Monday, April 28, 2014

Bravo Officer Mamta Sauda, ACP Panchkula!


Ms. Mamta Sauda scaled the Mount Everest in 2010, followed by climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Elbrus in 2012.

She was appointed as an ACP in Haryana Police.

Now she has been honoured by GOI with a Padam Shri.

Bravo Officer Mamta Sauda!
Bravo Haryana Government!
Bravo Government of India!

"Pope Francis declares 2 predecessors saints"- news



His Holiness Pope Francis has declared his 2 predecessors Saints- news.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

AAPs Nainital pick sent to jail for poll code violation- be even handed



AAPs Nainital pick sent to jail for poll code violation(s) (news): And what were the violations? Could not produce vehicle papers and had two loudspeakers instead of one-while candidates elsewhere in the country making crass communally provocative sentiments are merrily roaming around....Come on Deputy Commissioner Sir, don't be high handed...be even handed in strictly enforcing the law.

http://mobiletoi.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=13§id=edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=23-04-2014&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Delhi&edname=&articleid=Ar01302&publabel=TOI

Thursday, April 24, 2014

'Smile please' by K.J.S.Chatrath


For some reason I find it hard to smile and there is a permanent semi-growl on my face. My dear ones keep on trying to improve me but they haven't succeeded till now.

This morning my dentist fitted a clip with two teeth in my mouth. It did feel uncomfortable.

On return home I just happened to see the mirror in the bathroom. Well, I didn't quite recognise the face that I saw. There was a smile, albeit a faint smile on my face. It appears to be lasting. It is more like the 'Mona Lisa' smile than the 'Julia Roberts' one.

I shared this development with a friend who, tongue in cheek advised that I should quickly take a selfie before the faint smile disappears.

So here you are....

Shakespeare's 450th anniversary


A homage to William Shakespeare on his 450th anniversary:

Learned commentators view,
In Shakespeare, more than Shakespeare knew!

D.C. finds samosas in empty liquor cartons...news



If you are fond of 'samosas' then you would like this one.

D.C. finds samosas in empty liquor cartons.... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Lok-Sabha-Elections-2014/News/EC-officials-report-on-liquor-distribution-at-SAD-rally-finds-no-booze/articleshow/34088623.cms

'Rajinikanth was the first voter in this polling station, mind it'- news


'Rajinikanth was the first voter in this polling station, mind it'

Election anaap-shnaap


http://www.storypick.com/modi-rahul-kejriwal-walked-restaurant-can-guess-happened-next/

UK PM David Cameron calls Britain a 'Christian nation'- news


UK PM David Cameron calls Britain a 'Christian nation'- news

Do as you please - you are free nation.

We in India are proud to be a secular country.

'God has chosen me bless me'- Narendra-Modi


“God has chosen me, bless me: Narendra Modi”- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/God-has-chosen-me-bless-me-Narendra-Modi/articleshow/34126724.cms

Hints of 'hubris’* ?

(*'Hubris, from ancient Greek, means extreme pride or self-confidence. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power'. Wikipedia.)

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

English translation of the lyrics of a popular hindi song



Supreet Dhiman has shared this amazing English translation of a Hindi film song. Thank you for sharing Supreet.

Mera kuch saamaan tumhare paas pada hai
some of my luggage is wid u

o o o ! saavan ke kuch bheege bheege din rakhe hain

i have kept some wet days of the spring

aur mere ik khat main lipti raat padi hai
also there a nite wrapped up in a letter

vo raat bhujaa do, mera vo saamaan lauta do
plz finish that nite and return me my property

mera kuch saamaan tumhaare paas pada hai

patjhad hai kcuh ... hai na ?
theres som autumn tree , isnt it there?

o ! patjhad main kuch patton ke girne kee aahat
also theres the soung of the leaves falling off the tree

kaanon main ek baar pahan ke laut aai thee
once the sound got to ear and returned

patajhad kee vo saakh abhi tak kaanp rahi hai
the stem of the tree is still shaking

vo saakh gira do, mera vo saamaan lauta do
plz drop that stem and return my luggage


ek akeli chhataree main jab aadhe aadhe bheeg rahe the
when we were getting half wet in a siingle umbrella

aadhe sookhe aadhe geele, sukha to main le aaye thee
half wet half dry, the dryness was browght by me

geela man shayad bistar ke paas pada ho
the wet mind mite be lying down at the bedside

vo bhijwa do, mera vo saamaan lauta do
plz send me the mind


ek so sola chaand ki ratain ek tumhare kaandhe ka til

the 116 stars nite and one is the mark on ur neck

geeli mahendi ki khushbu, jhoot mooth ke shikwe kuch
the fragrance of wet mehandi, n some virtual madness

jhooth mooth ke wade sab yaad karaa do

make me remember the trufalse promises

sab bhijwa do, mera vo saamaan lauta do

return me eveything, send me my luggage


ek ijaazat de do bas, jab isako dafanaaungee

plz give me permission, wen i burry this

main bhi vaheen so jaungee

i will too ly by the side

main bhi vaheen so jaungee


Yes, translation is an art!

The Guardian U.K. says Modi as PM 'will bode ill for India' in open letter:



The Guardian says Modi as PM 'will bode ill for India' in open letter: http://www.hindustantimes.com/elections2014/election-beat/the-guardian-carries-petition-against-modi/article1-1206866.aspx

'Dread' Narendra Modi coming to power, say Indian-origin academics in open letter


http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/dread-narendra-modi-coming-to-power-say-indian-origin-academics-in-open-letter-512362?pfrom=home-topstories

Friday, April 18, 2014

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Buddha Chal Bussa Kya (Has the old man conked off)? by K.J.S. Chatrath


My friends would have noticed, I hope, my absence from the internet during the last three weeks. I was away on a fantastic trip to Iran. Returning to my flat laate last evening, I remembered one of the first posts that I had pout up on "Anaap-Shnaap" on 11th June 2011. Take a look:

'I stay alone in a fifth floor flat. There are three other flats on this floor, out of which two are locked. That leaves my flat and one bang in front of me. The owner and sole occupant of the flat opposite mine is a deeply religious and spiritual person. I am a hard boiled atheist and self-professed rationalist. So both me and my neighbour politely ignore each other. And this has been going on for good eight years.

Yesterday we had a short chat when he told me that he was going abroad for 3 weeks and was in a hurry to leave. He requested me to water his flower pots while he was away. I wished him a good journey and he left with a small suitcase. I soon got busy in my daily routine of doing nothing.

But as the evening turned to night, I felt that all was very quiet on my floor of the building. And then around 9 pm there was a bell at the door. That is the time for my ‘dabbawalla’ to bring my dinner. So almost mechanically I opened the door and found that the person who pressed the bell was not the ‘dabbawala’. I found a somewhat plumpish old gentleman in white Kurta-Pajama staring at me. He gave me a deep look and then asked “Chatrath Sahib Ka flat kaun sa hai?” It was my turn to give him a deep suspicious look as he was standing just a yard away from my name plate. May be at that time I started sweating more than usual.

And then I said softly “Gupta Sahib” and then ‘Arre O.P. tum?” yes he was OP Gupta an old friend of 35 years who retired from a senior position in the railways. We became friends when we attended a year long Group training programme for government officers together. Thereafter OP, as every one calls him, has been taking the initiative of organising a yearly or two-yearly get together of all the Group members.

OP chided me for not responding to his phone calls. I told him rather sheepishly that I had changed both my land line and mobile numbers and somehow could not inform him. He told me that he had really started getting worried about me, so while on way to Shimla he decided to drop into my flat. I asked him if he thought that “Buddha Chal Basa Hai” and we had a hearty laugh. In fact about ten years back when one of the Group mates could not be located the two of us had feared that the old man had passed away.

He was in a hurry to leave and said rather casually that there was someone with him in the car. And before I could make a naughty guess he said, “Lacchu Maharaj is with me”. The great tabla Guru, I asked. Yes was his brief reply. I went with him to the car and touched the feet of Lacchu Maharaj who was extremely soft spoken and accepted my greetings with immense grace. I was dying to tell him that I too had been forced to learn tabla by my father when I was a kid - but there was no time.

The car left and I returned back to my fifth floor flat. I was strangely happy and there was no trace left of any feeling of loneliness.'