Fury-Summer, Cyclones and Naxalites

The month of May has been a month of fury! The Sun has been shining with full fury on the Indian subcontinent and the people are looking forward to some respite from the scorcher. Nature's fury was evident when a tornado hit Oklahoma city in the USA killing many and destroying property worth millions.  Closer home, Cyclone Mahasen created havoc in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

These natural furies are, in a sense, Nature's way of getting back at Mankind for the indiscriminate destruction of natural resources in the name of development and economic progress. Trees have been cut and large swath of forested areas have been encroached upon. Use of pesticides and insecticides have contaminated soil and the produce from such soil is acting as a slow poison for the end users which is us. The mineral wealth is also getting depleted at an alarming pace. Emissions from automobiles and industries have created the "Green House Effect" and the overall temperature has been steadily rising over the years. The glaciers are melting and the sea water is claiming back land. The fragile ecosystem has been damaged beyond repair. The "Fury" that nature has unleashed can be best summed up through the idiom "You will always Reap as you Sow".

That brings me to another form of fury that saw the decimation of many in the tribal district of Bastar of Chhattisgarh in Central India. In a well coordinated move that amplified serious security lapses on part of the state government, a large convoy of vehicles carrying Indian National Congress leaders and workers was attacked by a group of well armed Naxalites. Two hours of frenzied fury left many dead including Mahendra Karma, a leading Congress leader and a staunch anti-Maoist, Nand Kumar Patel, the Congress party chief of the state of Chattisgarh and his son to name a few and scores injured including VC Shukla, a former central cabinet minister. More than the killings, the brutality of the killings gave rise to another round of "Fury" amongst the masses all across the country.

The menace of Naxalism termed as Red Terrorism is more of a class conflict than anything else. What started as an armed movement between the haves and have nots in Naxalbari, Bengal, has been to a certain extent hijacked by enemies of the state. The state of the art weapons that the extremists now possess are a tell tale sign of the same. Things have compounded as the Naxalites have been able to garner the support of the tribals as the states have failed miserably to stop their exploitation. The tribals have been forced out of their age old refuges in the jungles as these areas have been handed over to big corporations for mining activities. The corporates rake in profits at the expense of the locals.

With their natural habitat destroyed and the government showing apathy towards their plight, the tribal turned towards the Naxals and Maoists who were trying to establish themselves. The result, Naxal affected area today includes parts of Chattisgarh, Andra Pradesh (though the Grey Hounds elite corps have nearly wiped out the menace there), Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharasthra, Odisha and West Bengal to name a few.

If there had been an equitable distribution of wealth at the very outset and the administration had had more empathy, the peaceful tribals would have remained peaceful and the menace would have been curbed. That again brings me to the idiom that has already been quoted "You will always Reap as you Sow".



       

Book, Bookie, IPL6 and Srini!

So, the 6th Edition of the Indian Premier League, the T20 cricketing extravaganza came and went. The defending champions the Kolkata Knight Riders were knocked out even before the knock out stages and Mumbai Indians became the new champions at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, champions for the first time defeating the Chennai Super Kings, the most consistent of all IPL teams in the short history of the league.

But the real action in this year's IPL actually took place outside the cricket stadiums. The suspicions that fixers both of the "Match" as well as "Spot" varieties were at play were confirmed during the course of this year's edition. The Rajasthan Royals team led admirably by "The Wall" Rahul Dravid got involved in an ugly tangle when three of its players were arrested on charges of spot fixing.

Ex-Indian International player Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and spinners Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were caught by the police on charges of being in touch with bookies who placed bets on the basis of information supplied and actions the players indulged in during matches. The cricketers in turn were stashed with cash and supplied with girls by the bookies. It is ironic that a team that was lead by Rahul Dravid, the epitome of gentleman ship and sports spirit should have these rotten apples amongst them.

After the arrest of the cricketers and a few bookies, as the investigations further intensified, an even more startling arrest took place, that of Vindoo Dara Singh, the son of the legendary Indian wrestler/actor Dara Singh. Himself a winner of a reality show Bigg Boss, Vindoo, it seems was a conduit between the bookies and the people who were placing bets on the IPL matches. In custody, Vindoo is appearing to be singing as a canary does and the first high profile catch has been, Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of the BCCI honcho N.Srinivasan (Srini). Incidentally, Gurunath also happens to be a co-owner, principal and CEO of Chennai Super Kings, which again coincidentally is owned by his pop-in-law, Srini. That CSK have been the most consistent team in IPL, that they lost this year's final, that Srini and his son-in-law own the Team would have us believe that IPL is full of "co- incidents".

Daggers are out for Srinivasan's head and the pressure is on for him to resign as the president of BCCI but he has till date refused to bow. Probably, money power that he has in abundance and the fickle mind of the public at large probably gives him the confidence that he would withstand the present storm. But then does Money buy you everything?? Interesting but shameful times ahead it seems. IPL envisaged as a sporting entertainment extravaganza has turned into a den of vices and the billions who follow it, may now start feeling that they have been taken for a ride for Six years continuously.
S for Six, S for Sreesanth, S for Srinivasan, S for Superkings, too much coincidence again?? It seems my mind has gone for S for sixer and I am seeing coincidences all around as we near the S for sixth month of the year 2013!!!

The Open Mouth!

Most of the problems that we encounter in our daily life, it seems emanate from the huge amount of noise that most of us are able to create day in and day out. Oratory, rhetoric are good but foot in mouth disease that handicap people, is spreading like an epidemic. The problem is that people get so carried away bragging and trying to impress upon others without actually listening to the other person's view that they create enormous difficulties in their lives, both professional as well as personal.

An old Indian quote says that a word from the mouth and an arrow from a bow, once shot cannot be recalled, hence people should be very mindful of what they are saying. Alas, in today's fast paced materialistic world, time is at a premium and people are getting into a habit of speaking without thinking, trying to cover up their short comings.

It is said that a lie travels half the world while the truth is just pulling up its socks. If nature had wanted us to be more talkative and less attentive, then we would not have been bestowed with one mouth and two ears but the "Open Mouth" has resulted in a world of deception, deceit and duper y. A small lie leads to more lies which become bigger and bigger overtime and finally leads to doom and destruction.

What all members of Blue Caramel need to realize is that you can fool some of the people, some of the time, all of of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time, be it your professional colleagues, friends or family!
  

Maya and Karma!

Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in the world is also known as "Dev Vani" or the language of the Gods. Most of the religious texts of the Hindus have been written in this ancient language. Two Sanskrit worlds which the Hindus have utmost faith are "Maya" and "Karma".

Maya is said to be an illusion that personifies everything "materialistic". Everything in this world is believed to be "Maya". Self actualization is only possible when one gets over Maya. Relations, favorite items and anything that has emotional bond attached with it comes in the realm of Maya. The post regarding Maya is probably because of the need for me to give myself a little bit of consolation after our old car suffered damage in a minor mishap. Though it was old but the scratches and dent on the car evoked great pain. But as they say it is all "Maya" and it does give a sense of relief to me personally.

Karma denotes the deed we do in this world. It is said that all positives (which are the good deeds we do) are computed and calculated and rounded off against the negatives (the bad deeds we do) during the course of our lives and Good Karmas will lead one to get over Maya and hence make a person much more at ease with himself and his immediate environment.

Wishing all Blue Caramel members a life full of Good Karma as we start a new phase in our evolution and development as a company!