Happy Makar Sankranti

Happy Makar Sankaranti. I would like to put something new on my blog in a new year (English or Modern Calendar) by writing about probably the first major festival which comes in new year. I have just collated information from various sources including mails which I get from the HR in my organization. The idea is just to put forward the significance of this lovely festival. I am sorry for writing this a day late but the idea stuck to me only when I saw the festivities around.

People Taking a dip on the holy day in Ganga at Gangasagar.

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervor & gaiety. Lakhs of people take a dip in places like Ganga Sagar & Prayag and pray to Lord Sun.

It is celebrated with pomp in southern parts of the country as Pongal, and in Punjab is celebrated as Lohri & Maghi. Gujarati’s not only look reverentially up to the sun, but also offer thousands of their colorful oblations in the form of beautiful kites all over the skyline…It is a day for which Bhishma Pitamah kept waiting to leave his mortal coil.

Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun-God of Hindus begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere. Sun for the Hindus stands for Pratyaksha-Brahman – the manifest God, who symbolizes, the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, glorious divinity blessing one & all tirelessly.

Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the proverbial Wheel of Time. The famous Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted everyday by every faithful Hindu, is directed to Sun God to bless them with intelligence & wisdom. Sun not only represents God but also stands for an embodiment of knowledge & wisdom. …

Of all the cosmic bodies Sun is the most glorious & important, thus every sun-centric cosmic event became very important spiritual, religious & cultural events. On Makar Sankranti day the Sun begins its ascendancy and journey into the Northern Hemisphere…

For the religious and astrological significance of “Makar Sankranti”, read on:

Astrological Significance:

Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition. There is a sankranti every month when the sun passes from one sign of the zodiac to the next. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, and thus there are twelve sankranti’s as well. Each of these sankranti’s has its own relative importance but two of these are more important – the Mesh (Aries) Sankranti and the most important, the Makar (Capricorn) Sankranti.

Transition of the Sun from Sagittarius to Capricorn, during the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is known as Makar Sankranti. From this day begins the six-month long Uttarayana, considered very auspicious for attaining higher worlds hereafter.

While the traditional Indian Calendar is basically based on lunar positions, but sankranti is a solar event, so while dates of all festivals keep changing, the english calendar date of Makar Sankranti is always same, 14th January. Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the Hindu Calendar month of Magha. There is another significance of this day, after this day the days start becoming longer & warmer, and thus the chill of winter in on decline.

Religious Significance:

1. The Puranas say that on this day Sun visits the house of his son Shani, who is the swami of Makar Rashi. These father & son do not ordinarily get along nicely, but inspite of any difference between each other Lord Sun makes it a point to meet each other on this day. Father in fact himself comes to his son’s house, for a month. This day symbolized the importance of special relationship of father & son. It is the son who has the responsibility to carry forward his fathers dream and the continuity of the family.

2. From Uttarayana starts the “day” of Devatas, while dakshinayana is said to be the “night” of devatas, so most of the auspicious things are done during this time. Uttarayana is also called as Devayana, and the next half is called Pitrayana.

3.It was on this day when Lord Vishnu ended the ever increasing terrorism of the Asuras by finishing them off and burying their heads under the Mandar Parvat. So this occasion also represents the end of negativities and beginning of an era of righteous living.

4. The great savior of his ancestors, Maharaj Bhagirath, did great Tapasya to bring Gangaji down on the earth for the redemption of 60,000 sons of Maharaj Sagar, who were burnt to ashes at the Kapil Muni Ashram, near the present day Ganga Sagar. It was on this day that Bhagirath finally did tarpan with the Ganges water for his unfortunate ancestors and thereby liberated them from the curse. After visiting the Patala for the redemption of the curse of Bhagirath’s ancestors Gangaji finally merged in the Sagar. Even today a very big Ganga Sagar Mela is organized every year on this day at the confluence of River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal. Lakhs take dip in the water and do tarpan for their ancestors.

We salute such a great devotee & benefactor of his ancestors. One who can express such gratitude to his ancestors, work with tireless resolve to redeem the pride, pledges & resolves of his forefathers, alone possess a personality, which the history reveals to be a true benefactor of the world too. A person who has severed his own roots gets soon rooted out in the flow of time. Moral of the story is to see to it that the roots of the tree of “our” life are not only intact but nourished well, thereafter alone the tree blooms & flourishes.

There is another spiritually symbolic aspect of this story. The 60,000 cursed son of Maharaj Sagar represent our thoughts, who become dull & dead-like because of uncultured & blind ambition. Redemption of such people is only by the waters of Gangaji, brought down “to” & later “from” the Himalayas with great tapasya. This represents dedicated hard work to get the redeeming Brahma-Vidya, which alone enlightens, enthuses & enlivens the life of anyone.

5. Another well-known reference of this day came when the great grandsire of Mahabharata fame, Bhishma, declared his intent to leave his mortal coil on this day. He had the boon of Ichha-Mrityu from his father, so he kept lying on the bed of arrows till this day and then left his mortal coil on Makar Sankranti day. It is believed that the person, who dies during the period of Uttarayana, becomes free from transmigration. So this day was seen as a sure-shot Good Luck day to start your journey or endeavors to the higher realms beyond.

Culture & Festivities:

This festival is celebrated differently in different parts of the country.

Uttar Pradesh:

In Uttar Pradesh, Sankrant is called “Khichiri”. Taking a dip in the holy rivers on this day is regarded as most auspicious. A big one-month long “Magha-Mela” fair begins at Prayag (Allahabad) on this occasion. Apart from Triveni, ritual bathing also takes place at many places like Haridvar and Garh Mukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh, and Patna in Bihar.





Colourful kites being sold in a Shop iColourful kites being sold in a Shop in [Lucknow]


Bengal:

In Bengal every year a very big Mela is held at Ganga Sagar where the river Ganga is believed to have dived into the nether region and vivified the ashes of the sixty thousand ancestors of King Bhagirath. This mela is attended by a large number of pilgrims from all over the country.

Tamil Nadu:

In Tamil Nadu Sankrant is known by the name of “Pongal”, which takes its name from the surging of rice boiled in a pot of milk, and this festival has more significance than even Diwali. It is very popular particularly amongst farmers. Rice and pulses cooked together in ghee and milk is offered to the family deity after the ritual worship. In essence in the South this Sankrant is a “Puja” (worship) for the Sun God.

Andhra Pradesh:

In Andhra Pradesh, it is celebrated as a three-day harvest festival Pongal. It is a big event for the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugus like to call it ‘Pedda Panduga’ meaning big festival. The whole event lasts for four days, the first day Bhogi, the second day Sankranti, the third day Kanuma and the fourth day, Mukkanuma.

Karnataka:

In Karnataka, the festival is marked by visiting one’s friends and relatives to exchange greetings, and by the preparation of a dish called Ellu (made with sesame seeds, coconuts, sugar blocks, etc). A common custom found across Karnataka is the exchange of sugarcane pieces and Ellu with one’s neighbors, friends and relatives. In Karnataka, Pongal is known as ‘Sankranti’, and cows and bullocks are gaily decorated and fed ‘Pongal’- a sweet preparation of rice. Special prayers are offered. In the evening, the cattle are led out in procession to the beat of drums and music. In the night a bonfire is lit and the animals are made to jump over the fire.

Makar Sankranti is marked by men, women and children wearing colorful clothing; visiting near and dear ones; and exchanging pieces of sugarcane, a mixture of fried til, molasses, pieces of dry coconut, peanuts and fried gram. On this auspicious day, people in Karnataka distribute Yellu and bella (Sesame seeds and Jaggery) and greet with the words “Ellu bella thindu, Olle Maathu Aadu (Eat sesame seeds and speak only good). The significance of this exchange is that sweetness should prevail in all the dealings.

Maharashtra:

In Maharashtra on the Sankranti day people exchange multi-colored tilguds made from til (sesame seeds) and sugar and til-laddus made from til and jaggery. Til-polis are offered for lunch. While exchanging tilguls as tokens of goodwill people greet each other saying: “til-gul ghya, god god bola” meaning “accept these tilguls and speak sweet words”. The under-lying thought in the exchange of tilguls is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends.

This is a special day for the women in Maharashtra when married women are invited for a get-together called �Haldi-Kumkum� and given gifts of any utensil, which the woman of the house purchases on that day.

Gujarat:

In Gujarat Sankrant is observed more or less in the same manner as in Maharashtra but with a difference that in Gujarat there is a custom of giving gifts to relatives. The elders in the family give gifts to the younger members of the family. The Gujarati Pundits on this auspicious day grant scholarships to students for higher studies in astrology and philosophy. This festival thus helps the maintenance of social relationships within the family, caste and community.

Kite flying has been associated with this festival in a big way. It has become an internationally well-known event.

Punjab:

In Punjab where December and January are the coldest months of the year, huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Sankrant and which is celebrated as “LOHARI”. Sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown in the bonfires, around which friends and relatives gather together. The following day, which is Sankrant, is celebrated as MAGHI. The Punjabi’s dance their famous Bhangra dance till they get exhausted. Then they sit down and eat the sumptuous food that is specially prepared for the occasion.

Kerala:

The 40 days anushthana by the devotees of Ayyappa ends on this day in Sabarimala with a big festival.

Bundelkhand:

In Bundelkhand and Madhya Pradesh this festival of Sankrant is known by the name “Sakarat” and is celebrated with great pomp & merriment accompanied by lot of sweets.

Tribals of Orissa:

Many tribals in our country start their New Year from the day of Sankrant by lighting bonfires, dancing and eating their particular dishes sitting together. The Bhuya tribals of Orissa have their Maghyatra in which small home-made articles are put for sale.

Assam:

In Assam, the festival is celebrated as Bhogali Bihu.

Coastal Region:

In the coastal regions, it is a harvest festival dedicated to Indra.

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How to Celebrate:

1. Get up early in the morning, before sunrise, have bath and be ready with water & flowers for the sunrise. Worship the rising Sun, by offering water, flowers with both the hands & then pray with folded hands by chanting the Gayatri Mantra and pray for knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment to rise in the similar way to greater & greater heights. Pray for blessings to live a dynamic, inspired & righteous life.

2. Do tarpan for your ancestors. Offer water to the ancestors while praying for their blessings. Resolve to redeem the pledges & pride of your forefathers. Live life in such a way that wherever your forefathers may be their head is held high by the life & deeds of their children.

3. Have a special session of Meditation, wherein you bring about the awareness of the self-effulgent subjective divinity. Affirm the greatest importance of your spiritual goal very clearly, and pray to God to bless you with the capacity to constantly revel in your true self. May the graph of your rise like the Uttarayana Sun. May there be greater ‘Love & Light’ in your life & the world.

4. Prepare laddus or other sweets of Til & Gur and offer them to your friends & relatives. See to it that your “Well-being Prayer for all” gets manifested in action & deeds.

5. Have the lunch of Khichiri. This stands for inculcating simplicity in your life & habits.

6. Give some Daan on this day to someone who truly deserves.

7. *Visit your son at his place and give presents to the son and the daughter-in-law. If it is not possible to visit, then organize to send presents to them to express your love & affection to them. Work to properly cultivate the generation, which has to carry forward all the best you cherish & value


* I would modify this to suggest, visit your children (not only your son).


Love,

Saket.

One more Bomb Blast! So what.....

Am not sure of how many of you have been to Varanasi but if you haven’t been , please take my advice and do visit the place atleast once in this lifetime. The peace which one encounters amidst so much commotion in this town is unparallel. With a temple almost at every 100m one moves, holy chants will meet you anywhere you go. No am not writing this piece to glorify Varanasi. A bomb blast which took play around 10 days back in this holy city has forced me to do so. I know many of you won’t even remember that there was a blast which took place. As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts please excuse me for being so unimaginative so as to always put my analysis in points as below but then I am a Software Engineer and the community was never known for it’s imaginary skills. Please find below some of my thoughts on this and I am already asking for pardon if you find these a bit vitriolic as I am writing this in anguish.

1. Mr. Prime Minister own this or get lost: Well we have the most able and efficient PM. He has always condemned the blasts just within 24 hours. More than enough has been propagated and written about our respectable PM, his honesty, his integrity, his impeccable academics and what not. I am sorry but to me and to many other Indians all this bandied about him is just trash. Amidst all scams we have seen his honesty and integrity well enough. But I have a request to him atleast show some spine in matters related to Internal Security. We have lost count of number of blasts which has happened in last 6.5 years of your rule. And what have you done apart from giving state honor to Afzal and Kasab. A very basic rule I know is if you don’t punish an errant child for his wrong doing he will get encouraged and will keep repeating the mistakes. What has your Government done to instill fear in terrorist organizations? And did I ask you that while your government was so prompt in taking action against small and inconsequential Hindu organizations and arresting Pragya Thakur and ilk, why so much inaction in taking action where it mattered? Mr. PM you have failed miserably in almost all forms of administration. The least I expect from you is that you own the responsibility and do something concrete before the post is given to the Yuvaraj.


2. Home Minister, may I ask the color of this terror? :  P.Chidambaram only claim to fame is his foot in mouth disease. Very infamously he warned the country of incoming consequences of ‘Saffron Terror’. The despicable home minister has not bothered to tell the nation what has happened to investigations of various blasts which have happened in last so many years of UPA. Is this because all these blasts were not saffron in color. Or because the organization which was largely responsible for these blasts had a ‘Green’ color attached to it. It is surprising that when Indian Mujahideen has always claimed that they are the ones responsible for these blasts, the administration has always looked at other side and in a motivated move keeps harping about Saffron terror. And while I am writing this Yuvaraj has claimed to US ambassador that dangers that Saffron brigade poses to Indian state are far more than even LET poses. This is future PM to us. Rahul Baba these people know much more about India than you do. They don’t need your expert advice. But then we deserve it. It is we Indians who have been so blindly taken whatever the Gandhi Nehru clan gave to us which most of the time was not good for us, not good for state not good for anyone except the family.


3. Indian Media and their agenda : This is where I am most hurt. Politicians are meant to be wicked and they are doing what almost all Indians expect them to do.But media which is the watch dog of any country has let the Indians down so badly. Nira radia tapes have shown very clearly how so reputed and famous journalists well known for their guts to speak truth, to comment impartially, were hand in glove with the criminals. Ms Burqa Dutt has always known to be soft and partial to Congress, you see her on her on shows like ‘We the People’ on discussions related to terrorism and after discussions she would always make me feel as if Hinduism is the root cause of all terror in India. Quite commendable Ms Burqa Dutt. Anyways it is fashionable to be secular in India. And secular in India means majority bashing and minority appeasing.
The whole of media categorized this as a low intensity blast which killed just one.So it can be forgotten and put in a dustbin. Just 3 days later (the blast happened on 7th Dec) I could not see the blast or any news related on any channel. NDTV under the able guidance of Ms Burqa Dutt didn’t have the balls to even name Indian Mujahidden. And believe you me if this blast would have taken at even a small mosque then whole of media would have just taken the Hindu organizations to task without even slight evidence. Shows after shows would have run on TV with symbols such as OM and Trishul(Trident) as background. Now that I want a Crescent or green color for this news but which problem can be cured without identifying the root cause. Just because India is currently run by pseudo-secular people amply helped by a paid media which sees the other way, truth that India is plagued by terror from fanatic Islamic organizations won’t change. And our denial of this truth is the primary reason that we still are having blasts every other day. India has to first identify and then admit that there is a problem before curing it. Western world did that and not a single incident of even a small magnitude has happened in US since 9/11.

During 26/11 strike senior Hindustan Times columnist Mukul Keshavan opposed the campaign by Hindu operatives against Hindu Terrorism hoax by saying that “because malegaon is a low magnitude attack, it can not be treated as some low magnitude sin”.Totally agree, but Mr. Mukul could not or did not display his guts in case of a criticism on Islamic Terrorism. Any condemn-article from his side was not found even in twitter micro bog. So this is the reality of the courageous journo.But this time without waiting for confirmation our national level journo had indirectly tried to somehow drag the Hindus. Mr. Arnav Goswami of Times Now stated in a discussion forum just after an hour that the attackers claiming themselves Indian Mujahideen may not be authentic. The statement was sugar coated by saying that they meant to say that they wanted to verify whether this group is alive or not. But his only aim was to drag Hindu possibility when he said “in the letter nowhere mentioned something wrong about majorities’ misdeeds.” Bulshittttttttttttttttt


4. Can someone ask Digvijay Singh to shut up? : Without sounding jingoistic and emotional this guy should be killed or put to death as soon as possible. Just t o regain his lost place in political circle he is uttering absolute trash day in day out and sadly no one is taming him.He used Karkare’s death to appease minority.And got rightly rebuked by his widow. But this shameless guy shows no remorse. He goes to Azamgarh and sympathises with terrorists and their families instead of doing so with the policemen who lost their lives in Batla House case. His misgivings are endless and are making the atmosphere so vitriolic that if he is allowed to do so for some more time situation in India will be very dangerous. And this time while the Blasts took place and should have got all attention from media and government should have been cornered, this guy comes in, speak some trash and diverts all attention. Smart move for the party and the government.


5. We the People, need to come out of deep slumber: Whatever I have mentioned above doesn’t absolve us the populace of India of it’s share of blame. Indians to me are the most selfish, self-centred people in the world. We care the least for anything which doesn’t concern us directly. The urban India is too busy in pursuing its dreams and rural India is too busy in making its ends meet. The Educated middle class has an opinion but it never votes. We get fooled by leaders sorry politicians like Rahul Gandhi who has mastered the art of hibernating. He will come out in public, give some Kodak moments, go to some remote village,
take a ride in a Mumbai local etc. All very good for image building Mr PM in making. But what about real issues? You didn’t utter a single word on CWG and 2G Scam. I want to know if the scams of these magnitudes cannot force you to come out and speak then what will? So we all know your acting and theatrical skills now. But what about the junta who still goes mad at the mere mention of Rahul baba. Agreed we want a young leader with some fresh ideas to take the nation to greater heights but why it has to be him? In his own party there are several young bright leaders who are not given any media attention just because all media coverage is concentrated on Rahul Baba. We as a nation should be extremely careful in making choices as to who will lead us. We should be more vocal, more aware, and more participative in the process of governance. We should question, discuss, blog, tweet, do whatever is convenient to put pressure on government. We should be reading lot of history to know about our culture.
All in all we should be good citizens who are not to be fooled anymore. All these last years especially with this government majority religion has been portrayed so very badly. In last 1000 years or so the Hindus have been so tolerant (or coward) that they embraces everyone who came, who attacked, who pondered. And when someone raises his voice he is called a Right Wing activist or a terrorist these days. I will request all you readers to be not carried away by the agenda followed by some self serving politicians and be aware and proud of the culture and legacy they have.

I think it has already become too long and preachy. I again ask for pardon but will request you to read and ponder over this. Am not taking any sides here. These are musings of a guy who thinks a lot about the nation. Please comment on the post if you feel you have a point to make.


Love,
Saket.

Rewind to the Childhood Days

Around Christmas time every year I usually go to Mumbai as my nephew’s birthday falls on 31st Dec and he being the first kid in the family enjoys the privilege of most loved child. But since last 2 years I was forced to break the ritual (someone from nana nani family had to be there).Instead the kids along with parents have visited us and we have celebrated the last week of the year together. So since the last week is just around and the kids have sounded so excited (as always) about being with their Mama, I thought to go shopping to gift the kids to make celebrations a bit more merrier. So here I was in Landmark to search for some suitable things for the kids. The new age kids put forward before you such a complex dilemma when you want to give them a game, toy etc.


I will talk about this some day later but while scouting something for them I happened to pick a game which instantly made me nostalgic and brought upon so many memories. The name of the game will do the same to all of you who read this. The game was Snakes and Ladders and this is when I thought of writing this.

I had an inkling about the fact that the game had it’s origins in India but not to much detail. This clue I got from a note present in the game. Here is the first clue I got :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders#cite_ref-Mathematical_Gazette_1-1

Some excerpts from the above mentioned link are here :

Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called Vaikuntapaali (stairs to Vaikuntha) or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation). This game made its way to England, and was eventually introduced in the United States of America by game pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943.

“…The game was played widely in ancient India by the name of Moksha Patamu, the earliest known Jain version Gyanbazi dating back to 16th century. The game was called “Leela” – and reflected the Hinduism consciousness around everyday life. Impressed by the ideals behind the game, a newer version was introduced in Victorian England in 1892, possibly by John Jacques of Jacques of London.

Moksha Patamu was perhaps invented by Hindu spiritual teachers to teach children about the effects of good deeds as opposed to bad deeds. The ladders represented virtues such as generosity, faith, humility, etc., and the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, theft, etc. The moral of the game was that a person can attain salvation (Moksha) through performing good deeds whereas by doing evil one takes rebirth in lower forms of life (Patamu). The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that treading the path of good is very difficult compared to committing sins. Presumably the number “100″ represented Moksha (Salvation). In Andhra Pradesh, snakes and ladders is played in the name of Vaikuntapali.. “

Some more research gave me an idea about a book written on this game and the idea behind the game. This book by Harish Johari titled : “The Yoga of Snakes and Arrows” gives an insight on the meta-physicality attached to the game. As almost everything in ancient India was, this game too has an intriguing spiritual aspect. Some excerpts from the book are mentioned below:

“Four things are necessary for one or more to play Leela: the Leela book and game board, a die (of karma) and a significant object that belongs to the player, such as a ring, to serve as the player’s symbol during the game. Each of the seventy-two squares on the board of Leela represents a virtue or vice, an aspect of human consciousness or a plane of being. The players’ progress is dictated by the fall of a die corresponding to the forces of karma. The seven planes through which the player must pass before he reaches the eighth plane – the plane beyond all planes – are the seven chakras. Leela is not merely an entertainment but a serious method of understanding the phenomenal world of Maya (Illusion), and the spiritual nature of our individual self that leads us to the journey towards liberation.

The saints who invented this game used the game-board to recognize the present state of their own being. By playing the game time and again they consciously observed which snake brought them down and which arrows took them up. Observing their own inner self, they could tell whether they had understood what it is to be not involved. The uniqueness of Leela – the game of self-knowledge – is that it is a study of scriptures and discovery of the self at the same time”

Some more information about the game related to the spiritual aspects of the game :

“The ladders represented virtues and snakes vices. In the original game square 12 was faith, 51 was Reliability, 57 was Generosity, 76 was Knowledge, and 78 was Asceticism. These were the squares were the ladder was found.

Square 41 was for Disobedience, 44 for Arrogance, 49 for Vulgarity, 52 for Theft, 58 for Lying, 62 for Drunkenness, 69 for Debt, 84 for Anger, 92 for Greed, 95 for Pride, 73 for Murder and 99 for Lust. These were the squares were the snake was found.

The Square 100 represented Nirvana or Moksha.”

And please find below a picture of the game board as it was in ancient times.

I am not sure about you all but atleast I had no idea that the game which we were so much indulged in as kids had so much aura attached to it.

And did I tell you that I walked out of the store with just one game and yes it is Snakes and Ladders.

Please do comment on how you found this post.

Love,
Saket

R.I.P Hamara Bajaj

Last Friday when I was pillion riding with my colleague Sarath on his Pulsar to reach a restaurant for a treat from another colleague , it so happened that we stopped at a signal and I happened to see a Bajaj scooter among the vast plethora of vehicles on the road. And that was the moment I decided to write this as my tribute to one of the signpost of the India’s journey towards growth modernization and liberalization.

Bajaj scooters, one of the aspirations of the Indian middle class for decades, will soon be part of history. Bajaj Auto announced on Wednesday that it is exiting the scooter segment altogether, bringing the curtains down on its iconic product line. The company had stopped making the Chetak, once the world’s largest selling scooter, almost three years ago, and according to its MD Rajeev Bajaj, it will stop production of its non-starter Kristal series by end of the current fiscal. Rajiv Bajaj, great-grandson of a man who founded his industrial empire making light bulbs, announced the decision to stop producing scooters at the same time China said its people were buying a million cars a month. Indians bought 133,687 cars in November. With China opening its lead over the US as the world’s biggest market, the centre of gravity in the automobile industry has decidedly moved to Asia. The scooter is an unfortunate casualty of this shift. It is no coincidence that the largest manufacturers of scooters — and bicycles — have at different points in time been Indian companies. The rest of the world had simply stopped using them on a grand scale.

Post-independence era for India started with cycles thronging the road alongwith Ambassadors for the VIP movement. People who have seen the decades of 70’s and mid 80’s will have abiding memories of a family perched precariously on a scooter and that scooter would been 9 out of 10 times a Bajaj. There was a time when Chetak commanded premium in the market and after booking, people used to wait for months to get the scooter. Infact many elders have told me that the Bajaj Scooter was one of those things which had to be a part of dowry in those days. People had amazing trust on the Bajaj brand.In the mid 90’s Bajaj came up with an ad campaign titled ‘Hamara Bajaj’ which eventually became a kind of anthem and the sale of Bajaj Scooters roared. In 1995 Bajaj sold close to 1 million scooters.

 
Earlier logo of Bajaj

 As a mode of transportation, shopkeepers, SME owners ferried and marketed their goods on Bajaj scooter. Bikes are incapable to perform such onerous tasks of carrying goods. Bajaj ruled the roost with the carriages and boxes can be piled on any side of this scooter, front, back, side, between the legs. At times, the driver would be seen driving with his leg dangling in the air, folded and piled on top of the box, stretching the leg on top of the boxes with the little space to apply brakes on the right side. It was a truly Indian scooter designed for use for an Indian family unlike Vespa or Lambretta. Bajaj had a carriage in the front, storage side on the left rear, a stepny on the back for holding the family onto the scooter.

If I may say so, I have witnesses the most interesting time period in lifecycle of Bajaj scooters. While I was growing up, all the kids with cycles always looked for a chance to get their first hang of how a automobile work. I am quite sure that many of us have learnt to ride two wheelers on Bajaj. Getting to ride
the scooter was the elevation every kid with cycle was looking for. All those boys who had got the promotion from cycle to scooter were the ‘Guys’ whom girls will pay attention( though scant I must say, school girls were still very shy in those days). And guys like me who were still on their Hero Ranger cycles
will be just left fuming. I am pretty sure that many of us would have gone through these scenes.There was a time, when your scooter becomes a car. You don’t even remember how many times only you or two had taken ride on it. At least three or at times four. You approach your first love with Bajaj scooter by your side. Standing at the other end of the narrow bylane of the girl’s house and waiting for the girl you wish to propose or your girlfriend, only Bajaj scooter was the partner in so many’s tryst of destiny.


Besides making love stories successful, Bajaj helped and contributed immensely towards building homes. It helped people move across their daily needs on this scooter. Carrying and dropping their loved ones from one part to other part of the city. Driving Bajaj was fun and everybody who owned a scooter had a smile on his/her face.



Riding with the family on scooter. Man, wife and their two/three kids.


Cut to 1991 Indian economy opens it’s door to liberalization and urban India started witnessing a more robust and a flashy two wheeler ‘Motorbike’ on it’s roads. Within a couple of years the Hero Hondas, the Kawasaki, the TVSs started pushing the scooters to a corner. It didn’t help that the Bajaj never paid attention to product development. For instance Kinetic came up with a gearless and a self start model primararily focused on female drivers. Similarly Vespa ventured into scooter market with some smarter designs. So now if a boy was still chasing a girl on his Bajaj Super or Chetak he was labeled as BTG (Bhaiyya Types Guy). What a transformation I must say. Scooter was still the preferred choice but only for Uncles ( Even I am one now courtesy all kids in my apt block). Their grown up sons wanted to ride only bikes. They will prefer to walk over riding an old fashioned scooter.

Time to move on. A new generation is at helm in Bajaj to look after the affairs of the company. And this new generation certainly thinks that manufacturing scooters is not to look forward. Bajaj has seen a turnaround in it’s fortunes with Pulsar brand. Yesterday’s people mover is bowing out when tomorrow’s mass carrier is rolling out of Tata plants. And the difference is not merely about purchasing power. The Nano is a product created for the Indian reality in the same way that Bajaj scooter was in the past. Even Bajaj’s logo has gone for complete overhaul with the younger generation taking charge of the company and the market.
It’s time for a new Sun to rise as as the Hamara Bajaj is riding into sunset.
The new logo.

Please feel free to put your comments here on how did you liked what I have written.

Love,
Saket.

Let’s Remember our Real Heroes

Captain Vikram Batra, Major Saravanan, Captain Manoj Pandey ,Sqn. Ldr Ajay Ahuja, Captain Kieshing Nongrum, Lt. Saurabh Kalia, Lt. Col. Vishwanathan, Sepoy Lal Singh, Sepoy Rakesh Kumar, Sepoy Rakesh Kumar, Sepoy Raswinder Singh, Sepoy Bir Singh……..

Do these names ring a bell? I am sure not.
These names don’t mean anything to this Facebook, MTV, Orkut Crazy generation.
Ask them to name the reckless, useless winner of a reckless, useless show in MTV Roadies and you will get a prompt answer.

Well these were among the thousands brave hearts who fended off evil Pakistani army goons who had infiltrated our side of LOC in the guise of mujahideen. Ten years after India fought the most televised battle in the history of warfare in the subcontinent, Indians seemed to have moved on.

At 11.30 past night I messaged some friends ‘Happy Vijay Divas’ and ‘Kargil Forgotten’.
Some of these friends were happily and heavily drunk at a reataurant called ‘It’s Greek to Me’ and the text perhaps seemed all too Latin to them.

A Google Search cleared the haze next morning in .17 secs.

Well these very dear friends of mine actually reflects the times we are living in,that tells me that an ungrateful nation had forgotten to salute a famous victory against Pakistan.

A victory in achieving which 562 soldiers had bravely, selflessly, unquestioningly laid down their lives for their country and countrymen, i.e. us, in the cold heights of Kargil.The present generation takes lot of pride in calling themselves as ‘Liberal’ and broad minded. But even for a "liberal" nation with an equally ‘liberal’ generation which has scarcely any militaristic sentiments, it seemed too obvious an event to miss, especially given the rap the nation had received for their disgraceful send off to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in June.But the Sunday papers provided little proof that old habits die hard. It again reminded me that we as a nation are hardly proud of our history, culture and legacy.

The largest selling newspaper in the world ‘The Times of India’ didn’t think that Vijay Divas demanded any special mention. After all there are other important strategic issues to be covered such as Gay rights etc.

But I must say that Electronic Media proved me wrong. Almost all the prominent news channels covered it extensively. A lot of them stressed upon the history involved, reasons behind the war and aftermath.
Highly appreciated.

Ten years have passed by. But have we learnt our lessons. I regret that the answer is no.
I am not going into why Kargil happened and what could have been done 10years ago
As there is no point in crying over spilt milk. But every war teaches a lesson to the countries involved. The lessons can be categorized in some broad categories :
Political,Social,Militarily,Intelligence and Strategic.

I again regret that we have hardly learnt any lesson.

Political lessons are to be taken by the most worthless citizens in our country, the politicians. I was mad with anger over how they are scrambling to make a political issue out of this too. Congress govt not showing much enthusiasm in celebrating Vijay Divas
as according to some of them the victory came under NDA.

Those who cover the defence beat say the Kargil victory is now viewed as "an NDA/BJP victory" with which the UPA/Congress wants to have no part. "The Congress has its 1971, the BJP has its 1999," says one award-winning reporter.(That the Congress which does not want to remember 1999 could not even remember the hero of the 1971 victory(to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw )properly tells its own story.But if true, how pathetic as a people can we be getting, that we view the triumph of the nation, the sacrifice of our soldiers, not through a wide, collective prism, but through a narrow, constricted aperture of the government of the day?Certainly, critics, skeptics and cynics in the military, media and polity have plenty of questions over how the Kargil victory was achieved: The intelligence and strategic failures, the antiquated techniques in capturing Tiger Hill (the site of most of the casualties), etc.Plus, there is the coffin scam over which the Congress walked out of the House each time then defense minister George Fernandes got up to speak.Much as those questions may be important and need to be answered, how do they take the gloss away from a great victory? And how do they make a meaningful observance meaningless?What kind of signal is such peevishness sending to the jawan in the field, and to potential recruits? What kind of impact does it have on their morale and motivation to be reminded that they are not fighting for the nation at large but for the coalition in power?Is this something over which our parties should try to score silly points?Is this how we show how much we value the armed forces?This is not to suggest that the President and prime minister and defense minister and Congress president must drop everything and break out into a bhangra every July 26 for the benefit of the television cameras. But what do they lose by gracefully acknowledging Kargil's place in our contemporary history?

This was for political class.

There are some lessons to be learned after every war which are very Militarist in nature.
Just a day before I read a report which reports that ‘CAG’ has termed the Gorshkov defense deal as totally useless. Almost all the defense deals happening are shady.
Army is equipped with sub standard weapons. Are we ready for another Kargil?

There are still so many families who have not got their due from governments.The government and the system continues to treat them shabbily. My heart goes out for them.

And now the baiton passes to us. Are we as a citizen even aware of our Army and the great role it plays in safeguarding our interests. Aren’t we so engrossed with our own busy lives and selfish dreams that we don’t even know that there is a Vijay Divas today and it needs to be celebrated.
I wish the Media plays a more proactive role in guiding the citizens towards this. e.g instead of beaming useless Reality TV programmes as ‘Rakhi Ka Swanyvar’ why not
beam a programme on War Heroes.Take some creative liberty to make it sellable. Add some fiction to the real life stories and present it to audience. Well it’s just a small idea.

I am actually quite anguished and emotional today as I write this and I might sound over the top in what I have written but am not apologetic for the same. And as I am writing this I have just watched news on TV which says that Defense Minister and Prime Minister have stayed away from the celebrations. There must be reasons for this.
And I remember a famous Urdu couplet written for freedom fighters.

शहीदो क़ी य़ाद मे लगेंगे हर बरस मेले
वतन पे मिटने वालों का बाकी यही ऩिशान होगा

Times have changed and the poor martyrs won’t know that there won’t be any ‘Mela’
for their remembrance now. The nation has forgotten them.



I will close this post with a request to have a glance at the below mentioned links.
They carry some info of my favorite heroes from Kargil War,
Captain Vikram Batra and Captain Manoj Pandey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikram_Batra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manoj_Pandey
http://captainmanojpandey.tripod.com/


Also try to watch a movie called ‘1971’.One of the rare hindi movies made on POWs
(Prisoner of Wars).

And with a request to observe a silence for a minute in memory of these brave men.
That’s the least we could do.


Jai Hind.

Love,
Saket.

Travelogue of a journey from India to Bharat

The journey was truly from India to Bharat. The occasion was Wedding Ceremony
of a friend and colleague. The Wedding was to be held at Jhansi. The name Jhansi
evokes such a great sense of history as we all have grown up on great patriotic stories
of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Now we all know how hazardous it is to apply for leave
in these troublesome times but a mandatory week off forced by client on our team allowed us to go for the wedding. Now since the trip was planned on a very short notice affordability of air tickets went beyond our finance. So we all planned to take the service of Indian Railways to travel. But even here we could manage a Sleeper Tier ticket that too not all of us got confirmed seats.
Travelling in Sleeper class to north India in mid July will give scare to anyone who has faced the fury of summers in that part of India. That I have been in Bangalore for last 5 years in the most beautiful weather has made me even more skeptic about travelling.But the feeling of going to land where you have been brought up and where your roots lie will overcome all these apprehensions.
The train leaves Bangalore at 19:35.Now Bangalore railway station is not the perfect example of how a Railway station of a leading metropolitan should be but it is just enough clean and tidy enough that if your train is late you can comfortably wait at
the platform.
Indian Railways sleeper class coaches can be perfect classrooms for the course in
Hospitality management. All the leading institutes around the globe should make it sure that the students enrolling in this course should be given a trip in the sleeper class and it will be even better if the trip involves travelling across any north Indian town.Anyone who boards the train at any station boards the train with an assurance that irrespective of whether he has a reservation or not, he is entitled to sit or sleep at any seat he wish to. The boarder enters the compartment and if he has the seat he will take the seat quite assertively and if he doesn’t have a seat he will ask the already seated people to just push a bit so that he too can have a seat. The one who has the seat reserved is expected to be hospitable enough to accommodate any no of people who comes through. Will you get a better example of sense of hospitality anywhere else !.
This is Indian Railways for you.
There are huge distances to be covered. So there are various means of passing time.
People make friends, they discuss politics,cricket. These days they carry laptops too
so have the luxury of watching movies, listening music. And then we have the ubiquitous ‘Chai wala’ without whose ‘Chai’ no journey is any Indian train is complete.
So one ends up gulping 10-15 tea cups during the journey.
In my compartment I was accompanied by 4 engineering graduates who are pursuing
engineering in Bangalore and were retuning home to Lucknow via Jhansi after finishing their semesters.As usual they had just one seat between them and I readily became a
‘bhaiya’ for them. Now the term ‘bhaiya’ if used in Maharashtra evoke such a fear
in north Indians(courtesy Mr Raj Thakeray) but when used in Trains,such a perfect platform for forging relationships. In the same compartment another student studying Pharma was travelling to his home in Rajasthan.He readily became another bhai for the eng. Grads. So at 11 pm me and the pharma student were sharing the berth so that we all can sleep tight in night.

The next day was spent with these guys narrating how enjoyable their first 2 years have been far away from watchful eyes of parents. They will narrate their dare devil acts and one fellow in our compartment who must be in late 30’s had it enough and sarcastically asks them ‘Are they right in doing all this? Was this the reason their parents have sent them here? Moments ago this man was being offered wafers, soft drinks and what not by these guys but now he was an Uncle. I tell you, this generation hates being preached.

The day passed by. The night too. The train reaches Jhansi at 3.30 A.M. The train reached at the right time. We got down. And what was to be seen was a huge sea of humanity sleeping on the floor as if we have reached some Military dormitory just that the amount of dirt and filth lying around the area the people were sleeping would shoo away all notions of this being a Military camp. Welcome to Bharat.

62 years of freedom from Gora Sahib’s rule but when our Railways Minister talked of
Creating 50 'World Class Railways stations' and 375 ‘Adarsh Railway Stations’ Mr Lalu Prasad says that is not feasible.Now these ‘Adarsh Railway Stations’ will have all basic amenities like clean water,waiting rooms, clean platforms etc etc. This is ‘Adarsh Railway Station’ for you. 62 years and we are still struggling to have ‘bijli, paani’ and having these will make a station ‘Adarsh’.These are basic amenities in other world though.
.
We got out from the Railway station. It appeared that we are in some Red Country.
Walls, floors ,streets almost everything seems red. Red by expectoration from Pan chewing people, from Gutka eating people , from people eating Pan Masala etc.
Communists from China would have been so happy to know that in remote corner of UP a town is so dedicated to their dying theory .The Red Revolution.

The wedding went fine. It was such fun attending the marriage in old traditional fashion
again though I restricted myself to just helping myself with unlimited variety of delicacies. How badly I love the Shadi ka khana.

After the wedding I thought of visting my Parents in Lucknow as Lucknow is not very far off from Jhansi. And Indian railways has made sure that there is a train from everywhere
To everywhere. So here I was again in a Inter City Express between Jhansi and Lucknow.
The train pass through the town of Kanpur and as the train left the station what one sees
is a such a huge conglomerate of slums that one will be forced to think that are we passing through Dharavi?. No problem I said to myself.Let the train get past another town and the same visual will repeat.I wonder is there some term called ‘Fourth World Country’? If not then why not coin it and get it patented .This is Bharat. I left India the moment the train went past Bengaluru.

The train reached Lucknow in another hour and a half. Same visuals repeating themselves but who cares now.The smell of your own land taking over all your feelings.
Maa has cooked Kadhi at home and I can smell that from light year apart.

I call for a auto and this ends the travelogue.Please feel free to comment on this.

Arey Auto wale Bhaiya , chaloge.

Love,
Saket.

Why The T-20 WC debacle happened and why is it’s good that it happened?

Now as the dust has settled after India’s shocking exit in T-20 World Cup and we prepare
ourself for a mouth watering clash between two underrated Asian giants, I wonder why all these physio reports find a favor with media only when the team fails? Like a billion
other countrymen of mine, I am also an expert in analyzing Indian cricket and with this post I will like to analyze this debacle, the reasons and the aftermath.

Before I begin I will like to state that I firmly believe that the blame for this shocking exit
should be shared between BCCI, Team, Media and us the audience. You may ask why audience? But aren’t we the one who just embrace whatever is served to us in the name
of cricket.

Here’s how I summarise my analysis. Please excuse me for being so unimaginatgive
so as to always put my analysis in points as below but then I am a Software Engineer
and the community was never known for it’s imaginary skills.

1. Dhoni wake up and face the heat: Last 2 years have been anything but a fairy tale for the so called Captain Cool. It all began with a surprise T-20 WC title
After which he was catapulted to such a pedestrian by Indian media which has
a never ending hunger for sensationalism. For last 2 years he was Media’s darling. Captain Cool, Dasher Dhoni, Captain Marvel blah blah .So many titles, so many endorsements. Life was so good. And the Captain Cool lost his cool first time he was put on a burner. So much for his cool attitude. There is no doubt that he came out with some wonderful and some never achieved results, but it was more of due to a great 10 men he has at his helm. If you analyze all the good results that came under his leadership there is hardly anything which you will find we achieved due to his skills. I for one believe he was massively helped by Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj and some good bowling talent. His leadership which was so bandied around in Indian media was never amazing to me. E.g. his decision to bowl Joginder Sharma in lst T-20 WC final was a horrendous decision to me and it almost gave Pak the trophy. Yeah he keeps his cool in tough situations and that’s the decisive factor in crunch situations and makes him the only contender to this post. But keeping cool is not all you want. His batting skills were never great but he was termed as the ‘One of the greatest finisher we ever had’. Aah. Just have a look at the stats and you will come to know that the last match in which he really showed his ‘great finishing’ skills was in Mar 2006 in Lahore against Pak which he won with some great help from Yuvi and Sachin. A lot of water has passed under the bridge after that. In last 2 years I don’t recall a single match which he has won for us in tough demanding situations. I can vouch for this. If the team needs a run rate for 7 or more while chasing and you are backing on Dhoni you are in for disappointment. I am not writing this without analyzing stats. Teams have read him well. He has lost his fourth gear in last couple of years. This drubbing will make him think hopefully. Hew will realize that his aggressive skills are needed more on ground than in Media interactions.

2. BCCI’s arrogance should be tamed now: BCCI is by far the richest cricket body amongst all cricket playing nations in the world. Money speaks the most powerful language. BCCI through it’s monetary power has twisted so many rules,
all to satiate it’s greed for money. And it has placed one of the biggest thugs
a certain Lalit Modi to indulge in loot. This guy went on to US to get a degree
in management, got arrested there for some drug trafficking, got a bail and came back to India realizing that only this country will provide thugs like him to don the role of Commissioner of a money spinning tournament in IPL. We all know the Team was full of injured players and IPL actually contributed a lot to it. Kirsten tried pointing out this and while I am writing this I am also reading on news channel that he has slapped with a gag order. And I am not
surprised by this. BCCI is run by thugs and goons none of whom would have
picked a bat in their life. So any guy who points a finger towards the mechanism
of earning money will be shown the door. Mr Kirsten beware.

Just look at the men there : Mr Pawar,Mr Modi, Mr N Srinivasan,Mr Shukla.
Will someone take pain to tell these bosses that only by sitting in spanky offices and by wearing some nice suits don’t count for professionalism? Any criticism is just so blatantly swept aside. Just spare a thought on this. In IPL they had on their payroll men as distinguished as Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri to voice all goodies about IPL. It was such a disgusting display. Cameras used to focus atleast 5 times a match on Modi and the men behind mikes will start to dwell on how great the man is. Shame on BCCI.

3. India is not the best T-20 team contrary to the popular belief: After the
T-20 triumph India have always been touted as best T-20 side. But this surprises me. After the famous World Cup win India have played 5 T-20 internationals. Out of these 5 India has lost 3. All out of India. I believe since all Indians are involved with IPL there goes a feeling that Indians are the best in the business. And IPL did more harm than good to us. It was a tired jaded team devoid of any hunger to win.I don’t blame the men in blue for this. They have been treated as
cows by BCCI to milk as much money as possible.

4. Bad on-field performance coupled with some strategic blunders: Indian
Stars in IPL were considered to be the ones who will take India through. Raina for example was in good nick in IPL but in WC he was pounded by short balls and the chinks in the armour were visible to one and all. Once it was known almost all the batters were subject to shot balls and no one played them well with exception of Yuvi. Infact he was the only one who lived upto his reputation. IPL sensations such as Jadeja were such huge failures again proving that IPL succeeded in just making BCCI richer. Indian team was a complete loser in this circus.
Also strategies were not in sync with the playing conditions. When none of our batting power houses were able to hit big atleast they could have tried something different. As the runs were dried up, a slog was the only imaginative thing this new age Youngistan team could think of, over the plebian single. I will justify what I have just written. Against WI in crucial super 8 match Indian innings had 51 dot balls, 34 against England and then 44 against SA. In a 120 ball match these numbers make or break.
The fiddling of batting order also didn’t help. Already Sehwag’s absence was hurting us badly. Dhoni came in at 3 and never accelerated and then all of a sudden asked Raina to come in that no in Super8.Jadeja was sent before Yuvi and to me that cost us the berth in semis .Huge blunder. And how many times have we done well while chasing. So asking England to bat first after winning the toss too didn’t made any sense.
And what happened to the fielding? So much for Youngistan. Success has gone to the head of this youth brigade. The team seemed to be obstinate in not seeing what is written on the wall. After the loss against England I don’t think there was any need to repeat the same squad though the match was of no consequence. But they played the same team and failed even more badly. This drubbing will help in a way that it will help the team realize that International Cricket is a different ball game than IPL where you play against teams which have only a limited good players.

5. Media plummeted to a new low in it’s search for masala: Indian media
touched a new low during the tussle with Dhoni on fitness issue. Agreed the fault was with the team itself. Sehwag could have been more transparent about his injury and Dhoni and team management could have handled it better. But it didn’t help that the media just went berserk in crtiticisizing Dhoni as if he was the one who injured Sehwag. The team was burdened with a need to show unity drama and it clearly would have been a deterrent in preparation. I wonder now will the Indian media ever be sensible in reporting. Can it act as a medium to provide news rather than create news?

6. India playing too much cricket: This has been widely debated but no one can deny this that India is playing cricket incessantly. Thanks to mindless planning
70% of the year they are on road. Indian players are playing so much cricket that
I believe that if you sum up the cricketing calendar of Kiwis, Pak and Bangladesh
you will still find that we play more than that. But BCCI is again so adamant on that. Can BCCI do any wrong I wonder? The team clearly lacked passion and energy in it’s defense of title.

While I am finishing writing this Pakistan have won the T-20 WC. What an achievement for a team which was completely written off. But the team looked hungry, energetic and motivated as if to prove a point. My Congratulations to them And yaa they didn’t participated in IPL. Oh how did they win then !. Mr. Modi plan two IPL’s a year and make sure that we don’t win it next year too. How does it matter to you and BCCI till your coffers get stuffed with cash? Also the IPL next year too comes very close to T-20 WC happening in Caribbean. Let’s see how things turn up.

I hope this loss will motivate our team too though it doesn’t help that the team had to play WI soon after the humiliation .No time to brood and no time to rethink strategy and shortcomings. After this tour thankfully it’s a 79 day break which ends with Champions Trophy in South Africa.

I am pretty sure that Dhoni and his men will come back strongly then.
Sometimes you learn best about the game while not playing it.

I know we can debate this topic till eternity as I had said earlier too that all my countrymen has a cricket expert in him. Please feel free to comment on what I have written and am pretty sure that there will be many who will disagree with I have written.

Love,
Saket.