Whats in a name ?

Background: A friend with whom I have often sparred on caste discussions brought this article to my notice. It was a follow-on article by the film critic at The Hindu, Baradwaj Rangan responding to readers’ criticism on his previously published review of ‘OK Kanmani’. He finished his article saying “Class or caste cannot be wished away simply by not being portrayed in films, or by not being mentioned in reviews”.  I wrote this to express my views.

What is in a name !  Reviewing OKK (O Kadal Kanmani) Baradwaj Rangan wrote  “…is very focused about who it is targeting, and at least one segment of that “who” is discernible from Aadhi’s surname — Varadarajan — and the Thyagaraja and Annamacharya compositions that pop up on the soundtrack.”

I probed the reviewer’s suggestion that the director Mani Ratnam intended the male protagonist to be perceived as a Brahmin.  The prima facie conclusion for an ‘Aditya Varadarajan’ with a brother called Vasu would be to conclude him as a Brahmin. However, let us examine the other clues. Adi refers to his sister-in-law as ‘Anni’ rather than ‘Manni’ as Brahmins would. His bare torso reveals no sacred thread.  Of course, one could argue that he has probably not been initiated or has thrown it away, since he was self-confessedly an atheist.  The counter-argument to that would be that most atheist Brahmins do wear their sacred thread – since it does not harm to their beliefs but keeps other family stakeholders happy. 

 

Let us examine the lead female character. The audience got to hear Tara’s second name in one fast-paced conversation.  A “Ka…” something. Possibly a patronym, but I could not register the name to second-guess the caste. However, Tara’s ability to sing along on the Carnatic redeemed her caste quicker than Adi got a chance to utter the Gayatri mantra.

For all the upper-class that Baradwaj spoke of, surprisingly, the dialogues contained almost entirely of Tamil words – even when the lead couple engaged in complicated emotional conversations – a not-so-accurate reflection of the upper class or even upper-middle class from contemporary Tamil Nadu [and so unlike a PSBB product- I should know;)]

If the naming of ‘Aditya Varadarajan’, were to be considered as deliberate by the director, what can one conclude about an Ananya.  Tamil speaking Christian named Ananya who is, to-top-it-all, rather light-complexioned! What are we to make of this?  I dont mean to sound racisit (in this day and age, a disclaimer serves well) but make a mere observation, for all the 22 years I spent in Tamil Nadu, I have not seen a Tamil Christian girl with a complexion anywhere close to Ananya’s).

Moving to Baradwaj Rangan’s observation in his follow-up write-up “But there it was, the perception that the name sounded like it belonged to a particular caste and, therefore, that the film would not go down well with the masses” the reviewer speaks of a very notable but unspoken trend in the film industry.

In my opinion, the apprehension of being boxed into a particular caste/group is not limited to reel characters. Film Industry professionals take care to mask their origins.  A Priya Mani Vasudev Iyer will have a screen-name as ‘Priya Mani’  rather than ‘Priya Iyer’.  [Aside: At any rate ‘Priya Mani’ lends itself to many more puns in Tamil.] Who would object to Prakash Rai moving a mere letter of the alphabet (Prakash Raj) when the measure may insulate the actor from the taint of association with Karnataka during the now-on-now-off Cauvery saga. 

Not that this 'name-change' phenomenon is unique to Tamil Nadu or Kollywood. Apparently, JK Rowling was advised to not expand her initials so readers may buy her book, presuming she was a male (and presumably good) author.

However, what is probably unique to Tamil Nadu, is the caste angle. And understandably so. In fact, a popular Tamil film star attributed Rajnikanth’s superstardom to the fact that Rajnikant did not belong to any caste from Tamil Nadu. So, no group could claim him to be ‘theirs’ and the rest could not refer to him as ‘the other’.  Because he belonged to no one group in Tamil Nadu, he belonged to all of Tamil Nadu. [Whether Rajnikant would have been just as loved if he had been a Marathi-speaking Brahmin named in a Dravidian politico-influenced society, though, is a moot point]

While, it is debatable as to what Dravidian movements in the second half of the 20th century really achieve for Tamil Nadu, it did have considerable social impact. State governments  changed names of public places to prevent association with caste names [GN Chetty Road became GN Road and Thambiah Reddy Street became Thambiah Street].  Many Tamilians dropped their surname that indicated their caste surname and retained a mere patronym second name.

For the curious, I urge them to perform a small experiment. Identify all Tamilians you know and bucket them into Tamilians from Tamil Nadu and the second-generation Tamilians of Tamil Nadu origin from rest-of-India. My guess is the proportion of those with surnames as "Iyer”, "Mudaliar", "Pillai", "Chettiar" or "Nadar" as a surname is significantly higher in the emigrant category.

Juliet said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". The Tamil Nadu government probably does not agree. Did the nifty working title of “OK, Kanmani” turned in to the mouthful  “O Kadhal Kanmani”  for the Censor Board certificate to enhance chances of the entertainment tax exemption that the TN government grant when the title is entirely in Thamizh.

 So, what is in a name?  An entertainment tax exemption, at the very least.

Australia

Australia

Between Dec 11 and April 12 I spent about 9 weeks in Australia across three visits. I was mostly in Sydney but also managed to touch Melbourne.

My first real long trip abroad and I had suitably carried enough mane thindi. I had been warned that Australian Quarantine regulations were enforced strictly. While I was in line for Immigration I recalled scenes from the Tamil movie Nala Damayanthi (in Hindi as Ramji Londonwale)where Madhavan’s bottle of pickles is discarded by the Quarantine officials.

Here, too (like in the movie) there was a sardar at the Quarantine desk. He waved me out sparing my bags the sniffer dogs (yes, Australia uses sniffer dogs to check if baggage contains prohibited food items).

It was December but since this was the Southern hemisphere it was summer there. It was an out of the ordinary summer, as Sydney-siders (as residents of Sydney call themselves) admitted. I found it cooler than Bangalore winter.

One of the first things that occurred to me was the preponderance of Indians. One could spot Indians in most public places, not just as tourists, but amongst the police, transport workers, government. After a while, I realized it was a young nation, discovered in the 18th century, occupied in the 19th century. But significant population was on account of immigration in the last few decades. It is estimated that 2 of every 7 Australians was born outside Australia.

History

Initially, used to house convicts from Britian ( a la Andaman to India), the Britian developed Immigration schemes to populate Australia. Initially restricted as ‘white Australia’, it has opened its arms to everyone by the fourth quarter of the 20th century. I visited an ‘Immigration Museum’ in Melbourne which depicts the history of Immigration from the first journey to current day policies with pictures, recreations and models.

On a guided tour, It was interesting to hear that the guide when introducing historical figures from Sydney would also mention the crime that the individual committed on account of which he or she was banished to Australia- often it would appear petty and trivial.

The indigenous tribe that existed before discovery is known as Aboriginals. When I took a walk on Circular Quay (near the Sydney Opera house), there were a group of aboriginals playing their traditional instruments and dressed in traditional dress (which was a generous langoti). Since it was raining I lingered around a shelter. It was time for the aboriginals to packup. They wiped their (for want of a word let me call them) Vibhuti smears, changed into smart dress clothes and were soon undistinguishable from the rest of them !


Fauna

On my third visit to Australia I had made up my mind to visit the zoo. Not a very animal person I had avoided it, but was also keen to avoid the “been to Australia 3 times and not seen a kangaroo” tag. The zoo was pretty sight with there being no barrier between people and animals considered not dangerous. However, none of the kangaroos that I saw had a young one; I was disappointed to not see a ‘pouch’ in operation.


I took to the aquarium in Melbourne with more enthusiasm. It probably had to do with events from childhood. I remember that the Mysore zoo acquiring penguins; but they penguins died before I could get a chance to see them. While not native to Australia, Melbourne is probably the closest large city to Antartica and Australia leads several research expeditions to that continent.

Friends & Family

One evening, I met up with Pappu mama and Pari aunty (who normally live in Perth and were visiting their son) Anil, his wife and very cute daughter Stella. On my way back Anil dropped me at ferry station, so I could travel back on a ferry. Since, the Sydney city is shaped uniquely, significant intra-city travel can be accomplished on ferries. Most cities have very good urban connectivity. metro (over and underground),monorail, trams, busses and ferries. Melbourne also has an extensive tram network I had not travelled in a tram before) and it was a sight to see.

Using facebook, I managed to meet four friends from school and hang around on weekends. Without using facebook, Amma remembered that her friend’s family was in Sydney ( I wonder how one tracks friends if they are not on facebook ?).



Outdoors & Cricket

The Australians are sports-lovers and play and discuss sports passionately. There are several outdoor activites and since it was summer there was enough time in the day for most people to do some activity before the sun set (the sun set around 8 PM). I managed to do some paddle-boating with a friend on one of the weekends.

The Indian team was touring for a test series which made great tea-time conversation. Unfortunately, India was at the receiving end and I got teased about it.

Before the series began Rahul Dravid delivered an eloquent speech at the Don Bradman Oration in Canberra proving that his skills were not limited to the cricket field. The speech was well received in Australia.

When Sachin Tendulkar completed his 100th 100 in Bangladesh, the Australian press reported the achievement with a mixture of admiration and amusement. The media were amused with India’s obsession with the event.

When in Melbourne, I got an opportunity to watch a Sri Lanka versus Australia cricket match. The triangular tournament was so poised that India would enter the final if Sri Lanka lost the last league match. So, my colleague and me went down to the MCG, ( a spectacular stadium indeed) and supported the Australians. Sri Lankans amongst the crowd were surprised to find two brown-skinned people cheering for Australia. The MCG had installed a statue of Shane Warne the previous day to commemorate his achievement.

British heritage

Australia is proud of its British heritage and constitutionally considers the Queen of England as the Head of state. There are several cultural connections with the ‘Poms’ as the British are referred to in Australia.

Quiz

The picture below attracted my attention. After 2 mins I gave up converting from roman numerals to Indo-Arabic numerals.

A zoomed version

A 'brand' new experience!

Today was the last day of our two-week classroom sessions in a town near NYC.  We were scheduled to make the presentation that we had prepared all week for, to attend a health session and wind-up. By custom, people here want to chill towards the end of a long workweek. So, the mood was upbeat.

Trust me, I really dint want to go. But was kinda forced, I can say, in my defence. You know, what they say, how 'good' things in life are painful and boring and 'bad' things in life are so fun and tempting. So, after the presentation at the conference room, I headed there with my colleagues.


This lady was assigned to me. Or I was assigned to this lady. Same difference. However, there were 3 other ladies in the room. They were not overtly busy. Time of day, I guess.

So, after the small talk, we get down to business. She asks me to strip. She is sensitive and asks me whether I would prefer to do it privately. There was no hint of any charges for the privacy. Obviousy, it was not a situation I wished my colleagues to see me in. I could not spot them nearby. Either they had finished their 'sessions' earlier or were in an adjacent room. I looked around. They were all women and all professionals. Like anybody cares, I thought.


Honestly, I dint even expect to tell this to you all. But then, you people encourage me to experience new things; and write about them, don't you. I cannot possibly not record a remarkable experience.

For a minute I wondered what the convention here was. Which garment should I undo  ? Guess it is also a function of how old you are and which part of the world you are in.

While I was undoing my shirt, she was feeling my arms. She saw the shanka and chakra brands on my arms and freaked out. She wanted to know what it was, whether it hurt, if I had it voluntarily or not. She exhibited curiousity as she went about her business. Thorough professional that she was,she was keen to do her job right (no pun intended) and, I suppose, prioritised customer satisfaction. I could not believe I was chatting with this American blonde on my religious symbols while we were doing what we were doing.

Really. But I was. I told her how it was a cultural thing, a token of affiliation to a religious group. She was inquisitive about Hinduism; wanted to know if all Hindus were vegetarian; I told her a majority were not vegetarian but most Hindus would not eat beef. It went on... until we were done. As I was buttoning up, I explained how the cow was a holy symbol to Hindus. We revere the cows because we use her milk and other milk derivative products.


The chat removed the uneasiness between us. It can get uncomfortable, I mean, what do you talk when she is performing the act. However, it was a breeze. Her loquaciousness mixed with curiosity made it a pleasant experience.


Not in my defence, but one must see it to believe how thoroughly professional these Americans are. First thing into the room, I had to register. Health precaution is No.1 priority. Before we got started, she had a questionnaire in front of her, asking even of any Hepatitis infection in the past. Honestly, I dint know Hepatitis A was an STD until I googled later.


Guess you people were right after all; travelling expands one's perspective of life; of truth; makes us break boundaries. To question our concept of morals. To meet interesting people. Who would have guessed that there could be such an inquisitive vaccine-administering nurse.

Anke Tappida Shankarlal: A review

Play: Anke Tappida Shankarlal ಅಂಕೆ ತಪ್ಪಿದ  ಶಂಕರ್ಲಾಲ್

Language: Kannada
Duration: ~100 minutes
Rating: Avoidable
Troup: Sanchaya


The title (mis)leads one to believe that the play might be light-hearted. This writer learnt, at his expense, that it was not meant to.

The plot is about the increasing goondaisation of public life in India. While, one cannot deny the message, the manner in which it was presented was rather unentertaining.
The huge cast of ATS, the unimpressively named characters (Mr. Mehta, Mr. Singh, Mr. Chowdhury) or the dialogues did little to hold the audience's attention. The plot rambled along for 100 minutes before ending as a Victory of Evil over Good. Comic relief was few and far between and when it was, it was unintended !

In our opinion the play is avoidable, unless you intended to catchup with a long-lost friend and ATS is an excuse :)!

Bengaluru English !

English in India varies significantly across regions. While much is made about the English that the Malayalee and Bengali speak, little is mentioned about the Bengaluru English that the Kannadiga speaks.

The Kannadiga English is unique. The manner in which the Bengaluru Kannadiga pronounces certain words can distinguishes him amongst most cosmopolitan crowds . Provided below is a sample list where the english word is accompanied by the word as pronounced in Bengaluru.

Principle-Prinicipal

Principal-Prinicipaal

College-Kaalej

Uncle-UnKal

Warm-Warum

Farm-Farum

Circle-Sarcal

Simple-Simpal

Now, Make Sentences !!

The Kannadiga lives life by principals that he learnt at kaalej under the tutorship of his prinicipaal. In winter, he likes to keep warum by eating hot potatoes grown by his unkal at his farum ! That was simpal.

Safar: A rambling journey

Play: Safar

Language: EnglishDuration: ~100 minutes

Genre: Humour (satire)

Rating: Watchable

Troupe: Header and Footer Club, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

We checked out 'Safar' at K.H Kala Soudha on 26th Sep 2010 Sunday. Directed by Vysya Shastry ) who also plays the role of the protagonist, 'Safar' is a play made by the students at IISc.

 

The story is about a research student  (Not co-incidentally, Vysya Shastry is a real-life researcher at IISc)  who begins in postgradual research with IISc.  The character is overconfident and has a misplaced sense of importance. As the narrative unfolds, reality dashes his dreams and he is all set to turn into just another research Joe.

 

While the synposys appears grim, the play itself is punctuated by many a laugh. The writer has not spared cricket, Bollywood, spiritual leaders or IISc faculty.Written, directed and played by a closed group, one does not grudge that portions of the play are better enjoyed by the group. The plot is rather rambling but then it was probably intended to capture the life and time of the 'hero'. For an amateur hobbyclub production, the performance was brillant. For us, (me and Sunil) it was welcome to watch the performance of an original script after long time. Presumably, written originally by someone within the club, it was welcome  The researchers turn out to be fine artistes too managing off-stage with equal aplomb as onsite. The need for onstage set and props were eliminated by use of an LCD projector. However, one is disappointed with the promotional literature. Even allowing for self-aggrandisement ("Smash hit") the play failed to showcase 'apathy against initiative'. Yet, one does not regret the show, as the performance is eminently watchable. A pity that were very few in the audience who were unrelated to the cast and crew.

 

P.S I found another blog on the play here.

Chora Charana Dasa: ಚೋರ ಚರಣದಾಸ A review

Play: Chora Charana Dasa
Language: Kannada
Duration: ~105 minutes
Genre: Comedy (Farce)
Rating: Must Watch
Troup: Natana

We watched Chora Charana Dasa, a play in Kannada, originally as Charandas Chor written by Tanveer Habib as an adaptation of a Rajasthani folktale at K H Kala Soudha in Hanumanthanagar, Bangalore on Sunday. The Kannada play has been adapted and directed by Mandya Ramesh (of Matha fame) and performed by Natana.


The protagonist is a petty thief, Charanadasa.Charanadasa is a professional theif who takes pride in his profession and 'hard work' and a strong sense of 'integrity' and 'work ethic'.


He chances upon a Sanyasi who saves him from the police . Charanadasa takes him as his Guru. He makes four vows to his Guru, that he would never eat in a gold plate, never lead a procession atop an elephant (ಅನೆ ಅಂಬಾರಿ), refuse any invitation to be a king and refuse any proposal to marry a princess. His guru commits him to  never to tell a lie, hoping that this would reform Charandas.


Charanadasa's further activities and where it leads him form the rest of the narrative. An interesting storyline has been transformed into a laugh-riot by current satire. The nataka in the political theatre of Karnataka is ready fodder for the satire.


Brilliant performances by all on-stage artists especially the by the person who played Charanadasa and the off-stage technicians and singers make every moment of the drama wholly enjoyable.


Towards the end, the directors steps in and lets the audience choose how the play should conclude ! The  interactive dialogue between the audience and the director throws up creative alternatives and has the audience in splits.


The play concludes on a realistic paradox, faithfully to Tanveer Habib and the Bollywood movie directed by Shyam Benegal in 1975 of the same name. Overall, it was eminently watchable, and figures in the top amongst the plays that I have enjoyed the most and recommend to all.
P.S. the background singer was cute ;)

The Builders probably meant, "Luxury envied by Royalty" !!

The Builders probably meant, "Luxury envied by Royalty" !!

Garden City to Garden State

In December 2009, my employers,  required me to travel to one of our US office . The office I was deputed to is located in a city called East Brunswick in New Jersey on the East Coast, about 40 miles from New York.

I landed at noon on 23rd December 20009 at Newark airport to bright sunshine, and a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius below zero. Having lived all my life in the tropical zone, I found the combination of bright sunshine and chilling temperatures counter intuitive (and till the end of my trip found it difficult to reconcile).

New Jersey is called the Garden state. However, in the drive from the airport, I could not notice particularly green stretches. Probably, it was a name that was justified in Spring.

My visit was right in the middle of holidays- Christmas eve too being a holiday in most parts of USA . Hence, work on day 1 was slack.

My cousin Venkatesh and Aarathi live in High Park , about 9 miles from my office. On Christmas Eve, Venkatesh took me over to their home.  Tulsi, their cute daughter, was initially hard to impress but in the end became a friend. As Aarathi, Venkat and Tulsi left on vacation to San Jose , I proceeded to Edison to board a local train to New York. The town Edision is named after ( you guessed it right) the inventor Thomas Alva Edison who had his home and laboratory here for some time. Today, the town has a considerable South Asian population and 'Indian' stores and temples.

New York

A contrast from the idyllic suburbs, New York is a busy metropolis, the pace of activity at the train station reminding one of Mumbai. My cousin Ragesh and his wife Siri met me in New York . We went around the most happening part of New York on Christmas Eve, Manhattan .

We visited Rockefeller center. The place was thronged with tourists and revelers to look at the decorated Christmas tree and skaters celebrating in the rink.

Then, we moved on to the famous 5th Avenue . This street is the fashion district of NYC housing expensive brands. It is also called "most expensive street in the world" for the brands that it houses. The stores in this area have a Christmas tradition of dressing up their large windows for viewing. The fabulous windows were exquisitely made for this occasion, each window competing with another for attention. Some stores dressing the windows in a theme while some were at random. So, after some window shopping ( pun intended), we proceeded, Ragesh and Siri’s home at Stamford , in the state of Connecticut , an hour north of New York. ( the area around New York City - NYC- is known as tri-state area as it spans the state of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut)

Next day, we visited the Empire State Building. Being Christmas, the roads and tourist spots were less crowded. We toured the Wall street, took pictures with George Washington and the Charging Bull near NYSE. Ground zero of WTC somehow figures on the NY tourist’s map, hence, we visited that as well. A walk through the dazzling Times Square was very impressive. To my excitement, I saw signboards of some corporations who till that moment had only been line items in my customer-master excel sheet. The same place, one week later, would host 1 Mn who would celebrate the arrival of New Year  by the drop of a single ball at the stroke of midnight.

Having spent the weekend with Ragesh and Siri, I went back to New Jersey to resume work. I stayed with my colleague Keshav and got an interesting flavour of self-service domestic life in America.

For the New Year weekend, I visited my aunt Bharathi’s and cousins at Chicago. Sughosh, my cousin, based in too had managed to time his appearence after a 10 day visit to Germany. We welcomed the year 2010 watching the ball drop at Times square on television and local fireworks and munching cookies baked by Mythili.

On New Year’s day, Mythili, Sumanth, Sameer and Sughosh took me ice sledding. Sledding is popular winter activity. Unlike skating or skiing, sledding requires neither skill nor practice making it ideal for first timers like me.

The ‘sleds’ could range from flat plastic discs to baking trays... just about anything one could sit on and move. Once, one had a sled all one required was a hillock with snow on it. One just had to sit on sleds at the top of the hillock and give ourselves a push. The ride downhill is just as good as the hillock. The one we went to was bumpy in patches. Nevertheless, it was good fun.

The fun part was that once the sleds starts moving the rider has little directional or speed control. All the rider could do was to shout a warning to other sledders in his path !

That evening Alka, Gurudutt, Sanjana and Amrita visited us on their way back home from New Orleans .

The next day was spent sightseeing Chicago City at an outside temperature of -15degrees Celsius. ( by this time, I was well versed in converting Fahrenheit to Celsius and Dollars to Rupees). Chicago, founded in 1833 on the banks of Lake Michigan ( one of the 5 great lakes), had a third of the city burnt down in the Great Fire of 1871. Since then, rebuilding has been well planned activity. The City is home to one of the earliest and some of the tallest skyscrapers.

Jayanth uncle toured us through the Illinois Institute of Technology (Jayanth uncle’s alma mater) and guided us to what was once the tallest building of the world- Willis (Sears) Towers ( now the claim is restricted to only half the world ! - tallest on the Western Hemisphere ).

We took pictures on the banks of Lake Michigan and river view of River Chicago. We visited the Art Institute of Chicago, the place where Swami Vivekananda delivered his “Sisters and Brothers of America ” speech at the Parliament of Religions. I learnt that the Institute has special consideration if you are an Indian and seek to view the place where Swami Vivekananda stood. May be for the members of the Ramakrishna order, it is a piligrimage.

We visited the Michael Jordan statue at United Center , home to the Chicago Bulls, definite a pilgrimage spot for Jordan fans. Then we took a peek at the open studios of NBC new channel. This is the glass-fronted news broadcasting studio, facing the pavement, allowing passers-by a live view of the programming. Unfortunately, there was no live programming when we passed by.

After shopping on 3rd Jan for some after Christmas discounts, I proceeded to travel back to New Jersey from the O' Hare airport at Chicago, said to be the second busiest in the world. A security scare at Newark airport caused a delay of my flight by 2 hours. US airport security personnel were very thorough and this incident had made them all the more so. Little did I know that three days later, when I was traveling back to India , gopichandana smears on my luggage would be inspected for traces of explosives !!!

Soon, it was time to head home. In the end it turned out that there were as many holidays during my visit as there were working days( !!) making the assignment not just fullfilling but very enjoyable as well ;)

While my official work progressed satisfactorily, I was mildly disappointed to have worked in a total desi office in America . I had expected to interact with some ‘american’ Americans. So much for a global workplace !

Post -script

Myths I had about America

1. Every one in USofA speak English

On Board a train, I met a middle-aged lady who (in hindsight) probably required me to move my luggage. But, I did not understand a word of what she was saying and I repeatedly apologised saying that I was having trouble with her accent since I hailed from India. Haltingly she conveyed, " I... no English.... Spanish".

On Board flight Air India, I met this elderly gentleman who could not speak a word outside of Gujarati. As I assisted him with Immigration, I learnt that he owned a couple of motels and was a 'greencard' holder since 1997 !!

2. No Poverty in America

I did find signboards by pavement dwellers begging for food/ money. However, it was not an in-your-face solicitation. I understand that is not unheard of as well.

Panchangam site is back as a blog

Thr  same friendly Panchanga people who used to be at Geocities.com/panchangaminenglish. Since, Geocities closed down we have moved herehttp://www.panchangaminenglish.com/ .

We are now in Phalguna Krishna Paksha of Virodhi. They have uploaded, as usual the PDF version of English Panchangam for Vikruthi March 2010 to April 2011. 'Panchangam in English' in roman script. Also, they have uploaded the Kannada Panchanga 'Madhwa Panchanga' 'ಮಾಧ್ವ ಪಂಚಾಂಗ' for Vikruthi.

In additon, they have introduced the Tamil Panchangam calendar for the Greogorian year 2010. This also contains the Panchanga Shravana for the year Vikruthi. This is a new product and covers only the 12 months between January 2010 and December 2010. However, it contains all details that a Panchanga should for each day in that period.

Soon, you will find all the archives of Panchanga(m)s and articles that you could find in the geocities site here as well.

Do write in your feedback to snrao(at)qualitysystems.co.in

As they publish panchangams in 3 languages, you might be wondering that the URL is an oxymoron. But then it is :)

Vikruthi is here !

Vikruthi is here ! Vikruthi Panchang available here.

Gender Exclusivity

Whenever people talk of gender inclusivity ( people actually talk of 'gender diversity' but since there are not too many diverse genders, let us stick with 'inclusivity') they most often mean the inclusion of women in hitherto men dominated spheres of work.

This in, late 2009, is passe. The march of women at workplace, in India, is slow but sure and is gathering pace to the (pleasant) point of no return. Which is to mean that the world (including corporate world) can choose to ignore women to their own peril.

However, the fate of transgenders in India is deplorable. Disowned by families, and forced to fend for themselves, the national profession for transgenders seems to be petty extortion at traffic signals and railway compartments.

Of course, in some communities, there is a social accommadation in rituals involving trangenders to bless the social function. While this provide a source of livelihood, it does little to bring transgenders to the mainstream. In fact, having the opposite effect - furthering the myth of a transgender's potency to bless and curse.

Society chooses to ignore them, because it is unpleasant to think of them. Anyway if you travel in airconditioned cars and coaches, it is very convenient to ignore them.

No mainstream enterprise hires trangenders. They have no marketable skills. But they are able-bodied and know that society is embarrased by them AND have stomachs to support. Easiest way is to use unpleasantness and extort a price for it.

When will gender inclusivity reach them ?

Karnataka Rajyotsava, not Kannada Rajyotsava

It is 'Karnataka Rajyotsava' often called Kannada Rajyotsava. But thats exclusive and misrepresenting. Rajyotsava Day is a day to celebrate the formation of the state of Karnataka on the basis of the lingustic demarcation of state boundaries. However, Tulu, Konkani, Sanketi and Kodava belong just as much to Karnataka as Kannada.

It is a Naadu Habba not a Bhashye habba. Incidentally, the Bhashe was instrumental in deciding the naadu.

Nobody clarifies and the misnomer continues.

Jaswant outbursts affect Jaswant more than Advani !

If Jaswant knew Advani was "at the center of cash-for-votes scam" why did he not expose it then ? Or at least dissassociated with the BJP ?
This is not to justify his explusion for writing a book but then....Grapes seem to be sour.

Sach ka Saamna sucks !

Sach ka Saama is disgusting. Actually it is the 'celebrities ' who are disgusting but the common platform is the Show and hence my ire on the show.
Before you react, let me assure you, I am no prude. Reality shows are fine. Asking.. um.. err..questions hitherto unasked in public is new but not objectionable on only that ground.

What disgusts one is the trade-off the 'celebrity' makes between pubic embarrasment ( er, I meant public embarrasment which they might equate to fame) and 10 lakhs of rupees. A valid point of view is that the 'celebrity' would not care to bare all for 10 lakhs that he / she might or might not win on the game show. One strongly suspects the consideration of an 'appearence fee'.

There are reality shows and there are other reality shows. Sach Ka Saamna is not a game of skill nor is it a game of chance. It is no beauty contest, nor a popularity contest. It does not test endurance or personality.It is no human interest story. But it is most certainly is entertaining. The kind of depraving entertainment that the dark side of us want to watch. Want to gossip about.

The fig leaf of the show is that it is about Truth. The Government of India's motto is Satyameva Jayete, reminded Siddhartha Basu, producer of Sach ka Saamna.

If only someone would offer me 10 crores of rupees, I would confess to all acts that I have never performed !

Dr. Kalam's visit

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam visited my office this week. In anticipation of the visit. I was as excited as one would be to meet his favourite cricket or Bollywood star. It turned out that I was not the only one.
A role model for the nation, Dr. Kalam is, rightfully, credited with raising the stature of the position of the President of India while bringing the presidency closer to the people- things which had not happened in the 52 years of the Republic prior to his taking over.
Dr. Kalam spoke on the importance of technology and R&D in a nation's development especially that of a developing nation. He was in his elements when describing technically his experience in R&D and contextualizing with the inauguration of the R&D lab.

Then he fielded Questions with a child-like elan, interspersing every sentence with 'ok'. "We have a Mission to be a Developed Nation by 2020. ok? To achieve this we have 3 Projects. ok ?"

The child-like enthusiasm, the inspirational eyes, the infectious optimism make the man. If Gandhi ( Mahatma, i.e) was the Indian of the Century in the 20th century, Dr. Kalam will probably be hailed as the India of the 21st Century.

Not for launching satellites, not for testing guided missiles, certainly not for Pokhran. But for igniting passion into youth, making patriotism less jingoistic more fashionable, for adding altruism to public life but most of all for inspiring a billion people.

Salaam Dr. Kalam

Give a dog a bad name and hang him ! - Chaplain saga

That is exactly what is happening to the BJP Government in Karnataka. In the Chaplain row issue, film director Hemant Hegde sought to put up a permenant statute ( note Permenant) in in Baindur, near Udupi in coastal Karnataka.

The other important aspectst to be noted are that

• Hemant Hegde seeks to use this statue as a prop in a song sequence
• Seeks Rupees 30 Lakh from sources to put up a permenant statue
• Hemant Hegde has little to lose. He sources money through contributions/donations. He anyway does not live in Baindur to put up with the statue permenantly.

One might, reasonably, presume that the location has been chosen by Hemant Hegde keeping the backdrop to the context of the film ( well, to err on the safer side, I am giving credit to the director).

The local people of Baindur have objected to its installation. The question is "do the local people have no say if a permenant statue is to come up in their area ?"

The controversy begins at the second point that Hemant Hegde claims that Charlie Chaplain's statue was objected to "because he was a Christian". All news channel dutifully carry the allegation and blow up the story in the context of previous events in Udupi District.

The "christian" remark is not attributed to any individual of standing.No names are raised.

Even assuming that someone had made such a remark, it can only be innocous, to suggest that a Charlie Chaplain statue has no relevance to the local area and at any rate he does not hail from Dakshina Kannada /Karnataka or India.

It can be an as innocous reference to , let us say, a foreign personality, as the Greogorian calendar is referred to as the "English Calendar" or Allopathic medicine as "English Medicine".

People of Dakshina Kannada district will probably not consider a George Fernandes or Oscar Fernandes a "christian" nor object to their statues being installed ( of course, in India till Mayawati it was not the culture to install statues of living persons).

Give a dog a bad name and hang him !

Captivating Kathmandu !

Kathmandu diary
While sitting for my CFA Level 1 examinations, I chose to sit at Kathmandu. Indian cities were not an option considering the sadistic moves of the ICFAI Institute, the naïve (if not corrupt) moves of the AICTE juxtaposed with the speed of dispute resolution in the Anglo-Saxon Jurisprudence as practiced in India.
Why Kathmandu ? Because one presumed that being the closest to India ( Gorakhpur to Kathmandu is barely 225 km), it would be the cheapest location to travel to. (On second thoughts, it was not particularly a smart move - I had to travel from Bangalore and not Gorakhpur, but too late - by then I had chosen my exam center)
The rest of the India was not particularly smart either. Some of my 'co-examinees' were from Mumbai ( a closer exam center was in Karachi- 500 nautical miles by the direct sea - a route which seems to fascinate 10 young men in the last week of November). The Calcuttans too came to Kathmandu in spite of the fact that Dhaka is just 245 km away. Chennaiites were smarter – They went to Singapore and Colombo (less popular of the two). They did not have to battle the climate, food or language as much as I had to.
First Flight Abroad !
I was on my first flight overseas ( Ok,ok, This is was not really overseas but international, nevertheless) to Kathmandu from New Delhi. You know, you still have to go to the International terminal, go through Immigration, security et al. reminding yourself that the famous IC-814 operates between the 2 cities that you were travelling currently.

After cavorting the Himalayan ranges, we land at the Tribhuvan International Airport, named after the grandfather of the deposed king Gyanendra (brother of slain King Birendra).
We landed at the Tribhuvan during the load-shedding hours. One was reminded of Lord Jeffery Archer’s comment, last August in Bangalore to promote the ‘Prisoner of Birth’. Speaking of travel in India, Archer likened the Lucknow Airport to Somalian airports 10 years ago. ( Before the aghast audience could protest, he assuaged them by saying Indian airlines like Kingfisher and Jet were the best airline in the world)
Kathmandu is the capital of the fragile secular republic ( I almost said Hindu Kingdom) of Nepal.
State of Affairs

The inexperience of the new government is telling. They have declared themselves secular. To showcase its secular credentials, the government, recently, provided a state budget to help nearly 400 Muslims go to Saudi Arabia to perform the Haj, declared Bakreid a holiday and assisted in construction of a mosque. Some people can never learn lessons from neighbous. Also, in the new-founded patriotism, the secular government ordered the replacement of the priests hailing from Udupi, in Karnataka, at the Pashupathinath temple with locals. (Aside :Is it not a wonder that Udupi priests perform at Kathmandu’s Pashupathinath, Priests at Badrinath are Namboodiri’s from Kerala and the priests officiating at Rameshwaram are from Uttar Pradesh).

The Maovadi ( as the Maoists are locally known) are driving away investment and tourism. The new government has set higher minimum wages driving away investment. They have also begun what Indian media’s latest peeve- Moral Policing- The Maoist Government has stopped nightlife at 11 pm and banned nude dances. If the hippies ever hear of what had happened to their beloved Kathmandu !!

The entrepreneurs are Indian – you will find the ubiquitous Marwadi in most shopping areas- the workers Nepali. Probably, this is partly the reason for the sub-surface angst against ‘Big Brother’ India and at attempts to remove Indian symbols - like the priests at Pashupathinath. Nepal is a nation tottering to its feet. King Gyanendra has been overthrown, the tallest leader Girija Prasad Koirala unwell, (If you are interested GP Koirala is the granduncle of Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala) , the Maoist-government is on a renaming binge attempting to erase all history of the monarchy and any traces of Indianness.

The public hold Birendra, the slain King, in very high esteem but hold the opposite view for his brother, the dethroned Gyanendra. The deposed Gyanendra is living in a private residence and the government is moving to convert the royal palace, Narayanhity –which covers over 700 acres in the heart of Kathmandu. For an economy, where tourism is estimated to account for 17 % of the GDP (6% for India 3% for Singapore), the scarcity of tourist guides was appalling. And for that matter the knowledge of locals of the sthala purana – the local history. We visited the Buddhist Stupa and the Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple) without as much as understanding their significance. Much of the factfile in this blog on our tourism has been from Wikipedia researched subsequently!!

The Nepali Rupee is pegged to the Indian rupee at 1.6 Nepali Currency for every India Rupee, since 1993. Hence, the local are amazingly quick at multiplying as well as dividing by 1.6 while you struggle with this new Constant at every level of haggling.

The modes of the public transport are the Yayta bus, the ubiquitous Micro and Tuk-tuk.

The Toyota-made Micro is fast overtaking the Tuk-tuk (pun intended) in numbers.
The Toyota-made Micro is maneuverable and comfortable for the short distances in the city if only the staff donot overload it.
A common sight on the streets of Kathmandu was chicken / mutton shops and bars on either side of shrines and temples, something quite unimaginable in the parts of India this blogger has lives in/lived in. Varyingly, different levels of influence of India and China can be observed, i.e. Hinduism and Tibetian Buddhism are on display, in the food, clothing, prayer and so on. The most visible symbol of a Nepali is the Nepali Cap or Dhaka Topi.



Camp Thamel
So much for the state of affairs of the state. Camp: Thamel. Thamel was to be our home for the next 5 days. It is a hub for tourists consisting of all that could be expected in a tourist zone. Hotels ( budget to extravagant), pubs, restaurants, extortionist taxis, Wi-Fi, internet parlours, knick-knack stores, souvenir sellers, mountaineering gear, dance bars, cabbies who turns pimps after-dark et al. Three days were spent studying for CFA exams. I spent some time watching television- especially the channels banned in India – Al Jazeera ( what did you think ? ;)
Sight-seeing
We began our sight seeing day with Boudhanath,,one of the holiest Buddhist sites, located Bouddha, Kathmandu. The stupa's massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal. The Buddhist stupa of Boudhanath dominates the skyline. The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in the world. The influx of large populations of Tibetan refugees from China has seen the construction of over 50 Monasteries around Boudhanath.

Legend say that an old woman built this stupa as a mark of respect on the remain of Kasyapa Buddha (Not to be confused with Gautama Buddha, whose birthplace, Lumbini is also in Nepal and hence caused trouble to the movie CC2C)

Then we visited- Swayambhunath. Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are “holy monkeys” living in parts of the temple in the north-west. However, there were lesser monkeys than what one could find at the hill temple of Lord Narasimha at Sholingur (near Tirutani, Tamil Nadu).

The next stop was Patan, by far the more interesting part of the day. Patan Durbar Square contains the King’s Court, numerous temples ( one featuring both Hari and Hara- a rare combination for Hindu temples, one for Bheema). Here, we found a qualified tourist guide, who would speak in Nepali/ Hindi. Much to my consternation, he would mention the datelines and years too in Hindi, forcing me to seek translation. Patan is about art, temples and myths. After feeding on all three we moved to ‘New Road’ and -pardon the cliché -shopped till we dropped. That evening we headed out to a Casino with enough money in our pockets to pay for return taxi fare. Casinos in Nepal are prohibited for Nepali citizens ! (Quite like Liquor is prohibited for Pakistanis in Pakistan). It was fun to watch for a while, but it is a bore if you ahve no money at stake, quite like the stock market ! And since the in-house entertainment did not pass muster, we decided to call it a day.

Last Day. Headed of to meet an acquaintance of an acquaintance. (For those who know me, it comes as no surprise. Networking is inherent in me). Had to hurry to make it to the Pashupathinath. ( Imagine my ignominy, if my family realized that went all the way from Bangalore and had not visited the holy Temple).

Legend has it that a cow which would not yield milk when the cowherd milked it, used to secrete milk suo motu at a particular spot. When that spot was dug up, a Shiv linga was found on that site ‘Pashu’ pathinath was established.
Took pictures from my phone camera. Got caught by the police. Had to delete the pictures :(

It was time to leave, pay the departure tax and head back home.

Let me conclude this blog with a Nepali PJ ( created by yours truly)
Hum: Why will Nepal not have any thefts?
Tum: Because it is the land of the Gurkhas* !!

After In Love with Lahore, Captivating Kathmandu, watch out for Sing-Sing Singapore !!

In Love with Lahore

The student Exchange visit of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to Pakistan (under SAFA – South Asian Federation of Accountants) was finally cleared by Government of India in December, to the collective relief of 9 students and many officials. However, the excitement dropped a couple of notches when we discovered that visas had been granted (inexplicably, isn’t it always?) for just 7 days and for the city of Lahore only as against the application which also included Islamabad and Karachi and was planned for 10 days.

Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of travelling ‘abroad’ and that too to troubled neighbour was sustained. To top it, we were informed that our escort officer’s visa application had been rejected and that we were ‘on our own’. An official briefing just summarised the repetitive buddhivada many including my sister, had delivered – avoid contentious issues, DONOT utter K- word.

While PTDC of Pakistan and DTC of India operate the Delhi-Lahore bus, the officials of the home country manage the administration whosoever bus may be plying. ‘Patriotic’ DTC officials charged Pakistani travellers for excess baggage and let us- Indians- off as the monies went to PTDC (as our tickets were booked on PTDC bus). T

he Delhi-Lahore bus is probably the most secure surface public transport vehicle in the subcontinent. One pilot jeep and one escort vehicle of the local Police accompany the bus right through the entire journey on the Grand Trunk Road built by Sher Shah Suri. Additionally, an anti-hijacking commando sits right inside the bus. The journey time of 12 hours provides an hour and a half for immigration and custom formalities on either side of the Wagha border. This requires physical unloading of the luggage for inspection, reloading, and travelling 200 m to cross the border and unloading again for inspection. We were lucky to be delayed just so much as to witness the Change of Guard ceremony (locally called “Parade”). 20,000 Voices rent the air with emotional cries of “Zindabad” just after the Indian BSF and the Pakistan Ranger alternated the words “Hindustan” and “Pakistan”.Throughout the journey our Pakistani co-passengers tried to tell us that Lahore was no different from any other Indian city.

Upon arrival, our tired contingent had a quick evening tour of Gulberg, a posh locality where we were put up, and discovered (to my considerable disappointment) that Lahore did, indeed, look like any other Indian city.The Next morning, a Sunday was reserved for Sight-seeing. The tour was prefaced with security instructions, asking us not to reveal our nationality and always be within earshot of our armed security guard (who was with us 24X7). Our first visit was to the Race Course Park which once served as the Race Course, until the Islamic hand struck and all forms of gambling was declared Un-Islamic and so it came to be a park.

Our next visit was to the Shalamar Bagh built by Shah Jahan (His idea was to bring the beauty of Kashmiri gardens to the plains). An expansive terraced garden with symmetrical entrances, it has marble structures for the artists to perform and a pavilion for the Emperor. The garden is filled with fountains (of Shah Jahan era). The Bagh’s hydraulic engineering is apparently a marvellous mystery to modern engineers. However, the fountains were not working and when asked why, the ball was thrown back at us. Apparently, India has held back the water on the River Ravi and hence the garden is unable to meet its water requirements. Indeed, we did view the Ravi ; all we could make out was puddles of water.An interesting incident happened at the entrance to the Shalamar Bagh. The entrance to the UNESCO heritage site is priced Rs 10 for locals and Rs 200 for foreigners. Our hosts hoped to get away with the Rs10 tickets but the ‘bindi’ worn by a Thiruvananthapuram colleague gave it away and the security guard wouldn’t let until we bought the Rs 200 tickets.The next stop was at the Shahi Qila (Royal Fort). Built by Akbar, it is about 5 centuries old and houses a museum. Here, we discovered that the city was founded by Lava and Kusha, sons of Rama and was named Lahore after Lav (locally pronounced as ‘Loh’). The North Indian festival of Lohri (coinciding with South Indian Bhogi) apparently derives its name from Lahore.

Situated opposite the Qila is the Badshahi Mosque, built by Aurangazeb almost entirely of red sandstone. It is the world’s largest mosque courtyard for outdoor prayers. Amongst its revered exhibits are relics of Prophet Mohammed including his hair (yes, a single strand is well preserved and so is his clothing) Built across the road from these monuments is Minar-e-Pakistan, a National monument celebrating the creation of Pakistan. It has been built on the very spot where a Muslim League Resolution was passed in 1940 to demand a separate state carved out of Muslim dominated regions of British India.At the Shahi Qila, our contingent took a break for tea at a restaurant and I walked into a souvenir-cum-book shop about 50 metres away. I asked the shopkeeper for a map of Lahore city and he demanded Rs 100 placing it in front of me. I, in my broken Hindi, masquerading as Urdu, said it was beyond what I could afford. The shopkeeper asked if I was a student and to a nod reduced the price to Rs 80. I claimed that it was still way too much. He then questioned me if I was from Karachi to which I said “Nahi”. He asked me as to where I was from. Evading an answer I started looking around while he persisted and I was forced to confess “India”. Do you watch Hindi Movies ?” . Relieved, I beamed “Yes” to which came one more poser. “Is saal kisko milega Best actor award ?” Not having much of a clue, I safely said “I hope it is Shah Rukh; He is my favourite”. To which the two persons happily pronounced that Shah Rukh was their favourite as well and shook my hands profusely, sold their Rs 100 map for Rs 40 and sent their best compliments to Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit.Later, we realised that the local cable TV operator, funnily -or is it villainously- named, Mogambo ( In a tragic coincidence, the man who made Mogambo famous – Amrish Puri died that week; Pakistanis too mourned his death) delivered atleast 8 Bollywood movie channels on his own. On the subject of movies, enquires revealed that locales in the movie “Veer-Zara” were not shot in Lahore but probably India itself.

Most of the satellite channels were Indian, even though there exists an official ban on Indian Channels. Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi is a superhit there too, we realised when locals discussed with us the morality of Tulsi killing her sons. Our waiter summed up the situation rather aptly- “Hindustan ko Pakistan harane keliye Bandhook ka zaroorat nahi,sir. Indian films aur Indian TV channels ko bandh kariye; Pakistan ka log pagal ho jayenge, sir.”

We sneaked past Lahore International Airport named after Allama Iqbal, the poet who gave us “Sare Jahan se acha” and the Qaddafi cricket stadium. We visited ‘Food Street’ a Pre-Independence part of Lahore which houses ‘Hindu buildings’. Our hosts were keen that we taste the best of Lahori cuisine but were disappointed because of “your vegetarian problem”. (sic)

The next day onwards our official programme began and we visited a CA firm, a couple of factories, the Lahore stock exchange and Chambers of Commerce. Here, we came across very friendly people chatting with us about “common origin”, dosti and all until Kashmir somehow sneaked in and the mood became sober. We were even surprised that officials of the Chambers of Commerce in Lahore placed priority on political issues over bilateral trade. In the evenings, we went shopping and visited the old Anarkali Bazar (named after a courtesan in Akbar’s court) famed for alleys name-it-and-you-shall-get-it goods and some haggling.

Shops were stocking up really huge kites in view of the February festival of spring-Basant. Pakistan tourism is attempting to make the kite flying season an international festival. When the merchants eventually got to know that we were from India (Our local escort attempted to protect our identity by proclaiming we were from interior Sindh - where Urdu and Punjabi is not spoken) the reactions were mixed. Some of them exploited the tourists and gave us raw bargain while others gave huge discounts justifying that they had to exhibit their goodwill in a tangible measure for Indians to believe that Pakistanis were serious about Dosti.

Symbols of the common sub-continental history were omnipresent. Many of the pre-partition legislations are common to the countries. The Lahore International Airport is named after Allama Iqbal the poet, who gave us “Sare Jahan se acha”. Pre-partition buildings (many with Hindu inscriptions) in older parts of the city are still around. We dined at a restaurant in one such area.

Overall, a tour of Pakistan turned out to be a wonderful experience. One realises that as individuals, Pakistanis are hospitable hosts and wonderful human beings. I, for one, hope to visit Pakistan again. Or as the Pakistanis say Inshallah I will.

This was written in February 2005, published in the New Sunday Express on 11th February 2005.

In Favour of the Media Ombudsman

The Karnataka Home Minister proposed the Media Ombudsman. We need it now, more than ever.
In an age where there is intense competition from several news channels for eyeballs, editors vie for sensations and create monsters out of molehills, heros out of zeros and vice-versa !
An example of how insensitive TV news channels can be was demonstrated during 26/11. ( watch Al Jazzera's take here and my own here and here).

What better can one expect from a 'contract system' of hiring( hint: They run the widest circulated English language newspaper in the world) The journalist's contract is renewed only if he/ she can produce sensational articles day after day. Who cares for credibility or even readability.

That the Media is protesting against the Ombudsman in the interest of Freedom of Expression is laughable. Read this- NDTV's conduct is shocking.

The Media might criticise the rest of the world. But nobody ought to criticise the Media. This seems to be the media's attitude. And if some one manages to criticise it at all, the response is all too predicatable and irresponsible: Don't shoot the messenger,if you dont like the message.
My foot, the message is fine, Thank you. It is the messenger who is the mischief-monger.

About the Media Ombudsman. The Media is obviously an interested party. And the unscrupulous (most of the Media, is) ones will suppress the voices supporting the ombudsman.
Hence, one should discount Media's own opinion on the proposal. But the real threat is the Media's attempt to obfuscate the issue.

Not long ago, the media forced the Central Government to scuttle a move to bring in controls during an emergency. Apparently because the media has a self-regulatory code. To bolster their argument, they invoke the ghosts of Emergency and Censorship. Seriously, does anyone believe that censorship will work, in this age of blogging.

The bottomline is : We need a Media Ombudsman. The question is:
How, of course, that the Karnataka Government will enforce the Ombudsman is the question ?
Of course, We may never know, since the media is powerful enough to scuttle the Central.

Maybe post-polls some might just have the guts to show the Barkha Dutts of the world their place.

btw.... For those who did not know, the Karnataka Home Minister blogs @ http://www.drvsacharya.blogspot.com

Capital Punishment, yes but no Hangman please

A couple of days ago, I met this physician and we began discussing terrorists, deterrents and Afzal Guru.

He had an unique (repulsive, you might say) alternative to the hangman or the Fasi (or the electric chair, if you will) . He suggested that the convict ( I was about to say 'the capital punishment awardee') be killed so that the body is useful to the rest of humankind.

For instance, healthy convicts may be killed such that their eyes, liver and kidneys are transplanted, the dead body passed on to medical colleges for study purposes.

Sounds very interesting.
Let me play the Devil's Advocate.
What about the dignity of the dead ? What about possible human rights violation ?
Well, organ donation is not known to be undignified. Is it ? It is possible that such donation may be without the consent of the convict, but what-the-hell, the capital punishment probably was not !

As to the exact mode of killing, we did not discuss that, but a physician would know how to effect the same at any degree of pain or painlessness.

After I finished writing this, I googled. There have been other thinkers on the subject here.