Abha R.

From the times immemorial there is hardly any girl born and brought up in India who was not taught the stories of Savitri and Satyavan, Arundhati and Vasishtha, Damayanti and Nala and so on with the emphasis on the female member of those famous couples. There is hardly any need to recapitulate the significance of these women in Indian mythology and their impact on Indian society. There are numerous pairs in non-Indian mythologies like Romeo-Juliet, Laila-Majnu, Shirin-Farhad and so on who are internationally recognized tragic lovers. Unlike these tragic women, aforesaid Indian women set an eternal example to the entire womanhood and give a meaning to their very existence!


The entire episode of Ruchika Girhotra which lasted two decades is a saga of triumph of evil over good, smirking face over sad faces, powerful people over innocent, two year imprisonment over death by suicide and a family implicated in false cases.


The entire nation is glued to the news coverage by media and had a sigh of relief when the court verdict increasing the punishment to Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore to two years of imprisonment, which came recently, which is of course subject to his appeals to the higher courts. Justice prevailed at last? India felt as though it has won a World War against injustice and also swept all the medals in Olympics.

Everyone missed out on the role of Abha Rathore. She stood by her husband like Savitri, Arundhati and Damayanti combined, a three-in-one. She proved herself no less than this troika of virtuous women from epics. She stood by her husband in good and not-so-good times; fought by his side, being a lawyer-cum-wife, knowing fully well that her husband is not an epitome of good character. This is what the girls were taught as their duty when they get married. After all, it is a known rule that at any given point of time at least half the lawyers are supposed to fight on the side of evil. If wife does not fight on behalf of an evil husband, who else will?

It is neither a right thing to rewrite epics nor easy, but there is nothing wrong in appending a modern epilogue by adding a chapter, for the education of girls of present and future generations, on SPS-Abha.

Teenagers Graduating to Adult Games

Abductions, rapes, murders, shoot-outs, blackmails, deploying hired assassins etc. etc. are all familiar adult sports, world over, until the end of second millennium. Acid throwing, eve teasing, ragging and such others were primary games played by teenagers, particularly in the countries like India. Readers of international, national and local news cannot fail to notice that such sports are no longer confined to the adults or teenagers respectively. Age barriers have melted down. Lot of teenagers are catching up with adults and have been acquiring the necessary skill-set and perfecting them, perhaps with an intention of making it their trade as they grow up and make a niche place for themselves in the society. Surely, the big and small screens (also the smaller ones on desktop/laptop and mobile screens) have immensely contributed to the learning process involved in it. A fait accompli?.

It is certainly an alarming trend to note that many kids who are below the teen-age bracket have started practicing these teenage and adult games with impunity and with significant success. It is difficult for the analysts, sociologists and criminologists to understand whether it is due to:

a) Children are growing up faster than ever before b) aforesaid screen based media has been imparting more education than necessary c) it is a paradigm shift brought in by the third millennium d) factors, which are yet to be identified, or e) a combination of all these factors, which is here to stay.

All the common people in our society including you and me, moralists, social workers, politicians, lawmakers, law-enforcers are all busy playing the games appropriate to their age and social hierarchy. None has time to notice these nascent visible trends let alone take measures to reverse them.

As civilization progresses, we cannot retard the advancement of the people and the society. There is precious little we can do to make people play games, according to the prevailing age groups. However, not all is lost. We can redefine age groups based on the games people play in contemporary society and remove the anomaly. The solution lies in bringing in a legislation and make a constitutional amendment to redefine the age groups in line with current realities so that broadly people fall into the age groups based on the games they play, at least for some more time. This might restore the social order to a reasonable level. Let us trust that such a move gets the wholehearted support of the elected representatives of both the houses of Parliament.

Champion’s Champion

In the world of Sports, Champions come and go every year. A Champion of Champions alone makes a lasting impression. Neither an Icelandic volcano nor an unscalable Bulgarian mountain summit called Veselin Topalov could stop one made of sterner stuff. The Champion stands tall among champions.

Topalov is not a chess player to be trifled with. He is Houdini of Chess in difficult situations, a great escape artist. He is an outstanding player of our times known for his ability to discover a winning line in an apparently drawn position and his opponents respect him for what he is capable of doing at the board of 64 square game. He is one of the few players in Chess history with 2800+ ELO rating.

Anand comes with the handicap like most Indian prodigies. India prides itself in nipping its talent in its bud. Indians, as a rule, do not get the same type of governmental and organizational support, which Russian, Chinese and several other European child prodigies get. What makes Anand different from others is he made a place for himself with his genius and humility, parental support and some nominal corporate support. Spain treats him as its son-of-the-soil. He locked horns with Bulgarian in Bulgaria to triumph and prove all pundits wrong.

The Chess is no longer what it used to be; it has changed dramatically as no other sport in last two decades. Now the Chess Championship matches are not mere three-week long chain of games. They are full-fledged world wars not even battles. Starting with Spassky vs. Fischer match, which is a war between two super-powers to prove their hegemony where the players were mere pawns of immense talent, gradually Chess Championships have become Wars of Science and Technology thrown in. These players spend anywhere from 6 months to 1 year to prepare for World Championship match, assisted by a battery of chess talent known as seconds. The winner is the one who is able to execute the plan most precisely in the tension ridden silent playing hall over a three-week long duration. With the advent of super-computers, database of virtually complete set games played till date and being played at any given moment, (the record of which is, of course, available), numerous knowledge-based tools to analyze the games, one can not afford to play a game (or unaware), at highest level, or a line which is already known. Every single game needs innovation, a new approach and variation and of course, an element of surprise.

The overall Championship Plan does not stop with planning the lines of chess games, it goes beyond; Game Theory, Psychology, Guerilla Warfare (ambush), counter-guerilla warfare (anticipation, contingency planning) etc. also come into play. Among all sports, there is not any sport, which is more taxing than Chess at its highest level. It is a truly open sport where a five year old girl novice can take on a nonagenarian former world (male) chess champion.

Sadly, Chess, not being a hit-and-run street game, may not become a national sport or a popular one in the country of its origin in near future.

Chess talent is waiting in the wings to take the mantle forward from ageing Anand. Inevitably, it is a matter of some more years. Yet, Anand is bound to be remembered as one of the greatest sports personalities of all time in the world of sports, by discerning few.

What is not a Fake?

As per RBI, some of the currency in circulation in the denominations of Rs. 1,000 and 500 are fake and they are called counterfeit.

The stamp paper you buy for registering a property or for some legal purpose may also be a fake.

The Nobel Prize medal of Tagore kept in a museum got stolen and the one displayed is a replacement.

The boundaries of mines owned by mining magnets, on their own, get extended.

The boundaries of nations are disputed.

Someone who poses as CBI or ACB or police official is an impostor.

Diplomat with IFS tag could be a spy.

The certificates produced by politicians, prospective govt. employees and students indicate caste depending on the reservation made against it. The reason why some politicians are against 33% reservation for women is that it is somewhat more difficult, but not entirely impossible, to fake their sex.

University selling a degree may be non-existing, apart from being a doomed one.

Most of the beggars are not poor. They beg since it is an easy way out.

The infants carried by begging women are not theirs; they are hired at the current ruling rates of Rs. 125 to 175 per day. Their working day may have fewer working hours; perhaps till the next feed time of the infant.

Lady giving birth to a child of some other biological couple is a surrogate mother.

The medicines you buy might have expired and got relabeled; and with a good probability, may also be fake and they are known as spurious.

The doctor you visit may be armed with a degree and registration certificate purchased at a street corner in Bangalore and practicing illegally.

The weights used by vendors are not certified for correct weight (they are manufactured with a lesser weight so that govt. authorities can add suitable quantity of lead and certify for the correct weight with their seal); they are underweight and the liquid measures will have dents!

The meters in autos and taxis, including the electronic ones, display excess fare and they are tampered.

The meters in Petrol bunks read higher liters and rupees and they are also tampered apart from the fact that the Petrol is adulterated.

The tickets sold outside a cinema hall have a color called black.

The people encircling you near Regional Passport Office / Regional Transport Office or a monument are not employees or guides; they are touts.

Person selling you a plot of land may not be its owner.

For a failed internet based transaction, you may get back refund of transaction value in due course abut not the tax, service charge and the cess paid on the transaction value. Shall we call it a tax on non-transaction?

The news of police encounters with terrorists or military with enemies you read in papers are well articulated.

The goods you buy in Parry’s Corner is smuggled.

The Rolex you may dare to buy could be a replica.

In this world full of fakes, we should be happy that our politicians are genuine.

Last but not the least; the name of your blogger is not Tarantula. It is only his pseudonym!