the aliens are grounded

The aliens space station project is grounded. We don't see their ads in the papers any more. Is it that they have sold all the flats? I doubt it. I said earlier that the towers will be blasted. I meant, the frustration levels in this country are so high that the aliens will become a target for miscreants.

Last year, around this time, they proudly announced the handing over of keys to the first buyer. Have there been many more? I doubt it.

Often, I write without checking facts first. But this time, I checked: what was earlier planned as a 35-storey structures in now down to 15-storeys. Hmm, the story changed considerably.

15 is reasonable, I think. In singapore, the government goes up to 25-floor buildings in their HDB apartment blocks. Fair enough. We can have 15 floors. The trouble, as the levels go higher, is water. They will be draining all the water from the table, and cause scarcity for people around the ugly space station.

These enclaves (literal meaning: territory within enemy country) of prosperity among a see of poverty are an eye-sore. I live in a modest enclave myself. Forever there are guys cleaning the cars, there is a guard, there are many workers who just look at all the wealth and wonder where it is coming from. Given their limited knowledge of financial markets and speculative philosophy, they conclude that all this is looted mal.

Guys working in big malls see folks buying products they have not imagined before - tiny cricket bats for instance (I have seen one for the first time) and wonder how come some children get the best of breed toys and their own children are malknourished.

There is no one to convince them that it is their karma.

Therefore I predicted that aliens will be cut to size. Which is what happened, with aliens space station.

Do I need to say more?

In the year 2000, I was in singapore and got into a vacant bus. It was not yet time for the bus to leave. As I was sitting there, I hear Made In India sung from somewhere. Since there were no passengers, I wondered who it was; later, I discovered that it was the driver - kind of hidden in the cabin like thing in one of those big a.c. buses.

As I went up, he smiled at me - recognizing that I was Indian. All in all it was time well-spent in Singapore. Except that they put me in custody overnight for drunken behavior (actually, that was my normal behavior - just that they did not know :)

Last year, we predicted that http://www.sankarar.blogspot.in/2011/08/jagan-will-eat-chippa-koodu.html

A Night In Custody: What Made Gandhi Mahatma?

A day in prison can do wonders. A night In Custody can change your entire weltanshauung (worldview). This is true. Before going to prison, the Mahatma was a mere unreformed male. The prison made him the great soul that he later shared with his countrymen and women and the world at large. His largesse had its roots in one of the two things that go to make men great men: one is getting in touch with the greatest number of masses that one can. The Mahatma had done that in ample measure – across the length and breadth of India.

The other measure that makes mere mortals into great beings is getting in touch with oneself. There is nothing like a 6x6 prison cell with a toilet in one corner which sends you into rhapsodies of self discovery. I was once In Custody overnight so I can tell. That was a long time ago, quite far away in Singapore – but that tale has to wait for another blog. For now, matters more immediate, such as Jagan’s impending arrest.

Bottomline predicted, speculated, and even advocated the arrest of the upstart MP from Kadapa, and now that it is happening, we welcome it. I thought it was long overdue but with the bye-elections underway, the timing seems to be rather well thought out. One thing is clear, Jagan must be stopped from campaigning and the only way is to put him in prison.

Now rewind a little: Jagan has travelled the length and breadth of Andhra to meet people. It is said that about 200 people around him are his own ‘men and women’ (and maybe even children). Even so, he is getting in touch with more people in Andhra than the entire Gandhi clan ever did. That way, he is set to complete the goal of getting in touch with the masses.

How about getting in touch with himself? Here is a godsend: the government is going to send him to a closed cell, which is the best incubator for great leaders.
The prison experience puts things in perspective, gets you into your cosmic groove and sets you up to really do what you are destined to do. If Jagan is destined to carry out his father’s legacy, no one can stop him from that. But then, Jagan himself must face up to what his father’s legacy really is: there is no better place than prison for Jagan to really retrospect the events of the past few years. Things have moved at such a maddening pace that he needs a bit of rest and retreat from the rough and tumble. He must now seek to formulate a vision for the future for himself and for the state beyond the kursi.

Given a little space, be it locked up, for oneself, an intelligent businessman like Jagan would know how to turn the game to his advantage. That space, and a chance to get in touch with oneself, is the godsend Jagan has now on a platter. Yes, and God is watching.

Let us hope Jagan will emerge a better human from custody, which seems immanent; and a better leader, if not a great soul.

the deplorable state of cops in AP (in particular Hyd)

here, I reprint a letter written to cmap@gov.in many moons ago.
There was no response; on the other hand, cops camp in Raj Garden (read story below) and put me under 'observation'. Ho hum.

All the while I thought big brother is not bothered to watch (over) me. Glad He does!

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[To
Right honourable CMAP Shri NKK Reddy garu]

Sir,
It is with great regret that I report an incident that happened an hour ago.

The youngsters, and a lot of oldsters, were out on the streets celebrating India's cricket victory. I was out there too. I was cheering the guys, at the same time - making sure that the traffic was not disrupted. I was telling the guys to let the vehicles go on, after a brief stop - say cheers and all that.

The kids were taking up half the road, so I was indicating incoming traffic to move to the middle or even right, so they could pass along.

This is Vidyanagar, at 11.30 PM. My name is Sankara Sastry Rajanala. My (rented) house is opposite Raj Gardens function palace in the lane opposite AMS hospital; you can tell your cops to find me - that should not be difficult.

You can also tell your top cops to find out who was on duty at that hour (about 11.30 pm after India won the world cup).

All I did was to indicate to them - they were on bikes - to stay clear of the left side and go in the middle or to the right. They were very impolite, "abe, ja yahan se'

I was doing my part as a responsible citizen, keeping peace and quiet and order, in the midst of this crazed youth.

and I get this rudeness in response to this.

You cannot run a state of 8 crores with less than one lakh cops: you need decent citizens like me to keep things in order, at least until the cops arrive. And when they arrive, they give me abusese?

This is not fair.

The police department cannot do anything about the anti-social elements of the state, and they target innocent, well-meaning citizens like me.

And that leads, and adds, to the conflict between decent citizens and the law-and-order folks.

I hope you can do something about that.

The least I expect is an apology from those two boys (the cops) who said nasty things to me.
Else, you are adding to the disgruntled intellectual property of your state.

God bless you and your government. God save it from bad cops.

Is YSR A Congress Leader Or Jagan’s Father Only?

revisiting lanes thru which one has been

The following is a year old. It was inspired by Jagan's craving to eat out of his father's soul. YSR, they say, had a soul. A decent soul.

One time on television when Tushar Gandhi was claiming royalty for some US corporate using Gandhi's name, one man in the audience said: If there is any royalty, it should go to everyone in India because he is the father of the nation. [I agree; Tushar, I don't think as your grandfather, he is worth even char-anna.]

In short, Gandhi can either be Tushar's grand-dad or the father of the nation; not both at one and the same time. In the same vain, if YSR had a decent soul and acquired the warmth of the people, the credit cannot all be 'inherited' by Jagan. At least, the Congress party would like a piece of the action. That is what happened over the past one year.

Now read on what I said a year ago:

First the big story: the Supreme Court decides to reopen the case against Union Carbide – the company responsible for the Bhopal massacre. The charges against the accused may be changed from criminal negligence to culpable homicide; just may… This is good news, but it seems that Warren Anderson is gonna go scot free. And Dow Chemicals will wash its hands off the episode – with scents from Arabia if necessary. Yes, the ‘itr’ from the middle east (and the oil) can wash any stain! Even Lady Macbeth's bloody hands....

When Tushar Gandhi Was Baffled

There was a show on one of the national channels some time ago (It was a discussion of aam janta with some big shots from media and politics and so on – with big-mouth Barkha Dutt moderating it). Among the experts, or stars, of the show was Tushar Gandhi – a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. The issue that was debated was the use of Mahatma Gandhi’s name by some U.S. company. There are a lot of ads in the U.S. (on bill boards) issued in public interest which say: Mahatma Gandhi – what did he have? Soul… Pass it on. That kind of stuff is ok, but commercial use of Mahatma Gandhi is not acceptable, to Tushar Gandhi. He said that the company should pay royalty to his kith and kin. One guy in the audience responded to it roundly: “Is Gandhi your grandfather or the father of the nation? If he is your grandfather alone, then he cannot be the father of the nation. If he is, on the other hand, the father of the nation, then the royalty should be shared by all Indians.” This baffled Tushar Gandhi and he retracted his claims.

My Father’s Son…

Mr Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is caught in a similar predicament. If the late lamented Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy is his father and his father alone, then he can claim his legacy. On the other hand if YSR is a Congress leader, the entire party has a claim to his legacy. This is precisely what the Congress high command wants him to be clear about right now. All this while, Jagan’s followers said that there is no clear directive from the high command: but 10 Janpath has responded to the poser Just In Time. It is now up to the dirty dozen who are behind Jagan to respond. Do they want to pay homage to YSR as a Congress leader, or as Jagan’s father? [Over the past year, the number swelled to 29; but I think that includes some MLCs too. -Ed.]

The AICC made it clear that on the occasion of YSR’s first death anniversary, district-wise meetings would be held, where the local MPs and MLAs participate – along with the district Congress presidents, and distribute Rs 100, 000/- to the next of kin of those who committed suicide after YSR’s untimely death. The amount is much higher than what Jagan has been doling out. At the same time, this is an ‘official’ ceremony which no Congressperson can miss. As the MP of Kadapa, Jagan himself is expected to take part in the meeting in Kadapa: that is the Lakshmana Rekha which he cannot cross. And if he does, he will be leaving the party of his own volition.

A brief history of what transpired in the past two months: Jagan meets the supremo with his mother; the boss tells him not to go on the odarpu yatra, that the party itself will conduct meetings. Jagan goes public with the dialog with Madame, and asserts his intent to go ahead with the yatra. “Soniaji said No, but I am going ahead with the yatra”, he told the press and media people.

YSR is a Congress leader to be cherished as such by all Congressmen and Congresswomen, such legacy as he had is not personal property. [But if Jagan insists on it, then the legacy will be proven to be dirty money, was the threat then. Now proven. -Ed]

Therein lies the rub: the Congress owns YSR and disowns his son who is defiant. And I always maintained that the supremo will not waste her breath talking about a nonentity called Jagan.

In tennis, a game can be won in four serves – 15; 30; 40; game. This time around when the high command serves (say, a show-cause to Jagan), that will be game, set, and match for Mrs Gandhi.[[Actually, Jagan capitulated even before the show-cause was served. -Ed.]

May God grant Madame Sonia good health and long life.

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on a personal note

The less science we have all round, the better off we will be. I think Gandhiji said something of that sort. In fact the fewer humans we have on earth, the better for the planet: that is what the Voluntary Human Extinction Society tries to propagate. I am not a card-carrying member of that society, but there is something in what they say: check out www.vhem.org.

Tailpiece: Where do ants go in summer? Ant-arctica.

biologically, why doesn't the coconut fall on you?

As god willed it, the coconuts are supposed to grow within 6 km off the seashore. That is about all. You should not plant them in Hyderabad (or you should worry what happens if a coconut falls on your head). I don't know if the coconut's curse, aforementioned (http://sankarar.blogspot.com/2011/08/coconuts-curse.html) applies to trees (and fruit thereof) which took root in Hyderabad.



This is what happens ecobiologically. The whole idea of breaking apart env and bio is disgusting: so here is the example.

The coconut grows and yields fruit. Month after month, you have a person coming by and shaking up the loose ones, with one hand. You collect them and sell them: if you mix it with white rum, you get wonderful coconut white rum. In America and the west, they make it with the brand malibu. Booh hoo. I wanna make Masula Masala. About masula, a little down this blog.

Then what happens is only the dry ones remain, after the fruity ones are shaken away. The dry are swept away in a wind. Even the shakiest of them would not budge unless there is a strong appeal from the sea. The old and the bold.

They would never fall all over other people. They lived high up the top of the palm head. Heady?
Headstrong, maybe. But never hit your head.

Even in Hyderabad, I have seen an old coconut falling right in front of my eyes and I did not bat an eyelid. I picked it up, and kept it aside, because it is a good seed.

That is how we had a supply of coconut back in the agrahaaram.

Watch this space for Jayakanthan's "The cat in the agrahaaram".

Masula, as the Greeks Knew it

An excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masulipatam

The town has existed since the 3rd century BCE (Satavahana period) when, according to Ptolemy, it was known as Maisolos. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea calls it Masalia in the 1st century CE.^[2] The port is located on the southeastern, or Coromandel Coast, of India. Situated in the mouth of the River Krishna on the Bay of Bengal, the Masula port saw flourishing sea trade. It was a 17th-century port for French, British and Dutch trade. The port has a medium-size fishing harbour which can accommodate 350 fishing vessels and an active carpet-weaving industry. The other products from the town include rice, oilseeds and scientific instruments. This town is a railway terminus and an important educational centre.

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