The Diwali Weekend

It ocassionally happens that I have something spectacular to talk about so I thought its time I blah blah about something. But I got confused as to which topic to write. I have three things on my plate and I can write about 1024 words on each, but instead I choose to write just a few sentences on what I think on those topics. D'oh! I am going to talk about some of the events that took place during the Diwali weekend - Barack Obama's visit to India, India's drawn test match against Kiwis & my vacation trip to the beaches of Ganpatipule.

Obama Visits India:
The Obamas arrived on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. Grand arrangements were made and Manmohan Singh himself went to receive the most extraordinary couple at the Mumbai airport. Ever since his first speech for the Democrats as a presidential candidate, then on the day he took his oath and gave his first speech as a victorious President, then later when he made a few decisions in correcting the US Economy along with the Fed - he has been my personal favorite! And now here he is in my motherland wooing zillions like me.
Q) So what is he here for?
A) He is here on an economic mission. As two great functional democracies, India and the United States must be seen standing together and exuding confidence of a distinct world view, based on protecting pluralism and peoples’ will. His list of business includes seeking greater market access for US companies in the retail and financial services sectors, and greater technology protection for energy companies.
Q) Did India get what it expected from the US Prez?
A) Well, the answer is certainly 'yes we did'. President Barack Obama has proved skeptics wrong. He made all the noises we wanted to hear: support for a permanent seat in the UNSC, lifting curbs on dual-use technology exports, cooperation in homeland security and membership of restrictive multilateral treaties and organizations such as the Nuclear Suppliers Group, strongly advising Pakistan to whip crack on all the terrorist outfits to make way for peace dialogues, announcing more opportunities in educational institutions for Indian students in order to build knowledge warehouses, accepting the fact that outsourcing is still the way to go for the US companies. Apart from all these, he also paid rich tributes to Aryabhatta, Gandhiji, Rabindranath Tagore and Ambedkar.
The bottomline - He is liked in India not because we think he will donate a few million dollars to us, but because Indians like men of character and wisdom. His speeches reflect his mind and his heart. As a man of wisdom and straightforward heart that loves India, he is welcome but the rest is a ruthless race for business. Hence keeping all our eggs in the US basket will not be wise.

Kiwis test India's mettle:
The 1st test between India and New Zealand was played out in this festive period. So, MSD finally won the toss and elected to bat on a flat track. As expected we saw easy early fireworks from Sehwag in first innings and Sachin decided to make us wait longer for the record 50th test ton. Jesse Ryder loves to toy around with Indian spinners and he once again stood rock solid to protect his wicket. However, it was Chris Martin's majestic bowling spell and inexplicable harakiri by Indian batsmen which swung the test match in New Zealand's favour. At 65/6, I had almost given up on India's chances to save the test match; it was time for the Kiwi Redemption. But what can be said about Laxman that's not been said before? It is perhaps easier to define Laxman in crisis situations. "Laxman just did what he always does, He scores runs." The fabulous wristy shots come and go, the singles are always flowing, the gaps are found repeatedly, and his face is calm. There is the ball and his reaction to it. That's it. On the other end he had Harbhajan Singh, high on confidence after scoring career best 69 in first innings, he started second innings in a similar flashy fashion. He played the reverse sweep, the hoick over midwicket, the walk-down-the-pitch-and-smack shots, and the lofted hits over long-on fielders. But that's Bhajji the batsman for you. He failed miserably with the ball in hand but ensured that his efforts with bat help the cause. There was a stark contrast in the way both VVS and Harbhajan batted to save India from going down in the series described as cakewalk for the reigning champions.

A trip down the Konkan Lane:
I spent my Diwali in Ratnagiri district of the Konkan region. It felt good to be away from the noisy and smoke filled Mumbai during the festival. On this piligrimage, I was accompanied by my parents and relatives. We left Mumbai at 11 pm and after 8 hours of driving through the Sahyadri ghats we reached the location early morning 7 am. After a couple of hours rest, we went to the Ganpatipule temple to seek blessings from the elephant-god. From there we moved to a few places of historic importance, Keshavsut's memorial (a reknowned poet), Lokmanya Tilak's Birthplace (a freedom fighter). Then after having spicy lunch we headed back to our cottage to take afternoon nap. I spent my time playing football with my cousins and after sunset we all spent our time splashing waves on the beach. The scenery at the beach front was absolutely awesome: the cool low tide waves, the sun setting against slight drizzle of rain causing a magical rainbow. On the next day we visited the Ratnadurg Fort built by Shivaji Maharaj's Navy Admiral Kanhoji Angre. The horse shoe shaped fort is surrounded by the sea on one side and village on the other side. Whenever I visit such forts, I get nostalgic and I imagine how these forts still withstand the nature's brute force. Hats off to the architects of those ancient times and clearly should be an embarrasment for the builders of the bridge at CW games, New Delhi. From there we carried on with our trip to another of temples in that region. Marleshwar temple is within a mountain cave and dwelling place of Shiva. (the father of elephant god). The mythology says that Shiva has been reincarnated in this place for the betterment of villagers to protect them from snakes. And it may be true indeed. Inside the temple there were snakes lying around and the priests that were near by the idol. I was hell terrified and I made a quick exit from the temple by offering my prayers from the edge of the cave. :) We then marched on to museum created to depict the life of Shivaji Maharaj, our great Maratha Warrior. That was our last stop before we started our journey back home. The return journey is always more tiring than the onward journey, but all in all it was a great trip, one to cherish for a long time. I'll soon post some pics from the trip.

Cheers.