CasualVisitor Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Very well written' date=' NO?[/quote'] Resounding yes :two_thumbs_up:
surajmal Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 BTW, Do people here realize that she was a staunch Right winger? (One of the few who wrote with passion about the majority and nation) - How dare She?!:winky: The Heart of Dorkness Thank you! Thank you for your tremendous support. Vikram: bad move -- as DM, I'd probably nuke you-know-what. Krishna: I accept all three kisses. Ranjit: I'm proud of you all! Sundar, Anurag and Friends: don't dare make my stocks crash! Rajesh, Radhakant and Gagan: you've fulfilled the dream I never thought I'd realise -- to actually change the opinion of a person. Deepak: aaaaaaaooooooo! Sridhar: one word about the spirit of my readers -- awesome! Kashmiri Hindu refugees: regardless of your support, I'll always be with you. George: we have a date. Sanjay A: no, YOU are the best. Anil, Sanjay, Geetha: I love you, toooo. "Your fight is our fight. Don't give up and don't give in," wrote Rajkumar. I promise, I'll never let you down. Before I begin, I'd like to make something clear so that I don't get mail about it again: Many otherwise-supportive readers resented my answering mail and the Islamic threats through this column. I disagree. A writer must adapt to the media -- and rediff.com is no dead-wood publication; it doesn't merely upload articles written for newspapers. Internet journalists and readers are rid of the hassles of a land-locked medium; eg, how many would have taken the trouble of snail-mailing their response...? The Net is liberated, but most significantly, it is interactive. So I won't conform to the traditions of beached fuddy-duddies. And that applies to my choice of idiom, too: Mores are set by communities, and the wired community has its own. The Net is Youth -- so butt out, ye mentally olde fogies! Today's theme: Islamic terrorists and their abettors :-). On January 9, there appeared in the LA Times, an article by a dork of Indian origin whose only claim to fame is said article and that moi had once shredded him over the Kashmir issue. About the hijacking of Flight IC-814 and PM Hajpayee's release of Masood Azhar and fellow vermin, Dork wrote: 'State Department officials did not point out that the release may encourage more terrorism. Nor did they call for hunting the three down... This doesn't begin to make sense until you realize what was left unsaid and why. It is this: The three men were not terrorists. Not only were they never tried or convicted of any act of terrorism, but they never even were charged... when a state indiscriminately wields deadly violence against guilty and innocent alike, would it not generate such hatred against itself as to provoke desperate, irrational and dangerous responses? Like, say, hijacking a plane?' Among other things -- like the State Department being the sole authority on Paki terrorism -- I was amused to note the alacrity with which the White guys published the singular piece of crap. Can you imagine any Indian newspaper publishing a piece in support of the Unabomber or the accused in the Oklahoma bombing...? Would any Indian media permit itself to be a mouthpiece for the justification of terrorism? Would it let a megalomaniac use its reputation to justify hostage-taking and the terrorising of innocent air travelers? Dork wrote, 'Mushtaq Zargar... was arrested in 1992 and accused of being the 'chief commander' of a terrorist group called the Umar Moujahedeen (sic)... Mushtaq Zargar merely languished in detention for eight years, until his release after the hijacking... we don't know if they really were terrorists or just Kashmiris whom the Indian government wanted to put away.' Now let's examine Dork's and LA Times' journalistic standards: ŽÂ§ The Seattle Times of January 5: 'One of three Kashmiri militants India released to end a plane hijacking vowed today before 10,000 supporters to fight to liberate his embattled region from Indian rule and to attack American interests. Followers thronged to a park in central Karachi when they heard that Maulana Masood Azhar had arrived from neighboring Afghanistan... "I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed America and India," he said.' ŽÂ§ Transcript of the State Department's noon briefing on January 6, posted by the US embassy, Bucharest; James Rubin's briefing: 'With respect to the issue more broadly of the speech of Masood Azhar, we find it deplorable and unacceptable, his reported remarks about destroying America and India. Such language feeds a climate of hostility against both countries and incites violence... We would hold the government of Pakistan responsible for Masood's activities, which threaten the lives of our citizens. He is the -- Masood Azhar is the secretary-general of the renamed terrorist organization...' ŽÂ§ The New Nation-Online (Bangladesh) of January 8: ' "We urge Pakistan to investigate carefully whether his actions have violated any Pakistani law. If so, he should be prosecuted accordingly,' Rubin said. US knows that Masood Azhar is the 'secretary general of the renamed terrorist organization (Harakat ul-Ansar) transformed into Harakat ul-Mujahideen," he added.' ŽÂ§ ABCNEWS of December 31, 1999: 'Zargar was in the forefront of the insurgency when it erupted 10 years ago. He was then a leader of the JKLF. Local legend describes him as leading one attack on Indian security forces in Srinagar with two assault rifles, one blazing from each hand. Two years later, he formed his own militant group, Al-Umar Mujahideen... The Pakistani-born [Ahmed Umar Saeed] Sheikh, 28, migrated to Britain before joining the Harkat-ul-Ansar. He was arrested in 1994, and his name also appeared on the list of militants whose freedom was sought by the kidnappers of Hutchings and five other tourists in 1995.' ŽÂ§ Dawn of January 3: 'Zargar, the founder of Al-Umar, was released by the Indian government along with Maulana Masood Azhar and Ahmad Umar Syed, who belonged to another outfit of freedom fighters, Harkatul Mujahideen. Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar has been involved in anti-government activities in India since he was 15 years old.' None of these reports are from the Indian Press. All were published before January 9 -- when LA Times and San Jose Mercury News chose to print Dork's article. Don't its editors know the ABC of terrorism...? Don't they cross-check? "The three men were not terrorists"?! "The whole thing could blow up in India's face"?! Back to Dork: His article is highlighted by The Indian Terrorism Page, which website's objective is 'to show the world how India... is using terrorism as a weapon to subdue and oppress its minorities and to harass neighbouring countries and occupied territories. Please boycott all Indian made products and voice your outrage against India through various mass media.' The focus of this self-proclaimed 'Indian' site is on: How the Indian army murdered 39 Kashmiri Sikhs; Over 100 innocent civilians massacred by Indian occupation forces in Kashmir; The Declaration of Independence of the Sikh Homeland; Why India Should be declared a Terrorist State. Another enthusiastic customer for Dork's bile is pakdef.com, the 'Unofficial website of Pakistan's Armed Forces.' Yet another is The New Nation-Online -- Dork submitted the article in its Readers' Forum -- which juxtaposed it with: 'The neighbour you can't trust: India can not be a trusted neighbour of Bangladesh. The pre-history of the sub-continent proves that India by virtue of her Hindu religious country is a threat to the peaceful co-existence of her small neighbours.' Hmm... However, the highpoint of Dork's agenda was realised when the May issue of Pakistan's Defence Journal carried a column titled 'Is India a terrorist state?' by Lt Gen (retd) F S Lodi: 'A leading US newspaper the Los Angeles Times in a report titled "India's Hands Aren't Clean" in January this year, is of the opinion that India is indeed a terrorist state.' After reproducing Dork's piece of unmitigated ****, Lodi concluded with his own: 'Recalling his visit to refugee camps in Azad Kashmir a week earlier, Rev Augustine [the special representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury] said he found that educated personalities and businessmen from the Indian held Kashmir were forced to migrate to Azad Kashmir and live in refugee camps... India has got away with State-sponsored terrorism for many years now, owing primarily to her size and economic potential which is a perpetual attraction for the trading nations of the West... The UN would therefore be the only organisation which could probably be coaxed to take some action... India has so far not allowed any outside humanitarian agencies to visit Indian occupied Kashmir or her eastern provinces to investigate human rights abuses. This should change soon as the world is becoming aware of the two faces of India.' At no point in his article did Lodi mention Dork -- everything was attributed to LA Times thus: ' "So, if we want to prevent international terrorism, shouldn't we be trying to prevent violations of international law by the Indian government as energetically as we try to chase down hijackers," asks the Los Angeles Times forcefully.' Thus do Pakis use their instruments of propaganda... So I was even more amused to read the online debate of the South Asian Journalists Association -- faithfully censored by its secular moderator -- on 'this phenomenon called Varsha Bhosle. That such a vitriolic and small-minded person attracts a fan club is not surprising... Rediff seems to have a wholly disproportionate stable of this sort of writer...' Dork, of course. And supported by the celebrated correspondent of renowned publications like BridgeNews and Little India, Kavita Chandran, whose own style and area of expertise are reflected by: 'It's the attitude funda with the new gen. America's new generation opts for anything -- from navel-piercing, loose, hip-hugging pants, tattoos...' While, quote, 'Munching swiss chocs in Bern :)' the lady opined: 'What she is is a selling point for Rediff, whether or not her reckless rhetoric attracts readers. She is no journalist... (at best she is Asha Bhosle's daughter, isn't she...?) ...in fact some articles have even referred to her as "the newest hindutva columnist" or some such crap. I recall a piece of hers where she had written about how the indian constitution does not allow religious conversion through allurement... blah..blah. Huh??' Come now, how would a dilettante -- so occupied with weighty issues like Nestle's launch of its nutritional supplement, the beedi fad, and Chutney Popcorn -- know about the Indian Constitution...? Yes, sweetheart, at my very, very best, I AM Asha Bhosle's daughter. For without her steely genes, I'd never have had the nerve to take on anti-Indian and anti-Hindu scumbags. At best, I'd have just been one more bitter soul jealous of another's intellect, tenacity, diligence and... kismet. I admit, that last factor makes it a formidable combination :-). http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/sep/25varsha.htm My country, period May 12, 2003 I want to tell you a story about a British woman called Melita Sirnis. Melita was born in 1912 to an English mother and a Latvian father, a bookbinder who had once been part of the Leo Tolstoy-inspired anarchist/egalitarian movement. Politics was in the family's blood: Her mother was a member of the Co-operative Party; an aunt was one of the first female trade unionists of Britain. Naturally, they all were advocates of Peace. As Melita later said, "Ah yes, they were anti-war all along, the pair of them, father and mother. I suppose I absorbed some of that too." When Melita finished school, her mother, a staunch advocate of women's education, urged her towards university. She attended Southampton University, where she studied Latin and Logic. But we're talking about a Britain under the Slump of 1929-1932, when more than 3 million people were unemployed: Melita had to leave the university after a year because the family was forced to move to London in search of work. There, she was radicalised by her "poor end" experiences and joined the Communist Party. She also got married to Hilary Norwood, a comrade who'd been commended for his work in the trade union movement as a member of the National Union of Teachers. In 1932, Melita Norwood got a secretarial job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in London and thereafter lived a completely unremarkable suburban life till 1999. That was the year when Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin, the former chief archivist of the KGB's foreign intelligence section, published The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. After decades of passing on State secrets to the Soviet Union, and 54 years of living a clandestine life, Mrs Norwood was finally outed. Actually, the MI6 had known about her treason since 1992, when Mr Mitrokhin had defected to Britain with six trunks of KGB archival material, but had chosen not to confront the octogenarian spy. Perhaps, the secrets weren't vital enough to invite prosecution...? Correct! Mrs Norwood only gave away information that enabled the Soviet Union to build the atom bomb... David Rose, the first reporter to locate and interview her, obtained "a full-blown confession within approximately 15 minutes." He writes: "The material she supplied was literally earth-shattering: crucial information which fuelled the Soviet ENORMOSZ nuclear espionage programme. By the beginning of 1945, the non-Ferrous Metals Association director, GJ Bailey, had joined the coordinating committee of the top-secret tube alloys project the British project to design and build an atomic bomb. Most of this research was pooled with the parallel US project based at Los Alamos... [KGB] documents suggest they regarded her contribution as of the highest value, and that it played a significant part in enabling the USSR to detonate its own bomb in 1949 a few months before a CIA assessment claimed it would not be ready to do so until 1954." Which explains why Mrs Norwood was awarded the KGB's highest decoration, the Order of the Red Banner. Though supplying the A-bomb plans was the highlight of her espionage career, she continued for 27 years more, providing a steady stream of secrets to her handlers, and recruited at least one more spy... But, why did Mrs Norwood spy for the USSR? She says: "I did what I did because I expected them [soviets] to be attacked again once the war was over. Chamberlain had wanted them attacked in 1939: he certainly expected Hitler to go east. I thought they should somehow be adequately defended because everyone was against them, against this experiment [Communism], and they had been through such hardship from the Germans. In the war, the Russians were on our side, and it was unfair to them that they shouldn't be able to develop their weaponry." Mrs Norwood said that, if she could, she'd do it all over again because "The various countries of this rotten capitalist system with its unemployment, its wars, and making money I hope it will come to an end." Ok, forget the espionage thing and focus on Mrs Norwood and her family: A pacifist, liberal, educated, hard-working, progressive people with nothing but the good of their compatriots in their hearts. They fought for the exploited workers and actively worked for an egalitarian world order. And, of course, they were dead set against war. Like most of the "secular," liberal Indian saints we know, they did everything without an eye on personal gain. As Mrs Norwood told a BBC television interviewer, "I did what I did not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had at great cost given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, good education and a health service." Ideology, pure and simple. A belief system that postulates that the good of the "ordinary people" is supranational; that the needs of the "ordinary people" are paramount to national security; that sabotaging one's government at the behest of another is acceptable; that revolt against one's government during an external attack could constitute patriotism. That's why Stauffenberg was a German patriot. That's why Mrs Norwood is a patriot. Think of this: It's only because she didn't adhere to the crumbling wasteland of "my country, right or wrong" could she enable the USSR to stand up against the Imperialists and deliver the ordinary... WHOOPS! But that system now exists only in Cuba and West Bengal! Oh shoot, I've to look for another analogy... Ok. Read the following excerpts, from the deposition of a man who was hanged in the early hours of a cold November morning of 1948 in Ambala prison. Clutching a map of undivided India in one hand and the saffron flag in another, he walked to the gallows chanting an invocation to his motherland. A few hours later, his body was cremated outside the prison walls and, immediately afterwards, the whole area was ploughed and planted with grass so that no one could identify the spot and build a shrine: On January 13, 1948, I learnt that Gandhiji had decided to go on fast unto death. The reason given was that he wanted an assurance of Hindu-Muslim Unity... But I and many others could easily see that the real motive... [was] to compel the Dominion Government to pay the sum of Rs 55 crores to Pakistan, the payment of which was emphatically refused by the Government.... But this decision of the people's Government was reversed to suit the tune of Gandhiji's fast. It was evident to my mind that the force of public opinion was nothing but a trifle when compared with the leanings of Gandhiji favourable to Pakistan. ...In 1946 or thereabout, Muslim atrocities perpetrated on Hindus under the Government patronage of Surhawardy in Noakhali made our blood boil. Our shame and indignation knew no bounds when we saw that Gandhiji had come forward to shield that very Surhawardy and began to style him as 'Shaheed Saheb' a martyr even in his prayer meetings... ...Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogans of truth and non-violence which he ostentatiously paraded before the country... I could never conceive that an armed resistance to the aggressor is unjust... Ram killed Ravan in a tumultuous fight... Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness... In condemning Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind as 'misguided patriots,' Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit... Gandhiji was, paradoxically, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and nonviolence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever... ...By 1919, Gandhiji had become desperate in his endeavours to get the Muslims to trust him and went from one absurd promise to another... He backed the Khilafat movement in this country and was able to enlist the full support of the National Congress in that policy... very soon the Moplah Rebellion showed that the Muslims had not the slightest idea of national unity... There followed a huge slaughter of Hindus... The British Government, entirely unmoved by the rebellion, suppressed it in a few months and left to Gandhiji the joy of his Hindu-Muslim Unity... British Imperialism emerged stronger, the Muslims became more fanatical, and the consequences were visited on the Hindus... The accumulating provocation of 32 years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhiji should be brought to an end immediately... he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was the final judge of what was right or wrong... Either Congress had to surrender its will to him and play second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality... or it had to carry on without him... He was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement... The movement may succeed or fail; it may bring untold disasters and political reverses, but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility... These childish inanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character, made Gandhiji formidable and irresistible... In a position of such absolute irresponsibility, Gandhiji was guilty of blunder after blunder... ...The Mahatma even supported the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency and threw the Hindus of Sindh to the communal wolves. Numerous riots took place in Karachi, Sukkur, Shikarpur and other places in which the Hindus were the only sufferers... ...From August 1946 onwards, the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus... Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with mild reactions in the Deccan... The Interim government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them... ...The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us... This is what Gandhiji had achieved after 30 years of undisputed dictatorship, and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom'... ...One of the conditions imposed by Gandhiji for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan government... Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it... The people of this country were eager and vehement in their opposition to Pakistan. But Gandhiji played false with the people... ...I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred... if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time, I felt that Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan... ...I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus... There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book, and for this reason I fired those fatal shots... ...I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me... I did fire shots at Gandhiji in open daylight. I did not make any attempt to run away; in fact I never entertained any idea of running away. I did not try to shoot myself... for, it was my ardent desire to give vent to my thoughts in an open Court. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled of against it on all sides. I have no doubt, honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future. Absorbed all that? Now consider this: Stauffenberg died because he sought to rid his country of the disease of Nazism; recognised the mortal danger of defeat into which Hitler had led Germany; anticipated the disgrace and punishment that the iniquity of Nazism would bring to his countrymen in its wake. Stauffenberg's motives, therefore, were patriotic. Nathuram Godse died because he sought to rid his country of the disease of Appeasement; recognised the dangers inherent in Gandhiji's Ahimsa-cloaked despotism; anticipated the capitulation to the whims of Pakistan that Gandhiji would force upon an elected Indian government, against the wishes of the people. Godse's motives, however, were vile... Vile because the ideology espoused by the likes of Mrs Norwood deems so. The same ideology championed by her contemporaries Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, John Cairncross, Klaus Fuchs - all of whom sold their country down the Moskva River... Stauffenberg and Godse targeted the leader of their respective countries. Both were infuriated by the deaths of thousands of their countrymen. Both did it only to strengthen their countries... So who decides when the sabotage of one's government is justified? The Opposition parties? The historians of the conquering countries? The "ordinary people" who pour into the streets to kick at fallen statues and celebrate by looting museums? Or the people who become "the rabble" during communal strife...? Oh puh-lease, spare me the lecture on patriotism: You wouldn't know it if it bit off your nose. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/12varsha.htm Back to school... We were in Mizoram last week. Not in the state capital, Aizawl, which has more cars per person than even Delhi, but in Vairengte, a "village" bordering the Cachar district of Assam. "Village" because it's nothing but ten-odd shanties perched on stilts on the drop-side of the road up the hill to the Counter Insurgency And Jungle Warfare School run by the Indian Army. Battalions which are inducted into any of the "seven sisters" -- the north-east states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura -- are trained here in the special requirements for countering insurgency in the area. More interestingly, selected officers, JCOs and NCOs, no matter where their posting, as well as men of the CRPF, BSF and Assam Rifles, besides "students" from foreign countries, are enrolled for an extensive course in basic as well as NE-specific CI operations. However, a school is just a school -- it ain't quite a story. Unless it has functioned as the premier and only institution of its kind in the country for 30 years -- and hardly any reporter has heard of it, let alone visit it. Then, it becomes a scoop. When we got a whiff of it, our martial ears tingled; we put out feelers among our khakied friends, who said they had no clue what we were talking about. Sure that we were being rebuffed, we became Ophelia, and brightened only after a CIJWS officer exclaimed: "How did you hear about the school? Hardly anyone in the army itself knows of us!" He immediately launched into we-are-completely-transparent-nothing-is-classified blah blah, but the point is, training in CI ops hinges on research, analysis, strategy and tactics. And therein lies the sensitive nature of this lean and mean institution. In 1967, Field Marshal SHFJ Manikshaw, then GOC Eastern Command, realised that the heavy casualties suffered by the security forces at the hands of insurgents in Nagaland and Mizoram were due to the lack of understanding -- climatic, geographical and psychological -- of the region and its peoples. Thus, on 1 May, 1970, the CIJWS was mid-wifed by Brig Mathew Thomas in Vairengte. The next year, when Mrs G and Sam were, hehehe, cleaving Pakistan, the school was reorganised as HQ Kilo Force -- its personnel actively took part in Op Jackpot -- and helped East Pakistan flower into Bangladesh. The then commandant (principal, in civilian terms), Brig Anand Sarup, was awarded the Maha Veer Chakra for his valour in the BD operation. But in 1972, the school reverted to its basic role of education. Bunkum. Today, instructors and trainees undertake CI ops and low intensity combat as and when required. Only, they call it "practicals." This makes CIJWS a "semi-field" area: not at the battle front, but not away, either. Frankly, we were torn between giving you hard information about the school and being our usual giddy-headed self. We finally opted for the latter because any dolt can compile and relay data, and we are the Monet of painting impressions... Readers who squinted through our Y2K-on-LC series will be pleased to find that this article is be-Jewella-ed. The sainted editor believes we wanted to spare you the pain of deciphering our photographs; we merely needed someone to hold our sceptre when we doodled. So where to begin? At the tarmac of Kumbhigram airport, where we were informed that neither had we landed in Silchar, nor was Silchar in Mizoram...? You see, like 95 per cent of those not of the NE, our knowledge about the Mongoloid states of India is just a little above zero. Turned out, Silchar is in Assam; Kumbhigram, also in Assam, is a good dusty hour-and-half away; and the NE does not mean spear-toting, er... slope-eyed people in glorious tribal shawls. Therefore, the first lesson we learnt from this adventure is: It's the negligence of the rest of India that has augmented, if not created, the unrest in the NE. Everything you know or want to know about insurgency is that of Kashmir's. But the trouble brewing incessantly in the NE is somehow not of much interest to us. We quickly turn the page after scanning headers spelling death datelined Dimapur. It's all so geographically far away from Chandigarh, Cochin or Chennai. Question is, why's it emotionally distant, too...? We'll get to that by and by. First, we have to tell you about our latest guardian angel, JCO Farooq Ahmed, a Kashmiri from Poonch, who received a gallantry award on January 26 for dispatching three ULFA terrorists during a midnight encounter in Nalbari. The story is thrillingly gory but, sorry, we can't tell you because Chindu & Co will pounce on us. Point is, the men selected for CIJWS are those who fulfill certain qualitative requirements... With that, we entered the grand portal of the school, motto: Fight The Guerrilla Like A Guerilla (faithfully pronounced "gorilla" by all). We dumped our bag in our room (conveniently close to the officers' mess), in a setting so arboreal that we forgot our assignment. But not for long: at 11 am sharp we were to report for a briefing to the commandant, Brig HS Nahal of the Jat Regiment. Briefing?? Moi...? All of Mizoram is uniformly hilly; meaning, inclines everywhere; meaning, steep steps to navigate between one cabin and another. Meaning, not a single room did we enter without panting and sweating. And so we gasped to Col Sharma (officer General Staff, a dear man known throughout as GS), to be vetted before meeting the commandant. Oooh and what a specimen of dignity he turned out to be! We simply stared at this gracefully graying Sardar while we got a briefing on... GEOGRAPHY. Honest! With a map and laser indicator! We now know that primary jungles are the untouched ones, secondary are cut-and-grown, with thicker undergrowth; what alluvial soil is; what the composition of the terrain of Nagaland is; the climate of Mizoram (humidity 90 per cent, rains 8 months); the uses of bamboo; the flora, fauna, etc, etc. Oh gawwd, we were back in school... Our eyes were just glazing over, and the brigadier said: "If the soldier does not know all this, how can he live off the land? There's now a change in the psyche of the terrorist -- he has become lazy; he prefers to be near townships. But he always retreats to the jungles, and we must know how to tackle him in his surroundings. Knowledge of the ground, knowing the lay of the land, is a force multiplier." Rambo!! We woke up. Perhaps the last time Indians fought as an army in a jungle was when Sam Manikshaw commanded a Sikh company in the Burma campaign in 1942. Insurgency and demands for secession have existed in NE since the late forties. Our friendly neighbours, China, Bangladesh and Myanmar, added no little fuel to the fire -- nor did our goodly pinkos. All of which necessitates the CIJWS. The charter of the school is to act as a nodal agency ("look up the dictionary," was the curt clarification) for all CI ops in the NE. Courses include language familiarisation in Nagamese, Tangkhul, Assamese, and Manipuri dialects; area-specific history, and theatre-specific training. The school has eleven firing ranges for different scenarios: quick response shooting, urban shooting and pursuit, ambush, jungle lane shooting, chance encounter, mobile firing, etc. But, what does jungle warfare entail, exactly...? To fight and win in the jungle is tough, both physically and mentally: Jungle operations test platoons to their limit since communications are rendered difficult. In 1941, the Japs prepared to capture Singapore with the help of a booklet titled, Read This Alone and You Can Win the War; it became the foundation for what's called TTP: tactics, techniques and procedures. It was, basically, drills and common-sense tips on how to survive in the jungle by studying its characteristics: Dense vegetation with limited visibility; heavy cross compartmentation; streams and rivers; heat and humidity; few roads; numerous tracks. It is in this theatre that students live and train. They have a time of their life when made to run the Mad Mathew Mile in minutes flat, and run it again if they can't -- often suckling leeches during the rains. But were we interested in such huffing and puffing? Not! For no matter how crucial physical fitness is, we are a cerebral personage... We figured, if Nana Patekar was allowed to train in Belgaum as a commando for a film role, we'd be allowed to attend some classes. Our heart was set on Intelligence Collection, Covert Ops, and IED Awareness. Unfortunately, the thumb rule in military CI training is: Trust No One (unless it happens to be someone from Outlook, we suppose). So we made do with shimmying up to certain officers and wringing out we wanted, and thereby expanded other boundaries of our personality, too. It's called unconventional int collection. But did GS need to be so cagey...? Ya. For instance, a lecture on the NSCN(I-M), the most powerful terrorist unit operational in entire NE, would also include an account of its known weaknesses and how they could be exploited. If that info leaked to its members, they'd plug the holes. So yes, it's sticky territory. Similarly, we aren't allowed to even describe the school's collection of defused IEDs since it could give ideas to budding murderers. Suffice to say, The Specialist doesn't seem an unrealistic movie anymore. What with the Internet and hi-tech communications, the nature of even rural insurgency has become very dynamic; the terrorist's modus operandi is changing everyday. Explosives may be concealed in hollow bamboos or may be solar-controlled. The molotov cocktail? We could make it in 10 minutes flat and without visiting a chemist (beware, Dilip!). The task before the army is indeed an onerous one. We were pondering this as we climbed the 43rd step towards lunch and, well, missed the 44th. It was just a 3 feet drop off the concrete, but it was onto a slope and the momentum rolled us till we hit a thorny bush. Our pride, too, came up battered blue -- because it was witnessed by the ishgaadi head of the Courses Wing, Lt Col Harsh K Tiwari of JAK RIF. You see, earlier, it had been love at first word, and that was even before we learnt that the colonel was a commando, an NSG Black Cat, and Sena Medal winner: He had somehow decided that we were a responsible adult -- a novelty for us -- and trusted us with hair-raising tales, and so of course we fell. From the steps, too. But is that all it takes to jive our amour? Rubbish! That night, when we were merry-making in the bar and being ribbed about civilian paunches, we retorted, "Big deal, even Harsh has a paunch." And Col Thakur, the gentlest soldier we've ever met, said, "Tiwari had a cancerous growth in his stomach. He was operated upon 4 times. But he opted to serve in field area." Our Old Monk gauge hit zero... Next morning, we collared the commando. Reply, all interspersed with guffaws: "I didn't know I had it! One day I went to donate blood at the same hospital in which I had my stomach operation, and on the sheet I had to sign, the stupid doctor wrote 'pancreatic sarcoma.' Mujhe Rajesh Khanna ka Anand picture yaad aya. Remember that 'lymphosarcoma of the intestines'? Maine socha, yeh sarcoma kyun likha hai, bhai? Then I found out, they couldn't diagnose where it was and so hadn't told me. With each surgery, they found out more... Bas, main ghar baithh-ke bhi kya karta?" Donate blood, too...??? *That* is the profile of the Indian soldier. Our soldier... http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/feb/21varsha.htm
suraj Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Depression is nothing but a self made term for succumbing to the artificial pressure of life. and you are a fracking doctor, right?? PPl like you really annoy me- still hope you or your close ones never have to deal with something like that
coffee_rules Posted October 9, 2012 Author Posted October 9, 2012 Depression is nothing but a self made term for succumbing to the artificial pressure of life. Are you Tom Cruise or a scientologist? It's mainly harmonal or a chemical imbalance in the brain. It is treatable. It's not a fashionable disease like the way you put it.
ViratTendulkar Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Tomorrow it's World Mental Health Day. And this year's theme is “Depression: A Global Crisis”. Sad! http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_mental_health_day/en/index.html
PaceAttack Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Wow. Why so many comments on G92's post? Looks like lot of people in ICF are depressed.
coffee_rules Posted October 9, 2012 Author Posted October 9, 2012 Wow. Why so many comments on G92's post? Looks like lot of people in ICF are depressed. or know people who are suffering from it.
Crookbond Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 or know people who are suffering from it. or even if they do not appreciate the issues behind depression.
Desi Cartman Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Wow. Why so many comments on G92's post? Looks like lot of people in ICF are depressed. No, but they have common sense
Cricketics Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Asha Bhosle was coming as a judge in this singing show involving people from India and Pakistan. I think she won't be coming anymore. R.I.P. big loss for her.
Trichromatic Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Asha Bhosle was coming as a judge in this singing show involving people from India and Pakistan. I think she won't be coming anymore. R.I.P. big loss for her. I thought she has already done most of the episodes of that show
gaurav92 Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 I am no doctor, and it was just my opinion. People should not get depressed about anything. This term is often overused for small challenges that life posts on people. The mental toughness of a person is often tested by consequences and one who is not strong enough to face it should not get depressed but make himself strong enough to believe that the circumstances can be turned in one's favour soon, just gotta get past these nervy times and think about the positives coming their way ahead. A schoolboy feels depressed about studies - BULLSHIT A lover boy thinks its all over once he gets dumped by her girlfriend - BULLSHIT These things makes me wonder - What the **** is wrong with some people? How easy is life? If its not that easy to livem its definitely not that easy to lose in a nothing cause.
Trichromatic Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 I am no doctor' date=' and it was just my opinion. [b']People should not get depressed about anything. This term is often overused for small challenges that life posts on people. The mental toughness of a person is often tested by consequences and one who is not strong enough to face it should not get depressed but make himself strong enough to believe that the circumstances can be turned in one's favour soon, just gotta get past these nervy times and think about the positives coming their way ahead. A schoolboy feels depressed about studies - BULLSHIT A lover boy thinks its all over once he gets dumped by her girlfriend - BULLSHIT These things makes me wonder - What the **** is wrong with some people? How easy is life? If its not that easy to livem its definitely not that easy to lose in a nothing cause. :WTF:
Desi Cartman Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 I am no doctor, and it was just my opinion. People should not get depressed about anything. This term is often overused for small challenges that life posts on people. The mental toughness of a person is often tested by consequences and one who is not strong enough to face it should not get depressed but make himself strong enough to believe that the circumstances can be turned in one's favour soon, just gotta get past these nervy times and think about the positives coming their way ahead. A schoolboy feels depressed about studies - BULLSHIT A lover boy thinks its all over once he gets dumped by her girlfriend - BULLSHIT These things makes me wonder - What the **** is wrong with some people? How easy is life? If its not that easy to livem its definitely not that easy to lose in a nothing cause. I suggest you google depression causes and read about it instead of posting what you "think". Millions of people suffer from it and there can be many causes for it, from change in circumstances to shock to NOTHING AT ALL, yes it can happen without anything changing in anyone's life. It can be purely a chemical problem in the brain. For instance, I had it when I was having the best time in my career, my salary was going up, career was looking great, I had no pressure and yes I did have a GF. So what caused it ? I asked the doctor and he said its just chemical changes in your brain. I couldn't sleep for 2 years and sometimes I still can't, I wanted to kill myself, my body used to hurt so bad that I couldn't get out of bed half the days. So if you think it is caused by not being mentally strong or struggling or any of those, then the answer is not necessarily. So have some respect for millions of people who suffer and fight every night with their brain as it tells them to get up and plan suicide. It's not easy and no fault of patients. In fact patients of depression are more brave than aam janta as aam janta doesn't have to fight their brain everyday. Every day is a battle that they win but not always. You see a weak person who killed herself and I see a brave person who fought for so many years.
yoda Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 I am no doctor, and it was just my opinion. People should not get depressed about anything. This term is often overused for small challenges that life posts on people. The mental toughness of a person is often tested by consequences and one who is not strong enough to face it should not get depressed but make himself strong enough to believe that the circumstances can be turned in one's favour soon, just gotta get past these nervy times and think about the positives coming their way ahead. A schoolboy feels depressed about studies - BULLSHIT A lover boy thinks its all over once he gets dumped by her girlfriend - BULLSHIT These things makes me wonder - What the **** is wrong with some people? How easy is life? If its not that easy to livem its definitely not that easy to lose in a nothing cause. Dude, there is a term called clinical depression. It results from chemical imbalance in the brain. It is different from the trivial cases you have listed here. Those who suffer from clinical depression go to a medical professional, typically a psychiatrist, to get treated. There are proven meds which help these patients. So, it is a medical condition.
Crookbond Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 I am no doctor, and it was just my opinion. People should not get depressed about anything. This term is often overused for small challenges that life posts on people. The mental toughness of a person is often tested by consequences and one who is not strong enough to face it should not get depressed but make himself strong enough to believe that the circumstances can be turned in one's favour soon, just gotta get past these nervy times and think about the positives coming their way ahead. A schoolboy feels depressed about studies - BULLSHIT A lover boy thinks its all over once he gets dumped by her girlfriend - BULLSHIT These things makes me wonder - What the **** is wrong with some people? How easy is life? If its not that easy to livem its definitely not that easy to lose in a nothing cause. :facepalm:
Yoda-esque Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 I am no doctor, and it was just my opinion. People should not get depressed about anything. This term is often overused for small challenges that life posts on people. The mental toughness of a person is often tested by consequences and one who is not strong enough to face it should not get depressed but make himself strong enough to believe that the circumstances can be turned in one's favour soon, just gotta get past these nervy times and think about the positives coming their way ahead. A schoolboy feels depressed about studies - BULLSHIT A lover boy thinks its all over once he gets dumped by her girlfriend - BULLSHIT These things makes me wonder - What the **** is wrong with some people? How easy is life? If its not that easy to livem its definitely not that easy to lose in a nothing cause. Its all good.Sometimes Ignorance is Bliss.
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