Kasauli Diary ( from Outlook magazine)

They Had Soliloquies In Alasia
The Alasia Hotel in Kasauli is a relic from the past. There was a time when it served roast beef and bread and butter pudding. These days it caters to hordes ascending from Chandigarh with entirely different taste buds. Until 1966, it was run by Major Robert Hotz and a number of films were shot here, including Staying On, based on Paul Scott’s novel, and James  Ivory's Shakesperewala .

David Lean, the director of epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, stayed here and fell in love with Hotz’s daughter Sandra when she was 22. She became the fifth of his six wives and appeared briefly at the end of his A Passage to India. She still has a house deep in the cantonment. Footnote: David Lean’s fourth wife was an Indian beauty from Hyderabad, Leila Matkar, who left her husband and two children for him. She died lonely, in a suite that was her home in Grosvenor Hotel in London.

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Lean Returns
“There are some people who shouldn’t be married and David Lean was one of them,” said Ann Todd, the actress and his third wife.

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A former UN official, Bhaichand Patel is an author and columnist. His first novel will be in stores next summer.; E-mail your diarist: bhaichandp AT gmail.com

BIC pens for Her !

http://allthingsd.com/20121102/viral-video-ellen-and-the-bic-lady-pens/

Proper Parliamentary Behaviour ...............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9UHVKyJXMhA

Will Nitish's visit give a boost to Biharis in Pakistan?

Biharis have enriched Karachi’s cosmopolitan culture and their imprint on the city is perhaps best reflected in making famed Bihari kebabs an integral part of itsculinary attractions.

Punjabi folk singers lined the road, performed bhangra on dhol beats to welcome then Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to the Pakistani side of the land of five rivers in January 2004. Amarinder was overwhelmed and described hisjourney to Lahore a pilgrimage, as the city "is a central pillar in the edifice of the composite Punjabi culture". His engagements in Pakistan for the next few days were imbued with deep commitment to the promotion of divided Punjab's shared heritage.

Over eight years later, Bihar chief ministerNitish Kumar would take the same route to Pakistan for a five-day visit. Like Amarinder, he may not feel as much culturally at home elsewhere in Pakistan, but parts of its economic hub ofKarachi would be an exception. The city has a sizable Bihari population that had retained its distinct identity despite being clubbed with ethnic Urdu-speakers of the Sindh province and its capital Karachi.

Abdul Kadir Khanzada, who represents Orangi Town in Pakistan's parliament, said he would like to welcome Nitish to his constituency, where a majority of over a million people have their roots in Bihar. "Though my family came from Alwar in Rajputana (Rajasthan) but 70% of my voters are those with roots in Bihar, who would relate to the chief minister's visit," he told TOI from Karachi, which the CM would visit as part of his itinerary.

He said his party had always supported peace process with India and hoped Nitish's visit would boost the ties. "I would speak to my leader in parliament, Farooq Sattar, and see whether we could invite Nitish Kumar to connect with people who have roots in his state."

Biharis have enriched Karachi's cosmopolitan culture and their imprint on the city is perhaps best reflected in making famed Bihari kebabs an integral part of its culinary attractions.

The place where the early immigrants from Bihar settled after the Partition is still known as Bihar colony in Karachi's Layari Town. Mostly well-off immigrants managed to reach Karachi, then Pakistani capital, following riots in Bihar in the run up to the partition and the rest of about three million found it easier to crossover to then East Pakistan - Bangladesh. Around 163,000 of them were repatriated to Pakistan in 70s and 80s after Bangladesh's liberation as they were accused of being collaborators, targeted and faced linguistic discrimination.

Most repatriated Biharis were settled in Orangi Town. Nearly 800,000 Biharis had declared themselves as Pakistanis after the 71 liberation and most had sought to settle in Pakistan.

The repatriation of Biharis to Pakistan was stopped in the 80s after bloody ethnic riots over it that further tilted the politico-ethnic balance in favour of Karachi's dominant Urdu-speaking people and Mutthida Quami Movement, the country's third largest party representing them.

The process started briefly in the 1990s when 321 Biharis were brought to Pakistan on the condition that they would settle in Punjab. A Bihari colony was set up for them 370-km fromIslamabad at Mian Channu in Punjab's Khanewal district. Successive Pakistani governments have since gone back on their promise to bring back an estimated 300,000 million Biharis, also known as stranded Pakistanis, who live in 66 camps without citizenship rights in Bangladesh.

A recent report in a Gulf paper highlighted the miserable condition of Mian Channu's Pakistani Biharis, who along with their brethren in Bangladesh represent the horrors of the double partition that they faced while other communities uprooted in the aftermath of the 1947 division have prospered and moved on.

The report cited the plight of 60-year-old Manzar Husain, who arrived in Mian Channu in 1993, leaving behind his 6-year-old daughter, now a mother of three. He expected her to be on the next flight to Pakistan, but that was not to be and has not since seen her. Further repatriation was halted and Husain has lost all hopes of seeing his daughter and grandchildren.

The National reported that Mian Channu's Bihari colony is now a slum and Punjabis now occupy most of the two-room apartments constructed for Biharis.

But Kamran Asdar Ali, a US-based Pakistani academic whose parents had migrated from Bihar, argued that the community is very diverse in Pakistan. "... Biharis in Pakistan are in all walks of life, from the most wealthy and influential to the most- lowly urban poor, much like in India. Biharis are in the Indian Civil service or are getting admission to St Stephens College, but then there are the rickshaw drivers in Kolkata and the migrant labour in Mumbai. Same in Pakistan."

Scholar and anti-colonial activist Eqbal Ahmad, who was born in Bihar's Sasaram, was among the prominent Pakistani-Biharis, who earned international acclaim.

Ali said Biharis have been given a "politically available identity of being Mohajir", which, he added, "by all means is a constructed ethnicity — a family that migrated from Madras or Bombay is also Mohajir and those who migrated from Bihar or UP are also Mohajirs".

But Bihari Quami Movement was formed a few years earlier in Karachi, which is perhaps indicative of the community's attempt to assert its separate identity.

The academic said most Pakistani-Biharis may not know about Nitish, his visit and what he has done in Bihar. "But his coming to Pakistan may change that."

It could also reinforce another shared heritage in the public consciousness of India and Pakistan having more in common than what divides them to further cement the bilateral engagement that now seems to be looking up again.

winter is coming ......

Winter is fast approaching.  Hope you do not have the experience shown in the video.

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Just in case you are feeling sorry for yourself on these 90+ degree days...With humidity! click on the snowman:

Chitra .....

Sudha Murty, chairperson, Infosys Foundation and author, is known for her ability to glean interesting stories from the lives of ordinary people and weave these narratives into a unique blend of anecdote and fable.

Her latest collection of stories, 'The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk', features a fascinating cast of characters, each of whom made an indelible impression on the author. Extracted here is a nugget from 'Bombay (Now, Mumbai) to Bangalore (Now, Bengaluru)', one of the most heartwarming stories in this collection:

It was the beginning of summer. I was boarding Udyan Express at Gulbarga railway station. My destination was Bangalore. As I boarded the train, I saw that the second-class reserved compartment was jam-packed with people. I sat down and was pushed to the corner of the berth. Though it was meant for three people, there were already six of us sitting on it...

The ticket collector came in and started checking people's tickets and reservations.. Suddenly, he looked in my direction and asked, 'What about your ticket?' 'I have already shown my ticket to you,' I said.

'Not you, madam, the girl hiding below your berth. Hey, come out, where is your ticket?' I realized that someone was sitting below my berth. When the collector yelled at her, the girl came out of hiding.

She was thin, dark, scared and looked like she had been crying profusely. She must have been about thirteen or fourteen years old.She had uncombed hair and was dressed in a torn skirt and blouse. She was trembling and folded both her hands.. The collector started forcibly pulling her out from the compartment. Suddenly, I had a strange feeling. I stood up and called out to the collector. 'Sir, I will pay for her ticket,' I said.

Then he looked at me and said, 'Madam, if you give her ten rupees, she will be much happier with that than with the ticket.'

I did not listen to him. I told the collector to give me a ticket to the last destination, Bangalore, so that the girl could get down wherever she wanted.

Slowly, she started talking. She told me that her name was Chitra. She lived in a village near Bidar. Her father was a coolie and she had lost her mother at birth. Her father had remarried and had two sons with her stepmother. But a few months ago, her father had died. Her stepmother started beating her often and did not give her food. She was tired of that life. She did not have anybody to support her so she left home in search of something better.

By this time, the train had reached Bangalore. I said goodbye to Chitra and got down from the train. My driver came and picked up my bags. I felt someone watching me. When I turned back, Chitra was standing there and looking at me with sad eyes. But there was nothing more that I could do. I had paid her ticket out of compassion but I had never thought that she was going to be my responsibility!...

I told her to get into my car. My driver looked at the girl curiously. I told him to take us to my friend Ram's place. Ram ran separate shelter homes for boys and girls. We at the Infosys Foundation supported him financially. I thought Chitra could stay there for some time and we could talk about her future after I came back from my tours.

I was not sure if Chitra would even be there. But to my surprise, I saw Chitra looking much happier than before. Ram suggested that Chitra could go to a high school nearby. I immediately agreed and said that I would sponsor her expenses as long as she continued to study. I left the shelter knowing that Chitra had found a home and a new direction in her life.

I got busier and my visits to the shelter reduced to once a year. But I always enquired about Chitra's well-being over the phone. I knew that she was studying well and that her progress was good.. I offered to sponsor her college studies if she wanted to continue studying. But she said, 'No, Akka. I have talked to my friends and made up my mind. I would like to do my diploma in computer science so that I can immediately get a job after three years.' She wanted to become economically independent as soon as possible.. Chitra obtained her diploma with flying colours. She also got a job in a software company as an assistant testing engineer. When she got her first salary, she came to my office with a sari and a box of sweets. 

One day, when I was in Delhi, I got a call from Chitra. She was very happy. 'Akka, my company is sending me to USA! I wanted to meet you and take your blessings but you are not here in Bangalore.'.

Years passed. Occasionally, I received an e-mail from Chitra. She was doing very well in her career. She was posted across several cities in USA and was enjoying life. I silently prayed that she should always be happy wherever she was.

Years later, I was invited to deliver a lecture in San Francisco for Kannada Koota, an organization where families who speak Kannada meet and organize events. The lecture was in a convention hall of a hotel and I decided to stay at the same hotel. After the lecture, I was planning to leave for the airport. When I checked out of the hotel room and went to the reception counter to pay the bill, the receptionist said, 'Ma'am, you don't need to pay us anything. The lady over there has already settled your bill. She must know you pretty well.' I turned around and found Chitra there.

She was standing with a young white man and wore a beautiful sari. She was looking very pretty with short hair. Her dark eyes were beaming with happiness and pride. As soon as she saw me, she gave me a brilliant smile, hugged me and touched my feet. I was overwhelmed with joy and did not know what to say. I was very happy to see the way things had turned out for Chitra. But I came back to my original question. 'Chitra, why did you pay my hotel bill? That is not right.' Suddenly sobbing, she hugged me and said, 'Because you paid for my ticket from Bombay to Bangalore!'
(Excerpted with permission from Penguin Books India from Sudha Murty's 'The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk: Life Stories From Here and There')

Naga IAS officer builds 100-km road in Manipur

IMPHAL: Villagers of Manipur's Tousem sub-division in Tamenglong district are a busy lot these days. At least 150 of them on a daily basis are clearing away a thicket with their machetes and daos. Some are lugging away heavy branches of recently felled trees; and others are operating bulldozers and earthmovers to give themselves the "best Christmas gift ever".

Theirs is one of the remotest corners in the country, where the India shining story has not yet reached; but the villagers are part of modern India's most ambitious road project embarked upon by one man, a young Naga IAS officer, without any funding from the government.

A 2005 graduate from St Stephen's College in Delhi, Armstrong Pame is the sub-divisional magistrate of Tamenglong, his home district, and the first IAS officer from the Zeme tribe. He has, of his own volition, begun the construction of a 100-km road that would link Manipur with Nagaland and Assam. Incidentally, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 101 crore in 1982 for the construction of this road, but for some unknown reason the project never took off. "Last December, then Union home minister P Chidambaram visited Manipur and asked what happened to the road.

The state government declared that it would be 'done soon', but nothing moved on the ground. Then in June-July this year, there was an outbreak of tropical diseases like typhoid and malaria. It takes two days for anyone in the village to make it to the nearest hospital on foot in the absence of a motorable road. Hundreds of patients had to be carried on makeshift bamboo stretchers, but very few made it to the town alive.

Also, town doctors were unwilling to come to the village because of its inaccessible terrain," Pame told TOI over phone from Tamenglong.

Perplexed and frustrated with the situation, the officer decided to reach out to doctors in his friend circle. A woman friend agreed, and Pame promised to sponsor her stay. "She treated over 500 patients and conducted quite a few minor surgeries. Many lives were saved in this way; but I realized how perilously poised the situation was in the absence of a road. That was the catalyst," Pame said.

To construct an all-weather, motorable road in an area untouched by the progress made by Independent India in the last six decades was an uphill task. And with no help coming from the government, Pame turned to his family and well-wishers.

"Armstrong and I grew up in a village in Tousem amid a lot of hardships. Our father was a schoolteacher and had a limited income. We used to walk down to the district headquarters-about 60km away-and carry 25 kilos of rice back home. It used to take us four days to go and come back and the rations used to last for two weeks. When we came to Delhi for higher studies, we would survive on biscuits for days without enough money to buy food. The remoteness of our village ruined its economy; and we knew that unless there was a road, there would be no development. So, when Armstrong proposed to undertake the venture, we all threw our lot with him," said Jeremiah Pame, an assistant professor at the Delhi University and elder brother of Armstrong.

"My wife and I donated our one month's salary, Armstrong paid five months' of his, and our mother paid our dad's one month's pension of Rs 5,000. Our youngest brother, Lungtuabui, recently started working. He donated his entire first month's pay for the project," he added.

The family together pooled Rs 4 lakh to start the project. They hired a bulldozer and bought two earthmovers. "But it was not enough; we needed more. So, we turned to Facebook. We created a page, seeking donations, and the response has been overwhelming. In the last three days, we have received Rs 1.2 lakh from friends all over the globe, with contributions varying from Rs 50 to $1000. And they are willing to contribute more," the young bureaucrat said. "The villagers, too, have contributed as per their capabilities: some are providing food and accommodation for the workers; some are supplying fuel for the earthmovers. They have also provided manpower for the project. We did not have to engage a contractor with so many people volunteering to shoulder that responsibility," he added.

Donation centres have been set up in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Shillong and Dimapur and NRIs from Canada, USA and the UK have been sending their contributions for the project christened as Tamenglong-Haflong Road. A monolith will be erected once the road is completed and names of all donors will be inscribed.

The road will form a tri-junction with Nagaland and Assam over the Jiri River before entering the Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills district) of Assam. Construction began in August this year, but stopped midway due to the rains. It resumed in September, and so far, work on 70km has been completed.

"Work moved at a swift pace because there were dirt tracks already; but laying the next 30km will be difficult as it is covered by dense forest. Nevertheless, we hope to complete the project before Christmas," said the young officer named after famous American astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Indian Revenue Service officer Gaigondin Panmei is the commissioner of customs for the Northeast. He believes the road can do wonders to the economy of the district as a whole and Tousem sub-division in particular.

"Tousem is the most backward sub-division in Tamenglong district; but it is also the place where the best oranges are grown. We have an orange festival in Manipur every year, but most of the time the local produce fails to make it to the fest due to its inaccessibility. Medical care, too, is in a bad shape because of this. Once this road becomes operational, it would open up the market for Tousem, and that would, in turn, bring prosperity to the people. But yes, it would be very essential to maintain this road. The builders will have to figure that out, too, but the progress of the road has been impressive so far," Panmei said.