The ABC of alphabets!!

This thought had first come in my mind long back when I was in high school. Stayed there with me at the back of my mind and suddenly popped up whilst discussing about different languages in a family get-to-gether. Thought of sharing with you all.

Right. Is there any similarity between English and Gujarati? Apparently not right? But have a look at the following.

ક ખ ગ ઘ ઙ
k kh g gh

ચ છ જ ઝ ઞ
ch chh j jh

ટ ઠ ડ ઢ ણ
T Th D Dh

ત થ દ ધ ન
t th d dh

પ ફ બ ભ મ
p ph b bh

ય ર લ ળ વ

શ ષ સ હ ક્ષ
sh SH s h

Rings the bell? OK. I wouldn't be surprised if my gujarati friends here would have forgotten their mother tongue and its alphabets. ;) So let me tell you what I have written here is the Gujarati alphabets in their correct sequence. Below each alphabet there is a direct transalation in english as per its pronunciation. Look how each second letter is connected with its predecessor with an extra 'h' !! Clearly this arrangment of alphabets is too perfect to be a coincidence. What say? Eureka?? :-)

Alright, and since we are talking about mother tongues, I thought it would be nice to end this post with the following poem. Enjoy!!

મળી હેમ આશિષ, નરસિહ મીરા
થયા પ્રેમ ભક્ત દયારામ ધીરા
સદા સૌમ્ય શી વૈભવે ઉભરાતી
મળી માત્રુભાષા મને ગુજરાતી
મળી માત્રુભાષા મને ગુજરાતી.

(The language which has been blessed by jain saint shri Hemchandracharyaji. Which has been served by great poets like Narsinh Mehta, Meerabai , Premanand, Dayaram. Which always radiates with courteous elegance. I am proud that that Gujarati language is my mother tongue.)

Cheers.

Sorry telling day.

So we have all heard about thanks giving day. But sorry telling day? Now that is something new, isn't it? Okay, I have to admit that there isn't particulary any day dedicated to apologies but come monsoon in India and Jains spread all over the country start preparing for this 8 day long festival- called Paryushan, which culminates in a very meaningful apology session attended collectively by entire jain community at the final day - called Samvtsari!! This year this festival falls between 8-15 september.

For starters, Jainism is said to be the oldest living religion and has its roots in India. It has around 5-6 million followers around the world. (ah, thats quite less comparing with 1+ billion population of india- not even 1%). But this religion has weathered all storms and its core fundamentals still today exist more or less in purest of the form. One of the fundamentals is ofcourse that of forgiving and that is the reason why this day is celebrated with much vigour across all the sects of jainism.

So what is so special about the day? Well its obvious that jains ask for pardon for any of their actions that would have caused agony in other's heart. But that is not it. They ask pardon from all the living beings.. humans, animals, plants and birds alike !! Even the smallest of the creatures like ant are not excluded and if you actually look at the ceremony (called Pratikraman) , you will be immensely surprised by the sheer importance that this religion gives to even the smallest form of life.

I remember from my childhood days, my friends commenting rather provocatively that jains were a clever lot. For the entire year they would do all sorts of wrong deeds and on samvtsari day they would come to you and would ask for pardon :). Hehe.. I wish it were so simple. But try once. Saying sorry from the bottom of your heart is never easy. Not even to those who are so close to you, forget about plants and animals!!

OK. So it is about time I signed off. But before that did I forget saying sorry? Hmmm let me do it in a rather traditional way. The actual lines go something like this...

Khamemi savve jive, (I forgive all the living beings)
Savve jiva khammatu me, ( May all living beings please forgive me)
Metti me savve bhuyeshu, (My friendship is with everyone)
Veram majaham na kenai. (My enmity is totally nonexistent)

Micha-Mi-Dukdam - May my ill deeds turn fruitless.

1 2 3 and still counting.

These are volatile times. Not in my wildest imagination I would have thought while writing this article sometime ago now that the civilian nuclear deal (popularly known as 123 agreement because the deal is being signed under article no 123 of US constitution) between India and the US will run into some rough weather. And boy before the deal could become reality here comes the good old comrades with their faces turned red against the deal and asking for the immediate rollback of the talks on the deal with the USA.

Don't know what even BJP has to oppose here and why are we even thinking of a mid term poll on this issue, which is supposed to be the key to India' s progress. After all 4 years ago it was Jaswant Singh (the then BJP external affairs minister) and Strobe Talbot (The then US deputy foreign Secretary) who had dreamt of the similar deal. Is it just for the sake of opposing, that the opposition parties in India behave so insanely? Will we ever grow up, guys?

On a side note, I thought it is a good time to check out on L&T. The stock which was supposed to go miles high on the back of the deal. And as I had predicted in my earlier article it surely has gone miles from around 1600 to currently around 2400 (after reaching life time high of 2700). Hahaha sometimes your random picks turn out to be gold!! Alas! I exited much much before. Damn it:-)

Anyway, lets hope that we stick to the deal and do not back off. Else only time will tell what price did India have to pay.

Cheers.

Inflation woes: Must hear

Following Indian stock market crash post union budget ’08, CNBC TV18’s Udayan Mukherjee caught up with cabinet minister of commerce Mr. Kamal Nath to specifically talk about govt’s desire to price control cement sector.

Why I say it’s must hear because never before in my life have I listened to such to-the-point and blunt discussion by a media reporter with a senior cabinet minister in India. Udayan literally lashed onto Kamal Nath, who was proposing an export ban on cement companies in order to curtail cement prices. End result? Well, Mr.Nath was trying so very hard to find appropriate words in his defence and Udayan could not stop laughing. Hear it for yourself.

For Udayan, nice job mate. Add one more to your fan list!!

Cheers.

More laugh...

Following are excerpts from HER & HIS diaries

HER DIARY:
I asked him what was wrong - he said, "Nothing."I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.On the way home, I told him that I loved him, but he simply smiled and kept driving.I can't explain his behavior; I don't know why he didn't say, "I love you too."When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore.He just sat there and watched TV; he seemed distant and absent. Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed. I decided that I could not take it anymore, so I decided to confront him with the situation but he had fallen asleep. I started crying and cried until I fell asleep.I do not know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someoneelse. My life is a disaster.

HIS DIARY:
Today India lost the cricket match again. DAMN IT.

Easy girls!! No offence meant. Just the way we are :-)

Cheers.

My Time is Now: A s(h)ane decision!

Boy, the biggest bowler (arguably), contemporary cricket has ever produced, has decided to retire from international cricket at the pick of his career. To me and to many millions, this decision of Shane Warne has come as a big shock. Afterall he was one of the few reasons left in my cricketing interest. And if, as it is generally perceived, Glenn Mcgrath decides to follow the suit, it will spell the doom’s day for many cricket lovers.

Much has been said about his outstanding records. I ain’t an ardent follower of his records and statistics. I only know the ooohs and aaahs that came out when he delivered those magic deliveries. Guys see what we will miss

1. Those more than 60 degree turning leg breaks.
2. Those flippers that literally shoot off after pitching
3. Those around the legs clean bowled wickets that only he could produce
4. Those down the leg stumping with the brilliant help of Gillie!
5. Those googleys that caught even best of the batsmen plum in front of the wickets
6. Those zooters that pitched and kissed off stumps of many world class batsmen in fraction of a second.
7. Those “well bowled warney” shouts from behind the wickets!!
8. And that off-the-pitch flamboyance!!
9. Those impeccable catches that he took standing in first sleep.
10. Those cover drives, hooks and pools that made him batsman to have hit maximum number of runs without a century in test cricket!!

And much much more. May be it was a sane decision for him to take at this point in his career. But we cricket lovers might as well say, “Your time is now Shane. Come on. Go on Warney. You can reach 1000 wickets!!”

(Image source: www.news.com.au)

From the Doghouse to the Whitehouse

Long wait is over. Final draft of the civilian nuclear deal between India and the USA is ready to be presented in congress and it is now a matter of formality looking at the overwhelming support the bill fetched from both sides that it will become a law.

Its the first time since independence that the USA and India have come this close. India was put in doghouse by the US when we first undertook nuclear tests in 1973. Now after more than 30 years we are back sitting face to face with law makers of the world's only super power in their own whitehouse dictating our terms!! What a change of affairs!! And for good.

It is now being forecast that in 2020 the closest nations in the world will be India and the USA. I have no doubt about that. We both have a lot in common and a lot to share than any other nations in the world. Lets raise a toast to the new friendship !!

On a side note, those who follow Indian stock market, buy is a call on L&T!! Let the bill become law and L&T will shoot up... Watch out there...:)

Cheers.

Laugh and the world laughs with you

I have observed this. Whenever you talk about your foreign trip experiences with others, people tend to think you are proud, that you are trying to show off:) But at the same time if you talk about your stupidity, the way you got screwed up in foreign land, they tend to enjoy it!! Human psyche you know!!… So here I go, sharing some of the good ones …

1. This is the most recent one. I was on a month long official trip to London. August 2006. Remember this was the time when the whole of UK was under threat. Threat of liquid bomb, that is!! Airports all over the country turned into a never ending mess. Amidst this chaos, we were travelling in a tube train towards central London. Don’t know what inspired me but I suddenly asked my friend “is this the same tube which was attacked by serial bomb attacks last year?”. Now we were talking in Gujarati but I forgot to translate the word “Bomb”!! (Not that I knew Gujarati synonym!!). And I tell you, it’s really a difficult time ignoring others staring at you, trying to find similarities between you and Osama-bin-Laden!! lol…

2. Singapore Jun 2005. On my way back home from SanFrancisco, I decided to stay for a couple of days at Singapore. Tired by having to pass through multiple time zones in a short span of time and eagerness to reach home early after almost 6 months, I forgot to buy some Singapore currency at the airport. When I got off the taxi, so innocently I presented the taxi driver with USD bills!! The puzzled face said it all. Here I was caught in the middle of an alien city without having any local currency on me. The driver denied any credit cards so I was left with only option of exchanging USD with him, which he reluctantly accepted. (Thank God!)

3. LasVegas May 2006. We were on a 3 days pleasure trip to Los Angelese – LasVegas. At lasvegas, we were supposed to behave our selves!! The ambiance itself is good enough to “corrupt” you. After having restrained ourselves for a while, we could not stand the basic instinct to try our luck. The other 2 friends grabbed one slot machine and I, in an endeavour to find a better deal (I am made up for something big, slot machines? Huh!!), started roaming around the casino. Whilst I was so engrossed watching the game of poker being played on a table, one lady (looked like an Indian to me) came closer to me and asked what I was doing there? Before I could understand what’s going on, she suddenly asked for my documents. Fortunately I was carrying my passport so I showed her that. After observing it carefully, she gave it back to me with a smile and said, “by law people younger than 18 are not allowed in Casinos!!”… Lo karlo bat…. To her I looked like a teenager!! Was that a compliment or something else… not sure :)

Keep smiling...Laters…

Vanechand no Varghodo: Vanukaka passes away

Those who are familiar with gujarati humour would have hardly missed this cassette by Shahbudding Rathod. I was thinking the character of vanechand, that is described in this cassette, is hypothetical untill i recently read an article in newspapers about the sad demise of Vanechand Shah, a real friend of Shahbuddin from Thangadh in Gujarat. Some hilarious incidents from the ever popular cassette...Non gujaratis please excuse :)

1. આમ તો વનેચન્દ્ અમારા અડધા ગામ હારે ભણેલો. જેને પુછો તો કેશે હા હુ વનેચન્દ્ જોડે ભ્ણેલો. એક એક ધોરણ્ મા બબે વરશ ત્રણ ત્રણ વરશ. માસ્તરો કંટાળી ને ધકેલે તૈ એ આગળ્ જાય્. એમ કર્તા 6th સુધી પહોચ્યો અને 6th મા પાછો ફૈલ થયો. મને આવી ને કહે કે હુ 2 માર્ક હાટુ રહિ ગયો. મે કીધુ હોઇ નહિ બતાય તો તારુ પ્રગતીપત્રક. હવે મે પ્રગતીપત્રક જોયુ તો ગ્રાન્ડ ટોટલ 33 માર્ક નુ. બધા વીષય ન થયિ ને 33 આવેલા બોલો. મે કીધુ આ બધા વીષય મા 35 આવવા જોઇએ. મને કહે એમ? આપણને ઇ શુ ખબર....:)

2. વનેચન્દ્ ને મે એક્ વાર કિધુ કે બાર વરસાદ પડે છે તો તુ અહિયા મારે ઘેરે રોકાઇ જા. મને કહે સારુ. હવે હુ એની વ્યવસ્થા કરવા રોકાયો એટલી વાર માં ત્યાંથી નીકળી ગયો. મને એમ કે ગયો હશે બાજુ મા ક્યાક. ત્યાતો છેક અડધી કલાકે આવ્યો. આખા શરિરે ભીંજાઇ ગયો હતો. પગ ગારો ગારો ભરેલા ને માથા માંથી પાણી ટપકે ને. મને કહે હુ ઘરે જૈ ને કહી આવ્યો કે હુ ઘરે નહી આવુ. મે કિંધુ તું ઘરે ગ્યો તો તો પાછો શું કામ આવ્યો???

3. અમારા પિન્ગળશી ભાઇ જેવા લોકકલાકાર કોઇ ફૂલેકા નુ આમ્ લઢાવી ને વર્ણન કરે તો એ વર્ણન કૈ આવુ હોઇ...

ગુડા હોતિ કેશવાલી, જાયદી ખજૂર ની પેશિ જેવો વાન, હામ હામે બે વહુવારુઓએ લાજ્ કાઢી હોઇ એવિ એની કાનહોરી અને રોમ ઝોમ રોમ્ ઝોમ નટા ઓ પટ મા પડે એમ ઘોડો આવી ને ઉભો છે. એ ઢાલીયા છાતી ફુલિ છે ને ગજવે ખમ્ભા નીકલ્યા છે ને લિમ્બુ નિ ફાયટ્ જેવી જેની આયખો છે એવો જુવાની આટો લઈ ગઈ છે એવો દશે આન્ગળિયે વેઢ પહેરેલો વીરભદ્ર જેવો વરરાજો ઠેકેક દૈ ને સવાર થયો ને ફુલેકુ માદરું માદરું માન્ડ્યું આગળ ચલવા. આ હારા ઘોડા અને હારા અસવાર ના વર્ણન છે. પણ્ વનેચન્દ ના ફૂલેકા મા આ માયલુ કાઇં ના મળે....

Ha ha ha ....There are so many such incidents that come to mind. But in reality Vanukaka was a total contrast to what is potrayed by Shahbuddin. A peace loving intelligent person.

Vanukaka a person may have passed away but Vanechand a character will still live with us thanks to Shahbuddin and his wonderful potrayal in this cassette. May his soul rest in peace.

Cheers.

A call to honour : Tol "Mole" ke Bol

A book that was purchased just to kill time during my 24 hrs long train journey from Hyd to Amdavad suddenly became so riveting that I didnt realise i was more than half thru in a single day of reading!!

The controversy that the book has created definitely had some influence on me but my basic aim behind reading it was I wanted to understand what goes behind the scenes in international diplomacy. As a former E, F & D minister (External Affairs, Finance, Defense respectively, as the author likes to call)in Vajpayee govt, Mr. Jaswant Singh gives a first hand experience of the far impacting era in indian history spanning 1998 - 2004.

A memoir that starts in the deserts of Rajsthan - the motherland of Mr. Singh touches wide subjects of diplomacy and how india stirred its way through turbulent times post Pokhran-II, WTC attack, Kandhar hijack, military coup in pakistan, kargil war and attack on parliament and subsequent build up on border.

And something abt the controversy... The author does write about a PMO official ( widely known as "a mole in PMO during Narsimha rao govt"), who wrote to USA agency abt india's nuclear plans. But there is nothing controversial abt it. He just suggests that this type of clandestine approach to diplomacy is well known and just asks india to be aware and be prepared abt it.


Finally a statement that he quotes in this book twice and once to mark the end of it.
"My Lord! I dont even know what I dont know". Isnt it true?

For those who are interested in some serious diplomatic dose, I would certainly recommend this one. Its neither a memoir nor an autobiography. It's altogether a different genre...