LET'S SLOW DOWN

Fast, faster, fastest! We all are running very fast, we have no time to slow down, look back, ruminate or think about others. Where are we headed, by the way? As technology is making things easier and faster for us, logically we ought to slow down and enjoy life. In earlier times, almost everything was done manually and our forefathers still had time to enjoy life. It is not that they did not enjoy their walk through paths of life. They did. Also, we cannot say they achieved in life less than what we have been able to achieve. If we define achievement against material benchmarks we have erroneously set for ourselves, then their is a fundamental problem. Earning heaps of money and accumulating wealth is not success by any yardstick. Success is what many great people, who lived very simple and austere lives, achieved and who are remembered today by their deeds, and not by how much materialistic success they enjoyed.

It has been ages since even I heard or saw the birds chirp, trees sway in cold morning breeze, rains lash the earth, water flow down in a stream or sun and moon rise and set. I haven't even smelled wet earth in years. We all do understand the importance of such simple indulgences and the pleasure they give but somehow we have a notion that we are very busy and cannot spare time for such leisurely activities. Well, we are fooling ourselves and wasting our precious time. E Hoffer in “Reflections on the Human Condition” wrote that, "The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is, rather, born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life."

Be that as it may, what is of essence is to slow down. Do not stop, but slow down. For if you rush through life you will end up having a near life experience, but you will never live life to its fullest.

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat."

Lily Tomlin

LIFE GOES ON!

Life runs, creeps at times, becomes lazy and sluggish, roars like lightning and lies doggo unabashedly at other times. But one thing is certain: life goes on! Is that a good sign? Of course, wouldn't we be dead otherwise? And life is indeed unfair to a majority of us. It throws challenges and creates hurdles in our way. But in spite of all this, consider what William Goldman had to say:

"Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all."

Any average day in our life is a challenge, compelling us to move from day to day, sail from shore to shore, with chances of drowning aplenty. At every step an unknown danger lurks, be it may related to health, financial security, relationship or so many other issues that make up life. One has to be bold enough to look life face to face and accept the challenges and wade through thick and thorny slush of life. Many of us stumble and many further fall down. Some of us get up and bounce back full throttle, but many of us give up. Life is not about giving up, it is all about struggle, about power, about strength, about hope and about victory.

"Sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can."

So, its all about your attitude. If your head is in place and you have a perfect balance of attitude and abilities, you will surely return as a boomerang: strong, fast and accurate!

RACE AND RELIGION

Ever wondered about races and religion which bind us humans? I did, today. Though generally people tend to look at these two aspects through the same lens, in reality two are widely apart and totally incomparable.

Race is natural; religion man made. Race came first; religion came much later. Race cannot be altered; religion can be changed. Race has a proof; religion does not have one. Race is; religion isn't. Religion divides; race doesn't.

You cannot look at the face of an individual and decide which religion does he practice. But you can always look at the face of an individual and generally guess what race does he belong to. Race has a profile; religion lacks one. We have races wherein people are tall or short, dark or fair skinned, have straight hair or curly, athletic and stiff body or supple, sharp features or mongoloid or even very flat. Accordingly, they specialise in different fields.

Scan different continents and regions and you would realize how racial profiles change gradually and continuously.

You would have seen in sports arena, different races specialise in different disciplines. Races generally are won by Africa, athletics field events by Europe, table tennis by South East Asia, basketball by America, wrestling by Middle East and CIS countries and lawn tennis by America, Russia and Europe and in Europe especially states carved out of former Yogoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

Races dictate strengths, skills and weaknesses of people and I fully respect them.

TESOL

A majority of us do not know there is an organization based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, by the name of "Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages" (TESOL). TESOL offers an exciting way of teaching English worldwide. Established in 1994, it has several branches in places like Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Newark, Las Vegas, San Diego, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, China and Taiwan. The basic aim of TESOL has been to train English teachers who can teach English to people whose mother tongues are other than English. If there are 15 or more people willing to join English classes in a place, the TESOL assigns teachers on contract basis for a particular period. Demand for English teachers has been constantly rising and presently North East Asia tops the demand chart with 29% job vacancies for English Teachers, followed by Eastern Europe with 16% and South East Asia with 14%. Even native English speaking countries have a demand of 12%!

Contracts range from one to two years and salaries depend on the country/region. But air fare and accommodation are always free, you have to teach for about four hours every day and you have a choice to opt for extra time tutoring to earn extra bucks! On an average, you could, with your hard work and controlled living expenses, end up saving about a lac a month in Indian currency. Not a bad deal.

For details visit www.tesol.org and www.tesolindia.com .

EMIL ZATOPEK

London Olympics are just around the corner and it is the same time again: wetty months and once in four years spectacle: Summer Olympics. London Calling. The City of Twenty Twelve, as the British media say. Although the beginnings of the games seem to be less than pleasant as the state of security, transportation and other logistics indicates. Be that as it may, one thing is certain: there will be some moments that will go down in the pages of history as the greatest and some images will be imprinted on viewers' minds for good. That happens in any sporting event of international fame. Who doesn't remember the likes of Jesse Owens, Emil Zatopek, Bob Beamon, Alberto Juantorena, Sergei Bubka and Carl Lewis? These are just a few names and if we take a serious, long look at Olympics, the list of greats is very, very long. 

Let us pick Emil Zatopek as a short and crisp case study. Emil was a Czech long distance runner and what he did in 1952 Helsinki Olympics, may well remain a record forever. His feat is unlikely to be repeated ever. He won golds in 5,000 m and 10,000 m and then suddenly decided to have a go at the marathon, his first ever! And he won gold! Three golds in three excruciating races within a short span of eight days was something no one had ever planned to do. After winning the 5,000 and 10,000 m races, he was still unsatisfied and decided to try out marathon, a race he had never run. He decided to test his nerves and his stamina and the limits he could push himself up to. He was also known the world over for setting himself an unbelievably hard and brutally tough training methods. Searching for the last minute guidance, the scrawny Zatopek approached world record holder Jim Peters of Britain at the starting line. Since the Czech knew nothing of marathon strategy, he planned to shadow the champion. He even checked with Peters en route if his pace was OK! He set the pace and gradually increased the lead, finishing the race in a new record time. Earlier he had broken 5,000 and 10,000 m records. All this in eight days time frame! He had been warned by his doctor that he should not compete in Olympics at all as he was recovering from a severe gland infection. But he defied his doctor and how! His pet quote after winning the marathon became, "If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon."

Emil dominated the long distance racing between 1948 and 1954, winning 38 consecutive 10,000 m races, 11 of them in 1949 alone. He set 18 world records in races ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 m and won a total of four golds and one silver in two Olympics.

Zatopek was the first athlete to break the 29 minute barrier in the 10,000 m run in 1954. Three years earlier, in 1951, he had broken the hour for running 20 km. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest runners of the 20 th century.

Born on 19 Sep 1922, he died on 22 Nov 2000 in Prague. Ron Clarke, an Australian middle and long distance runner, who himself set 17 world records, said "There is not, and never was, a greater man than Emil Zatopek."

 

ABDUL HAMID ADAM: WINE N MISCHIEF

"Saaqi mere khuloos ki shiddat (excessive, going beyond the usual) to dekhna,

Phir aa gaya hoon gardish-e-dauraan (worldly affairs) ko taal ke."

If ever there was a synonym for wine and mischievous communication together, it was definitely Adam. Abdul Hamid Adam, one of the most recalcitrant poets ever, was rebellious by nature. He did not believe in the shackles of our society and lived his life on his own terms. He refused to be dictated by other people or even life itself. He made his own rules and followed them till as long as he was in a mood to, altering them altogether when he wished. Wine was his weakness that made him feeble. His life revolved around wine.

"Main maiqade ki raah se hokar guzar gaya,

Varna safar hayaat (life) ka kaafi tabeel (lengthy) tha."

It was a short cut to the destination, cutting the long and treacherous path of life short.

But Adam was also a lover and a philosopher.

"Saahil ke rukh na aaoon agar mera bas chale,

Toofan mein doob jaoon agar mera bas chale,

Kyon motriz (objection) hai meri khamoshi pe ae nadeem (friend),

Kya main na muskuraoon agar mera bas chale,

Main aur teri yaad ki taqleef ka azaab (pain),

Khud ko na bhool jaoon agar mera bas chale,

Ik baar 'gar nizaat (relief) mayassar (gain) ho hosh se,

Phir hosh mein na aaoon agar mera bas chale,

Zillat (humiliation) ki zeest (life) maut se badtar hai 'Adam',

Ye zahar to na khaoon agar mera bas chale."

Adam never lost an opportunity in exposing the truth:

"Dil khush hua hai masjid-e-veeran dekh kar,

Meri tarah khuda ka bhi khana kharab hai."

HELL WEATHER HEAVEN FRUIT

I know what you are thinking! You are thinking about the title I have given to this blog. Yes, it is absurd. Actually the last few days have been hellish in terms of weather: hot, dry and disgusting. We had been waiting for the rains to come and wet us and the wait has been agonisingly long this year. Generally monsoons hit this part of the country in Jun third week but this year even 04 Jul was bone dry. But today as I was driving to work, there was a sudden appearance of clouds, black clouds, towards the northern foothills and by the time I reached office, a heavy downpour had surrounded me and there were pools of water and splashes all around.

I was at once reminded of my teens in Nainital where I mostly grew up and studied. I was reminded of hot, humid days spent in my childhood without electricity and then on the other end of the spectrum, heavenly weather of Nainital as also various fruits locally available free of charge! A lot of contradictory things from the past flashed through my mind today. Hence, the title.

As a teenager those days when we did not have ready to eat, fast food, canned juices and preserved eatables, I looked forward to eight fruits in a year. They formed a real variety. These were: Custard apples in summers, mangoes in summers, raspberries in summers and monsoons, guavas generally all round the year, wild, mini muskmelons in monsoons, sugarcane in winters, kaafals (I don't know their botanical or English name) in I don't remember which particular season and black berries in monsoons. All free and all in abundance and in purely organic state.

Kaafals were always a great attraction, something which we cherished and fought with one another to lay our hands upon as they were in short supply. They still attract me whenever I visit Kumaon Hills. They are succulent and sweet and tangy in taste. See the photo below.

You can be anything and you may live in any part of the world, take it from me, you will always be pulled to your roots and also to things which are simple and plain in nature.

WE SURVIVED – BORN BETWEEN 1930 AND 1979?

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,
WE ARE AWESOME!
OUR LIFE IS A LIVING PROOF!!

To Those of Us Born during
1930 - 1979


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930s, 40s, 50s,
60s and 70s!!!

We were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cots covered with bright colored lead base paints.

We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no caps or helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and some times no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cup cakes and other sweets made with Butter & white sugar but were not over weight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing....that's why!

We would leave home in the morning, go to school mostly on foot and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. There were no cell phones, not even land lines and, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround sound or CD s, no cell phones, no personal computers, no internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get punishments like caning, spankings with sticks, or just a bare hands and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best managers, risk takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. What can kids today do besides push buttons.

We had freedom, failures, successes and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
While you are at it, share it with your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Green Beret is not the original author of this work.

IVAN, THE LENDL – A CHARISMATIC PERSONALITY

Ivan Lendl has been one of my most favourite players of all time. Born on 07 Mar 1960 in Ostrava, former Czechoslovakia, Ivan inherited lawn tennis from his parents. He turned pro in 1978 at the age of 18 when he set pace on a long and illustrious tennis career. With a very strong forehand, Ivan dominated the world tennis for 16 long years and remained No. 1 for a record 270 weeks. He was among the most dominating tennis players from late 70s to early 90s. Towering 6 ft 2 in, Lendl has also been one of the most humble and lovable players ever to grace the game of tennis. He reached at least one Grand Slam final for consecutive 11 years and captured a total of eight Grand Slams in his career out of 19 contested. He had first garnered the world attention in 1978 when he won Boys' Singles titles at both, French as well as Wimbledon.

In 1983, during the apartheid era, Ivan played three exhibition matches in South Africa and was expelled from the Czechoslovak Davis Cup team and fined by the communist regime, an action resented by him. He had already started living in the US from 1981 onwards and now he applied for the Green Card and eventually became a US citizen in 1992.

Ivan Lendl has been a paragon of hard work and fitness and his most famous quote is: "If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can." 

Ivan was a clay expert and grass was his weak turf. The one title that always eluded him was Wimbledon. He played Wimbledon 14 times and came close to winning the title twice but lost to Boris Becker in 1986 and to Pat Cash in 1987. He was the all time prize money champ with $21,282,417 when he quit. An avid golfer, he now lives in Vero Beach area, Florida.

Since I have been a great admirer of Ivan, I still feel particularly bad to think that one of the greatest and most powerful tennis players of all time was unable to win Wimbledon.

But he will always remain one of the most graceful and magnificent tennis stars of all time.

 

LET'S GO BACK IN TIME

Are you a person from the 50s, 60s, 70s or even 80s? If your answer is yes, then you are my generation. Our generation has been great in every sense of the word. We were born and brought up rough and tough with hardly any technology and facilities. We suffered hardships and sailed through real rough weather. But we kept the momentum on and that is why our generation has produced some of the most capable scientists, managers, soldiers, athletes and artists ever. 

We had few options as far as career was concerned. We had fewer streams or disciplines of education, fewer conveniences, fewer facilities but far greater time at our disposal. And that is one thing which the generations those followed us, have been having in ever smaller proportions.

Well, I intend posting some memories of 'good ole times' on this very blog here. If you want to share your experiences, anecdotes or feelings, do contact me. Together we can write, read and share one another's experiences. When we share, we learn. Learning never stops. Moreover, it is completely necessary to take out some time for leisure from the busy schedule of today and relive 'better and best days' of our past.

 

OH MY GOD, WHERE ARE YOU?

I have often wondered where does the God live? What does he do? How does he do whatever he does? I, for one, am a non believer. But I care enough for other people; other people who care enough for God! The most baffling thing about God is that there are so many of them. Books preach that all those revered figures are the forms of but one God. How? I don't really know and I don't really believe. All saints we have had in the past were highly learned and enlightened persons who were, even during those times, far ahead of others in matters of spirituality. But they were as human as all others. They came into this world, lived simple, meaningful and virtuous lives, imparted teachings to public and died. Simple teachings, straight from the heart. But people have misunderstood the very concept of religion and spirituality. Most of us do not understand religion, if at all we need religion in today's times. How is it that there are no more miracles which took place in distant past? How come there are evils? Do we require evils? How come all bad things imaginable happen in our world? Why do good people die early and violent, dishonest, selfish, wicked people live long and comfortable lives? Why do villains command the society and real heroes go unsung, serving under the evil command?

There are no answers. No one can offer an explanation. If someone does, we need a proof; enough of this invisible stuff. This is where science scores; it shows, and how! Science does, religion doesn't because it cannot.

Why do people believe so easily the things which aren't? An Urdu poet said:

"Shabash ae buton (statues), taraqqi isko kahte hain,

Na tarshe the to patthar the, jo tarshe to khuda thahre!"

An ordinary dead stone becomes God overnight just after an artist has chiselled the stone into an idol and the idol is worshipped by believers!

How many well meaning intellectuals have been valued by us? The world is strange.

SAVE THE DOC!

I am not against any country but I am certainly against certain people or groups of people. For one, I am dead against anyone who is coward enough to kill innocent people. Osama Bin Laden was one of those. He was one of the most cowardly people who ever burdened this earth. He not only had the wrong notion of meting out justice to one and all, he was physically coward, too. He never fought any real battle all his life and lived a sheltered life, largely comfortable. He fully indulged in materialistic comforts and luxuries of life and did not show any signs of sainthood, if ever that has meant anything to anyone.

Pakistan, a country I do admire for many reasons, played a dirty game by hosting Osama and offering him safe haven, right next to the portals from where officers of the Pakistan Army pass out! Was it by default or by design? Whatever it was, it was ironic.

I personally admire courage and guts. There are some instances when countries have not cowered down in the face of terror. The US and Israel merit special mention for their daring raids beyond enemy lines on many occasions. Remember Entebbe? Israel literally conducted a class for the entire world, wherein Idi Amin and Palestine terrorists were made specimens. Operation Neptune Spear, similarly, will go down in the history of mankind as a master stroke by elite SEAL commandos. A to Z of this operation was a near perfect 10, spread over many months, rather years.

But the Pak doctor, Shakeel Afridi, who helped US pin down Laden has been handsomely rewarded by Pak government with 33 years in jail and $ 3,500 for spying for the strategic ally of Pak, the US! Afridi helped the CIA use a vaccination campaign in an attempt to collect DNA samples from residents of Bin Laden's compound in the city of Abbottabad to verify the al Qaeda leader's presence there.

Now the US must hand down another lesson to Pakistan by saving Dr Shakeel Afridi who deserves to be rewarded and decorated for his services to humanity. Americans can do it and they must act to save Afridi, for therein lies salvation of their future operations. They must act to protect their asset. If they fail, the world will not forgive them for letting down their associates.

TATRA MOUNTAINS

Great Tatras! Tatra Mountain Range forms part of the Carpathian Mountains and contains the highest mountains in the Carpathians. The range forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland in Europe. The highest peak is 8710 feet above mean sea level. Tatras are also called High Tatras.

Overall nature of Tatras coupled with ease of accessibility makes these mountains popular with tourists, they are especially popular as a winter sports area.

The mountains rise steeply from a high plateau and extend for approximately 64 km along the Slovakian-Polish frontier, varying in width from 14 to 24. Tatras resemble the Alps although there are no permanent snow fields. Slopes have a beautiful covering of Spruce trees right up to 6300 feet. Bears, chamois, eagles and marmots are common inhabitants of Tatras. The range also has many lakes and hanging valleys.

The Tatras lie in the temperate zone of Central Europe.

Temperatures in this mountain range vary from −40 °C in the winter to 33 °C in summer months. 
 
Peaks are sometimes covered with snow or ice throughout the year. Avalanches are frequent.

The 1999 film Ravenous was filmed in the Tatras Mountains.

Hindi film Fana'a, portraying places in Kashmir, was actually filmed in Tatras region.

 

The Tatras range of mountains is the highest and most beautiful section of the Western Carpathian mountain range. The Polish Tatras are considerably a small part of the entire range and constitute only one-fifth of the entire range of Tatras, while the rest of the range is situated on the Slovakian side.

The Tatras are magnificent. The Tatras are stunning in their beauty.

SINCERE THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO THE DIRECTING STAFF BY SS 34 COURSE OF THE INDIAN ARMY

Our Very Dear and Most Respected Directing Staff,

1. We are the 34 th Batch of Short Service Commissioned Officers. We had joined the OTS in Oct-Nov 1981 and we passed out gloriously on 26 Aug 1982. We have had a very long standing and deep association with all of you, regardless of the fact that today's fast paced routine has adversely affected that much required 'personal and regular touch'. To revive the old and sacred bond and to relive those memories, albeit momentarily, we all have decided to celebrate the 30 th Anniversary of our commissioning later this year. Though the sanctity of the original date is an important factor in such matters, we had to compromise on the date due to commitments of our course mates who will be organizing the function, non availability of the venue in Aug and also harsh weather of Delhi around that time of the year.

2. We have forgotten nothing, nothing at all. There was a time in 1981-82 when almost all of us cursed all of you and your cronies enough to last you all a lifetime. But as they say, the time is the greatest teacher. Over the years we have realized and learnt that you people were not ‘tormentors’ or 'breakers' as then perceived by us, rather you were the 'makers', makers of good officers who would never give up in their lives. It is because of you that we are what we are today. Sir, many of us have risen to the rank of Brig in the Army and doing well. Many of us have migrated to foreign shores and doing exceedingly well in business or jobs in places like Australia, Canada, the US, Singapore, Kenya and Uganda. Many of us have done well in the jobs in civil and reached very senior positions and many of us have done well post early retirement and achieved high positions in the corporate sector. Our children are also marching ahead well. But it is with a deep sense of grief and loss that we say that some of us fell in the line of duty. In simple obedience to duty as they understood it, these men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all and died. We are proud of our fallen comrades. Some others died of natural causes. May their souls rest in peace.

3. The credit for our success goes to you all, who selflessly worked hard and taught us what the struggle in life means and how to bash on regardless, without fear, without remorse. We are your students. Now, today is a time when we can't thank you enough for having moulded us so beautifully and so permanently into good officers and proud human beings. Generally speaking, we have values and we are also proud of who we are. A large part of our success story is your story, Sir.

4. To celebrate thus the 30 th Anniversary of SS 34, we have chosen Delhi Cantt as the venue and 28 Dec 12 as the date. All of us very cordially invite you to the Dinner on 28 Dec 12 (Fri).   We hope that you will accept our invitation and grace the occasion. We, from SS 34, want to meet you once again and refresh our memories of the time we thought then were the worst, but as realize today, were the best ever. Your benign presence will add grace to the occasion and turn a simple gathering into an august one.

5. May we also request you to provide us the contact details of our other DS who were posted to the OTS during our course.

 

6. SS 34 has also launched its own website on 15 Jan (OTS Raising Day) 2011. You may like to visit www.olivegreensss34.com . 

With very warm regards,

Entire SS 34 Course (1981-82)