Thats what the text beneath the Sarnath emblem on my passport says. (literally means Union of India). Its one of those days where I peruse each of the pages in it.That reminds me to renew it as it expires this October.Being removed by a couple of oceans from your homeland can do wonders.
I called up my pop to greet him greetings and I gather he wasnt so happy to be a recepient of my I-Day wishes. In fact he seemed to be disillusioned.He quoted an incident where a local MLA was ambushed by so called Maosits in that area and asked me how what the heck do my wishes mean?
Our family history is a nightmare that I have woken up from but I guess it still stuck to him. My grandpa was a Pearl trader headquartered at 7 Thambuchettiar St, Chennapatnam(Chennai).Then the clarion call for Independence struggle was given by whoever that resonated something in him. He left his primary occupation and took to the road.(Of course the fact that he studies "tarka-sastra" for quite a while in Benares doesnt seem to help here)Now there was no Companies Act in those days that limited your liability in case of liquidation and this fella had to forefit everything he acquired. Local contacts or head honchos had to pull strings to yank him out of the occasional jail.Promptly he came back to the Coromandel Coast and settled down as a clerk at a temple writing satirical plays and a 3-volume magnum opus on The History of Kalinga ( Modern day Orissa where my granny is from).A few heirlooms that were passed on to my childhoos were a mahagony bed and a mirror made in belgium.(my dad used it as an aid for shaving, I guess). So that was in short how the stakes were played out w.r.t to my family. Yeah! The Nation gained independence but the net worth of a fella like my grandpa went to zero. I am glad he did what he did. Its kind of liberating to know that there are some folks out there who follow Mark Twain's sayin "Always Do Right! This will gratify some and astonish the rest". I guess I am among the astonished.
That being said I am glad that things look bright atleast from my perspective. I see a progressive evolution in the country's attitude and I am not half bit as disillusioned as my pater-familias would. I am sure it could always be asked as "Kahan Hain Kahan Hain Mohafiz Khudi ke, Jinhe Naaz hain Hind par woh kaha hain.." and my answer would be that they are there where we left them and they are there where we look for them.
ps: BTW I am truly shameless to come back after calling it quits. Its something like you can take x out of y but you cant take out y out of x where x=me and y=blogging.
pps: I guess this also underscores how far I have travelled from my last year. I love August.
I called up my pop to greet him greetings and I gather he wasnt so happy to be a recepient of my I-Day wishes. In fact he seemed to be disillusioned.He quoted an incident where a local MLA was ambushed by so called Maosits in that area and asked me how what the heck do my wishes mean?
Our family history is a nightmare that I have woken up from but I guess it still stuck to him. My grandpa was a Pearl trader headquartered at 7 Thambuchettiar St, Chennapatnam(Chennai).Then the clarion call for Independence struggle was given by whoever that resonated something in him. He left his primary occupation and took to the road.(Of course the fact that he studies "tarka-sastra" for quite a while in Benares doesnt seem to help here)Now there was no Companies Act in those days that limited your liability in case of liquidation and this fella had to forefit everything he acquired. Local contacts or head honchos had to pull strings to yank him out of the occasional jail.Promptly he came back to the Coromandel Coast and settled down as a clerk at a temple writing satirical plays and a 3-volume magnum opus on The History of Kalinga ( Modern day Orissa where my granny is from).A few heirlooms that were passed on to my childhoos were a mahagony bed and a mirror made in belgium.(my dad used it as an aid for shaving, I guess). So that was in short how the stakes were played out w.r.t to my family. Yeah! The Nation gained independence but the net worth of a fella like my grandpa went to zero. I am glad he did what he did. Its kind of liberating to know that there are some folks out there who follow Mark Twain's sayin "Always Do Right! This will gratify some and astonish the rest". I guess I am among the astonished.
That being said I am glad that things look bright atleast from my perspective. I see a progressive evolution in the country's attitude and I am not half bit as disillusioned as my pater-familias would. I am sure it could always be asked as "Kahan Hain Kahan Hain Mohafiz Khudi ke, Jinhe Naaz hain Hind par woh kaha hain.." and my answer would be that they are there where we left them and they are there where we look for them.
ps: BTW I am truly shameless to come back after calling it quits. Its something like you can take x out of y but you cant take out y out of x where x=me and y=blogging.
pps: I guess this also underscores how far I have travelled from my last year. I love August.
4 comments:
ps: BTW I am truly shameless to come back after calling it quits. Its something like you can take x out of y but you cant take out y out of x where x=me and y=blogging.
i told you so! :))
oh, and:
and my answer would be that they are there where we left them and they are there where we look for them
well said.
[Pri] Thanks for the bugging advice..Oops! I meant Blogging. :)
Glad you liked that statement.
Welcome back Paddy..
I guess this means u are back and rejuvenated. Allways a pleasure to read ur blogs..
Welcome back Paddy..
I guess this means u are back and rejuvenated. Allways a pleasure to read ur blogs..
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