EXPERIENCES IN MY LIFE--SHOOTOUT AT BHIND.

 

My posting at SBI Bhind Branch as Manager Personal Banking had been fairly long (a full 4 years from Aug 1991 to Jul 1995) and it has given me varied experiences. That is the longest duration I worked at any single place in the Bank. I am writing down my experiences in various places at random and in the process wrote this small narration. One can see that it is interesting as the experience is somewhat different from what we tend to have in life. 

Bhind town is the headquarters of Bhind district and had a population of 110,000 as per 1991 census. However I have seen that currently the population of Bhind is over 2 lacs.

Bhind branch had about 30 staff in all, of which about 10 in my division. While the Personal Banking Division which I headed and the Cash Department were downstairs, the Agriculture Banking Division headed by Shuvinder Hemraj who was one batch senior to me was upstairs.

That was my first assignment as the Manager of a Division. It was a big division and we had 120 savings ledgers in all. 2500 pensioners and 600 school teachers drew their pensions and salaries each month from there. The division always had a big rush all the time. All the transactions were manual at that time and people had to be personally present at the branch to withdraw the money as no ATM’s were there. To top it everything was manual excluding the lists of pensioners which we got done from outside.

Ours is the only commercial bank branch at Bhind apart from State Bank of Indore and probably Central Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

The very first impression I had of Bhind is that so many people carried guns which are licensed. There are so many guns everywhere. I found that some people carried guns even while travelling on a bicycle. Bhind and the surrounding areas had many Thakurs, and for them to possess a gun is symbol of prestige. There were so many tractors as well because that was also looked as a symbol of prestige by the people. At that time, I have never seen that many tractors anywhere else in MP or for that matter in any other state which I had visited except for Punjab. Our branch alone has financed over 200 tractors and that was in 1991.

I want to give you an idea of the area. Once, the belt of Morena, Bhind, Etawa  and Mainpuri was famous for dacoits. Since the British times dacoits abounded the Chambal. Although it was said that feudal mindset and exploitation led to dacoity, there is no proof for this, as most of the dacoit gangs have come from a higher caste backgrounds who were economically well off. One of the famous dacoits of the Chambal area is Gabbar Singh on whom the film Sholay was made. Gabbar Singh had the odious the distinction of cutting away the noses on 113 people. Another famous dacoit Malkhan Singh surrendered at Bhind in 1982. Then Phoolan Devi and Man Singh surrendered at Bhind in 1983.           

Bhind district then had 29000 licensed weapons, and the adjoining district of Morena 21000, when the number of licensed guns in the entire Bihar state is only 50000 and AP only 28000. Both Bhind and Morena are the heart of Chambal Valley and part of the Chambal dacoit belt. The nearby Chambal ravines had many dacoits once. The ravines started immediately after Bhind and Chambal river was just 14 Km from Bhind and if one crosses that one enters into Etawah district ( Etawa is Mulayam Singh Yadav’s hometown) from UP which is about 38 km from Bhind.

The ASP of Bhind Sushovan Banerjee (He retired in 2023 as one of the Additional Director Generals of Police for MP) was my customer.  He told me that Bhind district had big dacoit gangs at the time of Phoolan Devi and earllier, and the police were no match for them at that time because the gangs were equipped with automatic weapons (Phoolan Devi Carried a Mauser gun)  and had many members while the Police carried 303 rifles. He also told me that all the big dacoit gangs have been eliminated now and only small gangs of 4-5 people operate and they were no match to the police.

I asked him as to how he finds his job. His remark was the IPS label appears glamorous but only the insiders knew what their position is. Probably there are lots of internal pressures which the public would not be aware of. He told me that the posting at Bhind was good for his career. I asked him how that is so, and he tells me that he has encountered 17 dacoits and that has gone into his service record. Haha some service record that.

The branch was then headed by Chief Manager Mr T.C.Jain who was a Trainee Officer of 1978 batch. He was lame in one leg and walked with a stoop. The Manager Agricultural Banking Division was Shuvinder Hemraj who was a Probationer of 1981 batch which is one batch senior to me. I did not know Hemraj prior to that  Branch and got introduced to him there. Nirmal Singh who was a 1980 batch probationer was a Deputy Manager to Hemraj. The accountant for the branch was S.K.Gurnani.

Since I was posted at Bhind for a long duration of 4 years, a lot of incidents happened. Maybe I cannot remember all of them now because it is too distant in the past, but there are some which are simply unforgettable and I will narrate one of them now.

The very first incident that comes to mind is that of a shootout because that is something absolutely out of ordinary for us South Indians. As already narrated earlier, when we initially came to Bhind there was no hotel where a family can go and have lunch or dinner.

Bhind was a district headquarters but it lacked such facilities. Also because of its aggressive culture perhaps people thought such a hotel would not be able to run properly. After about 1 year after our arrival at Bhind, one guy called Amar Singh Bhadoria who owned a Gymnasium at Bhind, and had many sishyas set up such a Restaurant named “Mayura”. His elder brother was also the Sub Registrar at some place in MP and he comes from an influential Thakur family.

So me and my wife had an opportunity to go and have lunch and dinner there now and then. We were too happy about it and utilized the services of the hotel often. Whenever we visited the hotel, Amar Singh Bhadoria cordially welcomed us and it went on like that for about a year. The hotel is quite near to my place and is approached by a side road branching off from the main road to the left.

One day in the morning I came to know that a shooting incident took place at “Mayura” and a young waiter aged about 19 brought in by Amar Singh from Gwalior was shot dead. I was shocked and immediately visited his hotel in order to enquire about the happening.

Since a murder has taken place there the previous day, I thought that there would be police present there. But the scene that presented itself to me was simply stunning. Till that time I saw such scenes only in the movies. Not a single policeman was present at the site, but I found about 20 men holding guns with their shoulders adorned with flashing cartridge belts. Most of them were tall with beards and looked sinister and were like soldiers ready for war.

It was a sight straight out of a Western movie. Amar Singh is nowhere to be seen. The scene shook me and I did not know who those men were, or why they were there. Since I arrived there I had no choice, so I just went to one of the guys and told him that I wanted to meet Amar Singh. That guy went in, and out came Amar Singh to my relief. I asked him as to what was the matter. Amar Singh blurted out “ Saab ladayi hogaya tha. Par jobhi ho, ye hotel to kisi bhi halat me chalega hi aur band nahi hogi” then he said “ Jo hua acha hua, sala dubara is raste se gujar nahi payega”. Probably he assumed that I knew everything about the incident. I did not want to press him any further in that condition, agreed with him and left the place.

Later that day in the Bank I came to know what has actually happened. This incident requires a background to understand it. Behind it was a notorious goonda named Pappu Sharma. This guy used to collect hafta from the shops as they show in movies. Once he was caught by the police and was produced in the court. While the judge was trying his case, he jumped out of the witness box, beat up the judge and ran away. He was caught thereafter and was jailed, but another judge granted him bail. That guy used to roam around with his chelas in Bhind collecting hafta.

Amar Singh was very strict about not allowing liquor in his hotel because he meant that the hotel should be used by families along with other citizens. That day at about 9.30 PM the hotel was about to be closed when Pappu Sharma arrived with 4 other guys. Since Amar Singh knew (Of course all locals of Bhind knew him) who Pappu Sharma was he let the hotel remain open and got them served.

However, after sometime some difference came up between Pappu Sharma and Amar Singh. What exactly it was no one knows, but it was highly likely that it is regarding consumption of liquor in the hotel. In the altercation that followed Pappu Sharma exclaimed “Tumhara hotel kaise chalega dekhloonga”. Now Rajput guys are short tempered and take offence easily, and in the process they act first and think later. Amar Singh took it as a challenge to himself and said “Theek hai dekhlenge”. Pappu Sharma then left the place in a foul mood.

Amar Singh knew that he would come back with more men and arms. He stationed 2 of his men on the terrace of the hotel with guns and stationed another 2 men inside the hotel again with guns.

As expected Pappu Sharma reappeared in about 30 minutes with about a dozen guys with half of them armed. Pappu Sharmas group knew that Amar Singh is also a powerful guy in the area and his gymnasium had many students in Bhind. So Pappu Sharma’s group was trying to negotiate for a truce.

However, as the group is uncoordinated, a guy from the back shouted some abuse and the firing started. About 20 rounds of fire was exchanged. Amar Singh’s men were firing under cover while Pappu Sharma’s men were on the road exposed. After the exchange Pappu Sharma himself got injured as buckshot hit him on the forearm and his skin right up till his forearm joint was ripped open. He and his men finally ran away leaving their chappals and also some scooters. After the shootout was over, Amar Singh’s men found a waiter aged 19 lying dead on the floor of the hotel. That guy was brought in by Amar Singh from Gwalior just a few months back. The waiter became too inquisitive at the time when the gunfight was going on ad opened the door slightly to see what was happening. He was caught in the crossfire and died but no one noticed that till the fight was over. After the fight was over and Pappu Sharmas men fled, Amar Singhs men found the body of waiter lying dead.

The men I found next morning were stationed there by Amar Singh just in case, if by any chance Pappu Sharma mounts another attack on the hotel during daytime.

Amar Singh continued to run the hotel. Now, which family would visit a hotel where a murder has taken place? On top of that he had a doorman with a semi automatic rifle slung on his shoulder and the cashier had another semi automatic lest the hotel gets attacked again. The hotel then looked right out of a western movie or perhaps even worse because in western movies there are no doormen holding guns.

Now, I relate another incident that happened earlier to this but is linked to it. Since Bhind had no other means of recreation myself, Hemraj, Nirmal Singh and Dr Jain (Banks authorised Doctor)  used to meet at each ones residence every Saturday and had dinner. That Saturday the dinner was supposed to be at Dr Jain’s residence. By the time I reached the Doctors place Hemraj and his wife have already reached there but not Nirmal Singh. I could see that the Doctor and his wife’s face were ashen and they were unable to speak anything. I then asked Hemraj as to what the matter was. He told me that some time before that Pappu Sharma and his chelas arrived at the Doctors place and threatened him of dire consequences if he does not take one nurse which the Doctor removed some time back. Pappu Sharma told the Doctor neither you nor your nursing home would exist if you do not take that nurse back and I will throw you and all your equipment on to the road.

The story was, previous to that there was a nurse working for the Doctor whom he removed because she was incompetent. That time the doctor just had a clinic. Later he borrowed some money from the bank and set up a small nursing home. Now that nurse wanted to come back but the Doctor was just not willing. Now that nurse knew Pappu Sharma and so she sought his help and Pappu Sharma’s arrival at the Doctors house was a consequence of that.

I told the Doctor, are Jain sab what is there in that, you just make a complaint to the police. I still remember his reply very clearly. He said “Are sab woh to hum ko road par marega”. He felt he had no choice and with great reluctance he finally took the nurse back.

Now when this shootout occurred and Pappu Sharma got hurt and ran away Dr Jain was the most happiest of all in Bhind. Since Pappu Sharma lost face after the incident and cannot possibly threaten him again, so he removed that Nurse from the job after the incident.   

But it is amazing to see in that town that none can remain safe and anyone can be threatened. Luckily, we lived in a place called Bhuta Kothi which had a huge compound around which a number of houses were located all owned by the Bhutas. They were tenanted by a number of people apart from the Bhutas who stayed there. We tenanted the ground floor of the main Kothi which had about 2 large bedrooms and 2 other rooms plus the drawing room. It is large in area but had no ventilation at all. Although there were windows at the front the windows at the back opened on to a narrow dingy alley which had drainage sewers. So the back windows although present could be opened at all and therefore the house has no chance for cross ventilation. The open area in front of the house was however, excellent. It was cemented and had a badminton court right in front of our house. I played badminton for many a day with the 2 young Bhutas and others.

There is one thing I liked about the people of Bhind. They are as straight as an arrow. If they did not like you they would tell you on your face. Scheming rarely happens among them. Of course like everywhere there would always be some exceptions there too.

The bank has given me a number of different type of experiences that added to the thrill of life and this incident is just but one of them.  

EMERGENCY- A TERRIBLE BLOT ON DEMOCRACY IN INDIA.

 

Emergency was a blow to India as it had the capacity to destroy the Country and let loose anarchy with a strong dictatorship at the top that was totally bereft of any ideas. 

It was the blackest period for Indian Democracy and lasted from 25th June 1975 to 21st March 1977, a period of 22 months during which time India perched precariously on the verge of chaos and dictatorship. 

Most unfortunately, today’s youth do not know anything at all about it, as it transpired some 48 years ago. How did it come about and what are the factors that triggered it? What are its repercussions? 

A little preamble needed to be known in order to understand it. In the 1950’s, Indira Gandhi unofficially served her father as a Personal assistant. 

Later, Indira Gandhi became the Congress President in the year 1959 and served for 1 year when she was just 42 years old. 

During her tenure as the Congress President, she was instrumental in getting the Kerala government dismissed. Clearly that position would not have been possible without Nehru’s backing. 

Thereafter she was made the Minister for Information & Broadcasting in Lalbahadur Sastri’s cabinet between June 1964 & January 1966. 

When Sastri died of a heart attack in Tashkent in 1965, the Seniormost Congressman then available was Morarji Desai who promptly announced his candidature for the PM’s position.  

The Congress President then was Kamaraj Nadar. There were also 4 regional party bosses who were powerful and controlled the Congress cadres in their areas. 

They are Neelam Sanjeevareddy of Andhra Pradesh, S. Nijalingappa of Karnataka, Atulya Ghosh of Bengal and S.K.Patil of Maharashtra. 

Congress was then still a Democratic organization and a person has to be elected by the party in the Loaksabha if he/she were to become the Prime Minister. 

Kamaraj Nadar along with the other 4 party bosses was known as the Syndicate as they exercised immense power over the Congress Organisation. 

Morarji Desai was a no no for the Syndicate, because he was seen as rigid and inflexible and was totally immune to their influence. Thus Kamaraj favoured Indira Gandhi who was seen by them as soft and pliable. 

With this in mind, Kamaraj first got the name of Indira Gandhi nominated by 12 Congress CM’s out of 14 and with that, her being elected the PM candidate by the Loksabha became a mere formality, yet Morarji Desai insisted on a context and lost with 169 votes to Indira Gandhi’s 355. 

The Indira Gandhi government faced the largest problem in the Economy. 

Sastri era did terribly on the GDP. The economy registered a negative growth rate during his tenure; a -2.64% in 1964-65 & a -0.06% in 1965-66. 

For those years the inflation was 9.5% & 10.80% respectively. So the economic condition of the people was terrible. 

In comparison the last FY of the Nehru era 1963-64 registered a GDP growth of 7.45% and the inflation was at 13.4%. 

Indira’s first year as PM was pretty good for the GDP and it registered a 7.8% increase during 1966-67 but the inflation was at 13.1%. Thereafter the GDP growth rate fizzled out. 

Till 1977, 3 years under her were pretty bad registering a mere 1.64% in 1970-71, 1.19% in 1973-74 & 1.6% in 1975-76, not to mention the negative growth of -2.2% during 1971-72 on account of the Bangladesh war. 

In the 11 years between 1966-67 to 1976-77 Indira averaged 4.1% on the GDP but a high 7.5% on inflation. Ultimately it was this miserable growth rates that led to the discontent among the people and the Emergency. Her biggest debacle on the economy was in 1973-74 when the GDP growth was a mere 1.2% while the inflation roared over 28%....clearly the position of the people was terrible....

The Allahabad High Court judgment was merely the precipitating factor and not the cause itself. 

It was an irony that the slogan for the 1971 elections by Indira Gandhi was Garibi Hatao. 

This slogan, along with nationalisation of Banks & Abolition of Privy purses indicated to the poor that she wanted to help the poor. 

Congress got a huge majority of 352 seats out of 518 in those elections. That was over a two thirds majority. But, it was that very election that later led to her downfall because let alone removing Garibi, she managed to make things worse for them. 

Between 1971 and 1974 in the 3 years the GDP only logged an average yearly growth of a mere 0.73% while the inflation averaged over 17%. The year 1974 itself brought in an inflation rate of over 28% which was crushing. 

A feeling of hope soon gave way to despair and despondence. Little wonder there was unrest in the country which was quickly exploited by the opposition. 

Indira Gandhi failed most miserably on the economic front after winning such a massive mandate. 

How did the precipitating Allahabad High court Judgment affect Indira Gandhi and the nation?

In the 1971 Loksabha elections Raj Narayan contested as the candidate for the Samyukta Socialist party and managed to poll only 71,499 votes against Indira Gandhi who won 183, 369 votes getting 64.4% of the vote share. 

Later Raj Narayan filed a petition against Indira Gandhi in the Allahabad High Court, alleging electoral malpractices like using Government employees as election agents, and organising campaigns by them in the constituency while being Government employees. He also accused her of corruption. 

Indira Gandhi was represented by Nani Palkhiwala while Raj Narayan was represented by Shanti Bhushan. Palkhiwala later resigned as Indira Gandhi’s lawyer in protest when Emergency was promulgated by her.  Palkhiwala was later appointed as an Ambassador to the USA by the Janata Government. 

On 12th June 1975 Justice Jagmohan Sinha pronounced a verdict against Indira Gandhi. He found her guilty of the charges excluding corruption and declared the 1971 election to the Rae Bareilly MP seat as null and void. 

He also banned Indira Gandhi from holding any elected office for 6 years. 

This is a most unjust judgment because in that constituency Indira Gandhi got almost 65% vote share while Raj Narayan only got 25%. 

Employees may well have been used but he had no right to judge the result as null and void based on that alone. At the most he could have penalized the officials if any specific people are named and chastised and rebuked Indira Gandhi. Declaring the election null and void on account of that is nonsense. 

Prior to that in late 1973 and early 1974 there was public unrest simmering in the country obviously because of the messed up economy when the GDP growth averaged less than 1% in 3 years but inflation galloped at a hefty 17%. Little wonder the country was on the boil. 

There was a student agitation in Gujarat against the state education minister after which the central Government was forced to dismiss the state Government and dissolve the legislature. 

There were also assassination attempts on public leaders in which Lalit Narain Mishra the Railway minister was killed. 

Then in March-April 1974 began the student agitation in Bihar by the Bihar Chatra Sangharsh Samiti which was supported by Jayaprakash Narayan. JP called for a total revolution. 

A month later the Railway Union went on strike led by George Fernandez. The strike was brutally suppressed by the government which arrested thousands of employees and drove their families out of the quarters.  

With all this discontent simmering, out came the verdict of Jagmohan Sinha and it exploded like dynamite on Indira Gandhi. 

Indira Gandhi appealed to the Supreme Court on the issue but Justice VR Krishna Iyer upheld the judgment of the High Court. He also ordered that all the privileges she was receiving as an MP be stopped. 

However she was allowed to continue as PM pending decision on her appeal.   

On 25th June 1975, the next day after Krishna Iyer's decision JP called for a huge rally at Delhi where he indicated that Policemen should disobey the orders of the Government and act as per their conscience. 

On the same day Indira approached the pliant President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and got the proclamation of the Emergency signed.

Within 3 hours electricity to all the newspapers was cut and the political opposition was arrested. The decision was sent to the cabinet only next morning and they quietly fell in line. 

The Emergency came about because of the utter incompetency of Indira Gandhi to take proper economic decisions which threw the economy into a downward spin. 

Clearly not a single ordinary person would be satisfied with a less than 1% growth rate and 17% inflation. Any government that brought it in has to face the music and that is what happened to Indira Gandhi. 

To get out of that and keep her power she resorted to draconian powers and persecuted the people who opposed her at her whims. But draconian powers are no substitute for governance and everything boils down to good governance which Indira Gandhi could not provide. 

Imagine today if any Government gives a less than 1% GDP growth rate and 17% inflation, then would it be spared by the people? That too, a government with over a two thirds majority? 

Why blame the opposition? They took the opportunity because she bungled right royally and wanted to hang on to the chair despite that. 

She was very lucky that her opposition was a motley bunch of parties sans any ideology except sitting on the PM’s chair and so they blundered on and gave India back to her on a platter. 

Those gentlemen; Morarji Desai, Charan singh, Jagjivan Ram and of course the BJP had diverse ideologies and nothing in common except getting the chair. What else can be expected to happen with such gentlemen at the helm?

RICHEST MEN IN AP & TELANGANA

 

In the top 10 rich men from ANDHRA PRADESH, there are 4 from Vizag, 3 from Vijayawada and 1 each from Tirupati, Gudur & Cuddapah.

1. Praveenkumar Otmal Jain of Vijayawada Rs 5900 crores. He is the promoter of Goldmedal Electricals.

2. N.Visveswara Reddy of Cuddapah Rs 4600 crore. Promoter of Shirdi Sai Electricals.

3. P.Brahmanandam of Vizag Rs 3700 crores.Promoter of Devi Sea Foods.

4. Ramachandra Galla of Tirupati Rs 3400 crores. Promoter Amar Raja group

5. Surendra Bommireddy of Gudur Rs 2200 crores. Promoter of Alliance Infrastructure.

6. Sriharsha Majety of Vijayawada Rs 1900 crores. Co-founder of Swiggy

7. 2 people there jointly

      a) Venkateswara  Prasad Kondragunta of Visakhapatnam Rs       1700 crores .Promoter of Sandhya Marines.

        b) Ram Kripal Singh of Vijaywada Rs 1700 crores. Promoter of   Kripal Constrictions.

8. 2 people there jointly

      a) Nekkanti Seetha Ranachandramurthy of Vizag Rs 1000 crores.  Promoter Nekkanti Seafoods

     b) Muppana Venkatrao of Vizag Rs 1000 crores. Promoter of M Venkatrao Infra Projects.

: Interesting to see that the top 2 positions in AP are taken by guys who are in electricals ...

And not in Seafoods as one generally believes....

The top 10 Telugu guys in both the TELUGU STATES as per Forbes are given below....all of them are from The top 10 Telugu guys as per Forbes are given below....all of them are from Hyderabad..

1. Murali Divi of Divis labs Rs 51000 crores

2. Pratap Reddy of Apollo Rs 26,000 crores

3. Grandhi Mallikarjunrao of GMR Rs 25,000 crores

4. PV Ramprasada Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma Rs 25,000 crores

5. Jupalli Rameshwar Rao of Myhome group Rs 19,000 crores

6. P Pitchi Reddy of Megha Engg. Rs 19,000 crores

7. PV Krishna Reddy of Megha Engg. Rs 18,000 crores

8. M Satyanarayana Reddy founder of MSN Group mfr of Generic drugs. Rs 16,000 crores

9. K Sateesh Reddy of Reddys labs Rs 15,000 crores

10. GV Prasad Reddy Co founder of Reddys labs Rs 12,000 crores....

EXPERIENCES IN MY LIFE- UTTARAKHAND TRIP

 

I bought the Fiat car in 1989 and  the first tourist trip the car has given me was in 1990. That trip was to a number of places in the present day Uttarakhand and it took us 10 days.

On this trip my batch mate in SBI S. Krishnamurthy, his wife Anju ( She is a Shrivastav and theirs is a love marriage) and one Bharadwaj who is a junior to us in the bank and was a good friend of both of them, accompanied us. 

Now the luggage for 5 people would be too much for the boot of the car so I mounted a luggage carrier on top of the car to carry our suitcases.

We started off in October 1990 during the Dussehra vacation. 

The first day we stopped at Haridwar which is about 550 Km from Gwalior. First day after travelling 400 Km to Meerut we broke for the night. Even the October sun was fierce and the car had no air conditioning in the car which was then a rare comfort, so even that 400 Km was an exhausting drive.

All the hotels at Meerut that time were chockfull and we could not get single rooms, so we stayed in a dormitory and started off next day early morning and reached Haridwar by afternoon. 

At Haridwar, all except me took a dip in the crystal clear Ganga waters flowing down from the Himalayas. The water was very cold but it was crystal clear, and despite the chilled water people were bathing in the Ganga. 

We then visited the Mansadevi temple on top of a hill overlooking the town by a ropeway, and enjoyed the panoramic view of Haridwar from there. 

All except me have seen the Ganga Aarti in the evening and stayed back at Haridwar for the night. 

Next day morning we visited Rishikesh which is just 25 Km away. Both Haridwar and Rishikesh had bustling crowds of tourists those being Durga Pooja holidays and Bengali was the most frequent language heard by us there.  

We started from Rishikesh in the afternoon after lunch and headed to Dehradun just 40 Km away, where we visited the waterfall Sahasradhara which had sulfur springs. Vineela was a small toddler then and she was enjoying the warm sulphur water with her feet immersed sitting on a rock and refused to come away from there. 

Thereafter we proceeded from there to Mussorie which is just about 35 Km away...I really enjoyed that short drive on the meandering road through the mountain which was quite good and broad.  We then visited the Kamtpee falls the next day at Mussorie and left for Corbett National Park after lunch.

That was just about 200 Km drive but the road after Haridwar turned bad after sometime, and on top of that my car silencer too gave some trouble. So we halted in between at a place called Nazibabad for some repair. 

When we started it was about 5 PM. It was a bit cloudy and after I drove for some time it started getting dark. The road was pretty isolated and very few vehicles passed by. 

Suddenly in the darkness we saw a barrier on the road and a police person with a sten gun standing there. We were shocked because we did not expect that. 

I got down and asked the policeman as to what was the problem. He first asked me “Where do you think you are going?” I was surprised and said we are going to Corbett National Park. 

He asked me “Do you know that this is a terrorist area?” That shocked me further. But we had already come a long distance from Mussorie/Haridwar and cannot go back, because going back as it would be equally risky. So I told him that we wanted to proceed. He said okay but asked me to be careful because Sikh militants were there in the area. 

He came to the car along with his colleague, shone the torchlight and after seeing the 2 ladies cautioned us once again to be careful, and let us pass through. 

After the barrier, we had not met a single 4 wheeled vehicle on the road. We did see a few lone motorcycles and also a few bicycles all driven by Sardarjis. We were apprehensive but there was nothing we could do about it and continued. 

Finally we got on to a good double road and just about 20 Km from Corbett were stopped at another Police check post near Ramnagar and again the policemen shone torches inside the car to check who is sitting inside. The moment they saw ladies, they waved us on. Finally by that night we reached Corbett by about 8.30 PM. 

Next day morning we went into the park along with a guide to show us animals. My fiat had bucket seats in the front with floor gear and I sat in the drivers seat. The guide sat in the front seat while Aravinda,  Krishnamurthy, Anju and Bharadwaj had to squeeze in the back seat along with baby Vineela.

Another vehicle went into the forest just before of us. After we proceeded for some distance in the forest the guide asked us to stop at one place, got down and examined the tracks of the jeep that went in front of us for pugmarks. 

He immediately found some marks of a tiger and showed them to us saying a Tiger has passed this way after the Jeep has gone past and got back into the vehicle and asked me to go ahead.  

Corbett National park was filled with sudden depressions in the roads on account of flowing water that cut through the road on occasions. The depressions were filled with rounded stones shaped by the water flowing through. 

As I was going through one such depression my silencer hit a stone on account of the sag of chassis because of 6 people. The sound of the silencer increased. So after crossing the depression (which is called Rapta in Hindi) I brought the car to a side and stopped. 

Actually one cannot get down from the vehicle in a  National park but we did not have a choice.   

All of us got down and I went below the car to adjust the exhaust. 

When I set it and came out I found that Anju was leaning on to a tree a little distance in front of the car, while Krishnamurthy was taking a picture of her with Bharadwaj looking on. 

Suddenly the calm of the forest  was shattered by a growl from the nearby bushes hardly 20 feet away from us. The guide immediately barked “tiger” and ran for the car with lightning speed before we could even react. He sat in the car and immediately slammed the door shut. 

Krishnamurthy and Anju came running and everyone bundled into the car and shut the doors hurriedly. 

We could hear the rustle of the bushes as the Tiger went past. If the Tiger came out of the bushes by the side of us, we do not know what we would have done, because it was so near to us. 

While we had a tete a tete with the tiger without actually seeing it, however much we tried in desperation on Elephant back we could never see a tiger in the Park despite roaming around later. We just saw deer and Sambhar that is all. 

No Tiger sighting at Corbett, but certainly at least an experience to take away in our memories alright.

From Corbett National Park we travelled to Almora which is just at a distance of 140 Km. We stayed the night at Almora and the sunset there was beautiful. We also just joined a bhajan that was going on there for some time. 

Next morning we moved on to Binsar at a distance of just 25 Km from Almora. This is a wildlife sanctuary and is located right in the middle of a pine forest. While Almora had an altitude of 1800 meters, Binsar is an altitude of 2400 meters. 

The road was single lane and very narrow indeed. I could not go to the 3rd gear at all on the trip and had to keep changing into 1st and 2nd gears, it was so steep with turns to boot. 

As I was driving I was shit scared because if another vehicle came to cross you things can turn very difficult. Unless one reverse’s for at least half a Km on that mountain road one cannot pass each other. My luck however held and no one appeared despite that being the only road to Binsar and no one was regulating it. 

Binsar is such a lovely place. All alone without any trappings of civilization except for the facility of GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) located right in the middle of a pine forest. There was no electricity there either and the facility was lit by a generator. 

Binsar presented a beautiful view of the serried ranks of the Himalayan foothills with a final touch of snow peaks in the distance. 

We would have loved to trek there but for Vineela was a small kid then and so it could not be done.  

From Binsar we moved on to Ranikhet which is only about 70 Km from there. Ranikhet too had the same beauty and nothing extra except for a rose garden. 

From Ranikhet we moved on to Kausani which is at a distance of 60 Km. Kausani too was beautiful with its pine trees and lovely salubrious climate with a view of Himalayan peaks. Gandhi stayed here for some time.

From Kausani we moved to our final destination of Nainital which was about 120 Km away. 

Nainital of course had that beautiful lake and we took the ropeway to the top to get a scenic and beautiful view of the town. 

Finally we returned back to Gwalior carrying lovely memories of the trip and the breath-taking Himalayan scenery within our hearts. 

The finishing touch was that after about 1 week after the trip when I was reading the newspaper, I was shocked to see that the very check post where we were stopped before Ramnagar was attacked by Sikh militants and 8 cops were killed in the attack.

MEDIEVAL JAPAN AND ITS UNIFICATION.

 

In the year 1551 Japan fell into bad times. There was no central government and the land fell into civil war and was split among Daimyos or feudal war lords who fought for power and territory. Then into one such family in the small province of Owari was born ODA NOBUNAGA. His father was the head of the Oda clan which was surrounded by much larger clans.

When his father ODA NOBUHIDE died, he chose his eldest son ODA NOBUNAGA to head the family. His father controlled a large part of the OWARI province in Central Japan. Nobunaga faced a rebellion from his brothers and cousins who thought they would do a better job on being the head then him. Nobunaga was a very badly behaved guy who had a terrible temper. Many of his clansmen viewed him as a fool.

His behaviour at his father’s funeral where he violated tradition enraged some people so much that the nominated to be Chief Councillor of Oda Nobunaga, HIRATE MASAHIDE  committed “SEPPUKU” or ritual suicide by slitting his belly open. It was a way of expressing his protest. Seppuku was also performed in times of defeat and dejection.

From THE day he became the head of ODA clan, Nobunaga’s life was at peril. That was known as the SENGOKU period and then murder in the family was very common for seizing power. There were suspicions on his wife NOHIME who happened to be the daughter of his deadliest enemy SAITO DOSAN. She was married to Nobunaga to make peace between the 2 clans.  There were suspicions that she was conspiring with his younger brother ODA NOBUYUKI  who was considered to be sober and was admired in the family.

One of his retainers tipped off Nobunaga that his younger brother Nobuyuki was planning a coup. Nobunaga got Nobuyuki caught and he himself beheaded him with his sword. He was very brutal and this act of his clearly displayed his character. This of course was Nobunaga’s way of announcing to his clansmen that he was ready to do anything to hold his lordship and can go to any extent.

After removing all the threats to his leadership, now Nobunaga turned his attention to his most dangerous threat to control the Owari province, his cousin ODA NOBUKATA. Nobukata controlled Northern Owari. He had 3000 men at his command. Nobukata was a fierce opponent. Both of them controlled about half of Owari province, both were ambitious men and both wanted to expand their territory. They were also competing to become the head of the Oda family. It was inevitable that they had to clash.

To curtail his cousin Nobunaga was looking for a decisive battle that may either make him or break him. For Nobunaga to fight a war, he needed an army of SAMURAI. About 800 years before Nobunaga, no one wanted to be called a Samurai, because it meant servant. But gradually the term got associated with mounted fighting warriors or BUSHI. Their most powerful weapon was the KATANA, the Japanese sword. It was considered to be one of the finest swords to be made in the world. It had a slightly curved blade and enabled the Samurai to deliver a blow from the scabbard. If a blow of the Katana was directed at a foot soldier, it would take in the momentum of the horse and slice him into two.

The Samurai were athletic warriors who knew nothing but battle for about a century. They are one of the greatest warriors the history has ever known. Nobunaga knew that warfare was getting modernized and industrial and he needed a large army. Nobunaga was the most innovative military leader in Japan at that time and he was receptive to all kinds of new ideas in war.  

Till the time of Nobunaga in Japan, battles and wars were small affairs fought with a limited number of men. The army was limited by the number of Samurai available. Nobunaga then started recruiting commoners for war. They were known as ASHIGARU. They were actually peasants who were recruited to fight, or the foot soldiers. For 400 years these commoners spent their lives at the beck and call of the Samurai and the great lords like slaves and Nobunaga hit upon the idea of recruiting them as soldiers and training and equipping them thoroughly.

These Ashigaru with good training and equipment which gave them loyalty, became a powerful force to reckon with, even for the Samurai. So, this is completely a Nobunaga innovation. In 1558 with his army of 3000, most of which  was Ashigaru, Nobunaga went to Northern Owari to meet his rival Nobukata. Nobukata in turn sent his battle hardened Samurai of 3000 warriors to intercept Nobunaga.

Now, Nobunaga has no battle experience, but fortune smiles on him. In 1543 a Portuguese ship while sailing was blown off course and was shipwrecked on one island. That ship had Arqebus’s stored in it. The Arquebus is a gun which worked on gunpowder. Many Daimyos tried them but hesitantly and they felt it did not suit them as it is too slow to load after the charge is fired and did not fire in rain. Nobunaga realised the potential of the Arquebus and he decided to take the gamble. He purchased many guns for his army and trained them in their use.  

Nobunaga moved his forces towards IWAKURA castle where Nobukata’s forces were. As already mentioned Nobunaga had 3000 soldiers, he also had 500 guns.  Nobukata’s 3000 battle hardened troops of Samurai were equipped with better armour than Nobunaga’s. Nobukata commanded his troops to advance and Nobunaga made his troops wait till they reached the gun killing range of 100 meters. Nobukata’s troops met with volley after volley of gunfire and the battle of UKINO commenced. However, as the loading time is too long, the battle turned into a hand to hand combat for the troops. After 3 hours Nobunaga’s men got the upper hand. They Broke  through Nobukata’s forces and routed them.

1200 men or 20% of the soldiers who participated died in the battle. The forces of Nobukata retreated to the Iwakaura castle which fell after 3 months of seize. Nobukata is killed and Nobunaga is now the unchallenged head of the Oda family and he now controlled the entire Owari province 9 years after his father’s death.

After this victory over what is considered a superior enemy and the use of guns Nobunaga now developed higher ambitions. He wanted to use that prowess elsewhere.  

However, a new threat arose to his authority. IMAGAWA YOSHIMOTO one of the most feared Daimyos of Japan from the East was on the move with his massive army. His target was KYOTO  the imperial capital and the traditional centre of military power. But for getting there he has to march straight through Owari. There were then about 6 to 8 very powerful Daimyo in Japan. Imagawa Yoshimoto is one of them.

Obviously Nobunaga is not going to sit there watching while Imagawa matches through his province, he is going to prevent him from doing so. For this Nobunaga has to fight with Imagawa. But Imagawa has a very large, rich and powerful domain. He had an army of 25000 troops. That is far more than what Nobunaga could field. So Imagawa imagined that he could easily defeat Nobunaga and continue on his way to Kyoto.

First Imagawa started attacking Nobunaga’s border fortresses and captured them easily. The Samurai he sent to lead this mission was TOKUGAWA  IYEYASU. Iyeyasu is young, a brilliant tactician and is extremely ambitious.

Nobunaga’s generals see their position as hopeless and advise Nobunaga to take a defensive position in a castle and somehow manage the siege assuming that luck would be theirs. But Nobunaga had a very different idea. He was a brilliant tactical commander and an organizer. Nobunaga had better intelligence. He had scouts all over the province giving him information about the enemy every day.

Nobunaga’s scout found Imagawa encamped atop a hill named OKEHAZAMA with 5000 men. The rest of his army was camping elsewhere. Nobunaga knew that if he killed Yoshimoto then the rest of the army would be left leaderless and directionless.

Nobunaga decided that he would mount a surprise attack on Yoshimtos camp. At that time in Japan battles were fought conventionally in open spaces or in sieges of castles. No one till that time had ever mounted a surprise attack. It is Nobunaga’s unconventional thinking that gave him the advantage. His army took positions around Yoshimoto’s camp.

The camp including Yoshimoto was eating, drinking and celebrating their victories. But it was a risky proposition with lesser number of men Nobunaga had, but he had no option in that. Yoshimoto and his forces were taken completely by surprise. One of the Oda soldiers attacked Yoshimoto himself and beheaded him. The Imagawa forces now fled. The other Imagawa forces encamped elsewhere hear the news and decide to retreat. The Battle of Okehazama lasted just 15 minutes, but it was one of the most decisive battles in Japanese history. This battle thrust Nobunaga into the limelight in Japan.  

Battle of Okehazama gave Nobunaga 2 very important alliances that would serve him long and help him in his future victories. One was TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI who joined Nobunaga’s troops as an Ashigaru and became a Samurai. Hideyoshi would later unify all of Japan after Nobunaga’s death. Nobunaga greatly appreciated Hideyoshi’s fighting skills as well as his leadership qualities.

Hideyoshi had a meteoric rise in the Oda army and became one of most trusted Generals of Nobunaga.  It was Hideyoshi who beheaded Yoshimoto at the battle of Yokehazama.  

The 2^nd one was TOKUGAWA IYEYASU who later went on to become the SHOGUN in Japan and started the TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE. Iyeyasu threw in his lot with Nobunaga after his master Imagawa was defeated and killed by him.

The battle of Okehazama has made the 3 men that are going to shape Japanese history come together. They are ODA NOBUNAGA, TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI and TOKUGAWA IYEYASU. With them by his side, Nobunaga launches many bloody campaigns and expands his domain. Finally he marches on the Imperial Capital Kyoto. From here Nobunaga wants to launch his boldest plan, the reunification of Japan.

పల్నాటి యుద్ధం.

 

కొండవీడు రాజైన పెదకోమటి వేమారెడ్డి ఆస్థాన కవి శ్రీనాథుడు (1370-1441 AD) పల్నాటి యుద్ధం చరిత్ర రాసాడు.  కానీ ఈ సంఘటన జరిగిన దాదాపు 200 సంవత్సరాల తర్వాత శ్రీనాథుడు దీనిని వ్రాసాడు. కనుక ఇది మౌలికంగా సరి అయినా 100% వాస్తవం కాకపోవచ్చు. 

గుంటూరు జిల్లాలోని పల్నాడు ప్రాంతాన్ని పాలించిన హైహయ క్షత్రియ రాజు అయిన నలగామరాజు మరియు అతని సవతి సోదరుడు మలిదేవరాజు మధ్య 1178 మరియు 1182 AD మధ్య పల్నాటి యుద్ధం జరిగింది. 

నలగామరాజుకు రెడ్డి మహిళ నాగమ్మ మద్దతు ఇవ్వగా, మలిదేవరాజుకు సంఘ సంస్కర్త అయిన రేచర్ల బ్రహ్మనాయుడు మద్దతు పలికాడు. 

హైహయ క్షత్రియ రాజు అయిన అనుగురాజు మధ్యప్రదేశ్‌లోని జబుల్‌పూర్ నుండి ఆంధ్ర ప్రాంతానికి వలస వచ్చినప్పుడు, చందవోలు నుండి పాలించిన వెల్నాడుకు చెందిన వెలనాటి చోడులతో ఘర్షణ పడ్డాడు. 

తరువాత వెలనాటి గొంకరాజు తన కుమార్తె మైలమా దేవిని అనుగురాజుకి ఇచ్చి వివాహం చేసి అతనిని గురజాలలో పల్నాడు రాజుగా నియమించాడు. అనుగురాజు తెలుగు మాట్లాడనివాడు మరియు ఆ సమయంలో ఆంధ్ర ప్రాంతానికి వలస వెళ్ళాడు, అంతేకాక స్థానిక ప్రజలకు పరిచయం లేనివాడు కాబట్టి, గోంకరాజు అనుగురాజుకు మార్గనిర్దేశం చేయడానికి వెలమ కులానికి, రేచర్ల గోత్రానికి చెందిన దొడ్డ నాయుడుని మంత్రిగా నియమించాడు. 

అనుగు రాజుకు మైలమా దేవి కాకుండా వీరవిద్యా దేవి మరియు భూరమా దేవి అనే ఇద్దరు భార్యలు ఉన్నారు. కానీ అనుగురాజు సంతానం లేక అతని మంత్రి దొడ్డ నాయుడు యొక్క పెద్ద కొడుకు బ్రహ్మ నాయుడుని దత్తత తీసుకున్నాడు. 

ఇది జరిగిన వెంటనే మైలమా దేవికి నలగామరాజు అనే కొడుకు పుట్టాడు. ఈ పరిణామంతో  దొడ్డ నాయుడు అనుగురాజు మంత్రి పదవికి రాజీనామా చేసి, బదులుగా అతని పెద్ద కుమారుడు బ్రహ్మ నాయుడుని మంత్రిగా చేశారు. 

అనుగురాజు తర్వాత నలగామరాజు రాజు అయ్యాడు. నలగామరాజుకు మలిదేవరాజు అనే సవతి సోదరుడు ఉన్నాడు, అతను కర్ణాటకలోని కళ్యాణదుర్గలోని కాలచూరి యువరాణి సిరిమాదేవిని వివాహం చేసుకున్నాడు. 

బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు తన కాలంలో ఎంతో గౌరవించబడ్డాడు అతను యోధుడు, పండితుడు మరియు సంఘ సంస్కర్త. కళ్యాణి చాళుక్య రాజు కోరికపై వీర శైవుల నుండి షిమోగా కోటను బ్రహ్మనాయుడు స్వాధీనం చేసుకున్నాడు. దానితో రాజు తన కుమార్తె సిరిమాదేవిని మలిదేవరాజుకు ఇచ్చి వివాహం చేశాడు

 బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు గట్టి వైష్ణవుడు మరియు వీర శైవమతానికి వ్యతిరేకంగా వీర వైష్ణవం అనే కొత్త శాఖను స్థాపించాడు, వీర శైవ మతం శూద్రులను దానిలోనికి అనుమతించింది కాని అంటరానివారిని కాదు. 

వీర వైష్ణవులు ఎలాంటి వివక్ష లేకుండా అంటరానివారిని కూడా తన మతంలోకి అనుమతించారు. చాప కూడు (కులమతాలకు అతీతంగా చాప మీద పక్కపక్కనే భోజనం చేయడం) వంటి బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు స్థాపించిన సామాజిక సంస్కరణలు పల్నాడు సమాజంలోని సంప్రదాయవాదులను వ్యతిరేకపరచాయి.  

బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు చాపకూడుతో ఆగలేదు, ఇందులో అతను శతాబ్దాలు కాదు ఏకంగా 800  సంవత్సరాలు నేటి సంఘ సంస్కర్తల కంటే ముందున్నాడు. అతని సైన్యంలో షెడ్యూల్డ్ కులాలతో సహా అన్ని కులాలు ఉన్నాయి. నిజానికి షెడ్యూల్డ్ కులానికి చెందిన కన్నమనేడును దాదాపు బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు సొంత కుమారుడిలా భావించి అతని సైన్యానికి అధిపతిగా చేసాడు. 

సంప్రదాయవాదులు నాయకురాలు అని పిలువబడే నాగమ్మ అనే ఒక రెడ్డి మహిళలో సమర్థుడైన నాయకుడిని కనుగొన్నారు. నాగమ్మ నలగామరాజు ఆస్థానంలో చేరి అతని విశ్వాసాన్ని పొందింది. ఆ తర్వాత ఆమె నలగామరాజు ఆస్థానంలో బ్రహ్మ నాయుడి మనుషులను కీలక స్థానాల నుండి స్థానభ్రంశం చేసింది. 

ఆస్థానం మరియు రాజకుటుంబంలో విభేదాలు పెరిగాయి, ఇది రాజ్య విభజనకు దారితీసింది. నలగామరాజు సవతి సోదరుడు మలిదేవరాజు మాచర్లకు వెళ్లి అక్కడ ప్రత్యేక రాజ్యాన్ని స్థాపించాడు. బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు మలిదేవరాజుతో కలిసి మాచర్లకు మకాం మార్చాడు. 

రెండు రాజ్యాల మధ్య పరస్పర అనుమానాలు పెరిగి, కోడిపందాల పోరులో మలిదేవరాజు  ఓడిపోయాడు అనే నెపంతో నాగమ్మ వారిని పల్నాడు నుండి 7 సంవత్సరాలు బహిష్కరించింది. 

వనవాసం తర్వాత బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు మలిదేవరాజు యొక్క బావమరిది అయిన అలరాజును మలిదేవరాజు వాటా కోసం పంపాడు. ఆ కోరికను నాగమ్మ తిరస్కరించి, నాగమ్మ ఆదేశాలతో అలరాజుకు చెర్లగుడిపాడులో విషం తాగించారు. అతని భార్య పేరిందేవి అలరాజుతో  సతీసహగమనం చేసింది. 

ఇది మలిదేవరాజు కు మరియు అలరాజు తండ్రి అయిన కొమ్మరాజుకు కోపం తెప్పించింది. బ్రహ్మనాయుడు గురజాలపై యుద్ధం ప్రకటించాడు. నాగులేరు నది ఒడ్డున కారెంపూడిలో యుద్ధం జరిగింది. 

నలగామరాజుకు కాకతీయులు, కోట వంశం, హొయసలులు మరియు పరిచ్చేదిలు మద్దతు ఇచ్చారు. మలిదేవరాజుకు కళ్యాణదుర్గానికి చెందిన కలచూరి వారు మద్దతు ఇచ్చారు. యుద్ధంలో నలగామరాజు పక్షం విజయం సాధించగా, మలిదేవరాజు యుద్ధంలో మరణించాడు. బ్రహ్మ నాయుడు నలగామరాజుని తిరిగి రాజుగా నియమించవలసి వచ్చింది. 

ఈ యుద్ధంలో బ్రహ్మ నాయుడి కొడుకు బాలచంద్రుడు తన భార్య మాంచాల తో మరణించాడు. ఆనాటి ఆంధ్ర యోధుల తరం లో చాలా మంది ఆ యుద్ధంలో చనిపోయారు.  ఈ యుద్ధం వెల్నాటి చోడులను బలహీనపరిచింది మరియు ఇది తరువాత కాకతీయులు తమ పెద్ద స్వతంత్ర రాజ్యాన్ని స్థాపించుకోవడానికి సహాయపడింది.

EXPERIENCES IN MY LIFE---BADRINATH TRIP.

 

In SBI, my posting in MP has given me ample opportunities to visit a number of tourist places and Badrinath was one of them.....

We started for the Char Dham Yatra in October 1992 during Dussehra holidays of which I am narrating only the Badrinath part in this wrote up. 

I then had a 1985 model fiat car which had bucket seats in the front and floor gear.

People in the Personal Banking division of SBI Bhind Branch which I headed told me that the roads were too dangerous and advised me to take a driver along. But I wanted to enjoy the driving and did not want to take any driver along.  

My wife, myself and my daughter who was just about 2 years old then began the trip to Badrinath first. 

To reach Badrinath, we had to proceed via Agra, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Rishikesh, Rudraprayag and onwards, a distance of 750 Km by this route.

The distance from Bhind to Meerut was 400 Km. We reached Meerut and stayed there overnight. From there Rishikesh is just 160 Km away and we covered it effortlessly. 

From Rishikesh the ghat road of the Himalayan foothills starts and continues right up to Badrinath which is about 300 Km from there. 

The entire terrain is dotted with hill ranges one after the other. The Himalyan foothills are made up of entirely a different type of soil and rock compared to what we find in the south and in other places. 

The soil is looser and is prone to easy landslides in monsoon, or whenever there is a torrential rain. The road gets blocked easily in the Monsoons, and even when it is open, one has to watch carefully while driving. 

The road meanders through the mountains unendingly with the Alaknanda river following you all the way on one side of the road. . One climbs steep hills, comes down rapidly and then goes up on to a steep climb again on and on, the terrain always challenging you. 

As is the road, the scenery too unfolds never ending and always beautiful. There is no barrier on the side of the road separating it and the chasm in which Alaknanda flows by its wayside. 

The road till Joshimath was broad enough and does not carry a risk except on a few occasional turns where one has to be very careful. 

Rudraprayag is about 140 Km from Rishikesh. It is the place where the rivers Alaknanda and Madakini meet as they flow down from the Himalayas with Alaknanda coming in from Badrinath and Mandakini from Kedarnath. 

Rudrapryag is famous for its man eating leopard of yore. This leopard was a man eater and was very cunning, and it killed over 125 people. 

It strained all the experience of Jim Corbett to track and kill it. 

The leopard made its first human kill in 1918 and for 8 years thereafter terrorised the Badrinath Kedarnath road which fell in its territory. 

Many hunters tried to kill the leopard over the years, but it was too cunning and knew the ways of man well and never fell into any trap laid for it. Finally in the year 1926 Jim Corbett killed the leopard and it is called “The Man eater of Rudraprayag”.

As we passed on the road to Badrinath without stopping, we passed a large painted board showing a leopard with a legend that “This is the place where the famous Jim Corbett has killed the Man Eater of Rudraprayag which killed 125 people.” I read the matter and pointed it out to my wife. 

We just passed by after reading the board and forgot all about it. How am I to guess that it would spring up later in my mind on account of circumstances?

We planned to halt at Srinagar (Garhwal). Rishikesh to Srinagar (Garhwal) is about 110 Km and we halted there for the night. Srinagar is no hill station, yet it is as beautiful as any other hill station I have seen.  

Next day morning we started off to Badrinath after breakfast. The distance from Srinagar to Badrinath is about 190 Km. 

We had lunch at Chamoli and the taste of the Dum aloo and those lovely tender tandoori rotis is worth remembering. We went leisurely stopping at all the points we had a good view and reached Joshimath at an altitude of 1900 meters by around 4 PM.  

Clouds always hung around in the sky that day and by the time we reached Joshimath they closed in and it started drizzling lightly. 

From Joshimath onwards the road was in the supervision of BRO (Border Roads Organization) and the vehicles were allowed in a convoy only from one side at a time. 

Once the convoy from Badrinath reached Joshimath then the convoy would start from Jashimath to Badrinath. 

My vehicle was the 2nd vehicle in the convoy and there was one ambassador car in the front. 

The incoming convoy got delayed and came in only at around 5.00 PM, and by that time on account of the clouds the light became less. Our convoy started at around 5.15 PM and it was still drizzling then. 

The distance from Joshimath to Badrinath was about 45 Km. The road was in excellent condition but we were losing light by each passing minute. By the time we travelled about 35 Km., and were about 10 Km from Badrinath, it became dark. 

The climb was steep. To add to our problems the clouds came down on to the mountains (possible that they were always down on the road at that altitude and we just entered them). 

On account of the darkness and the clouds, the visibility became very less and finally got reduced to a 3-4 feet and I had no fog lights in my car. 

Luckily I had that Ambassador was there in front of me and I was driving by his tail light. 

After driving for some time like that,  the Ambassador fellow slowed down and indicated me to overtake him. I had no choice really because there were vehicles behind me climbing, and on top of that visibility was miserable and so I could not have stopped on the road. 

Then I over took him and came on to the front of the convoy. I could hardly see anything on the road but kept on driving by instinct rather than with my senses. 

My wife was desperate; she asked me “How are you managing to drive when nothing is visible?” I had no answer to that and kept quiet. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time the lights of Badrinath were visible and I heaved a sigh of relief. 

The fact was we hardly drove like that for a couple of kilometres.

At Badrinath we stayed in a guest house.

Badrinath had an altitude of 3300 meters and was therefore ice cold at that time. Despite wearing a sweater and a jacket on top of it with a monkey cap and gloves I was feeling dead cold. 

In the night I had to go for the bathroom. When I removed my pajamas half way down it was so chilling cold and I had to shiver. 

Next day morning we had a lovely view of the snow capped peaks of the Nar Narayan mountain ranges which flank the shrine of Badrinath. Their peaks were tipped with snow and looked majestic. 

I went to where I parked the car wanting to clean it and what do I find? A thin sheet of ice on top of the car. The rain that had fallen in the evening and after had made that sheet to form. I had to brush off the thin ice sheet from the top of the car before I could clean it. 

Hot water from the sulphur springs was provided to us by the caretaker of the guest house and we had a nice steamy bath. When we searched around for a hotel for breakfast we were surprised to find a Coffee House and had breakfast there. 

We then went around having a look at the town. The sulphur springs of Badrinath drew good crowds and we saw people bathing there. From there we went to the water of Alaknanda flowing through a canal. It had come down melted from the mountain ranges and was extremely chilly to the touch. 

We then visited the Badrinath temple. I being an atheist was not bothered about visiting temples and opted to stay outside and my wife Aravinda went inside along with my daughter Vineela and had a Darshan. 

We roamed around in Badrinath the rest of the day. People told us that “Mana” a village on the Indo China border is only about 6 Km away but has to be reached by a trek. Since our baby Vineela was with us we did not plan to go there. 

We started back from Badrinath after lunch. It is just 160 Km away but all ups and downs and twists and turns all the way. I drove leisurely and by the time we were about 10 Km away from Rudraprayag it became quite dark as it was cloudy. 

There were hardly any vehicles travelling on the road except ours then. 

The terrain was a typical mountain road. A sloping mountain going up on one side dotted by a forest, and similarly on the other side a sloping mountain with a forest going down. 

Suddenly there was a clank and my rear wheel cap got dislodged and fell down. I went forward with the momentum and stopped the car about 30 feet away from where the cap  has fallen. I always carried a 4 cell Eveready rectangular torchlight on my journeys. I was about to take the torch and get down but my wife said “It is dark, why don’t you reverse the car?” 

So I reversed the car took the torch and got down. At the time of getting down I turned off my headlight and left my parking lights on. I then took the torch and got down and picked up the wheel cap. As it was dark I thought I would fix it later and put it at the back of the car and then got into the car. 

When I switched on the headlight I was stunned. A majestic Leopard came out from the sloping down forest just at the place where I initially stopped the car before reversing. I whispered to my wife “Aravinda look, a Leopard.” As we looked on the Leopard took a few steps in the opposite direction ignoring our presence. It then again stepped down into the forest and melted away. 

Now all this had taken no more than 10 seconds but the effect it had on us was sharp. Had I got down where I stopped initially that Leopard would have been right by my side. 

The first thing I remembered was the roadside board displayed at Rudraprayag that displayed the Maneater of Rudraprayag killed by Jim Corbett. Not a vehicle other than ours was passing on the road. My wife and daughter were with me. I thought what would I do if the car stopped somewhere on account of a mechanical problem. 

Although such a possibility is very remote, at that time it persisted and troubled my mind. Luckily Rudraprayag was only about 10 Km from there and the road was also good, so we made it in less than half an hour.

ASTEROID 2024-YR4- CHANCE TO IMPACT THE EARTH in 2032.

 

                                        PATH OF THE ASTEROID ON EARTH.

There is some bad news for the world. However, the good news is that this bad news is not yet confirmed and most probably that can either be confirmed or overruled only in the year 2028. Till that time we have remain in suspense.

The yet unconfirmed bad news is from the asteroid 2024-YR4. This asteroid is estimated to be between 40 meters and 100 meters wide and was discovered on 27.12.2024 by ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System) of NASA. As per the scientific hypothesis available with us, such asteroids strike the earth every few thousand years. The resultant impact would cause severe damage to a local region as the asteroid would then travel at a speed of 17 Km/Sec.

The Torino scale is a scale to measure the likelihood of an asteroid/comet colliding with the earth. This scale uses the gradation from 0 to 10, where the impact chances with the Erath are negligible with ‘0’ and most certain with ‘8’ with local destruction. A gradation of 9 has a certain impact with regional destruction. A gradation of ‘10’ would mean a certain hit and global destruction with a threat to entire humanity itself. I have mentioned about this scale when I wrote a note on Apophis earlier.

NASA’S centre for Near Earth Objects (NEO) studies indicate that the asteroid 2024-YR4 has a 1.2% probability ( A 1 in 83 chance) of striking the earth on Dec 22, 2032 and it is placed at number 3 on the Torino scale which is the 2^nd highest ever rating got by any object so far. Apophis first had a rating of 4 which was later downgraded to ‘0’. Currently, no other known large asteroid has an impact probability above 1% excluding 2024-YR4. A 1 in 83 chance for a strike is still a chance and cannot be ignored. However, as we have plenty of advance warning, even if it is on a course to impact Earth, it can be deflected easily as it is a small asteroid. The DART experiment already proved that we can alter the orbit of an asteroid.   

As per current observations the trajectory where impact is possible is given in the picture that is being forwarded. The worry for us is that the trajectory passes through Northern India. If this asteroid hits the Earth, and falls in a city, then it would wipe out that entire city and its impact affect would spread to 50 km.

The asteroid is currently moving away from the earth in a straight-line and by the time the Astronomers came to know about, it was already moving away. So the asteroid would require lot more observation in 2028 when it would travel back near to earth. Precise observations can be made at that time and the exact possible impact can be pin pointed. If we are lucky, in all probability it may miss the Earth.

SILK SMITHA-A WASTED LIFE.

Artificial Intelligence created video link of Silk Smitha:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxqZkYT6AxA

I always liked Silk Smitha but this latest video created by AI  reminded me of her sorrowful death in 1996. Why did she do that? For that, I just looked around the net about her.

She was born Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati at Kovvali village in Denduluru Mandal, in West Godavari district of Andhra Pardesh in 1960 and comes from a poor family. She dropped out of school on account of her family situation and her family got her married at a very young age. Both her husband and his family ill-treated her, so at the age of 14, she ran away to Chennai and initially worked as a domestic servant before she became a touch-up artist....

She later played some small character roles in Tamil cinema and then as a vamp. The Malayalam Director Antony Eastman first made her a heroine in his film "Inaye Thedi" in 1981. It was he who renamed her as Smitha. She had no backing from anyone and if she became a Heroine after just being a touch-up artist clearly shows that she had something ( her sexiness) in her that others did not.

There had been many vamps in the film industry but they had not gone ahead to become heroines, but Smitha did just that. She assumed the screen name Silk after her name in a Tamil movie.

She then starred in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and also a few Hindi films and worked in no less than 450 films in a career spanning 18 years. Of course all the Directors used her sex appeal fully in the movies. Her most respected film was Moondram Pirai which was later remade as Sadma.....

Smitha was an introvert and did not make friends quickly. She was short-tempered but was straightforward, determined which looked like arrogance to others. She was ambitious and was on the dot of time for shootings. Despite not having much education she learnt and started speaking English fluently. She was good at costume design and makeup before she entered films. In 1996 after a Kannada film shoot, she was found dead by hanging in her hotel room and the Police said it was suicide. That day she discussed something serious about her life with her close friend and live-in partner Anuradha....

Smitha became a brand at that time and was more popular than some top heroes, but her personal life was in turmoil and she had many broken relationships. That was probably because most men who had a relationship with her obviously wanted a sexual relationship and in our male-dominated society perhaps no man can tolerate his wife or even a lover being a vamp on the screen and would be terribly jealous and see it as an affront to his masculinity.

Most unfortunate because she has become a sort of legend ( if a sensual one) in her lifetime and several films were made about her after her death....

Randor guy, a Tamil crime writer, screenwriter and the Author of " The History of Tamil Cinema" published by the Government of Tamilnadu says " Films that had lain in cans for years were sold by the simple addition of a Silk Smitha song".

She is not just a vamp but much much more. I feel sorry to know that her life has been buffeted like a boat caught in a storm. Right from childhood she had no security and was always battling life. One can only pity her and perhaps it is right that she fled from the continuous torment by ending her life .