Bal Thackeray and the Muslim chronicles

This headline may be novelty for a few people but for those who know the political compulsions of Shiv Sena and its chief, it is a stale one. The story is how two Muslims doctors from Lilavati Hospital-Dr Jaleel Parkar and Dr Samad Ansari-rushed to his house administered him medical help at Matoshri and then brought him to the hospital's ICU in an ambulance.
And all these while the Shiv Sena have earned notoriety for spreading hatred against Muslims. If Shiv Sena hadn’t made its notorious hatred against Muslims and then against the North Indians, they would have perished long time back.

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This is because a few political parties thrive on issues, which has no relevance to the common man. BSP is another example. If caste system is eliminated from India, then Mayawati will not survive. If Marathas want their pie in Maharashtra, they put NCP in survival mode. The same way Shiv Sena is known for its negative and destructive politicking and only spreading hatred can do this. If you spread love, who on earth will vote for you? If love was a political symbol, Missionaries of Charity should be contesting the polls.
Bal Thackeray has a Muslim driver; his family consists of multi lingual multi cultural incumbents including his close ones. I had the opportunity to meet Suresh Thackeray, his brother’s son who was a Christian Missionary. He married a Malayali nurse and ran a school in Junagadh where the hardline Hindu zealots tried to snatch his booming school business from him by framing him in a case and then later some Christian leaders tried to snatch it under the disguise of saving him from the long hands of law.
Disgruntled, he left for Jharkand where he was preaching Bible and one day I learnt that he died in an accident. I don’t know whether it was a real accident or an alleged murder.
I also know a tribal girl from Narmada district who was brilliant in studies and applied for medical test in one of the colleges in Maharashtra. She was selected but was asked to pay the capitation fee. The nun who was accompanying this girl asked the trustee if there was a way out since they could not pay such a huge capitation fee. He replied that only the patron can help and he sent both of them to Matoshree.
She not only got the admission but Thackeray asked the school management to reduce her fees too. I am not aware where this girl is now but I know where that nun is. She is trying to get more such talented tribal children to various academic studies.
So don’t be surprised if Shiv Sena puts more hatred into the streets of Mumbai and still continues to get help from those against whom they have spread the hatred. This is Indian politics.

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Australia attack is India’s media creation

Indian media is hungry for news. So much so that they seem to be starved of their basic staple diet. So when they get anything – important or useless – they just grab on it and then show it as if it is the end of the world. The attack of students in Australia is also a media creation. They just went overboard saying the entire Australian population is against Indian students so much so that a jeolosy theory was also attached to it. It is the total failure of media to understand the very idea behind the attacks and avoid creating a panic. The Indian students in Australia just played to the gallery. I am told that a section of Indian media representatives forced them to take out a rally and block traffic so that they could get some visuals back home. The students just did it. Here is a letter that I read as a response to a news item in ucanews.com. And I completely agree to this.

Dear fellow Catholics,

Please be assured that the problem lies not with ordinary Australians but disaffected immigrant/refugee youth of Sudanese and Middle-Eastern origin. As the students have themselves described, their attackers are in the main "black men (Africans)" or "Middle-Eastern".
These immigrants/refugees have been warmly welcomed and embraced but they repay us with conduct such as this. One incident involved a Catholic nun walking down a Sydney street. She passed by two Muslim women dressed in their garb who turned on her, assaulted her, spat on her and tore the crucifix chain from her.
So please ignore the media there in India who have no idea at all. Our media, because of political correctness, refuses to describe the ethnicity of the attackers.
The Cronulla riots a few years ago came about with frustration by the locals with the lack of protection by the police from marauading Lebanese Muslim gangs who were brazeningly invading shops, restaurants, bars and cafes spitting and urinating on patrons and assaulting/intimidating all and sundry. One incident ibvolved a young mother who had taken her toddler daughter to the beach. The toddler was playing in the water when a gang of these militants came up to the mother and demanded that she cover up her daughter who was wearing a regular modest bathing costume. She refused and told them to go away. They did but returned a little later with knives. The young mother fled with her daughter.
A young fellow who had been away at sea for some weeks returned and was withdrawing money from a ATM. He was assaulted by one of these gangs and critically injured. He was repeatedly stabbed and the assault only stopped when the knife broke off in his back. These gangs hunt the streets at night looking for "skips", their term for Australians. Now they have turned their attention to easier marks- students from India.
My view is that these immigrants/refugees should return to their countries of origin and take their violent evil disruptive ways with them. Australia is a land of immigrants. I am second generation Irish-Australian. Everyone has assimilated. From Greeks, Italians, Lebanese Catholics/Christians,Russians,Eskimos,South Americans, South Africans (black and white), Mexicans etc etc all get along except for those from Muslim countries/areas.
The Government(s), politicans and police are afraid to control these Muslims for fear of being labelled "racist". This is the usual cry (yelp?) from the Muslims when they are criticized in any manner, rightfully or wrongfully.
So please when you read media reports do so with discerning wisdom.
In Christo frater,

John FG McMahon
Kolonga, State of Queensland
Australia

The Indian students pay a heavy amount of currency notes to get into Australia and many of them reach there not merely to study but to migrate and settle there permanently. It is not a cottage industry any more. It is a heavy industry and why should the Australian people reject the revenue they earn from the ‘poor’ Indian students who migrate thinking that India does not have the facilities to study. Most of these students go for pursuing a career in MBA or any other Business careers studies and end up in departmental stores packaging vegetables and groceries.

The other day I saw a girl in an NDTV talk show saying she has already spent some 50 lakhs in studying journalism in Columbia and this does not include her fee. How on earth she is going to recover this by working as a Journalist. I can understand if a doctor spends this money as he can recover it through surgeries day in and day out. But can she sit down and write day and day out stories and recover those amount. Sounds crazy. But after all I am a bad journalist and a glorified typist and I may not be the right person to understand it fully.

Habib Tanvir : The man who spoke without opening his mouth

I still remember Habib Tanvir inviting me on my request for an interview in Bhopal some four years back and then not speaking a word for almost an hour. From today, I am saddened that he will never speak at all. The highly talented playwright and theatre director Habib Tanvir died at the age of 85 this morning.
And when he spoke, he threw his frustration at the Gujarat riots asking me whether it is possible for any person to kill the other without any reason. “After all what is religion? How can you be swayed by political figures to kill each other. I just cannot understand,” he put his silent mould again for another quarter to half an hour before asking me to sit on a chair. I was sitting on the ground till then in his theatre room as he was thinking of a new play. All his character actors, most of whom were from the nomad tribes, waited breathlessly to hear a word from him at the Naya theatre premises.
Agra Bazar and Charandas Chor were his famour creations but I was not interested in his plays. I was more interested in his comments on the Gujarar scenario as he planned a play on the massacre. I wanted to know the angle of the act and whether the play will indict Narendra Modi, the alleged mastermind behind the riots.
Soon I felt he was almost into a siesta. I asked the actors standing in front of me whether it was true. I asked them without opening my mouth in action languages that neither they could understand nor I could communicate. “No,” came the reply from one of the youngest actors. Tanvir stood up and that when I came to know that he can walk well.
It was 3 hours by then and I could get no bytes for my radio story. I insisted that I need him to speak and only then my mission will be accomplished. He opened his mouth very well and spoke clearly his mind. I have his sound safely kept while some of them went with the story that was broadcast. But now those sounds will be archives forever. My tribute to this silent man.

TRAVEL: Pune Via Baramati, Sasvad, Jadhavgadh

It was the last leg of my tourney to the western Maharashtra. Next day I have to reach back home. The tour was part of my pilgrimage of basics of reporting that I want to retain forever. It was an attempt to meet different characters of people in different areas. More so it was legroom from the routine office atmosphere that I am subjected to every day.
It was also to see the sugar belts of the region where India’s agriculture minister and prime ministerial aspirant, Sharad Pawar was nurtured first and then he went on to nurture many more Pawars.
And as we discussed about a fort that was turned into a hotel on the way from Baramati, I said it should be an import from Rajasthan where the second and third commanders of the Indian ruling class established big forts, which are seven star hotels now. For the record, Fort Jadavgadh was built in 1710 by Pillaji Jadhavrao a Maratha General in the army of Chatrapati Shahuji. In 1784 Jadhavrao died but the palace, located at a height of 2511 ft above sea level, remained with the family and never went to the government control. Jadhavrao’s name is also mentioned in Bombay Presidency Gazette (1885) Volume XVIII, Part III and he has been described as a villain for the DNT’s or the de-notified tribes called the Ramoshis.
These DNT’s were engaged in crime and Jadhavrao was appointed to arrest the crime rate of these tribes. He is said to have plundered scores of Ramoshis to death in his quest to rein in the terror. That was a slice of history. But it was very recently that Vithal Kamath, the owner of Kamat’s chain of restaurants took it over to run it as a heritage hotel. The only difference, perhaps, is that here he serves liquor and meat where as all his other chains are pure vegetarians. After all royals were carnivorous. I haven’t come across any such fort turned hotel in Maharashtra. So we took a turn just after Sasvad towards the fort, parked our small car among the big, expensive and mighty vehicles already parked down and climbed to the reception area. We were welcomed by live life king size bugle as if we were to be crowned as the kings of the palace. Yes we felt like one as the girl at the reception put a vemillion paste on the forehead and welcomed us. The next moment we were left as paupers when she announced that we have to deposit Rs 500 per person before getting in. Whatever the expenses we incur inside will be deducted from this amount. Obviously we never had any intention to spend Rs 1000 for an evening that we never had in our hands as we had to rush back to Pune for some other work. Welcome to the world of rich.
But hey, what the hell are you doing here? I initially thought she was whispering this to me as I said a polite thank you to get down to the dismay of the white wardrobed and turbaned durbaris outside the gate. They did not show the same warmth they exhibited when we got in. As a famous historian said, exits are always painful than entry. No, actually it should be the other way round. Never mind because no historians have said this but I have just made it for myself. Having said this, it should be mentioned that because this is privately held, it is well maintained.
However, I did not understand the slogan they have coined. Ladh, Jhaghadh, Aage Badh that loosely translates into Engage, Fight and March Ahead. Now what has this to do with this heritage building or its history is something beyond my comprehension. May be they are repeating what we did today. Climb up, ask for rates and have a fight with the reception and then march ahead towards the exit route. So we did the same as we got down the ghats towards Pune into the chaos and traffic of a developing city, we left behind the sugar cane fields, the fresh aroma or rains mixing with thirsty mud and the cool breeze and not to forget the series of Kolhapuri Misals.
From Diaries from Maharashtra 2009