The Last Statesman ....

 GERALD FORD CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER US NAVY......Real naval might....we are also inching ahead as we have a long coastline to protect...Vikrant Commissioning made us proud, but need to have one nuclear powered AircraftCarrier...also need to stop taking on rent /lease Nuclear power Subs from Russia instead focusing on Atmanirbharta......whatever be it slow may be the progress but we are on right course with the current dispensation....but the amount of armaments being developed and all time low Statesmanship and Diplomacy augur ill for good earth...it shud have been otherwise....it's time for huge work on improving Human Development index as we are languishing to primitive time levels in many many parts of the globe...Covid was one glaring example of unpreparedness,  ...the truth is the world depends on individuals whereas collective mechanisms globally need to be in place...there is too much discordance and  Gerald Ford Class is not the need of the hour...actually post  WW II better sense shud have prevailed, but quite the opposite happened...Gorbachev and Reagan were friendly initiated SALT treaties related to reduction and de escaltion of Strategic Arms...the world appeared Brite at that moment...and end of cold war....Gorbachev was a visionary, influenced more so by his liberal Professor wife Raisa of Moscow Univ.

Thereafter Russia wanted to join NATO and if then allowed , things would have de escalated and newer priorities of Increasing the HDI initiated with full focus. 

I don't foresee a bright future for the newer progeny as we are sitting on cinderkegs...the Pandemic raped and ravaged us and we were mute spectators as we are caught napping and delirious in our myopic selfish goals....Geography transcends all borders , a huge flood devastates Pakistan and we are mute spectators as Pakistan is not friendly to us .....micro level meets at multiple level ...just as Gandhi envisaged , needs to be bolstered...who can prevent the current of humanity in us to touch others....the last Statesman on Earth

Monsoon midway....

Its Monsoon Midway through....long time, and now I am back ....back in the reckoning as tumultuous deluge was of events  since  april and a phenomenal 5 visits  to  India since october 2021....never  had  it  been  so many  times  crossing  the  Laccadive  sea in a calendar year  , as  the  agendas were  massive pertaining  to  home , tourism and for the first time , work took  a  back  seat  after  a  long long  time  .....as  we  breeze  past  in  the  race  , its  real  time  for  priorities now preceding over rational ,as the race will enter its logical end .....nearly two decades  now as castaways ,its been a long  haul....

 

There is nothing to Celebrate ....

Wishing , All dear frnds & fmly on this Auspicious day of Indian festivity of Holi : the festivity of colors .I wish all of you Good health & all round happiness....Wishing ,world order Peace ,& immediate cessation of hostilities ....

Watching the world frm the comforts of your home , benumbed or plainly apathetic as the Eurasian War unfolds ....senses & sensibilities are a distant call....

As there is blood spilled ,nearly 100 yrs gone after the great wars , nothing much has changed ....or for that matter the great wars & battles of a Rise & Fall of  a Civilization , over  the  years  ...centuries  after  centuries  ,  its  scant disregard  for  humanity & is all abt  the  Good Earth's horrendous  stories  of  Rapine wars  & battles...

As Blood is quintessential & precious , but the irony, is its being equally expendable ...the splash on the streets , cleansed & forgotten as  if  nothing  has  happened ....

Humanity?....do  we truly represent ....or  are  we  pure monsters with a diabolical evolution ,whose ferocity & intensity increased with  time since Good  Mother Nature's inception ...

Where is the Sanity ...is it  a Word anymore ...?

Violence in any form needs  to be shunned  ,  the War must  end  & so  shud  there  be an immediate  "All Quiet on  All Fronts"

As a beautiful , habitable planet revolving round the sun365 days , the flora & fauna , the soil humidified  for sustenance & a life..... taking birth..... incessantly....day in & day out the cycle goes on ....time tested evolution of a Superlative Planet sustaining all of  us , challenged by wanton destruction ......

Feel sad for our progeny , as we pass on a baton of uncertainty , this  not we had  envisaged for  them....

Its time for Silent  Prayers .....

  

 

Heat & Dust...

More than a century  now post  the Great war , lessons are not learnt . First the League of Nations failed & now the United nations ....stark truth  is,  its   actually "Divided Nations Organization" ...the Conventional  War  between Russia & Ukraine reminds  us  of  the  wanton  destruction of  the Holocaust ....truth  is : its  holocaust revisted ...

As Indians return home  frm the war zone , we are relieved as the bullet scraped  our  skin & all but two  of  them  had  a  providential escape ....

As Covid 19 was at its Rapine best and a much awaited , longed , breather seems to have resuscitated us & now a bolt frm the blu ...with recession in the  world economic order on the cards ....

Intertwined as it is now the World , none can escape the trauma ....

Its  one step forwards & two steps backwards ...Lessons  need  to be learnt as Good Mother Earth  is bearing the brunt as never before ....."Decimation" is the word to be pondered  upon again & again .... 

Obituary of the Nightingale

 As She lay in state , the mellifluous voice silenced forever , Lata Mangeshkar , straddling over four generations like a Colossus , ringing  in our hearts  &  mind . Glad I was witness to her phenomenal career over the decades . RIP .

The askance from life ever since our birth , the desire & quest for achievement , all a basic tenet of Humanity ....as people excel in their respective fields , the peak & the trough ...for depart we must frm this  beautiful world of ours  so  very  much endeared ...

As you Love &  more so  you  Love your environment  , a tear drop is  hidden as the  curtain  falls , you go back as you  came with not  even a shred  of  the  temporal .

Then  there  is  this  rustle  of  the  leaves as the  wind  blows  gently , the footsteps  on  the  dried  leaves  on  the  pavement  a music  in tango ...the weather windy , the workplace beckoning ,as there is a job to complete ...day  in  day  out  so is the routine followed  diligently  & religiously ...as  perform  we  must ,albeit temporally  .......

As the transient nature is reminded, as beautiful souls depart , it is as if ,left, will be fond memories , of a person known so very well , so very much  endeared ....

The deep blue , the brite sun and the enchanting island moon simmering over waves a mute testimony to our footsteps & footprints , as I tread on the moon bathed  island sand  , the surf constantly deleting the trail ,as if in consonance & imitating the short & fickle memory.....

So must is the scent of the Earth , so must is the surf , so must is the drizzle , so must is the rustle of the dried fallen leaves , so must ,is the walk on the moon bathed island sand , as there wont be any regrets as you reunite finally with the  elements ,bidding farewell finally......Rest in Peace The Nightingale Queen....

Ma & Koderma

 To Rahul.. nephew...

Great to hear from you again on such a stirring note close to heart... Just now chatted with Nayonmoni.. She spent her childhood in koderma... NanaJi was Divisional Mining Engineer, he was BSc and AMIE(Associate Member of Institute of Engineers India), he used to inspect many a mine there... Nayonmoni (Ma) lived in a quaint Bungalow perched on a hillock with wild animals abound...Watson and Miller sahibs were Nanajis hunting associates.. Maneater Tiger used to abound there.. Ma informed me that often she went on horseback to school.. She observed forest fires too like a ring of lamps in the night...she also had a cub as a pet only until it grew ferocious... The strong smell of Mahua trees and Saal leaves, quaint bungalow and lots of books to read... no wonder her reading and writing habits were strong..which is passed on.. At her ripe age, her crystal clear description even today transported me to the thick jungles of Koderma...

....The Dharwar Craton & a friend....

 ....the discussion with Dr L P Singh , Dy DG GSI was inevitable on my friday holiday , firstly he being a long lost bosom frnd whom I met after 3 decades this Oct2021 & my recently concluded visit to Rockland Hampi & the Tunghabhadra basin...the discussion on Dharwar craton as  this Geological area is so termed was animated...whn u talk to bosom frnds of Intermediate class of science era 80-82 of Science college Patna,. its a great feel...who else wud  have been best  suited  than  my dear friend ,holding a high post in GSI....the 1980-82 era & 2021- 2022 is a yawning 40 yrs , but did we change at all in terms of camaraderie....no ....not a wee  bit ....as he educated  me about the heritage site rockland , I felt satiated , as we are well versed with each other's hearts delight....to find a dear frnd of formative years is God's blessing...!!!

THE HEART OF INDIA.....

.HAMPI....The Heart of INDIA...

..The NEW YEAR wishes are there for all ...as the Heart throbs in a remote heritage township of HAMPI in the Bellary district of Karnataka state...the land of RAMAYANA KISHKINDA...the kingdom of SUGREEWA the Monkey God king & birth place of Lord Hanumana at Anjanadri hills, with RamCharanPaduka at Chintamani overlooking the picterusque Tunghabhadra, whose course is breathtaking ,meandering its way through the mighty granite hillocks,well etching up a history of a mighty HINDU KINGDOM OF VIJAYNAGARA of 14th to 17th century AD.

Every square inch is heritage here , a UNESCO World Heritage Site ,as I am bewildered,  & truly overwhelmed, as site after site unfolds the magnificient saga of Vijaynagar Kingdom controlling the peninsula at the zenith of its glory...pillaged ,ransacked , desecrated ,a telltale evidence of a mighty city & kingdom at par with Roma of its time ...the bazars  still dotting  the  landscape juxtaposed to a temple complex  of Virupaksha , Vittala , Krishna , the Temples at the epicentre of worldly life of those times...the splendour and grandeur of a city sprawling in huge sq kilometers dotted  & protected with monolithic boulders and a rich fertile vale and a gushing mighty  river  Tunghabhadra sustaining  the kingdom...as I touch & feel & witness the mighty boulders drifting in a Coracle, with family, with Surya, the oarsman, singing paens of folklore of its people ,their kingdom ...steeped in Ramayana the Hazara Rama Complex with black granite collonade  in  the  sanctum electrified  our  day...the mythology  since  ingrained  from  childhood fast churning  us into

a  spin ...how  real  it could  be  &  how  evolved  we  had   been  600  yrs ago ..as  Kings  after Kings extended  their  firm  belief in extensions  of mythological  structures saluting the spirits and belief of its citizenry, during  their  respective  reigns  ...the  walls  representing  truly  the  heart  of  India ...!!!! Its as if  India is breathing  thru  its  rock  solid  walls  withstanding  the  ravages  of  time  ....

As,hordes of people throng the sites ,both urbane & the rural alike ,raising the heat & dust ,I can see the peace in their eyes of a direct connect to their rich heritage & culture...Glad I am here with family , my faith & trust in my ancestory well reinforced ,rediscovering & reveling in these revelations truly  a proud moment of our lives.....Long Live my Homeland ....!!! 

k