-- A Tribute : By Ranjan Mathews

ETERNAL RAINBOW

Somewhere at the end of a Rainbow

Eternal lovers walk free, without any woe,

DIANA who dared the Crown, still Lives

And DODI who cared but couldn't, survives.

His name proclaimed her's as his DI

But Death recalled both, to die !

Hounded by paparazzi, down Death's tunnel dark

Mocking Life's pranksters, they left their mark !

Mounds of flowers may console all, almost

But bleeding hearts always grieve, those lost,

Something for LOVE they dared to give

In our hearts they'll always LIVE !

Million stars in the sky shine brightly

A million more keep praying, s-i-g-h-i-n-g lightly.

(This poem dedicated to Dodi and Diana was sent to Mohammed Al Fayed

at Harrods, Knightsbridge in August, 1999, and was duly acknowledged by

Liisa Leivo, Chairman's Office. A few words have been modified. Remembering

The Tragedy and Her Death Anniversary which is approaching ..)

by Ranjan Mathews

India has plenty of it's own dragons -- Poverty, Religious Fanaticism, Intolerance of other Caste and Illiteracy. We still have people burning others because they happen to belong to another Religion or Caste ! -- thats a plain reflection of truth and illiteracy. On the other hand neighbours like China, Pakistan and Bangladesh are always fomenting trouble when not nibbling at India's Sovereign Territory. The Red Dragon that wagged it's tail with impunity and a sense of Superiority Complex in Beijing comes a poor cropper when it comes to swallowing vast Indian Territory in the North East Frontier Province during the 1962 war of aggression after successful swallowing of Lhasa and Tibet. Now the Red Chinese Dragon is once again trying it's old tricks in India's Arunachal Pradesh and now, Sikkim !? They are too Greedy a Nation, maybe they cannot forget the pre-Mao days of Hunger and Poverty. Its a pity that such an Ancient Civilisation has succumbed to Modern day adventurism for sadistic subjugation of peace-loving neighbours. Any country that can trample peace-loving Budhists of Tibet are a Blot on Civilisation. Again, Pakistan and Terrorism are synonymous with Religious Fanaticism and Military Adventurism. Already they have gobbled up huge chunks of Kashmir province just when India gained Independence in 1947, and gifted Gilgit to the Chinese for an Air Base ! They are cunning insurgents and are constantly infiltrating Indian territory, fomenting trouble in Kashmir with fake Indian Currency Notes and false promises. If the Kashmiris are so keen to go to Pakistan let us give them a Free Passage like now Pakistan is going to give free passage to it's ex-Military Dictator, Pervez Musharraf. Let them go and have a ball in Pakistan where Democracy never had a free run. Nearer home there are the Bangladeshis whom we enabled to get Freedom from their Urdu-speaking Pakistani Masters who had let lose Rape and Genocide in 1970-71. First we bore the burden of Billions of Bangladeshi refugees, liberated Bangladesh in the 1971 war and gave them their Sonar Bangla only to be bitten back. They are unhappy with their own kind of poverty and are continuously infiltrating into India in hordes, enjoying Indian hospitality and becoming turncoat-terrorists. When not smuggling fake currency into the country they are smuggling out cows, salt and foodgrains into Bangladesh. Naturally, the Next Generation has to gear themselves up to the New Challenges facing them, from marauding neighbours instead of wallowing in a sense of Superiority with Marketing Malls and the backpack IT-bratkids making up the false peace scenario. Trouble may erupt anytime from all sides, There is no point in running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. The Enemy has to be identified -- we see it in the Industrialisation Gurus, in the Anti-industrialisation Mamatas, in the CITU and State-sponsored Bandhs, in the hire and fire policies of neo-Globalists, in the poverty-ridden illiterate Dalits and in the neo-rich superbrats. Come on, its high time we viewed matters in its proper perspective and find lasting solutions for A Change !

Yours Truly -- 29 Years After

Welcome Hagar The Horrible ! --28 years after, surviving 2 Heart Attacks and One Open Heart Surgery

two years back. 48-years gruelling Physical Exercise Regimen now limited to only to Reiki, occasional Yoga --

Pranayam and long and winding walks alone, duration 40 to 60 mins. Chest has big running scar down the

middle, another 3-ft scar on the left leg right upto a quarter of the thigh, from where saphenous vein was taken

for the 2 Coronary Bypass Grafts. The surgery took about 7-hours and pre-operation Hospitalisation and post-

operation Hospitalisation took 9-days. Earlier, I had spent another 6 to 8 days in another Hospital following the

Attack, in the Intensive Cardiac Coronary Unit, undergoing stabilisation treatment and Angiography -- there

were 2 major 100 % blocks and one minor 70 %. The long vein took care of all the three blocks with the two

Bypass Grafts linking up. Thank God, thanks to Dr. Kunal Sarkar and his Team of Cardio-Surgeons, and

Operation Theatre Nurses, I've got a New Lease of Life. My Poem "Mime Encore" (already in Blog) reflects

The Extra Time Loaned to me by God Almighty. And Life goes on ....

After a gap of 17-days I got back a replacement keyboard, and so I am back to my Key Board Kingdom, ready to turn out blogs. Typing with the Mouse on the On Screen Key Board is real tricky -- no wonder I missed typing the "r" in "years" in the last blog. The next blog will showcase a recent picture of yours truly, " 29-Years After", meaning Now. How Time Flies, when even Glaciers melt at the Poles we men can simply evaporate with time. Rivers have changed course, Islands have surfaced in Oceans, Dormant volcanoes have burst into Flames spewing lava and magma. Against all these Natural Forces spearheaded by Time, we humans are puny dreams in someone's Imagination : surfacing like a bubble only to burst with a plop !

by Ranjan Mathews

Kony my cat died on 2nd August, either bitten by a snake or mauled by streetdogs. She was the last of several streetcats, given refuge in the house. She was born on 26th July 2007, and was a most adorable and cuddly soft toy of a cat if ever there was one. I miss you Kony.

by Ranjan Mathews

This is not a scientific treatise on Medicinal Plants but a discussion on Medicinal Plants inside our house and around our house. Let me start with the miraculous of them all -- the Aparajita (Sankhupushpam in Kerala). It comes in Blue Indigo and a Creamy White colour (Flowers). Its a creeper that keeps growing. The indigo ones got so wild, I uprooted all and threw them out. Now the vacant plot beside our house is an Aparajita field ! One white shrub I'm having inside the house. The roots are supposed to cure Fevers that never subside, women's gynae problems and inflammation of liver. Tying a root around the waist is supposed to facilitate a normal delivery where a caesarean is otherwise implied! Tulsi or Holy Basil grows till the seeds dry up in an Afro Hair-do type and wither away only to sprout up again ! Ocimnum Sanc the Homoeo medicine is an extract of Tulsi. Having a Tulsi in one's house creates the correct vibrations/ aura. Chewing its leaves helps as a mouth freshener and clears a sore throat if taken with honey. The Guava's leaves are good for tightening gums, in fact any gum trouble : just boil a few leaves in water and gargle when warm. The Indian Jamun (Blackberry) is the base for many an anti-diabetic medicine including Homoeo medicine Syzigium. While the fruit is a blood purifier the seeds -- dried and powdered reduces blood-sugar. There is a wild creeper that simply spreads, it has spade shaped crinkly-edged leaves. Vegetable and fruit-sellers use this as a packing material in their baskets. However, the leaves are antiseptic and stops blood from oozing in minor cuts. The Neem or Margosa has a multi-utility value -- its bark, leaves and roots are of immense medicinal value. Chewing a a few leaves will keep diseases at bay. Taking a bath in water sprinkled with Neem leaves is good for the skin. The Neem twigs double up as a toothbrush for villagers. Neem toothpaste is a popular brand of toothpaste while Margo Soap is a reputed brand, utilising Neem oil.The Babool or Kikar, an acacia type plant grows wild outside my house. It's thorns are used to pierce ears for ear-rings, while the skin and bark are used for making tooth powder. Babool Toothpaste uses the bark of this tree, as basic ingredient. More next time around.

-- Ranjan Mathews

Bande Mataram ! -- is the Sanskrit salutation for Hail Mother or Motherland ! It is a National Song penned by Bankim Chatterjee. The "Jana Gana Mana" is the National Anthem written by Rabindranath Tagore, set to tune in a Marching Beat. The other day it was Parliamentary Democracy glorified when Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, rose up to signal conclusion of a hectic Trust Vote motion, initiating playing of the Bande Mataram. Parliamentary Democracy is forging ahead despite attempts by non-believers of the Indian Constitution like the Communists and few other contradictory elements who sided with them in the Trust Vote No Confidence Motion on 22nd July, 2008. Democracy has survived several challenges over the years therefore the scene enacted by three BJP Members of Parliament was a theatrical absurdity -- displaying wads of Currency Notes (Rs. 3-Crores) purported to have been given to them as a BRIBE and enticement to cross-vote!? If these three paragons of virtue (one was earlier indicted in a Sting Operation by a TV-channel, taking bribes) meant business, then they should've made a FIR with local police and followed it up with a disclosure in Parliament. No doubt it was stage-managed. Imagine the situation if these gentlemen were bribed with 365-prostitutes (one for every day), would they've paraded them on the floor of the House ?

Thanks anyway to the Speaker who upheld the dignity of the House all through despite the Sword of Communist Theoreticians hanging over his Head. They always keep forgetting that Communism no longer exists in the country of its origin and has survived only in little Cuba. Without any Armed struggle or Revolution these dhoti-clad communists mouth rhetoric, enjoying the luxury of Parliamentary Democracy. Even the true-yellow Chinese Communism has taken a turn towards the bounties of Capitalism albeit nibbling territorial ambitions over neighbouring sovereign nations. Its high time Indian Communists rolled up their dhotis -- a symbol of pseudo-saratorial bonding to workers and farmers, giving Closed Fist salutes at the drop of a hat, and for a change study the nuances of the Indian Constitution instead of shouting themselves hoarse about what Karl Marx wrote in Germany and Lenin and Stalin perpetrated in USSR. Come on guys, Be Indian : Think Indian : Act Indian. No harm in adapting foreign technology and management practices to improve Indian Industry, Agriculture and Scientific Innovations. And dear Communists and BJP-bedfellows, the Nuclear Agreement opens up a vast avenue for alternative fuel and in turn PROGRESS ! Don't sulk, join the mainstream. Green Salaam !

by An Unknown Doctor

Ms. Louane Cole Weston, PhD, Sex Therapist while describing the increased libido of Senior Men and Women, describes a Wall Chart found in the Chamber of a 50-plus Doctor. It goes like this :-

At age 4 Success is Not peeing in your pants.

At age 12 Success is having friends.

At age 16 Success is having a Driving Licence.

At age 20 Success is having Sex.

At age 35 Success is having Money.

At age 50 Success is having Money.

At age 60 Success is having Sex.

At age 70 Success is having a Driver's Licence.

At age 75 Success is having Friends.

At age 80 Success is Not peeing in your pants !

by Ranjan Mathews

I do not like snakes. However, I like to observe them in their natural habitat. If anything moves, I immediately spot it. Even while passing in a train, over a railway-bridge, I can spot any slithery movement, be it in a river, pond or boulder. Up to Class-3 of my schooling, was in Kerala and you bet there have been many encounters with snakes. In most of these encounters the snakes have surprised me. Let me start with the most horrifying incident. It must've been my last year in Kerala and Prasad, my cousin had joind school. We normally took the same route, through valley-like pathways, between two plots of elevated land. We had to pass through an "Illam" and "Madom", big houses occupied by fair Brahmins, who even had a snake shrine in their plot. The path had several "panal" plants. The leaves had a pungent mango like smell. School-kids rubbed it on their hands or kept it in their pocket to avoid getting "curses" and beatings in school ! The fruit, when ripe had a funny taste. Just when we were about to pluck a leaf or fruit, two snakes slid out from a hole in the earthen wall. Surprised we stepped back and to play big brother hero I threw a stone at it. Both raised their hoods and we ran off. In the evening we returned through another route, more out of adventure than to avoid those cobras which were all but forgotten. Next day my cousin didn't come, being sick. I went along with another group on a different route. However, in the evening while returning along the old route I had the shock of my life. Two cobras with hoods raised darted out of the old spot, hissing ! I screamed and ran -- the path was a jig-jag one. I must've run 50-yards when one of my aunties asked me why I was running and shrieking. I said two snakes are chasing me and ran on although she assured me there were no snakes.

Playing hide and seek in Calcutta, it was class-5, and I was new to the area (Dhakuria). Opposite our house there were two vacant plots. One had a construction upto plinth level and we used to run over these. There was a hut like structure nearby where the guard must've been staying during the earlier part of the construction. Apparently it was abandoned now. I went to hide in this shack. No sooner had I stepped on to a soled brick than it turned turtle. A brown snake, 1-1/2 ft. long came from underneath and bit above my left big toe ! It hung on, in a reflex action I kicked and it went hurtling along, revealing a white underbelly. Two spots of blood oozed from the bite.I came out without hiding. A friend asked me what happened. I said a snake has bitten me. They were shocked and reacted in different ways.Luckily my mother came early from office that evening. After tying a tourinquet, I was rushed to hospital. No,it was not poisonous. After 48-hours I took a voluntary discharge. The wound however, took over three months to heal !

In the present house where we are staying for last 15-years, I must've killed over 80-snakes, most of them mildly poisonous. Because of vacant plots on either side of my house and a lake behind, I have these snakes clambering over walls, sometimes even entering inside the house. If they are outside the house, I try chasing them off, but inside I am left with no choice, but to kill. The big rat-snakes are left alone as they are supposed to eat poisonous snakes. I have sighted mongooses around the house once or twice. More about animals and birds found around my house at another time.