Field marshal SHFJ Manekshaw

I got this excerpt and loved it. So sharing the same with everyone. It is about Mr. Sam Manskshaw. Three cheers to the old soldier!
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It is common knowledge that India's military campaign in 1971 to liberate Bangladesh was delayed on professional military advice, against the wishes of the political class.

It is delightful to revisit the anecdote in the words of the lead historian of the dramatis personae.. The Field Marshal narrated this incident as a personal example of moral courage, at the inaugural Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture, in October 1995, in Delhi.

There is a very thin line between being dismissed and becoming a Field Marshal. In 1971, when Pakistan cracked down in East Pakistan, hundreds and thousands of refugees started pouring into India, into West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The Prime Minister held a Cabinet meeting in her office. The External Affairs Minister Sardar Swaran Singh, the Agriculture Minister, Mr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, the Defence Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram and the Finance Minister, Yashwant Rao Chavan were present. I was then summoned.

A very angry, grim-faced Prime Minister read out the telegrams from the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. She then turned around to me and said, "What are you doing about it?"

And I said, "Nothing, it's got nothing to do with me. You didn't consult me when you allowed the BSF, the CRP and RAW to encourage the Pakistanis to revolt. Now that you are in trouble, you come to me. I have a long nose. I know what's happening."

I then asked her what she wanted me to do. She said, "I want you to enter Pakistan."

And I responded, "That means war!"

She said, "I do not mind if it is war."

"Have you read the Bible?" I said.

The Foreign Minister, Sardar Swaran Singh asked, "What has Bible got to do with this?"

I explained, that the first book, the first chapter, the first words, the first sentence God said was, "Let there be light" and there was light. Now you say, "Let there be war" and there will be war, but are you prepared? I am certainly not. This is the end of April; the Himalayan passes are opening and there can be an attack from China if China gives us an ultimatum.

The Foreign Minister asked, "Will China give an ultimatum?" And I said, "You are the Foreign Minister, you tell me".

I then told them that my armoured division and two of my infantry divisions were away. One in the Jhansi/Babina area, the other in Samba and the third one in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu..... I mentioned that I will require all the road space, all the railway wagons, the entire railway system to move these formations to the operational areas and that harvesting was in progress in the Punjab and UP and they would not be able to move the harvest which would rot; and I pointed out to the Agriculture Minister that it wouldn't be my responsibility if there was a famine. Then I said, "My armoured division, which is my big striking force is supposed to have 189 tanks operational. I have got only 11 tanks that are fit to fight."

The Finance Minister, who is a friend of mine asked, "Sam why only 11?"

So I told him, "Because you are the Finance Minister. I have been asking you for money for over a year and you say you haven't got it!"

And finally I turned around to the Prime Minister and said that the rains were about to start in East Pakistan and when it rains there, it pours and when it pours, the whole countryside is flooded. The snows are melting, the rivers would become like oceans. If you stand on one bank, you can't see the other. All my movement would be confined to roads. The Air Force, because of climatic conditions would not be able to support me. Now Prime Minister, give me your orders.

The grim Prime Minister with her teeth clenched said, "The Cabinet will meet again at four o'clock".

The members of the Cabinet started walking out. I being the junior most was the last to go and as I was leaving, she said, "Chief, will you stay back?"

I turned around and said, "Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, may I send you my resignation on grounds of health, mental or physical?"

She said, "Everything you told me is true".

"Yes! It is my job to tell you the truth" I responded, "and it is my job to fight, it is my job to fight to win and I have told you the truth."

She smiled at me and said, "All right Sam, you know what I want?"

I said, "Yes, I know what you want!"

[Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lectures 1995-2000, Lancer Publishers & Distributors, Delhi, 2001]Mak

Khakra - Indian Bread

I recently treated my taste buds to Khakras on my visit to Ahemdabad. They call it the Gujrati bread. And it is a traditional Gujarati snack.

It is nothing but dry baked/cooked traditional Indian bread. Making a Khakra is as simple as making Indian bread/Roti/Chapati. It was made with wheat flour, chilli and turmeric powder.

But, it was not like anything I had earlier. It is crispy, crunchy and tasty if anything else. It was lip-smacking, finger-licking good.The best part about this snack is that it can be had any time one wants. It can complement morning tea and serve as light breakfast while it can also do for evening snack.

Indians as always known for their ingeniousness have clubbed Khakra with several others to make new recipe. For instance there is the use of Khakra in ‘Chaat’ and the mixture tastes amazing.

Khakras are readily available at most shops. I always get stumped at large no. of variants of Khakras that are available in the market. Some use it as an alternative to Papad. Others use it as a mere snack, while still others make it a part of their main course. To add to this there is an increasing usage of Khakras in fast foods as well.

Long live Indian food!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: Reviewed

Yes yes i did it again. I watched the latest Harry Potter movie (Half
Blood Prince). Call me a kid if you want to but i simply will say that
i love the entire Harry Potter series(of course i'm talking about the
amazing novels written by JK Rowling). They are all creative,
ingenious, crafty, suave and addictive. And i'm addicted. And i know
i'm not alone. But then there are people who feel that flying on
broomsticks and shooting spells with wood wands is too childish for
them and that they've grown up ;-). Lols i feel good for them,atleast
they have one less set of books to read and one less set of movies to
watch. Now coming back to the movie and my review.

Direction: 9/10
Direction was perfect. All details were nicely captured.

Storyline: 3/10
This part was a disgrace to the novel. Many important parts were
missed and some others altered completley. I wonder why was this! Any
which ways my final rating is that if you love the novel and if you
don't want to spoil experience of the same then give this movie a miss
for sure.

Overall rating:4/10

I wonder how so many sites on web and so
many tabloids have rated the movie highly. I want to ask them if they
ever did read the novel. But then that is just what it is! Lols! Have
heard that they are making two movies out of the final novel of the
series. Hope that this way they can do justice to the novel.

--
Sent from my mobile

Microsoft vs Google

Got this forward. I liked it well and so here it is:

On my way to a MBA coaching class :)

I'm on my way to my first coaching class for MBA preparation. Yes, i
never joined a coaching to bell the CAT. Well one of the reasons for
that was i never targeted IIM's. No, i'm not kidding, i never saw
myself there, rather at IBS Hyderabad.

But, any which ways now i see
myself at IIM next year. So here i am. Of course i'm kidding. I just
wanted to see how my friend was faring in his classes. Also i wanted
to give him company as he was unwilling to go all by himself. That's
just about all. But the fact of the matter is i still am getting
butterflies in my stomach before getting into a class. After all this
years...huh...will i always be a back bencher....looks like i've been
marked for this mortal life...this is me signing off!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Looking forward to the weekend!

I've just started to head back from office. And again today i've
hitched a ride with a colleague who lives in the same side of town as
me (Navi Mumbai). I hope that i'll have a good weekend so that i
energize myself enough so as to return back to office on Monday all
charged up. By the way i've learnt that in sales it is very important
to return back week after week with positive outlook and a renewed
vigor. If one can't then he is not the natural choice for a sales job.
Energy and enthusiasm with luck are the ingredients for success in
sales. By the way this is what i gathered from my around 3 years in
sales. And i'm still learning. Hope that the learning never stops.
amen! On the flip side of things, it is raining very very hard. So
looks like the outing that i was planning over the weekend might not
happen as i'd not factored rains :-( My father always tells me that i
should let problems travel their full way before jumping head first
and trying to solve them. And then life moves on. :-)

--
Sent from my mobile device

Regards
Laghu Sikarwar

Shocked to read the front page of Times of India dt. 15th July ‘09

I was shell shocked to see the first page of Times of India today dated 15^th July ’09. Have a look at the encircled portions on the ad in the attached image.

Just look at the questions that were posted, here are some:

1. Kyaa aapko lagta hai ki aap shaadi kar ke phans gaye hain?

2. Kyaa aapne kabhi apne pati ko dhokha dena ka socha hai?

I want to ask if the people (Star TV) who gave this advertisement are promoting adultery after marriage so that their show survives. What is it that these people want? Is it not cheap publicity? It is for sure. And more importantly how can a newspaper of National footprint allow such a thing to be printed on the front page. Is there no such thing as responsible journalism?

Times of India has always stooped lower and lower to garner more market share. There are days when I look at Bombay Times and it appears to me as soft porn if nothing else. And this trend has been etched over the last several years. TOI has always been at the fore front of publishing soft porn and bringing it to the main stream.

When we have a censure board for movies, is there none for print media? Or are the palms of all officials been heavily greased. It can be either, I don’t know. But whatever it is, it certainly is taking a shot at Indian psyche. How else can one justify the emergence of Savita Bhabhi an Indian porn character. The very means of Savita Bhabhi is incorrect. She is a married Indian lady. Her husband takes apt care of her. But, still she goes out and makes out with every guy or groups of guys she meets. What happened to the sharmeeli Indian woman clad in ghoonghats?

The I&B ministry banned the site for good reason. This site was giving men and women in India an impetus of sorts to go out and commit adultery without so much of a guilt or heavy consciousness.

And if this was not enough, then again in today’s TOI there is an article by Pritish Nandy explaining in simple terms why he likes Savita Bhabhi. He has dared to compare the character of Savita Bhabhi with the likes of Madhubala et. al.

How morally correct is this? Some time back I read that more than 50% of the promoters of TOI are companies from abroad. Is this there hidden agenda? But, more importantly the people who are working in the ranks there need to ask themselves, if they are working for the right company and if what they are doing is ethically and morally correct keeping in view the Indian tradition and values.

Peace

How fair can one continue to be?

I'm on my way back from office. I had a very hectic day at office.
I've got truckloads of work that i need to complete by tonight. It
started off slowly and nicely but later picked up breakneck speed. Btw
to bring you up speed i'm in my friends car, its raining-rather
pouring outside and we are listening to Breaking Benjamin-Dance with
the Devil. We are stuck at sion junction. There is a huge traffic jam
and we are caught around the middle :-(. And so with nothing better
to do i thought to write something to kill time. And as soon as i
start typing; this one question which has been at the back of mind
since ages came to fore. And i thought that i'd blog about the same.
So coming to the point, the question is that how can a person decide
whether he is fair or not. And even if he has decided once or twice,
how can he continue to be fair and just. How can one keep the Mr. Hyde
in buried? I feel like i'll lose control one of these days and my
office colleagues will bear the brunt of the same. Anywhich ways life
moves on :-)

--
Sent from my mobile device

Traffic woes!

I'm on my way to a meeting with a client at fort area in Mumbai and i'm
stuck in traffic. I don't know but off lately every time i step out of
office for a meeting, it is as if every other person in Mumbai has
done likewise. Today was probably the worst of all days. It was humid.
It was hot. And i was getting late. :-( hope things improve. Ps: i
need to go back as well.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Budget India 2009: A lowdown

I’m hopelessly disappointed with the current budget. Anyways here is the lowdown on what matters to individuals the most:
Some salient points:
1. Life-saving drugs to be cheaper (primarily due to reduction on customs duty)
2. Defence budget raised by 34 per cent
3. Personal income tax exemption limit for

• a. senior citizens raised by Rs 15,000
• b. for women raised by Rs 10,000
• c. for all others, raised by Rs 10,000

4. Surcharge on income above Rs 10 lakh for personal income tax payers removed
5. Deduction for maintenance of medical treatment of dependence from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh
6. We might see a Saral –II form

INCOME	TAX RATE
For General Tax Payers
Up to Rs 160,000	Nil
Rs 160,001 to Rs 300,000	10 per cent
Rs 300,001 to Rs 500,000	20 per cent
Rs 500,001 and above	30 per cent
For Women Tax Payers
Up to Rs 190,000	Nil
Rs 190,001 to Rs 300,000	10 per cent
Rs 300,001 to Rs 500,000	20 per cent
Rs 500,001 and above	30 per cent
For Senior Citizens
Up to Rs 240,000	Nil
Rs 240,001 to Rs 300,000	10 per cent
Rs 300,001 to Rs 500,000	20 per cent
Rs 500,001 and above	30 per cent

7. Corporate Tax remains unchanged
8. FBT or Fringe Benefit Tax abolished
9. 100 per cent tax deduction for donations for electoral funds to improve transparency in political funding (how can this help the economy is something I can’t figure out)
10. Commodities Transaction Tax abolished
11. LCD TVs to be cheaper (shit why the hell was this supposed to happen right after I bought one :( )
12. Ex-servicemen pension to be hiked