Shubho Bijoya…! Stay blessed… Durga Puja held as Sharadutsav is actually “untimely” and thus called Akal Bodhan (or the untimely invocation). That is why the Puja held in October or nearabouts (the month of Ashwin in Lunar calendar) begins with Bodhan (to awake or invoke). Durga was worshipped during Spring. But the origin of Shardiye Navaratra – which is more popular – owes its tradition to the Ramayan. In Ramayan, Ram had to battle Ravan, the king of Lanka, who had abducted his wife. The story goes that Ram was unable to defeat Ravan to get back Sita despite using all tactics of warfare. He then decided to invoke Goddess Durga though it was Autumn and not the time for her Puja. One of the rituals required the offering of 108 blue lotuses. But every time Ram made the offering, there was a flower short! The reason being that Ravan had already invoked Durga in his favour! And she was bound by her word! An exasperated Ram is said to then have then decided to offer

Distance from earth to the moon is estimated at 3,84,000 km. Thus, Chandrayaan-2 successfully covered 3,83,998 km. India’s rocket to the moon this time was the first ever attempt at a soft-landing on the lunar South Pole. Even the ‘superpowers’ are yet to try that. ISRO lost contact with lander Vikram minutes before it was supposed to touch the lunar surface. But remember, Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter is still operational. *                             *                             * ‘Space is Hard’ “We choose to go to the moon… and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” (Excerpts from a speech by the then US president John F. Kennedy at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas on September 12, 1962. It is said that he intended to persuade Americans to support the Apollo programme for a manned landing). *                             *                             * ‘A successful failure’ Apollo 13, NASA's third crewed mission to the

It was the early nineties – there was no electricity and fuel supply was very limited to feed the generator – the hotel on a hillock overlooking the southern fringe of Kabul was dark. But for the few candles, various flashlights and makeshift lamps, total blackout could have taken over the once plush hotel – part of a renowned international chain. Thus, I would sit by the window and watch the horizon light up with firepower after dark; unaware that in a few years, this part of the hotel would almost crumble when the Taliban militia advanced. Most of the rooms were been occupied by long-haired and bearded, multi-pocket-vest-wearing, Kalashnikov-carrying mujahideen. Each wanted to be addressed as ‘commander’. Food was served in a large hall, with the menu comprising a lamb broth and large, thick bread and/or ‘Kabooli’ – rice fried with some vegetable and dry fruits sprinkled over. The residents shared this feast three times a day; followed – or preceded, or accompanied – by

This recount is related to an earlier post written elsewhere. It’s about the events before the actual incident which has already been rendered Please Read:  https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/the-pak-hand-in-first-person/379637 *              *              * It was impossible to venture beyond the borders of Kabul. The city’s southern part was being bombed intermittently by the Pashtun warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. And he had agreed to an interview when contacted on his satellite phone! So to cut down on the agony, we stepped into the Kabul Museum, or whatever was left of it. There were a few stone idols of Buddha that were different avatar. With curly, but ancient Roman-styled hair, and sporting a mustache! The tour was cut short by sounds of heavy thuds coming from some place nearby. “Suckers!” cried our local contact: “These rockets suck the oxygen in air…” “Let’s go…,” I shouted, which our local friends thought was rushing for cover. On re

“Intolerance! Insults! Lynching! It’s getting bad… What’s happening?” wondered Ravi, carefully folding back the morning’s newspaper. “’Magnanimous’ is confined to dictionary only and ‘liberal’ is a cuss word today! How do you judge a person so quickly? How do you determine someone’s ‘character’? Mostly, without even knowing a person… Tell us Daju...” Daju ( the know-all – for introduction, please see ‘Beyond The Crash!’ Or ‘The Ubiquitous Potato’ ) sighed, “Reminds me of King Canute… The Danish King and great warrior, who conquered parts of Europe and even ruled England from 1016… for close to two decades. His is one story how a person can be interpreted differently...” “And what was that?” I was eager to know more since the name rang a bell. “King Canute’s achievements are well chronicled in various English texts. There is a famous poem too by William Makepeace Thackeray – a great novelist in the Victorian Age – better known for writing ‘Vanity Fair’. “The rendi

The other day, someone had posted an innocuous question on the social media: “What’s wrong with Bongs, why potatoes in Chicken or Mutton ?” Sharing this in our evening ‘adda’ ( participants in an   adda love to believe it to be an intellectual conversation or debate but it’s usually a group of people sharing gossip or nonsense ); I   wondered aloud if there’s any recipe in the Bengali cookbook that ignores the potato? “It’s only the so-called ‘Bengali Biriyani’ that includes a full round potato – whether vegetarian or non-vegetarian! And when in Kolkata, I ask for two of them in a plateful of Biriyani!” I added. “No other Biriyani includes this tuber…” Daju did a “Tch!” for emphasis, and said gravely: “So you don’t know how British merchants pushed potato in the eastern parts of India?” “Of course I do… I know representatives of the East India Company introduced potato and tea to Bengal…” This time he repeated the unsavoury “Tch!” a number of times. “I said pushe

March 1979, my first visit to Srinagar. We took a train from Patna to Jammu, via Delhi. From Jammu, a bus ride to Srinagar… through the Jawahar Tunnel, around ‘Khooni Naala’ – longingly eyeing cricket bats lined on road-sides – all the time cracking walnut shells, popping in mouth the kernel. Had ‘pink tea’ for the first time at a place 60km before Srinagar – called Anantnag… ! Three days in Srinagar never enough; Dal Lake, the boat ride around Char Chinar, the long climb to Shankaracharya Temple, Chasma Shahi, Shalimar Bagh, Nishat Bagh. On yes, I also remember a sound-and-music presentation at Mughal Garden … Breathtaking! And two days never ever enough to explore Kashmir Valley; Tobagganing at Khilanmarg, snowball-fights at Sonmarg, marveling the Lidder River in Pahalgam… Picturesque! And shopping; carpets, knick-knacks made of walnut wood… my mother bargaining in a shop in the overcrowded market at Lal Chowk… She proudly held up the trophy afterwards – a white ru

We call him Daju. He calls himself ‘know-all’. Whenever anyone starts a conversation, and if there is a “You know what?” or a “Do you know?” embedded anywhere, pat would come his reply, “I know!” Sometimes we try to be patient; sometime we try to point out that it’s impossible for a person to know everything; but Daju would cross his arms, throw back his head, and reply: “I know everything!” So I thought I’ll put to him in an inconvenient, controversial, contradictory and improbable situation today. I started: “Can anybody know… tell…?” As expected, Daju butted in: “Yes, of course …!” “…what exactly happened to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose? Where is he…?” Daju looked as if he was about to start scratching his head, instead he patted his hair, lightly swept around his lips with a thumb and forefinger; eyed the cup of tea in front of him, and coughed… “Let me tell you… there are three distinct groups who differ in their beliefs… and each is strongly opiniona

The Queen of Hearts was sad. This one had a good heart. So she was sad because the only thing The Prince wanted to do was attend The Mad Hatter’s Party. He had no interest in either playing croquet or getting anyone’s head offed! So The Queen of Hearts sought the advice of her courtesans. A few told her to leave The Prince at The Mad Hatter’s. Most had their heads offed! However, the majority of those present and voting advised her to anoint him King. They said that he will like a new Party; a Party much, more, bigger than The Mad Hatter’s. Unknown to them, heads were getting offed by themselves. The heads happily got offed voluntarily and bobbed and rolled to join The Cheshire Cat on his tree. The grin of The Cheshire Cat was getting bigger and broader. And even when you could not see The Cheshire Cat at all, you could always see the grin! Now The Prince was The King. He played croquet where the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes, and the cou

Veni, vidi, vici – Latin for I came; I saw; I conquered – is said to have had been quoted by Julius Caesar in a message to the Roman Senate after his victory in the Battle of Zela. Nowadays, it is used to refer to a swift and conclusive victory. The phrase sits well on the shoulders of Prashant Kishor. Well, he doesn't need any introduction. After all, who hasn't heard of " chai pe charcha "? He is credited with many political victories; no wonder West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee chose him as an advisor just ahead of 2021 assembly elections. This, after the 2019 Lok Sabha setback – losing a dozen seats compared to 2014 in her home turf. And no wonder, a film star-turned-politician is also reported to have also sought his services in strengthening his party in Tamil Nadu. Insiders say Kishor’s I-PAC has close to 800 youth working for him in West Bengal and about 500 in Tamil Nadu. Surprisingly, there is no effort on the strategist’s part to either learn

Since Karnataka elections and after, the two main political rivals were on a game of  जोड़-तोड़  of MLAs. The victors, soon after collecting their certificate, was on a bus -- or a plane -- on way to a luxury resort. Perhaps they spent more time in resorts than in Vidhan Soudha! I wonder! It was clear that the BJP was slowly -- but surely -- pulling the rug away from under the JDS-Congress coalition. Yet they fought back, led by the indomitable D.K Shivakumar.  But at what cost? Will anyone ever calculate the expenses incurred on these MLAs during their sojourns? Will anyone try to trace the origin of the funds? Not too long ago, a similar situation was witnessed in Arunachal Pradesh. The ruling party was reduced to insignificance in the Assembly and the CM had to bow out. Just like Karnataka, MLAs were being wooed, tempted or coerced by the political parties even while the Supreme Court was seized of the matter. Another CM had ended his life! Every time, under t

The one time Trinamool Congress in-house strategist and organisation mastermind and erstwhile Mamata 2nd-in-command turned BJP's West Bengal leader Mukul Roy has perhaps let the cat out of the bag recently. "107 MLAs from CPI(M), Congress and Trinamool will join BJP. We have a list prepared and they are in contact with us," he is reported to have said while addressing the media in Kolkata. In fact, I had kind of predicted before the Lok Sabha elections that Mukulda was -- and will be -- on a head hunting mission  ALSO READ:  https://www.timesnownews.com/elections/article/mukul-roy-mamata-banerjee-2019-lok-sabha-elections-polls-west-bengal-trinamool-congress-tmc/383458 His statement has made certain pundits produce simple arithmetic on West Bengal's assembly strength. However, the fact is if  107 MLAs walk out of various parties then (depending on the respective party's strength) the House strength will also come down.   A little birdie had tol