Today Is Not Just Dr BR Ambedkar's Birth Anniversary

Today is not just Dr BR Ambedkar's Birth Anniversary.

Today is the day which ensured that SC /ST can stop considering themselves as sub-humans.

Today is the day which started the argument that casteism was created by the Britishers.

Today is the day which compelled  some people to say to me, have we ever ill treated you on the basis of your caste.

Today is the day when the discourse changed from "born for menial and ignominious work" to "they too should compete on merit"

Today is the day which has enabled a few SC/ST to claim all the benefits available but pretend in public that they are not from those communities.

Today is the day which ensured that the oppressed are more than willing to embrace the oppressors and the oppressor to agree in public that the oppressed are in fact human beings.

Today is not just Dr BR Ambedkar's Birth Anniversary.

A Humourless Story When Everything Was F****d Up

It was the middle of May, and Raja was travelling seated besides the engine driver of a goods train. The train was crossing a naxal infested area who were prone to attack goods train. Luckily, that day the mercury was hovering around 48 degrees, and even the naxals choose to stay in the shade. Raja had to still cover 1795 kms, and the entire journey had to be covered only through bus, lorry, goods train, and auto in the ration of 4:3:2:1. The entire journey was 2500 kms. The route had been well defined, and it was an arduous one. After he got down, Raja lost his cool, opened the Whatsapp messenger, and should the worst possible expletives into Kuldeep’s window. He knew it is of no use, because Kuldeep’s sim was not reachable but he had to vent his frustration.

Raman his colleague and best friend was not having it easy either. He had to travel 500 kms on a road roller. To compound his problem, he had to do so by avoiding toll boths except at one place where a river crossed the path. He had another 350 kms to cover and the journey was back breaking. He too dialled Kuldeep’s number, and though he received the pre-recorded message `this number has been switched off’, he abused with the worst possible words.

Pradeep had a shorter journey to cover but nonetheless fraught with dangers. He had to travel 50 kms on his 7 year old son’s bicycle. The path chosen for him had its share of poisonous reptiles, and leeches. He too was abusing Kuldeep.

Their entire progress was being monitored through a camera fitted on their bodies, and a speed cum route tracking device. Any cheating would mean starting the journey from Point Zero. No body dared to cheat. All were angry with Kuldeep. To be fair to Kuldeep, he was not making them do this nor these three guys responsible for what he did. Their boss had subjected them to this tribulation. His brief was simple, complete this task or repay my loans within 15 days or face a criminal case. Each had taken loans running in lakhs, and would never be able to repay the amount in such a short period of time. I am not responsible if you split your hairs when I mention that even their boss did not want to subject them to such a task, though he had a special dislike for Raman.

The boss was also Pinky’s father. He was also the owner of `Goods Safely Transporting Corporation’. There is no need to know his name because it is as immaterial as keeping an ice cream parlour open during lockdown. GST Corporation had its reach throughout the country, and was headquartered in a district of South Karnataka. The question will arise why Pinky’s father, a Punjabi had his company’s headquarters in a district of South Karnatak. The cryptic answer is, he could not do successfully what Kuldeep had done. The next question could be, why a transporter has to be necessarily a Punjabi. The answer is simple, there is something called creative freedom, and using a cliche is the foremost among them for a writer of limited abilities.

The guy who was making the three do these tasks was `The Beneficiary’. Only he could help `Pinky’s Father’ out of the mess that Kuldeep had created. In every office, there is an individual like him. He is most incompetent at most tasks. People who are more skilled stomp him like a doormat. Such individuals usually cling on to their job because they do whatsoever the boss desires. They don’t just bootlick but even shine them.

Offices are not also devoid of Raman’s. The super talented and hard working guy who suddenly falls out of favour with the boss. The boss usually necks him, and Pinky’s father ideas about Raman were no different. However he could not do so because Raman was the GPS, processor, monitor, and even the power connection of GST Corporation.

Raman knew in and out of GST corporation. His exit could not only result in loss of business efficiency but also expose the underbelly of GST Corporation to the authorities. Pinky’s father might have been unaware of the mess that Kuldeep was creating but when it came to business acumen, he was sharper than a knife made of German steel (cliche alert!). A transporter at times has to do a lot of diversions in his career. At times he has to pick consignments from isolated areas of the coastline, and at other times he has to drop consignments and people at the same isolated areas of the coastline, for transportation to greener pastures. Many a times he has to transport precious wood from deep in the forests. One as a transporter cannot avoid fleets of old trucks getting burnt to ashes in fire, and claiming insurance for the same. These are business secrets but the problem is snakes like Raman collect evidence for the same, and also send it to their relatives abroad for safekeeping. In such cases shrewd businessmen like Pinky’s father give a hefty raise to creeps like Raman, and shift them to a different location. He also transferred the technical operations to Bangalore alongwith Raman.

Pinky was brilliant at studies. She outdid her father, and completed matriculation. Everything in this world is relative. Pinky’s grandfather could decide the welfare of any human bone in this particular district of Southern Karnataka, and hence it did not matter that Pinky was at home while someone else was answering her paper. Nobody asked her biometrics, or Aadhar card because the examiners did not want to lose their identity. Subsequently, she started working in GST corporation as the General Manager (Complete Operations).

It is time I blow the lid off what Kuldeep did. Kuldeep came to GST corp to sell a few financial products. He did sell a lot of products but most importantly Pinky sold her heart to this DTH (Dark, Tall, and Handsome) Guy. The closeness of Pinky and Kuldeep was visible to all including her father. However, there was nothing much Pinky’s father could say to Pinky about her dalliances with Kuldeep, because Pinky knew some dirty facts about his relationship with Shaheen who was just two years older than her.

However, Pinky’s father was a canny businessman. He used his contacts and got a better assignment for Kuldeep in Bengaluru. However, there is nothing much that can be done about a video that has gone viral, a loan that has become a NPA, and most importantly a love that has gone beyond PDA. All of a sudden, Pink got interested in doing a course in `Creative Cooking’, and she too left to Bengaluru. Pinky’s father asked his property caretaker Ganesh to keep a watch on Pinky’s movements surreptitiously. Ganesh was a master in such activities but he did not act on Pinky’s father’s instruction, because of what he had done to Ganesh’s sister, and moreover why would he report that his nephew, whom he had set up to trap Pinky, was a shady character. He never reported to Pinky’s father that Pinky was indulging in creative cooing with Kuldeep.

It is difficult for an average story teller to keep the suspense for a long time, hence we try to confuse the reader with irrelevant details. I like, subscribe, and share this idea. Raman was no Ram, he was in reality Kamdev. Only thing good about him was he ensured that his acts ( both nocturnal/diurnal) did not bear any fruits unlike Kuldeep’s. It must be quite clear to the reader that Kuldeep had got Pinky pregnant. If you didn’t get it, please stop reading this story, and go watch POGO channel.

Raja was the offfice administrator. He had good grasp of many languages but poor knowledge of his work. He had the gift of gab, and could breath sarcasm in any language. As he himself claimed, leadership was not about talent but about the ability to graze cattle effectively.

Pradeep was the nicest of the trio. He was the accounts manager. Pinky’s father used to often remark, `Eagle’s eye’ should be replaced with `Pradeep’s eye’. Not a single mistake took place in accounts. He was honest to the core, and to the interest of his owner.

Beneficiary started working in GST corp as an accountant being a commerce graduate. But his contribution in accounts did not add up to much, so he was shifted to the logistics division. He hardly had any logic, and hence that posting too met its end. Finally he was made the PRO, and used to do all wheeling dealing on behalf of Pinky’s father. He had a lot of mediocrity in his dishonesty, and hypocrisy in his earnestness. He was a guy who was often bullied, badgered and ridiculed by the trio of Raman, Raja, and Pradeep. He could not respond because he was as essential in GST Corp, as a sun film is in a Men’s Saloon or a No in Kim Jong’s regime. Nothing much would be missed if either of them are not there. He knew one day his time would come.

That one day came when a badly cheated, fully pregnant Pinky turned up at her father’s house. She had a few months back eloped with Kuldeep taking with her a good cache of cash and jewels. This was after her father had suggested her a MTP. Kuldeep had disappeared with her cash and jewels, she finally reached her native place thanks to her father’s network. Her father still objected to her pregnancy but no longer he could prevent her delivery. It was essential that Pinky’s would-be-child has a surname, and there was not much time to find Kuldeep. Pinky’s father secretly envied Kuldeep because he had done what he could not do to Pinky’s mother, get her pregnant and run away with her valuables.

Much before cleanliness became a national passion, it was our pursuit to find a dustbin to dump all our sins. Finding a Bali ka Bakra was one of the first baby steps taken by our civilisation. Beneficiary was chosen to be Pinky’s husband. He was unmarried, incompetent, and most importantly it was impossible for him to find another job. Thus, an offer was made to him by Pinky’s grandfather to Beneficiary. Beneficiary considered the proposal with the same seriousness an individual considers when he gets a seat in a Metro train during peak hours. A worthless guy like him could inherit Pinky’s net worth, and hence he decided it was worth his effort, and agreed to provide his surname to Pinky’s baby. However, he demanded his pound of flesh, that the three be subject to the torture of reaching office through the most bizarre means. Pinky’s father readily agreed to it, and conveyed it to the trio. Though they resisted in the beginning, they gave in when Pinky’s father demanded that they repay their housing loans and car loans in the next 15 days or face a criminal case.

The task was completed, and beneficiary was feeling on top of the world. He had further plans for the trio, and he conveyed to them that this was merely an appetiser. The three wanted to strangulate him but their financial commitments prevented them from doing so.

The wedding was scheduled on the morning of the next day (as per the wishes and customs of Pinky’s Grand Father). Next day morning Pinky was missing from her bridal chamber. There was hustle and bustle, finally she turned up alongwith Kuldeep as her legally wedded husband. Kuldeep had an attack of morality when he realised that Beneficiary may inherit all the property of Pinky just for providing his surname to her baby. He made up with Pinky, and with the help of Pinky’s mother got married to her on the same day of marriage in a temple.

Beneficiary on seeing the couple prostrated before the trio.

What Is The Name Of The Fourth Son

Someone’s mother has four sons. North, South and East. What is the name of the fourth son. Private message me the name of the fourth son. If you lose, you have to repost.

I lost to............................

If you have not read this riddle at anytime during the Corona Lockdown on your Facebook timeline, it means you are practising social distancing even on social media.

Never before in the history of mankind has a punctuation mark and reading between the lines been so important.

They should ban capital punishment, and instead subject the convicts to such riddles, I will bet you my last Kingfisher share err bottle, the convict himself will plead the Honourable President for capital punishment.

One of these days I want to lose to all those putting this riddle on their status, and tag all of them in a single post so that Facebook ensures that I never gets to see this riddle.

All said and done, it is not extinct, this COVID-19 oops this riddle. Let me come to the point, how are we going to overcome COVID-19, err. How to ensure that this riddle is removed off Facebook. That was a bad joke but not as epic as this riddle.

Have you ever wondered, what if a person is really named `What”. What will be his problems dealing with such a name? But What to do, all that you can think about is to defeat your friends and family by exploiting the clever use of punctuation marks in the sentence `What is the name of the fourth son”.

This, is the story of Someone’s Mother’s Fourth Son, Mr. What. He was aware how much turmoil his name was causing on social media. He often lead an anonymous life to avoid abuses from those who lost the contest trying to guess that What was his name.

Mr. What once went to a city on his business, don’t ask what business. He had his booking in an undisclosed hotel. The name of the hotel was not disclosed at the request of its ex-owners. When he reached the hotel, the name of the hotel shocked him. It was ` Hotel North, South, and East But We Don’t Know What Is The Name Of The Fourth Son?’. Mr. What knew what was the problem, and what were the reasons why the ex-owners had asked that the name of the hotel should not be disclosed to him. By Providence, there was only one `King Suite’ in the hotel, and he had booked it.

He tried to be diplomatic, went inside, and asked the receptionist ` Miss Whatever your name is, What number of King Suites you have in your hotel?’

Receptionist `Of What concern is that to you?”

`What is the harm in telling me’

`One’

`Ok, I have a booking of that for one week’

Receptionist in a vengeful tone `What is your name!’

`What is my name’

`Mr, does COVID -19 affect brains, I am very serious , What is your name?’

`I solemnly affirm that, What is my name’

Receptionist ` Ok, show me your Citizens ID’

Mr.What shows his Citizens ID, and it is clearly written, Name: What, Mother Name: Someone’s Mother.

The receptionist lifts her head, gnashing his teeth like a `B-grade Bollywood Villain of the 70’s and asks `Are you that What!!! I have lost two times because of you to my friends, and from the hotel owner, I have become its receptionist’

`How could you lose twice on the same riddle?’

`It is because of your mistake’

Mr What `What? I cannot believe it. Whatever it is give me the room keys’

`Mr. What, you know what you will not get what you want’

`What do you mean, I have booked it well in advance, and paid for it through Whatsapp’

The receptionist, this time managing the look of Dracula, from Ramsay Brothers movie replied `Sure, you will get what you deserve, Mr What’

`Ok, What is the check out timings?’

`You have already been checked out, and now get out’

Mr What walked out of the hotel, and he could hear the receptionist lamenting `What I was, What have I become just because I could not what was the name of the fourth son’

Mr What went to another hotel, stayed there, and came back to his home town.

What & The Bulb

After many weeks, One day, Mr What went to buy a LED bulb. He went to the shop, and asked the guy at the counter `Give me three LED bulbs for a mid-sized living room’

Guy at the counter `What is the size of the room’

Mr What `Did you use a full stop or a question mark at the end of room?’

The counter guy never knew the importance of punctuation marks, and replied `It was a full stop’

Mr What replied `What is my name, it is not the size of my living room.’

The shopkeeper with raised eyebrows asked `Are you the descendant of Mr. James Watt?’

`No but I am equally famous on the social media because of a riddle in my name’

The face of the guy at the counter turned red, just like the Bollywood Hero of 80’s to whom the name of the killers of his parents have been revealed, and he enquired in a menacing tone `Are you that What?’

`Yee...sss, but what do you know about that What?’

`Not much except that because of that riddle having your name, my sister from a hotel owner became its receptionist’

`What is my fault if she loses two times on the same riddle, that too her property’

`You should have notified that you have changed your changed name back to What’

`But how do you know that I changed my name from What’

`My brother-in-law worked in the Citizens ID Department’

`I did once but the social media would not accept it because they would lose their most favourite riddle to which most of their friends lost. They made a public petition online, and compelled me to change my name back to Mr What. Tell me, What prevented your brother-in-law from informing you that I have changed my name back to What’

`What to say, he had divorced my sister by then agitated at her lack of intelligence’

`and because My Sister didn’t know this, she again gave the wrong answer, lost her hotel and became its receptionist’

`Can I have the bulbs?’

`I can give you but on your head, get lost’

Mr. What finally bought it online.

Mr What has requested Netizens through me to have some sympathy on him, and stop this riddle online or else he will authorise me to post more of his What Adventures. The choice is yours, What is your choice ? Or ! Or .

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell - A must read book for....

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

This is an awesome book. It is more than value for money. It has an unbelievable calming effect. This is the sort of book you want to read after a mentally taxing day when your mind is wobbling with worries.

I have read this book over a period of seven days, and it always put me into instant slumber. 

This book is a must read for people with insomania. 

This book is as boring as the data from a tachometer on an escalator.

This book is as bland as the cuisine of that country which is famous for high quality machinery.

I will always have this book in my bedside table 

Pearls, Girls, and Monty Bodkin - A laugh riot by PG Wodehouse

Can a misfit be called a misfit in a more polite way?

In the West End of London – say at the Drones Club in Dover Street, of which he was a popular member- you would have encountered him without surprise. In the executive building of the Superba – Llewellyn, he seemed out of place. You felt he ought not to be there.

A latecomers guide to audacious cover-up

Sorry, I’m late.....Anything sensational happened in my absence?

`No’

`No earthquakes or other Acts of God?’

`No’

`No trouble brewing in the writers kraals? The natives not restless?

`No’

One liner to handle the surprises of life

In this world we must be prepared for anybody to say anything.

You too would love to be frustrated after reading this line

Sandy’s exasperation became too much for her. If she had had any more lethal weapon than a small notebook, she would have thrown it at him.

If a mere chronicler in these circumstances has a feeling of bafflement and frustration, as though he had raced to catch a train on Saturday morning and found on arrival at the station that it was Sunday.

Hen-pecked husbands, more invective words cannot describe us.

At her command he jumps through hoops and snaps lumps of sugar off his nose. He weeps with delight when she gives him a smile and trembles with fear at her frown.

Customs inspectors terrified him, but not nearly so much as she did, and he had good reason for his termors. In her professional days she had been one of the best known panther women on the silver screen, once a panther woman, always a panther woman. So he reached the conclusion that however unpleasant the alternative her wishes would have to be obeyed. But he didn’t like the prospect.

There is no better way to describe these cruel fathers of beautiful girls.

The emotions of a young lover who has planned to lunch with the girl he adores and gets her father instead are more readily imagined than described.

Is this Marital Trust or a Vouching Of The Husband’s timidness?

`Don’t be a damned fool’ said Grace `My husband wouldn’t have the nerve to cheat on me if you brought him all the girls in the Christmas number of Playboy asleep on a chair’

A Diet Detective?

`He’s on a diet’ said Grace `It was my daughter’s suggestion. And I’m going to see he sticks to it. No alcohol, no starchy foods. So search his room from time to time, and if you find he’s hiding cakes and candy and all that, tell me immediately and I’ll attend to it’.

That’s not the kindest way to describe an individual

Mr Molloy’s resemblance to an American senator of the better sort inspired in those he met, a confidence which was of the greatest help to him in life-work of selling stock in non-existent oil wells.

If only couples took inspiration from Mr and Mrs Molloy

Each respected the other’s Art, which is recognised as being the firmest foundation for a happy marriage. If Soapy Molloy made a killing, nobody could be more eager to celebrate than Dolly, and he was the first to applaud when she returned from an afternoon at the stores with objects that would come in useful about the home.

There is no better way to abash a rival

`Three heads are better than one, even if one of them’s Soapy’s’

`What’s wrong with my head?’ Soapy demanded with some heat.

`Solid Ivory’ said Chimp `And it doesn’t even look nice’

The golden rule for all married men

Married men don’t assert themselves, not if they know what’s good for them.

The golden rule for all men wanting to get married

Never marry anyone who makes conditions, and says she won’t on the dotted line unless you do something or other.

The golden rule for all women wanting to get married

I’ve had too many friend who’ve married Greek gods and spent the rest of their leisure time kicking themselves.

The hen possibly didn’t know in the future an Indian Actor will come who will make Monty look a saint

And Indeed Monty had given the wheel a dangerous twiddle, causing a meditative hen which had stepped into the road to take to itself the wings of the dove and disappear over the horizon.

If only all Bosses reposed such confidence in their subordinates

Fire you? I wouldn’t fire you if the President of the United States and his entire Cabinet fell on their knees and begged me to. If this son of a Butterwick thinks he can get to first base with me, he’s very much mistaken `Butterwick’ I shall say to him – after I’ve had my lunch, of course - `You’re a low hound, and you’ve as much chance of wheedling me into giving young Bodkin the pink slip as I have of getting my wife to let me eat a chocolate eclair. Drop dead, Butterwick” I shall say’

For some, being in command is important for some is as much important as it is for a fish to be in water

It added to her gratification that she would now be able to go home. She had found her visit pleasant enough, but she never enjoyed being a guest and having no say in the running of the establishment. It cramped her not to be in command.

Thats’ what they call made for each other, because only one of them, can and gets to do the thinking.

Dolly and Soapy were deep in thought, the former musing on her plan, the latter trying to make a guess of what that plan could be. It was to what virtually amounted to an assembly of waxworks that Grayce re-entered.

You shouldn’t cheat an individual so much!!!

`Talk sense, sweetie. Once seen, never forgotten, that map of yours, so dignified’ said Dolly with touch of wifey pride. `He could pick you out of any police line-up if the had catracts in both eyes’.

When you have led such a distinguished life that the long arms of law have always had you in its grasp

Only once in his life had Chimp experienced the thrill these words sent tingling through his weedy little body. That was when he had heard the foreman of the jury say `not guilty’ when he had been expecting to be shipped to Dartmoor for a five-year stay.

Some people are alive because it is a crime to murder themselves

Her only hope of avoiding conversation with him would have been to run over him in the car, a step which despite its obvious appeal she thought it would be unwise to take. She did not waiver in the view she had always held that there was no good Chimp but a dead Chimp, but she knew how fussy the police can be about these things.

When you are a hen-pecked husband, and you dare not to get kicked

A stronger man might have offered the suggestion that the thing for her to do was to get out of here and leave him to catch up with his sleep, but Mr Llewllyn, though resentful, was not quite capable of it.

`I don’t want any piece of it. Who does she think I am? One of those dauntless death-defying guys who go into cages at the circus and look murderous man-eating monarchs of the jungle in the eye and make them wilt? I wouldn’t have the nerve to talk to Grayce like that on long-distance telephone. No, sir, not if I was in Paris, France, and she was in Honolulu.’

You can either be a successful business man or an honest one, the choice is yours.

You can’t go by what a man in my position promises. You don’t really suppose, do you, that you can can run a big studio successfully if you go about keeping your promises all the time? If you want me to keep a promise, have me put it in writing and take it to a public notary and get it stamped. And even after that you’ll have my lawyers to deal with.

Lessons Learnt From Vanara, The Legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara

Writers like Anand Neelakantan bring a fresh perspective to the stories that have been told for ages in the same mould. You can learn only new concepts from reading such writers. Here is what I learnt from reading his latest novel `Vanara’:-

1. The greatness of Indian literature is its diversity. There is no one authentic holy book, nor a church or religious clergy insisting on one point of view. This is a tradition we should preserve with utmost care.
2. Jatayu was not the good bird projected in most versions of Ramayana.
3. Devas and Asuras practised casteism alike
4. Sugreeva always had an inferiority complex about his brother Bali. He did not mind even a heist to fulfil his ambitions. He was a meek and lazy guy.
5. Indira is a post and not an individual.
6. They are to be called Vana Naras and not Vanaras.
7. Hanuman tried to behave like a Brahmin.
8. Vana Naras believed they were born to be slaves. They never dared to go against the holy scriptures.
9. Vana Naras used secret ballot under the leadership of Tara.
10. Tara is said to be the wisest of all in Valmiki Ramayana
11. Kishkinda created by Baali was an open city for all race, tribe, caste, language or creed.
12. Ravana was not invincible as portrayed, he was imprisoned by Karthya Veerarjuna, the robber king. Karthya Veerarjuna insulted Ravana by making him stay with Sugreeva, a Vana Nara. Ravana did not touch Sugreeva even once during his stay. He, however, paid Karthya Veerarjuna, the ransom money to free Sugreeva. As we all know, Sugreeva later played a pivotal role in the slaying of Ravana.
13. Tara did have a soft corner for Sugreeva. Sugreeva was a creep who stalked his elder brother’s daughter, and his obsession for her is chilling.
14. Vana Naras celebrate a lot in their weddings despite their poverty.
15. How Sugreeva sets up Bali for a bullfight with Dundubhi much like Shakuni in Mahabharata did with the Kauravas and Pandavas.
16. Both the Devas and Asuras were jealous about Kishkinda.

Anand Neelakantan tells his stories in simple words and carries this gift to this book also. I cannot disclose everything in the book. You must read it more than once to get the hang of the story. The book is a panoply of the tales of Vana Naras, the Devas and Asuras, don’t miss out on it. It is available on Amazon at

Vanara by Anand Neelakantan

Colour Matters by Anuranjita Kumar

Reading Colour Matters by Anuranjita Kumar should matter a lot to individuals who have faced discrimination based on caste, colour, creed, religion, region, etc. The book deals with colour discrimination but deals with other types of discrimination. The book contains a lot of real-life instances of colour discrimination including a few from the authors’ personal life. The best thing about this treatise is it is not just a rant but also contains solutions, and how to handle sticky situations. The book also contains some interesting and thought provoking conversations between the author and her children on adjusting to new cultures, enabling someone to adapt to Indian culture, and tackling colour discrimination.

I am dark-skinned and come from a low caste, so this book resonates with me in multiple ways. Based on my skin colour, I have been judged about my intelligence, ability to buy, and speak English. I will not comment on the discrimination faced because of belonging to the lower caste because that will mean recalling many incidents I have faced at work-place.


The book is a well-knit panoply of stories of discrimination told in easily understandable language and is a must-read for all those interested in understanding human behaviour.

My rating for the book is 4.5 stars out of 5.

It is available on Amazon.