Eating Crocodile Meat

The crocodile needs to be looked after and not allowed to become dead like the Dodo. Recent events in Australia are a warning and steps need to be taken to conserve the crocodile.

The Crocodile is an Endangered Species

Crocodile

 Recently in Australia authorities found heads of 70 crocodiles stuffed in a freezer. Hunting a crocodile is banned in Australia and can earn a 5-year jail term.

Crocodiles are protected species in Australia and only a few are killed in case they become a danger to human habitation. Thus authorities have to answer how the crocodile heads turned up in the freezer. So far no arrests are made and one can only hope some action will ensue.

Another fact I am unable to digest is people eating crocodile meat. A friend has written to me that Crocodile meat is served in all places in the USA. I am told Crocodile meat is a delicacy in Louisiana state of USA - the alligator variety. The tail meat is costlier. One can get 'Gator burger' or 'Alligator Smoked Sausage' and other preparations in some of the restaurants, available more in the 'French Market' area along Mississippi river in New Orleans city.

There are alligator farms where they are bred and reared only for commercial purpose (human consumption). Alligator heads (after the taxidermy) from very small to large sizes are displayed and sold in different shops as a souvenir. Cost varies between $ 15 to $ 50. Visitors are naturally surprised to see that alligator meat is consumed by the inhabitants. NatGeo channel shows 'Alligator hunting".

Despite this, I do feel crocodile hunting needs to stop. You can't kill one in India, where wildlife laws are strict, yet aberrations take place. Talking of crocodiles, their skin is worth a fortune in the fashion market with women leading the way. It's about time this was stopped. 

Indian made Whiskeys have made a Global Mark

Imperial Blue whiskey

The British ruled India for 190 years and gave many gifts to India. They also reduced Indians to second class status, but some of their legacies really helped India like the railways and the army. Also, the British also introduced whiskey and allied drinks in India. Once the products were introduced many enterprising Indians in collaboration with the British opened distilleries in India and some are now big names like Mohan Meaken and Kingfisher. These were referred to as IMFL or Indian made Foreign liquor

IMFL became popular in India and after the independence and liberalization of economy foreign manufacturers of Scotch whiskey also started manufacturing their products in India. Indian made whiskey has now reached international standards in quality and good Indian whiskey is close to scotch in taste and flavor.

India has gone forward and recently an international survey has shown that the 10 top-selling brands in the world seven are from India. The only Scotch whiskey brand in the list is single malt Glen Livet. It is indeed surprising that 7 Indian brands are the top-selling brands out of the first 10 in the world. The topmost brand with maximum volume in sales is Imperial Blue followed by MacDowell No 1.

The sale of Indian made foreign whiskeys has grown by geometric progression. One reason is the price as Indian whiskeys sell at 50% of the cost of similar Scotch whiskey. In a match with price and quality, IMFL scores and thus more and more buyers are drinking Indian made whiskeys. In Pakistan, UAE and even Europe Indian Whiskeys are stocked in the bars and there is no stigma attached to them.

Shameful conduct of a male passenger in Bhopal against a lady in Aircraft

In India, the male chauvinism rears its head now and then. Recently a video has gone viral of a passenger aboard a flight in Bhopal talking improperly to a lady passenger. `The lady is a wheelchair-bound traveler and is also an MP from the same city -Bhopal. She had trounced the anti-Hindu and BJP leader  Digvijaya Singh by over 350,000 votes.
The airline has now said that they were not aware that the lady MP, was wheelchair-bound. This is a clear case of the airline being at fault. Worse this passenger thought he is king and used improper language against her. Who will take cognization of this and charge this man ?. `The way he was shouting deserves to be condemned.
I wonder if this man is aware that a woman who had a child out of wedlock is the PM of Finland without any stigma and here this man was uttering all nonsense. Who will bell the cat?

A Dance to Remember

Dancing is always great fun. What if you get a chance to swing with a lovely Lebanese girl?

 The Desert and teh UAE is a great place for a holiday and you can really let your hair down. Perhaps it's one of the paths to Nirvana. So fly to the UAE from London or Mumbai and part of millions who come for a holiday here.

Goa and the Bikini; No Politics

Goa has ample sun-kissed beaches and thousands of tourists from the west, particularly from the Slav nations flock here. The bikini has become a part of politics.

Goa and the bikini

Indian in bikini

Goa brims with foreign tourists around the year and no other spot except Goa deals with such astronomical tourist-influx. Goa is indeed in oddity with all other tourist zones of India. And what that fixates one’s eyeballs upon and also heats up a debate among ministers of Goa is ‘bikini’.

Why is it that bikinis still continues to be a matter of squeamishness among the ministries of Goa? Very recently, Goa PWD minister Sudin Dhavalika reportedly said that he would oppose free bikini wear in Goa. He is reported to have said that if tourists come to Goa wearing bikinis, then I am against it. He added that “culture” was against wearing the two-piece bathing garment. In contrast, the Tourism minister Parulekar had commented that as a tourism minister, he had never said no to bikinis.

The tourism minister, however, added that bikinis could be worn on beaches as well as swimming pools but not in supermarkets or temples. One gets a feeling that politics is needlessly injected into a mundane topic.

Live and let live

Goa Beach

My stance is in favor of bikinis beyond the beach

With no intention of inflicting my views on anybody who is reading, I put forward my stand on the ‘bikini-issue’. Well, in my eyes, I don’t see any need for a ban on bikinis outside the beach, that is, in swimming pools, markets, kiosks or any open-to-public section. One should not forget that the ancient Indian dresses as seen from paintings and sculptures are far more revealing.

Most tourists who come to Goa do it to relax and let their hair down. Many come from extremely cold countries and Goa is heaven for them, with its sunshine and all-weather beaches.

Donning a bikini is one’s self-choice and there should be no talk of culture and heritage etc. These can be self-defeating. I think bringing politics into wearing a bikini is not the right approach. Many Indian girls also wear bikinis. Goa on the Arabian Sea is a blessed place, let's keep it that way.

Punjabi Chess with Rare Scotch Whiskey

Punjabi Chess with Scotch and Rare Scotch

Chess is a popular game of skill and intellect. In Punjab, the Punjabi's have modified the game to incorporate their love for good whiskey and rum.

Modifying Chess

Punjabi Chess

Playing Chess is popular all over the world. Its an ancient game and mention of this game is found in the Mahabharata, which was written in about 5000BC. The Greeks also played chess and by all accounts, it was a popular game.

The game has not changed much over the last 7000 years, except for the addition of some rules and regulations. The game for long was the preserve of Royalty and the elite, but now its played by all and sundry.

The game is played on a chessboard and consists of a total of 32 pieces known as soldiers and knights. It also has a king and queen and the game involves making a plan to checkmate the king. Anyone who checkmates the king is the winner.

I have been playing chess for ages. Earlier I used to play as a child with my maternal grandfather. The game has however been given a welcome twist by the Punjabi's. They are robust people with a penchant for the good life including good whiskey. The chessboard has been transformed by some robust and energetic people from Punjab with various shades of Scotch whiskey replacing the traditional players on a chessboard

Playing Chess the Punjabi way

Punjabi chess

On my visit to my village in Punjab near Hoshiarpur, I often play this "Whiskey Chess" as it is popularly called. The players on the chessboard are replaced by delicate glasses containing Scotch whiskey. the pawns or soldiers are replaced by glasses containing ordinary scotch like 100 Pipers, Vat 69, Old Smuggler or similar brands.

The warriors like Knights and Horse and Castle are represented by glasses containing good whiskey like Johnny Walker Black Label, Chivas Regal, etc. The king and queen have glasses filled with a peg of rare scotch like Royal Salute.

The game is played the normal way with the exception that when any player wins an opponent he gets the chance to gulp the scotch peg. The winner who checkmates the king is awarded with the rare scotch. It's a wonderful game and not for anyone with a weak disposition. I will say its a real macho game and the host will also keep supplied with an endless quantity of Chicken and meat kebabs.

Its great fun and one must play it to relish the flavor of " Punjabi Chess". I for one love it and whenever I go to my village in Punjab at Hoshiarpur I make it a point to play Punjabi Chess with my friends. I don't think even Omar Khayyam can better THIS!

Review MG Singh's Novel "ROMANCE OF THE FRONTIER''

The novel

The author

Writing a novel is a work of inspiration and this novel fills that genre. The novel was written many years back but was kept pending till the writer finally decided to publish it. Notion Books, Chennai was happy to publish it. There is a lot of action, killings, and the most important part is that the book is laced with oriental erotica.

Notion Books an Indian publishing firm has taken pains and printed the book with an excellent get-up and glossy cover.

The book is on sale on-line in both paperback forms, as well as a Kindle e-book.

The Plot

Book cover

The novel is set in the period when the British empire was on its last legs and as a parting shot had decided to divide India into two by creating Pakistan. This was a tumultuous period in Indian history and forms the background of the novel.

The hero is a Muslim Pathan tribesman who is benevolent, educated and above all a great warrior. The novel delineates his love affair with the daughter of a British major of the Indian army and subsequent affair with Anglo- Indian girl. In all this mayhem there are excellent erotic passages, as well as action. The hero kills with compunction, but he is just and fair. The novel also relates a feud between him and a Punjabi Muslaman who wants to drive the Hindus out of Punjab.

There is plenty of action and the reader can be spellbound in case he likes tales of love and adventure.
The book is available on all major online sites like Amazon, Flipkart, News hunt, Kobo, Google play, etc. I hope some friends will grab a copy.

Last Word

The book

Considering that it is the first book, it's a commendable piece of work. Some passages do appear disjointed now, but hopefully,  the writer will correct them in later novels.

The book runs into 252 pages and gives a picture of that turbulent time. The backdrop of a sizzling love adds to the allure of the novel. It's a good tale and readers should like it. It's also a tribute to the language of English which is now part of India, making it the biggest English knowing nation in the world. At a conservative estimate over 350 million Indians are well versed in this language. India has produced a number of top writers like Salman Rushdie and Kushwant Singh and I hope this novel will add to the repertoire of English literature published in India.

Priyanka Chopra strikes out in Hollywood: A First for an Indian Actress

Star from India in America

Chopra

The Mumbai film industry is second only to Hollywood, but despite churning out the largest number of films in the world, hardly any Indian actress makes it big in the US entertainment industry. After decades, one actress, Priyanka Chopra has been a success and it is a tribute not only to her hard work, but also her beauty, sex appeal, and tanned body. Priyanka has shot music videos and is also acting in Baywatch and this has gladdened the hearts of Indians.

Priyanka and entry in American show biz
Priyanka (born 1982) is the daughter of a military officer who had her schooling in the USA. She entered the Miss World contest and was crowned the winner in 2000. She has not looked back after that as she joined Hindi films and in a few years has reached the apex. Having spent her early years in the US, Priyanka had no phobia about life in the USA and she wished to make a mark in the TV and music industry there. She made waves when in 2012, she was signed by Creative Artists Agency. It was the first time an Indian actress had been signed by this agency. Chopra collaborated with Sam Walters, Jay Sean, and Mathew Korma, and produced her first album RedOne. She also released her first single" In My City." She made a mark with this album and received 3 nominations: best female artist, best song, and best video at the World Music Awards. Priyanka is on the road to success and she has released many more music videos.

Success in Baywatch series
One of her biggest successes was in bagging a role in Baywatch. In this serial, she has excelled and shown to Americans what an Indian beauty is like. Priyanka is the first star from India to have made a mark in America. She is the top star in Bollywood. Come to think of it, the doyen of Indian acting Amitabh Bachchan got a 10-minute measly role in the Great Gatsby. One can safely say that Priyanka is a trailblazer. She is now busy with her commitments in both Mumbai and the USA. One can be sure she will do better in the years to come. 

Memoir: Stanes High School

The Stanes High School

sir stanes

The Stanes High School on Avinashi road at Coimbatore is a school that is a testimony to the good that the Raj brought to India. The school now in its 148th year of existence is a tribute to the Raj and the men who were the sinews of that period. I had attended this school decades back when my father was posted at Coimbatore. Thus I have fond memories of this school.

Inception

Old residence of Stanes

The Stanes High school was the brainchild of Sir Robert Stanes a coffee planter who had his plantations of coffee in the Nilgiris. In those days Robert Stanes used to take his coffee seeds for processing to Kerala. But once he happened to visit Coimbatore, he liked the place immensely as it had a salubrious climate that reminded him of Manchester.
The school saw the shape in 1862, making it one of the oldest schools in India. In fact, it is older than the Daly College and Doon School.
The school was set up with help from the church. But by the turn of the twentieth century, the school opened its doors to all categories and classes of people. The name European was dropped and the school renamed as 'Stanes High School'. However in keeping with the wishes of Sir Stanes the school even now carries on with reservations for the minority Anglo Indian community. .

The School Today

the school

The Stanes High School will soon be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2012. This will be a rare achievement as hardly any school in India is that old. Presently the school has over 3000 students and the medium of instruction is English.
When we look at the school now, we must all spare a thought for Robert Stanes who had the vision to set up this school. For his services to India and the people of Coimbatore, Henry Stanes was knighted by the King. He was also awarded the Kaiser-e-Hind medal by the Governor-General. Sir Robert Stanes breathed his last in 1936. But he left behind a splendid monument of all the good that the Raj brought with it.
For me it will always remind me of one the best period of my life.

Indo-Japanese Girl is Miss Japan

Miss Japan

Miss Japan

Japan was for centuries a closed society. In fact, from about 1600 the Togukawa shogunate closed Japan from the rest of the world in the belief that the Japanese were superior to the world, and could not associate with other races, who they deemed inferior. The Japanese imposed stringent restrictions on foreigners and hardly anyone was allowed into Japan. This state of affairs continued till about 1850 when the American flotilla commanded by Commodore Mathew Perry laid siege to Edo Bay. He was successful and the Japanese had no choice but to give in to American demands and open up their country.

Copying the West
The Japanese are avid learners and they soon copied or even bettered some of the ideas from the West. They built up a formidable military machine and at one time dominated the entire SE Asia. The Japanese also copied the concept of beauty pageants and began to have their own contests.

Despite the opening up, a section of the Japanese people still looked down on other races and many Japanese children from mixed marriages suffered, Called Haafu, or half Japanese, these children were often discriminated against. A blow was struck against this apartheid when last year a Haafu girl Ariana Miyamoto won the Miss Japan beauty contest for the first time. Many criticized her as she did not look Japanese enough. Nevertheless, she represented Japan at the world beauty contest.

Half-Indian girl wins beauty pageant

Miss Japan

This year another girl with mixed parentage Priyanka Yoshikawa has won the Miss Japan title. She is half Indian, as her father is from Calcutta and her mother is Japanese. She is related to the ex-Indian chief minister of Bengal and spent over a year in Calcutta in 2003-04. Priyanka was born in Tokyo and will represent Japan at the Miss World contest this year to be held in Washington. She has joined the rank of Celebrities.

Last word

Priyanka in a bikini

Orthodox Japanese are not happy at a non-Japanese girl winning the beauty contest and now representing Japan. But times are changing and so is Japan. There is more openness now and Priyanka considers herself Japanese first before anything else

How Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made Indian PM Indira Gandhi a Kitten

India won the 1971 war and held 930000 Pak soldiers as POWs, yet the Indian PM was outsmarted by the Pak Leader Bhutto and he got his POWs back without giving away anything in return

No result after victory

Bhutto and Indira

Fruits of Victory turn sour

I have given an account of the Kargil war, where the timidity of the Vajpayee government allowed the war to become a stalemate. Obviously, India achieved nothing after the Kargil war. But there is one war in 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh and was a decisive victory for India and yet India allowed the advantage of victory to slip away despite the fact that we held 93000 Pakistan army POWs. How did this happen that a victorious India allowed the fruits of victory to slip away from its fingers? The answer lies in the gullibility of Indira Gandhi and the astute skill of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Pakistani leader.

Advantage India
After the creation of Bangladesh, the Indian army held 93000 Pakistani soldiers as POW. This was the time to strike a hard bargain on Kashmir and ask that the present Line of Control be converted to an international border. I am told this was agreed to by Bhutto in secret talk with Indira Gandhi, but later Pakistan denied it. In fact in the Simla accord, India agreed to discuss the Kashmir problem with Pakistan. Bhutto had assured Indira Gandhi that this was just a ploy to please hardliners in Pakistan and he would soon move forward on Kashmir. Bhutto was working to a plan and during this meeting, he gave away nothing and in turn was able to get his POWs back. This was a great achievement. Indira Gandhi was outsmarted by Bhutto, who not only got his POWs back but also made India accept that a problem in Kashmir existed. Rarely has a victor at a conference been so misled as Indira Gandhi was during the Simla meeting.

Last Word
In hindsight, India frittered away a great opportunity to settle the Kashmir issue. India should have insisted on a Kashmir solution and agreed for a return of the POWs only after that. By handing over the POWs, India lost all leverage on Kashmir. in effect, the Simla accord was a blunder. Whatever Bhutto agreed privately is not recorded and now we can say that Bhutto played his cards in an adroit manner.
In fact, after the victory in Bengal, the war should have been continued. Additional troops from Bengal would have been available and an attack on Kashmir was a necessity. Pakistan was in the throes of a crisis and Yahya Khan had resigned, it was an opportune moment to try and solve the Kashmir issue. History records that India failed and today the Kashmir issue is alive as ever

Conquest of Tibet by China

Conquest of Tibet

Tibet location

Tibet has a border of 3300 miles with India. But the Himalayas were a great barrier and as such cultural and military contacts between India and Tibet were minimal. The Tibetans were however closely connected with the Chinese since ancient times, but at no time was Tibet a part of China. The current Tibetan culture has been formed since the time the Lama culture was established in Tibet. The Tibetan form of Buddhism came from India when the Bodhisattva left from South India to preach Buddhism to the Tibetans. Buddhism became a state religion and was spread in Tibet by the edict of the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai became the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism was called upon to assume full political power as well. The Dalai Lama to protect Tibetan culture from outside influence forbade outside contacts and Tibet grew in isolation of world development.
The 19th century was a tumultuous period for Tibet’s history as the Western powers gained control in Asia and Tibet was also involved in the stream of western invasions. In 1893, the Ch’ing court signed the “Tibet India Treaty” also referred to as the Sikkim-Tibet Treaty under duress as Britain was the paramount power and controlled India and also had a big say in China

To emphasize British power an invasion under Colonel Francis Young Husband was launched against Tibet in 1903. The Tibet army was routed and the British Army seized Lhasa in 1904, forcing Tibetan officials to endorse the Lhasa Treaty. The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) fled to Mongolia and was stripped of his powers. This gave the Chinese under the Ch’ing government to established direct rule over Tibet for the first time in 1910. At that time the Dalai Lama fled to British India.
Chinese rule did not last long and In 1912, Tibet became an independent country when the Ch’ing Dynasty was overthrown by the Hsinhai Revolution. The Dalai Lama returned to Tibet from British India and proclaimed the independence of the Empire of Tibet. Tibet was effectively an Independent nation till 1951.

However, Communist China’s People’s Liberation Army occupied Tibet in 1951 and set up the Tibet military division in the following year. China abandoned the “Empire of Tibet” and established the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Chinese had a free hand as Nehru the Indian Prime Minister fed on theories of British imperialism refused to intervene and thus Tibet was lost as a buffer state to India.

Tibet is now effectively controlled by China and the Chinese define the 14th Dalai Lama as the “leader of the counter-revolution elements”. He had escaped to India in 1959 after a plot was uncovered to murder him.
He is the legitimate “head of state” of the “Empire of Tibet” and the government in exile in India is the legitimate government of Tibet region. Unfortunately, this is all on paper as the Chinese control Tibet and there is no way the status Quo of 1950 can be restored.

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JohnWayne: A Titan from Hollywood

Me and Wayne

JOHN WAYNE

I was a small boy when John Wayne died in 1979. But even at that age I loved the films of John Wayne and watched them in cinema halls with my friends while playing truant from school. Later, I built up a collection of his films and have now over 90 of his films on my hard disk. For me, there is no bigger star of cowboy films than John Wayne. Maybe Clint Eastwood would come a close second, but Wayne was the original macho star.
I saw his movie in a morning show in 1985 or 86 titled "True Grit". In this movie, he plays an aging one-eyed Marshal and the best scene is when he goes at the outlaws with the horse's reins clenched in his mouth and both guns firing at the outlaws. It was a great shot and I am so glad that John Wayne won an Oscar as the best actor for this role in 1973.

A Great Star

JOHN WAYNE

Wayne was the original macho movie star. He had strong views about negroes. In one of his interviews in Playboy magazine, he was asked what he thought of black rights. His reply was succinct and lucid. He said, "tell me which country in the world does a black have a better life than in America?". How very true, as all over the world like in Africa, the black man is dying of hunger, malnutrition and internecine wars.

John Wayne was a tough star and he lived his roles. One can remember his roles in The Horse Soldiers, Big Jake, North to Alaska, the Longest Day, True Grit and many more. I am told he acted in almost 170 films and never played a role as a supporting actor. I have almost 90 films of his on my computer and it gives me great pleasure to watch him act on an afternoon holiday with a glass of beer.

A Man to be Remembered

WAYNE

Wayne teamed up with all the top heroines of that era. The career of John Wayne touched almost 40 years. He was honored posthumously with the President of the United States Freedom Medal in 1980.
John while filming close to the Nuclear test site suffered some radiation and later developed cancer of the stomach. I think he died prematurely in 1979. He lived a full life and married thrice with 7 children from 2 wives. But this is just an aside and one cannot forget his drawl and the cowboy hat and the blazing gun. Truly a Hollywood great.

Guide to Buying a Villa in Dubai

introduction

luxury villa

Dubai has diversified from a fishing village at the turn of the last century to the present day megacity. The city in a bid to attract the best and the richest has taken to construction of villas as a fish to water. Luxury villas are the new mantra to attract the rich and well-heeled to Dubai. The idea is to give a grand lifestyle to the visitor or an expat worker. The charm of owning your own villa with a private swimming pool and garage id definitely greatly desired and Dubai caters to this in a big

Good investment

cheaper villa

The villas in Dubai can either be bought as an investment or hired during your holiday in Dubai. The latest architectural designs are formulated for these villas and owning one can definitely add an extra page to your lifestyle. They are also a good investment for your money. A lot of people prefer leasing the villas in case they are not sure about buying them.

As the rulers of Dubai have positioned it as a holiday getaway you could if you have the money rent a villa. Many companies in Dubai can help you find a villa for yourself during a planned holiday in Dubai. If you are coming with your family you will have the chance of all staying together than in different rooms as in hotels. With the present economic scenario you can work out a good deal and that may not be too expensive.

Prices

New age design villa

Villas in Dubai cover a wide spectrum of costs.The prices vary from their size to location. Dubai, in fact, is dotted with Villas. Unlike apartments that are finding it difficult to sell themselves the villas are comparatively better off. Dubai boasts of posh villas at the Marina which are a statement of style and reasonably pricey. Similarly, villas at Jumeriah which are a few minutes from the Jumeriah beach from Sheikh Zayed Road are also quite costly and only the rich stay here. You can also rent or lease a villa at the exclusive Palm Island. This is the high end of the spectrum of social life and celebrities including film stars, sportspersons, and eminent persons could be your neighbors.
. Staying in a villa on the palm means that Atlantis Dubai one of the top-end hotel resorts is nearby and you can always visit it for leisure activities. Villas in Dubai can be a statement of your life’s intent. In fact, with the downturn of real estate in Dubai, some of the upmarket villas are available for a lot less than the original price and can be a good investment.

Other thoughts

Row houses for sale

However, there is a dark lining to the silver cloud. Dubai does not allow landlords or tenants to share their villas with another family. The general concept in Dubai is one family per villa and the authorities will not let you break that. In case you share your villa with another family then you are open to fine that could go up to AED 50000.Thus breaking this law is not advisable. This law is perhaps rooted in the Islamic life of Dubai and has put off a lot of customers.

All said and done with the latest liberalization of rules for residence in Dubai, buying a villa is a good investment
all photos by me

A Muslim Writer in America

Khaled Husseini

Khaled Hosseini is a Muslim citizen of the United States, where he has lived for the past 33 years. Khaled was born in Afghanistan in 1965 and came with his father to the USA in 1981 after his father was granted political asylum.

That was the period when the Soviets had engineered a communist coup in Afghanistan and Khalid’s father could not go back. He was working in Paris at that time. Khalid’s father, in any case, did not want to go back to Afghanistan and he took the easier option of asking for asylum in the USA. The American government with its phobia of communism readily granted asylum to Hosseini.

In America

Khaled

Perhaps if the scenario had been 2013, Khalid’s father would not have got asylum that easily. The wheel has turned full circle and Muslims who may or not have terror links are no longer welcome in the USA. It is to the credit of Khaled Hosseini that he has integrated with American life. But all along he has maintained his Muslim trappings.

He took to writing in the early twenty-first century and published his first novel ‘The Kite Runner ‘in 2003. The novel was a runaway hit and topped the bestseller charts for over 101 weeks. One of the reasons for the success of the book was its locale, Afghanistan which remains an enigma to most Americans. The old saying ‘distance lends enchantment to the view’ has been used by Hosseini to tempt the American audience with his books with Afghanistan as the locale.

And the Mountain Echoed

Book cover

Khalid Hosseini has now penned another novel titled ‘And the Mountain Echoed’ in 2013. This is his third novel and again has Afghanistan as the background. Afghanistan is the home country of the writer and it is natural that most of his writings bring out the culture and clash of values of life in Afghanistan. Hosseini does not restrict himself to Afghanistan but encompasses a sweep that takes the reader from Kabul to Paris and further to the USA. It’s a very well written book and Hosseini presents a very plausible tale.
The story commences from an Afghan village when a poor man named Saboor relates a tale to justify his actions to his son, Abdullah. The real-life implication of the tale is that Abdullah is parted from his sister Pari who he loves greatly. He realizes that his father Saboor plans to sell his sister to a wealthy Kabul couple. She leaves and that void forever alters the lives of the young children.
Pari remains in the mind of Abdullah as Hosseini covers a period of six decades from the fifties to the 21st century. The characters move from small villages of Afghanistan to Paris and finally to the Greek island of Tinos.
Hosseini relates a parallel tale of characters like the stepmother of Pari, Parwana and her brother Nab. Hosseini writes beautifully and one cannot distinguish from his writing that he is not an American by birth. The only giveaway is his locale of Afghanistan, which he presents to American readers with a lovely tale of human emotions.
Hosseini and Afghanistan



This novel is exquisite and readers will find information about Afghanistan wrapped in a lovely tale. Hosseini brings to the fore the rich cultural heritage of Afghanistan and how life is in the Afghan villages. It is sad, that the Taliban have started an insurrection and wants to enforce the Wahhabi form of Islam. This may well take the Afghans back to the 6th century if they win. Hosseini deserves credit for writing this novel which has been liked by the American populace at large.
Last Word
Hosseini is an MD from the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine in 1993. He practiced medicine for 10 years before venturing as a writer with his book ‘The Kite Runners’. Subsequently, he wrote ‘A thousand Splendid Suns’

Last Word

His native place

Hosseini is a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and visited Afghanistan in 2007. Presently he resides in Northern California with his wife Roya and two children. But despite this Hosseini is a man who will never go back to Afghanistan.
Photos from wiki free

Cricket: Men who played for India and Faded Away

In India test cricket is played since 1932. the game is loved by Indians and today India is the powerhouse of world cricket. Many Indians played for India and some had talent, yet faded away.

• AA Baig
• AG Kripal Singh
• Surinder Amarnath
• RB Kenny
• Deepak Shodhan
• Irfan Pathan
• AG Milkha Singh
• Last Word

AA Baig

Baig with Pataudi

Here was a cricketer who hailed from Hyderabad and was a student at Oxford University in 1958-59. The Indian was touring England at that time under DK Gaekwad. The sad part was that the main batsman Polly Umrigar was off-color and the other main striker Vijay Manjreker was injured and could not play. Indians needed a man to bolster the batting and they decided to induct Baig in the 4th test against the MCC at the oval.

Baig made a sensational test debut and in the second innings faced up to the bowling pace battery of Fred Truman and Brian Statham with confidence. Seeing Baig bat with gusto, the veteran Polly Umrigar also found his bearings and the two hit centuries. Baig was run out for 112, a magnificent century on debut. But after this tour, Baig faded away and except for a series against Australia he could not click.

He was in prime form when selected for the 1971 tour of the MCC but didn't get to play a single test. It was a sad end to a promising career. However, he will remain the only cricketer who was kissed by a lovely girl in a skirt as he helped India draw the third test against Australia in 1960.

AG Kripal Singh

Kripal as a Sikh

He was a test player from Tamil Nadu and played for the erstwhile Madras state. He was a Sikh and the son of AG Ram Singh who had settled down in Madras. He made a sensational debut against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1955-56. He partnered the veteran Polly Umrigar in a big stand. While Umrigar hit 223, Kirpal hit 100 not out when the innings was closed.

However, after this innings Kirpal failed to make a mark and though on a return to the test team hit a superb 53 against Wes Hall and Roy Gilchrest at Madras in the 4th test against the West Indies. Kirpal just after the century against New Zealand converted to Christianity and cut his hair. Many devout Sikhs feel that was the reason for his downfall. The fact is that Kirpal Singh slowly faded away. His last test was in 1964 against Bobby Simpsons Australian team when in his last innings he was bowled by McKenzie for 1.



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Surinder Amarnath

Surinder

He was the elder son of the legendry Lala Amarnath and elder brother of Mohinder Amarnath. Surender made a sensational debut against New Zealand in 1976 under Gavaskar and promptly hit 124 in Auckland. It was a glorious century, but after that, on the subsequent tour of the West Indies, he was suspect against genuine pace. He did make a sporadic comeback twice but again went into oblivion. He was also not much of success against Pakistan when India toured that country in 1978

RB Kenny

He was a player from Bombay. But the selectors were not fair with him and Kenny played only 4 test matches, all against Australia. But he batted admirably against Richie Benaud's team on their tour of India during 1958-59. Kenny partnered Baig in the Bombay test to help India to a draw. He also batted well in the 5th test at Calcutta when he hit 62. But the selectors never gave him another chance and he continued to play for Bombay but did not get another look in.

Deepak Shodhan

shodhan

He was a cricket player from Gujarat. He came into the test team against Pakistan and batting at no 8 hit 110. He was a fluent stroke maker and continued to play cricket for Gujarat in the Ranji trophy.

Shodan was inexplicably dropped from the team after this century. Much later he mentioned that the selection committee was biased against him. He must be the only test player to be dropped after hitting a century on debut. But that is Indian cricket with all its vagaries

Irfan Pathan

Pathan burst as a medium pace swing bowler with a bang. Earlier he swung the ball and had the distinction of taking a hat trick against Pakistan when the Indian team had toured that country with Dravid as captain. But inexplicably Irfan lost his swing and sting and has slowly gone out of reckoning of the Indian team. He has also lost his pace is a mere trundler. He is another player who has gone to seed despite promising much. His batting was also no rabbit, but all in all Irfan Pathan is now out of reckoning of a place in the Indian test team

AG Milkha Singh

Milkha

He was the younger brother of Kirpal Singh. He came on the national scene with a string of magnificent scores in the Ranji Trophy while playing for Madras. In 1962 he was India's most promising batsman. Earlier on a tour of Pakistan with the Indian young team, he had hit 3 centuries.

Milkha got his chance against Pakistan and the MCC in 1960 and 1962. But somehow bad luck dodged him and he could not consolidate his position in the test team People do talk of his 35 against Pakistan in 1961 in the 5th test at Delhi. The selectors were also guilty of not giving him any more opportunity, as in those days the selection was based on the quota system. There was also bias against him as he was a Sikh. It's hard to believe that Milkha's test career was over at 21 and he never got another chance despite great scores in Ranji and Duleep trophy.

Last Word

There are many other cricket players who made a splash but then just faded away. There was V Subramaniam ( Madras), VV Kumar( Madras), BP Patel( Karnataka) and Ashok Mankad( Bombay) also, but they all come in the category of an also-ran. Cricket is a demanding game and along with talent luck is another ingredient. Lastly, the selection committee has its own ax to grind.