he labored throughout his life to get the “Hindus up to speed.” And he has written about his plans in his innumerable letters.

He considered Hindus to be misers, imbeciles, selfish, and a waste.

He said, “Don’t-Touchism” is the true religion of India and not “Hinduism.”

After reading his two compilations of letters, “Vivekananda on Himself” and “Letters of Vivekananda” I have come to refer Vivekananda as the “Action Monk.” If Vivekananda wouldn’t have been a monk, he would have definitely been an entrepreneur of some sort.

Many of Vivekananda’s letters are fire, and vile and bile on the state of Hindus and the Hindu religion and practices. It’s a wonder that most of those letters are still available and in print. Had he wrote that today, he would have been Trolled out of India.

Besides the virulent nature of his writings in personal letters, there is also equivalent nature of compassion and an absolute trust in the “True Hindu” religion. But the aspect of religion were only reserved for the West and the well-fed. For India, he got people to go out across the country for education. His “First Principal” was to get people out of “Indolence” and into “Activity.”

Also, what one gets from his letters are his plans to develop a network of influences and to set up offices, establishments and institutions everywhere to forward his ideas. He displayed one key trait of an entrepreneur – his ability to raise funds.

His networking with rich and the powerful, and mostly ladies of America, (and UK) also got him lots of support and disciples, many of them followed him back to India and also managed his “Ashrams” and offices in India as well as abroad.

Vivekananda came into prominence on 11th Sep 1893, with his speech in Chicago. He did not waste this instant popularity and parleyed his newfound visibility into gaining further contacts and influences with the rich and the powerful and the benevolent. For the next 7 years it was nonstop networking and fundraising. Out of his busy schedule he also found time to write several books. He made known his intention for writing a book in a letter saying – he should not leave the US without leaving behind some “documentation.”

Vivekananda was obsessed with “failed state of Hindus” and his plans were to galvanise the “dead mass of Indians” into action. In this he showed absolute confidence.

Vivekananda died in 1902, just short of 40. His “kickass” manner may have worked because the new century gave birth to new leaders in India and a new kind of activism. Vivekananda says several times in his letters, referring Indians as great misers who never gave money for anything constructive. But when Mahatma Gandhi arrives in India from South Africa on January 1914 he found a different India. Every one of Gandhi’s prayer meetings were also fund raisers and Gandhi was never short of funds.

The Action Monk may have done his magic.

Vivekananda scope was huge. He bought Hills and acres of land, in India and abroad, to setup his “Math.” One of them is in Kolkatta – Belur Math – my favorite place.

Links to Reading materials, PDFs and Links
Download “Vivekananda on Himself” HERE
Download “Letters of Vivekananda” HERE
Access “All Volumes on Vivekananda” HERE
Link of “Vivekananda Speech in World Parliament of Religion 11th Sep 1893” HERE

Ah! A period of lesser surveillance. Or whatever is known as sneaking. Breach of privacy may not actually result in actual breach but it can also mean “threating to breach.” Or, lives likely to be noticed and then discussed among others, which does not include the self. A breach of privacy may not be any actual breach at all but it may even mean manufactured stories, concocted tales, repeating enough times to denigrate an individual or groups, societies.

But privacy breach cannot be avoided. People will talk. Humans are curious. If folks know you then they cannot not know you. The reality is, the onus of one’s safety is on oneself.

It would be best not have a personality which is fodder for wild gossips and eventual denigration. For people would love to denigrate because that is how they assert. That’s the lingo. Everyone does it. Even me.

But wisdom entails not falling victim to it.

Life does not make everyone a rock-star. Rock-Stars are privileged to live their lives openly. Ordinary individuals should dress their behavior and their lives properly. Curtains go up and down only for actors. Spotlights are for actors. Ordinary people are spectators, audiences, on-lookers. The ordinaries should love the curtains and detest spotlights.

When one is walking in the jungle (of life) it’s wise to keep one’s mouth shut and the steps tentative, to not alert the predators (the people, which includes the self).

That ‘… the Meek shall inherit the earth’ has to be lived and failed to be believed.