...The whiff of Fresh Air....

.....don't feel like writing.....as everything looks jaded.....the whiff of fresh air is wanting ......and the sicknesses  surmounting......challenging , daunting.....hv to deliver in quick time.......its a story of  elicitation of a smile, a glimmer.....of  a hope..... of a bond of trust....and an infectious feeling of well being, so thus generated, is just ,the little askance....to which U hv to rise........Selidah in Bangladesh is pulling & pushing for the last four days as Robindronath begins taking up the charges of the Jamindari as suggested by Debendronath his father, much to his discomfiture.....as it proves however the stint doing him good & forming one of the basis of his works.....the Padma river & his houseboat crisscrossing  the far reaches of his estate.......catalystic changes it generates in the young poets mind......an urbanite frm Jorasanko Kolkata......the rural posting serves him rt. & changed his life.....the whiff of fresh air I believe .............so much wanting in the urban settings.......riverine Bengal & its unique populace of rural people, across both sides of the man  made divide.......an innate prowess of living in Rhythm with  Nature......there is always a whiff of fresh air thru its Rustling Bamboo & Mango Orchards & wet grassland.....as if synergistically the mind strays to the red soil of the Santhal plateau of my early yrs.....with the aborigines so simple & the dirt tracks to settlements so soothing......amidst undulating terrain.....the familiar whiff of fresh air again for a Lungful......!!!!!

......67th Republic Day....The Republic Of India......

....Greetings to all frnds & fmly on the Occasion of INDIA'S 67th Republic Day.....the morn Rajpath @ Delhi ,notwithstanding the fog ,couldn't dampen the spirit of a youthful resurgent India.....Netaji wud hv been most happy, if he were around.....a diverse country & its diverse forces united as one voice, self sufficient , fiercely Independent ......Long Live the Republic....!!!!.....was torn today between the Hospital & Flag hoisting @ the Indian Chancery....as thr was a  pt. Q & couldn't quite keep thm waiting.....by mid day could access TOI....nd tracked the proceedings@ India.....yesterday's heavy downpour & a forecast of same for today happily turned out to be just humid & warm....last evening's satellite imagery for the region was cyclonic , though ideally Jan & Feb will be dry mnths here....but it seems thr is a tangible shift in weather patterns....mild winter & heavy snow in the Eastern Board of US is also baffling.....though luckily Neil & Wendy gets spared in Lockaven PA......looks like the Weather becoming un predictable everywhr around......with petrol prices down here @ 9 MVR.....an alarm bell.....as to the Global economy with China nosediving....in the midst of this unpredictability....the Polymer material RAN(Golden) DHIHE FAAHE(Five Decades), more secure currency notes, commemorating  the 50 yrs of Independence here with a new look  Maldivian Currency is introduced to Circulation  replacing the 33 yr older version......the MMA(Maldives Monetary Authority), held few functions to inaugurate & educate the public at large.....   

....23rd Jan ...A BirthDay to remember....!!!!

....thr can't be a permanent peaceful era if the finer qualities of Humanity is to be discerned.....for adversity, brings out, the fine characters of Humans & tranquility  degeneration...its not  tht I am advocating Strife , but , a Challenge is a Quintessential potion for Superlative performances....as We r evolving, all tht seems to be  important is North ....the Want.... the Cravings to generate a Want , propels these  modern day developments...how suitable we r to meet the evergrowing list of Challenges is debatable.....the Vulnerability is palpable....& mediocrity in leadership seems to be the  order of the day.....Has Lord Macaulay's Education Scheme for India done us in.....?....stiffling our age old fortitude.....as I see a Trump or Sanders applying for the coveted post of world leadership....I am yet to be impressed..... as Mediocrity in Leadership is surely the order of the Day...my mind strays to the same period last Century WW I....there was a Cyclone, A Tornado, A Hurricane sweeping all parts of the world during the first fifty yrs of the Last Century....the adversity produces a rich Legacy of Leadership....& establishment of World order.....amongst thm ,poignantly is described Netaji's Journey in the same period & the untiring efforts of our Leaders to shrug of the Imperialistic Rule....Glad I hv concluded today 'Brother's Against the Raj': Sarat & Subhash by Prof Leonard A. Gordon....the disappearance of The RAJ paved our way to freedom & at a huge cost,....demolishing all tht was Good tht India stood for before being Colonised  &  simultaneously to Mediocrity in the absence of a  perceival motivation.....the motivation was always thr .....at Independence a  huge battered populace struck until recently by famine, famished & impoverished.....tru The Leadership stood up & provided some real direction amidst the chaos of internal strife & attacks frm without...as India shrugged of & stood up on Her feet , we succeeded , yet complacency crept in...& we started to take our freedom for Granted.....as 23rd Jan approaches : the B'day of a worthy son of the Soil : Netaji Subhash Ch Bose...& possibly opening of the GOI Archives....we hv to weigh every action of our's towards Nation Bldg for every drop of blood tht was spilled in the SubContinent...for every ounce of freedom which we enjoy....!!!!....can't take Freedom for Granted.....
Long live our Freedom Fighters ....!!!!!

.....Unraveling of Treasure....

......that India is a treasure Trove was well known before & still.....Our recent visit to Kanheri caves in Bombay ...tnx to an untiring effort by my Brother in law ,despite being indisposed for the day....taking us for a round....glad the children were exposed to the archaeological sites of a Buddhist age...they threw questions abt the water channels thr & possibly water cisterns in the caves so well laid out in the BC & early CE periods...the propagation of a Philosophy & establishment of an order in the deep jungles of The National Park amidst thick Flora & Fauna....the Budhhist Monks....the visits to Rajgir & Nalanda during my student days....the excavated sites of an University whr scholars frm far flung areas of the globe frequented ....those were the halcyon days of a nascent civilization taking shape.....no wonder the Karla & Kanheri caves r part of a philosophy so well established....& so well propagated Internationally....informed the Children tht after our visit & arrival back to the Isles thr is a grand news of a Discovery of further of a Treasure Trove in the same Borivli National Park of a Few more ancient caves now discovered by students, teachers of local colleges & University....ASI is duly informed & its as if these r even more ancient,  bereft of water channels & served as Monsoon shelters for the monks .....The entire national Park Borivli Bombay is a unique place...& needs to be preserved , as more & more evidence r coming to the fore.....I was unimpressed at the lack of maintenance of  many a site : this visit to Maharashtra....ASI,State Govts.& NGOs, Corporates, Individuals hv to double up fast.....must preserve the Soul of the Country, for this infinitely rich country.....Lord Macaulay's education system proves to be one lopsided affair not benefitting as it chose to deride our indigenous strength of Learnings ....no wonder our thinking veers of the course of otherwise a strong genetic predisposition of our Native  learning....to cast the "Indien" into a "West' was one tragedy tht was enacted for full 250 yrs of domination.....as we march full steam , its time to protect , Preserve & learn frm our age old nativity....the Borivli national Park caves discovery is a whiff of fresh air reaffirming our rich back ground......!!!! 

.....HomeComing.....

...Now its time to write something in the New Yr....Maharashtra , of Mighty Sahyadri Ranges, Baji Rao Mastani, Bombay & Pune bowling us hands down.....the red soil of Mahabaleshwar & Table land PanchGani .....our feet well enveloped.....the soil of our Diverse Nation.....of a chivalrous race & its people in this part of the Country.....its a pleasure travelling in India amidst so very familiar setting.....of sight, smell & touch....of our own people with whom we have all in common......was at Shirdi Sai Baba for the first time....felt at Ease , felt at Peace, felt proud of being a part of the Land , Mystical in mythology & Folklore....felt deeply rooted & attached.....!!!!!