The Eternal Optimist!

I had always thought that studying the Indian defense policy would be great but the reference books brought out the picture of a defense policy in shambles. If we try to point out that the whatever the policy is, is dismal, there has to be some policy to start with. For the first 15 years after independence India had no tactical activity at all and as a result, no defense policy outline. India’s first Prime Minister Mr. Jawaharlal Neharu had a weird logic of his own. Pakistan according to him was a manageable threat and as of China, China and India were both age old civilizations with friendship dating back centuries! He saw no reason for China to attack India. It might be due to the influence of Buddhism or even the Bhakti movement and the likes of it that there was a considerable lack of strategic thought in the Indian culture. The art of warfare was never given the attention and the dignity it truly deserves. The Neharu regime kept up this tradition in its wishful neglect of the mil...

“So how many meters of saffron cloth should I order?” “What? You’re going into Chinmay mission? Did someone ditch you? Are you heart broken? ...” These were the kind of reactions I got from my family and friends when I decided to join a camp organized by Chinmaya Mission at Zambavli in South Goa. People looked at me with sympathy as if I was going to die, go away forever. What was the camp about? I did not really know. Why was I going there? Well, the company of ascetics would certainly be bearable than my mom’s chiding over my addiction to TV and the internet! Eat what they offer, hear out what they have to say and sleep as much as possible. Some minor misunderstanding with my parents had disturbed me a bit and I just wanted to be at peace. The last post I wrote is what I told at the selection interview for the camp. I had no idea that my guesses will come absolutely true! Gautam Buddha once said, “What we are now is the result of what we have thought. What we will become w...

Summer has come yet again and as always has brought with it, the memories of my childhood. I remember the summer vacations I spent with my cousin Sushrut and grandmother at her place in the village. Those were the best days of my life. Grandmother had a garden complete with mango and cashew trees and our servant Vassant would pick lots of cashew apples for us. There was a huge porch where we would play wrestling, cricket and football. We quarreled a lot over who gets to play with the pet dog. Grandmother would then take us to work with her in the garden. When she asked us which plants we would like to plant, I planted cotton for that would give her cotton for her ‘lugdem’ and Sushrut chose chilly for grandmother grew her cooking chilly in her backyard. She loved trees and she loved children. She never lost her temper with children Our morning would begin with sound grandmother’s prayers; a breakfast of kanji and a drink of the traditional Goan Ambil after this, we wrestled and raced i...

I was attending an internet awareness workshop hosted by Video volunteers on 6th and 7th December at Bagha beach. The whole thing was centered around 'how to promote your site on the net.' Usually a workshop is a boring place where one has to sit and listen to delegates and info goes from the notes of the speakers to notes of the listeners without going to the minds of either but here was this cool American guy Freeman Murrey who had one clear message- get your face on as many social networking sites as possible! By showing us how Barak Obama set up his followers online, Freeman presented in front us the pros and cons of doing business online. The most interesting part was when he told us about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), that is how to structure the heading of your site/blog post such that it shows up at the top in the search engines. All it needs is time, and brains. The Internet has bombarded us with massive amounts of information and the question before us now is n...

Today I sit before my p.c. hammering my brain for ideas. My blog has led me into the jaws of wolves that disguise themselves under the sweet name of ‘fans’. Their demand for more writings on the blog is about to turn me into a seasoned writer! However, when I opened this blog, I had no idea that it would be such a great success. The credit of my success goes to a person hereafter referred to as ‘One Certain Official ( OCO ) to whom I also dedicate this article revealing the secret of my success. As the title suggests, it was the famous battle fought over the post ‘300’ that carved out my literary empire. The warring parties - ‘one certain official’ from ‘one certain department’ of Goa University, pitted against ‘the protector of innocent, defender of the weak, man of ladies, patron of studies, the one and the only, the great, Jay Joshi . OCO took great trouble to shape my career as a writer and to demonstrate that freedom of expression can be challenged and crushed in a departmen...

Dear mom, I don’t know how to sing your praise. I don’t have any abilities or caliber to please you by great achievements. All I know is that coming into your arms ends my worries. I may have at times failed to be by your side in great need due to my ignorance and laziness. For this, please forgive me for there can be an unworthy son, but a mean mother, never! Dear mom, in all our family, I was the only deceiver, liar, cheater, but for this, I have no fear of being forsaken for there can be an insane son, but an unkind mother, never! In pride of my young age, I deserted you, did not care to abide by your advice. Now when I face the cruel world, I know no other place to cry in but your arms. Now in my sad days, I don’t covet wealth and power or any kind of pleasures of life. All I want is to be by your side and to walk the way of life you taught me! Dear mom, I always remember you when in distress but in doing so I have no shame for a baby always cries for his mom when hungry...

To most people, the word ‘friends’ brings a surge of excitement, love etc. but for me, ‘friends’ reads ‘alarm’. My mind and body become sharper then a commando, hair on my head stand up and panic fills my stomach. Trust me people, that’s what your reaction would also be if your friends were to throw you into ice cold water on every winter morning, or drag you early morning without breakfast into a forest full of leeches. These are only some of their atrocities. Not my fault. Not my fault at all but it’s the magic of that word ‘friends’ that compels me to be their slave! Oh how I loved my Royal life! With a book and a bed, P.C. and T.V. , spending holidays watching action movies curled in a couch that was my temple until… I began to hang out with them. My friends have made me rediscover myself. Thanks to them now I know that not only am I weak, skinny and under-confident, but also devoid of a sense of style and my communication skills are terrible with girls. ‘The builder’...