Tale from my childhood: me and Sohan Singh

Sometimes small incidents give us the realization that life is certainly worth living. When I was in the 4th standard at the Stanes High School at Coimbatore, my father brought a boy a few years older than me to work as a help in the house. Sohan Singh or as we called him Sohani was a lad with infinite energy and as he had been brought from our village back in Punjab, he felt he was in safe hands with us, Sohani was a nice handsome boy who always wore a gray turban and carried out varied tasks at

 home.

The task he relished the most was bringing my lunch every day on a bicycle to my school which was on Avinashi road about three kilometers from where we stayed at Red fields, From 1200h my mind would be on the lunch and Sohani. In particular, the sweet paratha which my mother sent me every day. Sohni would bring a Tiffin carrier with cooked chicken, but I always looked forward to meeting Sohani and eating the sweet Paratha. Huge eagles always circled overhead and Sohani would be on guard and shoo them away.

After the lunch, he would pack everything and then would play a spot of cricket with me. I loved hitting the ball when Sohni threw the ball to me, Come Sunday and there was a cricket match. I was included and it so happened I was the youngest boy in the team. I remember Marshall, my senior (he was in the 10th standard) telling me “Look, Singh, we have included you, so chappie better play well”.

“At what position will I bat?” I asked.

“You will come in last at no 11” he replied.

This dismayed me, but Sohni was at my side and telling me “Look , I have prayed to the Guru and it's going to be a great match.”

  The match got underway and our opponents made 74. We now batted and our score read 48 for 9. I came into bat last and someone remarked that the match was over as you can’t expect a boy in the 4th standard to be able to make a mark with the seniors. As I walked into bat I saw Sohni waving to me and that bolstered my confidence. Marshal came and told me “just play with a straight bat and help me win this match”

I faced the first ball and slashed at it. The ball sped towards the third man and I was on my way. I held my end up and made 6 not out as Marshall made runs at the other end. We made 75 for 9 and won and I was elated, but perhaps if Sohni had not cheered me, I would not have faced the senior bowlers with confidence.

Sohni was a permanent fixture in our house and he also got friendly with our dog, a foxhound named Teddy as well. Teddy was, of course, my favorite and he would respond to my whistle with a yelp of joy and rush towards me.Those were excellent days. As Sohni grew up my father as a reward for years of work with us got him recruited as a driver in the Air Force. As a youngster (Pilot Officer) I met him when he was a sergeant. He smiled and patted me “baby, those were the days, at Coimbatore. Can't they come back again?”

Memories come and go, but I will always remember Sohani or Sohan Singh forever. He is now retired and stays in the village, but for me, he is more than a family help, he was a friend.

Rapes in Brazil

Brazil is besieged by crimes against women, with rape at the top of the list.

Brazil is the largest country in South America with 27 states. For many years, the Brazilian economy has not been doing too well. Matters are compounded by widespread corruption. The poverty line is expanding, and one gets the feeling that the Brazilian people are frustrated. Perhaps this is one reason that Brazil is enveloped by an endemic problem of crimes against women, some of whom are just young teens. Topping this list is rape. It's a sobering thought that Brazil has the second largest rape count in the world. The nation that comes first is the United States. Now, the USA is an affluent nation. Here the analogy of poverty and rape do not seem to go together.

Crime in Brazil

Brazil's 27 provinces do not maintain any figures of rape. In addition, many rapes are not reported. Crimes are rampant and many rapes are committed by youngsters. There was the case of a 16-year-old lad who was under the influence of cocaine and he raped a woman in a moving bus with a weapon in his hand. As per Brazilian law the boy would get away with a 3-year term in a correction home as he is a minor. The recent rape of a 16-year-old girl is an example of a sense of frustration among the young. This rape has galvanized the people, but tens of rape cases are just swept under the rug. The conviction rate of rapists is abysmally low. One is also reminded of the rape of an American student in a moving bus by 2 men who also shackled the boyfriend of the girl and made him watch as they carried out their act.

Curtailing rape

Rape is a #Crime that is in the statute books of all nations. Punishments are also clearly defined. Brazil is second on the list of most rapes, followed by India. The pride of place goes to the USA. Rape can never be stamped out, but committing rape can be made a costly proposition if deterrent punishment is meted out. In many cases, the police adopt a negative attitude. In Brazil crimes against women are endemic and a herculean effort will be needed to bring down the crime rate. The rape of the 16-year-old teen that has agitated the people and may well be the catalyst to bring change. 

  

Why India does not win medals in Olympics

Posted: 08 Aug 2016 08:37 PM PDT

Why no medals in Rio ?
Why does India, having a population of 1.25 billion people, perform so poorly in sports ? Why have we not won a single medal as yet in the Rio Olympics ?

There are two answers.

(1) Modern sports are very expensive, and so usually only rich countries do well in international events.

There are of course exceptions. Ethiopian runners like Haile Gebrselassie have performed superbly in long distance races. Anthony Nesty from a tiny poor country Surinam won a gold medal in the Seoul Olympics defeating the famous American swimmer Matt Biondi. But these are exceptions.

Modern sports require a lot of money for training the sportspersons, providing them the best kits ( which are often very expensive ), providing them nourishing food ( which 75% or more Indians do not get ), getting the services of medical experts ( some of whom can even tell how to develop a particular muscle in the leg to run faster ), gadgets and other machinery ( which are also often expensive ) needed to improve performance, etc. These are often not available to sportspersons in a poor country like India, and it was so stated by Mary Kom in her speech in Parliament recently.

(2) Most Indian youth want a life long career, whereas in sports usually one's career ends before 30 years of age. After that the sportsperson is usually left to fend for himself/herself. Many retired Indian sportspersons are living in great poverty, and nobody cares for them. So most of our youth do not pursue sports seriously after a certain time, thinking they will starve later on.if they do so.

So to win a lot of medals in the Olympics and other international events we have to make India a highly prosperous country
.

Fertilizing the Europeon women * 71

The exodus

Fertilizing and the harem

Europe is besieged by a great exodus from the Muslim lands from the arc of the Mediterranean Sea to the Middle East and even as far as Pakistan. This is mass migration and follows the famous pull and push theory. Such migrations have taken place throughout history. However, this migration is different as Europe has a shortage of labor and the Islamic followers are looking for a better life away from their war-ravaged lands. An initial lot of migrants were welcomed by the European powers. The motive was selfish as the European nations were in need of labor to service their menial jobs.

Exhortations of the Imams

In the harem

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The reason for this shortage of labor is the low birthrate of the European women, which means a declining younger population. They were soon at their wits end as they were flummoxed by the magnitude of the exodus. and had to down shutters.The exodus was also given a religious twist and this appealed to younger Muslim men.

The Imam of the Al Aksa mosque in Jerusalem broadcast in his sermons the need of the Muslim men to fertilize the European women as the Christians had failed to do so. He pointed to the low birth rate of the European women and exhorted his followers to spread Islam by fertilizing them. Many Muslim felt this was an excellent method to spread Islam. In any case, the Koran looks favorably on migration as a means to spread Islam.

Women in Islam.

Arab women

Islam is an insular religion that has global appeal. Many Muslims have been taken in by this rhetoric and felt European women are easy game. This came to the fore in Germany, where on New Year eve many German women were assaulted. Basically it's a clash of cultures as in Islam women are subservient to men and Muslim personal Law as codified in the Sharia gives hardly any rights to women. In addition, for centuries, the Arab Sheiks have always coveted pure blonde European women, particularly from the Slav countries, for their harems.

This was the genesis of the white slave trade, carried on by the Berbers and others. The problem has no easy solution as Europe does need cheap labor and cannot turn away all the migrants. How will they strike the middle line i.e balance the migrants with the needs of labor? #Immigration