kasmenon

AN ENCOUNTER WITH COUNT DRACULA The experience of boarding of the ATR aircraft of Serbian Airways at the  Belgrade airport reminded one of the confusion that prevails in a small Indian  airport. However, the flight left quickly enough and the efficient cabin crew helped us kill time with a shot of Rakia bar and a pack of peanuts. We landed in Bucharest , Romania, in about an hour and 20 minutes and managed to exit the airport after paying a fortune to the cabbie. The traffic in the city crawled but our patience  exhausted faster and after exchanging few expletives between the five of us , more to give vent to our frustration , we reached our hotel.  As you grow older you get naughtier , so they say. We too felt that and so decided to visit the old city for a sting of club hopping. Well!, the place kept us spellbound for over four hours with streets of wayside restaurants serving some not so likable( for a vege) food  , faboulous music  ,...

DOCTORS AND VIOLENCE  People restoring to violence is now becoming common place. In most walks of life. The medical field is no exception. We need to look at the problem holistically.  Restoring to violence is obviously condemnable . No two opinions about it. However, we all know the situation in hospitals. The whole system including the administrators, nurses, doctors and technicians     is not patient  friendly. Either they are over worked, not sufficiently skilled or negligent . The degree varies between corporate hospitals and govt ones but is definitely  present. Add to this the problem of " profit motive resulting in fleecing"   or corruption and  inferior products. The instances where medical education has been severely compromised only adds fuel to the already deficient system. Net result is that a certain percent of patients receive poor treatment and/ or incur  excess expenditure. Most of the times this sit...

The Spell of Modi: Its the right time to look at this phenomenon , well in time before election. Lets first take note of an interesting event. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Saturday adopted a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir, condemning the “atrocities and human rights violations” in the state, The Indian Express  and many newspapers and channels reported. This came a day after India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj urged the organisation to come together to fight the global menace of terrorism and extremism. While there is a debate going on about the veracity of the claims made in Indian media, through leaked information , ostensibly, by sources within government , about the Air strikes inside POK and the damages induced there, the above is an undisputed fact.  The OIC managed to get legitimacy by having the Indian FM addressing them. However , they ignored what she said . Thy instead spoke about and recoganised  Indian atrocities in Kash...

WHY GOD NEEDS PROTECTION A highly disturbing phenomenon has been steadily taking roots in the country during the last few years. I am referring to the way religious frenzy has been enveloping our society in a strangle-hold never seen before.  Not that it is entirely new. It has often raised its ugly and dangerous head in the country during various times and had left a deep scar in our nations psyche. However, each time, level headed people with better human values, had managed to get the derailed county back on track. Often, it had engulfed only a section and a part of the country.  During such times, various extreme elements belonging to either Hindutav types, Islamic, Sikh   or some such dispensation, had ignited religious passion among ordinary and innocent people, caused deep wounds in their heart  and sowed hatred in their minds.  Of late, one of such groups, mainly representing the right wing, had attained political power whic...

THE MAID OF THE MIST It was a perfect summer day in Toronto with the sun trying its best to push the temperature beyond the late teens . We had driven the route from there to Niagara in quick time and soon I was walking down the ayle( my son decided to keep off, having lived there for some time) leading to a landing area where I was to board a motor boat. I was taking in the sound of the falls , my gaze transfixed at the far end, where the great Canadian end of the falls was visible. Then, all of a sudden, I felt I was in another world, the one where I came from. Panic struck as I heard familiar sounds all around me. There I was, a second back, looking at and immersing myself into the magnificent journey of the river Niagara, and to my horror now , felt I was in Ahmedabad! Of all places! They descended with all their exuberance and chatter, attired in trousers and tops, with a few hats too thrown in for form, bottoming out in the Nikes and Adidas. All of them, men and women, in the...

BOMBAY WALTZ WITH THE RAIN-A LOVE STORY The Bombay monsoon kept its tryst this year on time. Yes, I still prefer to call the city by that name! The romantic passionate embrace lady Rain   has with the city has mesmerized all those who has approvingly watched as both waltzes through the three months. As the two dance hand in hand, edge to edge of BMC's roads and bridges and as the bridges give way and the trains try to run without tracks, or so it seems, the pavement living toddler squeezes her eyes as the rain trickles down her lovely distraught cheeks, the office goer gobbles’ a warm but getting wet wada pav, the rain and the city nonchalantly and unabashedly gets lost in their eternal love.  Beginning from early June and with the ever so lovely fragrance that emanate when rain meets the earth, the rendezvous lasts for days on end. The sky most often than not remains gravel grey. The ever so few trees too sing a song. The shrubs that grow on footpaths and roads which...

INDIAN HISTORY : WILL IT END UP AS A TRAGEDY Government To Rewrite IndIa's History: News Report. Historical research is a commendable activity and must be done. All governments representing people of great civilizations spend considerable time and other resources in understanding thier past . Indian history is unique. There has been a astounding lack of written material of any of the times prior to 1900 BC or so. A period spanning over 6000 years or more. This is unlike all  the great civilizations of the world which was fortunate to have had written material and more definitive archaeological evidences . Our civilization, the oldest and in some areas more advanced , had to be researched and studied only through few archaeological evidences , reports from Chinese travelers often commissioned by domestic rulers to spread their fame , Greek ,Persian invaders , totally unreliable hymns and poems of the vedas and the far too many versions of the epics. The Vedas are a collection o...