Quit India

14^th August the day of Pakistan independence and the day before the Indian independence.

August also commemorates the August Kranti or the quit India movement. Every Indian and his family worth a salt was out protesting. Processions of people could be seen. Forcing the British to quit the country.

 Looks like we have not really forgotten it. It is the exodus time, the young Indians getting ready to quit India to sign up at the French, German or American universities for the fall term.(I hope I have got the term right.) doing their parents proud that they have achieved their place in a foreign university. You can see the processions now in front of the embassies forcing the authorities to let them quit India for what they imagine to be greener pastures.

Looks like they are converting their great grandparent’s words to reality.

”Quit India.”

country roads take me home

This was the days when I was a junior doctor at SDME Dharwad,


We had a student from the Mundgod Tibetan settlement. A soft spoken well behaved girl. But she did the forbidden that is she fell in love with an Indian boy.

I met her couple of years later; she was no more the exuberant girl that I knew. She was confused. After obliging her family and giving up on her love she spent time at Dharmashala, to her it was still more traumatic. Born and brought up in India, she was going through an identity crisis. Though Dharmashala was have reinforced her Tibetan roots meeting up with others with her problem made her question what she had accepted all her life.

Would she sometime in the future go back to Tibetan assuming she did, will she be able to live there after this cosmopolitan upbringing. The shops run by Tibetans at Dharmashala was like personification of the generation that grew in India, the shops sold old normal Tibetan household requirement that were not used anymore.

For want of another name I call her Tenzin, she is the victim of a country and culture that is trying to survive in another instead of flowing along.

I say this because, of the vast Chinese community that we come across. Not only in Calcutta, you have them at Beneras, at Bombay too. Ching mani was what my brother and his friends called Thomas Ching whose father ran a Chinese restraunt (actually a shack) at udupi. The family spoke Chinese at home, kept up Chinese traditions and cuisine but the kids were fluent in both Kannada and Tulu. Ching’s mother of coursed mentioned that with the kids eating at their friends house she has picked up lot of udupi cuisine. She makes a variation of Bisibele bath with Chinese blend!

For those of you watch the show High way on my plate, Mayur and Rocky did mention that the china town in Calcutta talked of adapting the basic Chinese cuisine to Indian palate how else would one explain the Chinese bhel?

Forget about china and mid-eastern cuisine and culture that exist harmoniously with the Indian traditions. Even the European horlicks has lent itself to Indianness by becoming horlicks burfee!

To-be Rai? Bacchan?

Sushmita Sen talks about Aishwarya’s pregnancy, Amitabh blogs about it.


It s only short of “behold the savoir is born”

If you look at the media or public appearance pictures it looks Amitabh-Aishwarya while Jaya and Abhishek are hangers on.

People are extensively talking about Amitabh’s emotions on being a grandfather, but he has already been a grandfather twice over courtesy daughter Shweta Nanda. After all this bitching I come to this cultural-legal issue.

No one talks to Jaya about this, even if they did, my mother once told me the first child that makes you a grandmother is most special. My grandmother reasoned daughter’s kids are more precious than the son’s after all the pain is your daughters. 

Aishwarya belongs to the shetty community a matrilineal society which would make her child Tobe Rai, while Amitabh is from the bhaiyyaland where it’s the question of the son and daughters are non-entities.

Indian law no longer recognizes the matrilineal structure, this to me is aryanization, that it inflicting the cowbelt culture and eliminating the individuality and not horsemen coming down for a war.

whats the party in honour off?

Let’s party,


It’s party time,

Plinky prompt of the day is the ideal number of guests for a party.

But what goes into making a party a success?

3-4 weeks prior to the event

• Decide the day and date

• Create a guest list

• Create a budget.

• Pick a venue and book it.

• Decide a theme.

• Make a supply list

• Decide on the cake design if needed.

Two weeks before the party

• Mail in the invitation

• Plan the menu

• Make a general grocery list.

• Take an inventory of the serving dishes and check if you need to beg, borrow or steal. 

• Call up the people from whom you need to borrow fix a date of pick up.

• Check your supply of camera, film

• Order your cake if you’re not baking it.

Week prior to the party

• Confirm venue

• Select party music

• Shop grocery

• Confirm head count—call in the RSVP’S

• Pick up event prizes

• Clean house

Two days prior to the event:

• Shift and label goody bags and prizes.

• Charge your camcorder

• Purchase last minute requirements

• Purchase perishables

• Pick up things to be borrowed.

• Make room in the fridge for the cooked food.

• Tidy the general areas of the house.

• Clean up the area used for party.

The day before:

• Bake and decorate the cake if you are doing it yourself

• Confirm cake order if ordering it.

• Get games and activities in order.

• Prepare food that that can be prepared ahead,

• Clean cooler if using one.

The big day

• Keep enough time for your dressing

• Pick up ice decorate

• Prepare remaining food

• Last minute tidy up.

A day or two afterwards

• Develop films

• Write thank you notes enclose pictures.

If organizing a party is so tedious then don’t you think the guest list is important?

So how many does it takes to make an ideal party?

Even before I made this list I should have figured what is meant by a party?

Party incidentally has its origin in 1250-1300 AD English and is inspired by the French noun parti.

If we consider party as a noun then

It’s a social gathering of invited friends and guess for conversation, refreshments and entertainment. The ideal number of guests here would be enough to have a comfortable conversation, which is all your guests, must be comfortable with each other; the cost of food and venue should be within your budget.

If it is a gathering of people for a special task say a hunt party—again the ideal number would be just enough for everyone to relax in each other’s company and carry on the purpose of the party. If it is a formal then all associated with that task, or all associated with the company would definitely be there.

If it is a squad, or detachment or detail of a troop—like a search party then more the merrier.

If my party was an adjective then

It takes only to be party to a secret. For here party is something shared or pertaining to.

If is something pertaining to a party like a leader then god forbid we have more than one, if is something like a party dress then well…

If my party is a verb then

It’s to participate in a series of parties; I guess the guest list here is bringing your own guest.

But what likes the best is verb—to enjoy oneself thoroughly without restrain hey then it’s more the merrier.

the speech

How do I feel about public speaking?


Confused.

The first time I participated in a speech contest, it was a story telling contest, and I managed to rattle it. I was in second standard then.

Then came a long a break, till standard ten, when our English teacher Mrs.Elivira D’souza had a Saturday activity class, one activity was delivering a speech, she used to have our science teacher Mrs.Indira Rao as the judge, me along with other smart Alec friends used sit at the last bench and ridicule the speakers. After one such achievement, Indira Rao turned to me said if you really have the stuff come up and speak.

She had thrown the perfect bait, the age was of testosterone kings, adrenaline high was on too, I walked up and spoke. After that speech it was interhouse, intercollegiate taluk level, district level and finally the state level. Of course my speech’s were not researched nor were they rehearsed it was just one adrenaline high.

Out of school, through college, and twenty years later public speaking had become a forgotten act. Until I joined Toastmasters international, I now learn that adrenaline has slowed down, so it’s time to work. Believe me after each project I realize I have three speeches’ the one I prepared, the one I delivered and one that I wish I had delivered.

ಪ್ಲಿನ್ಕ್ಯ್ ನನ್ನ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಭಾಷಣದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯ ಬಯಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ.

ಎನ್ನನಲ್ಲಿ?

ಮೊದಲಭಾರಿ ಎರಡನಯ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೆ ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರಥಮ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಭಾಷಣ.ತಿರುಗಿ ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕಳಾದೆ ಭಾಷಣ ಭಿಗಿದವರಗಿಂತ ಎಷ್ಟು ಚನ್ನಾಗಿ ನಾನು ಹೇಳಬಲ್ಲೆಯೇನುದು ಕುಳಿತ್ತಲ್ಲೇ ಕೊಚ್ಚಿದೆ.

ಹತ್ತನೇ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಕಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ ಎಲ್ವಿರ ಟೀಚರ್, ಪ್ರತಿ ಶನಿವಾರ ಉಮೆಧವಿದ್ದ ವಿದ್ಯರ್ಥಿಯರಿಂದ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಭಾಷಾಭ್ಯಾಸ ಮಾಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದರು, ನನ್ನ ಹಳೆ ಚಟ ಮಾಸಿರಲ್ಲಿಲ. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ತಿರ್ಪುಗರತಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನದ ಟೀಚರ್, ಇಂದಿರರವರು, "ಅಷ್ಟು, ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯವಿದ್ದರೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ವ್ಯಸಪೀತದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿಂತು ಭಾಷಣ ಕೊಡು"ಅಂದ್ರು. ಪ್ರಾಯದ ಹುರುಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಷಣ ಬಿಗೆದೆ, ಅದೇ ಮೊದಲು, ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ, ಶಾಲಾ, ತಾಲುಕ, ಜಿಲ್ಲ ಹಾಗು ರಾಜ್ಯ ಮಟ್ಟದ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಹಾಗು ಹಿಂದಿ ಭಾಷಣ ಸ್ಪರ್ದೆಗಳನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದೇ. ಮತ್ತೆ, ಸುಪ್ತ ಸಾಗರವಿಳಿದೇ ಮೇಲೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ಇಪತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳು ದಾಟಿದವು ಆತ್ಮವಿಶ್ವಾಸವು ಕುಂದಿತು.

ಈಗ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ Toastmaster ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಸೇರಿರುವೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಷಣದ ಮೊದಲು, ತಯಾರಿ, ಅದರ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸ ಎಲ್ಲ ಕಲಿಯುತಿರುವೆ.

ಸಾದಾ ನನ್ನ ಭಾಷಣವು ಮೂರು ಪ್ರಕಾರ, ತಯಾರಾದ ಭಾಷಣ-- ಹೇಳಿದ ಭಾಷಣ -- ಹೇಳಭಾಯಸಿದ ಭಾಷಣ.

tinil-battali-paper

28th June is the day that honours the fake lore hero called Paul Bunyan? He is a giant lumberjack. His minimalistic life and lumberjack tales have become folklore.


But he could never take the place of Johnny Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed the pioneer environmentalist who introduced apple to Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. He was also a missionary.

The legend has it that this environmentalist wore a saucepan for a hat and wore rags for he gave away better clothes. He threw apple seeds to create an orchid.

Somehow Johnny Appleseed reminded me of the bent old man who used to collect trash from the trashcans of Manipal I wonder how many of us remember him from our childhood. We called him “tinlbattlipaper” after his Yodelling call for tins-bottle and paper that were to be thrown away. Many of our mothers gave away old clothing.

He used to quite often followed by the dog Jimmy who had adopted all of us.

world envoirnment day

Is like the earth day, it is supposed call political attention and public action towards environmental issues. The theme for 2011 is Forest-Nature at your service with one third the earth’s land mass being covered by forests and 1.6 billion people dependent on it for their living.


The various sites suggests

• Talks,

• Exhibitions

• Bicycle rally

• Tree planting

• Green concerts

• Recycling

As ways to celebrate the environment day.

We see NDTV and other channels talking of greenathons and whatever is this where our responsibility ends? The celebrities who run these greenathons have houses round the world; this is definitely eating into the forest space to make space for habitation. I see flats in goa closed for the entire year except for that one week during the Christmas to new year, this is again a strain on the resources. Of course there are people who claim that these holiday houses give employment to the locals that is the local yokels/fisher folk housekeep for the owners.

Let’s not talk about others, are we willing to give up cars and bike to take public transports?

We have no college or even a vocational course that will allow us optimize our forest wealth without damaging it. We have architecture colleges, we have civil engineering courses that teach us to build buildings depleting land resource, polluting water resources and demolishing forest resource. We already massacred the wild life.

Maybe we the middle class citizens need to look at ourselves before chase the urban dream.