ACE INDIAN SPORT SHOOTER JASPAL RANA DIES

 Sad day for Indian Sports as the ace sport shooter #JaspalRana died at the age of 49. He suffered cardiac rupture while asleep. A winner of Gold Medals at the #CommonwealthGames & the #AsianGames , Rana was instrumental in #ManuBhaker winning medals at #Paris #Olympics in 2024. He mentored many young sport shooters. His early demise is a blow to Indian Sports. 

May his soul rest in Peace !  

MISCELLANEOUS: A POEM

Birds desperately flying over 

the rubbles scattered everywhere

A mother searching

her son suffering from terminal illness 

The unborn babies deliberating 

silently in the impatient wombs 

inside the crowded hospitals 

An unlocked cellphone found by the rescue team

Lover’s last message flashing on screen

We can foresee death coming.

In the backyard of a house

a child busy playing with her toys

a flower blossoms in the garden

are they unaware of the war ?

Can autumn be stopped ?

Shall we not die some day –

maybe, one day !

(C). – MRITYUNJAY JHA

LOST IN TRANSLATION: A PORTRAIT OF BIHAR CM NITISH KUMAR

 There was a time, precisely in the second half of the first decade of this century, Nitish Kumar exuded a different streak of change and vision that were so loudly absent in a majority of Indian Politicians. He worked and worked tirelessly to transform or at least develop Bihar - a state that symbolised (and still so) all which can be described as pathetic. Nitish Kumar developed infrastructure and established law and order in Bihar after more than a decade. It was appreciated by all and he became a towering figure of hope and change. Schools, Hospitals & roads were put on track. Police had started to understand  their duties and acted accordingly. During that time he chose good advisers full of administrative acumen. And, he had an ideology that gave primacy to development. Political nonsense, something which is the mainstay of Indian Politics, was visibly absent in him. He was an ideal person.

Sadly, Nitish Kumar too became a victim of common human frailties. Ambition without care for values was one of them. He became lost on things that made him endearing to all earlier. He kept switching sides in politics in order to remain on the seat of chief minister . And, that was his fall from grace. Development meant little to him. Healthcare and Education are in shambles. He fancied himself as an apostle of prohibition and made selling and drinking alcohol banned in the state. It resulted in illigal production and consumption of alcohol that caused countless deaths. And, he has no remorse for this. Teachers are paid abysmally low and are hired on contract . He has no money to offer a respectable salary to teachers . No investments came. People continue to migrate to other states for employment. And, he has no remorse for this too.

Now he is busy in consolidating opposition parties of the country in order to amass support for, maybe, becoming the Prime Minister of India - the culmination of ambition for every politician in India . 

Nitish Kumar is in existential crisis and a classic case of a man who is Lost In Translation who is suffering loneliness and desperately trying to find meaning of his life political and otherwise. Political obituary nears towards him. Like everbody else, Time will show him the mirror cut especially for himself.

As a citizen I am personally sad to notice his fall as I like many adored him earlier.

Remembering Pulitzer-winning poet Charles Simic

POEM:LEAVES FALLING ON THE ROAD !

MOON AND ROSE - TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

In moonlight 

The river is sighing 

a torrid love affair. 

2.

Dew 

on rose petals 

Beauty is delicately fragile. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

RAIN AND MOON : TWO HAIKU POEMS

 

1.

In soft rain

A frog croaking its amorous call 

The air smells of love. 

2.

The full moon-

Lamentation of

Lover's longings. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

THREE HAIKU POEMS

 1.

Flowers-

fragile beauty 

Lover's delight. 

2.

Late November afternoon 

The sky wears

a sad look. 

3.

Last rain

in the summer 

Lover's goodbye kiss. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

BEAUTY IN A WAR

 

Tanks roll on without hesitation 

Shelling goes unabated 

Air becoming thick with human blood 

Flowers are groaning 

Birds dashing to the other side

of the border

Fruits are rotten in orchards

Bridges breaking suddenly

Communication is the casualty

Children taking joyride in their toys 

completely unaware of the sirens blaring out imminent destruction 

War is immortal. 

There are other ways to protest a war 

than mass rallies in Berlin. 

A band playing Mozart 

in a dilapidated church. 

An anonymous artist making murals in the rubbles of what was once a thriving city. 

How naive it is to create beauty out of destruction !

Each piece of ruins is a helpless testimony to our collective failures. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

 Rocks-

 dry bones 

 of Civilization. 

2.

 Snow falling steadily 

 Leaves bathed in whiteness 

 Warm memories of love. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

Tulips bloom in 

the cruellest month of April 

Memory of lost love. 

2.

Every bud wrenching 

to become flower soon

Lovers waiting for the Spring.

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

Stormy weather 

Birds dashing to their nests 

A child adjusting his kite. 

2.

An artist drawing an image 

entangled lines and twisted shapes 

Spring brings symmetry. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

RISHI SUNAK AND HIS CHALLENGES

 Britain has got its third Prime Minister in this year in Rishi Sunak. He is 42 and had been a frontrunner after Boris Johnson resigned. With a career in financial services he is highly expected to clear away the economic mess Britain has been reeling under. He has to win back market's confidence. Taxation policy is the main thing he has to work on as it was one key cause of his predecessor Liz Truss' downfall. Tax cuts ought to be streamlined. Public spending must be curtailed. These are the prime focus for maintaining the financial health of the country and these are not easy to administer. Creation of jobs will be challenging. His opponents in the Labour and in the Liberal parties are already crying foul over his intentions to think about the common folks .

On political front his main thrust should be to keep his party in order which has been apparently in disarray. He got support from over a 100 colleagues. Some who don't have good opinion of him describe him backstabber who cheated Boris Johnson- the man who brought him in the front and made him the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Rishi Sunak has a tightrope walk ahead in keeping his house in order. The general election is in 2025. Few MPs also raised voice for convening the election. 

On a lighter note a day after Rishi Sunak assumed the top post , a fox was seen walking past the 10 Downing Street. What to make of it...?? 

A CHAT WITH A DUTCH RESEARCH SCHOLAR ON URBANIZATION IN SMALL TOWNS IN INDIA.

 Steven De Jongh, A Research Scholar from University of Amsterdam came to SAMASTIPUR - a town in the Indian province of Bihar. I met him and assisted him in his research work on the topic of Urbanisation in Small Towns in India. We visited many places and met people of all walks to gather information about the economic activities and growth.

SALMAN RUSHDIE MUST LIVE LONG !

 It has been around 2 months since the famous author Sir Salman Rushdie was attacked onstage in New York State. He was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator. His injuries were severe and there were doubts about his life and survival. On Saturday his literary agent Andrew Wylie gave an interview to the Spanish Newspaper El Pais and offered a bulletin of sorts on the author's conditions. Sadly, the information depressed the entire world of literature. Salman Rushdie has reportedly lost the sight of one eye and his one hand is incapacitated. The only positive thing is that he's going to live. His agent however didn't divulge any further details of his whereabouts. He also lamented the dangerous rise of nationalism and far right groups in Europe, America and Latin America.

Sir Salman Rushdie was at a literary gathering at Chautauqua Institution in New York participating in some summer lecture the institution is famed for organizing every year. A man named Hadi Matar(24) suddenly rushed onstage and stabbed the author multiple times on his neck, chest and torso. The injuries were deep. The nerves of his one arm were cut as his agent reported. Hadi Matar is in prison on the charges of second degree attempted murder and assault. In an interview with NewYork Post Hadi Matar told he was surprised to know that Mr. Rushdie survived. He also praised Iran and Khomeinei's fatwa. He also confessed he had read just a few pages of The Satanic Verses- the book that created an uproar in the Islamic World causing an edict against the author. Some Muslims view the book as blasphemous. 

Salman Rushdie had to go in hiding after the fatwa and he was given heavy state protection by the UK Government. As time passed and the religious leader Ayatollah Khomeinei died, the threat perception declined and Mr. Rushdie started to live a normal life and shifted to the USA. The Chautauqua Institution didn't have much security except one policeman. The attack was unexpected. Iranian government has denied any hand in this connection and said Mr. Rushdie himself was responsible for his condition. 

Sir Salman Rushdie has always been an ardent champion of free speech and maintained that one can have fearless disrespect for religion. He is all for complete freedom of speech and doesn't like 'ifs' and 'buts' in the expression of this important right without which all other rights are in shambles. 

The best way to issue a message to the world of fundamentalists and far right groups is to honour him by spreading his message. The Nobel Prize Committee must take a serious note of the author's tireless crusade against the evil power of the extremists around the world and confer the literature prize on him next year. That shall be a befitting reply to those who are hell bent on gagging people's voice.

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

LIGHT AND DARK (MICROPOEM)

 Each day begins with morning 

and ends in night 

the air smells of weariness 

light and dark live 

in perpetual confusion. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

THREE HAIKU POEMS

 1.

White marble dome 

awash in cool moonlight 

Lovers in fire of passion. 

2.

Rain is over 

Paperboats sailing in village ponds

Eyes can't capture all beauties. 

3.

Cherry blossoms in countryside

Raindrops on the sidewalks 

Love tastes like autumn air. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

MOON, CLOUDS & BIRDS : - TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

The moon peeping 

through scattered dark clouds 

A child dreams of rainbow. 

2.

Harsh winter approaching 

Birds leaving for warmer climes

Human heart is still cold. 

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA 

TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

Rain has just stopped 

Birds repairing their nests 

Love tastes like autumn air. 

2.

Bloomed lotus petals 

in still water of a pond 

Even a pebble can break peace. 

(C). -MRITYUNJAY JHA

LOVE, WAR AND PEACE : TWO HAIKU POEMS

 1.

Fierce wind 

Tumultuous sea 

A lover finds peace. 

2.

Soft wind 

whispering a melody to grass 

Air raid sirens blare in a city.

(C). - MRITYUNJAY JHA