How To Avid Getting Beaten Up Down Under

Rediff asked readers to give tips on how to avoid attacks down under. Samples:

... If you see a group of guys walking towards you, change the side of the road or direction. 5. Never react to any racial comment you hear.

...Try not to be loud in public places particularly using our native languages

...Try to walk away from an 'argument' with a group of people especially at nights. Try not to be a hero every time. No point in trying to make sense to people who have no intentions to listen.

...It is even possible that when you are waiting at road intersections people including girls may shout, gesture or thrown beer bottles or foodstuff at you from there cars. My advice is to be relaxed while walking alone.

...Conversing very loudly in native languages upsets and angers the locals. They consider themselves to be extremely suave people. Loud conversations on the cell phones, overly boisterous behaviour in public in native language often invite trouble.

...Conversing very loudly in native languages upsets and angers the locals. They consider themselves to be extremely suave people. Loud conversations on the cell phones, overly boisterous behaviour in public in native language often invite trouble.

...Should avoid staring at them (this is common problem with Indian students when they stare at girls)

Ahem.

One in 100000000000...

Is a degree in homeopathy a sick joke? asks Richard Tomkins in Financial Times.

Consider this:
To make their preparations, homeopaths first mix raw extracts with alcohol to form a tincture that becomes the basis of the dilution process. They believe that the more dilute a tincture is, the stronger its effect. To make a common 30C dilution (where C stands for 100), one drop of tincture is diluted in 100 parts of water; then one drop of that dilution is diluted in another 100 parts of water; and so on, 30 times. So, at the end of the process, the dilution is one part in 100 to the power of 30 or one part in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Makes no sense, or science. A mixture so dilute, it is no mixture at all. Read the whole article, it's excellently written.

In Maharashtra, our universities offer four-year course in homeopathy. Lot of people go to homeopaths. I once saw a homeopath for six months for my chronic cold problem. It didn't help. One day the doctor said I wasn't taking the medicines properly and on time. I stopped seeing her.

Few years ago, Lancet published a report which said that homeopathy was nonsense. The question that has nagged me since then is: what happens when/if those doing the 4-year course realise that they are studying nonsense? Won't it be supremely frustrating?

Cop's Blog

A blog by a cop in UK. Check it out.

Choice

When you take to reading newspapers as a child, you grow up with some cities, and some men and women. I, born in 1978, grew up with Jaffna, Beirut, LTTE, Khalistanis, and Prabhakaran.

When Rajiv Gandhi was killed, I said to my father: Our government is hopeless. We know LTTE did it. We know where from LTTE operates. Had it been Israel, they would have incinerated Jaffna by now! And see our response.

But Prabhakaran got his comeuppance. He is dead. Gandhis must be secretly celebrating.

I know little about origins of Tamil problem. (But) It seems that Sinhalese, initially, refused to give equal status to Tamils. Tamil protests were put down mercilessly.

Still, LTTE, it seems, was demonic in its ways and thinking, even against the backdrop of Sinhalese excesses. Prabhakaran started his career by killing Tamil mayor of the town he lived in. Because the fellow had "collaborated" with Sri Lankan authorities. LTTE became sole face of Tamil struggle, because all the rivals were eliminated. But it must be admitted that he must be greatest of the motivators: people were ready to strap bombs around their bodies and explode at his wish.

Reports say that at least ten thousand civilian Tamils died since January because of Sri Lankan army's indiscriminate assault. I have this to say in Sri Lankan authorities' defence: it was a very difficult moral dilemma, and no one can criticise them for the choice they made.

For twenty years there were efforts to broker peace. LTTE wanted nothing but partition of the country. Even when it became clear that the war was lost, it fought on. Civilians weren't allowed to flee. What should Sri Lankans have done? To stop the war and give LTTE a breather?

Being restrained in use of force is OK if you are dealing with adversary who is reasonable. LTTE wasn't. Israel came in for similar criticism for assault on Gaza. Jews never had any right to go to Palestine and set up a nation there, if you ask me. But once they settled there, they had to defend themselves. Hamas sent rockets into Israeli cities: there was no option but to enter Gaza and go after them. Hamas has only one demand: Isreal should vanish off the Palestine. How does one deal with them?

And western nations themselves have exercised the choice of aggression in similar conditions. Didn't British and US planes flattened residential quarters of Hamburg, Germany, in 1943?

Caring Papa

Caring Papa.

Being Advani

Advani era is ending: I feel a little sympathy for him.

He and Vajpayee started out roughly at the same time. Advani isn't a bad orator, but Vajpayee was a genius. People who had no affinity for Hindutva could fall in love with him, such was his oratory. Both were never in power in the early years, so both remained untainted.

Vajpayee could draw audiences, but the party didn't grow. Then in 1989 it rediscovered Ram Mandir issue; and with Advani's rathyatra, BJP arrived as a national party. With 89 MPs. Vajpayee would have been a misfit riding a chariot behind trishul-wielding mobs. Advani managed not to look stupid while doing that. But neither could he approve, openly, of the destruction of the mosque. Vajpayee simply distanced himself from it. Murli Manohar Joshi rejoiced. Advani probably didn't care whether the mosque stood there or not. He said, in a public statement, that it was the saddest day in his life.

In any case, it sealed his image as a hardliner who presided over a "barbaric" act (Jyoti Basu's word). But BJP needed Babri! But for the Mandir movement, party couldn't have won the Hindi heartland. Now New Delhi -- power in the centre -- loomed closer.But Babri, standing or not standing, wasn't enough to win a decisive victory. In Vajpayee they had a leader with a pan-India appeal. He could attract allies. Even those who were disgusted by saffron mobs could see shades of Nehru in Vajpayee. So Vajpayee became the prime minister.Vajpayee wasn't fighting fit; and soon Advani could have succeeded to the throne.

Before that could happen, unimaginably, the throne was lost to Sonia's UPA! And five years later, under Advani's leadership, BJP returned to where it was in 1989.

Advani could be called a hardliner, but he isn't a blood-thirsty demagogue. He even understands the limits of identity politics in India. After 2004 defeat, he tried to take BJP on a different course. But there was tremendous resistance, and Advani had to back off. In fact blame lies with Vajpayee. He had enough popular support to take on RSS and reform BJP. He didn't do that. He just retired. Advani didn't have the charisma and popularity which the job of reforming required.

All said, he was a decent man, a good parliamentarian, in Nehruvian tradition. He wouldn't have been a bad prime minister. As Lalu Prasad said, it wasn't his destiny.

Saturday

I got up late. I had set alarm for 5.30. I woke up at 6.32. I didn't bathe. I didn't brush. (But I rinsed my mouth.) I just dressed and rushed out. I was supposed to be at the information centre in Mantralaya.

By 10, it was clear that Congress was doing well. I felt euphoric. By 11.30 I got bored. Next nine hours were spent in boredom.

But what made the initial hours exciting wasn't just Congress's good showing. It was MNS's figures. In all the Mumbai constituencies -- barring Priya Dutt's -- Congress/NCP won because MNS ate into Sena-BJP votes. In fact it gobbled huge chunks of votes. MNS candidates who one had never heard of polled one lakh plus votes. Sena is in trouble -- assembly elections are due four months later.

Cong did well in UP, apart from AP, Rajasthan, etc. Even in Gujarat its tally (11 to BJP's 15) is respectable. Where is BJP's star orator, Mr Modi? Didn't see him during the day. But Cong's showing in Uttar Pradesh is heartening. Parties like BSP and SP must be shown their place in the Indian politics, and for that Congress/BJP must reclaim the Hindi heartland.

Nitish did well, so did Navin Patnaik. Both are decent men. Commies got a whacking. But Mamata is back -- Congress, beware. BJP held Karnataka. Sheila Dixit showed she is Delhi boss. (I am a huge fan of her's. I wish she is elevated to union cabinet.) Lalu was crushed. I hope to see a Manmohan Singh cabinet sans gems like Shibu Soren and Lalu. Pawar should be happy to get agriculture ministry. An MoS could be given to Su Su baby.

Obama got into White House and Manmohan now gets another extension at 7 RCR. Times aren't bad.

Leaving Out Salaskar

Sudharkar Suradkar, an ex-IPS officer, spoke at a press conference today. The conference was about Rambai Nagar firing case.

Suradkar said that Manohar Kadam, who got lifer for unwarranted firing on the mob, was a small fry. Top officers should have been sent to the jail.

While at it, he said, "Write this if you want. The then CP (Commissioner of Police) was a known bribe-taker. Nothing would get done till his palms were greased. And if you approached him through his wife, he charged less. He charged even lesser if you went through his kept woman."

Interesting. The year (of firing incident) is 1997. Who was the Mumbai CP then?

Anyway. He further said: "We need officers like Karkare, Ashok Kamte. Do we have men like these two in the force today?"

Did you notice something? Suradkar didn't name the third of the troika: Vijay Salaskar. Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar are generally bracketed while talking about 14 cops who died during 26/11. Because others, including Tukaram Ombale who delivered Kasab, were faceless.

But Suradkar left out Salaskar. Some months ago I heard Julio Rebeiro, the Punjab supercop, talking about 26/11. He too paid tribute to Karkare, Kamte. Never once mentioned Salaskar.

Why?

After Mother

Last week Barak O met the White House correspondents. He cracked lots of jokes. Presidents are supposed to, at these meeting. From Guardian:

Obama also had fun at the expense of the first lady, Michelle, his vice-president, Joe Biden, and his expletive-spouting White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. On the eve of Mother's Day in the US, Obama said: "It's a tough holiday for [Emanuel] ? He's not used to saying the word 'day' after mother ?"Hard to imagine Bush delivering that line.

Even harder to imagine Manmohan/Advani/Vajpayee cracking this joke.

Mangoes

My father sells mangoes from our house.

He met Mr K two years ago. Mr K bought several cases from my father last year and the year before. Like my parents, Mr K also loves classical music. He lives nearby. My parents run into him and his wife often on their morning walks.

Mr K has a son and a daughter. The daughter did well. She got her master's and got married.

The son was a failure. He dropped out of college. He did liquor, drugs. He earned nothing, money came from parents.

Mr K wasn't soft on his son, my mother told me. Mr K always berated him, comparing him with his sister. Finally Mr K stopped giving him money.

The son left the home. He was heard vowing to kill his father or to make him and the mother beg on the street.

Two months ago, the son returned. It was midnight. He came in a taxi, and rang up Mr K. "Come down and pay off the cab," he said.

Mr K had been cautioned by the relatives about the son's intentions. Don't face him alone, he had been told. Still, he went down to pay the cab.

As soon as he came out, the son stepped out of the taxi and attacked Mr K. He had a knife. Mr K ran back up the stairs, to their apartment. The son, chasing him, gave jabs on the back. Luckily, neighbours heard Mr K's screams and came to his help.

Mr K was rushed to the hospital. He survived, though minus two fingers. The son was arrested. He will be facing a trial.

Last week Alphonso cases landed at our house. My father has several loyal customers. He calls them up when the mangoes arrive.

After this horrible tragedy, should we call Mr K this year about mangoes? My parents wondered. Let's just send him a gift pack of dozen, they decided.

Before my father could send the gift pack, Mr K -- now out of hospital -- called up. He ordered two cases. Stock was low, so father said he would send one for now. Two days later Mr K called again. "Nice fruit. Don't forget about another case when new stock comes."

Saving Sounds

Sane Guruji was a Marathi writer and a freedom fighter. A street in central Mumbai bears his name.

This street is closed now because of Ajmal Kasab's trial at the Arthur Road Jail. Local residents protested and the matter reached the High Court.

During the hearing, the judge pronounced Sane as se-n. Rhyming with pen. That's not the correct pronunciation, Sane is pronounced as saa-ne. Ne as in Ne-t. But it wasn't the judge's fault. English spelling isn't always phonetic.

Not only English doesn't have phonetic spelling system, it lacks letters to represent certain sounds which Indian languages possess. For instance 'ळ' . My own surname contains this sound-unit. It's utterred by rolling the tongue and then flicking it forward. In the English spelling I put `L' in its place, but L can't represent it. So English actually distorts my name.

Another such sound is `ण'. It's nasal, but here the tongue touches the middle part of mouth's roof. It's there in the second syllable of Pune (the city). Of course ne can't represent it.

And this is what I feel: Why not modify the English alphabet a little so that Indian sounds could be represented accurately? It won't require a big change. We can agree on use of dashes or dots (as in German) to modify l and n. With the help of reputed dictionary houses (like Oxford) it could be standardized. In the academic world, additional symbols are in fact used to reproduce Sanskrit names in English writing.

Through U-tube these new sounds could be reached to the non-Indian English speakers.

Otherwise we will lose ण and ळ.

Torture And Lawyers

Newsweek:

After 9/11 the CIA was under relentless pressure to break terror suspects in time to head off a second attack. In March 2002, the CIA captured Abu Zubaydah, believed then to be a high-level Qaeda mastermind.

Abu Zubaydah apparently feared insects. Someone at the CIA came up with the idea—right out of "1984," it would seem—of putting him in a small, dark box and letting an insect crawl on him.

But since this was America, and not Orwell's fantasy police state, the CIA first had to get permission from a lawyer at the Department of Justice. Parsing statutes against torture, the lawyer (Jay Bybee, then chief of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel) ruled that Abu Zubaydah's interrogators could not tell the suspect that the insect was venomous because, under the law, prisoners could not be threatened with imminent death.

However, Abu Zubaydah could be placed in a "confinement box" with a harmless insect as long as he was told nothing about it. The CIA had proposed using a caterpillar.

In the end, nothing came of it. This particular method of "enhanced interrogation" was never used on Abu Zubaydah.

Love Outside Windsor Castle

Queen looked out the window and said, "Voila! What are they doing?" After it was over, the couple was arrested for outraging public decency. And Japanese tourist were comparing their videos.

It was going on for about 10 or 15 minutes, which is quite a long time, considering the location, said a woman onlooker.