Sep

3

YSR Reddy, Andhra CM, dies in helicopter crash

September 3, 2009 posted by indiatime | 8 Comments

“…Lord! It’s a miracle! Man up and vanished like a fart in the wind!
It’s a conspiracy! That’s what this is! It’s one big damn conspiracy! And everyone’s in on it! Including her!…”
- Samuel Norton (warden) - The Shawshank Redemption (by Stephen King)

The chief executive officer of one of the largest states in the nation has now gone missing for well over 24 hours. And so far, the police, the army, the airforce, the border security force, the greyhound commandos, unmanned drones, private search missions, satellites, bhuvan, have all been unsuccessful at finding YSR Reddy, the missing chief minister. The search that had originally focused on a a few thousand square kilometer area, has now been narrowed down to about 60-70 square kilometers.

What is astounding is that there hasn’t been any communication with the missing group. It’s obvious that the radio signals from the helicopter is the best pointer to the last known location, and the cellphones carried by the missing could only help in pinpointing the last location where the phones were still able to communicate with the nearby towers.

But an altogether lack of any type of communication raises some serious concerns and potentially very ominous possibilities:

1. the missing party of people might have met with a serious accident, their helicopter going down into a thick wooded area, with some fatalities or serious casualties whereby the members of the party are either unconscious if at all still living or are all dead.

2. The missing helicopter might have crashed into a lake or a water reservoir, drowning the occupants. Such a scenario has already been speculated on account of some eyewitness accounts from near the Shri Shailam project. It is considered less likelier than a crash landing or an emergency landing into the woods.

3. The missing helicopter might have crashed or force-landed into a forest, but the survivors may be in danger of attack by tigers from around the area. The area is host to the famous ‘operation tiger’ sanctuary.

4. the missing helicopter might have gone down into a wooded area, but the survivors might have been captured by local Maoist/naxalite terrorists and may have been whisked away outside the search perimeter and taken to an unknown location. Such a scenario can play out and evolve into a ransom situation where release of some prisoners would be bargained for, or the captured party may be exchanged with another group of captors - perhaps a more radical group like lashkar-e-toiba. This scenario, if true, will not play out soon, because the kidnappers will need some time to get the captured to a secret location.

Who might the terrorists ask in return for safely exchanging a missing chief minister and his officers? Well, there is no shortage of high-value exchange prisoners with Mohammad Ajmal Kasab (26/11 Mumbai attacks surviving gunman), Afzal Guru (convicted parliament terror attack mastermind), Safdar Nagori (imprisoned chief of SIMI - Students Islamic Movement of India), etc.

4. the missing party may all be okay, just minimally injured but unconscious and unable to move because of minor injuries and fractures, etc.

The picture will be a lot clearer as will be the weather by the end of today. Until then, YSR’s supporters, opponents, fans, and his bosses in Delhi will all be praying for his safety.

9 am India time update:
The helicopter wreckage has been found near Rollapenta, about 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool. Two helicopters of the Indian military are said to be hovering over the scene.

11am India time update:
Five bodies have been found at the wreckage site and YSR Reddy, the popular chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh, has been confirmed killed in the crash.

Sep

2

Andhra chief minister’s chopper goes missing

September 2, 2009 posted by indiatime | Leave a Comment

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), the chief minister (CM) of Andhra Pradesh and his helicopter, both went missing for several hours earlier today, giving heart attacks to the state police, and spurring speculationss about his whereabouts.

Recent updates are confirming however, that the helicopter has landed safely in the Kurnool district, somewhere on an open playground in Bhanucharla village Atmakur area.

YSR was on a 3-district tour, traveling from Hyderabad towards Tirupati. His chopper began its journey at about 8:30 this morning, but went off the radar screens in a few minutes, about 79 nautical miles from Hyderabad’s Begumpet airport.

What is still worrying the authorities is that the helicopter and the CM were near the Nallamalla hill range, a known naxalite area, and even if the reports about the helicopter’s safe landing are to be believed, the CM still needs to be safely extricated from the area that may be a hotbed of terrorist/naxalite activity. The police are trying their best to keep the extrication part of their operation a secret, hoping to whisk YSR out of the dangerous area immediately.

Just yesterday, Tim Holding, an Australian politician traveling in his helicopter, had also gone missing somewhere close to one of Victoria’s highest mountains. Poor weather was blamed in that story, just as it is being said to be a huge factor in YSR’s helicopter story as well. But Tim Holding’s adventure had a good ending. Looks like YSR’s adventure too, may be over soon.

Update:
Earlier reports of the CM’s helicopter landing safely, have been left in doubt as there still is said to be no communication between the authorities and the missing CM. The search operations were called off a little earlier on account of severe weather

Sep

1

Indian designer Anand Jon gets a lifer

September 1, 2009 posted by indiatime | 17 Comments

It was more 2 years ago that, Anand Jon, famous NY-based Indian fashion designer, went from page 3 to page 1, when the state of California charged and arrested him of sexually molesting more than dozen a young girls, between the ages 14 to 21. He was convicted of those crimes late last year. Yesterday, Jon received a minimum of 59 years to life for the crimes committed against young girls.

Earlier yesterday, Jon argued for a mistrial, contending misconduct on part of jurors and the prosecutors. His supporters and family have long claimed that Alvin Dymally, one of the 12 jurors, had expressed sexual interest in Anand Jon’s sister Sanjana, had communicated with her, and had lied on oath. Those arguments failed to sway the judge, taking the last defense weapon away, and clearing the way for Jon’s life sentence. Jon’s family also tried to politicize the issue, hoping that the Indian government would intervene. The Indian government did in fact go beyond what it would for any other criminal. The Indian consul general in San Francisco personally wrote to the California state authorities on Jon’s behalf, asking to release an exculpatory evidence that would help set the Indian designer free.

Hearing of Shah Rukh Khan’s detention and the Indian consulate’s role in getting him out of the immigration checkpoint, Anand Jon’s angry sister tried playing racism card by asking if it would helped to have the last name ‘Khan’ instead of ‘Jon’. Nice try, but comparing Jon’s case with Bollywood actor Khan’s recent detention at the immigration checkpoint, is just way too desperate, I think. Plus it is quite unfair to Shah Rukh, who to his credit, probably does have women throwing themselves at him every day, but has never gotten into such kind of trouble as Anand Jon has.

At the end of the day, the weight of the evidence and the testimonies was too strong, the charges just too serious and the crimes just too many. Jon, supposedly one of the most up and coming Indians on the planet, fell victim to his success and arrogance and uncontrollable lust. For the judge and the victims in the case, and for those able to see beyond Jon’s celebrity and success, the case was not about a famous fashion designer, but about a serial criminal, a rapist and a manipulator, who destroyed the lives of many young women, and ultimately his own as well.

Incidentally, Jon faces many more charges in 3 more states, which can add a couple more life sentences on top of his already received one.

Aug

31

Dirty hands, deep ditches

August 31, 2009 posted by indiatime | 2 Comments

Times is reporting about a global hygiene survey that shows only 44% Indians have clean hands. I wonder why we need a survey to tell us that the majority of Indians have dirty hands. If you add up all the politicians, top/mid/low level bureaucrats, law enforcement, judiciary, etc, that would already amount for a large share of the dirty hands right there. With politicians, you can add their family members, wives, sons, daughters, etc. And add these people’s partners from the industry and corporate world, from small-time grocery shops to big-time corporates.

Actually, we should be celebrating that 44% Indians have clean hands. That’s almost half a billion clean hands, probably the largest population of clean hands on the planet. I was discussing this amazing piece of good news with a friend, when he enlightened me that the 44% clean hands literally meant clean hands, free of biological germs. That revelation, instead of tempering my joy, further heightened it, because that 44% clean hands figure started looking even more impressive.

But ‘clean hands’ wasn’t the only metaphor happening this morning.

In New Delhi, a top bureaucrat. who once served with a prime minister, died yesterday, when he fell into a 6-foot roadside ditch. Speak of good people’s lives driven to ditches because of the government’s callousness. 78-year old Trilok Nath Makan was a private secretary to former PM Atal Bihari Bajpayee. Walking close to a sidewalk which hadn’t remained much of a sidewalk because of roadside digging by the local municipal government, Makan fell into an open ditch. He couldn’t see the 6-foot ditch because the roadside lamps had been turned off. He lay in the ditch overnight, his family and his old wife worrying to death about his whereabouts. They found his body in the ditch in the morning, one of the topmost bureaucrats who served this country, literally disappearing into a ditch because someone failed to cover it.

Now let’s have those survey people go and talk to the officials in the Delhi municipality and the corrupt contractors. How many clean hands, you think?

Aug

29

Politics, promiscuity and polygamy

August 29, 2009 posted by indiatime | 5 Comments

A storm is brewing inside India’s opposition party, and the rumors and talks about political alliances is ripe once again. They say politics makes strange bedfellows, but whoever ‘they’ are, ‘they’ had little idea how promiscuous Indian politics typically is.

But then again, just as art imitates life, so does politics. Tushar Waghmare, a 40-year old airline engineer in Maharashtra, was recently arrested after police found about that he had married 14 women in twice the number of months. Waghmare used matrimonial sites on the internet and his charms to get into the good books of 14 families. Posing as a divorcee, using false documents, and utilizing fake relatives, he pulled off what now seems like an easy internet scam.

Here’s the statistics of Waghmare’s marital venture. Out of the 14 wives, 5 have filed charges so far, 9 have remained silent or hadn’t yet figured out that they’ve been duped. Most of the 14 are housewives, but one is an engineer and another is an architect. All 14 lives in Mumbai except one who lived a few hundred kilometers away. None of the wives had met any of the others until the last one he married. The wife number 14 visited his second apartment and was greeted by wife number 13. They immediately went to the police and managed to stop Waghmare’s marital streak to 14.

In his short but successful stint as a serial husband and polygamist, Waghmare proved himself to be a man of many talents - an incredible manager (managing 14 families in one salary), a savvy netizen (using new media to fullest avantage), a slick charmer (charming 14 different families), a careful forgerer (faked documents to create a few identities). But above all that, Waghmare is a politician, whose ease and expertise in making alliances, may eventually open up a new career for him, once he is out of jail.

On second thoughts, let me take that last sentence back. Waghmare doesn’t need to be out of jail to be successful in Indian politics. He can not only contest a parliamentary election, he can most certainly become a parliament member and probably a lot more. And trust me, he will only be a petty criminal at best if you go ahead and compare his crimes to many other Indian politicians who contested their elections, won and now have bigger & better criminal enterprises in their official capacities.

Aug

28

Did Buddha smile or did he just smirk?

August 28, 2009 posted by indiatime | Leave a Comment

There’s a feud going on amongst those who coordinated and participated in the 1998 Pokhran nuclear explosions. The principal scientists and the politicians involved have been maintaining that India’s claims about the May 1998 nuclear tests are not to be doubted. K. Santhanam, the test site director and one of the main participants representing the Defense Research establishment (DRDO), has been claiming that India exaggerated its claims about the kiloton yields almost by triple.

The then national security advisor Brajesh Mishra is disputing Santhanam’s argument, contending that Santhanam himself had earlier verified the higher yield figures. “Was Santhanam speaking the truth then or is he lying now?”, asks Mishra. Santhanam’s then boss Dr. Kalam himself is disputing his test director’s assertions as well. Kalam is basing his own assertions on the post-explosion seismic and drilling measurements.

If India’s nuclear tests weren’t successful back in 1998, it would mean a boatload of trouble for India’s national security. Only 2 weeks after India’s tests, Pakistan had conducted similar tests, claiming an almost equivalent yield from its own results. Assuming for a moment that Santhanam’s claims are true, and assuming for a moment that Pakistan’s claims are true as well, puts India in a position it just doesn’t want to be in. First of all, it negates the assurances from India’s politicians and defense chiefs about India being ready to take on its enemies. Secondly, India’s signing of the comprehensive nuclear test ban will halt any further testing, arresting India’s nuclear program to a level much below Pakistan’s program. If that proves to be true, that would be a gigaton yield explosion for some political parties, forever eroding the credibility of some big name individuals who have so far been considered above the fray.

One one hand, Santhanam’s whistleblowing on this issue, can appear immature, untimely and unnecessary. So what if the nuclear tests weren’t as huge as we made them out to be? After all, as long as the idea is to use the tests as a deterrent, does it really matter what the real yield was? Because in such a deterrence scenario, a claim is as good as a yield and perception as good as reality. Right? And isn’t Santhanam doing a disservice to the nation by bolstering the spirits of the enemy across the border?

But then again, hiding an untruth if that is what it really is, may actually be a much bigger disservice to the nation. No matter what the yield of that 1998 test, it certainly didn’t prevent 10 terrorist murderers from trespassing into India in 2008, and it certainly didn’t deter the then ruling regime of Pakistan from illegally claiming Indian land back in 1999. False pride is just as big a sin as false humility, after all.

Personally, I wish there were a time-bound moratorium on declassifying truths of such nature. Many other countries follow that simple rule of thumb and allow to declassify their secret documents several decades later. Santhanam could have done that on his own accord, but then again, every participant of such major operations is burdened with some balance of personal ego and a duty to the covert cause. It’s hard to say which of the participants have allowed that balance to be skewed.

More often than not, truth has a tendency to lie somewhere in the middle of the two ends of such disputes. “…Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge…”, said Buddha once. But he too, is said to have smiled mysteriously when the sands of Pokhran exploded first in 1974 and then in 1998.

Aug

27

Sports ministry toys with the meaning of sports

August 27, 2009 posted by indiatime | 5 Comments

India’s Youth Affairs and Sports ministry has now officially ruled that Formula 1 racing or F1 is not sports. The ministry’s ruling came in response to a private promoter’s request for about $36 million remittance for a license fee payment to the Formula 1 admin body. “…The proposed F1 race does not satisfy conditions which focus on human endeavour for excelling in competition with others, keeping in view the whole sports movement from Olympics downwards…”, ruled the sports ministry. A spokesman for the ministry, however, clarified the ministry’s stand, adding “….This project is absolutely beyond the realm of the common man. We expressed our inability to consider it…”.

The JPSK sports, floated by a private venture and officially and secretly backed by the Indian Olympic Association, had been closing in on the issue with their partnership with the UP chief minister Mayawati. So Mayawati, last year, created a special economic zone (SEZ) for her business partners in F1 racing, slating 2500 acres of prime land for the venture. But the differences between the ruling Congress and Mayawati’s BSP party, turned into a red flag for the F1 project. The Indian Olympic Association, has been controlled and ruled for years, by Congress party loyalist Suresh Kalmadi, whose connections to the party headquarters seem to have come up short for now.

Cricket, India’s biggest business (ahead of outsourcing), biggest religion (ahead of Hinduism) and biggest entertainment (ahead of Bollywood) and biggest sports (ahead of itself) is already beyond neck deep in politics, with the state and central bodies completely dominated and under the whim of powerful politicians. It wasn’t so all the time, however. It took Indian politicians a while to figure out the money equations involved in the sports entertainment industry. But now that they have wisened up, their eyes are on the other big prize in sports - the business of racing. The real reason Formula 1 racing isn’t getting a jump start is not about whether it is sports or entertainment. It is purely about which political players stand to make the most money out of it. So until that decision is made, the bureaucratic wordsmiths in the government will keep coming up with ways to rain on F1’s starting lineup in India.

When does a sport stop being a sport? When does it become ‘entertainment’? And at what point does the entertaining sport become a business? Looks like those questions will best be answered once all the business interests involved have been assured of their take in the matter.

Aug

26

Where love has always been a way of life

August 26, 2009 posted by indiatime | 1 Comment

Hai preet jahanki reet sada (Where love has always been a way of life), says a famous Bollywood song from yesteryears. A youth from Surat proved that love indeed was the way of life (and almost death, too) when he accepted a girl’s challenge to prove his love for her.

About six months ago, one Ms. Palash, whom a local boy named Raju liked very much, dared him to jump off of a building to prove that he truly loved her. So Raju, smitten with love, did jump off the third floor. He was severely injured, but lived. So he went away to his native state of Uttar Pradesh for a long treatment and recovery.

Recently, Raju came back to Surat, all healed up and everything, and proposed to the girl of his dreams. She accepted and they both eloped earlier this month. But the girl was a minor and her father filed a missing person’s report.

So now, having survived a jump from the third floor of a building, Raju’s next venture will be to survive the third degree from the local police. By the time he is through with that, time will be right to elope and not to have to worry about another dare.

Incidentally, eloping just doesn’t seem to be working in the region. Another couple, who recently eloped, announced their marriage in the local newspapers. To their horror, the groom’s mom was attacked by the bride’s father who hit his son-in-law’s mother on the head.

Aug

25

Fake blood in Indian market

August 25, 2009 posted by indiatime | 2 Comments

Exactly a year ago, scientists in the west published research about manufacturing blood cells from embryonic stem cells, filling up tubes of rare blood types from scratch. A year later, scientists from Australia are speaking about another breakthrough where they have now built glow-in-the-dark red blood cells from stem cells. Most western scientists envision a time within the next decade, when an endless supply of blood would be made available, simply by manufacturing needed types of blood in the lab, ending the blood donation scene as we know it today.

Indians are not far behind. In fact, not just the Indian scientists, but even ordinary crooks in India have progresses much beyond most western scientists. Police in Lucknow, UP, has hit upon an artificial blood bank facility that has been manufacturing fake blood for last more than 3 years. It is estimated that over a hundred thousands units of blood has already been distributed into the nation’s blood supply from these artificial or fake blood manufacturing facilities. The perpetrator scientists at the facility had been collecting and mixing up blood from every possible source - beggars, animals, drug addicts, HIV+ve patients, and professional donors. Plus the blood is never tested, just mixed and distributed, finding its way into the unsuspecting hospitals and clinics.

So far, the police has only nabbed some junior ’scientific officers’ at this lab. The senior perpetrators, it seems, have slipped away. There have been several other recent arrests related to blood donation rackets, that thrive on the 9 million units demand for blood in India.

In other news, a kid in Rajasthan state was critical after being forced to donate blood on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The blood donation camp is said to have been organized by a politician from Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress party.

Aug

24

Mumbai-Delhi air corridor was recently said to be one of the top 6 busiest in the world. India’s airports, especially Delhi’s IGI, has also shown the highest year-to-year percentage growth (28%) in the number of travelers. And with tragedies such as the newly constructed roof falling down at the capital’s IGI, it is painfully obvious that India’s air travel infrastructure, is crumbling fast.

The good news is that so far, India has been extremely lucky. That may not always be the case, however. Just yesterday, a major mishap almost did happen at the Mumbai airport, when two planes were given clearance to take off simultaneously from the same runway. Just a few weeks ago, two other planes had a similar incident when they both were cleared for simultaneous take-offs from the same runway. Although the mistakes can be attributed an overworked air control tower, there is much more to these incidents than just that.

The scenario of two passenger jets colliding in mid-air can almost certainly kill every passenger in those planes, resulting in hundreds of casualties and fatalities. A repeat of such an incident in a matter of a few weeks is a sign that no countermeasures have been put in place after the first incident. It’s possible that it may take some deaths and a few air tragedies to wake up the lazy bums in the civil aviation ministries.

Were this to happen at some rural airport, it would still be a cause for concern. But this happening at the nation’s busiest airports tells us that things have gotten completely out of control with the air travel. To this mix, add just one more tiny complication - birds taking off simultaneously from the same runway.

Folks, if you do travel this corridor, please make sure your financial paperwork such as your will, last wishes, etc are in order. Once you’re on the plane, please make sure your seat belt is on. If you are in the window seat, please keep looking outside the whole time during the take off and watch out for another plane flying or taking off from your runway. And if you’re in the emergency seat, please be ready to bail everyone out. Just know that you’re completely on your own when you travel the Mumbai-Delhi corridor, and that you cannot rely on and hope that the government has systems in place to protect you from danger. Lastly, remember your God or your deity, whichever is dearer to you. If you’re an atheist, you’re out of luck, but you can still hurl some lasting and uncivil cusswords at the civil aviation ministry.

Aug

23

Quotable quotes - August 23

August 23, 2009 posted by indiatime | 3 Comments

1.
“…the accused should be let off because all four have families to support and are the sole bread earners….”
- argument by the lawyers representing presidential bodyguards convicted of a gang rape in New Delhi

2.
“…It’s just not about the grass. During the Lebanon match, there were holes left behind from poles that were dug into the pitch during the Independence Day celebrations….”
- Senior player Dias after India’s loss to Lebanon in the Nehru cup match

3.
“…He reported severe swine flu symptoms and we admitted him immediately. His samples were sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the results are expected by Sunday afternoon….”
- Medical superintendent of Delhi hospital speaking about a swine flu death on Saturday

4.
“…our own students earn better than us when they join the MNCs. This is why we have decided to protest against the recommendations of the sixth pay commission now…”
- IIT Delhi faculty planning to go on a mass leave this week

5.
“…I received a call from Uma’s in-laws this morning and was shocked to know that my daughter had died of a heart attack…However, what I saw was even more traumatic. There were bruises on her neck….when I noticed that the wounds were all over her body, I decided to call the police…”
- a grieving father who halted his married daughter’s funeral when he suspected murder by the in-laws

6.
“…We acknowledge the iconic stature of Husain, but are unable to put all the people and art work at risk…”
- Neha Kirpal, associate director, India Art Summit, explaining why “…India’s picasso will not be participating…”

7.
“…They took all our furniture and broke my cellphone..They beat my father. We thought of calling Uncle Danny, but what could he do? He was in America..” -
Slumdog star Rubina complaining about how the local government has been treating her family

8.
“…Swiss laws do not permit fishing expeditions…India cannot simply throw its telephone book at Switzerland and ask if any of these people have a bank account here….”
- official at Swiss Bankers Association speaking to Indian press

9.
“…my husband has been living off my hard-earned money and I can no longer stay with him because of cruelty and emotional suffering. I’ve lived in the flickering hope that he would realise his behaviour has caused me pain and agony….”
- divorce petition by Indian supermodel Ujjwala Raut against husband Maxwell Sterry

10.
“…Bloody, we are working 20-24 hours and you are just sitting….”
- Central Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to state health ministers on failing to contain swine flu

Aug

22

Unprepared, unaware, naive and stupid

August 22, 2009 posted by indiatime | 6 Comments

Heavy downpours brought everything to a standstill as darkness engulfed India’s capital city at 4 pm. Heavens opened up without a warning and uncommon chaos erupted on usually severely chaotic city streets. Even the airport lost its roof from some of its newer construction.

Nobody saw it coming. Not anyone in meteorology departments. Not a soul in any of India’s observatories. Nobody in the government. None of India’s many satellites. Nobody working on Bhuvan earth. Nobody. We have once again demonstrated that we have no clue, no expertise and no idea how to read and interpret weather maps, how to study and extrapolate weather patterns and how to warn our public about a doom about to befall upon us.

Whether it is a tsunami, a terror attack, a destructive and disruptive downpour or an endemic health emergency of the severest kind and highest priority, India has yet not ben able to successfully implement a wider alert system that can inform, educate, alert and save lives.

Let’s stop talking about sending a man on the moon. Let’s stop bullshitting about one-upping google. Let’s not speak about drones and nuclear submarines. Let’s quit the debate on our standing in the 21st century. All that is nonsense and idiotic chatter when you see that we can’t do shit right by ourselves. Once we get past initial stage of denial, we may be able to finally do something right.

And by we, I mean you, the bloody idiots in India’s legislative assemblies and the parliament. It is you all who have led this once great nation down a ridiculous path, cheating and deceiving the masses with you fake promises, keeping fake issues burning by dividing the public on every basis imaginable.

You can bet we’re in deep mess, when the biggest issues facing us are an over-the-hill actor’s whining about waiting at the airport or an over-the-hill sportsman’s whining about a house in restricted defense space or an over-the-hill politician’s whinings about matters past. Thank God yesterday’s downpour was not a deluge and thank God Kasab didn’t land in Mumbai with a hundred other colleague sand and thank God the Chinese are not that smart either.

Aug

21

Patna, August 20, 2009, 1:30 pm
Three youths blindfold and take turns at raping a 21-year old girl, in broad daylight. After 2 hours of torment, the furious girl, half-naked, tries to chase them, while the onlookers watch. None of those who watch the scene come forward to help or nab the perpetrators.

No, this wasn’t a scene from a movie. This was real. And this incident has now happened within less than a month of another such rape in broad daylight, in the same city, and also in front of a crowd of onlookers who did absolutely nothing but watched in glee.

Indora (Kangra), Himachal Pradesh, August 19, 2009
A 9-year old boy was arrested for raping a 6-year old girl. The boy has now earned the distinction of being the youngest rapist in the country. The boy dragged the girl to the bathroom and later beat her up before raping her. He was out on bail after spending a night in police custody.

Last year, India had about 39,000 registered cases of sexual molestation of women. Those are just the registered cases. I’m sure there is an exceedingly larger number of these that goes on unreported for various reasons. Whether those rapes happen away from anyone’s notice in some dark corner somewhere, or in broad daylight in front of a city full of people, just seems to me that India does not regard rape as a very serious crime. For all we know and care, the judiciary and law enforcement don’t give much of damn, because the public outrage is just non-existent at best. Maybe those who wish to make a big deal of such things are just plain stupid.

Aug

20

Adventures in circumnavigation

August 20, 2009 posted by indiatime | 2 Comments

In a couple of days, Lord Ganesh festival, an annual celebration of India’s elephant-headed God, begins in many Indian households. One of the stories about Lord Ganesh is about a circumnavigation contest where Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, the parents of Lord Ganesh and his brother, had their sons compete to navigate the planet. While his brother literally traveled the circumference, Lord Ganesh is said to have navigated his parents, arguing that circumnavigating his parents wasn’t unlike circumnavigating the whole world, since his parents were his world.

Actually, Lord Ganesha’s argument theoretically holds true at two places on the planet - the north pole and the south pole. So, if Lord Shiva and his wife had in fact been sitting at either of the poles, circumnavigating them would have meant circumnavigating the planet.

But Commander Dilip Donde of Indian navy isn’t using any of the tricks that Ganesha used. Donde, an experienced diver for Indian navy, is on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that will take him around the globe in a 56-feet yacht, over a distance of about 22000 nautical miles. Donde’s 9-month ride includes 4 halts - in Australia, New Zealand, Falkland Islands and South Africa.

The yacht named Mhadei (named after Goa’s river Mandavi) was manufactured in India, but several parts including the board have been imported from abroad. Donde’s circumnavigation has been funded and sponsored by his bosses at India’s defence ministry.

Just a month ago, Donde completed a solo sail from Mauritius to Goa in preparation for this world tour. To qualify for the honor of circumnavigating the planet, a yachtsman has to complete at least 21,600 nautical miles, cross the equator, cross every meridian and end the journey at the starting port. Commander Donde’s Sagar Parikrama (Circumnavigation) begins today and will go on for the next 9 months. Good luck Commander. Lord Ganesh, the God of wisdom is with you. And so will be the Gods of wind and of the oceans.

Aug

18

Is America adopting Hinduism’s ways?

August 18, 2009 posted by indiatime | 9 Comments

This week’s Newsweek has an interesting take on America’s changing religious identity. Although more than three-fourths of the USA still identifies itself as Christian, the article argues that America is slowly adopting Hinduism’s values. Recent trends show that more than 65% Americans (including 37% white evangelicals) now acknowledge the validity of other paths towards God. More than a third Americans now choose cremation instead of burials after death. And one in every four Americans, now believes in reincarnation.

There are more than a million Hindus who currently call the United States their home. But Hinduism came to this country way back, more than a century ago. In his book Hinduism Invades America, Wendell Thomas describes the various ways Hinduism slowly made way into the American psyche. Brought to America by liberal Christians who wanted a world view of various religions, Hinduism came via religious congresses and conventions. Vivekananda in early 1890s, Yogananda in 1920, Shiva Yogaswami in 1940s, Yogi Mahesh in the late 1950s, Abhay Charan De aka Swami Prabhupad in the 1960s (and even the notorious Acharya Rajneesh in the 1980s), established movements, which over several decades, became the backdrop for America’s interest in Hinduism and its various forms like yoga.

Some have attributed the quiet rise of Hinduism to the quiet ways of its practitioners. D. M. Murdock (aka Acharya S.) credits Hinduism’s success in America to “its practitioners (in the US) do not rabblerouse, set up terrorist camps, call for destruction of the US constitution, bilk the American public for millions, establish bogus charities, engage in unethical & seedy televangelism, lobby congress for special favors and considerations, challenge constantly the principle of separation of church and state, abuse the First Amendment and all of the fun stuff (sarcasm) we are used to seeing from fervent religionists in our country and elsewhere“.

Still, nothing works like first impressions, they say, and sure enough, I’m sure America’s romance with Hinduism started with its first glimpse of Vivekananda who had this to say to his American audience in his first meeting with them in Chicago:

“…I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth…

The present convention, which is one of the most August assemblies ever held, is itself a vindication, a declaration to the world, of the wonderful doctrine preached in The Gita: Whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form, I reach him. All men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me… ”

Incidentally, two Indian names that the Americans have become most familiar with during the last year, Bobby Jindal and A. R. Rehman, were both born Hindus but adopted other religions - Jindal choosing Christianity and Rehman choosing Islam.

And interestingly, a hundred-plus years after that speech in Chicago, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, recently placed India on a watch list of nations that have failed to prevent increasing communal violence. India has called that report regrettable.

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