My home town

I was in my home town Jaipur for two days. The population is close to 36 lacs while in 1950 it was just 2 lacs. The city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Jaisingh II and is now ranked 7th best place to visit in Asia ( according to trip advisor ) and first among the Indian destinations for the year. Nahargarh fort is the main tourist spot. Jaipur is the hub for handicrafts, textiles, hand knot rugs, carpets, gemstones and artistic jewellery. There are about 2900 restaurants the place is a “ Foodie Paradise “ the flagship dish of Rajasthani Cuisine is Dal Bati Churma with Gatta Curry. The range is exciting like Ghewar, Mawa ki Kachori, Pyaz ki Kachori, Kalakand, Mirchi Bada, Rasmalai , Kesar Rabri Kulfi. Many of the city avenues is painted pink. Calgary ( Canada ) is the twin city of Jaipur

Logic of Muawiyah

I admire Muawiyah , the sense of finesse which he developed to a degree probably higher than in any other Calip. The virtue and ability to resort to force when force was absolutely necessary and use peaceful measures in all other instances. His slowness to anger and his absolute self control left him under all circumstances " Master of Situation". He said in a letter to al-Hasan ( Fatima's eldest son ) " I apply not my sword, where my lash suffices, nor my lash where my tongue is enough. And even if there be one hair binding me to my fellow men, I do not let it break : when they pull I loosen, and if they loosen I pull " He finally concluded that " I admit that because of your Blood Relation Ship you are more entitled to this high office than I. And if I was sure of your greater ability to fulfil the duties involved I would unhesitatingly swear allegiance to you. Now then, ask what you should do" Enclosed was a blank paper for Al- Hasan to fill in, already signed by Muawiyah . This was the political strategy of Umayyad Dynasty 683 AD.

Mini - Seashore

MINI-SEASHORE Vashi perhaps is the first urban landscaped park in Navi Mumbai. The terrain in nineties offered rocky vistas, swamps and a place for disposable construction debris. I vividly remember during the first decade of the park's completion it became clear for whom it was; located within walking distance for the city's working class, the Mini sea shore started shaping like an oasis. As the park moved into 2000's the play ground started looking up with massive lush green lawns, areas clearly laid out for tennis and field grounds for cricket and football. Mini seashore and its surroundings shaped more and more by the needs of the growing population of the satellite towns of Navi Mumbai, recently the introduction of Toy- Train has made the place lively with children. It has become a dream destination where people socialise, walking track for those who wish to be in the midst of an exclusive surrounding with a freedom to be on his own without any hindrance. The concept, vision benefiting the residents of the satellite town ( converted from a huge mass of reclaimed terrain ) of clean air , uplifting recreation singularly goes to Mr Avinash Lad, who despite several obstacle made it possible to achieve one of the finest Land Mark of Navi Mumbai. Mr Avinash Lad has worked tirelessly with tremendous sense of civic duty and appreciation for social refinement. Wish him for all his progressive endeavor. 

Hindu Temples in Bay area

There are two Hindu temple in Fremont SFO, regular visit is normally a part of daily walk for the sr citizens from india or those living there permanently. Today the temple count in America is touching about 900. According to Hindu American foundation a few decades ago a deity like Balaji would be flanked by Rama and Krishna but now the American - Hindus have exclusive temples for different sects; earlier settlers made temples in abandoned warehouse as there were fewer Indians and with limited resources. A massive surge by the Hindu migrants from 1990 onwards and its affluence have created temples like Shri Swaminarayan mandir in New Jersey and LA, costing over 100 million dollars. A temple in Michigan has a devotee count touching 25000. Most temple of Balaji today are visited by older Hindu- Americans, the second generation Hindu- Americans are not much interested. Another new trend has emerged the devotes desires regular preaching by their Swami - they also feel the need of Hindu moral and spiritual education for their children. This is commendable. Back home the Hindu Bal Kendra for moral and spiritual preaching is yet to take off significantly. Most week ends the Indians in America head to their respective Swami/ Guru places to receive preaching and meditation classes and I feel in couple of years from now Indians in America will not have any need to travel all the way to their home land on pilgrims.

Ancient Indian belief of RUDRAKSHA

RUDRAKSHA: Ancient India has known its immense utility but it origin as per the Hindu mythology is quite interesting.There has been several legend the prominent one is that once Lord Shiva opened his eyes after a period of long yogic meditation and he shed a tear. This single tear from the Lord's eye grew into the Rudraksha tree in the Himalayan regions, his abode. Another legend says, Rudra means Shiva and Aksha means eyes; Aksha also means a group of alphabets in Sanskrit called VARNA, therefore Rudraksha can be called as a seed in which a group of Sanskrit letters VARNA reside.Another explanation on sacred Rudraksha beads- meaning " Eye of Shiva " or tears of Shiva, through which a holy tree was created for the benefit of his devotees in order to prevent misfortune and restore peace and good health.The Rudra beads have been worn by sages and yogis since prehistoric times. Isha Sadhguru lauds the benefits of wearing Rudraksha describing a shield against flow of negative energies. Yogi Maharishi Mahesh of early 1970s the Guru of Transcendental Meditation made it mandatory for his followers to wear Rudraksha at all times. He had a large following in the western world having tremendous clout among personalities like Beatles, Beach boys, Ravi Shankar who were his ardent disciples..Today I came across absolutely a different version: The Origin of Rudraksha represents the tears shed by Lord Shiva for the growth of tree Rudraksha its seed shall give protection to his devotees originated when the Devas approached him for support following cruelty of DEMONS OF TRIPURA ( Three cities One of Gold another of Silver and the third of Copper ) and appealed to the Lord for protection and elimination of TRIPURA DEMONS.... Shivaism is the oldest prehistoric religion existing from Pre- Aryan times.Mythology or folk lore were usually meant to convey subtle facts to guide the ancient primitives and accordingly they had multiple stories explaining the same fact and therefore each version is right on its own merits.

Occasional Binge

Most of whom I meet at the sports club Vashi have this misinformed belief that having occasional gala day when one becomes liberal on their food intake (loose some inhibitions) might lead to increase of weight. I am regular “Sunday Gentleman“out for a day to enjoy foods that I and Hema have wanted to eat out with friends or family. This allows us to have a physiological break from the monotonous routine.
The fact of not dropping weight for couple of days is very different to not drop weight for a longer duration about a fortnight or so; I have been advocating that one should weigh daily in the morning (after visiting the bathroom and before breakfast) this will give you a reasonable idea of your weight fluctuations. Set up an ideal weight for yourself based on your height and body structure you will notice lack of sleep, timing of your last meal, quantity and quality of intake, will allow you to make necessary correction and help you to maintain a stabilized weight. It is therefore eventually where you will need to readjust is food intake in accordance to the adjustment you have set on your weighing scale.
Finally aim to walk 5000 to 7000 steps every day while once a week peak it up by 10,000 to 12,000 steps. The need is to initiate a change by some simple means, making living enjoyable including an occasional binge once a while especially for seniors like us to look forward to a cheerful week end .

Legend on Guruvayurappan

                                               

According to legend Guruvayur deity is more than 5000 years old- however earliest recorded history is of 16th century about some 50 years after " NARAYANIYAM" was composed, the deity is referred to in temple records - maintained in the " Koleluttu Script " as KURUVEYUR TEVAR , Kuruveyur was a village situated near the sea which must have since receded. It was the author of the Narayaniyam who basically associated GURU and VAYU.The image at Guruvayur said Rishi Dattatreya is exactly like Narayana and Narayana himself was the First to worship Lord Guruvayurappan.

Veteran Historian

Veteran historian Prof Satish Chandra aged 95 passed away today; he was a phenomenal scholar of international standing. His study and research of Moghul Period and Medieval India is widely followed among students and researchers. He served for a long duration as a faculty member of University of Rajasthan, I remember till mid-seventies (University of Rajasthan was given the current name in 1956 earlier it was Rajputana University) and during 1960’s the University of Rajasthan had some outstanding scholars of National and International repute in its faculty. I am able to recollect some of the spectacular personalities namely :- Prof MV Mathur- distinguish economist, Prof Rajkrishna who coined the most famous phrase “ The Hindu rate of growth “ wrote extensively on growth, investment and poverty, Prof Raja Chellaiah laid out agenda for National Tax Reform committee. Prof Emiratis CP Bhambri later joined JNU, a fine orator on political science. Prof RC Mehrotra analytical and organometallic chemist was also associated with Royal Institute of chemistry Uk, later became VC of Delhi university. Prof PN Srivastava, Radiation Biologist of international repute- later became VC of JNU,Prof VV John - English literature, Prof Dayakrishna, Prof IqbalNarain deptt of political science later on became VC of BHU and several more distinguished scholars. I used to hear their debates and lectures in the campus. I would also like to mention about Prof Ziauddin Khan Dean of Public Administration, he was pioneer in Teaching of “Public Administration “in India. During 1967-68 he introduced the first batch of BA (Honours) a three year graduate course in Public Administration with limited students - I had the privilege of being his student of the first batch and Prof Khan made himself available for lecture on the subject “Organisation and Management “Jaipur was indeed a place of reckoning even 60 years ago in developing the education by establishing some fine institutes.  

Student days in Jaipur – with sports on my mind

St. Xavier'sRajasthan University

Chittur Veer Vaidyanathan was born in Churu (Rajasthan) in 1948, and grew up in Jaipur. After a successful corporate career, during which his work with his company led to an Export Promotion Award from the Indian Ministry of Textiles, he is now a developer of real estate near Mumbai http://www.universalbuilder.co.in/.  He lives in Mumbai with his wife Hemlatha; his son and daughter, both married, live in the U.S. His hobbies are swimming and traveling.

Before India became independent in 1947, Rajasthan had 22 Princely States, under British control. Some of these States had established good educational institutions. Jaipur was one of them.

St. Xavier's School for boys was founded in July, 1941 under the name of St. Mary's Boy's School. In 1945, it was transferred to the present site, and renamed St. Xavier's School in January, 1945.

There were some other reputed public schools in Rajasthan. For instance, Sadul Public School established in 1893 (earlier it was known as Noble School) by the Maharaja of Bikaner. Mayo Public School Ajmer was founded in 1895 by Earl of Mayo, Viceroy of India. Mayo's curriculum was similar to Eton College. BSP and BHS (Birla School) Pilani, Rajasthan founded in 1944 had a huge campus covering 100 acres, presently ranked amount ten prestigious institutions in India. Maharani Gayatri Devi (MGD) Girls school was the first public girls school in India. MGD was established in 1943. Ms. L.G. Lutter, a Scottish, was the school principal. She was awarded a Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Main entrance, St. Xavier School, Jaipur

Xavier's  was a good school academically.

Some of the notable alumni from Xavier's Jaipur are:

• Admiral Madvendra Singh former chief of Naval staff
• Former chief of Airs Saff Mr. S.P. Tyagi
• Mr. Piyush Pandey Executive chairman of Ogilvy &  Mather India
• Mr. Rakesh Hooja, Director General Indian Institute of public Administration
• Mr. Goverdhan Asrani Bollywood Actor
• Mr. Sidhant Vyas entrepreneur and Inventor of first Android watch
• Mr. Subhash Mathur- former chief commissioner customs.
• Mr. Vijay Bakaya former chief secretary J & K
• Mr. Parthsarthy Sharma former Indian Test player
• Mr. Satish Mathur Director General Maharashtra Police
• Mr. Promod Tiwari former Director General of Rajasthan Police.

My mind was equally on sports.  At Xavier's, students who were interested in sports were attended equally well by teachers so that they do not suffer in studies.

The senior staff members I recollect were Fr. Gerald Grace (rector for school for 8 years) Fr. Cosgrove, Fr. Pinto, Fr. Extross, Fr. Williams, Fr. Francis, Mr. John, Mr. Brandon, Mr. S.N. Misra, Pandit Hukumnarain, Mr. A.A. Sayed, Mrs. Sarkar, Mrs. Alexander, and Mrs. Barar.

First Place, 50 metres run. 1956-57.

First place, various events. 1957.

At Xaviers, Fr. H. Birney was in charge of basketball. He literally gave his life for the game; he died on the Basketball court. He was also the Games Superintendent. Fr. Birney picked me for three field events for our 1957 annual school day sports. It was here I got the opportunity to record my performance led in three events. The three certificate of performance bearing Fr. Birney signature remains one of my most precious possessions.

I have a vivid and memorable recollection of a two-day cricket match fixture. It was a special event organized some fifty nine to sixty winters (in 19xx) ago on the grounds of St. Xavier High School between the Xavier's team and selected players from cricket clubs of Jaipur and Ajmer.

Cricket field, St. Xavier School, Jaipur.

The school team was led by Shamsher Khan. He was an elegant athletic all-rounder, who also excelled in Basketball, Hockey and Sprint. The rival team was captioned by S.K. Zibbu, a regular Ranji Trophy player for Rajasthan and Central Zone. Zibbu was also one of the probable for the Indian Test team during the tour of Australia, led by Richie Benaud, of India in 1959-60.

Our school team batted first. By tea break, Shamsher had scored a century, supported in batting by Manoj Sharma, Subhash Prohit, Dutta and Rafiq Khan. They faced the hostile attack of Zibbu, Maulana and Shekar (first class cricketers).

Iqbal Khan (school bowling coach) and Rafiq Khan were Shamsher's brothers. The three Khan brothers were handsome lean and athletic. Their presence in the field evoked confidence. It was a period of classic cricket. There was more emphasis on technique and exerting skills to retain the crease. Judging the deliveries before stroking the ball all along the ground was the responsibility of a mature cricketer.

The combined team had two star players: Zibbu and a tall dark man nicknamed Maulana. He strode briskly to the crease on the fall of a wicket, bat tucked underneath the arm, brown cap and a white scarf around the neck.

Right there, cricket started for me.

I liked the paraphernalia. There was a masculine touch of massive power. Maulana clobbered several sixes battering three window panes of the rust colour stone school building beyond the square boundary. Fr. Cosgrove, one of our teachers, stopped abruptly while on his way to his quarters, and grimly mumbled "Thank heavens the school is on recess."

The match ended in a draw. We witnessed a memorable game. Several of my school mates and I remember this match even after 60 years.

For a long time, our school cricket was under the mentorship of one of India's former Test player, N. D. Marshall. Julian last name and his brother Hermen were sports coaches and teacher. Both of them represented Rajasthan state for the "Rovers Cup" and "Durand" national football competition. Dalpat Singh, Hanumant Singh, senior student of the school were first rate State-level football players of the state.

Football was a popular game in India during the 1960s. The Indian team under Chunni Goswami won the Asian games gold medal in 1962. I think 1951 to 1962 was the golden era of Indian Football. Our school used to engage playing with team of much higher level either with colleges or even team from other states in the country.

I attended the Mt Abu summer coaching camp for cricket for two years.

Participation in Mount Abu cricket coaching camp. 1964

Then, I got selected to play on the Rajasthan University cricket team in 1966.

Later in 1967-68, I represented North Zone combined university team at Chandigarh.  I continued to play cricket even when I was studying for my law degree (LL.B.) in Rajasthan University.

Rajasthan University Circular calling for a meeting to discuss the sports schedule. November 1970.

Epilogue

As I look back, I feel those days in school and college were full of both sports and academics. We did not have much by way of modern gadgets - phones, TVs. We traveled on our bicycles in the searing heat of Rajasthan. Still, it was a golden time to be young, and I loved it.